LWGP - Chapter 165
Chapter 165: The Demon King's Smile
In Fanlin Village, a place of dense fog, Hao Ze had just brought over thirty people. His gaze swept across the crowd, and he was shocked.
So many experts, and it seemed like every single one was stronger than him.
Hua Zi said, "Captain, the difficulty of this dungeon probably includes these teams, right? This is way too hard."
Ah Ling replied, "In any case, it can't be more terrifying than Lao Wang stringing me up and blowing my head off."
Ugh, let's not bring up that dark history. The psychological trauma was quite severe, and they still had to work under her.
As soon as the experts teleported to Fanlin Village, they felt extremely uncomfortable. The poisonous gas was too thick, and they saw the bodies of several researchers lying on the ground. Looking further ahead, they saw the towering, canopy-like Old Camphor Tree in the distance, and their hearts pounded with fear.
Even from such a distance, Hao Ze and his team had likely sensed its terror, which was why they had kept their distance.
"Don't look at it for too long. It's very sinister."
"This thing isn't normal."
Hao Ze repeatedly warned everyone, and his own dark, bluish complexion told them their situation was dire.
This poison...
"The antidote is useless?" Wang Jiu asked.
"Useless. It's probably because this is a primordial toxin, and Wei Yuan didn't have time to research it further." Hao Ze gave a bitter smile. "We have almost no combat strength left. We can only rely on you."
This was a gathering assembled by Wang Jiu. The various leaders were hesitant to agree outright and instead all looked toward her.
Wang Jiu was looking at the tree. She had already walked over to it.
Seeing that she had no intention of giving commands, Tan Yingzhou took the initiative. "Everyone, get into position and maintain your attack range. The rest of the captains, come here."
The captains followed Tan Yingzhou and Xie Jiang closer to the Old Camphor Tree. Wang Jiu had already circled it once.
The poisonous gas seeped out from the leaves and trunk of the Old Camphor Tree. The tree gave off an exceptionally ominous feeling.
Everyone was wary. Xie Jiang asked Wang Jiu, "Our insight skills are all ineffective. Can your insight see what's inside?"
Wang Jiu shook her head. She couldn't see either. The tree seemed to be blocked by a higher-level power, but her insight was more advanced than Xie Jiang's and the others'—she could see the source from which this power emanated.
"It's inside the trunk. Move back a bit."
As soon as Wang Jiu spoke, everyone spread out. She took out her golden gun and fired a shot at the trunk.
Everyone's eyesight was terrifyingly sharp. They saw that the point she shot was exactly where the gene potion was inserted.
Seeing this, the others also focused their ranged attacks on that spot.
The attacks of these thirty people actually accounted for 70% of the combat power of all players in the entire dungeon. Under this ranged assault, the Old Camphor Tree's health bar began to decrease.
"Perverted! This health bar is ten times higher than that coffin's!"
"At our current attack rate, it would probably take an hour of continuous fire to destroy it."
"An hour? Our spirit power can't last that long."
"Then you can choose not to fight."
Not fighting was impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Though they said they couldn't last, everyone knew the truth—their bodies might not hold out, but the resources in their inventories could.
As long as they were willing to spend resources, there was nothing they couldn't sustain.
Wasn't it worth spending some resources to increase their participation in a Nightmare Dungeon and earn even more resources in return?
The thirty people were all elites from various parts of China in the Ninth District. After being rebuked, neither harshly nor softly, by Luo Sheng, no one complained anymore. They focused all their efforts on attacking to raise their participation, using every trick up their sleeves.
Back when they fought the coffin monster, everyone from Wang Jiu to Xie Jiang had held back some of their skills. But now, probably because the ceiling of combat power, Wang Jiu, had already displayed her strongest abilities and was unbeatable anyway, they didn't bother hiding anything anymore.
So, in reality, it wouldn't even take an hour.
Looking at the damage output, Wang Jiu was ranked first, her output a full forty percent higher than Tan Yingzhou's in second place. Below them were Xie Jiang and Lin Xiaoniang. Bai Bai was fifth, and Xie Lu was ranked somewhere in the middle.
Half an hour later, the Old Camphor Tree's health bar had dropped to 10%.
Just like with the coffin monster, it didn't fight back.
This, however, made everyone uneasy.
9, 8, 7... When the health bar dropped to 1%, everyone followed the pre-issued command in the team channel and dodged backward.
