Battle on the Home Ground

The Tauren at the very front was the elder. He was carrying a giant ax on his back and had enormous muscles that looked as if they were made from granite. Xia Chengfeng's poisoned arrow couldn't pierce through the Tauren's flesh even though it had hit him.

"My weapon isn't strong enough. All it gave him was a scratch." Xia Chengfeng realized that when fighting against a Lv8 leader monster, he had turned from an archer to a supporting character.

"Xiaozi, prepare yourself!" Xia Chengfeng guessed that the Tauren elder's physical defenses were too high. It was going to be more reliable to use a magic attack.

Xia Chengfeng could hear rumbles in the tunnel, as well as the frequent pathetic cries of the Taurens. He had set traps in the tunnel. Those must have killed a few Tauren warriors.

The Tauren elder had reached the point where it was about to charge out from the tunnel and barge into Xia Chengfeng's space bubble.

"Vine Slash!" Xia Chengfeng flailed his alchemy staff. The Earth elemental power took root just where the Tauren elder was about to land. Snake-like vines shot up and coiled around the Tauren Elder.

ROAR! The Tauren elder roared in fury and tore off the vines that were wrapping themselves around him.

"Xiaozi, use the lightning flames!" Xia Chengfeng quickly shouted.

ROAR! Xiaozi followed his instructions and shot a bolt of lightning flame, which was about the width of two fingers, toward the Tauren elder.

Her [Dragon's Breath] had reached Lv6 and inflicted much more damage than it had before.

The Tauren elder was scorched by the attack. He staggered back and fell onto the ground.

However, the ground was not as level as it looked. There was a giant pit trap under it.

At the very bottom of the trap was a layer of corrosive poison. There was also a field of metal spikes in the trap.

ROOAARR! The pathetic cry that came from the Tauren was exceptionally long and melancholic. It made the pigs and sheep at Xia Chengfeng's farm tremble in fear. Some even died from the shock.

The Tauren elder now resembled a porcupine because of the spiked pit trap. The corrosive poison had also caused his skin and wounds to start to rot. He looked especially pathetic.

By this time, other Taurens had also charged into the space bubble. They either fell into the trap that the Tauren elder had fallen into or some other traps that Xia Chengfeng had set up. Soon, the air resounded with a melody of pathetic cries.

"Kill the elite monsters first!" Xia Chengfeng saw that the Tauren elder was pulling the spikes out of his body. The damage hadn't been enough to kill him.

Two other Tauren chieftains had been more severely injured.

"Vine Slash!" Xia Chengfeng immediately slashed the more injured of the two. Then he managed to kill him, also using Xiaozi's lightning flame.

Making use of the same process, he killed the other Tauren chieftain as he was struggling to escape the vines.

The rest of the ordinary Taurens had previously been poisoned. Now that they had also fallen into Xia Chengfeng's traps, they were either dead or severely injured and had lost their ability to fight.

BUZZ! The Tauren elder's fury had reached a breaking point. He raised his foot within the trap and stomped fiercely on the ground. Xia Chengfeng felt the earth tremble. The powerful impact of the Tauren's stomp destroyed all of his traps.

Xia Chengfeng's stone hut was far away from where this battle was happening, but it also was cracked from the impact.

Xia Chengfeng almost lost his balance and struggled to remain upright.

"[Earth Tremble]! That skill is too powerful." Xia Chengfeng thought to himself. This was the Tauren elder's area of effect skill. It could shake the ground with its power, and the resulting impact could destroy all the enemy's buildings and facilities.

This was one of the skills unique to berserkers and was extremely useful.

After the Tauren elder destroyed Xia Chengfeng's traps, he stepped over the corpses of the other Taurens and jumped out of the pit.

His body was covered in the same red-light barrier that the Tauren shaman had used. However, the Tauren shaman's skill was called [Beast God Blessing] and was a magic shield.

The Tauren elder's skill was [Beast God Protection], and it increased the Tauren elder's physical defenses, regeneration rate, and power.

His wounds were healing at a visible rate. Its aura was strengthening profusely.

"Wow! A leader monster is too hard to deal with." Xia Chengfeng had used poisons, traps, and long-range attacks, and he'd been fighting for a long time. Any other monster would have been dead long before.

This Tauren elder seemed to be becoming more and more powerful as the battle went on.

ROAR! The Tauren elder raised its giant ax and charged toward Xia Chengfeng.

