Ashen God
Chapter 523 - 522 Thunder Fruit

Chapter 523: Chapter 522 Thunder Fruit

"The Goblin Shaman’s attacks used to be Lightning Four-Strikes, but once it comes to the Goblin Chief, it immediately turns into Lightning Five Strikes. Four strikes were already powerful, so wouldn’t five strikes basically mean explosive damage?

And more importantly, this Lightning Five Strikes offers a higher Attack Power Bonus than Lightning Four Strikes."

Zhang Yanhang quickly calculated that just the physical attack portion of the quintuple strike had an overwhelming 775% damage. In addition to this physical attack, each successful hit would add an extra 45% lightning damage; if all five strikes hit, that would be 225% lightning damage.

"You never know how scary it is until you calculate it. So just one round of Lightning Five Strikes totals up to 1000% damage? What if Activated Muscles were added on top of that? Activated Muscles provides an additional 25% lightning damage per hit, totaling 125% after five hits."

After determining the staggering damage multiplier of 1125%, Zhang Yanhang could only silently marvel that it was indeed worthy of a Third Tier Lord Monster in terms of skill power.

"Moreover, the key point is that the Goblin Chief’s Activated Muscles can be stacked. Fortunately, I had already killed all the Goblin Shamans earlier.

Otherwise, if they added another Activated Muscles to the Goblin Chief, it would’ve been another 75% increase in lightning damage, making the total damage from the Goblin Chief’s Lightning Five Strikes an astonishing 1200%."

Thinking of this, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but scan the surroundings, relieved to find no sign of anything like a Goblin Concubine.

After all, it would be extremely troublesome if a Goblin Concubine suddenly emerged from some corner during the battle and stacked Activated Muscles on the Goblin Chief.

"Speaking of which, there definitely are Goblin Concubines, so why haven’t I seen any? Could it be that they were sent out with the Goblin army?"

Zhang Yanhang thought this was likely, as he hadn’t paid much attention to the genders of the Goblins killed by the Thermo-baric Bombs before. Or perhaps, he was simply too busy to notice, engulfed in battle amongst thousands of Goblins.

After confirming that the fight wouldn’t be interrupted by any other Dragon Vein Goblins, Zhang Yanhang turned his attention to the last skill, which he had noticed from the start due to its absurdity.

"So with the bloodline concentration in the Goblin Chief’s body, it can develop a spell like Lightning Heart which bursts a seed similar to having a second life when close to death? Is the Lightning Giant Dragon really that strong? Also, what the heck is Elementalization? Did you eat the Thunder Fruit too?"

Zhang Yanhang felt that the Lightning Heart skill was full of talking points; compared to the Goblin Chief’s self-development, he was more inclined to think that Ashen World had forcibly implanted this skill to enhance the Goblin Chief’s combat capacity, as the Goblin Chief’s intelligence didn’t seem up to the task of developing such abilities.

"Although this forced life extension effect is far from being as bugged as the Tracker’s skill—resurrecting with full health upon near-death and even leveling up and transforming—it’s still very strong..."

After checking the Attribute list of Goblin Chief Nu Shan, Zhang Yanhang dispelled his Invisibility Technique and flew directly in front of the Goblin Chief Nu Shan.

The Goblin Chief, having fifty points in Agility, reacted very quickly. The moment it detected an enemy, it immediately started to activate its Activated Muscles, completing the entire process in less than a second—a vast improvement over the Shaman’s speed.

Standing in front of the Goblin Chief, Zhang Yanhang watched as the creature let out a sudden roar, and electricity started to spark all over its body, which inexplicably swelled up considerably, expanding from three meters to five meters.

"Activated Muscles has such a hidden effect? Why didn’t I encounter it when fighting the Goblin Shaman before? Is this a special treatment for Lord Monsters? However, considering the skill is named Activated Muscles, it’s somewhat justifiable that this could happen."

While unsure if this was a special treatment for Lord Monsters, Zhang Yanhang noticed a peculiarity: the Goblin Chief was holding a massive six-meter-long Horse-slaying Blade, double its height and very awkward to behold.