In that same instant, boom!
The entire Old Camphor Tree exploded. Amidst the ferocious, twisting black mist, a figure seemed to be sitting on the thick roots.
It was a man with white hair and a gloomy face.
He wore a simple Daoist robe, his hair tied up in a topknot. He should have had the air of an immortal, but he gave off an exceptionally evil feeling.
Especially when he opened his eyes, it was as if everyone saw the evil thoughts in their own hearts.
Boom!
Suddenly, someone attacked their companion. The others were stunned and instinctively counterattacked.
"Fuck! You hit me!"
"We're killing each other before the boss fight even starts? What's wrong with you people?!"
A small portion of them, confused and furious, mercilessly attacked their former comrades. But Wang Jiu had already cast Absolute Silence on the old man, silencing his bewitchment skill.
In an instant, everyone's minds suddenly cleared.
"This old bastard has a bewitchment skill. Wang Jiu just silenced it. If he uses it again, the rest of us will take turns using silence. Who's going to command?" Xie Jiang knew Wang Jiu disliked giving orders, but if either he or Tan Yingzhou took command, the two sides wouldn't get along. Jiang Bingze and Wen Shan were also out of the question; the enmity between them was even more toxic than his and Tan Yingzhou's.
Wang Jiu: "The henpecked one."
Yan Guanqi: "..."
Fine, I'll do it.
Wang Jiu reported the old Daoist's stats to Yan Guanqi.
Fallen Daoist (Rare Gold-Grade Boss, Level 40)
Spirit Power: 8000
Strength: 10000
Agility: 10000
Stamina: 10000
Skill 1: Bewitchment.
Skill 2: Forest Corpse.
Skill 3: Disillusion.
Skill 4: Poison Damage.
Skill 5: Calamity.
Description: In his early years, this man was a wandering Daoist who yearned for the path of spiritual cultivation. However, due to his humble origins, he could not find the proper methods and faced obstacles everywhere. This continued until he chanced upon Mist Town and saw a certain household in Fanlin Village, and the strange tree at their doorstep. A child had just been born to this family, and evil thoughts arose in his heart... Now, he is in a breakthrough period of his cultivation. Once he breaks through, he will gain immense power and bring terrible misfortune to this world.
Once the stats were reported, everyone was dumbfounded. This was a Gold Boss? Was the gap between it and other Gold Bosses this huge? Its attributes were way too high. Was this the ceiling for Nightmare difficulty?
The leap was too great.
Everyone was stunned. Even veterans like Xie Jiang who had seen it all couldn't help but curse.
"The key point is his breakthrough cultivation period. We don't have much time!" Yan Guanqi immediately reminded everyone not to waste a second. Wang Jiu had specifically shared the description, making the urgency obvious.
This damn Daoist was the beginning of all disasters.
Honestly, when it came to commanding, no one here could match a professional like Yan Guanqi. Wang Jiu acknowledged him, and he was confident in his abilities. So, Yan Guanqi took charge immediately. With the cooperation of the mathematical genius Tan Yingzhou, the two of them organized the skill output of all thirty people in perfect order. After arranging the silence sequence, a wave of negative statuses descended upon the old Daoist.
The old Daoist's eyelids twitched. He looked at the crowd, and with a raise of his hand, countless vines shot out from beneath the ground.
Yan Guanqi had pre-arranged for people with strong insight to watch the ground. After their experiences with Wei Yuan and Zhang Shen, they had naturally realized that the villains in this dungeon drew their power from plants. The manifestation of plant-based attacks was generation, either growing from their bodies or from underground. Thus, they had been on guard. The moment they detected changes beneath the earth, they immediately sounded the alarm, and everyone used Evasion and other skills to reposition.
At the same time, Wang Jiu, Xie Jiang, and Tan Yingzhou attacked the old Daoist from three different angles.
They interrupted his skill with their attacks.
After his attack was interrupted, the old Daoist didn't move.
He was probably in his cultivation and evolution phase and couldn't move.
This was a form of invisible balancing. They just needed to pay attention to his skills.
Just as they were thinking this, the ground suddenly began to shake.
Hao Ze and the others, watching from a safe distance, stared in horror as corpses suddenly clawed their way out of the earth.
The Forest Corpses had arrived!
These lesser corpses roared and charged toward the players who had just gotten into position.