Even a small mountain wouldn't have been able to withstand this attack, much less Xia Chengfeng with his Life Alchemy Array.

"Vine Slash!" Xia Chengfeng cast a spell as he dodged.

Xiaozi also complemented his attack with lightning flames. Magic damage could bypass the Tauren elder's physical shield and wound him.

The Tauren elder's speed was affected, and his attack didn't hit Xia Chengfeng. Instead, it struck a granite wall. The granite shattered and a deep crack appeared on the wall.

"What a monster. With that strength, it's a pity that you're not in the moving business." Xia Chengfeng skirted him by moving to the side and continued to use Vine Slash.

The Tauren elder charged once again, but Xia Chengfeng avoided his attack using the same method.

He seemed to become a little more rational after both his charges had failed.

This time, he'd first used [Earth Tremble] and aimed the impact toward where Xia Chengfeng was standing. The attack had robbed Xia Chengfeng of his balance and his ability to cast spells. The Tauren elder had then used a combination of [Charge] and [Heavy Cleave].

This combination was extremely lethal. Xia Chengfeng felt every hair on his body stand up when he saw the cold glimmer of the giant ax approaching him. His nerves were strung tautly.

"Where do I hide?" Everything around him had been smashed by [Earth Tremble]. Even if some things had been left standing, none of these obstacles could withstand the Tauren elder's charge and heavy cleave.

ROAR! The Tauren elder roared in excitement. It was as though he could visualize the image of Xia Chengfeng being cleaved in two.

"I'll jump!" Xia Chengfeng came up with a plan at the very last moment. He jumped into the original trap pit.

Now, even though the traps in the pit had already been destroyed, there was still a layer of corrosive poison in the pit. Xia Chengfeng could lose at least half his health bar if he got soaked by the corrosive poison.

"Vine Growth!" This was the first half of [Vine Slash]. Xia Chengfeng got vines to grow out of the walls of the pit to grab at his body and prevent him from falling into the poison.

The Tauren elder didn't want to charge into the pit. However, his momentum was too great, and he couldn't stop in time. He also couldn't change direction. So he fell into the pit once again and created a large crater.

OOOO! There was a pathetic cry. It hadn't been easy for the Tauren elder to recover his little bit of health. However, his body was soaked in the corrosive poison now. The physical defense shield generated by [Beast God Protection] couldn't defend against the corrosion of the poison. The skin on its body was melted clean off by the poison. He looked like a piece of beef that had just been blanched by boiling water.

ROAR! Xiaozi seized the opportunity to strike the Tauren elder with a bolt of lightning flame and opened up all his wounds.

"Vine Slash!" Xia Chengfeng panted as he continued to attack.

The vines that Xia Chengfeng produced this time pressed the Tauren elder down into the corrosive poison and coiled tightly around his body. The Tauren elder struggled manically.

Xia Chengfeng had used up most of the elemental power in his body. Xiaozi's situation was the same.

So Xia Chengfeng pulled out his bow and shot arrows toward the Tauren elder's eyes to continue inflicting damage.

The Tauren elder's body was starting to bubble at the bottom of the trap. However, he hadn't managed to free himself from the vines that bound him. Instead, his injuries were worsening with the disappearance of the [Beast God Protection]. His health bar was depleting rapidly.

Berserkers had to defeat their opponents when their rage meter was full. If they failed to obtain victory, their status would drop rapidly.

That was what the Tauren elder was going through now. The damage that Xia Chengfeng was inflicting with his long-range attacks was increasing notably.

After a bit more struggling, the Tauren elder let out a sad, indignant howl. His body fell heavily into the poison, and he died.

System Notification: "You have killed [Wild Tauren Elder Lv8 (Leader)] and received 5,000 battle experience."

"Your level has increased to Lv8."

"[Xiaozi]'s level has increased to Lv8."

Coupled with the battle experience they'd gained from killing the ordinary Taurens and the two elite monsters, both Xia Chengfeng and Xiaozi had reached Lv8. They had gotten stronger once again!

Xia Chengfeng climbed out of the trap. He could still hear sounds coming from the tunnel. There were still a few poisoned Tauren warriors from the Tauren village rushing over to his space bubble.

However, Xia Chengfeng no longer had to worry. The most powerful leader and elites had been killed. The poisoned Taurens were no cause for concern. What he had to do next was to clean up the battlefield and loot resources.

A large wave of spoils of war awaited him!