Chapter 40: Mana Restoration Potion

Guo Hanshuai turned around, saw that Jiang Yi still hadn't come over, and couldn't help shouting at him, "Stop stalling, you guys have attracted a lot of monsters out there!"

Jiang Yi was also sweating profusely from anxiety. The continuous slashing motion had left his arms stinging with pain. However, if he didn't clear out the zombies, there was simply no way he could go save anyone...

Receiving no response from Jiang Yi, Guo Hanshuai let out an angry huff. Lacking a bow, she grabbed an arrow, whipped her left hand forward, and shot the arrow infused with wind-type supernatural energy instantly!

Though its power was less than a tenth of that of a bow shot, the monster still dodged to the sides. Anticipating this, Guo Hanshuai's eyes lit up as she immediately fired another arrow!

"Whoosh!" The piercing sound of the air being torn was exceptionally shrill, and then a purple beam of light shot straight into the monster's body!

"Awoo!" The powerful monster was struck directly by the arrow, and a burst of bloody mist exploded from its wound right away. But that was all; the monster's formidable regenerative ability instantly suppressed the energy-triggered injury. Even so, the speed at which the monster healed its wounds was clearly much slower now. Not only that, Guo Hanshuai's arrow hadn't been pulled out and remained wedged in its chest, causing its movements to become somewhat jerky!

Seeing the monster's noticeably reduced speed, Shinto's eyes lit up. Enduring the soreness throughout his entire body, he rolled twice on the ground, dropped flat, and fiercely slashed at the monster's hind leg!

The sharp blade of the white dao cut through hide like leather. Shinto gritted his teeth and exerted his full strength. Amidst an angry roar from the monster, he sheared away most of its hind leg with a single slash! The exposed white bone broke off cleanly from the front section. The monster's hind leg went limp, and it crashed straight to the ground on its knees.

Noticing Shinto, the one who had wounded it, the monster turned its head, opened its jaw, and shot its terrifying bloody tongue straight at Shinto's head once more! Shinto's pupils contracted. Watching the bloody tongue thrust toward him, he found that excruciating pain all over his body momentarily paralyzed him, leaving him unable to move.

"No!" Panicked and helpless in the face of death, his ankle suddenly tightened, and his whole body was yanked backward!

Guo Hanshuai shoved Shinto aside, gripped the black blade she had just picked up with a reverse hold, and lunged forward, driving her blade down into the bloody tongue on the ground with all her might! With a hiss, Guo Hanshuai's blade pierced straight through the tip of the tongue and pinned it deeply into the ground!

The monster struggled frantically, but with its tongue locked down and seemingly wary of the injury there, it didn't dare to struggle with full force. Jiang Yi fought while observing the two of them, his heart pounding in his throat as they repeatedly flirted with death.

At that moment, taking advantage of his distraction, a zombie crawled in through the window, grabbed Jiang Yi's arm, and took a bite! Jiang Yi frowned tightly. Disregarding the wound, he wrapped his right arm around the zombie's neck and reversed his left-hand black dao, sending pitch-black blood spurting wildly from the zombie's severed wound as if it were worthless!

Suddenly, Jiang Yi felt his body grow light, as if the dust beneath his feet was blowing away with him! A surge of newborn power flooded his body. Jiang Yi's eyes brightened; with a casual, effortless sweep of his black dao, he sliced clean through the skullcaps of the slow-moving zombies rushing toward him!

The formidable strength made Jiang Yi feel reborn, and the exhaustion from prolonged combat vanished instantly. His sore arms recovered as good as new!

Level 8 (2/256). Speed 17, Defense 9, Strength 7, Spirit 7, Constitution 5!

Even though this wasn't his first level-up, Jiang Yi still felt that the ethereal sensation of instantaneous power enhancement was simply wonderful.

Spinning the black dao flexibly around his left hand, Jiang Yi slashed forward, and the final zombie was finally split open right down from the center of its brow...

Guo Hanshuai had successfully landed her strike, and seeing the monster's tongue pinned to the ground, she raised her head in excitement. However, her vision suddenly went dark as the monster fiercely slammed directly into her chest!

The tremendous force, even just from the impact, sent Guo Hanshuai flying backward with zero ability to resist. She clutched her chest, unable to even catch her breath.

The monster frantically clawed at the black blade, knocking the short dao loose from the ground in a few strokes. The monster flicked its tongue, shaking the blade off, and let out a roar. Its blood-soaked tongue twisted like a venomous snake as it stabbed toward Guo Hanshuai!

Guo Hanshuai's face turned pale as paper, too weak to dodge. Shinto wanted to help, but he lacked the capacity, left with no choice but to watch helplessly as the tongue in mid-air lunged at Guo Hanshuai.

"Hum!" The black dao cleaved through the air, and after three distinct humming sounds of the blade, the elongated tongue was cleanly sliced into four sections! The monster reacted as if severely wounded, rampaging wildly around the room!

Guo Hanshuai clutched her chest and looked at Jiang Yi, who stood right in front of her with only his back visible to her, still holding the half-section of the tongue that was still writhing frantically.

Jiang Yi was increasingly satisfied with his current state. Not only was he faster, but his strength had finally increased from five to seven. A strength of 7 was enough to grant him the strength of an ordinary adult man.

With the help of the skull-severing knife, he established his dominance with a single blow, destroying the monster's most lethal attack method.

