Every time he was attacked by the Amethyst Battle Tiger, his full health would inevitably drop below ten. Without fail, he would immediately gulp down two special recovery potions or a regular potion with a special one to fully restore his health. Whether it was sheer luck or the fact that the tiger’s maximum damage happened to be precisely 469, each time he was struck, he was left with just a sliver of health—twice even down to a single point—but never was his life completely extinguished.

  Over the span of half an hour, Ye Tianxie had endured more than a dozen attacks from the Amethyst Battle Tiger. Against an enemy with a movement speed exceeding his own by 50%, while still managing to launch occasional counterattacks with firecrackers or poison pollen, such a feat was nothing short of mythical. The tiger’s lightning strikes never once hit him—whenever the incantation for "Heavenly Thunder Break" began, he would instantly sprint beyond its ten-meter range, causing the descending lightning to miss every time.

  At the cost of being swept once by the tiger’s tail, Ye Tianxie finally sprinkled the last portion of Dark Devourer Flower pollen onto the beast. With that, all twelve doses had now taken effect on the Amethyst Battle Tiger. He instantly restored his health to full, retreated swiftly, and reached for the Twin Boom Cannons that he had not used in a long time.

  When a boss’s health drops to a critical level, it will unleash its final skill, drastically increasing its threat level. The best strategy is to concentrate the most powerful attacks at the end, eliminating it as quickly as possible—otherwise, the battle could end in disaster.

  Three more minutes passed. As the last dose of poison faded, Ye Tianxie finally hurled his Twin Boom Cannons one after another…

  -150, -150, -150, -150…

  The twelve doses of Dark Devourer Flower pollen had drained 12,000 HP from the Amethyst Battle Tiger, and more than a dozen Twin Boom Cannon explosions had inflicted an additional 3,000 damage. Every second, Ye Tianxie’s nerves were on edge, meticulously calculating the beast’s remaining health.

  -150, -150!

  The Amethyst Battle Tiger’s health finally dropped below 4,000. Its enraged roars grew even more frenzied. Suddenly, it stopped chasing Ye Tianxie, lifted its head, and let out a thunderous roar—one unlike any previous "Battle Tiger Roar." Just as Ye Tianxie was about to question it, six pale yellow lights descended from the sky, landing beside the tiger, accompanied by six synchronized roars.

  They were… six Striped Giant Tigers!

  Striped Giant Tiger – Level 20, HP: 1,250

  Originally the subordinates of the Amethyst Battle Tiger, they share a mysterious bond with it and are summoned when it faces a formidable enemy.

  Skills: Tiger Rend Strike, Tiger Tail Sweep.

  This was Companion Summon, a hidden skill triggered when the Amethyst Battle Tiger’s health falls below 20%!

  Just dealing with the Amethyst Battle Tiger alone had pushed Ye Tianxie to the brink of danger. If six more tigers joined the fray, it would become completely unmanageable. While these Striped Giant Tigers weren’t as fast as their leader, their speed likely wasn’t far behind.

  The six tigers formed a perfect circle around the Amethyst Battle Tiger. Instead of attacking immediately, they all raised their heads and roared in unison—whether as a greeting ritual or some form of summoning chant. But to Ye Tianxie, their action was nothing short of idiotic beyond salvation.

  His eyes narrowed as he swiftly approached, retrieving a lighter and several large firecracker bundles from his inventory. One after another, he ignited and hurled them at the optimal location, ensuring the explosions would engulf all seven tigers.

  -300, -300, -300, -300, -300, -300…

  Each bundle of firecrackers exploded right in the center of the pack, perfectly covering all the tigers in its blast radius. The speed of throwing items was not tied to a player’s attack speed but was instead entirely dependent on hand speed—something that was not represented numerically in Destiny, but was directly correlated with a person’s reflexes and mental processing speed.

  The rapid series of explosions brought no celebratory atmosphere, only a chorus of furious roars. But just as the six Striped Giant Tigers were about to launch their attacks, the fifth bundle of firecrackers detonated, instantly wiping out all six of them, ending their pitifully short-lived supporting roles.