But now, as the Goblin Chief’s height inflated to five meters, the six-meter-long blade suddenly seemed appropriately sized.

Moreover, if things went as expected, and if a Goblin Shaman came along to stack an Activated Lightning, it might inflate the Goblin Chief’s height to six meters, achieving parity with the sword’s length, making it even more comfortable to wield.

If you asked Zhang Yanhang why he suddenly cared about the matter of the Horse-slaying Blade, it was because the blade was currently clanging against his head, or rather, the Energy Shield protecting his head.

Out of a desire to test the damage dealt, Zhang Yanhang refrained from fighting back, and for the first time after facing the Tracker, he witnessed the Shield Value plummet drastically.

That giant blade, completely enveloped in lightning and resembling an elemental weapon, released a surge of electrical energy upon impacting the Energy Shield.

With just the initial strike, Zhang Yanhang was shocked to see his Shield Value drop by 75 points, and the subsequent four strikes diminished it by 100, 125, 150, and 175 points respectively, adding up to a total loss of 625 points from his Shield Value.

"I only have a total of 5466 Shield Value, and this single skill has chopped off nearly one-ninth of it? If it were any other Second Tier Awakened, probably half their Life Value would have vanished with just one slash, considering they have around a thousand Life Value points.

Moreover, considering that the typical Second Tier Awakened has much lower defensive power than me, that one slash might not just halve the health bar but empty it completely, achieving an instant kill."

At this moment, Zhang Yanhang finally understood the true strength possessed by a Third Tier Lord Monster—it indeed completely overpowered ordinary Second Tier Awakened; it requires the power of the Third Tier to defeat it.

"I never would have thought that with my current Shield Value Limit, I could only withstand nine hits before my shield breaks. Third Tier Lord Monsters are truly too mighty."

Zhang Yanhang, while speaking, cast the Giant Transformation and High-level Giant Transformation on himself, swelling to the height of an eight-meter giant in the blink of an eye.

After releasing the Giant Transformation, Zhang Yanhang was about to attack directly, but then he abruptly remembered that he wanted to test the Frenzy Skill, and thus cast it upon himself.

A red light descended, enveloping Zhang Yanhang’s body, and he instantly felt a new strength surge within him. At the same time, his muscles unnaturally bulged and deformed, and amidst the brittle sound of bones stretching, Zhang Yanhang’s frame had abruptly grown another meter taller.

"Does the Frenzy Skill actually have this kind of effect?"

Zhang Yanhang carefully recalled, and it seemed this was indeed the case; many times, warriors who had been subjected to the Frenzy Skill displayed changes in height, but those were not very pronounced. At most, they would grow a head taller, around the difference from 1.8 to about 2 meters.

However, because of his already considerable height, the usually subtle effect of the Frenzy Skill had helped him grow yet another meter taller.

"So, the question arises, if the regular Frenzy Skill can have this level of effect, what about the High-level Frenzy Technique?" Without hesitation, Zhang Yanhang cast another High-level Frenzy Skill on himself, as he was conducting tests after all.

Another red light fell, and the moment it engulfed Zhang Yanhang’s body, his figure instantly expanded again, his muscles roiling and bulging rapidly, forcibly stretching his height to ten meters.

"Wow, I’ve inexplicably become ten meters tall. If I were in ’Attack on Titan,’ I could at least pass for a medium-sized giant, right?"

Zhang Yanhang glanced down at the Goblin Chief Nu Shan, who was not even as tall as his waist. Right after completing his Lightning Five Strikes, the chieftain had been constantly hitting him with normal attacks. Relying on the augmented effect of Activated Muscles, the chieftain’s attacks nearly always managed to chip away tens of points from his Shield Value.

Even after Zhang Yanhang had consecutively cast the Giant Transformation and the Frenzy Skill, it had not stopped the creature’s onslaught. Whether it was because it had a better mental fortitude or was simply more thick-headed, the Goblin Chief Nu Shan, upon seeing Zhang Yanhang suddenly grow larger, merely paused for a moment before resuming his focused onslaught.

