206: Chapter 206 The Gap Between Gold and Silver

Just as Qin Ce was about to completely lose consciousness...

The energy of Reborn was instantly activated.

That warm and life-filled force surged from the depths of his body, washing through every inch of his Meridians, muscles, and nerves that had been eroded by dark energy like a warm current.

The dizziness receded, the weakness dissipated, and his vision gradually became clear.

But this process required time, and the Three-Headed Hellhound would not grant him that.

The third attack followed immediately.

This time it was the dark-red fire-element head on the left—but it wasn't a fireball. It was a wall of fire about twenty meters wide and ten meters high, spewing from the Three-Headed Hellhound's mouth like a burning curtain pressing down on Qin Ce and the Green Phoenix.

The coverage area was too vast; no matter how flexible the Green Phoenix's Phoenix Dance Nine Turns was, it couldn't instantly fly twenty meters away.

The fire wall's advance wasn't fast, but its coverage and continuous damage forced Qin Ce to have the Green Phoenix pull up into the high sky.

At the very moment the Green Phoenix pulled up, the fourth attack arrived.

The dark-red head on the left and the pitch-black head on the right opened their mouths simultaneously, firing a fireball and a shadow impact side-by-side, sealing off all of the Green Phoenix's escape routes upward, left, and right.

The grayish-purple head in the middle also moved, as a thick cloud of purple-black poisonous mist spread outward at extreme speed, covering an area the size of a basketball court in the blink of an eye.

There was nowhere to hide.

Qin Ce and the Green Phoenix were enveloped by the poisonous mist.

The purple mist surged from all directions, pervasive—seeping into the gaps in the Green Phoenix's feathers, into Qin Ce's collar and cuffs, and into their mouths, noses, and ears.

A strong sensation of paralysis spread from the surface of their skin to their muscles, bones, and internal organs.

Qin Ce's limbs went stiff; his fingers couldn't grip his war blade, and his legs couldn't steady themselves against the Green Phoenix's back.

His breathing became rapid, his throat felt as if it were being strangled, and every breath felt like swallowing razor blades.

His vision blurred completely, leaving only a purple fog before his eyes, along with the faint, cold glint of the Three-Headed Hellhound's three pairs of eyes within the mist.

The energy of Reborn was once again activated and amplified; it seemed that the more injuries he sustained, and the more varied they were, the greater the power Reborn could bring forth.

This time, it didn't just surge from the depths of his body; it was like a bursting flood, frantically washing through every one of Qin Ce's Meridians, every inch of muscle, and every single cell.

The warm power and the paralysis of the poisonous mist engaged in a tug-of-war within his body—the mist eroded, and Reborn repaired; it eroded again, and it repaired again.

Qin Ce could feel Reborn fighting desperately, but the process still required time.

The Green Phoenix was in an even worse state than Qin Ce.

Its feathers were eroded by the poisonous mist, losing their luster and becoming dim, dry, and brittle; its eyes were so irritated that they wept incessantly, the silver-green pupils bloodshot; its breathing was rapid and weak, each flap of its wings more taxing than the last.

But it did not fall—it gritted its teeth, used every last bit of its strength, and carried Qin Ce out of the poisonous mist.

Behind them, the roars of the Three-Headed Hellhound continued, and the fireballs and shadow impacts were still in pursuit.

But the Green Phoenix couldn't care about that anymore; it just flew desperately, desperately pulling away until the roars behind them grew further and fainter.

Qin Ce lay on the Green Phoenix's back, gasping for air.

The energy of Reborn finally overcame the damage and began to back-feed the Green Phoenix!

Though the Green Phoenix's speed had slowed down.

The paralysis from the poisonous mist had not yet fully receded; its body was still weak, its vision still blurred, and its breathing still difficult.

But the interior of its body was rapidly recovering.

The Green Phoenix landed on a low hill, its legs giving way as it nearly collapsed.

It panted heavily, its silver-green feathers covered in purple poisonous mist residue like a thick layer of mold, emitting a pungent odor.

Tianlu ran out from the tattoo, the nine-colored light on its antlers flashing frantically as wisps of cloud rose up, enveloping Qin Ce and the Green Phoenix.

Wherever the cloud mist passed, the poisonous residue was peeled away and purified bit by bit.

Qin Ce closed his eyes, feeling the circulation trajectory of the Reborn energy within him.

It was accelerating—not the passive, reactive acceleration from before, but an active, conscious acceleration, as if Reborn had learned how to more efficiently counter poison-type energy through these repeated erosions.

With his body no longer in danger, Qin Ce's thoughts turned back to the battle.

Every moment of the previous fight flashed through Qin Ce's mind: the fireballs, the shadow impacts, the fire wall, and the poisonous mist.

Four attacks, four attributes, and four types of damage.

Taken individually, he had ways to deal with each one.

But when they were combined, coordinating in time and space, he was completely outmatched.

This was the Gold Rank.

