Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap…
The passage was long and shrouded in darkness. In this eerie space filled with the presence of the undead, there were no bats, no venomous snakes, no crawling creatures—no sign of any normal life.
After about thirty seconds of walking, a faint white glow finally appeared ahead. Ye Tianxie knew this glow was not from any source of warmth or life—it was merely the cold, eerie light emitted by skeletal remains.
Clutching a teleportation scroll to Tianchen City in his hand, he lightened his footsteps and moved forward cautiously. The fifth level of the Skeleton Cave—the dwelling place of the Undead Monarch—was just ahead. Although the mayor of Guping Town had confidently assured him that the newly formed Undead Monarch would not exceed level 20, Ye Tianxie knew better than to let his guard down. He planned to immediately inspect the monster’s stats upon sighting it. If its level was within his acceptable range, he would attack without hesitation. However, if all he saw were question marks (????), he would retreat without delay and use the teleportation scroll before the creature could detect him. (Note: The teleportation scroll cannot be used once a monster has locked onto the player in combat or during any other restricted state.)
Ye Tianxie was proud, but he was not a fool who would charge recklessly into a hopeless battle.
As the light ahead grew brighter, his footsteps became lighter, and his brows furrowed in deep concentration.
At the very end of the tunnel, he stopped, pressing himself against the cold wall. Carefully, he peered into the final level of the Skeleton Cave—its deepest chamber.
Surprisingly, this space was much smaller than the previous four levels. It was empty—completely devoid of the guardian undead he had expected to protect the Undead Monarch. Instead, in the very center, a small mass of grayish light, about half the height of a person, flickered and swayed as if stirred by an unseen breeze.
Undead Monarch (Juvenile Stage) – Level 15 Lord BOSS
HP: 13,000
A being of pure death energy, nurtured and condensed over time until its emergence two months ago. Born in darkness, growing in darkness, it wields formidable undead power. Currently in its juvenile stage, but upon maturity, it will become the supreme ruler of all undead.
Innate Ability: Undead Body – Immune to all death-type damage. Regenerates 650 HP per second in environments filled with darkness and death.
Skills:
- Reaper’s Scythe – Summons a cursed scythe from the depths of hell, slashing mercilessly at all enemies ahead. 10-meter linear attack, base damage: 350, instant cast, high activation frequency.
- Undead Wail – Disrupts the minds of nearby enemies using the power of death. 50% chance to induce confusion for 3-5 seconds. Activates when HP drops below 40%. Low activation frequency.
Ye Tianxie felt a surge of joy upon discovering that the Undead Monarch was merely a level 15 Lord BOSS with only two skills. The mayor of Guping Town truly had not lied. However, when he saw its innate ability, his excitement vanished, and he nearly cursed aloud.
Regenerates 650 HP per second in darkness and death-filled environments.
That meant it automatically regained 5% of its health every second!
A level 15 Lord BOSS was far stronger than an ordinary BOSS of the same level, boasting far greater attack and defense. Given Ye Tianxie’s current attack power, landing hits exceeding 100 damage would already be an achievement. Yet this so-called “juvenile” Undead Monarch, much weaker than its future self, regenerated 650 HP every second!
What kind of sick joke is this?!
Grinding his teeth, Ye Tianxie stood motionless for a long time, his mind racing. The Undead Monarch, still shrouded in gray mist, had not noticed him and remained eerily still.
Advance or retreat?
Advance... If this were an open field, Ye Tianxie would charge in without hesitation. However, to defeat this creature here, he would need an attack power exceeding 1,000 to deal meaningful damage. What could he possibly use to take it down?
Retreat? He had come all this way, and the opponent was only level 15. At level 10, he had defeated a level 20 Lord BOSS. Now at level 14, why shouldn’t he be able to take down this level 15 opponent? And with the allure of an extremely rare hidden BOSS before him, could he really just walk away?
Ye Tianxie stood frozen, caught in a torturous dilemma.
Luring it outside? Impossible. Even if the juvenile Undead Monarch could be led out of this chamber, undead creatures feared the light. The moment it neared the cave entrance, it would immediately retreat.
Wait… feared the light?
Light?!
A spark ignited in Ye Tianxie’s mind. He swiftly reached into his inventory and pulled out an item. Instantly, a brilliant glow illuminated the darkness—a radiant, blinding light.
