Mage-type class templates like this one might have paper-thin defenses, but if you cannot break through their magic shield, you can forget about shaving off even a single point of HP.

It was precisely because the magic shield was so sturdy and powerful that mages had the time to chant their spells and fire off those long-cast big moves.

Lin Xun could not beat the Direct Vision Great Sage, not because his own defense and HP were lacking, but purely because he could not crack that turtle shell called Knowledge Barrier.

The Direct Vision Great Sage’s Shell Quality was Mythic+, and his signature skills should also match that grade.

As long as he could break the Mythic+ defensive spell Knowledge Barrier, with his current damage output he could easily one-shot the squishy mage.

[…]

[You possess the shell of Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Sage.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage had nearly been tricked to death by you just now, and he no longer dared to be careless. He raises a Knowledge Barrier to protect himself firmly, leaving you not even a sliver of hope.]

Lin Xun’s hands flew over the controls. The chances left to him were already few.

[Your exclusive item Bee Queen Visage glows with light.]

[You have set Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Sage as Bee Queen. All other shells in your Shell Slots will automatically become bee drones.]

[Behind you appears the consciousness body of Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil. Under your command, he ignores the ghastly wounds covering his entire body, struggles to his feet by bracing on the crimson greatsword, and fearlessly charges the enemy to attack.]

Lin Xun wanted to kill the Direct Vision Great Sage head-on.

His only remaining chance was to use the human-bomb self-detonation of the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil upon his death, together with Sage Osborn’s Character Law.

Only by having the two strongest skills strike Knowledge Barrier at the same time would there be a chance of taking down this big boss.

[The Direct Vision Great Sage does not use Knowledge Dragon Lance to blast the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil again as you imagined. After all these battles, he seems to have realized that the flickering light-and-shadow spirit body comes from you, and that if he kills you first, he can instantly neutralize the spirit body’s attack.]

[His eyes grow deep and dark as he looks toward you…]

[That gaze does not come from the eye sockets in his face, but from the chest and abdomen beneath his robe.]

[His gaze pierces straight through the robe, that cold, sinister look boring directly into you and making every hair on your body stand on end as immense terror envelops you in an instant.]

[Under that chilling stare, you suddenly feel a rigid, icy sensation spreading from the tips of your limbs…]

[You watch as your fingertips are rapidly covered by a gray-white shell like stone.]

[No. It is not that a layer of stone shell is covering you. Your hands and feet are rapidly turning to stone, and the petrification is racing from your limbs toward your torso…]

[The memories in the shell awaken at this moment. You instantly recall that this is the Great Sage’s trump card, his strongest and most unavoidable killing move.]

[From the eyeball of the mythic creature Petrification Beast Jargorgon, he obtained the ability to continuously accumulate damage taken. Once the accumulated damage reaches a threshold, it can erupt as a vicious Petrification Curse.]

[Under it, all who are weak will, when looked upon directly, turn into cold, brittle stone.]

[A light tap is enough to shatter the rock and turn the enemy into countless tiny fragments, dying in utter terror as their bodies freeze and refuse to move.]

[This is an unavoidable ultimate killing move. With your strength, it is absolutely impossible for you to survive under the Petrification Curse.]

[The petrification creeps from your fingertips to your palms and arms, racing toward your torso and head.]

[At this moment, your item Cursed Serpent Whip glows faintly.]

[You have become immune to the curse and debuff effects caused by the Petrification Curse.]

[The petrified parts of your body immediately return to normal. Under the shocked gaze of the Direct Vision Great Sage, the consciousness body of the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil has already rushed up to him.]

[With your movements restored, you raise your staff high. The giant eye in your chest casts a gaze full of hatred, and countless characters surge and shimmer…]

The Direct Vision Great Sage had thought he could unleash his ultimate trump card and secure a one-hit kill.

Instead, Lin Xun just happened to possess an artifact that negated most curses and debuffs.

“Hmph. You just had to trigger the effective range of my item. If I do not topple you today, I would be letting down the hard-earned gear I traded my blood and sweat for.”

[…]

[Facing the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil right in front of him, the Great Sage immediately casts Knowledge Dragon Lance, and over ten giant lances slam toward the enemy at once.]

[Yet he sees the spirit body ignore them and continue its charge, while you, far away, wear a sinister look as you trigger Character Law in turn.]

