Ruin!
Xiao Lin’s gaze intensified. He had become more proficient with the Ruin state after using it several times. The prerequisite to enter the Ruin state was the Miracle state, after which he would have to put himself in a very angry mood.
Upon returning to Gold City, Xiao Lin actually tried it several times by himself. It was actually difficult to keep himself angry at any time and any place. After several attempts, he discovered that it was not just anger that could initiate Ruin, but any abnormal fluctuation of emotion was sufficient.
Anger, sadness, excitement, were all possible.
That way, it would not be as difficult as it was in the beginning. After coming back from the edge of death, Xiao Lin’s fear was much stronger in his heart. He knew very well that he would have been taken away by the opponent if Ibeiya had not helped him dispel the paralyzed state, and if that happened, it would not be easy for him to return.
That post-fear feeling easily allowed him to enter the Ruin state. Pairing the explosive speed with the Phantom Step, he left a bunch of afterimages with almost every step he took. His body was as light as a feather, and the Holy Soul Sword felt weightless in his hand, allowing him to wield it as he pleased.
The dark elf was a little surprised, but was not afraid to take the initiative to attack. The short blade was not as powerful as the Holy Soul Sword, but he used a clever way to dodge most of Xiao Lin’s attacks. If it were not for the Ruin state, his short blade would have poked countless holes in Xiao Lin’s body.
The opponent was not that high a rank and was probably around Bronze, but his actual combat experience is very high. That was a chance that the opponent gave to Xiao Lin. Although Xiao Lin was no longer a rookie, his all-round experience was far inferior to his opponents. Furthermore, he felt that the dark elf was clearly not using his real strength to fight if Asabanor had indicated that Xiao Lin must be captured alive.
Death was not something that Xiao Lin feared. He was actually within the coverage of the resurrection tower, and Xiao Lin could resurrect there. However, Ibeiya could not, and the dark elf’s interest in her had clearly been aroused earlier. As suspicious as Ibeiya’s identity was, Xiao Lin could not just leave her alone for the simple fact that she saved his life earlier.
He had to win!
Xiao Lin did not hesitate to activate Replicate. Although the dark elf used only the simplest of attacks thus far and lacked powerful skills, it was not the active skills that Xiao Lin wanted to copy.
[Subject to replicate: Dark Elf. Scanning initiated, skills to replicate: Footprint Mirage. Evaluation: E+. Replication: successful!]
Sure enough, this dark elf had a better body technique than the Phantom Step, called the Footprint Mirage. Xiao Lin had never seen that skill in Dawn Academy’s curriculum, which indicated that it might only exist among the elves.
The Ruin state could not be maintained for long and Xiao Lin estimated it to only be around five minutes. In addition to the duration of the Replicate skill, it did not give him a lot of time.
The sudden change in Xiao Lin’s footwork was quickly spotted by the dark elf. A look of disbelief flashed in his handsome eyes, which then became rather gloomy.
The Footprint Mirage was much higher than the Phantom Step, and if the Phantom Step was nothing more than a combination of dozens of footwork, then the Footprint Mirage was a combination of hundreds of footwork, whereby its changes were much more than the Phantom Step. The Footprint Mirage included changes in various parts of the body, such as the angle of attack, and it served both as an attack and a defense.
The battle situation became even in an instant, but it only lasted less than a minute before the balance of power was broken again. The dark elf’s blade speed accelerated again, and his face seemed particularly angry. Xiao Lin understood that his opponent was beginning to use real power, and the most obvious change was the short blade, which had since been imbued with shiny jet-black aura. It was the lingering death energy.
Dark elves could use the natural energy and death energy at the same time. Even though Xiao Lin was on the same level as him, the opponent’s strength was far better and Xiao Lin clearly sensed the difficulty in resisting.
He was still in the Ruin state, but only a few minutes were remaining. Once the Ruin state was undone, his ability to strike back would be even more diminished.
Ibeiya was unable to do anything to help and could only stare anxiously beside him. Xiao Lin was anxious and glanced at the space ring he was carrying. He knew that the last hope was Silverlight, but he received no response despite trying to enter it using his spirit from earlier on.
Surely, the woman was not denying her debt to him at such a critical moment!
Xiao Lin could not help but shout in anger, “If you still aren’t going to come out, don’t blame me for not taking you back to see your hometown!”
Suspicion flashed in the dark elf’s eyes. After looking around and confirming that there was no other ambush, he sneered again and again. “Tricks like these are useless against me. Your power is beyond what I expected, and the man with God’s gift really is extraordinary.”
Silverlight still did not give any response, so Xiao Lin swung the Flame Wave Sword again. In the Ruin state, the Flame Wave Sword set off flames in the sky, with a momentum that was akin to a huge rolling wave. The dark elf did not evade, but simply raised his hand with its back to him and sliced out with that short blade. To Xiao Lin’s surprise, the elf’s motion had actually parted a huge gap in the middle of the flames.
Xiao Lin’s heart ran cold for a moment. The power of the Flame Wave Sword in the Ruin state had increased even by more than one or two grades, yet the opponent was incredibly relaxed. It could only be chalked up to the fact that the opponent’s strength was probably around Silver-tier.
At the very last minute, Xiao Lin tried his best to protect himself in the Ruin state, but once it disappeared, he could only let himself be trampled upon.
Damn it! Silverlight did not give any signal even until then, and the woman even brought the black knight away, which effectively meant that Xiao Lin could not even summon him.
Nevertheless, there was time to regret all that. Xiao Lin racked his brains and thought of a way to turn defeat into victory at that point in time, but none of the skills he mastered could turn the situation around.
Wait!
Xiao Lin was briefly dazed. It was true that there was nothing he could do using the skills and courses he learned from Dawn Academy, but he nearly forgot that he had replicated the black dragon’s breath.
According to his understanding of replicating skills countless times, the residual memory of those skills still existed in his mind after each copying. As long as he still had strength, he could use it just as easily.
The black dragon Onyxia said that dragon breath must be used by the dragon clan. Xiao Lin was not sure whether he could use it again, but it was already his last resort. He had to give it a try and take advantage of the Ruin state’s final moments, where his various attributes had been raised substantially.
He used the Footprint Mirage to quickly distance himself from the dark elf. Although it was a little difficult to withstand the opponent’s attack, he was barely able to cope with the opponent’s strength as of right then.
Xiao Lin then slowly raised the Holy Soul Sword. It was difficult for him to remember the specific use of the Dragon Breath Sword at that time, but he trusted that his body would remember the technique’s feeling after using Replicate. What Xiao Lin did was none other than follow that feeling.