After Jiang Kai dealt with the wave of leopards in front of him, Ruan Yu excitedly ran out from the bushes, holding a red essence crystal in his hand.
After reading the appraisal result, both Jiang Kai and Hu Yan were extremely surprised.
"Increases flame strength..."
Ruan Yu hurriedly explained, "Even among flames, there's a difference in strength. Captain Kai, your Arsonist flame isn't very strong. You should note that Arsonist barely provides any extra fire damage."
Jiang Kai nodded. The fire added by Arsonist only insta-kills when Pursuit triggers a critical hit. It actually doesn't have any additional damage itself.
In other words, the flame strength of Arsonist is inherently low!
"What does 10 points of flame strength mean?" Jiang Kai asked.
"There's never been anything that directly increases flame strength before, so I don't know either," Ruan Yu said. "Captain Kai, you should just try it yourself."
Jiang Kai felt a bit heartbroken over the 12,000 experience points—it would be a waste to consume this, but he couldn't resist the curiosity.
"Alright, if it's wasted, then so be it!" Jiang Kai took the essence crystal and swallowed it in one gulp.
The essence crystal had no particular taste. It was bouncy and chewy, and went down easily.
After taking the essence crystal, Jiang Kai felt a warm swelling sensation in his lower abdomen, with a warm current flowing throughout his body.
This feeling was somewhat similar to when he changed classes, but the duration was short. After about five minutes, the discomfort disappeared.
Jiang Kai immediately summoned a handful of Pursuit and shot it directly at a nearby tree.
With a loud boom, that patch of forest burst into flames. Though the fire wasn't as fierce as during a critical hit, it lasted much longer and burned steadily!
Suddenly, the blaze surged upward, and the flames shot into the sky... it triggered a critical hit.
"The flame damage has increased quite a bit," Jiang Kai nodded. "Previously, when it didn't crit, the flame was just a faint blue. Now it's become red."
"The key is, the flame's destructive power against defenses has improved!"
"Captain Kai!" Ruan Yu said excitedly. "That's just one essence crystal. If you consume more, the increase will be even greater!"
Having witnessed the power of the essence crystal firsthand, everyone's morale surged.
The squad continued a carpet-style sweep of the current area.
After taking down two more waves of leopards, they discovered a large group of nearly thirty black panther elites.
At the center of the panther group lay a larger spotted leopard. Its body size was almost twice that of a normal black panther elite.
"An elite! Its color is different from the other black panther elites. It might even be a mutated one!" Jiang Kai said in a low voice.
Hu Yan crouched to the side, counting the black panther elites.
"Counting the elite, there are a total of thirty-one! Captain Kai, how do we fight?"
Elites not only have stronger stats, they might also have skills. Facing such a large group of panthers, Jiang Kai thought briefly and said:
"Let's stick with the usual plan!"
"Start with Wailing Ghosts. Even though there are more panthers, if the chance remains the same, more of them will be intimidated. I'll instantly kill the ones that are intimidated."
"Also, Old Hu, be ready to use Thunder Summon anytime. This time, we probably can't afford to save skills."
Hu Yan frowned. "Captain Kai, intimidation only lasts a second or two. The stronger the enemy, the shorter the control time. If you want to break their energy guard, Pursuit might be too slow."
Jiang Kai nodded. "I know, that's why I won't use Pursuit this time. I'll use the Divine Decree of Radiance!"
Hearing the name Divine Decree of Radiance, Hu Yan immediately understood. He no longer had questions and nodded. "Got it."
"Ruan Yu, if Old Hu doesn't manage to control the elite, you need to keep it busy and buy us time!"
"Got it!"
With the strategy decided, the Fire God Squad immediately moved into action.
Hu Yan took out the Wind-Thunder Staff and used Wailing Ghosts.
A mass of black spirits, accompanied by shrill screams, swiftly swept through the panther group.
Immediately, about a dozen black panther elites showed signs of fear.
It was unclear whether the spotted leopard elite had higher resistance or if Hu Yan just got unlucky, but the elite leopard was not intimidated!
