As the words left Emetis, a thing glowing with an earthy yellow light appeared in the fierce woman's palm. At first glance, it looked like a miniature model, small enough to fit comfortably in her hand. But in Fang Senyan’s eyes, for some unknown reason, it loomed like towering mountains, impossible to ignore—definitely not some common trinket.

Fang Senyan was certainly no upright fellow who waited for his opponent to get set before fighting. Enduring the blinding light and the sensation of dizziness, he lunged toward Emetis, his appearance ravenous and ferocious. As Fang Senyan hoped, it would be best to extinguish this device in its cradle before it could take effect.

But fate rarely bends to Fang Senyan’s will. The price of his rush was a heavy axe blow to his back from Gian. This brute’s hand-axe bizarrely unleashed three mixed attributes at once: ice, poison, and electricity!

Although Fang Senyan was naturally immune to poison, he had no defense against ice and electricity. Upon being struck, he displayed the negative status of being frozen, reducing his movement speed by 30%, and the paralysis from the electricity lowered his movement speed by another 20%, with attack and casting speeds additionally reduced by 15%. Combined, his overall movement speed plummeted by a staggering 50%!

Because of this head-on confrontation, Fang Senyan’s attack naturally slowed; it landed on Emetis at least one and a half seconds later than anticipated.

—Therefore, Fang Senyan immediately sensed something was wrong, because unless this woman was already dead, her companion, having bought her a second and a half, should have fled immediately.

“Could my previous vicious sword-thrust through the throat have truly failed to scare her?” Fang Senyan dismissed this thought instantly! And given this woman’s astuteness, if activating this item required a lengthy casting time, how could she possibly unleash it right in front of him?

It was precisely because so many thoughts churned in his mind that Fang Senyan instantly perceived a trick. Instinctively, he retracted his move and retreated with a back-roll. After he made this move, he heard a resentful sigh.

When Fang Senyan squinted to look, the "Emetis" he had been targeting wavered vaguely, finally resolving into a sphere of shimmering, silvery water! It was clearly a fake!

If Fang Senyan had struck blindly without understanding the situation, the quicksilver bomb would have instantly detonated. Even if Fang Senyan was immune to the poison, inhaling the vaporized quicksilver would certainly do him no good, likely plunging him into an even more wretched state.

By this time, the real Emetis was standing in a corner near the wall. The "model" she had held in her hands was now placed on the ground, rapidly absorbing the surrounding soil and expanding. The incredibly fine carving quickly enlarged, becoming vividly lifelike, eventually forming a pond fifty to sixty square meters wide, filled with an incredibly viscous mud. Beneath it, a pot seemed to be boiling relentlessly, the mud bubbling up in large globs, resembling a cauldron of thick porridge being stewed.

Fang Senyan, recognizing the nature of this thing, couldn't help but gasp, “An Earth Elemental Nexus?”

Earth Elementals were creatures only found in fantasy worlds. Logically, their physical structures were ubiquitous, but the reason this particular race was rare had its own cause: the elemental concentration in that world had to reach a certain level, and more importantly, the total elemental volume of the entire world had to be vast enough to form certain unique characteristics.

With these two major conditions met, the world’s elemental tides would take on a watery quality. In some special zones, intense elemental vortices would form. These vortices, unlike water currents, wouldn't cause suffocation or death; ordinary people couldn't detect them at all, but for those practicing related magic, they were truly blessed grounds.

And when an Earth Elemental vortex lingered in one place for a long time, as elements accumulated, life would slowly begin to sprout—this was the origin of Earth Elementals. Once established, they would further intensify the turbulence of the elemental vortex, birthing more Earth Elemental life. This was the genesis of an Earth Elemental Nexus, and over long periods, it could even evolve into an Earth Elemental Altar, where all surrounding earth elements would transform into Rock Elementals.

The item Emetis had brought out now was intended to construct an Earth Elemental Nexus on a planet completely devoid of elemental vortices! Of course, this device must be powered by some extremely precious crystal. Once the crystal was depleted, the natural elemental vortex would dissipate, and the Earth Elementals would perish like fish stranded from water.

