The Primal Hunter

Chapter 1396 - Chosen of the Malefic Viper vs the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord (2)

One Chosen stood covered in burn wounds with blood dripping on the icy ground beneath him, while the other had several large arrow holes in her body, all of them radiating dark green veins from the powerful toxin they’d been soaked in.

Both of them regarded each other for a moment before both moved at the same time. The Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord was clearly tired after pulling off her combo, making her stick to simplistic attacks, and fortunately for her, Jake wasn’t exactly in top form either, making him also take a more relaxed approach as he summoned a potion into his mouth to restore some vital energy.

He had wanted to wait to consume a potion, as he’d honestly expected to need one for stamina, but that last attack from the other Chosen had done some serious damage, and Jake needed the immediate rush of restorative energy to heal his body more quickly, as in its current state, it was impeding his combat power.

The health potion’s energy flooded his body in an instant, and with the help of Blood of the Malefic Viper empowering its restorative effect further, his body started healing rapidly. Muscles were rebuilt and repaired, skin regrew, bones were mended, and within only a few seconds, he looked almost presentable again. Well, besides the broken armor, minor signs of frostbite, and cuts from the Sword Palace disciple that hadn’t been entirely healed. Jake also hadn’t gotten fully rid of the energy Azal had inflicted on him, though he was working on it, and the potion had helped.

To his surprise, he saw that the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord also took out an item to consume it. Rather than a potion, though, she took out a pill that she quickly popped, and based on its effects, it seemed to have a similar effect to a rejuvenation potion, restoring all her resources.

Focusing on liquids or pills were two entirely valid and equal Paths of alchemy, and Jake knew that while the Order of the Malefic Viper specialized in liquids, the Dao Sect primarily made pills. Generally, they tended to share effects and cooldowns, and it was simply a choice of which one preferred, though pills did tend to be superior when it came to mass production, while potions were considered slightly easier to make.

Poisons rarely came in pill form, though, at least not when they were meant to be used for combat. They certainly existed, but given the Viper’s Path and that venom was pretty much always a liquid, the Order and thus Jake definitely preferred potions and poisons as liquids rather than solids.

Tangent aside, the pill consumed by the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord had definitely been potent, and Jake believed it had even helped with her mental exhaustion, likely having some soul-calming properties. A good pill for sure, but compared to the extreme effect of Jake’s health potion, it was clearly still far behind.

It was enough, though, as it allowed her to keep up even as Jake’s mostly recovered body let him increase the tempo. He wanted to avoid losing momentum again, as he’d just experienced firsthand what could happen if she was allowed to let loose and unleash combo attacks.

Admittedly, Jake had also fucked up royally. How stupid had he been to not remember that water was the enemy and that it always sucked whenever the two concepts of water and combat ever got intertwined?

He didn’t plan to repeat such mistakes; in fact, ideally, he wouldn’t allow her to unleash any major attacks again, at least not without truly committing significant resources. It was clear that the combo attack before had taken quite a toll, even if it had definitely been more than worth it from her perspective. Jake wanted her to at least commit that level of resources if she wanted to even attempt to do any serious damage.

Thus, he kept a high tempo as he bombarded her with arrows from all directions while defending himself against her half-hearted attacks either by dodging or using freeform arcane magic to shoot down her attacks or deflect them with barriers.

She was instantly on the back foot due to the sheer pressure Jake applied, his speed advantage remaining overwhelming. His attack method was also, perhaps a bit surprisingly, far simpler than hers. One would think that simply imagining an attack would be the fastest method, but even that required thought.