Chapter 159: Aerial Synthesis (Monthly Votes Requested)

Xu Wen had once said these words to Elder Xie:

"If one day, Wang Xiaoshuai also activates the dark forbidden art and undergoes demonic transformation, he will definitely be stronger than Elder Xie! But Wang Xiaoshuai must never use this technique..."

To this, Elder Xie did not deny it, and he was well aware of the deeper meaning behind Xu Wen's words.

A Dark Magic Swordsman possessed inherently formidable combat power. His strength at the early stage of the seven-star rank was already close to the combat value of the seven-star peak. During their previous encounter, if Wang Xiaoshuai had not lacked a suitable weapon, and had he possessed the Flying Dragon Spear in his hand at that time, the outcome would have definitely been entirely different.

Wang Xiaoshuai was only in his forties and could be considered a cultivator with fine natural talent. Under Xu Wen's guidance, he had rapidly advanced to the mid seven-star rank. In the future, it was entirely possible for him to become an eight-star Dark Magic Swordsman and ascend into the ranks of top experts!

Therefore, if Wang Xiaoshuai were to undergo demonic transformation now, his strength would undoubtedly surpass Elder Xie, but that would be a terrible waste of natural resources, foolishly ruining his future path to becoming a supreme expert... In Xu Wen's view, Wang Xiaoshuai should definitely not walk the old path of Elder Xie.

But at this very moment!

Watching Wang Xiaoshuai activate the forbidden art with his own eyes, Xu Wen felt utterly helpless. In his heart, alongside a trace of emotional stirring, there was only the helplessness of fate and rage toward the pursuer.

Even though Wang Xiaoshuai's aura rapidly surpassed the eight-star bottleneck, ultimately stopping at around the second-tier eight-star level, Xu Wen's face still bore no trace of excitement or relief... Nine-star!

The rulers of the Soul Continent.

To defeat them, one could not rely on a half-baked eight-star expert... Two demonized experts could at most buy the Dark Wind Condor a few more seconds of survival, but the ultimate outcome still could not be changed!

Xu Wen could empathize with Wang Xiaoshuai's state of mind. The reason he activated the forbidden art was simply because he did not want to appear so powerless at the final juncture of his life.

A second demonic, ferocious dark face appeared before Xu Wen... Xu Wen silently nodded at Wang Xiaoshuai, took out two items, and tossed them toward Elder Xie and him respectively.

Devil's Eye.

Although its rank was not high—only at the seven-star level—it still provided a layer of defense.

Stealing a glance backward, Xu Wen let out a cold snort:

"Chasing us comes at a price."

He retrieved a small bottle from his spatial ring, poured out a jade-green, fragrant medicinal pill into his palm, and fed it to the Dark Wind Condor.

The latter let out a long cry, raised its neck, and swallowed it into its belly without the slightest hesitation.

What was that?

Kuer and Bier looked at Xu Wen in astonishment, but did not mean to interrupt him.

However, as Xu Wen fed pill after pill to the Dark Wind Condor, the five of them gradually perceived that the Dark Wind Condor's speed seemed to have increased significantly compared to before.

The speed at which the nine-star expert behind them was catching up decreased slightly!

Tianying, the pursuing nine-star expert, felt this change most directly and with the greatest shock... He was not surprised that a five-star flying magical beast could display a speed comparable to the aerial flight of an eight-star expert; this was the ability of magical beasts, an innate talent of avian beasts.

Yet!

To be able to accelerate under such circumstances and barely keep up with his flight speed—this made him feel bizarre!!

"Could it be..."

A strange look flashed through Tianying's eyes.

Earlier, he had heard Langzi mention that this avian beast was originally arranged for Gouqian to hunt down, so it shouldn't have been alive and well.

He had originally thought that Gouqian had pursued the wrong direction, or that the opponents had used some bizarre means to escape.