For the first time in countless years, light filled the cave. A deafening, enraged roar erupted from the Undead Monarch as it was awakened by the very thing it loathed and feared. Ye Tianxie raised the glowing object high, then hurled it toward the Undead Monarch before charging forward, Destiny’s Edge poised to strike.
The source of light was a small, round Light Magic Lamp—a gift from the pigtail-braided girl in Luofeng Town. It could emit light for three minutes.
“Ding… Light has a devastating effect on the juvenile Undead Monarch. The surrounding environment has changed to a light-filled space. The Undead Monarch can no longer regenerate HP, all undead magic effects are weakened by 30%, and it now loses 5% HP per second.”
Upon hearing the system notification, Ye Tianxie nearly jumped for joy.
True Undead Monarchs were incredibly powerful, but their juvenile forms were extremely vulnerable. Like all creatures in their early stages, they were exceedingly fragile—for a developing Undead Monarch, light was its greatest nemesis.
-650, -650, -650…
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The shadow within the gray mist convulsed violently, letting out an enraged, despairing shriek while desperately retreating from the glowing lamp. Every second, massive damage numbers floated above its head, its health bar visibly shrinking.
Ye Tianxie, initially preparing for a fierce battle, paused and smirked.
“This feels almost unfair.”
He had only hoped the lamp would slow down its regeneration, not utterly cripple it. But now… the result was almost laughably one-sided.
-650, -650, -650…
Relaxed and grinning, Ye Tianxie picked up the Light Magic Lamp and leisurely walked toward the retreating BOSS. The Undead Monarch, terrified of the light, howled in agony and fled further, while Ye Tianxie simply followed at his own pace.
For the first time in his gaming life, he was making a BOSS run away.
And the feeling?
Absolutely exhilarating.
Just as Ye Tianxie struck his fourth attack, the Undead Monarch’s health bar was finally emptied under the erosion of light. With a heavy thud, its massive body collapsed to the ground, motionless. The grayish mist shrouding its form halted its drifting and slowly dispersed, revealing the yet-to-fully-formed body of the Undead Monarch—along with an array of equipment and items glowing in various colors scattered across the ground.
"Ding... You have successfully slain the Level 15 Lord BOSS: Undead Monarch. Reputation +15."
"Ding... Your level has increased to Level 15. HP +10, MP +10, and you have gained 5 free attribute points."
"Ding... You have successfully slain the juvenile Undead Monarch and completed the unique hidden quest ‘The Mayor of Guping Town’s Request.’ Please report to the mayor of Guping Town to claim your quest reward."
The experience points granted by a Lord BOSS were immense. Ye Tianxie, who had already reached 80% of Level 14, saw his experience bar instantly max out, leveling him up to 15. Picking up the slowly rolling Light Elemental Lanternfrom the ground, he could barely contain the urge to throw his head back and laugh—what should have been an intense and perilous battle had begun and ended in such an unexpectedly effortless manner.
According to that little girl, the Light Elemental Lantern still had three minutes of light remaining. The radiant effect earlier had lasted no more than half a minute. Ye Tianxie swiftly deactivated its light and stored it back in his backpack. There was no way he would waste even a second more of this invaluable item. Who knew? Someday, it might once again perform a miracle—especially when facing fragile undead creatures.
The body of the Undead Monarch was not skeletal but had begun taking on a humanoid form. At a glance, it resembled a three- or four-year-old child. Lord BOSSes were exceedingly rare, and once slain, it could take an extremely long time—days, weeks, or even months—before another one appeared. For a special BOSS like the Undead Monarch, who knew how many years it would take for another to emerge? After all, it wasn’t just an ordinary Lord BOSS but an entity still in its juvenile stage, merely displaying the power of a Lord due to its yet-to-awaken strength.
However, the one thing that was certain—whenever a rare Lord BOSS was slain, it would always result in an extravagant loot explosion.
There was no gold among the spoils, yet two golden-tier and three silver-tier equipment lay scattered around the Undead Monarch’s corpse. Such an extravagant drop rate was likely only possible for someone like Ye Tianxie, who had single-handedly defeated the BOSS and possessed an astronomical Luck stat of 12.
Undead Cloak: Golden-tier equipment. Requirement: Level 15, any class. Unidentified, unusable.
A cloak!!
Cloaks were among the rarest types of equipment. In every weapon store across towns and cities, players could buy helmets, armor, pants, boots, and gloves of various levels, but not a single store sold cloaks.
