Chapter 139: Successful Assassination!

Lin Xiao was truly overwhelmed and disoriented now.

He had been closely observing the battlefield, especially Feng Yang. He had always felt that Feng Yang wouldn't behave himself, and that suspicion led him to notice Feng Yang’s subtle movements. Without overthinking, he pulled the trigger of his sniper rifle.

Only after Feng Yang fell did Lin Xiao realize he had just killed someone.

He knew Feng Yang deserved to die, but this was his first time killing a man, and the feeling was deeply unsettling. After warning the Wolf Warrior Mercenary Group, he couldn't hold back and began vomiting.

Hearing the continuous retching over the comms, Zi Shu and the others didn’t mock Lin Xiao. They had all been through this stage before; their first time wasn’t any easier.

“Piggy, just let it out. You’ll feel better after,” one voice comforted.

“You’ll get used to it over time.”

“Get used to it? Can you even comfort someone properly!” another voice teased lightly.

The soothing words over the comms made Lin Xiao feel somewhat relieved.

“Everyone, stop talking and keep attacking! If we don’t, that Stone Beast Leader is going to break through for real!” Zi Shu urged.

They all knew what mattered most now and never ceased their assault.

Their attacks were effective; the Stone Beast Leader was battered and scarred, but it stubbornly refused to die, continuously absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

“Damn it, why is this guy so tough?”

“Cut the chatter. If it breaks through, we’ll all be finished here.”

Just then, the previously raging spiritual energy around them suddenly calmed.

Everyone’s eyes locked onto the Stone Beast Leader.

They weren’t sure if they had interrupted its breakthrough or if it had succeeded.

“Boss, did we make it?”

“Don’t know yet. Keep watching. Don’t stop attacking. If this thing isn’t dead, I won’t rest easy!”

At Zi Shu’s command, they continued their assault. No matter how much they attacked, the Stone Beast Leader remained motionless.

Seeing this, everyone exhaled in relief; it seemed they had succeeded.

Thank goodness—it was fortunate they had, because if the Stone Beast Leader had truly broken through, they likely wouldn’t stand a chance.

Shen Hou wanted to check the situation but was pulled back by Zi Shu.

“Don’t rush. Let’s observe a bit more. I still feel uneasy.”

Shen Hou thought Zi Shu was overreacting but understood his concern for safety, so he stayed silent.

A few more minutes passed, and the Stone Beast Leader still didn’t move. Even Zi Shu began to doubt his own worries.

“All right, I guess I was overthinking it. Monkey, go check it out.”

As Shen Hou was about to move forward, Lin Xiao’s voice came through the comms.

“Everyone, fall back! The Stone Beast Leader is not dead!”

The Wolf Warrior Mercenary Group was stunned but trusted Lin Xiao’s judgment and immediately created distance from the Stone Beast Leader.

Lin Xiao had been closely monitoring the situation all along. At first, he too thought the Stone Beast Leader was down and didn’t intervene.

Even as they kept attacking and the Stone Beast Leader didn’t respond, he assumed it was truly dead.

When Zi Shu sent Shen Hou to investigate, Lin Xiao suddenly recalled the Stone Beast Leader’s cunning nature and instinctively activated night vision.

Though it was daytime and he rarely used night vision, he remembered its infrared sensing capability and switched it on.

While it didn’t enhance his sight, the heat imaging function would reveal if the Stone Beast Leader was still alive.

Just as Lin Xiao suspected, the moment he activated night vision, he detected fluctuations in the Stone Beast Leader’s aura.

This guy was definitely faking it—a real old fox!

That was why Lin Xiao had warned everyone immediately.

In truth, Lin Xiao had misunderstood the Stone Beast Leader. It wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t plotting to ambush Zi Shu and the others either.

Having just broken through to level seven, it was adapting to the changes in its body.

Though angry at the attacks, its defense had greatly improved after the upgrade, allowing it to endure.

To quickly familiarize itself with its new form, it chose to endure, planning to kill everyone present once it had fully adjusted.

After the mercenaries retreated, the Stone Beast Leader finally opened its eyes.

Most astonishing was the third eye growing on its forehead, currently closed with only a slit visible—this was the Stone Beast’s innate Petrification Eye.