[He had just witnessed the brief death immunity secret art Fountain of Blood. He assumes that under your control, the spirit body is going to use that secret art again.]

[He smiles dismissively. Even if you can be immune to death for a short while, it only lets you cling to life a few seconds longer. With your attack power, you cannot break Knowledge Barrier.]

[He redirects the lances, no longer wasting them on the spirit body that can be briefly immune to death, and instead fires them all at you.]

[At that moment, the spirit body already at his side lifts the crimson greatsword. Instead of attacking the barrier, he lightly runs the blade across his own neck.]

[In that instant, the Direct Vision Great Sage, seeing this abnormal action, suddenly feels a sense of danger…]

[With blood spraying from his neck, your bee drone shell, Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil, has died.]

[You have taken a bit of damage.]

[The Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil is dead. Shell Skill Flesh Boil’s self-detonation effect is triggered.]

[The limp corpse does not turn into specks of light and disperse, but instead gathers endless blood-colored radiance…]

[Under the glorious bloom of blood, what is reflected is the Great Sage’s face filled with terror.]

[With the corpse of the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil as the center, endless blood light condenses into a huge flower bud…]

[In the blink of an eye, the flower of flesh and blood blossoms in full. The sight is incomparably beautiful, yet also incomparably lethal.]

[At the same time, the overwhelming spell power of Character Law erupts as well.]

[Under the raging flood of flesh and blood power, and the rampaging bombardment of spell energy, Knowledge Barrier flickers madly as it strives to endure, but in the end it still cannot escape shattering and fading away.]

[The Great Sage’s expression changes drastically. Taking advantage of the moment while Knowledge Barrier still blocks the attack, he quickly pulls out a simple ancient scroll and tears it apart without hesitation.]

[Countless characters coil together, forming an incredibly sturdy arched shield that wraps around him and blocks the eruption of the two terrifying forces.]

Lin Xun ground his teeth. Was this Direct Vision Great Sage the human version of a cartoon cat with a 4D pocket?

One precious life-saving magic item after another came out of his pocket, endless and inexhaustible.

His supposedly foolproof killing blows had been thwarted again and again by the Direct Vision School’s money power.

[At this moment, all light dies away. A dozen Knowledge Dragon Lances pierce through the mist, streaking toward you…]

For an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Lin Xun’s mind.

In the end, he did not use any defensive magic to block them and instead awaited death’s arrival.

[You sink into despair and, facing the giant lances shooting toward you, do not dodge or evade, choosing instead to close your eyes and wait for death…]

[The lances reach you and the force of the wind is already cutting your face, yet they abruptly halt.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage is holding up his staff, but he does not continue to drive the lances to kill you…]

[He says coldly that he has promised not to kill you. Death for you is not an end but a rebirth. He will imprison you in the Direct Vision Association forever, keeping this fuse that can destroy the world forever in his own hands.]

[As he speaks, he prepares to raise another Knowledge Barrier, not to protect himself this time but to restrict your movements.]

[You suddenly open your eyes, lunge forward, and directly thrust your body onto the giant lance.]

[The sharp lance tip instantly pierces your body, yet you reveal a smile of a plan succeeding.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage’s expression changes, but then quickly calms again.]

[He says coldly that if you think seeking death will let you escape him, you are mistaken.]

[No, your death will only expose your respawn location.]

[He can reverse-deduce the hidden coordinates of the star evil god’s projection’s location from its lingering aura after death, and he can do the same to you.]

[It will be a bit of work, but you will never escape the palm of his hand.]

[You know that everything the Direct Vision Great Sage has said is true. The strength of a Knowledge Scholar does not come from each spell, but from their vast reservoir of knowledge, from the root power bestowed by the true Lord: Analysis.]

[With your heart pierced, you slowly collapse to the ground. In your final moments, all you see are the Great Sage’s eyes, cold to the bone.]

[…]

[You are dead.]

[…]

[A powerful wandering soul is reborn in a dark, cramped cell…]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes and immediately opened his Inventory.

[Your items Vengeance Torch, Cursed Serpent Whip, Resentment Dagger (immortal grade item) have taken effect.]

[You have marked the coordinate position of Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Great Sage. You can track his real-time location through these coordinates.]

He did not pause and immediately clicked to use the items.

[You used Vengeance Torch.]

