Absolute Death Game

Xiao Buli was left standing there, cursing under his breath at the sight before him. A frail body, draped in a grey-black Taoist robe, with a golden name hovering above his head—Xuan Zhenzi (Taiyin Sect Protection Elder), this was the gold-named main BOSS of the dungeon.

"Damn it, that's not how you play the game," Xiao Buli blurted out as he looked at the name of the old Taoist on the computer screen.

"How do you like that, quite unexpected, huh?" said the voice in his mind, which Xiao Buli chose to ignore.

"It's actually him! Senior brother, what should we do now?" Xiao Buli asked Gu Yuexuan.

However, upon seeing Xiao Buli, Gu Yuexuan's face lit up with excitement, murmuring to himself, "Finally, finally found him..." For the moment, he completely ignored what Xiao Buli had said.

The sight of the two of them in the hall caused the old Taoist to emit a chilling, eerie laugh, "Hehehehe!" His voice was sharp and piercing, like nails scratching glass, sending shivers down one's spine.

Then, the old Taoist shouted at them, "How dare you intrude upon the sacred altar of the Taiyin Sect, you shall remain here forever!" His voice, as creepy as his laugh, sounded as though he was making a bizarre cry while pinching his throat.

Xiao Buli, anxious, urged, "Senior brother, are we going to fight?" He turned his head only to see Gu Yuexuan's eyes shining with a frenzied look. Apart from his usual unperturbed demeanor, it was rare to see such an expression on Gu Yuexuan's face, and it took Xiao Buli by surprise. He wondered if his senior brother had gone mad.

To Xiao Buli's relief, though, it was clear from Gu Yuexuan's excitement that it wasn't out of fear, but rather a wild excitement, like a stray dog spotting a bone or a lecher seeing a naked woman. It seemed that Gu Yuexuan had some indescribable deep feelings for Xuan Zhenzi.

Xiao Buli kept his wicked guess to himself,

Suddenly, Gu Yuexuan let out a long howl, and his treasure sword emerged from the sheath with a whistle, "I'm going in." Before Xiao Buli could react, Gu Yuexuan had leaped forward, rushing towards Xuan Zhenzi.

It was too late for Xiao Buli to stop him, and he desperately complained, "What's the hurry? I still had questions to ask." Normally, one could have a few words with the BOSS at the start of the encounter, and Xiao Buli wanted to use that opportunity to inquire about some details regarding the treatment of Soul Departure Syndrome. However, Gu Yuexuan didn't consult him at all, which was a downside of NPC intelligence.

Hearing the clanging of weapons from the other side, the two had already engaged in combat, so it was likely too late to ask any questions. With no other choice, Xiao Buli drew his sword and bravely charged into the fray.

The BOSS hadn't even finished his opening lines when he saw one of them rushing towards him. "You're so impatient," he thought. Despite this, his actions were swift. He stood up from his Dharma Seat, his robe billowing as he raised his hand, and flung a Nether Fire Orb directly at Gu Yuexuan.
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Seeing the oncoming attack, Gu Yuexuan didn't dodge or evade. He just raised his protective spiritual energy and charged forward, not even using the Sword Control Technique. When he got close, he engaged Xuan Zhenzi in a fierce melee. Xuan Zhenzi hurriedly blocked, his bone overshadowing a human thigh and clashing with Gu Yuexuan's sword strikes. The bones, whatever they were reinforced with, rang out metallically when hit, indistinguishable from a real sword.

Xiao Buli noticed, "Well, they're really going all out from the start." Seeing Gu Yuexuan's health points dropping continuously, he eagerly cast Life Gaining Skills from behind.

If this were a contest of sheer force, Gu Yuexuan would definitely be at a disadvantage; his health points were just over a thousand, while Xuan Zhenzi's were close to twenty thousand. However, the speed at which their health points decreased was nearly the same, illustrating the formidable power of Gu Yuexuan. As a one-man defense and offense, brandishing his sword and never slacking in output, coupled with Xiao Buli's non-stop healing from behind, the two managed an even match.

The disadvantage of the BOSS having no backup was gradually showing, with health points only going down and not up. After a fierce exchange, BOSS was actually forced into the second phase.

Thanks to Gu Yuexuan's Persistent Assault, Xuan Zhenzi was primarily focused on Taoist Arts and spells as his main offensive. However, being entangled by Gu Yuexuan like this, Xuan Zhenzi didn't have time to cast spells, which was indeed a surprise victory for the two. Otherwise, who knows how long they would have had to compete in spellcasting.

Since the onset of the second phase, Xuan Zhenzi had stopped caring about Gu Yuexuan, halted the waving of his bone sword, and took the blow from Gu Yuexuan's sword strike directly.

The subtitles on the computer screen suddenly lit up:

Xuan Zhenzi (Taiyin Sect Protection Elder): "Slumbering dead, wandering souls, heed my summoning!"

Raising both hands, Xuan Zhenzi created billows of green mist that rose from his palms, and the ancient well in the center of the arena seemed to respond, rapidly spreading out white mist. In the blink of an eye, it churned upwards, fusing quickly with the green mist and then gently cascaded down onto the piles of white bones on the ground, seemingly enveloping them with tenderness.