Staring at the pitch-black cloak, which was faintly shrouded in a gray mist, Ye Tianxie sighed helplessly. Not only was it unidentified and thus unusable, but more importantly, he had no class, making him ineligible to equip anything at all.
The second golden-tier item was a long spear that gleamed with a faint golden light even amidst the darkness—Undead Spear.
Undead Spear: Golden-tier equipment. Requirement: Level 15, Warrior class. Unidentified, unusable.
After glancing at the remaining three silver-tier items, Ye Tianxie stored all five pieces of equipment in his backpack before picking up a misty gray scroll from the ground.
Skill Scroll – Nether Fog: Grants the active support skill "Nether Fog" upon use. When activated, summons a deathly mist to suspend the body, slowing descent speed.
A skill scroll... an exceedingly rare treasure with an appearance rate close to zero.
Ye Tianxie’s mind briefly blanked. Despite having an unparalleled Luck stat of 12, he had never imagined that—after obtaining one from the Amethyst War Tiger in the beginner’s village—the second Lord BOSS he killed would also drop a skill scroll.
And what did a skill scroll signify? Potions were consumable. No matter how powerful a piece of equipment was, it would eventually be replaced. But a skill—once learned—was permanent. Additionally, skills obtained from monster-dropped scrolls were never ones that players could acquire from class instructors. This made skill scrolls invaluable, and their rarity was astronomical.
Perhaps this was fate’s way of compensating for Ye Tianxie’s inability to obtain a class—presenting him with an event as unlikely as Mars colliding with Earth.
Although... this skill didn’t seem particularly powerful.
After carefully storing the skill scroll, Ye Tianxie crouched beside the Undead Monarch’s frail body and cast "Gathering" on its corpse.
"Ding... Your ‘Gathering’ attempt has failed!"
Failed?
The system notification made him pause. The message was not "No gatherable items found" but rather "Gathering failed."
And that could only mean one thing—the items on the Undead Monarch were too high-level, surpassing his current Gathering skill proficiency.
Ye Tianxie quickly realized the situation and remained unfazed. Instead of leaving, he continued casting Gathering on the corpse over and over again.
"Ding... Your ‘Gathering’ attempt has failed!"
"Ding... Your ‘Gathering’ attempt has failed!"
"Ding... Your ‘Gathering’ attempt has failed!"
"Ding..."
As he persistently cast the skill, his MP drained bit by bit. Twenty failed attempts later, Ye Tianxie remained composed, showing no signs of frustration. Without hesitation, he chugged a Mana Potion and continued the process.
"Ding... Your ‘Gathering’ attempt has failed!"
"Ding... You have gathered ‘Death Core’!"
"Ding... Your ‘Gathering’ skill has leveled up to Advanced, allowing you to collect higher-grade materials from monsters and special locations."
The notification made Ye Tianxie smirk, and at the same time, the Undead Monarch’s body dissipated into mist, vanishing entirely.
A Death Core—a small, intensely radiant gray orb—rested in Ye Tianxie’s palm. Despite its size, barely larger than a fingernail, the sheer energy emanating from it sent an eerie pressure against his skin.
Death Core: A core containing immensely powerful and pure death energy. The Undead Monarch was nurtured by its power and is only formed in the most Yin-heavy locations. Usage unknown.
This...
Ye Tianxie’s gaze locked onto the small orb. The description alone made his heart race. After silently contemplating for a moment, he stored it in his backpack.
Immensely powerful and pure death energy... capable of nurturing an Undead Monarch... It was evident that this Death Core was no ordinary item. But what was its true purpose?
With the juvenile Undead Monarch slain, Ye Tianxie had achieved his goal beyond expectations, gaining far more than he had initially anticipated. Taking one last glance at the damp and eerie surroundings, he retrieved a Town Return Scroll for Guping Town.
Just as he was about to crush the scroll—
"Screeeeech————!!"
A piercing, otherworldly screech erupted, shaking the entire dark cavern. The sound was so deafeningly close that it felt as if it had exploded right beside his ears.
BOOM!
The ground trembled violently. The walls quivered, their shaking intensifying. Ye Tianxie staggered, barely keeping his footing.
That cry...
Could it be...
BOOM!!
With an earth-shattering crash, the cavern wall collapsed, and a blinding light from the sky pierced through, dispelling all darkness.
Ye Tianxie pressed himself into a corner, narrowly dodging falling debris. As the dust settled, his pupils contracted sharply.
A massive crimson silhouette appeared before him.
A name flashed through his mind—
Blood Phoenix!