Chapter 80: Shameless Looter

"Heh heh, enjoy this Mystic Yin Lightning!" Owen gave a wicked grin as he rubbed the five fingers of his right hand together.

Two fist-sized spheres of lightning suddenly condensed above his palm. With a flick of his index and middle fingers, he sent them shooting toward Ryan.

"Profound Rank Low-Grade Battle Skill, Lightning Ball!"

The two Lightning Balls glowed with a sinister grey-blue light, crackling and hissing as they tore through the air.

Their speed was astonishing, and their erratic trajectories made them resemble two nimble, sinister ghosts.

In the blink of an eye, they were less than three meters from Ryan.

"Hmph!"

At this moment, Ryan had only just managed to force a small portion of the strange Yin Thunder Force out of his elbow.

Seeing the two incoming Lightning Balls, his expression immediately turned grim.

He swept his right arm and unleashed the Spider Web Flying Shuttle.

He had originally intended to launch all five at once, but the Mystic Yin Lightning had severely eroded his right arm. The circulation of blood and Origin Energy had been impeded, allowing him to launch only two.

WHOOSH!

Two shuttle-shaped Spider Webs shot through the air, meeting the incoming Lightning Balls head-on.

SIZZLE!

The moment they collided, thick smoke billowed outward.

Although both skills were of the same rank, the Spider Web Flying Shuttle was primarily a control-type technique, while the Lightning Ball was purely offensive.

In terms of destructive power, the difference was immediately apparent.

Before the Spider Webs could even unfold, the two shuttle-shaped projectiles began disintegrating at a visible rate.

Under the corrosive force of the Mystic Yin Lightning, they rapidly evaporated into wisps of smoke and dissipated into the air.

They had failed to stop the Lightning Balls in the slightest.

The two spheres of lightning surged forward with a thunderous hum, once again darting toward Ryan like elusive ghosts.

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, Ryan’s expression changed.

The Spider Web Flying Shuttles had failed, and the Lightning Balls were already too close. There was simply no time to dodge.

BANG! BANG!

With no other choice, Ryan activated his Overlord Body Bloodline.

He raised his right fist and unleashed a rapid barrage of punches, finally scattering the two approaching Lightning Balls before they could strike him.

Grey-blue lightning exploded in all directions, fragmented electric snakes dancing wildly through the air.

However, the moment the lightning dissipated, two strange and sinister strands of Yin Thunder Force suddenly drilled into the surface of Ryan’s right fist.

The phantom of the Overlord Body Battle Armor flickered violently.

Ryan’s expression changed.

After another direct confrontation, he had finally realized just how troublesome this Mystic Yin Lightning truly was.

It was like sticky candy.

Once it made contact, it was incredibly difficult to shake off.

Ryan felt a headache coming on.

How was he supposed to fight this?

In terms of raw destructive power, the Mystic Yin Lightning was actually nothing extraordinary.

Its true terror lay in its strange properties.

It couldn’t be touched.

And once it was touched, it was extremely difficult to remove.

If the Overlord Body Bloodline represented absolute strength and rigidity, then the Mystic Yin Lightning Bloodline represented something completely different, strange, elusive, and soft.

Softness overcoming hardness.

Unexpectedly, his C-Grade Top-Tier Overlord Body Bloodline was being perfectly countered by a Mystic Yin Lightning Bloodline that was two grades lower!

For the first time since obtaining the Overlord Body, Ryan found himself unable to fully unleash its overwhelming advantages.

Even when he launched powerful attacks, dealing with the Mystic Yin Lightning felt like punching cotton.

There was nowhere for his strength to land.

At the same time, the cold, stinging Yin Thunder Force continued burrowing deeper into his body.

Ryan had to constantly divert a portion of his attention toward suppressing and expelling it.

It severely disrupted his concentration.

Even when he desperately circulated his Origin Energy to force the Yin Thunder Force out, the process was painfully slow.

It was like pulling an iron nail deeply embedded in flesh, he could gradually loosen it, but removing it completely would take considerable time.

"Heh heh, using Ryan as a whetstone is quite effective."

Gareth nodded with a faint smile as he watched the battle.

"It seems Owen hasn’t neglected his cultivation despite being occupied with family affairs."

His gaze fell upon the battlefield, and a hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

"This Lightning Ball technique has clearly reached the perfected stage. Its speed and trajectory make it extremely difficult to guard against."

Back then, the reason he had accepted Owen as his adopted son was partly because Owen came from a commoner background, making him much easier to control.

More importantly, the Bloodline Owen had awakened belonged to the lightning attribute of the Transformation Type.

His talent was quite impressive.

Among miscellaneous Bloodlines, lightning-attribute Bloodlines were already considered relatively rare and high-grade.

As long as sufficient resources were invested into their cultivation, they could gradually evolve into extremely powerful Transformation Type Bloodlines.

Although Owen’s Bloodline couldn’t compare with the Sterling Family’s S-Grade inherited Bloodline, the Heavenly Fox Sacred Fire’s first form, the Crimson Fox True Flame, it was still remarkably close.

He was undoubtedly a promising prospect.

If his Bloodline could evolve several more times, its future potential would be difficult to estimate.

"The Family Head is right!"

The two remaining black-clad henchmen immediately nodded in agreement.

"If Sir Owen wants to deal with that Ryan fellow, it will be as easy as flipping his hand!"

