Lin Tianhao's lips twitched. He was contemplating whether he would encounter a similar situation when he fought the village head later. At that moment, the village head exerted all his strength and hurled Blacksmith Wang into the air. What followed was a series of relentless punches. A martial artist. This kind of close combat, with every punch landing solidly, was extremely thrilling to watch. However, Lin Tianhao remained unmoved, fully committed to his strategy of "fishing" on the sidelines.
"Dominant Body!" Blacksmith Wang roared, activating his Dominant Body skill, which immediately nullified all control effects. The moment he activated it, his shield flew out of his hand.
"Spatial Barrier, Shatter!" The shield tore a rift in space itself.
"Blood Emperor, I'll remember you. Next time we meet, I'll be your nightmare," Blacksmith Wang vowed.
"Stop him!" Lin Tianhao's expression changed drastically. Blacksmith Wang was forcibly tearing through the spatial barrier to escape. The village head reacted swiftly, blocking Blacksmith Wang's path.
"Sacrificing equipment to break through the spatial barrier, Old Wang, you're insane," the village head exclaimed.
Blacksmith Wang snorted coldly, "I've lost this round, but I hope you know what you're doing."
Lin Tianhao's face turned ugly. He couldn't understand how Blacksmith Wang had managed to open the spatial barrier. Even by sacrificing his entire set of gold-level equipment, it shouldn't have been possible.
"Stop him!" Lin Tianhao couldn't let Blacksmith Wang leave. He attacked again, this time with five arrows at once! This was the limit of what Lin Tianhao could do at this stage. He couldn't allow Blacksmith Wang to escape!
However, in his Dominant Body state, the village head couldn't stop the rampaging Blacksmith Wang, let alone Lin Tianhao.
"Destroy the terrain." Lin Tianhao's five arrows, though unable to repel Blacksmith Wang, could alter the terrain. The arrows formed a barrier that blocked Blacksmith Wang's path, delaying his escape. The village head's eyes lit up.
"Ice and Fire Divine Fist!" The village head slammed a powerful punch into the ground in front of Blacksmith Wang, creating a large pit. Dominant Body might immunise against knockback, control, and slow effects, but it couldn't immunise against terrain. With a pit in front, even with Dominant Body, one couldn't just fly over it.
The village head unleashed all his skills, determined to prevent Blacksmith Wang from escaping. Blacksmith Wang had thought that with Dominant Body activated, he would surely escape. But now, he was panicking.
"Rage."
"Savage Charge!" Blacksmith Wang activated two skills simultaneously, his speed increasing dramatically.
"Dominant Body, Rage."
"Frost Pulse Punch!" The village head also activated Dominant Body and Rage, giving no quarter.
Lin Tianhao's five arrows kept firing, continuously blocking the space where Blacksmith Wang could move. As long as Blacksmith Wang's Dominant Body ended, he would be dead for sure. Moreover, the spatial rift was shrinking. If they delayed long enough, Blacksmith Wang would be doomed.
Blacksmith Wang knew this too. He roared in anger.
"Aerial Nine-Strike!" He used the skill to float in the air, attempting to charge into the spatial rift. However, the village head wouldn't give him that chance. He leaped up and collided with Blacksmith Wang. Both had Dominant Body activated; neither could repel the other. They were locked in a stalemate for a few seconds before landing again. But in that time, the spatial rift had already closed.
Lin Tianhao didn't have time to ponder how Blacksmith Wang had created the spatial rift. He began to unleash all his attacks on Blacksmith Wang. Without the gold set and the counter-damage, Lin Tianhao had nothing to fear. The village head was the same.
In less than a minute, Blacksmith Wang fell reluctantly. The moment Blacksmith Wang fell, Lin Tianhao's arrows were already on their way. This time, the target was the village head! A seamless transition of attacks left the village head somewhat stunned.
"Blood Emperor, what are you doing?!!"
Lin Tianhao's expression was stern. "Sending the village head to his death!!"
The village head roared in rage, "You're asking for it!"
He tried to charge at Lin Tianhao but found that Lin Tianhao's movement speed was incredibly fast. Lin Tianhao had accumulated eighty free attribute points earlier. At this moment, he added all of them to his movement speed. It was to deal with the village head, a martial artist. Martial artists had many small skills and terrifying combos. There was a group of ancient martial artists who loved the martial arts class. Getting close to a martial artist was a nightmare; one would be severely injured, even if they didn't die.
Lin Tianhao's eighty free attribute points increased his movement speed by eight points. Combined with the movement speed passive from the Clear Wind Set, the dual effect was terrifying. Moreover, because his health had stacked up, his normal attack could now deal over seven thousand damage to the village head. With five arrows per second, he could deal thirty-eight thousand damage per second.
"Blood Emperor, if you kill me, you're destroying the Novice Village," the village head said with a gloomy expression.
Lin Tianhao made no response, or rather, his response was the continuous stream of arrows. Without Dominant Body and Rage skills, the village head was like a toy in front of Lin Tianhao. But at that moment, the village head gave a cold smile.
"Ninefold Shadow Step!!"
In the next instant, the village head turned into a blur and appeared in front of Lin Tianhao. With another step, he was already behind Lin Tianhao. Lin Tianhao had anticipated this. The moment the village head's figure appeared, his arrows were already on their way. But in close combat, the village head just twisted his body to dodge Lin Tianhao's arrows. At the same time, he gathered blue frost on his palm.
"Ding, you are affected by frost, attack speed reduced by 14%, movement speed reduced by 14%."
Lin Tianhao raised an eyebrow. The village head's skill was a bit too powerful. Don't underestimate these fourteen per cent. Lin Tianhao was now wearing the Purification Amulet, which could reduce eighty per cent of negative effects. In other words, the village head's skill effect was to reduce seventy per cent of attack speed and movement speed. This was terrifying, no matter what stage of the game it was.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Lin Tianhao fired five arrows at once while pulling away. The village head had been confident, but seeing Lin Tianhao still moving swiftly to create distance, he was completely stunned. However, he had only used two steps of his Ninefold Shadow Step. Without hesitation, he took another step and appeared behind Lin Tianhao again. Lin Tianhao had already reacted, and he swung his longbow horizontally. But the village head's combat experience was too rich. He leaned back to avoid it and grabbed Lin Tianhao's arm for an over-the-shoulder throw. Then he gathered strength in his fist and smashed it towards Lin Tianhao's forehead.
Lin Tianhao flipped to avoid it. The village head's punch missed, and the shock on his face grew even more intense. Because an over-the-shoulder throw would normally stun, Lin Tianhao shouldn't have been able to recover so quickly and dodge his attack.
"Do you have a control reduction item on you?!" the village head asked sternly.