A boss's small-scale AoE attack often breaks the balance a team has just established, causing their plans to fall apart.
This was where the commander's ability came into play. Yan Guanqi immediately directed the experts to unleash their skills one after another.
Mass root—frost—then sustained damage increase—first wave of AoE complete—apply burn—second wave of AoE.
"Use poison dispels and immunities! Silence squad, use silence!"
"Luo Sheng, use your Puppet to interfere with the lesser corpse ambushing the priest on the left."
"Chi Mantou, prepare your Vajra Seal!"
"Lin Xiaoniang, use your illusion to guide and gather those mobs."
"Dong Long, you few melee fighters, tank them and draw aggro. Xie Jiang, you high-damage dealers, get ready. Priests, apply buffs!"
This series of actions involved twelve people. Three priests immediately cast recovery spells and Holy Light. Wang Jiu was not part of Yan Guanqi's command chain because she didn't need to be told. Her Black Flame Swamp had already been cast at the most perfect moment, wiping out the group of lesser corpses in one wave.
Just as everyone finished dealing with the mobs, they were suddenly entangled by chains formed from poisonous gas, suffering continuous poison damage, dizziness, nausea, and pain.
The players in the first sequence had just used a wave of skills and were on a slight cooldown. The players in the second sequence who had exemptions and immunities immediately removed their own negative statuses and cast their other skills on the old Daoist. The poison damage was silenced.
Everyone else immediately prepared to use their skills.
But then, everyone discovered that all their skills had been blacked out.
"It's Disillusion!"
"Fuck!! What kind of cheating skill is this!"
Everyone was horrified. They also saw the old Daoist's body surge with bloody energy as he gave them a sinister look.
Calamity!
An HP-based skill, it could effectively drain 30% of their HP.
Not good! After having their HP reduced by half and fighting through the crematorium, they didn't have much left. Two hits from this and the entire group would be wiped out!
Wang Jiu's earlier warning was correct. This final boss was indeed a Bloodthirsty type.
Just as everyone was growing anxious...
Wang Jiu suddenly switched her gun and fired at the tree roots with high frequency.
Even without any skill enhancements, Wang Jiu's attributes and critical damage were too high. After a series of shots, the roots' armor was broken, and thick, foul-smelling blood sprayed out, splattering all over the old Daoist.
A flash of panic appeared in the eyes of the previously unshakable old Daoist. The bloody energy around him distorted and dissipated slightly as he stared viciously at Wang Jiu.
The terrifying Disillusion was interrupted, and everyone regained control of their skills.
The moment they recovered, without waiting for Yan Guanqi's command, Lin Xiaoniang and Tan Yingzhou immediately used a fusion skill. The experts on their team also freed their hands to cast various support spells on them. At the exact moment Wang Jiu's next wave of attacks damaged the roots and terminated its energy output, the two unleashed a round of frenzied damage, their peak attack power nearly matching Wang Jiu's.
Bombardment!
Amidst the bombardment, Xie Jiang suddenly formed a hand seal. His eyes snapped open, a fiery, dazzling light burning within them. A fierce, flaming phoenix shrieked as it burst from his body, transforming into a powerful beam of red light that shot into the old Daoist's chest.
Advanced Skill—Flamefeather Injury.
A single-target attack skill that also increased damage taken for fifteen seconds.
With this skill cast, the attacks of the three stacked. At the same time, Wang Jiu put away her gun with a flick of her wrist and executed a Ghost Blade (Basic).
Three blades flew out...
Pow!
For the first time, the old Daoist spat out a mouthful of blood.
The combined attack of the four strongest players had actually made such a terrifying boss spit blood.
Everyone had a sudden realization—the Old Camphor Tree's true power wasn't in its trunk, but in the roots underground?
That was the source of his power, and also his weak spot.
In that case... that little Coal Ball fox must have also gone underground.
Xie Jiang and the others quickly scanned the area and found that Bai Bai was indeed gone.
This Lao Wang was as steady and silent as ever.
Once the boss's ultimate move was broken, someone quickly noticed that Wang Jiu—the outlier Yan Guanqi tacitly dared not command—had a perversely perfect sense of rhythm. Every time their attacks or support skills landed, she would immediately follow up with the most vicious strike.
Of the 15% health they had chipped off the old Daoist so far, a third of it was her doing.
"Her critical damage is too strong."
