# Chapter 66: Coordination
A piercing whistle swept past Su Xiao's side as streaks of black afterimages flew by—these were Ghost Bees, moving at full speed and leaving trails in their wake.
Drops of blood marked the ground along Su Xiao's path as Ghost Bees sought to take his life one after another.
Ducking to avoid a Ghost Bee aimed at the back of his neck, Su Xiao understood clearly that this couldn't continue. Each time a Ghost Bee wounded him, it added another layer of toxin effect. This toxin had already accumulated many layers, growing stronger with each addition.
[You are being eroded by an unknown toxin. Abnormal status effects stacking. Current stacks: 11 layers. Neural reflex speed -20%, Body defense -30, Stamina -5. Receiving 3 points of True Toxin Damage per second. Abnormal status duration: 6 minutes.]
The Ghost Bee's toxin underwent a qualitative change after accumulating three layers, and the more layers stacked, the longer the abnormal status persisted. At six minutes now, the next wound from a Ghost Bee would double the toxin's duration.
When Su Xiao was wounded for the tenth time, the abnormal status lasted three minutes. By the eleventh time, it became six minutes. The next wound would likely extend it to twelve minutes. The three points of True Toxin Damage per second couldn't be ignored—if wounded too many times, even if Su Xiao could kill Lan Jue, he would die from the accumulated True Toxin Damage.
Swoosh~
A Ghost Bee grazed Su Xiao's arm, sending blood droplets flying. As he predicted, the abnormal status duration became twelve minutes. He would take 180 points of True Toxin Damage per minute, totaling 2,160 points over twelve minutes.
Bubu Wang's Ice Goddess Halo restored 1 HP per second. Combined with using No. 1 Potion to endure, Su Xiao could withstand twelve minutes of True Toxin Damage. At twenty-four minutes, he had a slim chance. At forty-eight minutes, death was certain.
The more dire the life-or-death situation, the calmer Su Xiao became. He glanced at Lan Jue a hundred meters away—the man showed no intention of retreating. The situation hadn't yet spiraled beyond control.
What Su Xiao feared most now was that once the toxin accumulated to a lethal level, Lan Jue would choose to withdraw.
Su Xiao was overthinking things. If Lan Jue couldn't kill him, Lan Jue was also doomed. Having fought to this extent, neither would flee. Even if they had to use their teeth, one would bite the other to death.
With a thunderous crash, Xius fell from above, cratering the ground. The Ghost Bees inside Xius trembled slightly, no longer strong enough to carry him aloft.
Su Xiao swung his arm. In the distant grass, Bubu Wang's eyes lit up, understanding Su Xiao's intent without any need for verbal or visual communication. Bubu Wang immediately took control of Xius, charging toward Lan Jue.
Meanwhile, Su Xiao desperately dodged the nine Ghost Bees circling him. The rest had already been shattered by his blade.
If anyone else had been pierced so many times by Ghost Bees and eroded by True Toxin Damage, even a main tank would have fallen. But Su Xiao's HP was higher than a main tank's. A main tank might fall, but that didn't mean he would.
Bubu Wang controlled Xius charging toward Lan Jue. Blood was seeping from all seven of Lan Jue's orifices as he spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. He pulled two energy-blade short swords from where they were embedded in his calves.
"Don't think I only know how to control Ghost Bees."
Lan Jue's eyes showed vicious determination. Against a close-combat expert like Su Xiao, he indeed couldn't fight in melee. But Xius, controlled by Bubu Wang, wasn't exceptionally strong in close combat—at best, he was a big, strong, fast fool. Lan Jue had no fear.
As Su Xiao dodged the Ghost Bee attacks, Xius quickly closed in on Lan Jue. Lan Jue lowered his body, shifting his center of gravity downward. His Agility attribute wasn't low—he could temporarily act as an assassin if needed.
The distance between Xius and Lan Jue rapidly shortened, soon only five meters apart. Just as Lan Jue prepared to meet Xius's assault, Xius unexpectedly sidestepped, circling past Lan Jue and walking cautiously around him, as if somewhat wary of engaging in melee.
Lan Jue was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected this big fool to be so timid. His muddled mind, dulled from controlling too many Ghost Bees, quickly processed the situation. Then he suddenly realized something.
"It's over."
Xius let out a bitter laugh. His head had been throbbing with pain moments ago, causing a momentary pause in his thoughts. Now that his mind was clear, he guessed the enemy's plan.
Xius immediately stopped controlling the Ghost Bees, trying to use some ability. Unfortunately, controlling the Ghost Bees had consumed too much mana—that ability was no longer usable.
Zzz~
A cyan metal wire wrapped around Lan Jue's waist, deeply embedding into his flesh. This wire had originally been pinned to Xius's back. Earlier, when Xius had circled slowly around Lan Jue, it appeared to be caution before melee combat, but in reality, it allowed the Realm Severing Thread to coil around Lan Jue.