  Seeing its summoned reinforcements obliterated in the blink of an eye and its own health dropping to the critical 10% threshold, the Amethyst Battle Tiger's eyes widened with fury. With a deafening roar, its body crackled violently with streaks of wild lightning, coursing through its limbs and eyes with a menacing sizzle. Without hesitation, Ye Tianxie turned and fled, dodging a lightning strike by mere milliseconds before launching yet another Twin Boom Cannon at the enraged beast.

  Back in the game Godslayer, he had played as a Ranger, wielding a terrifyingly precise Soul-Chasing Bow. Among the many rumors about him, one stood out—every arrow he loosed would strike its mark, never missing.

  -150, -150.

  -150, -150.

  As the Amethyst Battle Tiger closed in, two more Twin Boom Cannons exploded upon it. Its health finally dropped below 10%. At that moment, it abruptly halted its movement, and Ye Tianxie’s expression tensed. Without a moment's hesitation, he dashed toward the stone platform.

  ROAR!

  A terrifying roar filled with uncontainable rage and hatred erupted. The tiger’s previously purple-glowing eyes slowly turned blood-red. An overwhelming pressure engulfed the battlefield. Its entire body became encased in a thick layer of violet light, resembling burning purple flames…

  Battle Tiger’s Wrath!

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  Triggered automatically when the Amethyst Battle Tiger’s health falls below 10%, increasing its attack and movement speed by 30% while reducing its defense by 50%!

  Boom!

  A Twin Boom Cannon exploded on the tiger’s body, displaying a red -300 in the air. The beast’s enraged eyes turned to Ye Tianxie, its massive form kicking up a violent gust as it charged like a bolt of purple lightning.

  With its attack power now increased by 30%, the Amethyst Battle Tiger could instantly kill Ye Tianxie in a single strike. Moreover, its movement speed had nearly doubled his own. Though it had less than 2,000 HP remaining, every passing second now teetered on the edge of life and death.

  A glowing, clawed strike grazed past Ye Tianxie’s face, the fierce wind slicing against his skin. As he narrowly sidestepped the tiger’s berserk charge, he swung the Mark of Destiny in retaliation…

  -72!

  With the tiger’s defense slashed by 50%, Ye Tianxie finally broke through its natural armor. Even with his 200 attack power, the strike only dealt 72 damage, meaning its original defense could mitigate around 250 points of damage!

  Such a formidable defense… Ye Tianxie was certain that, aside from mage players with spells that ignored physical resistance, no one in the world could possibly break through its defenses at this stage.

  The Amethyst War Tiger lunged back at him, its razor-sharp claws gleaming with a terrifying purple light that sent chills down one's spine. With the beast’s movement speed now double his own, Ye Tianxie had no chance of outrunning it. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly dropped flat to the ground, pressing his body tightly against it. In that instant, a fierce wind imbued with crackling lightning force howled past above his head. Calculating the Amethyst War Tiger’s position in a split second, he instinctively hurled a Twin Blast Bomb and rolled swiftly to the bottom of the stone platform, curling up tightly.

  Boom! Boom!

  The explosions rang in his ears as he squinted, gripping Fate’s Moment tightly, and slashed upward in one swift motion. Just at that moment, the massive body of the Amethyst War Tiger soared over the stone platform above his head.

  Miss!

  Fate’s Moment struck its body, but instead of dealing damage, a glaring "Miss" floated in the air. The ten-level gap between them and their insurmountable power difference was undeniable. Ye Tianxie quickly withdrew, lit another Twin Blast Bomb, and flung it toward the tiger’s landing spot before leaping back onto the stone platform. The moment he landed, two more deafening explosions rang out, accompanied by the enraged roar of the Amethyst War Tiger. The deadly aura of impending doom surged toward him once more...

  Each time he evaded an attack, it was like brushing past the scythe of death. Once was swift, twice was perilous, three times was sheer luck, four times was a miracle… but ten times… twenty times…

  In his virtual gaming career, he had once single-handedly kited a boss of the same level to death with just a bow, avoiding every single attack throughout the battle. Soloing a Lord-tier boss was considered a legendary feat in the gaming world, yet the challenge he now faced was far beyond merely taking down a same-level boss without injury. This battle ranked among the greatest trials in all his years of gaming.

