In the forest shrouded by Nightshade Dark Breath, Ying Qi couldn't help but frown.
Things had slightly exceeded his expectations, likely due to a mistake by his employer.
However, offending a naturally dual-element Martial Artist with limitless potential meant that if he couldn't eliminate the opponent, it would leave a hidden danger for the Assassin Hall.
Since this person was not the one the employer was looking for, there was no need to hold back.
Both sides were now calculating how to put the other to death.
Shen Han, with his Major Achievement Ghost Invisibility and Netherworld Pierce, was surprisingly at ease within the Nightshade Dark Breath.
Ying Qi's Nether Ghost Slash had immense destructive power, but Shen Han's Ghost Invisibility was in no way inferior to the Lightning Teleport he had just used.
He could even counterattack a few times with Netherworld Pierce, causing Ying Qi a lot of trouble.
The two returned to their previous state, one chasing, one fleeing, with the difference being that Shen Han now possessed stronger self-preservation capabilities.
Ying Qi, realizing that the Nightshade Dark Breath couldn't affect Shen Han, immediately withdrew it, intending to use the more powerful and overbearing Nether Ghost Slash to kill Shen Han.
However, after dispelling his Nightshade Dark Breath, he was astonished to find that they were still within the range of Nightshade Dark Breath.
Nightshade Dark Breath combined with Ghost Invisibility—Ying Qi felt like he was going crazy.
Shen Han's use of Nightshade Dark Breath was certainly not to stall for time; he couldn't afford to.
He first needed to cripple Ying Qi's Space Element, otherwise, he would be too passive.
"Replace skill, activate!"
Shen Han ultimately decided to use the Ice Element to Replace Ying Qi's Space Element.
Although an A-Rank Ice Element for the opponent's B-Rank Space Special Ability seemed a bit disadvantageous in terms of Rank, the Space Element alone was enough.
The Rank could be improved later; missing this opportunity would mean truly missing it.
Furthermore, without the Ice Element, he could still play a few more rounds with the Tang Family.
The activation and execution of the Replace skill happened in an instant.
The Ice Element star in his Sea of Consciousness had disappeared, replaced by a moon-white star.
"Is this the legendary Space Element?"
In his Ghost Invisibility state, Shen Han looked at his Cultivate panel and smiled.
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 812 / 850 (Martial Master Seventh Rank)
Special Ability Rank: Chaos Element - SSS Rank, Lightning Element - A Rank, Dark Element - A Rank, Fire Element - S Rank, Space Element - B Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (Rank 2/10), Copy (Rank 2/10), Devour (Rank 2/10), Replace (Rank 2/10)
Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Major Achievement), Lightning Sky Curtain (Major Achievement), Lightning Teleport (Major Achievement)
Dark Element - Ghost Invisibility (Major Achievement), Netherworld Pierce (Major Achievement), Nightshade Dark Breath (Minor Achievement)
Fire Element - Flame Bomb (Major Achievement)
Space Element - (Beginner)
Shen Han was quite curious whether Ying Qi's Frost Condensing Thousand Blades would be at Beginner or Minor Achievement after the successful Replace.
Following that, Shen Han also canceled the Nightshade Dark Breath and looked at the somewhat dazed Ying Qi with a mischievous smile.
"What just happened?" Ying Qi hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the problem.
He had only felt a cool sensation surge into his Sea of Consciousness just now.
"It's the aura of Ice Element."
Could it be that this Shen Han also possessed Ice Element power?
Was he the person the employer was looking for?
If that were truly the case, he couldn't kill him.
For a moment, Ying Qi was confused.
Seizing the opportunity while the opponent was dazed, Shen Han unleashed Lightning Sky Curtain.
Under the cover of a large expanse of blue-purple light from the Lightning Sky Curtain, Netherworld Pierce also shot towards Ying Qi's direction, giving the opponent no chance to escape.
Ying Qi reacted half a beat too late, but years of assassin instincts still made him instinctively activate Space Teleportation.
A cold smile appeared on his lips, completely disregarding Shen Han's attack.
After all, with his Space Element ability, he could easily evade any of the opponent's Moves.
However, the next moment, his expression drastically changed—he was astonished to find that he was still standing in place, not having moved at all!
Just then, Shen Han's Lightning Sky Curtain struck.
Although Lightning Sky Curtain was an area-of-effect skill and its single-target power wasn't extreme, several deadly Netherworld Pierces were mixed in the lightning, accurately piercing into Ying Qi's various vital points.
Ying Qi stared blankly as his Dantian was penetrated by Netherworld Pierce, his eyes filled with incredulous shock.
"This... what exactly is going on? Why did my Teleportation fail?" Ying Qi introspected his Sea of Consciousness and suddenly saw that his original moon-white Space Element star had turned into a translucent Ice Element star.
"This, this is Ice Element? How could my Space Element disappear!"
"You, you, you," pointing at Shen Han, Ying Qi's expression changed, finally realizing that the culprit behind everything was the young man in front of him.
"Did you do this? Give me back my Space Element!"
As a member of the Assassin Hall's most elite Shadow Blade squad, Ying Qi had always been highly valued by the higher-ups, all because he possessed the one-in-ten-thousand Space Element.
Space Element combined with Dark Element was absolutely the best combination for an assassin; assassination, stealth, there was no better combination.
All of this was about to become a fleeting dream.
He even regretted participating in this mission, originally thinking it was just a small assassination and capture task to gain some experience, but he never expected something like this to happen.
Shen Han sneered, "You're really naive.
Your Assassin Hall has already targeted me, why should I give it back to you?
Moreover, didn't I 'kindly' give you an A-Rank Ice Element Special Ability as 'repayment'?
An A-Rank for your B-Rank, are you still not satisfied?"
"It really was you!" A trace of despair and anger flashed in Ying Qi's eyes.
His hand trembled slightly, yet he remained firm, gritting his teeth as he took out his communicator, intending to transmit Shen Han's Special Ability capabilities to the outside world—Shen Han's skills posed a huge threat to the Assassin Hall, and he absolutely could not be allowed to grow.
"Alas, why bother," Shen Han shook his head.
Before he finished speaking, Shen Han raised his hand and fired a Flame Bomb.
A powerful explosion rang out, and Ying Qi's body was instantly incinerated to ashes.
The communicator was also completely destroyed, and the message ultimately could not be sent.
Shen Han deliberately left traces of Fire Element, hoping to muddy the waters and leave those investigating full of doubt.
Looking at the messy ground, Shen Han did not linger, turning and quickly leaving.
He didn't even take Ying Qi's Storage Ring—organizations like the Assassin Hall were very likely to have tracking devices installed on rings, and he didn't want to expose his whereabouts.
Shen Han calculated in his mind that there were still two or three days left for this Secret Realm Cultivate, so he would find a hidden place to recover from his injuries.
There was no need to look for Heaven And Earth Treasure for now, as his Storage Pouch was already filled with Cultivate resources of various Elements, which could fetch a good price when sold outside.
The gains from this Secret Realm Cultivate were truly immense.
Acquiring the one-in-ten-thousand Space Element had already made Shen Han desire nothing else.
His mind was full of plans for what kind of skills he should learn after leaving the Secret Realm.