A few seconds ago, Su Xiao's arm-raising motion had been pinning the Realm Severing Thread to Xius's back. Bubu Wang immediately understood Su Xiao's intent and controlled Xius to charge at Lan Jue.
The moment the Realm Severing Thread coiled around him, Lan Jue understood one thing: he was finished.
Bubu Wang controlled Xius charging toward Lan Jue. With no other choice, Lan Jue raised his twin blades to block.
Xius raised his arm, the Muscle Cleaver in his hand crashing down toward Lan Jue. Lan Jue's body shifted slightly.
Lan Jue crossed his two energy blades above his head, already planning in his mind: the moment the energy blades contacted the Muscle Cleaver, he would use the momentum to sidestep and evade.
The Muscle Cleaver descended with a mournful whoosh, making contact with Lan Jue's energy blades just as he expected. But just as he prepared to sidestep and escape, a sharp pain shot through his waist along with an irresistible, powerful pulling force—Su Xiao was yanking the Realm Severing Thread.
Lan Jue's original Strength attribute was 33 points. After a permanent -15 reduction, he was left with only 18 points. Su Xiao's Strength attribute was 72 points (69 base + 3 equipment bonus).
Under such a disparity in Strength, Lan Jue was directly pulled to the ground by the Realm Severing Thread.
Boom!
The Muscle Cleaver slammed heavily into Lan Jue's ribs. One side of his ribs snapped into a V-shape, deeply piercing his internal organs.
"Ugh~"
Lan Jue vomited blood mixed with organ fragments. Despite being wounded to this extent, he raised his arm and pressed it against Xius's leg.
In Lan Jue's palm was a blue beetle, rapidly charging energy.
Boom!
A burst of force expanded from Lan Jue's palm. One of Xius's leg bones and one of Lan Jue's arms shattered simultaneously.
At the same time, the Ghost Bees circling Su Xiao fell to the ground.
Shave.
Su Xiao's figure vanished as he rapidly charged toward Lan Jue.
Lan Jue was tangled in a roll with Xius. Since Bubu Wang controlled Xius, after having one leg blown off, Xius instinctively bit at Lan Jue out of survival reflex.
A beetle appeared again in Lan Jue's remaining hand. He shoved his single arm into Xius's mouth.
Boom!
Xius's head shattered. The recoil sent Lan Jue tumbling several times. Both his arms were now broken, yet he still hadn't given up. With a desperate roll, he quickly got to his feet.
Su Xiao appeared before Lan Jue, Dragon-Slaying Flash in hand.
"You bastard..."
Lan Jue, blood flowing from all seven orifices, laughed. It had been a long time since he'd encountered an enemy like Su Xiao.
Using the momentum from Shave, Su Xiao delivered a straight kick. Lan Jue's shinbone snapped with a crack. From beginning to end, Lan Jue had never used 'Command: Substitution' for short-distance spatial movement. Not because he didn't want to, but while simultaneously controlling 26 Ghost Bees, he simply didn't have the energy to use other abilities.
Lan Jue's choice had been correct. If he had used tens of thousands of mechanical insects to bomb Su Xiao, forget killing him—even severely wounding him would have been difficult. Mechanical insects were far too slow compared to Ghost Bees. Su Xiao could have easily had Xius hold Lan Jue back while using the Spider Empress to snipe him from a distance.
But after synthesizing the mechanical insects into 25 Ghost Bees, those 20 Ghost Bees had nearly killed Su Xiao.
After breaking Lan Jue's shin, Su Xiao raised his long blade sideways. The blade was covered in blood—his own blood.
Plop.
The long blade swept through. Lan Jue's head flew up, clean and decisive.
Thud. Lan Jue's head hit the ground. His headless body also fell. The Ghost Bees on the ground a hundred meters away began to shatter.
Su Xiao's battle with Lan Jue hadn't involved ultimate techniques clashing or flashy skills flying everywhere. Both sides had been constantly searching for the enemy's weakness. Once a flaw appeared, they immediately struck to kill, leaving no chance.
As soon as Lan Jue fell, a crashing sound came from behind Su Xiao—Xius, whose head had already been blown apart.
The moment Lan Jue died, Su Xiao received a flood of notifications.
[Notification: The Hunter has successfully killed the enemy Purge Envoy.]
[Verifying...]
[Verification complete. The enemy Purge Envoy has completely died. ID dissipating.]
[Notification: This action by the Hunter has received high commendation. Additional rewards granted.]
[You have obtained 100 Merit Points. You have obtained Soul Crystal (Large) ×3. You have obtained a Gold Quality Equipment Chest ×1. Information Query Permission Rank +1.]