  Ye Tianxie’s blood was boiling, every cell in his body feeling as if it might explode at any moment. He was like a razor-thin thread stretched across a thousand meters—one slight breeze would be enough to snap it. At this moment, even a momentary lapse in focus would result in him perishing beneath the Amethyst War Tiger’s claws.

  The Dark Man-Eating Flower’s pollen was gone. The firecrackers were gone. Even the Twin Blast Bombs were used up. He had exhausted all his trump cards against the Amethyst War Tiger. This was his one and only chance—because he would never be able to obtain those tools again in the Novice Village.

  Yet, he felt no fear. Instead, he was exhilarated. His eyes, mind, and very consciousness were fully fixated on the Amethyst War Tiger’s silhouette, his nerves stretched taut, reacting with unparalleled precision to its every minuscule movement.

  With the Twin Blast Bombs depleted, he freed up a sliver of his focus, searching for that fleeting, nearly imperceptible opening for attack. Ironically, he had the Amethyst War Tiger’s berserk state to thank. Though it put him in constant mortal danger, it was also the very reason he could damage the beast—his only chance of victory.

  When one concentrates on a single thing with absolute focus, time seems to fly.

  When one teeters on the brink of death, every second stretches into an eternity.

  Yet, for Ye Tianxie—whose mind was utterly consumed by the battle, balancing on the razor’s edge between life and death—time itself lost all meaning. He had no idea how long he had been fighting.

  -69… Miss… Miss… Miss… 72… Miss…

  The Amethyst War Tiger’s claws repeatedly grazed past his body, yet after entering its berserk state, where its speed had increased by 30%, it astonishingly failed to land a single hit. Ye Tianxie’s dodging no longer relied merely on his superior reaction speed and perception—it had evolved into an instinctual survival response, a subconscious defiance against death itself.

  Miss… Miss… Miss… -72… -70… Miss…

  -142!

  Man and beast crossed paths in a fleeting moment, and a streak of black light sliced through the sliver of space between their nearly touching bodies. For the first time, a glaring yellow critical hit number floated into the air, draining away the last bit of the Amethyst War Tiger’s health.

  The beast let out a long, sorrowful roar, its massive body still lunging forward before finally collapsing onto the ground. As its mournful cries echoed through the air, it fell completely still. A large pile of loot, glistening with various radiant hues, spilled forth from its corpse.

  A massive drop! A truly massive drop!

  A Lord-tier boss… The first to ever be slain. Taken down while being ten levels higher. Soloed. Any one of these factors alone would have guaranteed an extraordinary loot drop.

  The final trial of the Abyss-tier Challenge—the level 20 Lord-tier boss that no novice player should have been able to defeat—had just fallen at Ye Tianxie’s hands. This was a miracle, an impossible feat forged from a blend of skill and sheer luck. Even Ye Tianxie himself was certain that if he were to attempt this battle again, he wouldn’t be able to replicate his victory.

  The abyss was meant to symbolize despair—yet within despair, there remained the faintest glimmer of hope…

  And Ye Tianxie’s hope had been the Dark Man-Eating Flowers in the second trial. Without their pollen, he would never have defeated the Amethyst War Tiger. Likewise, if not for the peculiar tools he had purchased from Yuan Que at the Novice Village’s apothecary, victory would have been impossible.

  But that didn’t mean this was a battle won purely by fate. If it had been anyone else who attempted this Abyss-tier Challenge—even with the exact same items, even with a full twelve-man team—they still would not have been able to defeat the Amethyst War Tiger.

  This was a trial meant for true champions.

  Ye Tianxie exhaled deeply. The moment he allowed his body to relax, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over him, tempting him to collapse onto the ground and gasp for breath. He had no idea how long the battle had lasted, nor how many times he had come within a hair’s breadth of death.

  A faint, tranquil smile curled at his lips.

  He had won.

  He had accomplished a task that should have been impossible.

  Ding… You have successfully slain the level 20 Lord-tier boss, Amethyst War Tiger. Reputation +20.

  Ding… Your level has increased to 11. HP +10, MP +10. You have gained 5 free attribute points.

  The crisp system notifications brought a sense of relief to his near-exhausted nerves. Straightening his body, he retrieved Fate’s Moment and slowly walked toward the Amethyst War Tiger’s corpse.

  There, two golden lights caught his eye.

  The glow of Gold-tier equipment!