Chapter Twenty: Advancing Once More

As Li Ren was furiously hacking away at the green-skinned zombies to rapidly boost his experience, his speed suddenly increased. He unleashed all his skills—Triple Slash, Crescent Slash, and so on—without reserve. In no time, the monsters before him were cleared out, though he was left thoroughly exhausted.

This sudden burst of effort wasn’t because he had experienced some newfound motivation, but rather because the system had notified him that a forced teleportation would begin in ten seconds. If the zombies were still attacking during the teleport and something went wrong as a result, Li Ren certainly didn’t want to face the consequences. It was always best to be cautious, just in case.

When the ten seconds elapsed, the familiar spatial distortion appeared, and Li Ren found himself once more upon the throne.

This time, he abandoned any playful attitude and scrutinized the players before him. They were skilled, but compared to Mo Ran, they still had far to go. He didn’t bother watching further; instead, he redirected all the elite skeletons along the path, allowing the group to reach the main hall more quickly and giving them some time to recover. When they were ready for battle, Li Ren held nothing back.

With a Triple Slash, he sent the unwitting shield warrior back to the respawn point. Dealing with the remaining four was as effortless as slaughtering chickens and dogs; the fight was over in moments. When the last priest tried to crush a teleportation rune to escape, Li Ren blinked forward and shattered his final hope, bringing his great blade down mercilessly in the priest’s despairing gaze.

After absorbing the five blood essences, Li Ren found that the experience gained was comparable to what his minions could earn in a full hour of slaughter. Furthermore, the efficiency of attribute absorption from killing players was higher, making this forced teleportation seem almost endearing.

Five seconds later, he was teleported out of the instance.

Since he hadn’t claimed his equipment reward last time, he could choose to accumulate or immediately receive a random purple item. Hearing this, Li Ren chose to accumulate without hesitation. He had no urgent need for equipment now; his level was too low, and even the best gear would only be useful for his current tier—not cost-effective. Besides, his weapon was already top-tier for his level, and any further upgrade wouldn’t make much difference.

After being teleported out, he silently resumed killing green-skinned zombies. The only comfort he found was in watching his experience steadily increase and anticipating his next advancement.

Ten seconds until forced teleportation.

Again? Li Ren was puzzled. The frequency of ultimate instance activations hadn’t been this high before; he wondered what had changed. Still, it was a good thing—just a few moments of experience now equaled an hour of effort. Why complain?

“Let’s finish this quickly,” Li Ren thought.

This party seemed to be competent, but not top-tier. Li Ren glanced at them briefly and treated them as he had the last group.

Soon they arrived in the hall, ready to fight without hesitation.

Li Ren, following the same routine, struck with Triple Slash. Before the others could react, the shield warrior was down. A blink brought him close to the stragglers, and Crescent Slash swept through them. Within a few swings, the fragile priests and wizards lay dead. Li Ren felt nothing.

In his view, using all his skills should naturally yield such results. Anything less would be odd.

He picked up the blood essences and fused them into himself, again choosing to accumulate rewards, and was teleported out.

He didn’t know why, but Li Ren felt busy. He was barely teleported out before being forced back in, hardly able to summon his minions anymore.

He waited as wave after wave of players came to die, and his name began to spread far and wide.

On the player forums, a post titled “Invincible Skeleton King—How to Break the Ultimate Instance!” appeared. It pointed out that no matter how highly ranked in level or gear a shield warrior was, they always fell instantly before the Skeleton King, powerless to retaliate. Unless they used their ultimate skills right away, but even then, once the skill duration ended, instant death was inevitable.

Some players, unwilling to accept this, gathered all their class ultimates and managed to survive an extra minute, but ultimately, the Skeleton King still won, not even losing a fraction of his health.

The Skeleton King’s power provoked great indignation among players. Many who died in the skeleton cave were notified of permanent attribute loss—some lost luck, which stung especially hard. Within fifteen minutes, the post was pinned to the forum’s front page, its popularity unabated.

Finally, an official administrator replied, stating they were addressing the issue, and that attribute absorption was an intended challenge of the ultimate instance. Then, nothing more.

This period was the most comfortable Li Ren had ever experienced. After the first few teleports, they became nearly nonstop, sometimes sending him back in right after coming out.

During this latest teleport, Li Ren remained seated on the throne, habitually glancing at the incoming party. To his surprise, ten players appeared at once! This meant the groups facing him had grown larger and more difficult to handle.

Li Ren laughed bitterly. He had expected the system to change eventually, but not so quickly. He thought, at this pace, he might at least reach level forty-eight.

A ten-person party was much harder to deal with. Two shield warriors together greatly increased defense, and their attack power doubled. If they rotated tanking while using ultimates, his health might not hold up.

But Li Ren had already made up his mind and felt no pressure, though he did worry what further changes might bring if things went too smoothly.

No point in overthinking now; the most important thing was to defeat the group before him. At least he could now gain double the experience and attributes each time.

Worth mentioning, after many days of absorbing blood essences, his base attributes, though negligible compared to his thousand-point bonus, had seen luck become positive for the first time—now at 4.5! He didn’t know which players had lost so much luck, but he was sure those who did were deeply upset.

In the silent wilderness, Mo Ran, clad in a black robe, looked up at the sky, his hood revealing a blurred half-face. He smiled, “Ten at a time—this system is quite interesting. Looks like you’ll feast even more this time. Don’t waste my efforts.”

Li Ren, locked in battle, was unaware of what transpired in the unknown wilds. He only knew that the people before him were the source of his strength. He needed, desperately needed, to become stronger. He had to uncover the mysteries that confounded him, to discover the true reason, to find the original source. All required immense power, which he still lacked.

The battle ended as soon as it began. Before the two shield warriors could reach him, Li Ren saw one priest cast a sustained healing spell on a shield warrior. He smiled and blinked instantly. Though the system forbade him from attacking before players made their move, his actions this time did not violate that rule.

A small mistake, usually negligible, led directly to their annihilation.

Li Ren activated Crescent Slash, blinking and dashing to the priest’s side. The players nearby hadn’t moved away yet and were swept into the attack. With just two swings, six were dead!

The remaining two shield warriors, a hunter, and a rogue were left staring in shock. Li Ren’s blade rose and fell—none survived.

After absorbing the blood essences of all ten, Li Ren closed his eyes and stood still.

He waited for the next battle, the next advancement.

Some people never learned; no matter how true or bizarre the stories of Li Ren’s attacks were on the forums, there would always be those who just had to see for themselves, even if it meant dying.

Just like those players back in Calf Village who threw themselves at him with reckless abandon—their motives were always hard to fathom, but upon reflection, there was nothing more to say.

Curiosity, perhaps.

Watching wave after wave of ever-weaker opponents fall before him, Li Ren remained unmoved, collecting blood essences and fusing them within himself.

“Congratulations, your experience has surpassed level 50. Free advancement unlocked again!” Li Ren looked at his newly emptied experience bar and exhaled deeply.

Advancement! Skeleton Centurion!

Li Ren felt the powerful force surging from within, tightening his fist. He was one step closer to the enigmatic Mo Ran, to the unknown truths, to the real reason he appeared here—one step closer to the ultimate answer.

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Thank you all for your support. With the New Year approaching, I wish everyone happiness and good fortune!