Absolute Death Game

As the Corpse Monster fell, it was time for the much-anticipated looting of the body. Xiao Buli clicked on the massive corpse to check and found a multitude of items—bones that were not yet fully digested, damaged skulls, corroded armor, yet unfortunately, not a single item was of any significance.

Such a massive BOSS dropping no valuables left Xiao Buli somewhat speechless. Since entering the Wangliang Mountain, he had slain many monsters, but the tangible rewards were few and far between.

Resigned, they left the Corpse Monster behind and continued deeper. After clearing out some minor monsters for a while, they soon encountered the second BOSS.

This time, it was a zombie that emitted a bloody glow all over its body. Compared to the first Corpse Monster, this zombie looked considerably more refined— at least it was clothed. Despite its shriveled skin and cyan complexion, it still looked somewhat human.

The moment Xiao Buli saw it, his heart leaped for joy. Since entering, all he had seen were ghosts or chunks of flesh, and now he finally had a worthy opponent. Brandishing his treasure sword, he advanced and slashed with a Mysterious Ice Slash. In the past, Xiao Buli definitely wouldn't have been so reckless and would have arranged who would aggro, who would deal damage, and who would heal. But today, with just him and Gu Yuexuan, any strategy at this moment seemed pointless. So, regardless of whether it was a BOSS or not, he thought it best to just kill it and get it over with. With the support of Gu Yuexuan, Xiao Buli felt very confident.

Xiao Buli kept his sword moving, continuously sending crescent-shaped Sword Qi toward the withered zombie that looked as if it would crumble upon touch. Yet the results were minimal. -19, -25, -23, the numbers flew up. It seemed looks could be deceiving; with just over eight thousand health points, yet such high defense.

It was clear that the zombie possessed some kind of damage mitigation ability.

Gu Yuexuan also noticed something odd. Holding a sword technique, his flying sword continued to attack, but it was not much stronger than Xiao Buli's, barely causing the health points to drop by thirty-four points.

At first, the two of them fought relentlessly against the zombie, which remained motionless, its stiff body swaying slightly, causing its clothes to flap as if it wasn't bothered by their attacks.

After about two or three hundred health points were lost, its withered arms suddenly raised high above its head. On its cyan face, the features strained to form a fierce expression. It seemed the skin was dry and movements were not so flexible, making the expression somewhat lacking in intensity and eerily distorted.

As it moved, Xiao Buli felt a cold wind blow out of nowhere in the enclosed space. Two skeletal soldiers appeared behind them, raising their knives to strike.

If Xiao Buli hadn't been looking at the screen in full view mode, he might not have noticed. Caught by surprise, Gu Yuexuan was taken aback. But in the blink of an eye, Xiao Buli had an idea, clicked frantically with his mouse, and the character on the screen swiftly moved behind Gu Yuexuan, greeting the skeletal soldiers with his sword, using the Tai Chi Sword Skills to deflect the blow. He shouted, "Senior brother, be careful!" Not only did he dodge the attack aimed at him, but he also greatly helped Gu Yuexuan out of a bind.

Gu Yuexuan snorted, "Verbose," but nodded silently to himself. True, the blow would not have caused him much damage, but it would have been a blow to his image. The young disciple had shown selfless courage—quite commendable indeed. He then called out, "Junior brother, be careful yourself. You handle these skeletons, I'll deal with the zombie." As he spoke, his flying sword moved faster as if he was now putting more effort into it.

The Ten Thousand Swords Art was unleashed, and a multitude of sword lights poured down like rain. It seemed the zombie's damage reduction was only effective against more powerful moves, but not as effective against these low-damage Sword Shadows. A single Sword Shadow might only inflict a dozen or so points of damage, but the sheer number of them added up to several hundred points of damage with just one move.

The skeletons that the zombie summoned had merely a few hundred health points and held Bone Knives, but they had no real skills. Xiao Buli made short work of them, then turned back to see the zombie no longer passively receiving hits. It seemed to have been activated, continuously casting spells. Though it wasn't summoning anything new, it kept emitting chilling winds, and DEBUFF symbols kept popping up above their heads— losing health points, Weakness, reduced attack power. Obviously, these gusts of wind were its weapons. Xiao Buli hurriedly healed both of them, taking out the Exorcism Staff to cast on Gu Yuexuan, dispelling the DEBUFFs from him.

However, after two attempts, Xiao Buli realized he couldn't keep up with it. The zombie was casting DEBUFFs as if they were free, and what's worse, the damage from Myriad Swords into Shadows against the zombie was decreasing, from the original dozens to just 7 or 8 points. If this went on, who knew how long the battle would last. Xiao Buli thought the team was missing a tank to take the hits. Speaking of a tank, Xiao Buli thought of an excellent candidate.

With a whoosh, the already tight space instantly became crowded. The Swamp Crocodile's bulky body filled up all the space except for that occupied by the two men and the zombie. Indeed, this was the tank Xiao Buli had called for. Once the crocodile appeared, it immediately formed a flesh fortress.