[You have branded a permanent Mark of Vengeance on Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Great Sage. All attacks you launch against this enemy will deal 50% increased damage.]

[Vengeance Torch remaining uses: 2/3.]

[You used Cursed Serpent Whip.]

[You have branded a permanent Mark of the Curse on Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Great Sage. All attacks this enemy launches against you will deal 50% less damage.]

[Cursed Serpent Whip remaining uses: 2/3.]

The three sisters of the Vengeance Goddess had bestowed these items. They were absolutely artifacts for turning the tables.

With the two items’ blessings, his own damage output was increased by 50%, while the enemy’s damage was reduced by 50%. One up and one down, and he, who had originally been at a disadvantage, instantly became the one with the upper hand.

The only thing to be wary of now was whether the Great Sage still had other life-saving methods or hidden trump cards.

With the way these Direct Vision people were draped head to toe in magic items, no one would be surprised if he pulled out a few more brokenly overpowered things.

However, after death, Lin Xun was absolutely confident he could kill the Great Sage, because there was still a bug-tier item he had not yet used.

[Resentment Dagger (immortal grade item): … By using this item, you can stack up to three layers of the enemy’s existing Mark of Vengeance and Mark of the Curse. Remaining uses: 1/1.]

When buffs of the same type are stacked multiplicatively instead of additively, a 50% damage increase becomes absolutely absurd after three layers.

Here, the same buff’s damage increase is multiplicative rather than cumulative. A 50% damage increase, after multiplicative stacking, becomes 337.5%. Originally you could deal 100 points of damage; now you can deal 337.5.

Damage reduction is also calculated multiplicatively. A 50% debuff, after being stacked by Resentment Dagger, will ultimately become an 87.5% reduction. Originally the enemy could deal 100 points of damage to him; now they can only deal 12.5.

With such terrifying damage boosts and reductions, Lin Xun truly did not believe the Direct Vision Great Sage could survive.

He did not use Resentment Dagger immediately, as that item could currently only be used once and should be saved if possible.

The prerequisite for using this item was that the enemy already had both Mark of Vengeance and Mark of the Curse, not that he himself had died.

Vengeance Torch and Cursed Serpent Whip’s effects were already enough to make the Great Sage choke. If, under the two items’ blessings, he still could not kill the Great Sage, it would not be too late to use this dagger.

According to the marked position, the Great Sage was still at the previous battlefield and had not left.

He really did seem to still be standing there, drawing an analysis magic formation, trying to determine the True God Envoy’s respawn location.

Lin Xun did not know if the Great Sage could parse out the location of Resting Page, but as long as there was even the slightest possibility, this death might expose the Blackwater Prison respawn point.

He had to kill the Great Sage as quickly as possible. If the Great Sage really could parse it out, then this secret would have to rot forever in a dead man’s belly.

[Once a Refined Copper Carriage arrives, you immediately leave the prison and head toward the Direct Vision Great Sage’s location.]

[…]

[With the carriage at full gallop, you draw ever closer to your destination.]

[According to the marker, Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Great Sage remains in the same place. It seems his analysis progress is rather slow.]

Whether the Great Sage’s skill was simply not up to par or for some other reason, even by the time Lin Xun returned to the battlefield, he was still working on the analysis.

[…]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage stands within the analysis magic formation, his brows knit in thought as he mutters, no, no, why cannot he reverse-deduce it?]

[Even when the projection of the star evil god descended, he could parse out a thread of clues from the lingering aura.]

[This True God’s Envoy was clearly much weaker than the star evil god, so why could he not parse out anything… It had to be some special power granted by the true Lord. Only that could explain this.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage suddenly opens his eyes and looks toward the mist…]

[You appear from the mist, gripping your staff tightly and murmuring an incantation…]

[The spell you have been chanting all along is none other than the Knowledge Scholar’s ultimate secret spell, Endless Flood of Knowledge.]

[By the time the Direct Vision Great Sage snaps back to his senses and sees you, you have already spoken the final syllable of the spell.]

[An uncountable number of flickering characters surge like a raging tide, converging at the tip of your staff.]

[The vast and terrifying spell power makes the very air around you faintly tear apart.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage’s expression changes. He can clearly feel that after your respawn, the spell power you control has not increased, yet the pressure your spell exerts on him is far greater than last time.]

[You open the giant eye in your chest, and Character Law is triggered along with it.]