As the hue of the mist on the ground grew darker, the white bones started to shake continuously as if being activated, quivering as they rose into the air.

Though it's a hassle to describe, all this happened in merely a few seconds. Xiao Buli, seeing the floating bones, realized it was part of the casting process. Sensing trouble, he swung his sword at the nearest pile of bones. To his surprise, his blade struck with a clang as if hitting a pile of iron bones. Xiao Buli didn't stop; the metallic clashing continued nonstop for more than half a minute until the bones finally fell to the ground, allowing Xiao Buli to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Junior brother, be careful!" Gu Yuexuan shouted at the top of his lungs. At the same time, the sound of metal on metal rang out above Xiao Buli's head. When he refocused, he saw countless skeleton warriors had somehow assembled in the hall. These bone soldiers, some wearing helmets and each wielding a long thigh bone, started to encircle the two fighters. Just moments ago, a skeleton soldier behind him had raised a bone knife to strike; luckily, Gu Yuexuan's Sword Control Technique came to his aid. In this brief distraction, Xuan Zhenzi's bone sword struck Gu Yuexuan. Thankfully covered by protective spiritual energy, Gu Yuexuan's head displayed a red -12, prompting him to swiftly counter with his sword.

Xiao Buli had no time to thank Gu Yuexuan for the rescue as several skeleton soldiers had already approached. In his urgency, Xiao Buli summoned a Swamp Crocodile to block for him while he hastily retreated. However, to his dismay, the skeleton soldiers, though similar in appearance to the previously summoned zombies, were alarmingly skilled. With a strike from their bones, red numbers in the tens or hundreds flashed before him. Engulfed by the assault of a dozen skeleton soldiers, the Swamp Crocodile was rapidly chopped into a minced mess.

After discarding the crocodile's corpse, they closed in on Xiao Buli, who desperately looked for an escape route. Realizing he lacked the robustness of the Swamp Crocodile, Xiao Buli was grateful that the skeleton soldiers weren't fast and merely followed in pursuit. Breathing a little easier, he ran while continuously performing Mysterious Ice Slash to kite them. Despite the substantial number of enemies, some dodged, making the attack hit others instead. This prevented his strikes from being in vain. Xiao Buli felt frustrated, though, as the skeleton soldiers had high defense, and each sword strike only deducted a few dozen health points, leaving them undeterred for the time being.

The space inside the main hall was limited, and Xiao Buli didn't dare to flee outside, fearing the skeleton soldiers would then besiege Gu Yuexuan. So, he was forced to run in circles within the room until he was trapped in their midst. This was akin to playing Snake—eventually, with all skeletons trailing him and no more room to maneuver, he found himself cornered.

Damn it, I'm all in. Surrounded by too many skeletons, Xiao Buli had no choice but to unleash Carefree Wandering Dragon Sword Dance, finally repelling the skeleton soldiers around him. Yet, more from the outer circle closed in. Xiao Buli hacked away in frustration while trying to devise a way out in his head.

"Junior brother, use Thunder Strike!" Although still locked in combat with Xuan Zhenzi, Gu Yuexuan kept an eye on the situation and, seeing Xiao Buli's refusal to abandon him despite the peril, appreciated his dedication. In his concern for Xiao Buli being surrounded, he couldn't help but shout a reminder.

"What Thunder Strike?" Xiao Buli was momentarily confused by Gu Yuexuan's suggestion, as he knew no such spell.

"The Thunder Strike you used when descending on the mountaintop that day," Gu Yuexuan was exasperated. How could he forget his own skills?

"Ah," Xiao Buli gasped, and it dawned on him. He had always regarded Cloud Thunder Leap as a means of escape. Except for the few times he had used it to kill the Black Mountain Bandit Leader due to its restrictive nature, he hadn't considered it a skill to employ. Now, upon Gu Yuexuan's reminder, realization struck. His fingers danced over the keyboard, and a bolt of lightning shot up into the sky. Restricted by the ceiling, Xiao Buli couldn't rise high—which is why he never used it indoors—but as he lifted off, he immediately pressed the spacebar. The room boomed like an RPG had gone off, and countless chunks of rock rained down from the damaged dome.

Xiao Buli felt the screen shake, and when he looked around the room, Gu Yuexuan was prepared and had already floated to the side, while Taoist Xuan Zhen, with his high mana, naturally wasn't in much danger. However, the skeleton soldiers in the center of the storm, surrounded by the stones, crumbled into numerous white bones, collapsing radially to the ground. Some, buried under the debris, lay motionless.

Xiao Buli also crashed to the ground but was relatively unscathed thanks to his substantial health points.

Hehe, Xiao Buli felt a rush of triumph, thinking to himself, let's see if they dare to attack me now. But he couldn't help but wonder why Xuan Zhenzi's summoned troops were so resilient and numerous. Still, with the battle heating up, Xiao Buli didn't dare to slack and quickly turned to assess Gu Yuexuan and Xuan Zhenzi, seeing that both their health points had dwindled to about one-third. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)