56: Chapter 56 Self-Destruction

After throwing that punch, Tang Long also felt a great sense of relief in his heart.

Yellow Beard was indeed formidable; defeating him wasn't hard, but landing a precise strike to rob him of his ability to escape was no easy feat.

Defeating two Blasphemers was nothing, but the fact that the big shot still hadn't made a move was good news—at least it indicated he wasn't one of the Blasphemers' people.

If he wasn't a Blasphemer and didn't immediately move to kill him, there was still room for negotiation.

At that moment, Elder Ming suddenly began shouting again, but since his tongue had been cut out, no one could understand what he was saying.

However, Yellow Beard, lying not far away, responded hoarsely, "Rest assured, it won't happen."

Those few short words caused Tang Long to suddenly think of something, and a chill rose from the bottom of his heart.

In game dungeons, defeated Blasphemer BOSSes usually had one last trick: self-destruction. This self-destruction was incredibly powerful and could wipe out a victorious party of players in an instant, which was why Blasphemer-related dungeons were known as the most disgusting ones.

Although Yellow Beard's level didn't qualify him as a BOSS... this guy's ability was special, and the spiritual energy in his body was quite massive. He wouldn't try such a move, would he?

Just as his gaze shifted over, he saw the massive spiritual energy within Yellow Beard's body suddenly collapse into the Spirit Ring, turning pitch black.

And then...

"Son of a bitch!"

Before Tang Long could finish his curse, Yellow Beard's entire body, slumped on the ground, exploded with a roar.

Wherever the black shockwave reached, everything turned to dust. All people and houses within fifty meters were torn to pieces, including Lv Yang's.

However, when the shockwave reached three meters from him, it was blocked by an invisible barrier and could not advance a single inch further.

Half a minute later, Lv Yang slowly stepped out of the thick smoke and dust. He saw a crater several dozen feet wide blasted into the center of the camp, and the ground for hundreds of feet around it was stained black.

He was beyond self-reproach and extremely infuriated.

Tang Long's outstanding performance had created a certain degree of distraction, and he had allowed his mind to wander for a moment because of it.

It was precisely because of this lapse in concentration that he hadn't managed to stop Yellow Beard's self-destruction in time. By the time he reacted, it was too late, and everyone present had been covered by the black shockwave.

It felt like an incomparably precious, rare gem had fallen into his palm, but he had failed to hold it steady, letting it drop and shatter on the ground.

Not only had he failed himself, but he also had no way to explain this to the High Priest.

He took out the jade tablet the High Priest had given him, only to see that the tablet was completely dim.

He could only let out a long sigh and prepare to leave.

But just then, he discovered that the jade tablet had suddenly lit up again.

Immediately after, he sensed a flicker of life-fire rising from a certain patch of ruins not far away.

Lv Yang couldn't help but be surprised and delighted. "This is... a resurrection?"

Tang Long crawled out of the ruins, covered in dust and grime. Looking at the large crater on the ground, he felt quite helpless.

His resurrection had already been used up, and there was still a big shot nearby staring at him.

What should he do?

This big shot's intentions were still unclear even now. However... he probably didn't know that Tang Long had discovered him.

So the best strategy right now was to pretend he didn't know.

Tang Long immediately moved forward, quickly searching the bodies of the Blasphemers and Bounty Hunters, and then immediately fled toward the north.

By nightfall, Tang Long had arrived beside an ice river beneath the Blue Ridge. Gazing at the blue glow covering the mountains, he felt a bit melancholy.

There's an old saying that eight or nine out of ten things in life don't go your way. It seemed it was much the same in this world.

To be fair, it wasn't that there were no talents among the Blasphemers; Yellow Beard could be considered quite a character.

And... that guy's self-destruction was so damn powerful. Several Bounty Hunters were wiped out instantly, meaning this morning's session was basically for nothing, and he'd ended up covered in soot for his trouble.

Regarding the soot on his backside, Tang Long felt even more helpless.

The bad news was that the big shot was indeed following him relentlessly; the target was undoubtedly him.

The good news was that the big shot still hadn't made a move, and a heavenly change had occurred behind them, widening the gap. For now, no trace of him could be found within the Fire Eye vision.

Actually, this wasn't really good news either. He couldn't possibly hope that a powerhouse of that level wouldn't be able to catch up; he still had to think of another way.

Fortunately, Lu Xiaohu's previous quest had given fifteen thousand experience points. Now he was only a bit over ten thousand away from reaching level ten.

This region was too cold, and there wasn't much prey.

Once he crossed the Blue Ridge tomorrow and put in some hard work grinding, he should be able to hit level ten in about a day.

Once he reached level ten and unlocked faction reputation, he might be able to discern that big shot's background.

However, just as Tang Long was thinking of heading to the riverside to find something to fill his stomach, he felt a violent tremor beneath his feet.

Immediately after, the earth began to shake continuously, large sections of the ice plains cracked, and rumbling thunder echoed incessantly in the sky.