"Senior brother, come to the back to fight," Xiao Buli called out quickly. Gu Yuexuan wasn't foolish; he immediately understood Xiao Buli's intention and, feeling somewhat tired himself, he knew that if it came down to a battle of health points, it was uncertain if he could outlast the zombie.

At this moment, the disciple had summoned a crocodile which promptly became a meat shield for the two of them, greatly increasing their chances of victory.

With this in mind, Gu Yuexuan wasted no time; he leaped behind the crocodile alongside Xiao Buli and continuously executed his Sword Control Technique. His flying sword kept harassing the zombies whose health points had now dwindled to just over a thousand. Seeming somewhat anxious, the zombies quickened their actions and their growls filled the air. However, their chilling breath was but a nuisance to the thick-skinned, robust crocodile and did nothing significant. The hefty crocodile strained to twist its body within the confined space, occasionally landing a hit on the zombies, which made them even more passive.

Xiao Buli stood at the back, seizing every opportunity to strike the zombies, and when idle, he would restore health to the crocodile. Gu Yuexuan's flying sword performed a Wild Dance, and the DEBUFF gradually lost its effect, allowing them to fight at their prime level. The zombie's health bar visibly decreased until it finally ran out. Xiao Buli had thought that the boss would go berserk at the last moment, but the end came unexpectedly calm. Watching the withered body of the zombie sway and fall to the ground, turning into countless ashes the moment it hit, Xiao Buli couldn't help but feel almost amused, "Is that it?"

It turned out that both bosses were merely endurance tests, one relying on its thick health to withstand attacks, and the other meant for a war of attrition. Both whittled down slowly to death.

Somewhat resigned, Xiao Buli withdrew the crocodile and went to loot the corpse. This time the loot was not bad; they obtained a Centennial Corpse Pill, a small but valuable gain. Although Xiao Buli didn't know the purpose of these materials they had been collecting since entering the mountain, he always felt that they couldn't be so simple.
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"Your pet isn't bad," Gu Yuexuan commented flatly. Xiao Buli knew that getting a direct word of thanks or praise from Gu Yuexuan was as hard as reaching the heavens. This perfunctory compliment already signified his changed view of Xiao Buli. Pleased, Xiao Buli knew that maintaining good relations with NPCs, especially powerful ones like Gu Yuexuan, was always beneficial.

"You flatter me, brother," Xiao Buli replied modestly and hurried to keep up with Gu Yuexuan's pace.

The two of them pushed forward. The gray-black stones and soil gradually morphed into bluestone, long devoid of sunlight and now covered in green moss, seemingly a naturally formed underground cave. Yet it was unclear how long this cave had existed, given the age of the moss. Xiao Buli had a sneaking suspicion they had ventured deeper. If the structures and tunnels outside were recently constructed, then this cave was not made overnight. It seemed that the outside was built for the sake of this cave. Could this be the location of the well Gu Yuexuan mentioned? But the defenses of this final layer didn't seem to be stringent, as they had not encountered even a single minor monster for a long time.

Finally, the path ahead came to an end, and a stone door finally appeared before them. On both sides of the stone door were two perennial lamps with feeble flames, seemingly on the brink of extinguishing at any moment. Nevertheless, the lighting here was much brighter compared to the illumination from Gu Yuexuan's sword light. Beneath the perennial lamps were two stone beasts, identical to the statues at the entrance of the instance.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Buli immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this peculiar instance was coming to an end. The two minor bosses they had faced, despite their resilience rather than combat prowess, were both Silver Name. Such bosses would be giveaways in the wild, but inside the instance, once fitted with the boss template, they became much more challenging. And according to the game's pattern, the final boss of an instance should be one level higher than the minor bosses. Therefore, this final boss should be a Gold Name boss.

With this thought, Xiao Buli gripped his treasured sword and started to buffer himself with BUFFs, getting ready for the first level of combat.

Watching Xiao Buli bustle about, Gu Yuexuan didn't have the heart to interrupt and simply stepped forward to push the stone door open.

I'm not ready yet, Xiao Buli was about to type, but his attention was quickly captivated by the scene before him, leaving him standing stunned.

Inside the stone door was a stone hall, not very large, so the interior was immediately clear.

In the middle of the stone hall and facing the door was a throne, carved from an unidentified material with profound solidity. The chair emitted a dark and matted black gloss that indicated it was no ordinary seat.

In the center of the stone hall was an ancient well outlined in Bagua, with the well opening exactly where the Yin Yang Fish should be. The well was slightly lower than the ground level, surrounded by unadorned edges, with white vapors rising slowly from within. Despite the distance, Xiao Buli could tell that it must be a cold mist.

Surrounding the well and arranged according to the Bagua were piles of bones which appeared to be human. The number of bones seemed to correspond with the trigrams, likely arranged in a systematic fashion, as if forming an Array. But these were not what rendered Xiao Buli speechless. What truly shocked him, making him swear silently, was the figure seated on the Dharma Seat above—the golden name hovering above his head: Xuan Zhenzi (Taiyin Sect Protection Elder), the Gold Name final boss of this instance. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)