"And it's not just normal critical damage. Lifesteal + Blood Wrath, which scales critical damage with blood volume, + Holy Light already forms a self-sufficient and complete attack system. I suspect this system gives her a temporary critical damage boost of no less than 200%."
"Damn, I thought my class skill system was already on the cutting edge, but she's managed to create a critical damage build."
"If only she wasn't draining my blood."
"Can't be helped. That Li Chui isn't strong enough to come here."
"Just how much spirit power does she have?"
"Am I the only one who envies that intellectual and calm priestess's god-like healing skills?"
"What, you look down on the other three priests? They're looking at you right now."
Fearing they would offend the other priest masters, the group fell silent as chickens. Dong Long quickly glanced at Wang Jiu. The woman was indeed terrifying. She weaved in and out of the attack range, her skills almost never stopping. Her spirit power output was immense, the total amount unknown, but she had already started using spirit power recovery items.
She used the items that everyone else hoarded without hesitation.
Because she had a whole case of them.
Yan Guanqi found his groove. He was now commanding the top-tier experts from all over the Ninth District.
In other words, they were the most elite group of experts from popular spawn points like the capital, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Luoyang, and Xi'an.
Thirty experts who could one-shot a normal Gold Boss were now at his command.
This feeling allowed his commanding skills to flourish. His calculations became faster and faster, and he even began to grasp the pattern of the old Daoist's skill usage. The Forest Corpses, which originally required twelve people to kill, could now be handled by just seven, freeing up manpower to focus their attacks on the old Daoist.
The rhythm of their attacks finally stabilized.
The old Daoist's health began to drop steadily. This should have been a good thing, but everyone's spirit power was also draining rapidly. Fortunately, five people had small spirit power recovery arrays.
Among them, Lin Guiwan had a medium recovery array.
The moment this array appeared, it dazzled everyone. Xie Jiang and the others glanced at Lin Guiwan several times.
Lin Guiwan glanced at her social channel, which was filled with a pile of friend requests.
The opening line of every request was "Miss, miss."
Among them were several cold and powerful, or fierce and brave, captains and top-tier players.
Lin Guiwan: "..."
The post-apocalyptic game world was so pragmatic.
But what was even more pragmatic was Wang Jiu's sudden, nonchalant comment in the team chat.
"Anyone who wants to add her as a friend can talk to me first."
Of course, no one talked to her. Lin Guiwan discovered that all the friend requests had been swiftly withdrawn.
They were gone.
If they weren't in the middle of a boss fight, Lin Guiwan really wanted to have a cup of coffee and sigh.
The captain is so domineering.
Perhaps spurred on by Wang Jiu's domineering display, the experts felt a bit ashamed and put extra effort into their damage output. The old Daoist's health bar quickly approached the 30% mark.
"30% is weaken, 10% is enrage. Be careful. Increase output later. I suspect he'll release a wave of mobs at 10%, and they'll likely be enhanced."
Yan Guanqi had a deep impression of the Lycanthrope's mob-spawning skill, so he made arrangements in advance.
But his judgment was wrong.
Or rather, almost no one expected the turn of events that followed.
When the old Daoist's health bar dropped to 30%, he finally spoke.
"Your spirit power is indeed strong. It's enough for my breakthrough."
Everyone: "???! "
Wang Jiu frowned.
Then, Bai Bai, who was destroying the roots underground, received a message from Wang Jiu—he's about to use his ultimate, dig deeper.
Ah, the old monster is using his ultimate?
Bai Bai quickly dug deeper, only to see the roots above him melting, turning into writhing flesh that burrowed upward.
The fleshy roots burst from the ground, wrapping around and enveloping the old Daoist, crazily burrowing into his body inch by inch.
Everyone's attacks were ineffective, because the system announced—This BOSS is evolving and will soon become a Purple Gold BOSS.
As soon as the system finished its announcement, it received nearly a hundred curses, free of charge.
The most frequent two words were "dog shit."
Even Luo Sheng, who prided herself on being a socialite, couldn't help but curse the system in her dialect—"Damn Loser!"
The System was helpless. After the destruction of civilization, these humans had become so irritable and rude.
Only Wang Jiu didn't curse it.
Huh, that's not right. Lao Wang is so composed and self-cultivated today?
Just as the System was getting curious, Xie Jiang and the others were already trying to make a swift retreat, but the old Daoist's evolution was too fast.
