Jue Tian's ambush directly took away one‑quarter of Shi Feng's HP.
Far away, Hei Zi stared dumbfounded, not understanding how an assassin could suddenly appear and attack Shi Feng. He wanted to help, but casting took time, and his control skills were all used on the Steel Skin Hippopotamus, so he could only stare helplessly.
The only thing he could do was chant a spell and fire a Shadow Arrow.
"Such high damage!" Shi Feng saw his HP drop sharply, feeling surprised.
Earlier, a level‑9 expert, the Five‑Elements Rat as a Berserker, attacked him and dealt only a little over a hundred damage, yet Jue Tian's ambush now inflicts over three hundred damage—his attack power far surpasses the Five‑Elements Rat.
The assassin's attack speed is extremely fast; each hit usually does less damage than a Berserker, but he can make up for it with sheer number of strikes. If each of his hits were comparable to a Berserker's, his output would already be two to three times that of a Berserker, and since Jue Tian's each hit is far stronger than that of the Five‑Elements Rat acting as a Berserker, his output is at least three to four times greater.
Shi Feng was surprised, but Jue Tian was no less shocked.
His ambush normally can take away two‑thirds of the HP of a same‑level MT wearing a full bronze set, yet it only removed one‑quarter of Shi Feng's HP.
Shi Feng's defense and HP are much higher than those of well‑equipped MTs.
"Die!" Jue Tian twisted his wrist, a silver gleam slicing toward Shi Feng's neck while another dagger stabbed his back.
Throat lock!
Back stab!
Although he was shocked, the assassin's burst wasn't just the first strike—it was a continuous combo.
From the moment Shi Feng appeared in the Gale Canyon and seized the Shadow Leopard King, he has been following Shi Feng, silently waiting for the best opportunity, because he knows Shi Feng is strong and must be caught at his utmost weakness, with no skills available, before he has a chance to kill him—but he has never found the right moment.
Yet all that waiting finally paid off; during the fight with the Steel Skin Hippopotamus, Shi Feng finally revealed a flaw, and without hesitation he used the Death Lock Scroll he had bought at a great cost, precisely for such a situation.
Death Lock seals all of the target's learned skills, rendering them temporarily unusable and immobilizing the target for six seconds.
Although Shi Feng has high defense and thick HP, six seconds of burst is enough to kill him.
At such close range, Shi Feng can clearly feel the two daggers thrusting at him; if Jue Tian unleashes a full burst combo, he will surely die.
At the critical moment, Shi Feng used Phantom Kill and instantly swapped with his clone.
Death Lock can only seal skills that the player has learned; equipment‑based skills are not affected.
Just after the swap, the two daggers gleaming with silver pierced the clone's body. The clone's head showed a 212‑point bleed damage and a 257‑point skill damage.
Immediately thereafter, Jue Tian erupted violently, wildly waving the two daggers; ten silver streaks struck the clone's vital points at once.
A chain of normal attacks added the assassination skill and poison damage from the daggers; the clone's over‑one‑thousand HP vanished instantly and it dispersed.
"A clone?"
Jue Tian was still reveling, thinking he had settled Shi Feng, but after struggling for half a day he had only killed a clone; his face darkened instantly. He narrowed his eyes, scanned the surroundings, saw Shi Feng not far behind him, and immediately turned and charged forward.
Death Gaze lasts six seconds, and there are still four seconds left—how could Shi Feng so easily break the Death Gaze he bought at such a high price?
But just as Jue Tian reached Shi Feng's front, a Shadow Arrow flew in.
"Trash, I don’t have time for you now." Jue Tian ignored Hei Zi's Shadow Arrow and drove the dagger straight at Shi Feng.
As for Shi Feng's teammate Hei Zi, he paid him no mind; once Shi Feng was dealt with, taking out Hei Zi would be easy.
With a boom, the Shadow Arrow exploded on Jue Tian's body.
-221 damage appeared above Jue Tian's head, draining one‑quarter of his HP.