Chapter 84: Suppression by the Mechanism-Age of Martial Arts(Cool nights come and go.)

At this moment, the right hand of the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest clenched its dark green fingers tightly, swinging its arm toward Old Hu's position. Where its fist passed, even the air stirred into a cyclone, terrifyingly powerful.

As the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest struck with its fist, Old Hu retreated rapidly, a clear and transparent whirlwind swirling around him. In his dual-sword stance, he swung his blades, sending out two crescent-shaped sword auras, sharp as the edge of the moon.

The two sword auras whipped up another fierce wind, landing heavily on the giant body of the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest. This attack was noticeably more effective than before, easily slashing its health down to eighty percent.

Night Feather squinted at the distant Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest, noticing that Old Hu's targeted attacks always struck the creature's chest, where a bright green halo shimmered more distinctly than the surrounding body—a flickering glow, seemingly marking the creature's heart.

Upon hearing Night Feather's words, everyone turned their gaze to the creature's chest, carefully observing the described bright green halo.

"Is that the critical weak spot?"

"It was really hard to find. Old Hu must have spent a lot of time to discover it. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have found it."

Clearly, the group understood now that Old Hu had discovered the bright green halo on the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest's chest. After each attack, he widened the distance between them, retreating while launching two sword auras that struck precisely at the glowing weak spot.

Boom—

The Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest's health dropped again, falling to seventy-five percent.

Perhaps because Old Hu kept hitting its bright green weak spot, the creature erupted in a savage roar, flailing its arms wildly, as if desperate to strike him.

Night Feather's brow furrowed deeply, watching the scene from afar, exclaiming in surprise, "That is—!"

Old Hu was a bit surprised himself, but soon a faint smile curled at his lips as he looked at the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest with a meaningful gaze.

The Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest recovered, then lifted its right foot and stamped it fiercely into the ground. Its roots plunged beneath the surface, and suddenly the earth under Old Hu cracked open, sending several razor-sharp roots shooting toward him.

"Heh, interesting," Old Hu commented, though the icy chill in his expression was unmistakable. He deftly evaded the attack, swords in hand, and launched a barrage of sword auras toward the creature. The group clearly heard the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest's agonized howl and saw it swing its arm again, but this time it used the other arm, not both.

"As expected," Old Hu muttered softly. After two deliberate attacks, the sword auras traced an uncanny triangle in the air. Old Hu now stood atop the creature's crown, from where he could clearly see the flashing bright green halo marking its weak spot. From this vantage, everything became crystal clear.

With both swords gripped tightly, Old Hu swiftly unleashed two sharp sword auras directly at the weak spot. The Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest immediately showed signs of weakness, its painful roars echoing through the heavens. Night Feather and the others in the distance covered their ears, clearly affected by the terrible sound.

Seizing the opportunity, Old Hu leapt onto the creature's body, using its arm as leverage to vault onto the other side. He swung his swords again, two sword auras striking the weak spot, easily knocking off another five percent of its health thanks to its weakened state. Old Hu continued to repeat this maneuver, launching ferocious attacks in rapid succession.

The Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest screamed in agony, flailing its arms, but Old Hu kept leaping back and forth, dodging its most deadly blows and retaliating with precise attacks, always hitting the weak spot.

"Impressive," Xu Zheng said, somewhat stunned by the scene before him.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Clearly, Old Hu had exploited a simple attack pattern to enter an endless cycle of assaults, while the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest's attacks failed to inflict any harm on him.

"But why doesn't he use ranged attacks like before?" Tan Cong asked, noticing the anomaly. "Wouldn't it be more convenient and safer to attack from a distance? All that jumping back and forth isn't easy—he could easily be hit by the creature's fierce counterattacks, and if he is, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Night Feather smiled faintly and shook his head. "Old Hu's sword aura has a very short range, but that limitation boosts its skill damage and reduces his energy consumption. Besides, ranged attacks can't trigger the Heart of the Fallen Ancient Forest's weakened state. Think about it—whenever the creature is weakened, it's because Old Hu switched to close-range attacks."

"Most importantly, face-to-face assault is the most direct way to unleash the violent strength of Old Hu's profession. If he relied on ranged attacks and the creature unlocked a new attack mode at low health, it would be incredibly dangerous. When you know the weak spot and the attack pattern, the safest and most effective strategy is to attack directly."

Tan Cong finally understood.

"That's right—once the levels get higher, many bosses undergo new changes when their health drops, with attack patterns and everything else shifting dramatically, sometimes even adding new mechanics. But keeping the enemy weakened and attacking during that state lets you drain a lot of health at once, so it's a very useful technique."

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