Chapter 1 The Team's First Battle

The group advanced cautiously, all the way to the end of the torch-lit tunnel. They repeatedly braced themselves; creatures of the Death Knell series disliked light, and as the four-person team moved away from the torchlight, battle could break out at any moment.

Whoosh!

Han Jiangxue waved her hands, and two giant Flame Puppets appeared in the tunnel, moving ahead of Song Chunxi and Jiang Xiao to provide illumination.

They had only walked about 300 meters when Song Chunxi tensed and said, "Target detected, Death Knell..."

Before she could say the word "Ghoul," Song Chunxi's expression changed drastically, and Jiang Xiao's giant blade collided with a dark silver short knife!

Fast!

Too fast!

It was the first time Song Chunxi had discovered a Death Knell Ghoul. It seemed to be about to crash into the corner of the wall, but before she could finish speaking, the Death Knell Ghoul had already appeared in front of them.

Jiang Xiao reacted extremely quickly, and Song Chunxi even faster.

Just as Jiang Xiao's giant blade blocked the Death Knell knife, Song Chunxi made her move.

Song Chunxi wielded Thanos-style double-edged greatswords like propellers, covered in burning black flames, which didn't add much brightness to the surroundings but did cause the Death Knell Ghoul to hiss!

The painful howl was extremely shrill, and the Death Knell Ghoul's figure flickered and disappeared.

Clang!

A Silence spell missed its mark.

Along with Silence, a platinum-quality Ice Roar also missed.

The two giant Flame Puppets didn't even realize what had happened; the battle was already over.

Fang Xingyun was right; for Star River-level individuals, perhaps there wasn't much difference between extreme speed and teleportation.

As everyone knew, the Star River stage was a threshold for Star Warriors, and after entering the Star River stage, the human body's strength would undergo a qualitative leap.

Further cultivation, advancing towards the Star Ocean stage, didn't have such strict requirements for your physical fitness, as you had already met the standard, without a doubt.

However, as you advanced to the Star Ocean stage, your physical fitness and various metrics would improve, also without a doubt. The difference was that, unlike the breakthrough from Nebula to Star Ocean, people didn't experience a qualitative change in physical fitness; there would only be a quantitative change.

Here's an extreme example: suppose you, at the Star River stage, and you, at the Star Ocean stage, had no changes in any physical metrics, only an increase in Star Power realm, stepping into the Star Ocean stage.

Then, setting aside the Star Power realm, solely in terms of physical fitness, you at the Star River stage would definitely be inferior to you at the Star Ocean stage.

Why?

With the same physical fitness, why would there be such a result?

Because only the upper limit data remained unchanged, but your utilization of your body was deepening.

In the same physical condition, the maximum ability of you at the Star River stage and you at the Star Ocean stage was to throw a ball ten meters.

But if you at the Star River stage developed and utilized your body to 60%, and you at the Star Ocean stage could develop and utilize your body to 80%, would the effects be the same? This wasn't simply a matter of throwing 6 meters versus 8 meters.

Another important aspect was that as your Star Power realm increased, your understanding of Star Power would deepen, and your understanding of Star Techniques would also continuously improve.

Take Er Wei of the Star Ocean stage as an example; she couldn't stop Jiang Xiao's teleportation, but she could definitely stop the Death Knell Ghoul's extreme speed movement.

This level of powerhouse had reached an extremely terrifying degree of control over Star Power, understanding of Star Techniques, and development and utilization of their own body.

For example, Song Chunxi, at the peak of the Star River stage, and Xia Yan, at the early Star River stage, might have consistent hard metrics; the Star River threshold helped the two level out their physical fitness standards, but in terms of combat power, Xia Yan would most likely be no match for Song Chunxi.

Han Jiangxue said, "Don't be discouraged; just treat it as a practice run. Now, execute Plan B. Song Chunxi, I hope you're the one blocking the next attack."

"Yes," Song Chunxi immediately said.

