Battle with the Little Priest

"Can’t understand words, huh? How did you find the Totem Altar so quickly?"

The young priest, wearing a half-faced mask and gripping a staff, had hair standing stiffly atop his head.

"Want to know? Keep dreaming." Lin Xuan knew that even if he spoke, they wouldn’t spare him.

Besides, there was no real reason—finding this place was just dumb luck.

"Insolent human." The young priest decided to keep them alive for a few days, slowly torturing the truth out of them.

Su Luo, standing nearby, couldn’t just watch—this opponent was far beyond what Lin Xuan and the others could handle.

Of course, if Lin Xuan somehow survived this, Elder Yan would be the one to die.

And Elder Yan was a crucial figure.

In an instant, Su Luo donned a black robe with practiced ease, appearing abruptly before the young priest.

"Hello. Fight me instead. Somewhere else."

He gave the priest no time to question, kicking him away with a single strike.

The Wind Shadow Leopard King froze—how could the young priest, so powerful, be sent flying like that?

A human expert!

Impossible—he’d scanned the area earlier and sensed no strong presence!

The young priest should be able to handle this… this was the young priest, after all.

Still, to ensure no mistakes, the Leopard King resolved to finish off the others quickly and rush to the priest’s aid.

In his eyes, the young priest’s life mattered far more than his own.

With the beast’s strongest fighter gone, Lin Xuan and the others found their burden lightened—now, the remaining enemies weren’t unbeatable.

......

The young priest flew a considerable distance before steadying himself.

Su Luo arrived before him just as he halted.

Only then did the priest take a proper look at the black-robed figure.

He hesitated—the High Priest had warned him to flee if danger arose.

But this situation…

The man didn’t feel particularly threatening. No overwhelming sense of peril.

Then Su Luo drew Xia Ying.

No—this was danger!

The priest’s staff flared, conjuring a green barrier around him.

Still uneasy, he layered two more shields, basking in the security of triple protection.

"Overkill, don’t you think? My cultivation’s beneath yours."

"Can’t afford carelessness. Answer me—do you know the location of our altar?"

The question was a bluff, nothing more.

"Enough talk. Time’s precious—let’s fight."

The young priest struck first.

"Vortex of Thunder!"

A whirlpool of lightning erupted beneath Su Luo’s feet.

He barely dodged—only for another vortex to form above him, impossible to evade.

Su Luo stopped resisting, letting the electricity engulf him.

The priest grinned, certain of victory—until pain lanced through his own body.

What? How had the attack bypassed all three shields?

Frantically, he searched for any trick Su Luo might have played, but found nothing.

Naturally, it was Shared Suffering.

"Troublesome." Su Luo flicked the residual lightning away dismissively.

Currently, Su Luo was at the mid-stage of Dongxu, while the priest had reached the late stage.

Not a major gap—Su Luo’s accumulated stat boosts helped bridge the difference.

But seeing Su Luo’s strength, the priest wasted no time, channeling the altar’s power.

A priest drawing on an altar’s energy was formidable—he devoured its reserves greedily until satisfied, then ceased.

His cultivation surged from late-stage Dongxu to peak, albeit temporarily.

Hence the trouble.

Victory wasn’t impossible, but it wouldn’t come easily.

After steamrolling weaker foes, this sudden high-stakes battle was… jarring.

"Frostbound Realm!"

The priest excelled in spellcraft—this domain slowed movement and revealed enemies.

Su Luo answered with a simple sword thrust, already at the priest’s throat.

An ice shield materialized, spikes lancing toward Su Luo in retaliation.

He didn’t bother dodging—his blade shattered both ice and one green barrier.

The priest scrambled back; close combat wasn’t his forte.

"Meteor Shower!"

Searing fireballs rained down.

These, Su Luo didn’t even try to avoid.

The moment they formed, he seized control.

Shielded though he was, the priest couldn’t comprehend it.

Even if Su Luo hijacked his spells, there should be traces—yet he detected nothing.

This human… was unnatural.

Su Luo closed the distance again, his sword piercing through the last two shields.

A beam erupted from the priest’s staff, blasting Su Luo point-blank.

He retreated hastily.

By now, he’d noticed—every injury he dealt, he suffered in turn.

Some twisted curse, he assumed.

But he wouldn’t stop attacking. He was confident he’d outlast Su Luo.

Buffing himself with speed and power enhancements, the priest unleashed a relentless barrage.

Su Luo didn’t tank every hit—while his damage reduction halved the pain, 50% wasn’t 100%. No need for unnecessary suffering.

Still, dodging everything proved impossible. The priest’s prowess was real, leaving Su Luo with minor wounds.

The priest swelled with pride—killing such a human would be worth it.

Seizing an opening, Su Luo stepped forward—and in the next instant, stood before the priest.

His sword lashed out.

"Phantom Shift!" Panicked, the priest blurred, reappearing yards away.

Su Luo’s gaze was already locked onto his new position.

A shiver of dread ran down the priest’s spine.

Why? He held every advantage—why did this feel so desperate?

"No! His cultivation is inferior! The altar empowers me! I can’t lose!"

Swinging his staff wildly, he drained a massive portion of his mana, coalescing it into a spear—plain, unremarkable, its power concealed.

"Piercing Spear."

It shot toward Su Luo at blinding speed.

The priest watched eagerly. This was one of the Ten Forbidden Arts of the priesthood—all force concentrated into the spear’s tip, capable of piercing anything.

Even if dodged, it could be guided.

Su Luo knew taking this hit, even with damage reduction, would hurt.

So he didn’t evade.

[Tiny Shield]

The priest smirked. Foolish—this spear’s true might erupted on impact.

That pathetic shield blocking the Piercing Spear?

Laughable.

The spear struck—and the shield held.

The priest detonated its power, amplifying its piercing force tenfold.

"Die!"

Yet… nothing happened. The spear vanished against the shield, not even a scratch left behind.

The priest gaped.

"My turn."

Su Luo’s sword descended, a wave of sword qi roaring toward him.