It immediately detected the enemy and let out an angry roar, then pounced in Hu Yan's direction.
"I, Ruan Yu, have never been weaker than anyone!" Ruan Yu roared, charging out from the bushes with a Frost Shield in hand. "Wassup, beauty, I really like your tattoos!"
On the other side, Jiang Kai had already acted.
"Quenching! Divine Decree of Radiance! Ricochet!"
A golden card, wrapped in red flames, shot out from his right hand, accurately hitting the first black panther elite, then immediately bouncing to its companion behind, and shooting again.
The ricochet of the Divine Decree of Radiance doesn't consume extra energy and can change trajectory based on Jiang Kai's will. A streak of red light crazily zipped through the panther group!
In the blink of an eye, Divine Decree of Radiance had already struck more than ten targets!
This time, Jiang Kai had used Quenching. After enhancing the fire strength, his flames ignited the panther group!
The fire simultaneously outlined the contours of the energy guards.
Each black panther elite had a spherical light shield around them, resisting the fire's onslaught.
However, the ricochet of Divine Decree of Radiance didn't stop and continued darting swiftly among the panther group.
What Jiang Kai didn't expect was that during the second round of ricochets, the Divine Decree of Radiance actually pierced through many black panther elites' energy guards!
"Damn! The flames weakened the energy guards' defense. The second hit of Divine Decree of Radiance directly broke the shield!" Jiang Kai was thrilled.
"Quenching! Pursuit!"
Though the Divine Decree of Radiance broke the shields, without critical hits, Jiang Kai still couldn't insta-kill the panthers. That's what Pursuit was for!
In the broken-shield state, Jiang Kai's Nine Tribulations Pursuit faced no further resistance.
Combined with the ignition and Pursuit's own criticals, the battlefield became a sea of fire, and system notification sounds continuously rang in Jiang Kai's ears.
[Obtained scorched corpse of Secret Cultivated Black Panther Elite *1, obtained Secret Cultivated Essence Crystal (14 years) *1]
[Obtained scorched corpse of Secret Cultivated Black Panther Elite *1, obtained Secret Cultivated Essence Crystal (15 years) *1]
...
Even Jiang Kai hadn't expected that the Divine Decree of Radiance, combined with the enhanced flame, would be this terrifyingly powerful!
In just a short moment, all the ordinary black panther elites here had been wiped out!
Just then, Jiang Kai suddenly heard a shout.
"Taichi Sword!"
He quickly turned his head and saw that Ruan Yu had already entered True Self state and was fiercely battling the spotted leopard elite.
Hu Yan had already used Wind Whisper Spell to ascend into the air, preparing to cast Rain Prayer.
"Hu Yan, save the Rain Prayer!" Jiang Kai shouted. "Ghost Ruan, I'll help you!"
"Little Kai, don't come over! It's mine!" Ruan Yu roared.
Jiang Kai had a big sweatdrop—this guy was afraid someone might steal his true love.
But to prevent Ruan Yu from getting injured or using too much stamina in battle, Jiang Kai didn't listen and directly launched Pursuit.
Gotta say, Ruan Yu's ability to stall was terrifying.
As long as the spotted leopard elite slipped up for even a second, Ruan Yu would grope it.
Energy guards could defend against attacks, but they couldn't defend against Ruan Yu's pervy hands...
"Such thick fur! I love it!"
The panther elite was close to becoming a spirit. Even if it couldn't understand what Ruan Yu was saying, it could feel something from Ruan Yu's burning gaze.
How could the spotted leopard elite endure this—it completely ignored Jiang Kai.
"Roar!" the panther elite roared in fury and pounced at Ruan Yu.
However, the Murloc Lord once proved—anyone who ignores Jiang Kai only ends up one way!
A dozen Quenched Pursuits quickly shattered the spotted leopard elite's energy guard. After multiple critical hits, its body was blasted open with three large holes!
Just as Ruan Yu was enjoying himself, he suddenly saw the leopard elite get killed on the spot. It was like getting struck by lightning. He collapsed and ran over to the leopard.
"Huahua, my Huahua! No! Little Kai, I hate you!"
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