The instant Lin Xie's health dropped, every member of the Demon Emperor Hall was stunned.
They never imagined that their commander, Lin Xie, would actually be at a disadvantage.
"Even the commander can't match him? That Black Flame's attributes are terrifying!" Everyone in the audience stared fixedly at Shi Feng, their hearts flooded with disbelief.
They were the absolute elite of the Demon Emperor Hall — top experts among top experts, every one of them at the pinnacle of the Perfection realm at minimum. They could see every detail of the exchange between the two fighters with perfect clarity.
In terms of pure technique, their commander was evenly matched with Shi Feng. Both were Domain-realm masters who made optimal choices in body control and environmental assessment — neither could have done any better.
But in speed and power, Shi Feng edged out their commander, Lin Xie, by a small margin. That gap turned techniques and skills of equivalent proficiency into something noticeably different. Especially in terms of bodily reaction speed — because Lin Xie was half a beat slower, he failed to block that bolt of lightning.
And how powerful their commander's attributes were, they knew all too well.
When Lin Xie was still a Tier 2 Class, his stats could rival those of a Tier 3 player. Now that he had become a Tier 3 Class with his bloodline further unlocked, his attributes had surged dramatically. He was essentially a human-shaped monster.
Yet even so, he was still a step behind Shi Feng. None of them could understand how Shi Feng could possess such absurd attributes — it was inhuman.
Watching from a distance, Fan Muran was utterly dumbfounded.
"So this is the Black Flame Guild Leader's true strength?"
Lin Xie was ranked among the top ten fighters on Dragon Heart Island. Even their own commander, Ziwei, couldn't compare to him. And yet this top-ten powerhouse was being suppressed by Shi Feng.
This level of strength might even rival the monstrous existences ranked in the top three.
Those top-three aberrants were each feared by the leaders of every major superpower. A single one of them could annihilate an entire superpower's elite army. On Dragon Heart Island, they were virtually invincible.
Only now did Fan Muran suddenly understand why Shi Feng had dared to venture out with just four people to rescue their commander.
With this kind of strength, he absolutely had the capability to pull off a rescue.
Lin Xie, who had been forced back half a step, stared at Shi Feng with an expression of sheer disbelief.
"How can his attributes be even stronger than mine?" His gaze was filled with utter bewilderment.
He was wearing a Level 100 Magic Gladiator inheritance set, and combined with his unique bloodline, his power was on par with a High Lord of the same tier. He had only managed to overpower Shi Feng in raw strength by using a Tier 3 skill, and even then, his speed fell slightly short.
But Shi Feng did not stop after his opening strike knocked Lin Xie back. He thrust the Magic Artifact Abyssal straight forward.
Tier 2 Skill — Phantom Swordplay!
Ten sword shadows erupted simultaneously, stabbing toward Lin Xie from every direction, leaving him no room to breathe.
Lin Xie knew dodging was impossible. He swung his great axe horizontally and simultaneously activated the Magic Gladiator's defensive skill, Iron Wall. Four magical barriers materialized around his body, each one more than twice the size of a main tank's shield. Under Lin Xie's control, the four barriers circulated around him in a specialized trajectory.
High-Grade Defensive Technique — Fortress!
The ten sword shadows hammered relentlessly into the barriers. Every strike sent violent tremors through them, and the resulting shockwaves nearly forced Lin Xie himself backward.
One strike… two strikes… three strikes…
Each blow felt like being smashed by a sledgehammer, and the dense mana composing the magical barriers was being steadily whittled away.
On the final strike, two sword shadows suddenly merged into one and plunged into the barrier.
Boom!
With a thunderous detonation, the magical barriers shattered.
"Broken?" Lin Xie stared at the destroyed barriers, unable to believe what had just happened.
The fusion of his inherited defensive skill and combat technique produced a defense so formidable that even an Ancient Guardian wielding a halberd had been unable to crack it — and yet now it had been broken by a skill from Shi Feng. It was simply inconceivable.
The violent impact forced Lin Xie to retreat two full steps.
That retreat disrupted his body's balance, causing his defensive technique to waver. Shi Feng seized the opening, and the Holy Sword Thunderstrike stabbed through the gap in his defense, aiming straight for the center of Lin Xie's forehead.
The sword moved so fast that Lin Xie, having barely steadied himself, had no time to dodge or block. He could only take the blow head-on.
If that strike landed on his head — a vital point — it would be absolutely devastating for Lin Xie.
Not devastating in terms of damage alone, but because after the Divine Realm's update, damage to a player's body would affect their physical performance. If an arm was injured, movement and fine control in that arm would be impaired for a period of time. If the head was damaged, overall body control and spatial awareness would drop sharply.
His reaction speed was already inferior to Shi Feng's. If it dropped any further, he would be completely at Shi Feng's mercy.
Just as the Holy Sword Thunderstrike was about to descend upon Lin Xie's skull, a massive ethereal blue ice sword plummeted from the sky, landing squarely between Shi Feng and Lin Xie. The blow was deflected, giving Lin Xie a chance to breathe.