The body of the Flying Mantis, falling through the air, split cleanly in half mid-section, spraying emerald-green blood like rain.
The Phantom Clone following close behind it distorted in a flash of light and shadow before dissipating completely. Evidently, the clone could not be maintained after its original body had died.
After a brief moment suspended in mid-air, Su Chen landed as lightly as a feather.
A second Jingzhe, executed in a seamless combo.
Such extreme exertion made his heart skip a beat, as if an invisible hand had gently squeezed it. The force was slight, but after the Jingzhe effect wore off, his heart rate spiked dramatically.
If he had dared to chain another Jingzhe, the symptoms likely wouldn’t have been so mild.
’Improving my physical conditioning was the right move,’ Su Chen thought as the Life Energy surged from the Jade Pendant on his chest, quickly dispelling the slight discomfort in his body.
Before he could lower his guard, the severed tail section of the mantis’s carcass began to twitch violently. It wasn’t a nerve reflex; something was writhing inside the cavity.
In an instant, a slender, black shadow with a metallic sheen burrowed out.
"Horsehair worms?"
Su Chen frowned slightly.
With a rustling sound, more and more of the bizarre horsehair worms emerged—not just one or two. As if sensing the presence of a living creature, or perhaps seeking their next host, they suddenly shot forward in a surprise attack, heading straight for Su Chen.
As they launched, their tips split open, revealing horrifying mouthparts lined with needle-like points.
Su Chen reacted in a flash. The Wind Gauze around him instantly billowed as he dodged, sidestepping several meters in an instant. The battle-axe in his hand continuously fired off Wind Blades, unleashing what was practically a gale that sliced all the incoming horsehair worms to pieces.
At that moment, Xiaoye zipped over silently and added a Shadow Claw, finally quelling the parasitic swarm.
Generally, horsehair worms on Earth mostly parasitize specific arthropods. Mammals, with their complex central nervous systems, can’t be controlled by them. Even if one entered a human body, its stay would be brief.
But judging by the mouthparts on these, Su Chen figured these alien parasites could probably slowly devour flesh and blood to sustain themselves.
’It would be disgusting if these things are in the river.’
That settled it. Su Chen immediately abandoned any thought of drinking from it.
If he accidentally drank one, it would probably be impossible to pass. Letting it grow and develop inside his stomach would be a death sentence.
The remains of the Flying Mantis dropped one Dark Element Rune, as well as one lightning and one wood Rune Essence.
’A Phantom Clone Rune?’
’Judging by the effect it just displayed, it must be related to cloning.’ According to its essence composition, it required Dark, Light, and Water—all Essences that his other Runes were lacking.
Even though it was a Lv2 Rune, it wasn’t one of Su Chen’s top priorities.
"Why don’t you take it?" He looked over at Xiaoye.
Huh??
Xiaoye tilted its head, its majestic face showing a hint of confusion.
"It’s decided. You’re the one."
Su Chen grew more certain of this idea. A Dark Attribute Rune was a perfect fit for the Netherworld War Dog.
There shouldn’t be any rejection issues in terms of elemental affinity.
Besides, Rune Essences could attach to almost anything in the world; there was no reason a summoned creature couldn’t absorb one.
With its master’s approval, Xiaoye took a bite and swallowed the Dark Element Rune.
And what do you know, it actually worked.
An update to the summoning Rune’s information immediately appeared.
Pet Skill Unlocked: Phantom Clone
(Phantom Clone: Creates an Illusion of a Netherworld War Dog that inherits 50% of the original’s Basic Attributes. Duration: 2 minutes.)
’Good thing I let Xiaoye have it,’ Su Chen sighed to himself. If it had been his own illusory clone, its stats would have been far inferior to the Netherworld War Dog’s.
The clone was just a mindless puppet, completely lacking Spiritual Energy. It could only follow the Spellcaster’s simple commands and was incapable of using Skills.
But the killing power of Xiaoye’s weaponized claws was already formidable; a single swipe could rip skin from flesh.
What’s more, using the clone as a decoy to draw aggro would make it easier for the real Xiaoye to attack. That was another good use for it.
Just then, Xiaoye successfully cast the Clone Skill for the first time. A Shadow seemed to split off from its body.
As the clone took form, it looked almost identical to the original, only its overall hue was a shade darker.
Xiaoye studied its mirror image, a flicker of instinctual wariness crossing its face. Only after confirming it could command the clone as if it were an extension of its own body, ordering it wherever it pleased, did its perked-up ears slowly lower, finally letting down its guard.
Meanwhile, after feeding both the lightning and wood Essences from the ground to his Jingzhe Rune, Su Chen turned toward the Dog King’s corpse.
More than half of its head had been blown clean off by the power of the Flame Burst.
Two Fire Element Runes and a helping of glittering powder floated in the pool of blood around the remains.
The starlike powder was undoubtedly Spiritual Dust Sand. Su Chen took a small vial from a compartment in his hiking bag and carefully collected the dust inside.
’The second vial.’
He already had another small vial of Spiritual Dust Sand in his bag. He hadn’t used it to upgrade any other Runes because he was still missing the other required materials, but he was also considering saving it all to upgrade his Flame Burst Rune straight to Lv5.
The giant bear last night had taken two precisely aimed throws to bring down. Driven by a fear of insufficient firepower, Su Chen felt it was necessary to raise this Damage Attachment Stream Rune to a High Level.
This conviction grew even stronger now that he had confirmed the existence of creatures even larger than the giant bear.
’A Lv2 Flame Burst Rune. Perfect.’
Su Chen absorbed it with a single touch.
Upgrade Requirements: Flame Burst Rune 4/8, Spiritual Dust Sand 0/3
The other Fire Element Rune was also Lv2. Its structure was Fire, Light, and Light in sequence, and its effect was Scorching Beam. It seemed to have already absorbed a good amount of materials, and was close to upgrading to Lv3.
Su Chen was a little curious. ’This Dog King must have acquired a lot of Light Element Essence within its territory.’
He looked down the sun-drenched path. Sunlight poured down from the east, seeming to coat the entire passage in a faint layer of Holy Light. Faint motes of golden light-dust were visible to the naked eye.
’There must be some kind of environmental generation factor at play.’
Su Chen was certain of his judgment.
As for what to do with this Rune, he didn’t need the Scorching Beam ability. He might as well convert it to bolster his own Strength Attribute, so he simply picked up another vial and stored it inside.
After collecting all his loot, Su Chen set off again, heading straight toward the light.
Under the dazzling morning sun, not a trace of the thin mist remained. Even the dampness of the forest was gone from the air.
According to the video on his phone, this sun-drenched path twisted and turned a bit. The terrain first rose steadily before dipping back down, reaching the entrance to the Forest Canyon after ten kilometers.
In a way, it effectively split this part of the forest in two.
This route was a bit of a detour, but he had to take it to avoid the swamp.
Su Chen moved forward, following the wall of giant trees to his right. Xiaoye followed close behind, while a Phantom Clone took the lead, scouting ahead.

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