But before that energy ran out, the Earth Elementals that emerged from the Nexus would, without question, be commanded by the user!

Seeing the mud pool of the Earth Elemental Nexus bubbling like furiously boiling porridge, Fang Senyan, his face grim, launched a fierce assault. However, his vision was severely hampered, and with an MT sacrificing himself to intercept him nearby, even his abnormal strength couldn't overwhelm Emetis!

So, when the first muddy Earth Elemental crawled out of the pool, Fang Senyan was forced to retreat a few steps, pressing against the wall. This way, he only needed to fend off attacks within a 180-degree arc in front of him.

The newly formed Earth Elemental easily absorbed the surrounding rock onto its body surface. Its upper half resembled a human form, with unusually long and thick arms. Compared to its hands, its legs were short and stout, giving an immediate impression of solid grounding.

As it moved, the ground began to subtly tremble, as if an incredibly heavy cube was crushing forward. This creature’s innate ability included a Slow spell; with a lift of its arm, an earth-yellow light enveloped Fang Senyan, instantly reducing his movement and attack speed by 30%.

Immediately following this, the Earth Elemental marched toward Fang Senyan with heavy thuds and brought down its massive arms to smash him. Fang Senyan grunted, taking the full force of the blow, but simultaneously delivered a swift thrust that pierced precisely into the Earth Elemental’s core, activating his Extinction ability!

The Earth Elemental’s chest emitted a dull thud, as if something inside had shattered. Then, its entire body stiffened, and dense cracks spread across its surface, like the fissures appearing in sun-baked paddy fields, before it suddenly collapsed into a pile of dusty mud!

But at that very moment, Fang Senyan also groaned, clutching his abdomen. Emetis, moving like a phantom, had seized the opening created by his attack to deliver another slash to Fang Senyan.

Having struck successfully, Emetis did not linger but swiftly retreated, clearly resolved to continue her strategy of attrition.

As a Summoner, Emetis was most aware of the power of the Earth Elementals she summoned. Yet, Fang Senyan’s casual, offhand strike could instantly obliterate one; such terrifying power genuinely inspired awe, even astonishment!

However, Emetis felt something deeper: burgeoning greed. She coveted Fang Senyan’s miraculous weapon with growing intensity! The light emanating from the weapons in her hands gradually retracted, seemingly drawn back into the weapons themselves, revealing them to be a pair of strange grappling hooks.

It was worth noting that these items were specialty products from the Pirates of the Caribbean world. Although Fang Senyan frequented that area, he had never managed to loot a high-level pair like this, let alone both at once.

Forced into the corner, Fang Senyan knew his current situation was precarious. While it seemed he could kill an Earth Elemental with a single sword-thrust to its core, the Extinction ability was no free, common tool! Whether measured by the depletion of his own vitality or the expenditure of Merit Points, it was unsustainable for repeated use!

He had considered using Deterioration Shock, but that ability caused immense environmental damage. There was a real risk that the initial shockwave alone could collapse the entire cavern, burying him and his enemies alive.

What made Fang Senyan’s situation most awkward was the severe impairment to his vision—everything was a blinding white haze, and any object he did see was severely doubled. Thus, he couldn't utilize the Berserker’s Rage. Even if his opponent showed numerous openings due to infection, he couldn't attack them immediately! And even if he attacked, he still had that sticky, candy-like MT to intercept.

Logically, the Dark Gold Leech should be highly effective in this scenario, but considering Rony’s lack of survivability and the Leech’s blood-flow amplification effect, Fang Senyan had entrusted the Dark Gold Leech to him. Consequently, Fang Senyan felt momentarily helpless. Fortunately, his opponent was also infected with the SARS virus, and more importantly, the sustained damage from the SARS virus was considerable—it certainly wasn't an unwinnable fight.

“Hmm… the key to breaking this deadlock isn't killing anyone or destroying that damned summoning pool!” This thought flashed through Fang Senyan’s mind like lightning. “It’s about escaping this chamber’s trap. Once my vision recovers, killing them will be child’s play!”

Ah, I forgot to hit publish again.

My mistake. Tonight I’ll go get some roasted pig brain to supplement my nutrition.