It wasn't just about how strong a Gold Rank Vicious Beast was, but that its combat style, skill combinations, and damage mechanisms were on a completely different level compared to the Silver Rank.

A Silver Rank Vicious Beast's attack was just an attack—if it hit, it hit; if it missed, it missed. The damage was instantaneous, and the effect was singular.

A Gold Rank Vicious Beast's attack was different—a fireball wasn't just a fireball; it had poisonous mist attached to its surface, so even if it missed, it could still envelop you in mist.

A shadow impact wasn't just a shadow impact; just a graze could corrode equipment and weaken the body.

A fire wall wasn't just a fire wall; it also dealt continuous damage, forcing your movement, blocking your retreat, and draining your stamina.

The poisonous mist wasn't just poisonous mist; it took time for you to rush out, and during that time, its other attacks were already prepared.

It could be said that at the Gold Rank stage, its attacks all had additional damage and effects.

They were no longer simple basic attacks.

They were combinations that formed a crushing combat system.

Qin Ce opened his eyes and looked at the thin mist in the distance.

The Three-Headed Hellhound hadn't pursued them.

Because the Green Phoenix was a flying unit, chasing it would only waste stamina. The territory was right there, and Qin Ce would have to return sooner or later.

Qin Ce leaned against the Green Phoenix and remained silent for a long time.

He finally understood one thing.

With the Green Phoenix's abilities alone, if he used Phoenix Flow stacking, he felt he shouldn't lose to the Three-Headed Hellhound.

With thirteen Phoenix Flows surging into its body at once, combined with the ten-fold energy condensation of the Breath Condensation talent, the Green Phoenix's attack power could definitely reach the threshold of the Gold Rank.

Coupled with the Wind Core's Wind Barrier, Phoenix Dance Nine Turns, and Wind Prison, it would at least have the strength to fight the Three-Headed Hellhound head-on.

But the question was—what then?

This was a world of Vicious Beasts.

He had only taken three territories, yet the attitude of the surrounding Vicious Beasts had changed drastically; eight out of ten neighbors were hostile toward him, and a Gold Rank Vicious Beast had even actively come to seize his land.

It was hard to say what new chain reaction would be triggered if he killed this Three-Headed Hellhound.

One must realize that the most terrifying thing about this place was that it wasn't like the territory of Fengling City—in Fengling City, Gold Rank Vicious Beasts were already the highest level. If a Starlight Rank existed, it would be impossible for Fengling City to establish a human camp in that area.

But here, Silver Rank was the lowest. Above it was Gold Rank, above Gold Rank was Starlight Rank, and further up were Bright Moon Level, Blazing Sun Rank, and Transcendent Rank. In the core area of the Space-Time Rift, there were even Transcendent Rank Vicious Beasts.

This was not a place where an ordinary person could act wildly.

What Qin Ce needed wasn't "can I win," but rather "can I win without taking damage."

If he could kill a Gold Rank Vicious Beast without taking damage, then his safety margin in this world of beasts would be large enough. Even if killing this Hellhound triggered a chain reaction, he would have the strength to deal with it.

But if he barely won through a burst of Phoenix Flow and ended up half-dead, then any other Gold Rank Vicious Beast or a pack of Silver Peak beasts that happened along would leave him waiting for death.

Qin Ce took a deep breath and slowly stood up.

For a Silver Rank to kill a Gold Rank without taking damage would be considered a dream in the outside world!

Even for Qin Ce, he couldn't have done it before the Green Phoenix reached Silver Rank. Even after raising the Green Phoenix's Rank to Silver, he still couldn't do it.

Between Silver Rank and Gold Rank lay not just a threshold, but a wall.

The energy levels, skill power, and combat systems were all different.

A Silver Rank Vicious Beast's attack was a line; a Gold Rank Vicious Beast's attack was a plane, a 3D space, a composite.

For a combat species like the Three-Headed Hellhound, three attacks launched simultaneously with perfect coordination covered near, middle, and far distances, as well as physical, energy, and toxin damage. Those below the Gold Rank had almost no power to fight back.

But after the Green Phoenix upgraded to Silver Rank and the Nine-fold Azure Sky unlocked the Wind Core, everything changed.

The power of the Wind Core did not lie in how much attack power it had itself, but in its control over the battlefield.

A single Wind Core could influence the wind direction within a ten-meter radius; nine Wind Cores could construct a combat space entirely belonging to the Green Phoenix over a battlefield spanning hundreds of meters.

Within this space, the Green Phoenix could accelerate, turn, defend, and trap enemies.

Wind Barrier, Phoenix Dance Nine Turns, and Wind Prison—each combination could target different combat scenarios.

And the Three-Headed Hellhound's greatest strength was its three heads—Fire, Dark, and Poison. Three elements, three attack methods; none were top-tier individually, but combined, one plus one plus one was greater than three.

But no matter how strong an elemental attack was, it was still limited by a basic physical rule: they needed to travel through the air.

