Chapter 39: Ten Thousand Damage Points, Yang Junfei Questions His Entire Existence!

"Shackles" allows for the inheritance of all attributes from a summoned creature.

The Void Mantis still lagged behind the Tongue-Ripper Queen in agility, so Li Yao did not initiate the attack. The enclosed Primal Dungeon prevented challengers from escaping; likewise, the monsters trapped within were subject to the same constraints. After several seconds of a tense standoff, the Tongue-Ripper Queen could no longer restrain itself.

"Hiss-hiss-hiss!"

A piercing roar erupted! Li Yao felt a sharp, ringing pain in his ears, and his mind went blank. Yang Junfei and Song Anqing, meanwhile, had blood streaming from their ears, their bodies frozen in place. Fortunately, the "Tongue-Rip Scream" did not distinguish between friend and foe; the Goblin Blobs besieging them were similarly stunned.

Just as Li Yao was immobilized, countless bone spikes burst from the Queen’s spine, hurtling toward him like missiles. He stood motionless, seemingly paralyzed as the spikes slammed into him repeatedly. In reality, thanks to "King’s Might," he had regained his clarity long before the spikes were even fired. To his disappointment, the Queen was more cautious than he had anticipated; even when she had him pinned, she only used long-range skills to probe him.

However, Li Yao pushed off with his feet, throwing his body backward as if he had been sent flying by the impact, crashing into the stone wall behind him.

Seeing this, the Tongue-Ripper Queen transformed into a black blur and charged directly at him. Based on his many experiences with being battered, the sheer momentum of this charge was undoubtedly the most powerful strike he had faced yet!

"Boom!"

The Queen’s long, sharp head slammed into Li Yao’s stomach, driving them both deep into the cave and kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris!

Feeling that her attack had landed true, the Queen prepared to follow up, refusing to give her opponent any chance to catch his breath.

"Hiss?"

The Queen paused, a flicker of human-like surprise crossing her features. A pair of large hands, like iron clamps, were locked onto her arms. The human who should have been gravely wounded was staring at her with a smile?! The Queen felt a shiver run through her entire body.

"Bluebird, Predator!" Li Yao commanded.

Almost simultaneously, an endless cold wind blew, and jagged rocks erupted from the ground.

[-214]
[-4591]

The damage was so low that the Queen barely felt it, but she clearly sensed her movements slowing down. Li Yao released his grip. With a flick of his right hand, the King’s Scepter transformed into a long, narrow blade made of bone.

[White Jade Bone Blade (Weapon)]
[Quality: Platinum]
[Equipment Requirement: Strength 430]
[Attribute 1: Strength +110, Stamina +40, Agility +80, Spirit -100]
[Attribute 2: Tongue-Ripper Mucus (Passive): The blade is coated in the corrosive liquid unique to the Tongue-Ripper tribe, dealing magic damage equal to 20% of the wielder's strength per second; the corrosive effect lasts for 3 seconds each time the target is hit.]
[Attribute 3: Indestructible (Passive): Crafted from the toughest spine of the Tongue-Ripper tribe, durability is increased by 500.]
[Durability: 650/650]

This long blade was loot obtained from a treasure chest after killing a Tongue-Ripper Guard. Compared to other Platinum items, its stats were actually mediocre. It had no level restriction but required a high strength value. If not for the "Shackles" skill, Li Yao, as a Summoner, might never have been able to wield such a weapon in his lifetime. While the stat bonuses were decent, compared to his King’s Scepter, the bonuses were scattered and came with a -100 Spirit penalty. Normally, he would have handed this weapon over to the Qin family in exchange for more suitable gear. But its second attribute made him keep it without hesitation—it would even become his signature weapon after activating "Shackles."

Li Yao swung the blade and leaped in front of the Queen. The phantom of the Void Mantis manifested onto the blade.

"Swish!"

[-14725]
[-351 (Poison)]
[-321 (Poison)]
[-384 (Poison)]

Given Li Yao’s strength, the magic damage attached to each swing was almost equivalent to three Yang Junfeis attacking at once. Wounded by an ability that seemed to mirror her own, the Queen roared and lashed out with her tail, swinging it toward Li Yao with tremendous force.

However, the moment she moved, the Void Mantis appeared behind her.

[-7592]
[-30412 (Weak Point Attack)]

Before the mantis could unleash a Void Pierce, the Queen’s bone spikes struck. There was almost no way to dodge; the spikes sank into the Void Mantis’s body.

[-4210]
[-3914]

The Void Mantis’s health bar instantly plummeted, and one more hit would mean its demise! Li Yao quickly cast a shield on it while ordering the mantis to enter stealth. A Level 25 Lord-tier creature was still far too much for the Void Mantis to handle.

Li Yao charged in with his blade, engaging the Queen in close-quarters combat. It seemed the mantis’s attack had infuriated her, and she abandoned her defense to tear into Li Yao. This was exactly what Li Yao had been hoping for.

[-2451]
[-325 (Poison)]
[-4951]
[-298 (Poison)]
[-14677]
...

Massive damage numbers soared above the Queen’s head.

The terrifying damage values made the Queen scream in agony. Meanwhile, at the back of the tunnel, Yang Junfei and Song Anqing, who were surrounded by the Goblin Blobs, saw hope in those numbers. The tunnel was narrow, but the Goblin Blobs were endless. They had been pushed into a corner. Yang Junfei had to face four Goblin Blobs at once; with Song Anqing’s healing from behind, he could manage to hold on for a while.

*Hold on, must hold on!* Yang Junfei’s survival instinct was peaking. He also realized how suicidal his previous behavior had been. He kept glancing toward Li Yao’s position. Those five-digit damage numbers made him doubt his own reality! He even wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him, causing him to see double.

*Are you kidding me?* A Second-Transfer professional dealing with a monster of the same level usually dealt between 200 and 500 damage. It took a skill to even break a thousand! And such damage, when landed on a high-tier monster, would be further reduced—let alone a Lord-tier monster with high stamina, which was notoriously hard to even scratch for the average professional.

*But Li Yao? Breaking ten thousand? What kind of concept is that! It’s like we’re all in the Stone Age and you pull out an AK-47—we’re not even in the same dimension! And wait, aren't you a Summoner? What are you doing charging in with a blade?*

With this, his sense of superiority as a melee class and the only one capable of tanking was completely shattered. Yang Junfei felt that his S-rank class was worthless compared to Li Yao’s! He had never felt this kind of powerlessness, even when facing top-tier SS-rank geniuses.

"That’s the Shackles skill," Song Anqing’s weary voice echoed. "An S-rank skill every Summoner dreams of, though it’s only natural that Li Yao would possess it."

"Of course I know it's Shackles, you don't have to tell me! My potions are running out, hurry and give me a few bottles."

Yang Junfei certainly knew about the legendary Summoner skill. *Sure, it can inherit all attributes of a summoned beast, but you need to have a beast that powerful to begin with!*

"By the way," Song Anqing said, ignoring Yang Junfei’s frustration, "I might not be able to heal you for the next twenty seconds."

"Why? Are you out of mana? If you are, drink a potion! I have a few left."

"It’s not that," Song Anqing said as if it were obvious. "I need to heal Brother Li Yao’s summoned beast. Even if Brother Li Yao might not need it, as his younger sister, I can’t be lacking in manners."