After crossing the bridge, Su Chen walked along the central wooded path, heading toward the place where flames were rising.
On both sides of the road were courtyard villas. He also paid attention to the house numbers, and after turning onto a small forest path, he found the back door of villa B7.
The house was quiet. There was no one inside, and no sign of a break-in.
Su Chen had arrived early but didn’t ask the front desk for a key, choosing instead to just fish by the river.
In contrast, villa B9, a bit further down, had two cars parked at its back door: a Mercedes C260 station wagon and an Audi A6 station wagon. Both were wagon models, a rare sight on the market.
It was clear that the friends and family who had come to gather here were mostly people who loved outdoor road trips.
However, wisps of black smoke were constantly drifting out from this villa, and the sounds of a sudden combustion came from inside. The people within had likely met with a grim fate.
Su Chen walked closer and could see that the back door was slightly ajar, not fully locked.
He gave it a light push, and the thick stench of blood assaulted his senses.
Opening the door also brought a surprise.
Two bodies lay sprawled in the yard. By the edge of the swimming pool, an Exotic Tiger and Leopard over three meters long was dipping its head to lap up water. Its entire body was covered in green-brown, bark-like Soft Armor, and twisted branches grew from its head.
The visual impact of the tiger-leopard up close was far beyond what a Demon Dog could compare to.
It sensed something and shot a sharp glance sideways.
Its pair of eerie green, slitted pupils locked onto Su Chen, and a low growl rumbled in its throat.
But at that moment, facing an ambush right at the door, Su Chen had already made his move.
HUMMM!
The brand-new Flame Burst Rune in his Sea of Consciousness bloomed violently. A surging, torrential Power poured into the long-handled axe in his hand, and before the monster could even get up, he had already swung the axe and let it fly.
WHOOSH!
The axe blade spun several times in the air like a rolling wheel of fire, accurately piercing the center of the tiger-leopard’s skull.
Without a hint of resistance, its skull instantly exploded, splattering a mixture of brains, bone, and blood everywhere.
Not only that, but the flying axe, carrying a terrifying explosive power, also shattered at that moment, turning into countless small iron fragments that completely destroyed the living room’s glass doors.
A one-hit kill.
The power of a Lv3 Flame Burst was just that terrifying.
But the fight wasn’t over.
A low roar came from the living room. After her mate’s death, the female tiger was clearly enraged. She flung aside the flesh and bone she was gnawing on, and the green-brown bark on her back suddenly flared outward as two spinning wheels of green leaves shot through the air.
Su Chen’s eyes narrowed. ’It’ll be tough to handle two attacks from the left and right at the same time with Water Mirror Refraction.’ He immediately retreated, closing the back door with his left hand as he went.
CLANG!
CLANG!
The next second, two massive cracking sounds erupted in quick succession.
One came within an inch of piercing the aluminum alloy door, its leafy blade vibrating nonstop and sending countless fragments flying.
The other tore through with astonishing force, punching straight through the door and embedding itself in the outer wall behind it.
Su Chen, of course, wouldn’t bet his life on the door’s durability. After retreating several meters, he began to pull the last remaining red brick from his canvas bag.
The sound of frantic, leaping footsteps came from inside the door. He could already picture the female tiger accelerating from the living room for a charge.
When dealing with this type of Exotic Tiger and Leopard, Su Chen had no intention of facing it head-on.
This was no Demon Dog.
’In boxing, and even mixed martial arts, a weight difference of just a few kilograms is enough to place a human in a completely different class.’
Facing a tiger-leopard that weighed at least 300 kilograms, Su Chen stood no chance in a contest of pure physical strength.
’This is where rune magic comes in.’
’A baseball bat infused with the power of Flame Burst could probably kill it in one hit in close combat, but throwing is a much higher priority. If I make a single mistake up close, I’d literally be feeding myself to the tiger.’
’The human body is just too fragile, after all.’
BOOM!!
With a deafening crash, the iron door was blasted outward by a violent impact from within.
The hinges snapped, and the entire iron door flew off its frame.
As the female tiger’s figure leaped out into the back street, carried by the force of the impact, Su Chen, who had been waiting calmly around the corner, swung the red brick.
SWOOSH!
Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, the red brick streaked through the air in a blazing line of fire, striking the tiger-leopard’s exposed midsection as it leaped.
In an instant, all the compressed explosive energy within it was released. The female tiger’s body froze mid-air, then was violently blasted away, slamming hard onto the street several meters away.
It left a trail of gushing blood in its wake.
A horrifying, basin-sized hole had been blown into its midsection, exposing its shattered ribs like broken branches.
It lay in a pool of blood, its chest heaving violently. With every gasp for air, it coughed up more blood.
It was clear that it wasn’t going to survive.
The power of a Lv3 Flame Burst was truly undeniable and utterly reliable.
The visual effect of this astonishing explosive energy was even more exaggerated than a target being hit by a Barrett sniper rifle.
"Not bad at all."
Su Chen felt the residual warmth in his palm as wisps of white smoke drifted from it.
He looked down at his right hand, lost in thought. ’It’s astonishing that my arm can handle such violent Power.’
’Based on my previous experience, when I activate the Flame Burst Rune, an invisible bridge forms between my Sea of Consciousness and my palm. This violent energy flows through my arm without causing any discomfort, because it isn’t actually circulating through the blood vessels and meridians in my arm.’
’This invisible bridge is clearly a protective mechanism for my body when a Rune blooms. Once the energy is released, the mechanism vanishes.’
’In other words, I haven’t gained true Fire Attribute immunity. If someone hit me with a Flame Burst, my body wouldn’t be able to take it at all.’
’What’s more, if I were forcibly interrupted while casting, the consequences would be unimaginable.’
’Would my arm just explode?’
Once his thoughts concluded, Su Chen couldn’t help but sigh. ’My role perfectly fits the Mage stereotype: extremely fragile, a pure glass cannon. If I can’t control my casting distance in a fight, I’m just a sitting duck.’
After he finished his musings, he looked at the headless corpse of the tiger-leopard. Two orbs of light shimmering with a grass and wood glow had been released. At the same time, a small Fireball had also appeared on the ground.
Just as Su Chen had expected, the shattering of the axe blade had indeed released the Fire Element essence.
Without a second thought, he picked it up and fed it to his Flame Burst Rune.
The Rune’s information updated in real time.
Advancement Requirement: Fire Element Essence 1/12, Spiritual Dust Sand 0/1.
"Does this tiger have plant energy? There are so many different elemental types," Su Chen remarked in surprise.
’Counting the Thunder Tiger Leopard I first encountered, the Fire Tiger Leopard that was shot dead in the barbecue restaurant, and now this Grass and Wood Attribute one at the villa... Their overall form and appearance also change based on their elemental attribute. In that sense, they’re a lot like Eevee from Pokémon.’
’As for the two Grass and Wood Attribute essences...’
Su Chen looked at the two Jade-shaped brands on his left palm. After a moment of thought, he decided to directly absorb one of the Grass and Wood Attribute essences into his Thunder Element puzzle.
HUMMM!
The two purple and one green brand began to converge and merge. Flowing up his arm and into his brain, a blue-purple Rune, circulating with the brilliant light of lightning, came to float in the depths of his consciousness.
The Elemental Rune looked like a 3D character, and also like a mystical totem.
If one were to describe its design, it could only be abstractly called a heart wreathed in lightning.
This was Su Chen’s third Elemental Rune.
Its name was ’Waking Thunder’.

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