A few minutes later, two fissures glowing with purple light suddenly appeared high in the sky. Large swathes of white light then cast down, forming massive curtains of light.

The curtains of light swept and interlaced across the ground, flashing again into small pillars of light, which then transformed into various strangely shaped exotic beasts.

Tang Long climbed to a high point and watched this scene, dumbfounded.

"What the hell... is this a mob spawn?"

Tang Long couldn't say for sure what a mob spawn meant at this moment.

But... his luck was decent; at least now there were mobs to fight.

The levels of the monsters spawning nearby were relatively low. After the experience point reduction due to the level difference, the gains seemed a bit pitiful.

However, with his current strength, fighting low-level monsters was very simple—basically one hit per kill.

Gathering from the monster corpses became even easier. The long-absent progress bar appeared once again, and his hands moved as if divinely assisted. Even if he did it with his eyes closed, the beast hide would definitely be a complete piece, and the beast meat would be exactly ten catties per portion.

Furthermore, materials gathered via the progress bar could be stored in the inventory.

Unfortunately, the current inventory was far too small. Items like beast hides, teeth, and bones couldn't be stored at all, so he could only pick a few rare materials.

Among them, he encountered a level twelve Elite Crystal Scorpion. This thing was quite fierce; back when they first encountered it, their entire ten-person level ten party had been wiped out.

But now...

A few minutes later, Tang Long dug out a thumbnail-sized transparent crystal from the Crystal Scorpion's forehead.

This item was called a Blue Flame Crystal, the main material for a very powerful throwing item in the game—the blue flame thunder.

Mystics had few attack skills in the early stages and often had to rely on items to supplement their output. The blue flame thunder was the most powerful output item in the early game, but the materials were hard to get, making it a luxury item.

Each blue flame thunder required one gram of Blue Flame Crystal. The piece in Tang Long's hand didn't look large, but it weighed over thirty grams, meaning he could make at least thirty blue flame thunders.

Unfortunately, this kind of mine could only be crafted after changing classes and learning advanced life skills.

Speaking of changing classes, Tang Long couldn't help but feel a bit of regret.

Every time a player changed classes, their strength received a significant boost.

The first class change at level ten provided the smallest boost, and there were only three classes to choose from: Warrior, Caster, and Mystic.

Warriors focused on melee and were fierce and overbearing. Casters focused on ranged attacks and were the kings of output. Mystics, on the other hand, focused on support.

In terms of gameplay fun, Warriors and Casters were naturally more popular. But in the later stages, the Mystic was the soul of a team.

A Mystic could heal, dispel, buff, and even had a summoning branch.

Upon reaching level twenty and completing the second class change, the branches were Secret Insect Master and Secret Curse Master.

The Secret Gu system's skills had stronger support capabilities, providing powerful health regeneration and team buffs.

The Secret Curse Master focused more on strengthening oneself; their output was average, but their survivability was extremely strong. If their equipment was luxurious enough and their skills were complete, they could sometimes even replace a Warrior as a powerful tank.

This was because the first skill after becoming a Mystic was Invincibility!

Although it had a very long cooldown and a very short duration, it wasn't like the limited damage reduction skills of other classes; it was absolute immunity to all damage in the truest sense.

In that previous battle, if he had Invincibility in hand, he could have saved at least one Bounty Hunter.

A famous high-end player once said that Mystics have infinite possibilities.

At the time, many people scoffed at those words, but as the game entered the mid-to-late stages, the Mystic's power gradually became apparent, and the gameplay became increasingly exciting.

A Mystic of the third class change or higher, as long as they were supplied with enough spiritual energy, could double the combat power of an entire team. Combined with many powerful healing and life-saving skills, a Mystic of the fourth class change or higher was like an unkillable cockroach.

More and more players began to regard that saying as gospel.

However, due to having too many skills, complex operations, high learning costs, difficulty in increasing proficiency, the use of consumable items, and high mana consumption, among many other shortcomings, there were very few top-tier Mystics in the game, and the Mystic class remained slightly weak.

Until the Doomsday Era.

It was only then that people discovered how powerful a Mystic who had stepped into reality truly was.

Just their conventional healing ability could save someone no matter how severe the injury. A Mystic even had the ability to resurrect those who had died within a certain timeframe.

It was precisely because of a group of Mystics that the human Resistance Army could stand firm against such terrifying disasters and the suppression of the Blue Star forces.

Otherwise, with every death being permanent, they would have been GG long ago.

In those years, Tang Long was a Mystic. Although his level wasn't high and his skills were far from complete, he was still the absolute core of a team. In the Doomsday Era, the Resistance Army even formed a combat mechanism where the entire team would protect the Mystic at all costs, which was why he was able to live so long.

However, unfortunately, many comrades died before his eyes. At that time, he deeply hated that his level wasn't high enough, his skills weren't numerous enough, and his strength wasn't great enough.

But now...

He had an overflow of skill points, yet he couldn't find a place to change his class.

After killing so many mobs, he actually had to throw away most of the loot.

Where was the justice in that?