A Card In Hand

Chapter 3: Crunch!

It had been a long time.

Under the harmless gaze of Li Ao’s innocent smile, the rock slowly deformed, transforming into a ghost-like, ethereal shadowy figure that flitted about uncertainly.

The shadowy figure rasped, “Kid, how did you see through me? I thought my disguise was flawless.”

Li Ao maintained his smile.

He politely replied, “Please forgive me, I truly can’t comprehend the confidence you have in your disguise! How would you like me to cooperate? Should I pretend that the truth doesn’t matter and just smile foolishly as long as it makes you happy?”

“You’re quite arrogant!”

The shadowy figure huffed angrily. “Do you know what happened to the last young man who was as arrogant as you?”

“Did he and his little wife live happily ever after?”

Li Ao’s smile was pure and innocent.

The shadowy figure nearly choked on its breath.

The muddy ground.

There was a pool of murky water.

Right when Li Ao’s laughter was at its brightest.

The water silently split open, and a black snake as thick as an arm shot out like an arrow toward Li Ao’s face.

In midair, its mouth gaped wide.

Its fangs were chillingly cold.

“Achoo!”

Li Ao sneezed loudly, bending over and dodging the attack just in time.

The shadowy figure was dumbfounded.

Was this really possible?

It had to be sheer luck!

There was no way he could have predicted the marsh snake’s ambush!

The marsh snake thudded onto the muddy ground.

Li Ao seemed not to notice.

He rubbed his nose.

“Kid, Cliff of the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon isn’t a place for you,” the shadowy figure quickly spoke, trying to divert Li Ao’s attention.

“I just came to admire someone else’s contract with the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon,” Li Ao gestured dismissively.

“People who know too much usually don’t live long!” the shadowy figure’s gaze was as cold as ice.

“That’s okay, I don’t need to live too long; I just need to outlive my opponents by just a bit!”

As soon as Li Ao finished speaking, the high-ranking Black Iron marsh snake found the perfect moment to strike, biting at his ankle.

Crack!

The marsh snake’s fangs broke off immediately, causing it pain that twisted and rolled its body.

With the protection of Stone Body Protection, Li Ao looked down calmly, then exclaimed with a sudden realization, “So you like my shoes, senior? Why didn’t you say so earlier? If I had known you liked them, I would have given them to you!”

Li Ao took off his shoes.

He generously handed over the foul-smelling shoe to the ghostly-faced shadowy figure: “Senior, it’s a small gesture, no respect!”

Never before had the shadowy figure been humiliated like this; veins bulged on his forehead, and his voice came out through clenched teeth, “Kid, don’t think just because you have a Bronze-level Stone Giant and Stone Body Protection that you can show off in front of me! When it comes to schemes and tricks, you’re still green!”

“If you don’t like them, just let it go,” Li Ao said as he pulled out the broken marsh snake fangs and casually tossed them aside, then put his slightly holed shoes back on.

As he bent down.

From a shadowy figure at his side.

Suddenly a giant wolf leapt out, its gaping maw viciously aimed at Li Ao.

Li Ao reacted swiftly, blocking his neck with his right hand.

As the wolf’s teeth snapped shut, countless fragments of rock burst in its mouth, falling with a clatter.

Fortunately, the wolf’s teeth also failed to penetrate the defense of Stone Body Protection.

Otherwise, he would have lost an arm.

The black giant wolf that jumped from the shadowy figures was also a Bronze-level war beast.

Unfortunately, being only at the low Bronze level, its teeth were just short of breaking through Li Ao’s Stone Body Protection.

This small difference became an insurmountable gap for it.

The black giant wolf clenched Li Ao’s arm, pulling and tearing, trying to knock him down since it couldn’t breach his defenses.

Li Ao’s body was pulled along.

He then swung his other fist at the cunning giant wolf.

Just as his fist was thrown, another Black Giant Wolf leaped out from the shadowy figures, targeting Li Ao’s unprotected left side, aiming straight for his heart.

With one bite.

The Stone Body Protection was activated again.

Rock fragments splattered from the wolf’s mouth.

“It’s useless,” Li Ao shook his head.

“As long as your attacks can’t break through my Stone Body Protection, no matter how many times you bite, it’s pointless!”

“You think I don’t know that, kid? Let me give you a free lesson!” the shadowy figure sneered.

The two wolves’ assaults were incredibly fast, but the attack from the shadowy figure was even faster.

He dashed towards Li Ao like lightning.

A fingertip.

Pointed forward from a distance.

A card hidden in the palm’s shadowy figure quietly appeared, emitting a sinister glow.

A dagger formed from dark source energy was instantly summoned, shooting towards Li Ao’s forehead at high speed.

A dagger struck between his brows, leaving Li Ao’s expression frozen, as if he had never seen such a bizarre attack before.

The dark source energy transformed into an unstoppable shadowy figure energy, penetrating Li Ao’s forehead.

Li Ao seemed to have taken a severe hit.

His body jerked sharply.

The shadowy figure, as if it had never moved, smoothly slid back to its original position.

From within the depths of the cunning eyes hidden in the shadowy figures, a certain indescribable smugness emerged: “Still acting so arrogant now? Young man, don’t think I don’t know your weaknesses with your contract with the Stone Giant… You might not fear ordinary attacks, but you dread source energy attacks! Just a small shadowy figure dagger can bring you down!”

Upon hearing this, a look of despair as if doomed by the heavens crossed Li Ao’s face, and his body jerked again.

However, strangely enough, despite his body swaying, Li Ao refused to fall onto the muddy ground.

The shadowy figure squinted for a long time, realizing that Li Ao kept swaying but did not fall, and then it dawned on him, his anger soaring: “Are you playing with me? You dare to play with me?”

“Don’t be angry!”

Li Ao had the Stone Giant, which had driven back two giant wolves with a swing of its fists, cease its attack.

His voice was sincere as he said, “Actually, I’m about to die. I just thought the role I’m playing—the one who’s been sneakily dealt a bad hand—should express anger, unwillingness, and despair, and struggle a bit. It could better explore the depths of the character’s soul! I just wanted to make my death a bit mischievous. Don’t you think this setup is more fitting for us young people?”

The shadowy figure nearly collapsed upon hearing this, roaring angrily, “What on earth are you talking about? Complete nonsense! You madman!”

“A kindred spirit is hard to find, sigh!”

Li Ao looked up to the sky at a pure forty-five-degree angle.

He sighed as if no one else was around, his expression quite melancholic.

The shadowy figure was so angry that it was practically exploding.

Rage.

A wave of the hand.

Suddenly, a black cloak was flung into the sky.

As the cloak fluttered into the air, a card was quietly summoned from beneath the shadowy figures, and a huge Abyssal Golem was called forth from the depths of death.

Upon its appearance, the entire area within a hundred meters instantly turned into a terrifying domain of wailing ghosts and howling wolves.

The fourteen-meter-tall Abyssal Golem, covered in horrifying bone spikes and burning with abyssal flames, caused every drop of its dark green flames to ignite enduring green fires upon the muddy ground as they fell.

The eyes of the Abyssal Golem, red as blood, opened.

It swung its fist greedily.

Unstoppable.

With one punch, it knocked aside the blocking Stone Giant.

The other large hand reached straight for Li Ao, who seemed to have been frightened into stupidity.

“Flesh! I want more fresh meat! Bloody, crunchy boned, delicious and juicy meat bones!” the Abyssal Golem clamored in the language of the abyss, impatiently stuffing Li Ao into its mouth.