The monster spat blood continuously, trying to retract the remaining half of its tongue, only to find that its tongue now hung limply outside its mouth, completely beyond its control. Seeing this, Jiang Yi smiled, "So this was your trump card after all. Looks like my luck is really good!"

Seeming to realize that its deadliest attack had also been destroyed, the monster let out a frenzied roar, its eyes fixed on Jiang Yi with a venomous and vicious glare!

With a roar, the monster opened its jaw to the absolute limit, sprinted at high speed, leaped into the air, and lunged to bite Jiang Yi's neck!

Shinto and Guo Hanshuai behind him cried out in alarm simultaneously, "Watch out!"

Jiang Yi casually tossed the piece of tongue away, his left hand sweeping out a blade slash even faster than the monster!

The giant monster's body didn't halt in the slightest as a streak of black blade radiance flashed across its skull! Under Guo Hanshuai's dazed gaze, the huge mutant zombie heavily landed behind Jiang Yi, its entire body rolling several times completely lifeless before coming to a stop right beside Guo Hanshuai, scaring her into screaming as she kicked it away!

Half of its skull had also fallen to the ground by then! As the dust settled, the monster's body began to wither and shrivel significantly.

Jiang Yi sheathed his black dao, then turned back to look at the two of them. "How is it? Are you guys alright?"

Guo Hanshuai gritted her teeth as she looked at Jiang Yi acting cool, and threatened fiercely, "If you don't come over and help me up right this second, I can't guarantee I won't shoot an arrow right into you while you're sleeping tonight!"

Shinto's stunned expression stiffened for a second, then immediately gave way to unstoppable laughter. He watched as a thoroughly depressed Jiang Yi helped Guo Hanshuai up, and then helped Shinto up as well!

Since there were no chairs in the room, the two of them could only lean against the wall in exhaustion. Yet the very next moment, all three of them burst into laughter. The feeling of being alive was truly wonderful! Having survived a catastrophe, what could possibly be more worthy of rejoicing?

Guo Hanshuai was somewhat eager to see their spoils of war. Jiang Yi also knew Shinto was still waiting for a health potion, so he reached straight into his pocket. But when he pulled out the potion, all three of them froze in unison!

Completely different from the previous potion, although the bottle felt identical, the liquid inside was a deep ocean blue! "What is this thing?"

Guo Hanshuai curiously took it, but her body felt an immediate urge to stir, clamoring for her to drink it right away!

Jiang Yi glanced at the potion with a slightly peculiar expression, looking back and forth awkwardly at Shinto. "Sorry, Shinto, this time... it's not a health potion!"

Although there was some disappointment in his heart, Shinto felt even more curiosity. After all, as an ordinary person who had suddenly encountered so many individuals with magical abilities, how could he not be curious?

Guo Hanshuai swallowed hard, watching eagerly as Jiang Yi snatched the bottle back from her hands. Jiang Yi looked with complex emotions at the system description on the bottle...

"Mana Restoration Potion (Minor): A magical potion that can rapidly restore energy! Note: Drinking it when energy consumption is too low will waste the potion's effect!"

He took a deep breath. He had known that since health potions existed, mana restoration potions bound to show up eventually too!

Compared to health recovery, the value of mana restoration was clearly even higher.

However, what he urgently needed right now wasn't a mana restoration potion, but a health potion that could heal Shinto.

Lifting his gaze to see Guo Hanshuai staring at his hand with burning desire, Jiang Yi thought for a moment and handed the bottle over. "Drink it. It can restore the energy in your body!"

Guo Hanshuai swallowed hard again. Without refusing, she simply glanced at the two of them, pulled out the cork, and gulped it down in one go! As she forcefully swallowed the very last drop of the blue potion, the skin all over Guo Hanshuai's body rapidly regained its moisture and vitality!

A halo of light flashed across her eyes, and a formidable power began to burn within her abdomen. Guo Hanshuai couldn't help but look at her increasingly powerful hands; she had never felt a sensation quite like this—it felt simply magical!

Within mere breaths, she finally felt a sense of "fullness" after suffering from energy depletion ever since the apocalypse began.

Excitedly, she looked at Jiang Yi with agitation, "I think I can feel it! A barrier... if I break through it, my strength will grow exponentially!"

Jiang Yi and Shinto witnessed Guo Hanshuai's changes with their own eyes and once again marveled at the potion's potent efficacy. However, upon hearing her words, the two of them were left baffled. Jiang Yi approached her in confusion, "Guo Hanshuai, what do you mean? What barrier?"

Guo Hanshuai shook her head, "I... I don't know. I just have this feeling, like my strength has reached its absolute peak, and right now I am at my strongest. But if I want to become even stronger, I have to break through a barrier, except I don't know how to break through it..."

Jiang Yi pondered, his gaze involuntarily falling onto Guo Hanshuai's hands...

Shinto seemed to realize something as well from the side. "Wait a minute, are you saying that the abilities you awakened can become even stronger? But that's simply unbelievable!" If Shinto had merely harbored a certain amount of envy toward their formidable abilities before, now he could truly be said to be jealous.

The strength of those who had just acquired their abilities was only slightly greater than his own, but if their abilities could continue to grow, then he would truly never be able to catch up to their pace again...

Jiang Yi hesitated, "It should be true. My own ability has also been continuously improving step by step. But I can sense that Guo Hanshuai is very different from me. If she really breaks through, the significance of that kind of strength growth will be terrifying!"