Chapter 219: Shangguan Bing’er (2)
Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations
The next instant, a loud bang reverberated around the clearing as Drunken Bao’s cudgel smashed hard onto the lioness. Distracted by the pain in its eye, the lioness was not able to even attempt to dodge the blow, and wasn’t even able to use its energy to block Drunken Bao’s blow properly. As such, Drunken Bao had also managed to seize the opportunity to strike in a rather cunning spot – not the head which was extremely tough, but the spot between the head and the shoulders. Being struck by the cudgel, the lioness flew back into the air, spinning around before smashing heavily into the ground, its entire body stained by the gold light from the cudgel, rolling back several rounds before getting up with much difficulty.
Drunken Bao was after all a Mid Level Zun Stage Heavenly Jewel Master, and in terms of power he was no weaker than that lioness. With the lioness injured in the eye, distracted and unable to defend itself properly, his blow had definitely dealt a major injury to it. That was even with its tough skin; any weaker Heavenly Beast without such a benefit would have been killed by such a blow.
Just as everyone had been stunned by Shangguan Bing’er’s amazing seven arrows, she showed them what she had meant by firing rate.
Both feet planted firmly on the ground, she held her position as green bolts of light shot continuously from the Green Spirit Bow, like a flow of lightning bolts spitting forth. Each bolt of light flew unerringly to a Blood Blaze Lioness’ eye, no matter how they moved or dodge, those arrows seemed as if they had eyes upon them, always hitting their mark.
With just the Green Spirit Bow, Shangguan Bing’er’s offensive power was undoubtedly insufficient, especially since her cultivation level was only three-Jeweled, with her Heavenly Energy the lowest in the entire team. However, despite that, she had accomplished, all by herself, what seemed an impossible mission to the others.
All seven of the Mid Level Zun Stage Heavenly Beasts had been suppressed by her alone! Besides the single lioness who she had deliberately let through to Drunken Bao, none of the other lionesses were able to even reach within ten yards of the team. All of the Blood Blaze Lionesses were roaring angrily, but despite that, they could only attempt to block their eyes. Even then, her arrows were still able to slide through gaps or twist around their defenses, striking towards their eyes.
With their vision impaired and continuously subjected to this barrage of arrows, no matter how strong these Blood Blaze Lionesses were, they were unable to unleash their power.
Their greatest weakness had been fully exploited by Shangguan Bing’er. Without any form of ranged attacks, they were actually suppressed by her alone, at least for this short period of time.
In the air, Little Four could only stare with his eyes wide open, his jaw gaped wide open. He could still remember how he had mocked Zhou Weiqing the day they had all met in the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy. At that time, Shangguan Bing’er had stepped forward angrily to bet with him. Only now did he know that although this young couple might not have a high cultivation level, their unbelievable archery skills were not to be underestimated.
Facing such a barrage of arrows, perhaps Lin TianAo with his ultimate defensive might easily dismiss it, perhaps Crow with her dense musculature and thick skin could also deal with it easily. However, what about the rest of them? Even though they might have a higher cultivation level than Shangguan Bing’er and Zhou Weiqing, perhaps being stronger than them, but if they were more than fifty yards apart, who could say they could close the gap to either of this pair of archers.
Lin TianAo’s observational skills were even stronger than Little Four’s, and he read a lot more into things – Shangguan Bing’er’s calm, unhurried countenance and her grasp of timing was impeccable. Without question, as soon as he saw the first seven arrows, he understood that Shangguan Bing’er had definitely been on the battlefield, and had definitely fought against Heavenly Beasts before. This was only the first time they had fought together as a team, yet she was already able to perfectly support Drunken Bao. This was definitely not just an ordinary archer who depended on her firing rate. Besides her relatively weaker offensive power, having such an archer in the team was undoubtedly a huge blessing!
In truth, this was barely the tip of the iceberg for Shangguan Bing’er’s skills and power. After all, her greatest strength wasn’t just the rapid fire rate, but rapid fire rate while moving at high speeds. After all, she was an ultimate agility Heavenly Jewel Master. When it came to speed, even though she wasn’t able to fly, just in terms of pure speed and movement, even the four-Jeweled Little Four who was able to fly would not be able to beat her.
What was the Heavenly Bow Unit? It was the Paradise Strange! As the disciple of the leader of the Heavenly Bow Unit, Hua Feng, Shangguan Bing’er’s archery was actually even better than Zhou Weiqing’s.
Originally, Paradise Strange did not have a single Heavenly Jewel Master, yet they had managed to assassinate so many powerful Heavenly Jewel Masters… How had they done so? With their unpredictable and varied archery skills! It could be said that if either Zhou Weiqing or Shangguan Bing’er had to face any of their teammates from a distance of a hundred yards, besides Lin TianAo whose ultimate defense countered them, no one else would have a chance at all. So what if they had five sets of Heavenly Jewels? Facing a powerful archer, who could say with certainty they could block or dodge all the arrows and close in on them?