Jiang Xiao clicked his tongue inwardly: Tsk tsk... once this young lady takes command, she really is domineering.

The so-called Plan B was to win by using Silence.

Death Knell Ghouls only had close combat abilities, so they would inevitably engage in close quarters combat with the group.

Jiang Xiao hadn't reacted in time just now, but next time, if there was another close quarters encounter, Jiang Xiao would immediately cast Silence at his feet. On one hand, it could directly prohibit the Death Knell Ghoul's Star Techniques, causing its blade to shatter. On the other hand, it would completely prohibit the Death Knell Ghoul from leaving at extreme speed.

Once Silence took effect, what followed would be intense melee combat.

"This guy really is a skeleton..." Jiang Xiao grinned and couldn't help but say.

In that brief glance just now, Jiang Xiao had seen the creature's face.

This kind of creature was truly magical; it was just a giant skeleton, about two meters tall.

What did it eat? Was it purely supported by Star Power? And how did it make those sounds just now?

Uh, well, obsessing over these things was indeed useless. Many places in this world didn't follow basic laws... or rules.

"Hopefully, it's like what the introduction said, with very low defense," Song Chunxi said, her expression slightly ferocious, her voice carrying a hint of coldness, a change from her usual gentleness.

"The Death Knell Walker has very high defense, though. They're both skeletons, but the difference is huge," Jiang Xiao said, trying to liven up the atmosphere. "It doesn't look like it has high defense at all; you could probably break it with your bare hands."

"It's quite experienced; it knows the real targets are us, not the Flame Puppets..." Song Chunxi stopped speaking and suddenly took a step forward, her double-edged greatswords raised sharply.

Before the sound arrived, the ghoul acted first.

The Death Knell Ghoul, angered by Song Chunxi, attacked again. They were already engaged when the others heard the hoarse scream.

Jiang Xiao didn't see any enemy at all, but at the moment Song Chunxi suddenly acted, Jiang Xiao threw a Silence at his feet!

Clang!

The Death Knell knife collided with the double-edged greatswords after all, and in the next moment, the Death Knell knife quietly shattered, turning into Star Power and disappearing. The black flames attached to the double-edged swords also quickly dissipated, revealing the steel color of the double-edged greatswords' bodies.

So fast!

Even without extreme speed movement Star Techniques, the Death Knell Ghoul, as a platinum-level creature, was still terrifyingly fast!

A skeleton was seen fighting with Song Chunxi and Jiang Xiao, a very strange sight.

In fact, the Death Knell Ghoul's bones weren't as fragile as imagined, certainly not like the Tear Ghouls in the Tearful Rain Forest; their transparent skins were like decorations, leaking air with a single poke...

The ghastly bone claws clashed with the giant blade and double-edged greatswords several times, showing no signs of shattering.

The Death Knell Ghoul was surrounded by the two, but it didn't retreat; instead, it was trying to advance?

Xia Yan was on full alert, blocking in front of Han Jiangxue; she was the last line of defense for the back-row mage.

Han Jiangxue, wearing a Flame Shield, suddenly said, "Flame Arc, nail it to the wall!"

As she spoke, Han Jiangxue aimed accurately and flicked her slender fingers lightly, and a Wild Wind suddenly attacked. In the melee circle, it was precisely the moment when the Death Knell Ghoul forced Song Chunxi back and turned to clash with Jiang Xiao's giant blade.

Whoosh...

Due to the rapid changes in the small battle group's position, the Wild Wind should have only blown the Death Knell Ghoul, but now it was swirling in the middle of the two.

Jiang Xiao and the Death Knell Ghoul were both blown up at the same time, flying diagonally backward. Jiang Xiao didn't panic at all, and flung his giant blade out violently, spinning.

In mid-air, the Death Knell Ghoul, baring its fangs and claws, was directly smashed heavily by the giant blade. In the next moment, another rotating double-edged sword flew over.

It seemed that Jiang Xiao's actions at the World Cup had given Song Chunxi some combat ideas; had she also started playing fancy tricks?

