Chapter 365 Ling Ding Array

Before Honghu’s words even faded, a hexagonal light array appeared on the surface of the dreadleaf, perfectly encircling the Silkworm Mother’s massive body.

In that instant, the Silkworm Mother’s aggressive charge came to an abrupt halt; she was firmly fixed on one side of the light array, unable to move an inch.

Judging by the effect alone, Honghu’s skill was quite powerful, but its practical application was fraught with difficulties… The main challenge was the requirement to “first lay down spiritual objects at each of the array eyes in the diagram below” (“the diagram” referred to a rather complex spiritual diagram. After equipping the [Ling Ding Array] in the skill bar, players could see this pattern in the skill description window).

In a head-on battle, the only way for Honghu to activate this skill was… to first use light arrows (i.e., non-physical spiritual objects of the same nature) to precisely mark the locations of each array eye, and then make his move. But the problem was… during this time, the enemy would most likely have already left the range of the array (the size of the array needed to be controlled within a certain range, neither too large nor too small).

In other words… he could meticulously calculate and busy himself for ages, and still end up wasting his time…

Of course, there were other ways to set it up, such as arranging the magic array in a certain area in advance, waiting for the target to take the bait (Honghu had once used such a trap to kill a script Boss, using a string of Buddhist beads as the spiritual object). But opportunities like that weren't too common, and the Chew Demon Island script didn't provide such conditions.

Fortunately… the Silkworm Mother had a significant weakness: underestimation.

It was her underestimation that made her fight with a playful attitude; it was her underestimation that made her give up on dealing the final blow to Feng Bujue; and it was her underestimation that made her overlook Honghu’s movements…

In fact, the coordinated attack of Honghu, Tianma Xingkong, and Jibu… was just a smokescreen. In the players' initial plan, the [Ling Ding Array] was a key element. Whether it was Plan A, splitting up to save people, or Plan B, focusing on killing the Boss… both required the cover of this skill.

If Plan A proceeded smoothly, the players could escape under the protection of this move; if they had to switch to Plan B, the Ling Ding Array could also serve as a powerful control ultimate during the battle, providing the players with room to output damage.

Considering the low practicality of this move, Honghu came up with a way to deceive the Silkworm Mother… that is, he, Little Ma, and Jibu would attack together, each launching remote attacks of similar power, to create the illusion that "all three of them were attacking"...

But in reality… every time Honghu shot a few arrows, he would plant a light arrow with a long duration at a specific coordinate. With the cooperation of his teammates, even if the Silkworm Mother noticed this, she would think that those light arrows had just gone astray.

"Move quickly!" After the skill successfully hit, Honghu shouted loudly, "This bug is very strong! The Ling Ding Array can't hold her for twenty seconds, finish her off within ten seconds!"

He was right… Not long after the light array was activated, its light began to flicker, which was not a good sign… It seemed that the consumption of spiritual energy was much faster than expected. At this rate, let alone twenty seconds, even ten seconds would be a stretch…

"Haa…" Jibu took a deep breath, shaking off his fear, his eyes also burning with fierce fighting spirit, "Alright! I'll go first!"

With that, he actually put away the [Peacock Screen] and started a stance with his bare hands.

With a grasp of his right hand in the void, a cloud of white mist suddenly gathered.

Ice peaks condensed three chi, a cold light bloomed one zhang.

A long sword made entirely of frost quickly appeared in Jibu's hand.

"Spiritual energy weapon?" Feng Bujue's first reaction was this, but now was not the time to ask such questions, so he naturally didn't say those words.

"Drink!" Jibu lightly shouted, raised the sword in his right hand and rotated it half a circle above his head, then stood the sword vertically in front of his forehead, then, his left hand formed two fingers, stroking down the blade... The sword body was wrapped in a white light.

"Hyōrin Hyōretsu Jinguten!" (Ice Ring Falling Sky) Jibu emitted a white spiritual aura from all over his body and soared into the sky, the ice sword in his hand also slashed out diagonally.

Zheng—

With a single sword strike, the sound of solid ice cracking armor rose into the air.

The crystalline energy crashed entirely onto the Silkworm Mother's body, sealing her in ice in a single second.

"How can this be!"

Her move exhausted, the Silkworm Mother was shocked and exclaimed.

At this moment, she realized… that she had really underestimated these opponents.

The Silkworm Mother's personality was tyrannical and cruel, and in terms of strength… she indeed had the capital to be arrogant. But she shouldn't have been so careless when facing these "travelers from another world"... because they were humans.

No matter how much the creatures in the multiverse despised humans, they still couldn't deny the power of this kind of creature… this power did not originate from the strength of physical evolution, nor did it come from the transcendence of spiritual境界 (jingjie, realm), nor was it the lead in scientific and technological strength…

"The horror of humans lies in their uncertainty." This was a sentence that Executioner had once said to the Silkworm Mother, and she finally understood it - a race with unlimited possibilities was the most dangerous enemy.

"It's not over yet!" Feng Bujue's reaction was lightning fast. When he saw that the corpse fragments in mid-air were still moving slowly, he knew that the Silkworm Mother was not dead yet, "Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots!"

While reminding his teammates, Brother Jue also took action himself. He generously activated the [Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu - Modified] (Spirit Consciousness Gathering Technique - Modified), strode forward, and followed up with a [Nanto Flying Dragon Fist].

"I'll help too!" Tianma Xingkong also stood up from the surface of the dreadleaf, wiped a handful of blood from his nose, and once again used the Pegasus Meteor Fist.

At this moment, the light of the Ling Ding Array had disappeared. Honghu, who had freed his hands, also drew his bow and nocked an arrow, betting all his remaining spiritual power, and used [Hong Ling Lie] (Roaring Spirit Burst)!

Cutting, combo, penetration... three directions, three ultimate moves.

Sealed by the [Hyōrin Hyōretsu Jinguten], the Silkworm Mother could not dodge, so she had to make a desperate gamble, roaring out an attack with the determination to die together.

"Zha—" The substantive volume bloomed from the Silkworm Mother's body, spreading around like a tidal wave.

The players were not to be outdone, resisting the impact of the sound waves, and forcibly used their skills...

In an instant, flashes of light flashed, and explosions continued.

The raging energy intertwined and collided above the dreadleaf… setting off a bloody storm.

A few seconds later, the dust settled, and the victory or defeat was decided.

But seeing… the Silkworm Mother's body was fragmented, broken into hundreds of blood-filled ice lumps.

And the players were all kneeling on the ground, swallowing survival supplements one after another…

"Haa… haa…" Jibu gasped violently. After wiping away a handful of blood from his nose, he suddenly laughed loudly, "Ha… hahaha! We won!"

"Alas…" Feng Bujue sighed, "No… in a sense, we still lost…"