'This guy looks pretty fierce.'
'It's just a phantom, I wonder if the real person is still alive.'
'Low health bar, should be easy to beat.'
'A phantom with no self-awareness, isn't this just freebies?'
'Up, hurry up and try its strength!'
......
If I believed these guys, I'd be in trouble.
Pure Black rolled his eyes as he listened to the barrage of encouragement, silently grumbling to himself.
After all, the Phantom Abiding Monk guarded one of the three materials for the Source Incense. The torment he endured from the previous guardian, the White Ape Sword Saint who guarded the Fragrant Water Lotus, was still fresh in his memory.
Three days!
For a full three days, he couldn't find the right method. It was only when he was pushed to his limit and broke through his defense that he stumbled upon the first phase.
Even though its health bar was only one segment, it was precisely because of this that Pure Black dared not rush forward.
The White Ape Sword Saint, with his three health bars, had given him so much trouble. If the Phantom Abiding Monk's one health bar was equivalent, wouldn't that mean it was three times as fierce as the White Ape Sword Saint?
No,
Soon, Pure Black denied his own comparison. After all, this was a phantom. If the actual Abiding Monk only had one health bar, this conversion would make sense.
It wasn't the real thing, just one health bar. This was logical.
But,
Even so, Pure Black's guard did not drop.
"Let's test its strength first."
Taking a step forward, Pure Black successfully entered the Phantom Abiding Monk's attack range. Before the opponent could launch an assault, Pure Black immediately used the Shadow Step to close the distance, landed a hit, and instantly retreated.
The Phantom Abiding Monk lost a sliver of health and gained a tiny bit of posture.
"So little?"
Pure Black stared in surprise at the Phantom Abiding Monk's almost full health bar, stunned. After all, his combat power had surged.
While a hit from the Zi Ying Sword wouldn't cause an exaggerated amount of damage, it shouldn't be this little, should it?
So the answer was obvious: the Phantom Abiding Monk's defense was very high, at least significantly higher than the White Ape Sword Saint's.
"Huh?"
"Why did the posture reset to zero?"
What surprised Pure Black even more was that after just one second out of combat, the sliver of posture he had built up automatically reset to zero.
This was not a good sign.
High defense and extremely fast posture regeneration. One probing attack yielded two crucial pieces of information.
Just as Pure Black intended to probe further, the strangely large, nearly three-meter-long cleaver, wrapped in gale-force winds, lunged towards his face.
"Such a fast blade!"
He instinctively raised his sword to block...
Clang—!
Whoosh~~
Pure Black let out a slight sigh of relief. Just as he was about to relax his guard and retreat to a safe distance to formulate a battle plan, the three-meter-long cleaver spun and swept across again, even faster than the first strike.
Clang!!
Pure Black parried this blow with muscle memory, but because it wasn't a perfect parry, his posture value increased rapidly.
Swish!
The third blow came before he could even react, sweeping across again.
"When will this end!"
Pure Black felt miserable. The same move used three times. Was it trying to get by with a single trick?
Clang—!
However, third time's the charm.
Pure Black felt his mental focus was at its peak, but when the fourth horizontal slash came, it was even faster, leveraging the force from the previous three parries.
By the time he tried to raise his sword to block, it was too late!
*Splat*!!
The long blade sliced through his body, and Pure Black's health immediately plummeted by more than half.
For some reason, after being hit, he felt a sense of relief, as if he had "finally ended his sinful life." The relentless, consecutive, and seemingly endless horizontal sweeps made him disbelieve.
He wouldn't be surprised if there was a fifth horizontal sweep after the fourth.
Pure Black was not prepared for five, or even six, consecutive horizontal sweeps from the Phantom Abiding Monk. He would have to take a hit eventually, so taking one sooner rather than later felt easier.
Just as he adjusted, the Phantom Abiding Monk attacked again.
Clang—!!
This time, Pure Black saw clearly. The opponent was using a Whirlwind Slash, so he easily blocked it.