However, there was a change in the location of his attacks. Previously, the creature had been consistently aiming for Zhang Yanhang’s head, but now, perhaps out of habit of swinging downward, he inexplicably kept striking at Zhang Yanhang’s knees.

Seeing his Shield Value steadily decreasing and recognizing the impending risk of his shield breaking if he allowed the onslaught to continue, Zhang Yanhang bent slightly and punched directly at the upper body of the Goblin Chief. His fist, as large as a round table and endowed with at least twenty tons of strength, carried a wild current of air as it barreled straight toward the Goblin Chief’s chest.

Despite possessing fifty points in the Agility attribute and having increased his attack speed and movement speed by 40% thanks to the Activated Muscles, the Goblin Chief managed to halt his assault in time, raising his Horse-slaying Blade high to chop at Zhang Yanhang’s fist, seemingly attempting to thwart the blow.

But faced with Zhang Yanhang’s immense strength and the special bonus from his gigantic size, this attempt at interception was destined to be futile. Zhang Yanhang’s fist, with overwhelming force, turned the Goblin Chief’s Horse-slaying Blade into shards.

And its small arm, responsible for strength output, was at this point severely injured with tendons snapped, bones shattered, and muscles torn. The white radii and ulna, with their sharp broken ends, punctured through the flesh, spilling vast amounts of dark green blood onto the ground, returning the already blackened earth to its original vibrant green.

Just as Goblin Chief Nu Shan prepared to roar in rage and continue its assault with its maimed arm, it horrifically discovered that the fragments of the horse-slaying blade it had shattered were revolving midair and had wickedly circled back to its side. Carrying immense kinetic force, the fragments mercilessly plunged into the joints of its leg and abdomen.

The smaller fragment that entered the leg tore through a portion of calf and thigh muscle before losing momentum and becoming lodged inside its body.

On the other hand, the larger fragment that had penetrated the abdomen crazily tore through its viscera and, after turning the abdominal cavity into a mess of minced meat, exited the body and embedded itself in the ground behind the Goblin Chief.

However, the attack had not yet ended—Zhang Yanhang had not stopped punching the Goblin Chief. Thus, everything that had happened so far was just incidental; the focus was what came next.

Bang!

A violent collision sounded. Just as the Goblin Chief Nu Shan, watching its disabled arms and the blade shards deeply embedded in its belly and leg, had not yet grasped what had happened, it suddenly felt an icy chill in its chest and found it increasingly hard to breathe.

Looking back, it noticed that the grass behind it had been inexplicably dyed back to vibrant green by a large pile of unfamiliar yet somehow familiar dark green blood, tissue, and organ fragments.

Compared to the Goblin Chief Nu Shan, who was now helplessly stunned (or perhaps incapacitated by near-death), Zhang Yanhang was also questioning his life, beginning to doubt if he was facing a fake Third Tier Lord Monster.

He had initially decided to leave his opponent with a complete corpse, thus he had been holding back some of his strength. But the counter-attack of the Goblin Chief was so weak that it almost seemed absurd, possibly only possessing the strength of a mere dozen tons, which was almost the same as his own unenhanced by Frenzy Skill or Giant Transformation Technique.

What followed was entirely out of Zhang Yanhang’s control. Wishing to leave a whole corpse, after shattering the horse-slaying blade and then immediately targeting the Goblin Chief’s chest, Zhang Yanhang had actually pulled back some of his strength again.

Yet the moment he truly made contact with the opponent’s chest, he felt that something was off. A torrent of overwhelming power surged wildly from his body and impacted straight into the Goblin Chief’s chest.

What Zhang Yanhang had estimated to be a punch that would at most break part of the Goblin Chief’s rib cage and heart vessels, was enhanced by this inexplicably mysterious force. His fist continued unobstructed through the Goblin Chief’s muscles, ribcage, heart, spine, and back,

causing the majority of the substance within its chest cavity to be expelled by the tremendous force of the impact. It shot out in a radial spray, creating a long trail of blood and flesh, tens of meters behind the Goblin Chief Nu Shan.