great-warnovel Chapter 68 Absolute raw power leveled the Nian Shi Huai.
Chapter 68 Absolute raw power leveled the Nian Shi Huai.
The thousand-year-old corpse locust tree stands silently in the center of the cave, its withered halo like a silent plague, indiscriminately eroding everyone who steps into this place.
On the terminal screen, the maximum health bar for the thirty people was steadily decreasing at a rate of one percent per second, and the air was filled with a nauseating stench of rotting wood mixed with cadaverine.
Lei Zhan gripped his newly acquired dark gold shield, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings. At the edge of the swamp, hundreds upon hundreds of corrupted treants had emerged from the ground, dragging their mutilated bodies toward the crowd.
"This thing is pretty powerful," one of the team members said.
Lu Yan then said in the channel, "The Corpse Locust itself doesn't have any accompanying elites, only ordinary treants. The Gluttonous Belt can't be used anymore, so you can switch back to belts with attributes."
Everyone did as instructed.
The prerequisite for plundering the mechanism is to kill the monster carrying the mechanism, and in the current situation, a head-on confrontation is the only solution.
Lei Zhan originally thought this would be a brutal war of attrition, but then he realized that the configuration of the first squad had already exceeded the scope of conventional tactics.
He stepped forward, drew his long sword, and held it horizontally in front of his chest, his mind racing as he assessed the combat strength of both sides.
"The Tree People are to be handled by our Seventh and Eighth Teams." Lei Zhan turned to Xiao Qianyu, his voice resolute. "We'll take care of clearing out the scrambled animals and clear out the main battlefield for you."
Xiao Qianyu turned her gaze to Lu Yan. Lu Yan's fingertip swept across the terminal, and after confirming the treant's attribute panel, he nodded slightly.
"Make your move." Xiao Qian-yu brandished her spear, her words concise and to the point.
The battle has begun.
Lei Zhan led the charge into the treant horde, smashing his dark gold shield repeatedly, tearing a defensive line at the edge of the quagmire.
The seventh and eighth squads pressed forward, holding back the surging tide of corrupted treants on the outer perimeter. The main battlefield was left entirely to the first squad.
Su Yunqing stood at the back of the group, raising her newly acquired scepter—the Gift of Yaoguang—with both hands.
A gentle green glow emanated from the top of the scepter, and a series of effects took effect simultaneously, including increased healing output, a maximum number of targets healed plus one, increased healing critical strike chance, and increased shield strength.
The green light transformed into a tangible band of light, precisely connecting the five members of the first squad and also radiating to Lei Zhan and the others who were fighting fiercely on the periphery.
The sense of crisis brought about by the reduction of maximum health was completely covered by a shield that was so thick it was appalling.
Lei Zhan glanced at the status bar briefly, and his heart skipped a beat.
His maximum health was reduced by only 10%, but the shield that Su Yunqing put on was twice the thickness of his total health.
Even more outrageous is that the shield regeneration doesn't stop during healing. As long as Su Yunqing's mana doesn't run out, the entire team is practically immortal.
The sense of security derived from this numerical overflow is both brutal and effective.
With the front line's health firmly locked, the back line could unleash its full firepower.
Xiao Qianyu moved like lightning, her Crimson Lotus Goddess Spear transforming into countless spear shadows, flashing and striking.
She transformed into a streak of red light, directly entering the corpse locust's attack blind spot, and the mythical ring she had just put on, [Heart of Withering], began to operate.
Each time the spear tip pierced the charred bark, it left a dark red mark.
Withered Mark. Each stack increases damage taken by 5% and reduces healing received by 10%, with no upper limit on stacking.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Qianyu thrust seventeen times.
The Corpse Locust's Deadwood Armor has a base damage reduction of up to 90%. For a regular team, this would require four full-strength magic damage dealers to take turns bombarding it for half an hour.
However, this mechanism becomes a complete joke in the face of the unlimited vulnerability of [Withered Heart].
The corpse locust emitted a mournful screech, its massive body shook violently, and its thick vines lashed out wildly, trying to drive away the annoying insect.
