At the trial teleportation gate, Yuan Xiaoqian's sudden intervention left the entire Sword of the Violet in stunned silence.
As a prodigy of the Azure Trading Company, Yuan Xiaoqian had already drawn considerable attention during Sword of the Violet's newcomer training program — partly because she was only half a step from mastering Domain, and partly because Old Coach Torre had personally taken her under his wing. As a result, virtually every senior member and top-tier fighter in Sword of the Violet had looked into her background.
Yet here she was, single-handedly blocking an ambush from a peak Tier 3 assassin whose stats were absolutely Tier 4. This assassin was also half a step from Domain, and with Tier 4 power behind the strike — forget the top-tier fighters present, even experts like Silent Star and Hell Roar wouldn't have been confident in blocking it.
But Yuan Xiaoqian had actually blocked it. How could the members of Sword of the Violet not be shocked?
"Her Mana Body has unlocked?!" Hell Roar stared at Yuan Xiaoqian, whose entire body was radiating intense mana waves, his eyes full of disbelief. "Last I checked, three days ago she'd barely unlocked fifty-something percent at most? What exactly did Zero Wing do?"
At Hell Roar's words, the rest of the Sword of the Violet members finally snapped out of their daze, staring at Yuan Xiaoqian one by one with expressions of pure incredulity. Fu Guang, who had trained alongside her, was especially stunned — his surprise was beyond words.
"That's impossible!" Fu Guang stared at Yuan Xiaoqian with wide eyes, feeling as though he were looking at a completely different person. "This is a Mana Body unlock we're talking about! How could anyone fully unlock it in just three days?"
In terms of combat talent, his potential had actually exceeded Yuan Xiaoqian's. He'd even been given one of only two spots in the guild's newcomer development program, and after a period of intensive training, he considered himself at least on par with Gu Han in combat power.
But now Yuan Xiaoqian had blown past him by a huge margin...
Yet before the members of Sword of the Violet could recover, the Tier 3 assassin leading the Illusory Myth contingent struck again. This time, however, he didn't use ranged attacks — he charged straight in.
In an instant, the leading assassin had closed to within ten yards of Silent Star and the others, their expressions darkening considerably.
The Assassin class was never known for ranged combat. What it truly excelled at was close-quarters killing, especially the explosive burst damage at melee range. If a magic-user got caught inside, one combo would be the end of them. And with an assassin's agile reflexes, pinning one down with ranged magic was hard enough — let alone when the assassin had Tier 4 stats backing them.
"That little girl's defense was impressive, but at this distance, let's see how she blocks now!" The Level 114 Tier 3 assassin was the first to reach Hell Roar, closing to within five or six yards before splitting into several dark shadows that surged forward.
Tier 3 Skill — Fatal Shadow Strike!
The space along the shadows' path shattered inch by inch. The devastating power was enough to kill not just a Berserker like Hell Roar, but even a Guardian Knight or Shield Warrior — one hit meant instant death.
"Well, guess this is it." Hell Roar watched the incoming shadows and closed his eyes.
He was mid-cast and couldn't counterattack without interrupting the spell. And even without the casting restriction, there was no way he'd emerge unscathed from these shadows — their power was already at Tier 4, and they'd been enhanced with fundamental combat techniques to push them even further.
Just as the shadows were about to swallow Hell Roar whole, a figure plummeted from above, splitting into four identical copies that charged to meet the incoming shadows.
Clang, clang, clang...
The sound of weapons clashing echoed endlessly before the teleportation gate. Several cracks twenty to thirty yards long tore across the ground, and the terrifying shockwave nearly knocked the surrounding Tier 3 experts off their feet.
As the dust settled, a young man holding a greatsword stood calmly before the Illusory Myth assassin leader, his health bar showing absolutely zero damage. Clearly, he had taken no harm whatsoever from the assassin's earlier strike.
"Gu Han?!" Hell Roar stared at the figure before him, barely trusting his own eyes.
The assassin's attack was something that even he, at full strength, couldn't have blocked unscathed. But Gu Han hadn't just tanked the assassin's strike without a scratch — he'd also shielded Hell Roar from taking any damage.
This level of combat power was an entirely different league from the Gu Han he knew...