Chapter 1243: Spatial Evolver
Such an obvious provocation fell on deaf ears as Xue Lang said, "Among the people your Dr. Zhang trained, isn't there anyone who wants to kill him?"
"Where is he?" Xu Huo wasn't interested in Dr. Zhang's other "disciples." Since Xue Lang hadn't been involved in Xu Zhi's death, further words were meaningless.
However, Xue Lang changed his tune again. "Why should I tell you?"
As if his earlier suggestion was only meant to whet Xu Huo's appetite.
"You must have another purpose for coming to District 001. I heard the Stellar Corporation lost a batch of experimental data. Does that have anything to do with you?" Xu Huo suddenly brought up another topic.
Xue Lang's expression remained unchanged as he said nonchalantly, "So what if it does? So what if it doesn't?"
"You're still in District 001 without leaving, probably because you haven't finished what you came to do." Xu Huo smiled. "A ready-made target. I believe both the Stellar Corporation and the Game Government Base would be interested in you. Finding a player in District 001 isn't hard. There might even be a Super Player stationed here."
"Whether they can catch you is uncertain, but if you still want to do anything, it might be a bit difficult."
Xue Lang glared at him darkly. "You've been this damn annoying since we were kids. Always running to tattle."
"The method doesn't need to be clever. It just needs to work." Xu Huo said flatly, "How about you tell me where Dr. Zhang is, and I won't report you to the base government?"
Xue Lang let out a cold laugh. "That depends on whether you can walk out of this instance alive."
As he spoke, sixteen rays converged from all four directions—front, back, left, and right—and they weren't far away.
If it were before, Xu Huo would have needed the rays to get very close before he could sense them directly. But after another spatial evolution and more refined control over Space Rays, he detected them the moment Xue Lang subtly moved the rays closer to him. His spiritual realm had also been covering this area. After teleporting Mu Yan and the other two away, he reduced the coverage of his spiritual power while attempting to use condensed, tangible spiritual force to interfere with the rays.
He almost succeeded.
The reason he said "almost" was because the long thread formed by his spiritual energy managed to pull Xue Lang's Space Rays for a moment, but it was severed after only a very brief instant.
Xue Lang saw this and pulled out four of the rays to block Xu Huo's path forward. At the same time, he teleported behind Xu Huo, raising his hand like a blade and stabbing through the air toward his heart!
He didn't need to physically hit Xu Huo. The moment his hand thrust out, a semi-transparent object like a glove shot like an arrow through Xu Huo's back!
"Hmph!" But Xue Lang, seeing this, let out a cold snort and swung his hand back toward his own diagonal rear. The same semi-transparent substance formed a blade dozens of meters long, as if it could directly cut through space!
Xu Huo, who had used a fake afterimage as a feint, retreated to avoid this blade and the rays. He opened a portal and switched positions, then used items like "Holder's Demise" and "Horizontal Cut." Unfortunately, for Xue Lang, who was proficient in controlling spatial evolution, he only needed to raise a barrier between the two of them, and these items became difficult to use. Even if they were effective, he could rely on his strength to dodge in advance or defend with items.
Naturally, although Xu Huo couldn't break through his defense circle, Xue Lang couldn't easily catch him either. First, because Xu Huo also possessed spatial evolution power, giving him an advantage in countering items. Second, Xu Huo had also evolved spiritually, which compensated for his shortcomings in high-level items and combat strength.
After a few minutes of fighting, many of the maze walls were destroyed, but neither side gained the upper hand.
But at that moment, Xu Huo suddenly found his movements becoming sluggish—not just his movements, but even the air around him seemed to become stagnant. Moving felt like being stuck in mud, expending greater effort for lesser results.
His speed was greatly reduced, yet Xue Lang seemed unaffected. He flashed in front of Xu Huo and stabbed again!
This time, Xu Huo wasn't lucky enough to dodge completely. Even though he opened a spiritual gate in time, he was still stabbed in the left shoulder!
The damage from a Space Blade was incomparable to ordinary items. Xu Huo summoned the Library Tower, temporarily trapping Xue Lang inside, then put on the "Flexible Mechanical Suit"—almost as soon as the suit was on, Xue Lang appeared behind him again and stabbed him in the back once more!
Fortunately, this time it was blocked.
But unfortunately, when Xue Lang pressed his hand directly against the mechanical suit, the metal protective suit crumbled like dried fabric, falling into pieces. Then, another Space Blade formed under his palm, piercing straight through Xu Huo's shoulder blade!
Xu Huo immediately concentrated his spiritual power, opening portals in front of and behind himself. Successfully avoiding this attack, he used an item to escape and moved two hundred meters away.
However, this distance was nothing to Xue Lang. He practically stuck to Xu Huo, also moving two hundred meters away, and repeated his attempt to kill him.
But a spiraling staircase rose from the ground, carrying Xu Huo away and continuously ascending into the sky.
"You think this can save you?" Xue Lang looked up, manipulating the rays to cut the staircase in half. As the rays danced, the ascending staircase continuously fell, quickly pulling Xu Huo back to the ground!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three Space Blades, each two fingers wide, pinned Xu Huo against a distant maze wall!
Xu Huo was embedded deep among the mutant plants, startling them into a collective attack. But they automatically collided with the Space Blades embedded there, getting sliced apart one by one, scattering debris all over the ground.
Xue Lang stared at the maze wall, squinting. Then he cut open the wall, letting the trapped person fall out—Xu Huo wasn't dead as Xue Lang had imagined, but he was severely injured, rolling on the ground.
Xue Lang was very cautious. Before Xu Huo could get up, he dropped blades from the air, stabbing him eight times, pinning him to the ground!
Blood flowed from the Space Blades piercing his chest and abdomen onto the ground. After a moment, the blades created by the Space Rays disappeared. Xu Huo fell solidly to the ground, his limbs still struggling, but he couldn't get up.
Xue Lang used an item to lift him, hoisting his hands high and bringing him face to face.
Blood dripped all the way, but looking at the barely breathing person, Xue Lang frowned. "I don't believe you'd die so easily."
The drooping head showed no reaction.
Xue Lang's doubt quickly turned to ruthlessness. He summoned the rays, intending to cut Xu Huo into pieces—just as the rays passed through Xu Huo's body, the moment Xue Lang was about to believe he truly had no fight left, the suspended person began to disintegrate from the waist, turning into a pool of black liquid that splattered on the ground!