Expecting a potential five-hit Whirlwind Slash combo, Pure Black had even prepared to parry perfectly.
*Scrape*—
However, the anticipated five-hit combo didn't come. Instead, his body was pushed by the Phantom Abiding Monk.
Pure Black lost his footing and nearly fell. Fortunately, after so many battles, his control over the wolf's body had reached an exquisite level, and he managed to regain his balance.
Swish!!
At the same time, the Phantom Abiding Monk's upward diagonal slash, wielding the cleaver with both hands, followed closely.
"Done!"
Pure Black's heart skipped a beat. By the time he tried to block, it was too late. In fact, the moment he was pushed, the outcome was sealed; this strike was unavoidable.
*Splat*!!
With his guard wide open, Pure Black was sliced from his left thigh to his right shoulder by the Phantom Abiding Monk, taking him out in one go.
【Scum】
This was all Pure Black's perspective after meticulous analysis. In reality, from the audience's viewpoint, it only took a mere ten seconds from Pure Black's initial attack to being taken down by the Phantom Abiding Monk's fluid combo.
The moment the bloody word "Scum" appeared, the audience was instantly agitated.
'My god, this Phantom Abiding Monk is really tough!'
'It's too damn strong. Even Pure Black was beaten without any chance to retaliate?'
'The Phantom Abiding Monk hasn't even used all its moves, and the full-health, full-stamina streamer is already down.'
'Is the guy who said it was easy still here?'
'Yes, I'm stunned. I probably would have died during the first lightning n-hit combo with these sharp killing blows.'
......
"This boss is indeed very strong, but I didn't die in vain."
After reviving, Pure Black analyzed with a serious expression, "This guy is purely a mechanics boss. All its skills can be dodged. I suffered from lack of experience. I'll try a few more times."
Facing the Phantom Abiding Monk again, Pure Black, relying on his memorized patterns, successfully tested how many slashes the Abiding Monk performed in its opening combo.
"Confirmed, the lightning five-hit combo... no, five-hit slash! And the speed of the next attack is closely related to how well the player parried last time."
"A normal parry and a perfect parry result in different speeds for the next attack. A perfect parry makes the next attack faster and more ferocious."
Grabbing a handful of rice, Pure Black maxed out his status and then created a considerable distance from the Phantom Abiding Monk.
Swish!
The latter unleashed a flamboyant Whirlwind Slash, closing the distance once more and bringing its blade down along with its body.
Clang!
Pure Black immediately raised his sword to block. The moment the metallic clang sounded, he forcefully retreated backward, but he had miscalculated. The retreat distance was insufficient, and he was still within the push range.
The Phantom Abiding Monk still pushed him, causing him to lose his balance. Immediately following, the diagonal upward slash cut across his chest again.
However, due to minimal mistakes during the five-hit combo, Pure Black wasn't taken out in one go, leaving him with only the last sliver of health.
"Retreating is not an option. Do I have to parry that push to block this smooth little combo?"
He murmured to himself, stating that he had learned.
*Thump, thump, thump*!!
The Phantom Abiding Monk pursued relentlessly, instantly appearing before Pure Black and raising its arm.
Pure Black instinctively retreated, simultaneously tightening his grip on the Zi Ying Sword, preparing to block the opponent's Whirlwind Slash with his horizontal blade.
*Whoosh*!!
However, the next moment, instead of the Phantom Abiding Monk's wide, sweeping Whirlwind Slash, the tip of the three-meter cleaver, like a venomous snake, pierced Pure Black's heart at an incredibly strange and tricky angle!
*Splat*!!
Blood instantly splashed out, splattering onto Pure Black's bewildered face.
【Scum】
Resurrecting beside the ghost Buddha, Pure Black was a bit exasperated and grumbled loudly:
"What the hell!"
"It has new moves? Is this guy even the Abiding Monk?"
"Might as well call it the 'Sweeping Monk'!"
......