Now it seemed that it might be precisely this method of increasing flight speed that had allowed them to shake off Gouqian and the others... Tianying did not think in the direction of Gouqian and the others failing—he knew their strength very well; it was impossible for them to fail to wipe out even a weak team with only a single eight-star member.

However.

Wanting to escape from the hands of a nine-star expert just like that was clearly impossible.

Furthermore, the two targets being pursued by Langzi's side were no pushovers; they wouldn't just do nothing while waiting for him to catch back up—these five small fry over here had to be dealt with quickly.

Tianying rummaged through his spatial ring, fished out a porcelain bottle, solemnly poured out a jade-green medicinal pill, stared fiercely at the distant black dot, and muttered to himself:

"I originally intended to grant you a decent death, but for the sake of this Wind-Swift Pill, this old man will definitely ensure you are torn to pieces and fed to the fish."

Unfortunately, his eyesight was not sharp enough; otherwise, he would have discovered that the few medicinal pills Xu Wen fed to the Dark Wind Condor were precisely the "Wind-Swift Pill" that he had just shoved into his own mouth.

Wind-Swift Pill, a seven-star medicinal pill.

It could further eliminate wind resistance in a short period of time, accelerate the circulation of wind elements, and enhance movement speed.

Although it couldn't instantly elevate someone from a turtle's speed to a rabbit's, in battles of the same tier, the effect of the Wind-Swift Pill was extremely pronounced, especially for wind-attribute classes, playing a role capable of turning the tide of battle with a single pill.

At the same time, the Wind-Swift Pill was also a precious pill that many used to preserve their lives... Even for Tianying, his reserve of Wind-Swift Pills was not large, leaving only a few sparse pills. He wouldn't dare to use them lightly even when chasing the two nine-star experts ahead.

Now that he was forced to consume one because of the Dark Wind Condor, no wonder his murderous intent soared to the extreme!

"He has accelerated too!"

Atop the Dark Wind Condor, the few people who had just calmed down saw the person behind them miraculously close the distance once again, and their hearts jumped back into their throats.

Xu Wen also wore a slightly bitter expression, feeling extremely helpless. The scene that depressed him the most had occurred—the enemy indeed possessed the Wind-Swift Pill as well... Now, his plan to buy time and force the opponent to retreat in the face of difficulties was certainly shattered.

The effect of the Wind-Swift Pill lasted for only half a minute.

Xu Wen handed the medicinal pills to the idle Bier, instructing her to feed one at regular intervals, while he himself quickly sat down cross-legged and took out a small cauldron.

"You..."

"You're still refining medicine right now?"

The few people on the Dark Wind Condor all felt a strong urge to faint and fall off the back of the beast.

Is hugging Buddha's feet at the last minute of any use?

Besides, given the current speed of the nine-star expert, before Xu Wen could refine a second-star Refreshing Pill, the opponent would be able to catch up.

"Shut up!"

Xu Wen decisively cut off the questions on the verge of the others' lips. His expression appeared exceptionally stern, and his unquestionable tone shocked all four of them, forcing them to swallow back the words on the tip of their tongues.

Refining medicine?

Xu Wen was no idiot; naturally, he knew time was severely lacking... Because the more precious and higher-graded a medicinal pill was, the more time it required, and correspondingly, patience and a suitable environment were also indispensable.

Riding atop the Dark Wind Condor in an environment threatened by death, Xu Wen wasn't even certain he could pull it off.

Therefore!

What he needed to do right now was not refining, but synthesis.

In former gaming terminology, it was synthesis!

And in the current parlance of alchemists—developing multi-attribute medicinal pills of the Earth-Emperor and Profound-Heaven grades!

Synthesis did not require too much time... At the very least, the stage of trial and error was no longer necessary; Xu Wen possessed ready-made matching formulas...

Open the cauldron, deploy the medicine!

Xu Wen's movements were extremely fast. Before the four of them could figure out what he wanted to do, a cluster of eerie blue flames emitting a strong freezing aura rapidly surged up within his palm.