But Zhao Leiguang had already stepped up, activating the Earth Pulse Set, and the Earth Wall rose from the ground, blocking all the vines that were pulled out.
He transformed into a heavy dump truck, savagely crashing and trampling through the battlefield, forcefully interrupting the Corpse Locust's spellcasting.
"Wen Yue, take over!" Xiao Qianyu used the momentum to retreat and escape the battlefield.
Wen Yue set up the World-Destroying Thunder Crossbow, drew the bowstring taut, and unleashed a barrage of scattered grenade mother shells.
It split in mid-air, turning into hundreds of miniature explosive shells that covered every inch of the bark of the corpse locust tree, followed by high-explosive grenades, triggering a chain reaction of explosions.
Wood chips flew everywhere, and the charred bark was peeled away layer by layer, revealing the woody part inside that was flowing with black sap.
The corpse tree attempted to repair itself, its roots at the bottom of the swamp frantically drawing nutrients, and green recovery numbers floated above its head.
"+12"
"+8"
The healing reduction effect from [Withered Heart] has stacked to 850%, completely crippling the Corpse Locust's recovery mechanism.
Lin Chuxue stood on the flank, and the Blood Mage's skills were being used like they were free, raining down on the Corpse Locust. The "One Blood, Ten Thousand Shields" mechanic allowed her to completely ignore the health cost of the skills.
Holding the ever-changing lance, Shen Xinglin cut in from the other side, the tip of the lance striking precisely, destroying the load-bearing structure of the corpse locust tree.
Corpse Locust's health bar evaporated at a visible rate under the concentrated fire of the first squad. The entire battle lasted only three minutes.
With a long, mournful cry, the massive tree trunk snapped in two, the towering ancient tree fell and crashed into the mud, stirring up a cloud of filth.
The system notification sounded in everyone's ears, indicating that they had cleared the secret realm.
In the past, when facing large-scale dungeon bosses, each team needed to coordinate precisely and calculate the output cycle of skill axes.
But today, the first squad turned this battle into a one-sided massacre.
Lei Zhan, panting heavily, looked at the enormous creature lying in the mud. His battle sword hadn't even had time to be dulled before the battle was over.
The endless stream of corrupted tree-men on the periphery withered and turned into pools of black water after the mother body collapsed.
Lu Yan stood at the very back of the group, without even moving his position.
He looked down at the combat data recorded on the terminal. Su Yunqing's overhealing conversion rate had reached an astonishing 300%, and Xiao Qianyu's peak DPS had exceeded that of conventional professions by several times.
They've become familiar with the efficiency of this BD system and clearly have their own understanding of it.
"Clean up the battlefield." Xiao Qianyu shook off the corrosive liquid from the tip of her spear and put it back in its place. Her breathing remained steady, and she didn't break a sweat.
The members of the seventh and eighth squads looked at each other. They had thought they were there to be cannon fodder, but all they did was cut down some wooden stakes on the outside.
This effortless victory is truly surreal for these proud and arrogant military elites.
Zhao Leiguang sheathed his shields and strode towards the glowing ruins, shouting in a loud voice, "Hurry up, pick up the loot! What are you all standing around for!"
Lei Zhan shook his head with a wry smile and said to his equally dumbfounded teammates, "Let's go clean up the battlefield." He looked at Lu Yan with a complicated expression, hesitated for a moment, and then couldn't help but ask, "Lu Yan, I heard you're in the Pirate Secret Realm... Do you still want to go there again? Look at our second and third echelon teams..."
"Let's take it slow." Lu Yan glanced at him, his tone indifferent. "Going there once is not cheap. We should wait until all this equipment has been sold and our coffers are empty before we talk about it."
Lei Zhan quickly assured him, "Don't worry! The military isn't worried about not being able to sell the equipment; they're worried that the armories are overflowing! I saw it when I went to the armory last time; the logistics guys were complaining to me every day, and they've already started selling off batches of equipment to civilian adventure groups at low prices."