Uh, but Song Chunxi was clearly not skilled enough, and didn't possess the profound blade-deflecting skills. The double-edged sword slammed vertically onto the skeleton, and due to the angle and force, the double-edged sword didn't bounce back, but fell to the ground.

Clang!

Jiang Xiao, holding the returned giant blade, retreated rapidly, and cast another Silence. The Death Knell Ghoul, just as it was about to scream hoarsely after being smashed into the wall, lost its voice again.

It was truly magical; a skeleton, how could it scream? Where did the vocal cords come from? This Silence was also awesome; if it said not to make a sound, it really wouldn't let it make a sound...

Discussing science in the magical Star Power world was truly a meaningful thing.

While Jiang Xiao was lost in thought, streams of blazing Flame Arcs arrived as scheduled.

Xia Yan transformed into a long-range warrior, wielding the giant blade repeatedly, slashing upwards and downwards, upwards and downwards...

One scorching blade arc after another was thrown out. This barrage of bombing rumbled and blasted the Death Knell Ghoul into the earthen wall.

Han Jiangxue liked Xia Yan's execution ability and ordered loudly, "Retreat! Retreat!"

Due to their positions, Jiang Xiao retreated to the other side of the two Flame Puppets, and the Flame Puppets volunteered to move quickly towards the wall.

Over here, Song Chunxi dodged Xia Yan's Flame Arcs and joined the two.

Seeing that the distance was about right, Han Jiangxue waved her left and right hands repeatedly, throwing out a total of three Chain Lightnings.

There was no other way; she had to be quick, otherwise, if the Flame Puppets were blown up by electricity, the Chain Lightning wouldn't be able to jump.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Xiao was ready to explain to Han Jiangxue properly that when necessary, he didn't need to retreat, but Song Chunxi had to retreat.

Han Jiangxue could directly use Jiang Xiao as a target, giving Chain Lightning a chance to shine, letting the lightning shuttle back and forth between him and the Death Knell Ghoul.

The speed of Chain Lightning was extremely fast; shuttling back and forth between the Flame Puppets and the huge wall pit, the speed was difficult to capture with the naked eye. People could only see a connected chain of lightning and the undissipated electric light.

Clang!

The Flame Puppets completed their mission and directly exploded, and there was no more sound in the dusty wall pit.

"It's not moving," Song Chunxi said quickly, receiving more information than the others.

Jiang Xiao threw another Silence in, being careful was always a good idea, before leaping into the pit with his giant blade.

There was no other way; in this special terrain, Han Jiangxue's mage Star Techniques were very limited.

The Deep Blue Scepter was air-to-ground, like Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan's Tearful Rain series Star Techniques, which couldn't be effective in this terrain. Ice Roar was a purely ground-to-ground Star Technique, and its range was too large, making it too easy to accidentally injure teammates.

Platinum Ice Roar was no joke; if it hit a teammate, it would be a real disaster.

At this time, Jiang Xiao, who jumped into the wall pit, didn't care so much. Star Power covered his giant blade, and following Song Chunxi's directions, he slashed down in the dust.

Rattle...

Finally, the sound of a skeleton shattering came from the wall pit.

A few seconds later, Jiang Xiao walked out holding a giant skull. This skull was a size larger than a basketball; this creature's head was indeed a bit big.

Jiang Xiao held the giant blade, Star Power covering the handle, constantly smashing the skull, crack, crack, crack...

In fact, it had no flesh and blood, let alone a brain.

A Star Bead fell out of the skull.

Jiang Xiao couldn't help but look at the others and said, "I was wondering why I always heard rattling sounds when fighting. I thought it was the sound of its bones, but it turns out this skull isn't solid. There's an egg-sized hollow space in the back of its head, and this Star Bead was bouncing back and forth, crackling..."

As he spoke, Jiang Xiao suddenly shook his head left and right, not hearing the sound of Star Beads bouncing around in his own head.

Well, a human brain is still better, exquisitely constructed and full, not even the sound of water can be heard.