The hot spring water bubbled, and Lin Lei was currently submerged at the bottom of the pool.
This hot spring pool wasn't very deep; at its deepest point, it was only about two meters. Lin Lei pressed himself flat against the pool bottom. The spring water was clear, and through it, he could vaguely make out the scene outside.
"Who are these people? Why are the Church of Light warriors outside so weak?" Lin Lei was filled with confusion. The Church of Light guards outside, no matter what, were all at least fifth-level warriors. Every single one of them possessed Battle Qi.
Couldn't these warriors use their 'Dou Qi Shields' to block that black mist?
Lin Lei couldn't figure it out, so for the moment, he didn't dare rush out to confront the black mist.
"Lin Lei, that black mist should be a relatively common Dark Magic spell called 'Corrosive Poison Mist.' Using a Dou Qi Shield would definitely be able to resist it." Derinkoort's voice echoed in Lin Lei's mind.
"But those Church of Light warriors..."
"They must have also been affected by some other mind-bewildering magic, so they didn't have time to use their Battle Qi to block the Corrosive Poison Mist." Derinkoort speculated based on his guess.
*Gurgle...*
A stream of energy spread from Lin Lei's body outwards—it was the Wind System magic spell, Wind of Detection. He could sense every movement outside completely.
"Quick! Kill Lin Lei by any means necessary!" The leader of the black-robed figures said coldly.
The other five black-robed figures nodded and swiftly moved towards the pool.
Right at that moment—
*BOOM!*
Lin Lei shot out of the water like a sharp arrow, splashing water everywhere. Then, crashing down from above like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, his fingers curved into claws, and he viciously clawed at the head of one of the black-robed figures.
"Hmph." The black-robed figure tilted slightly, preparing to block Lin Lei's claw with his left arm, while simultaneously thrusting the short blade in his hand with lightning speed.
A hint of cruel smile appeared on Lin Lei's face.
On the surface of Lin Lei's clawed right hand, a layer of dark greenish-black Dragon Blood Battle Qi emerged. The thin layer of Dragon Blood Battle Qi, combined with the surrounding black Corrosive Poison Mist, made it inconspicuous... Most importantly, black spikes protruded from the tips of Lin Lei's right fingers.
*Pfft!*
Lin Lei's right hand easily pierced through the black-robed figure's left shoulder blade. With another surge of force, he twisted viciously!
*BOOM!*
The black-robed figure's entire left chest exploded, blood spraying everywhere. The assassin died on the spot, yet even in death, his eyes remained wide open in disbelief, because the strike from his short blade had failed to injure Lin Lei at all.
"Earth System seventh level, so it's Jade Armor. Is Jade Armor that easy to break?" Lin Lei thought to himself. "Besides the Jade Armor layer on my skin, my body can also instantly transform into the 'Dragon Blood Warrior' form."
Lin Lei's Dragon Blood Warrior form had now reached the early stages of an eighth-level warrior.
Lin Lei's 'dragon transformation' state also inherited the advantages of the Armored Back Iron Dragon—high defense. Lin Lei's black scales were far stronger than Jade Armor. Judging from the power of that strike, this black-robed assassin should be a seventh-level expert.
It was a pity that a seventh-level expert's defense couldn't withstand the spikes that emerged from Lin Lei's fingertips. Those were the tips of dragon claws after a partial transformation. Lin Lei had only half-transformed just now.
"How is that possible?" The other four black-robed figures were stunned.
According to their intelligence, Lin Lei was a seventh-level dual-system mage, while his warrior strength was much weaker. They never expected that a seventh-level assassin could be killed in a single exchange.
"The information was wrong!" The black-robed leader at the back cursed silently in his heart.
Lin Lei, however, nodded inwardly: "It seems that partially transforming parts of my body can catch the enemy off guard and give them a nasty surprise."
"Damn you servants of the Church of Darkness!"
Suddenly, an angry roar came from the distance. The furious shout rapidly approached the hot spring garden. Lin Lei understood that the rest of the knight squad protecting him had arrived. The dozen or so killed earlier were just a fraction; there were actually over a hundred in total.
The expression on the lead black-robed figure changed.
"Kill Lin Lei by any means necessary!" the black-robed leader commanded.
Immediately, he led the other four black-robed figures to surround and attack Lin Lei. The black short blades in their hands glowed with alternating black light. In this moment, they injected nearly all their power into their weapons.
Attack!
A desperate, all-out attack!
"Seventh-level warriors, right?"
Watching the five black-robed figures close in, Lin Lei didn't dodge. His right hand lightly brushed his waist, and suddenly—
A piercing, dazzling streak of purple light flashed.
Simultaneously, Lin Lei leaped backward at extreme speed. Of the five black-robed figures attacking him, four froze on the spot, while the leader rapidly retreated.
*Pfft!*
The four black-robed figures were severed at the waist simultaneously. Intestines and blood spilled across the ground.
"So fast, so sharp," the black-robed leader stared at Lin Lei in shock.
To kill four seventh-level warriors with a single sword strike—the power was truly terrifying.
Lin Lei knew very well that the divine sword 'Purple Blood' was indeed sharp. Relying solely on 'Purple Blood's' inherent sharpness would be difficult to break through the defense of a seventh-level magical beast. If a seventh-level warrior used Battle Qi for protection, Lin Lei could at most severely wound them but find it hard to kill them.
However, just now, those four black-robed figures had been fully committed to attacking!
They never expected Lin Lei also had a sword.
"To increase Purple Blood's offensive power, I can only inject Dragon Blood Battle Qi. But injecting Dragon Blood Battle Qi isn't as fast as channeling Wind System magic power," Lin Lei evaluated the pros and cons in that moment.
Just now, Lin Lei had indeed killed four with one sword strike.
It relied on astonishing speed—speed that left no room for reaction!
But relying solely on speed and the sword's inherent sharpness generally only worked against sixth-level warriors or severely wounding seventh-level warriors. Unless that seventh-level warrior, like these four assassins, disregarded their own safety and used almost all their Battle Qi for attack instead of defense.
"But this leader isn't seriously injured," Lin Lei looked towards the black-robed leader.