As the flesh entered his body, he stood up.
The old man who had been taking a beating while sitting for nearly an hour finally stood up.
Your grandpa is still your grandpa.
With a wave of his hand, a bell exuding a strong, evil aura appeared. He shook the bell.
All the poisonous gas in Mist Town howled and converged. Dust flew from the ground, and the sky suddenly cleared. But everyone felt that an overcast sky would have been better.
Because the poisonous gas had condensed into a giant black skull.
The effect was just like a movie from the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, something called Zu Warriors?
Although it wasn't as magnificent as the skull transformed from the main villain in that movie, it had at least a third of its charm.
Had they suddenly jumped from a research institute's biochemical madman dungeon to a fantasy one?
Light shot out from the black skull's eye sockets, enveloping everyone. In an instant, all their skills were blacked out, and their bodies were completely paralyzed.
Two negative statuses were applied at once, and they were—
"This is a fucking dimensional-level attack!"
"We're done for!"
"It's Bloodthirsty, isn't it."
Everyone was on the verge of despair. They didn't even have time to commit suicide. If they did, they could have avoided this Bloodthirsty attack, but it was too late.
The old Daoist was no benevolent soul. He was cunning and calculating, using the spirit power attacks of experts like Wang Jiu as energy to accelerate his own evolution. Now that his goal was achieved, there was naturally no need to spare their lives.
So, with a wave of his hand, the terrifying skull roared and opened its massive, pitch-black maw, descending upon them to annihilate them.
This time, was there really no way out?
Xie Jiang: "Little widow? Got any more tricks?"
Tan Yingzhou: "Lord Wang?"
Luo Sheng: "My dear Wang Ah Jiu? If you can save me, I promise I'll reward you! I'd even offer myself to you!"
To save their own lives, these people couldn't care less about their former prestige. When it was time to be a coward, they were cowards.
And they always felt that Wang Jiu was unfathomable. Perhaps she had a way.
But Wang Jiu ignored them. Instead, the old Daoist chuckled and glanced at Wang Jiu, his expression seemingly filled with contempt and mockery.
But Wang Jiu noticed his gaze and smile. She glanced back at him, and that one look...
The old Daoist froze for a moment. Just as he was feeling that something was strange, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong and abruptly looked up.
His pupils dilated, but the scene reflected within them was expanding infinitely.
Something descending from above was moving at a terrifying speed, surpassing the skull's rate of descent. It slammed into the skull, punching a huge hole straight through it and blasting it apart. Without slowing down, it continued its descent in the blink of an eye.
This time, it was the old Daoist's turn to be unable to escape.
From the moment he saw it to the moment it arrived, only one or two breaths had passed.
As for the players, they didn't even have time to react before they saw the Bloodthirsty black skull get blown apart, and then...
Bombardment!
From the perimeter, Hao Ze and the others watched as the terrifying ball of light fell from the sky and, in an instant, struck the old Daoist's position with pinpoint accuracy. The impact of the explosion cracked the ground seven or eight meters deep, the fissures spreading outward infinitely in the blink of an eye.
Even they were instantly engulfed by the explosion.
From the location of the Old Camphor Tree, to the entirety of Fanlin Village, and then to all of Mist Town.
The entire area was completely bombed.
This was a missile with immense destructive power.
It was another kind of dimensional-level attack that the old Daoist, obsessed with his cultivation, would never have expected, even in death.
In the Fanlin Village area, the place where the old Daoist had stood was now leveled, even dug three feet deep. Only piles of white bones under the ground were visible. This was likely a tragic scene created by historical events, and it was impossible to tell if the bones belonged to the people of Mist Town or Fanlin Village.
Of course, there were also many bodies on the surface—the remains of the players.
In the high-temperature environment filled with billowing smoke and deadly flames, they would be instantly killed if they revived. Everyone could only lie there, watching a ball of light through the game's perspective.
Holy shit, the old Daoist is still alive?
No, that ball of light was a barrier radiating a golden-orange glow.
A person stood inside the barrier.
Wang Jiu. She turned her palm over and rubbed off the dirt clinging to her numerous wounds, not caring about the pain. She just glanced back at the players' corpses, the corner of her mouth hooking up slightly.
She smiled.
Amidst the land of destruction, a flash of beauty, breathtaking and soul-stirring.
This was the Demon King's smile.
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