Undead Flames!

At this, the four people on the Dark Wind Condor were even more baffled... While Bier meticulously executed the heavy responsibility entrusted to her by Xu Wen, her eyes remained unblinkingly fixed on Xu Wen's hand movements—an alchemy technique possessed only by advanced undead mages above the seven-star rank.

Elder Xie already had a strong sense of dizziness!

Originally, he had thought Xu Wen had merely temporarily learned an undead summoning magic and possessed considerable study and accomplishment in undead summoning, but he hadn't expected... Judging by Xu Wen's mastery over the Undead Flames and his alchemy techniques, he was simply no less capable than any undead Arch-Mage.

Such a young teenager had actually mastered magic of two entirely different classes simultaneously? And possessed such profound accomplishments? This fellow... was truly a monster!

The expressions in the eyes of Wang Xiaoshuai and the two young women were identical to that of Elder Xie... At a time like this, Xu Wen had no mood to care about the reactions of the other four. After rapidly tossing two medicinal pills inside, the Undead Cold Flames pierced into the medicine cauldron like needles.

Close his eyes!

Xu Wen controlled the temperature of the Undead Cold Flames, began quietly analyzing the components of the two medicinal pills within the cauldron, rapidly dissolved them, wrapped each separately in the cold flames, continuously altered the temperature, and preserved the medicinal properties.

The two medicinal pills in the medicine cauldron were none other than the Wind-Swift Pill and the Berserk Pill.

One had the function of assisting acceleration, while the other could mine the user's potential to the maximum extent in a short period of time, thereby enhancing their capabilities.

High-grade medicinal pills with completely different medicinal properties were thousands of times more precious than the three-star Earth-Emperor grade formulas given by the Hodonton family... And if these two medicines were synthesized, processed, and successfully produced, they could forge an eight-star Earth-Emperor grade pill—the Swift-Berserk Pill.

The two attributes complemented each other!

Accelerated berserk.

Further excavating the speed effect.

Not only was the quality upgraded, but the profound mystery contained within was also extremely wondrous!

Unfortunately... in his haste, and having not used the Undead Cold Flames for a long time, the first synthesis resulted in a small pile of black ash emitting a bizarre odor.

Failure!

By this time... the four people on the Dark Wind Condor had already discerned some clues from Xu Wen's series of actions.

Although astonished that Xu Wen was using the seven-star Wind-Swift Pill and seven-star Berserk Pill, and that what he was refining might be a profound pill above the seven-star rank, a trace of hope inevitably still sprouted in the depths of their hearts.

After all, Xu Wen had already created quite a few miracles... Moreover, even upon failure, not a trace of despair could be seen on Xu Wen's face; instead, without the slightest hesitation, he reignited the cauldron, tossed the medicinal pills back inside, his movements even faster, and exceptionally steady and resolute.

Imperceptibly, the few of them gained a bit of anticipation and confidence... On the other side!

Tianying, after using a Wind-Swift Pill to close the distance, discovered that the Dark Wind Condor's speed was actually maintained at a level not inferior to his own... The moment the medicinal effect of the Wind-Swift Pill wore off here, the distance he had just closed showed signs of widening again.

Although his brow was furrowed into a knot, Tianying knew it was futile. Gritting his teeth, he wasted another precious Wind-Swift Pill, forcibly accelerated, and continued his pursuit.

He was getting closer and closer to the Dark Wind Condor...

Tianying could even make out the external features of the five people on the beast.

However, the situation atop the Dark Wind Condor caught him by surprise.

Instead of staring backward in panic, the people on top didn't even display too much flurry; two demonized humans stood on either side, and two girls stood beside a teenager.

The latter was actually... setting up a cauldron and starting a fire on top of the Dark Wind Condor to refine medicine?!

No matter how Tianying looked at it, he felt this scene before his eyes was unreal...

(To be continued)