Another loud explosion rang out as Crow sprang into action, her body shooting forth like a cannonball, targeting one of the lionesses that Shangguan Bing’er had been suppressing.
At the same time as Crow made her move, Ye Paopao and Xiao Yan both lifted their staves.
A brilliant, almost blinding, blue light coalesced above Ye Paopao’s head, forming an ice spear. Before long, it had grew to almost as thick as an arm.
Ye Paopao had always been a prideful person, and now that both Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er had shown their power, as the leader of the Fei Li Military Academy team members, how could he not do his best as well? In this blow, he put forth a huge amount of Heavenly Energy, showing off his four-Jeweled cultivation level to his best.
Simultaneously, Xiao Yan had also launched his attack together with Ye Paopao. A mass of fiery light gushed out from his staff, made out of many fireballs. Fireball, a mere two star rating Fire Attribute Skill, and normally any talented Fire Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master with sufficient funds would not deign to Store such a Skill. However, Xiao Yan had gone against the norm; while others might summon a single Fireball, he actually managed to launch nine at once! This was not any ordinary Fireball, but was the evolved version, turning into a five star rated Skill, Chain Fireball. Even so, a five star rated skill was considered only average, while Ye Paopao’s Ice Spear was a powerful eight star rating attack. As the son of the Prime Minister, he naturally did not lack money.
However, was Xiao Yan’s power that simple? Very soon, Ye Paopao’s gaze was filled with shock.
The nine fireballs flew into the sky, but did not directly strike towards a Blood Blaze Lioness. As they flew up, the first fireball suddenly stopped, and the second one smashed into it. Following, the ones behind crashed into the first one, one after the other. In moments, the nine fireballs had all collided, and the original yellow flames of the fireball had now merged together into a bewitching red colour, which flew directly into one of the Blood Blade Lionesses where a massive explosion ensued. Even with the powerful and tough body of the Blood Blaze Lioness, being struck by the merged Fireball caused it to fly almost ten feet backwards, the explosion ripping its body apart to revealing the chilling white bones beneath, and it clearly would not be able to live much further.
It had to be known that the Blood Blaze Lions were also of the Fire Attribute, and had a natural strong resistance towards fire. Under such a circumstance, Xiao Yan was still able to deal such a killing blow to one who was at the same power levels as himself. From that, one could see how truly powerful his nine merged fireballs were. How could this be even comparable to the normal Chain Fireball Skill?!
Ye Paopao quickly estimated that if it were him facing Xiao Yan, just from that skill alone, perhaps he would have been blasted into smithereens before he could even make a move.
Difference… this was truly the difference between them. Ye Paopao thought to himself as he launched his own attack. Alas, his attack did not have the same effect as Xiao Yan’s.
Seeing that one of his lionesses had been killed in the explosion, the leading Blood Blaze Lion was enraged. It’s immense body soared into the air, the flames around its body dancing furiously, making it seem like a single huge fireball sailing through the air.
Ye Paopao’s ice spear had been targeting another lioness, but it was quickly intercepted by the angry lion. In a flash of blue light, the spear melted right into its blazing hot flames.
Shangguan Bing’er had also attacked it at the same time. With her firing rate, she naturally could take on another opponent. Alas, her arrows also met the same fate as the Ice Spear, melting to the Lion’s flames before it could even reach the body. As a Low Level Zong Stage Heavenly Beast, the Blood Blaze Lion was much more powerful than the lionesses, and even its protective flames were impenetrable to such ordinary arrows.
As the Blood Blaze Lion pounced forward, it wasn’t just to block the Ice Spear, but to launch an attack. It’s target wasn’t Lin TianAo, who was standing opposite it, but instead Crow. When Xiao Yan had killed the lioness with his Fireballs, Crow had also taken action. Although she was a Strength Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master, her speed was not to be dismissed. Charging forward, against a lioness who could barely open its eyes, how could she not seize the opportunity? The Gold Crow Tribe members were born for battle, and had from an early age faced many Heavenly Beasts. The huge battle axes in her hands shone with a brilliant dark-gold light, and with that charge and swipe, the lioness had already been chopped into two.
However, that attack gave the Blood Blaze Lion an opening, and it immediately sprung towards her in anger. Luckily, as it did so, Lin TianAo also sprang into action. He did not move extremely fast, instead moving steadily to intercept it at the point where the Blood Blaze Lion would have to get to strike at Crow.
Just as the Blood Blaze Lion was barely five yards from Crow, Lin TianAo managed to intercept it. With a loud crash, his shield smashed into the lion from the side.
Of course, he did not manage to successfully strike the lion’s body. Despite being in mid air, the Blood Blaze Lion had managed to sense the incoming danger, and had instantaneously twisted in mid air, striking out with its claws.
Alas, although its reaction was blindingly quick, facing Lin TianAo, it was made no difference.
As soon as Lin TianAo sprang into action, the shield in his hands was instantly formed into its Five-Shield Assembly state. Facing a Zong Stage Heavenly Beast, he knew he could not afford to underestimate it, and had to use all the power at his disposal.