Fireballs needed air for combustion, shadow impacts needed air as a medium, and poisonous mist directly used air as a carrier.

And the Wind Core controlled the air.

The Three-Headed Hellhound's triple-element attacks could all be influenced by the Wind Core.

The fact that a Wind Barrier formed by two Wind Cores could block three Gold Rank attacks earlier was the strongest evidence.

The Wind Cores could completely allow the Green Phoenix to toy with this Three-Headed Hellhound until it died.

At this moment, the Three-Headed Hellhound was still lording it over Qin Ce's territory.

It lay atop the hill of the destroyed Green Fang territory, its three heads and six eyes scanning the surroundings like a predator patrolling its new domain.

From time to time, it would open its mouths to spit an attack in Qin Ce's direction—sometimes a fireball, sometimes a shadow impact, sometimes a cloud of poisonous mist.

A fireball landed on the grass at the edge of the territory, exploding into a ball of dark red flame and scorching a patch of ground.

A shadow impact hit a rock, corroding a hole the size of a washbasin, with black smoke rising from the edges.

The poisonous mist diffused in the air, lingering for a long time like a purple veil blocking Qin Ce's path back to the valley.

The Three-Headed Hellhound's six eyes narrowed, and a low, satisfied purr came from its throat. Its posture clearly said: Get out. Be smart and give up the territory.

Qin Ce stood on a distant hill, watching this scene, his gaze turning cold.

"How ungrateful."

By now, the Green Phoenix and Qin Ce had fully recovered.

He flipped himself onto the Green Phoenix's back.

"Little Green, let's go."

The Green Phoenix flapped its wings, its silver-green figure soaring into the sky and shooting toward the Three-Headed Hellhound.

This time, Qin Ce didn't test the waters or hesitate: "Nine Wind Cores, release them all."

The Green Phoenix let out a clear, high-pitched cry, and nine silver points of light scattered from its feathers like nine falling meteors, landing precisely above the battlefield.

Their landing points were completely different from before—not a simple encirclement or random distribution, but a carefully calculated layout.

Between the Green Phoenix and the Three-Headed Hellhound, four Wind Cores were arranged in an inverted V-shape: two in the center and two on the sides.

These were the bases for two Wind Barriers, distributed in a V-shape—one in front and one on the side—echoing each other to form a protective angle. Any attack coming from the front or side would be intercepted or deflected.

The remaining five Wind Cores did not form any combo skill but instead connected in a staggered high-low pattern to form a curved, figure-eight-like loop line.

This line passed through the gap between the two Wind Barriers, circled around the front of the Three-Headed Hellhound, and extended to its rear flank.

This was not a defensive formation; this was an offensive formation.

The figure-eight loop was the Green Phoenix's attack route, the Wind Barriers were its cover, and the Wind Cores were its springboards.

In this formation, the Green Phoenix could weave between the Wind Cores like a ghost, hide between the Wind Barriers, and launch attacks from angles the Three-Headed Hellhound would never expect.

Qin Ce patted the Green Phoenix's neck: "Flowing Cloud Wave Roll, activate."

The Phoenix Flows behind the Green Phoenix began to condense.

One, two, three—silver-white energy ribbons swayed behind it, each one a pure compression of wind-element energy, each one sufficient to release a Silver Peak level attack.

"Dive."

The Green Phoenix tucked its wings and dived from the high sky like a silver-green bolt of lightning, charging straight at the Three-Headed Hellhound.

The Three-Headed Hellhound's three pairs of eyes lit up simultaneously.

It saw the diving figure, and contempt flashed in all six of its pupils.

A mere Silver Rank bird dared to charge head-on?

Seeking death.

The dark-red head on the left opened its mouth, and a fireball one meter in diameter condensed in its throat, compressed, and fired. Purple poisonous mist was attached to its surface as it trailed a long tail of flame, booming straight toward the Green Phoenix.

The pitch-black head on the right followed immediately, a silent shadow impact streaking out along the ground, so fast it left a black afterimage.

The two attacks, one high and one low, one bright and one dark, sealed off all space in front of and below the Green Phoenix.

The Green Phoenix was diving.

It got closer and closer to the first Wind Core—the first one on the figure-eight loop.

Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters.

"Left turn."

The Green Phoenix's body jerked to the left mid-dive, its left wing nearly brushing the edge of the first Wind Core. Its body was pulled by the Wind Core's power, and its entire flight path changed from a straight line to a curve, ducking behind one of the Wind Barriers.

Boom—!

The fireball flew through the Green Phoenix's previous position and slammed into the ground in the distance, exploding into a mass of dark red flame. A shallow pit two meters wide was blasted into the earth, the walls scorched black by the high temperature.

The shadow impact followed closely, passing beneath the Green Phoenix and hitting a rock—there was no explosion and no fire, but the rock was corroded into a pitch-black hole by the dark energy, with black smoke rising from the edges as if something had hollowed it out from the inside.

Both attacks missed completely.

...