It rose to its full height, letting out a fierce howl.

Its body visibly grew from over five meters to more than seven.

Not only its size but its aura had changed.

Though the Stone Beast had always been intelligent, breaking through to level seven marked a qualitative leap.

Glancing at the Wolf Warrior Mercenaries, it saw their auras were only slightly above level five, and a disdainful, almost human-like expression flashed in its eyes.

Shen Hou chuckled bitterly, “Boss, do you think we’re being looked down on by a spirit beast?”

“Now’s not the time for jokes. We’re in serious danger.”

“Boss, what do we do? Fight or flee?”

“We can’t win! Split up and run—save whoever can escape. Piggy, hide and don’t come out. Once we lure it away, you run, but be careful and try to return the way you came.”

Lin Xiao overheard their conversation and was touched by Zi Shu’s words—still thinking of him even now.

He didn’t want any of the Wolf Warriors to fall here.

“Big Brother Zi Shu, do you trust me?”

Zi Shu was ready to scatter and run but paused at Lin Xiao’s words.

“Piggy, of course we trust you!”

“Then I’ll be direct. If you all believe in me, hold off the Stone Beast Leader for a while—I’ll take care of it!”

Zi Shu: (???)

“This is a level-seven spirit beast. You can handle it?”

“Yes.”

“All right, we trust you! We’ll delay it as long as we can, but you have to be quick—we can’t hold out long.”

Lin Xiao said no more. He pulled several bullets from his spatial ring.

These were no ordinary sniper rounds; Sano had prepared these spirit-infused bullets for him.

Outwardly indistinguishable from normal bullets, inside each was sealed the spiritual power of at least an eighth-level expert.

This was Lin Xiao’s trump card, and he felt the time had come to use it.

The reason he asked Zi Shu and the others to hold on was that he hadn’t yet found the Stone Beast Leader’s weak point.

He didn’t have many spirit bullets left and couldn’t afford to waste them.

Loading the bullets, he reactivated his weak-point detection. Now, he just had to find the Stone Beast Leader’s vulnerability.

The Wolf Warriors engaged the Stone Beast Leader again.

A sneer curled on the beast’s lips as its third eye opened fully, coldly locking onto Zi Shu.

Sensing danger, Zi Shu immediately dodged.

Thanks to his wind-based abilities, Zi Shu was swift, narrowly escaping the Stone Beast Leader’s deadly gaze.

Zi Shu was unharmed, but the beast’s gaze then fixed on a corpse behind him.

That body began to petrify instantly.

Everyone gasped in horror.

A glance and it turned to stone—this power was terrifying!

Frustrated that his first strike missed, the Stone Beast Leader growled.

Having just gained the Petrification Eye, he was still unfamiliar with its use and it had a cooldown period; it couldn’t be used again so soon.

But it didn’t matter; dealing with these guys was still easy.

With a roar, the Stone Beast Leader charged.

Chou Niu immediately summoned an earth wall, and Xu Gou unleashed vines to try to slow the beast.

But the Stone Beast Leader was too powerful. It tore the vines violently and smashed through the earth wall with a single punch.

In the blink of an eye, it stood before them.

Wu Ma and Shen Hou charged forward instinctively, ready to die protecting the ranged fighters.

The beast swatted them away with a single massive hand.

Both were thrown dozens of meters, crashing into several giant trees.

Bones shattered, fresh blood trickled from their mouths.

With them out of the way, only ranged fighters remained.

“Piggy, if you don’t act soon, we’ll all be finished here!”

Lin Xiao said nothing.

As the Stone Beast Leader attacked, he finally spotted its weak spot—its heart.

At the moment the beast swung its arm, Lin Xiao seized his chance.

Bang!

The spirit-infused bullet flew swiftly from his sniper rifle toward the Stone Beast Leader.

The beast seemed to sense the danger and looked up toward the nearby hill.

Boom!

The bullet struck the beast’s heart and exploded.

Its formidable defenses crumbled like paper.

A huge hole tore open at its heart.

A look of disbelief filled the Stone Beast Leader’s eyes.

It had just broken through.

Wasn’t it supposed to be the hard-earned sweet victory?

But the story wasn’t meant to unfold this way!