They looked at Ryan with mocking smiles, apparently convinced that victory was already within Owen’s grasp.

"Ryan..."

Jake’s heart tightened as he watched the battle.

His face grew even paler.

"Heh heh heh..."

At this moment, Owen let out a cold laugh.

He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a jet-black dagger with an extremely sharp blade.

His figure suddenly blurred.

WHOOSH!

He shot toward Ryan like a piercing arrow.

Grey-blue lightning wrapped around the entire dagger, while violent arcs of Mystic Yin Lightning gathered around its tip, bursting outward like dazzling fireworks.

If that dagger pierced his body, it would likely tear straight through his internal organs.

Ryan’s expression darkened.

He had already realized that directly clashing with Owen’s attacks was a terrible idea.

As the dagger approached his chest, Ryan suddenly twisted his body sideways.

SHING!

The blade narrowly passed by his chest.

Owen’s expression immediately darkened when his attack missed.

He abruptly twisted his waist, changing his attack mid-motion.

Reversing his grip on the dagger, he slashed horizontally toward Ryan’s side.

The black blade was covered in tiny Mystic Yin Lightning snakes, crackling violently as it swept through the air and carved out a beautiful crescent-shaped arc.

But Ryan had already learned his lesson.

He raised his hand and shot a strand of Spider Silk toward a thick tree branch overhead.

WHOOSH!

The Spider Silk wrapped securely around the branch.

Using the momentum, Ryan swung upward and leapt high into the air, moving with the agility of a nimble monkey climbing through the trees.

The crescent-shaped dagger slash passed harmlessly beneath him.

From then on, the battle fell into a strange rhythm.

Ryan relied on his Godly Travel Boots and Spider Silk Swing, constantly maneuvering through the dense forest and avoiding Owen’s attacks.

He no longer made direct contact with his opponent.

Instead, whenever he found an opening, he would launch a sudden attack before immediately retreating.

Hit and run.

He never allowed himself to become entangled with Owen.

At the same time, he continued expelling the remaining Yin Thunder Force from his body while conserving as much Origin Energy as possible.

After all, the greatest disadvantage of the Origin Sea Convergence Realm compared with the Origin Spirit Realm was the difference in total Origin Energy reserves.

The disparity in cultivation could still be compensated for by his C-Grade Top-Tier Overlord Body.

But his limited Origin Energy reserves were another matter entirely.

There was currently no good solution to that problem.

Therefore, Ryan had no intention of wasting his strength.

He would dodge whenever possible, attack only when necessary, and conserve his Origin Energy for the moments when it truly mattered.

As a result, the battle gradually turned into a prolonged chase and tug-of-war.

Before long, the two had exchanged more than a dozen rounds.

Thanks to the massive ancient trees scattered throughout Ashfall Forest, combined with the assistance of his Spider Silk Swing and Godly Travel Boots, Ryan’s mobility had increased tremendously.

Although he couldn’t injure Owen, he could repeatedly evade his attacks by the narrowest of margins.

Sometimes, the dagger would pass only inches from his body.

Yet Ryan remained calm.

While maneuvering through the forest, he also kept an eye on the ground.

Whenever he passed near the black-clad henchmen who had been crushed beneath the boulders earlier, he would discreetly extend his Spider Silk.

With its flexible and coiling properties, he pulled the corpses toward himself and stored them inside his spatial ring one after another.

These black-clad henchmen might not have been particularly strong, but even a mosquito was still meat.

Once they were processed through the Boundless Creation Furnace, there was bound to be something valuable that could be obtained.

More importantly, the Boundless Creation Furnace needed to be used frequently if he wanted to level it up quickly.

Therefore, Ryan absolutely refused to waste anything that could potentially be used for creation.

Before long, he had collected more than ten black-clad henchman corpses, nearly clearing most of the bodies scattered across the battlefield.

He didn’t even spare the severed limbs and other remains.

Nothing was wasted.

Seeing this, Owen, who had been relentlessly pursuing him like a lingering ghost, gritted his teeth in fury.

This bastard was actually treating the battlefield like a treasure vault while fighting him!

Because Ryan consistently maintained his distance and refused to engage Owen at close range, neither side had gained a decisive advantage despite the prolonged battle.

Owen possessed the overwhelming advantage in Origin Energy reserves thanks to his Origin Spirit Realm cultivation.

If he simply dragged the battle out, he could eventually exhaust Ryan.

But doing that in front of his adopted father would make him look incompetent.

He had already boasted that he would severely torment Ryan.

At the very least, he needed to force Ryan into a desperate and miserable state before this battle ended.

Otherwise, where would he put his dignity?

Owen’s eyes gradually turned cold.

He suddenly slapped the beast pouch hanging from his waist.

WHOOSH!

A flash of green shot out.

A half-human-tall green mantis appeared in midair.

The moment it emerged, it raised its cold, curved scythes.

Its large wings rapidly flapped, and its body instantly transformed into a streak of green light.

Together with Owen, who was gripping the lightning-wreathed dagger, it launched a furious pincer attack toward Ryan.

"Second-Tier Exotic Insect, Azure Green Mantis?"

Ryan’s peripheral vision caught sight of the insect, and his expression changed slightly.

Information about the exotic insect instantly flashed through his mind.

Without hesitation, his body twisted sharply.

Like a slippery loach, he squeezed through the narrowing gap between the two attackers, doing everything he could to avoid their combined assault.