Absolute Death Game

Without any suspense, he was slammed back and flew out, staggering backward seven or eight steps before he stabilized himself, his tiger's mouth almost splitting.

Xiao Buli revealed a hint of shock on his face, "How did you know this is the real me?"

Li Jian sneered, "I guessed." Then he roared and charged again.

Xiao Buli could only parry with his sword, barely holding off the attacks with a combination of numerous skills. After a few exchanges, he inwardly lamented his plight. Li Jian's strength completely overwhelmed him, his speed was not inferior to his, and that double-edged axe that could absorb mana left him powerless to fight back. Yaoyao had disappeared without a trace, showing no sign of appearing.

Clenching his teeth, Xiao Buli persevered for a few more rounds, but it seemed he couldn't hold on any longer. He decided to go for broke, thinking to himself that it was time to unleash his big move.

A resolute expression appeared on his face, which made Li Jian pause for a moment.

"Mystic Art — Omnipotent!" Xiao Buli roared, abruptly performing a motion with both hands on the sword, its tip slanted. However, the scenery around him didn't change in the slightest; his powerful move did not unfold as smoothly as he had imagined.

Damn, this can't be happening. He inwardly cried out in alarm. He had never used this Mystic Art in reality, and it seemed it wasn't so easy to release after all. Glancing at Li Jian, he saw that Li Jian had paused, looking at him curiously.

"Mystic Art — Omnipotent!" He shouted again, but there was still no change around him.

Finally, Li Jian realized what was happening, a sneer forming on his face. He was about to move forward when suddenly he felt a heavy weight at his feet. Looking down, he saw a mass of shadow, sticky like glue, firmly anchoring his feet to the ground.

What the hell is this? He turned around, only to see a dark figure standing not far from him. Enveloped in darkness, the silhouette appeared to be a shadow, and the glue-like mass was a projection from it.

"Shadow Dancer!" Li Jian scoffed, "You have quite a number of helpers, don't you." He raised his arm and a Demonic Flame surged along the ground. The dark figure dodged with ease, but it helped Li Jian break free from the shadow's grasp.

However, there was instantly another figure behind Li Jian—Yaoyao, who had been hiding all this time, finally decided it was the right moment to take action.

A backstab hit Li Jian's back once again, but this time the dark armor blocked it. Li Jian seemed to have anticipated this, as Yaoyao appeared, he turned with a sweeping strike. Yaoyao quickly bent backwards, her body forming an arch as the blade of the axe whizzed past her nose.

Pressing her hands on the ground, Yaoyao's left boot tip suddenly protruded a sharp blade over an inch long, and while flipping backward, she delivered a fierce stabbing kick.

This time Yaoyao's target was no longer Li Jian's heart, but rather the arm holding the giant axe. The kick struck Li Jian's wrist precisely, and her right leg followed with a sweeping move, kicking the giant axe out of his hands. As she started to retreat, Li Jian reached out and firmly grasped her ankle.

"Die!" he bellowed, intent on clenching down hard. Xiao Buli couldn't let him succeed. His longsword thrust out like lightning, "Straight Lightning Sword!"

Although the move had "lightning" in its name, it couldn't be as fast as actual lightning. Li Jian turned abruptly and caught the blade in his hand. As Xiao Buli thrust forward, he found that he couldn't move the sword an inch. A sudden inspiration flashed through his mind and with his left hand he caused a bunch of lightning sparks to strike toward the sword hilt—conductive electric shock!

A high-voltage current shot down the length of the sword. Li Jian felt a numbness in his hand and suddenly couldn't grip the blade any longer. Xiao Buli's longsword thrust through with a 'whump', the Ethereal Sword, supercharged with Sunfire Sword Qi, pierced the dark armor without resistance. The sword penetrated the armor, deeply impaling Li Jian's chest. Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire

Yaoyao took the opportunity to forcefully break free, rubbing her ankle with a tremble in her heart, watching Li Jian warily.

Li Jian, however, did not continue to attack, but burst into laughter, "Do you think you could defeat me like that? To tell you the truth, after becoming a member of the Demon Clan my health points have increased several-fold, and even a critical hit to a vital area won't kill me."

As he spoke, he grabbed the hilt of the Ethereal Sword and forcefully pulled it out. As a stream of blood shot far into the distance, a sudden wave of powerlessness swept over his entire body.

Li Jian looked incredulously at the wound on his chest that was continuously gushing blood, feeling life and strength rapidly slipping away—The rules of reality were clearly different from those of a game: being stabbed in the heart, regardless of how strong his vitality was, immediately put him on the verge of death.

Li Jian took a few staggering steps back and then suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.

Thank goodness, Xiao Buli heaved a sigh of relief. He had truly thought that Li Jian was going to pull out the sword and continue fighting. But now it seemed that although the Demon Clan had become powerful, they were still not exempt from the laws of living creatures, and indeed, fighting in reality was nothing like in a game.

"Thank you, Yaoyao."

"Don't thank me yet, that guy doesn't seem to be dead," Yaoyao said, pointing at Li Jian on the ground. Indeed, Li Jian was struggling to prop himself against the wall, seemingly still hanging onto his last breath.

The pitch-black armor on his body gradually dissipated, as the pain suppressed by his demonic nature flared through his nerves. Li Jian looked at everything around him and suddenly felt a wave of sadness.

The purple in his eyes had silently faded away, and his consciousness had returned, but he now almost wished it had not.

Struggling to raise his head, he glanced at Xiao Buli, Yaoyao, and Situ Yu slowly surrounding him, his lips curving into a self-mocking smile.

"I didn't expect it to end up like this," he muttered as if to himself.

Xiao Buli looked at this man who had once been his mentor, teammate, comrade, and enemy, with a complex expression on his face.

"Sorry, buddy, you know I had no choice," Xiao Buli said in a self-justifying tone, a trace of apology on his face. He was actually referring to using Li Jian to create chaos, which Li Jian seemed to understand and nodded, "I know, you did nothing wrong. I would have done the same in your shoes."

He then looked at Yaoyao and said weakly, "Sorry, Yaoyao, I shouldn't have scolded you."

Yaoyao opened her mouth but did not know what to say. Women are always emotional, and seeing the man in front of her who was on the brink of death, she suddenly felt a wave of melancholy.

Li Jian opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more, but a trickle of blood spilled from his lips, gurgling and preventing him from speaking. Li Jian appeared to be reaching out accusingly towards the sky with one hand, trying to grasp something, but it dropped helplessly midway.

Xiao Buli caught his hand before it could fall, but Li Jian forcefully pulled him closer, that arm once full of infinite strength now so weak.

Xiao Buli instinctively crouched down, bringing his ear close to Li Jian's mouth.

"Take this, you'll need it," Li Jian mumbled unclearly into Xiao Buli's ear.

Xiao Buli felt something being pushed into his hand, and when he looked down, he discovered a ring—What did this mean? As he looked puzzled at Li Jian, he noticed that Li Jian's pupils had already dilated, his mouth half-open—he was dead.

(Rest in peace, buddy, I'll avenge you, whether it's the Demon Clan or the company, they will pay for your death.) Xiao Buli silently vowed, gently closing Li Jian's eyes, an indescribable sorrow overwhelming him.

After a long while, he stood up, turned back to look at Yaoyao, and with an expressionless face, he said, "Go inform the team leader and the others, everything is proceeding as planned, get ready to take action."

PS: Explosion tomorrow. (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel free to cast your recommendation votes or monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)