Chapter 77

On the other side,

in the plane where Shang Xue Jiulan’s team was located,

the five of them were moving rapidly through the forest, with hundreds of Goblin Vanguards behind them.

The team had high synergy.

While kiting the monsters, they released skills in an orderly fashion.

The difficulty of the dungeon lay in the Leader-level creatures that appeared later simultaneously, the Ten Goblin Elders.

These small monsters, they only needed to spend a few hours to resolve without injury.

“Look at the sky, do you feel it’s turning red?”

In the team, that SS-rank professional from Jingcheng spoke up.

Others heard his words and looked up.

Shang Xue Jiulan’s expression was grave.

An unknown change occurring in the dungeon didn’t seem like a good thing no matter how you looked at it.

Furthermore, this was a Purgatory-level dungeon!

But as the captain, Shang Xue Jiulan could only comfort her teammates.

“We are pioneering a Purgatory-level dungeon; anything can happen. Maybe we were just lucky last time and didn’t encounter it.”

“As long as we are careful, these small monsters are nothing to fear!”

“But be careful, if you discover anything, immediately...”

Suddenly,

before Shang Xue Jiulan could finish speaking, the terrified voice of the healer girl in the team rang out.

“Stats! Look at the stats of these goblins!”

And at this moment, a system notification appeared in everyone’s mind.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Goblin Ancestor has awakened due to unknown reasons!]

[All goblins have received the Ancestor’s Blessing, all stats increased by 100%!]

[Attention! Attention!]

[...]

The notification sound rang out three times in their minds.

Shang Xue Jiulan’s face became extremely ugly, and she couldn’t help but curse.

Stats increased by 100% meant the Agility of these Goblin Vanguards directly surpassed theirs.

The path of kiting was directly blocked!

As for tanking it head-on?

They couldn’t handle it even before the stats increased; now that the stats had doubled, it was out of the question!

“Disperse and retreat, don’t attack the monsters for now!”

Shang Xue Jiulan made a prompt decision and ordered.

“If the blessing hasn’t ended after an hour, use teleportation items directly.”

“Damn it!”

“This Purgatory-level dungeon is simply not something humans can grind!”

Goblin Nest, Purgatory difficulty.

Li Yao certainly wouldn’t give up on the hidden Lord; he sat quietly in place, waiting for the coffin lid to open.

“Dogretooth.”

Li Yao whispered the name.

If nothing went wrong, this was another Named-level creature.

As the coffin lid gradually slid off,

Li Yao could perceive that he was being locked onto by a terrifying aura.

“Swish!”

A withered, dark green arm reached out from the coffin.

[Note: Goblin Ancestor has fully awakened!]

[Professional cannot leave the current dungeon in any form!]

[Good luck, professional!]

“Wish me good luck?”

Li Yao chuckled and cast Appraisal on that arm.

Before his Second Transition, he could slay a dragon-type Named-level monster with his own hands.

Now,

“You should be wishing this guy good luck instead!”

[Goblin Ancestor - Dogretooth]

[Level 25 (Named-level)]

[HP: ...]

[Strength: 1048]

[Spirit: 877]

[Agility: 1103]

[Stamina: 962]

[Skills: Killing Domain LV1, Great Cross Slash LV7, Grandmaster-level Swordsmanship LV4, Thunder Element Affinity LV8, Thunder Cutting LV1]

Even among Named-level creatures, there are differences in strength.

Whether in stats or skills, this Goblin Ancestor was far inferior to the Dark Wings.

The slight interest Li Yao had just raised dissipated along with it.

“A skill test stone, should be able to do that, right?”

“Bang!”

The coffin lid flew off.

Li Yao felt a blur before his eyes, and the shadow in front of him expanded several times over.

Dogretooth had already appeared behind him.

A chill seeped into his scalp.

Li Yao raised his hand.

“Shackles, target Dark Wing Black Dragon.”

“Boom!”

His body sank, gravel exploded; Li Yao raised his hand to catch the heavy sword the opponent slashed down.

Since he wanted to test skills, naturally he wouldn’t let his Chess Pieces take the field.

He flipped his right hand, the Successor’s Longsword appeared in his hand, and he flicked it upward.

“Clang!”

The heavy sword collided with the Successor, emitting a crisp ringing sound.

The next second, the heavy sword in Dogretooth’s hand flipped and slashed directly onto Li Yao.

Li Yao took a few steps back.

There was a look of surprise in his eyes.

After binding [Shackles] to the Dark Wing Black Dragon, all his stats surpassed Dogretooth’s.

Just now, neither of them had released skills, yet he had been hit by the opponent within two moves.

However, Dogretooth wouldn’t give Li Yao time to think.

A huge cross slash flew toward Li Yao.

Li Yao didn’t dodge or evade; the Successor’s longsword revealed a dragon phantom, covered in flames.

“Swish!”

The huge slash was directly extinguished by Li Yao.

“Could it be Grandmaster-level Swordsmanship?”

Li Yao’s eyes lit up, remembering the skill he had just seen.

At this moment, Dogretooth rushed to Li Yao again, holding its heavy sword high.

Li Yao raised his longsword, advancing instead of retreating, excitement showing in his eyes.

Senior Xue said there was a way to make summoned beasts possess the same skills as him.

Then, before the other party could teach him,

he would try to comprehend it himself first!

“Clang!”

Dogretooth and Li Yao collided.

Suddenly, the sound of swords clashing rang out frequently inside the pyramid!

Li Yao responded to the opponent’s slashes with clumsy sword skills.

In just a few breaths, Li Yao had been struck by several swords, yet he hadn’t even touched the corner of the opponent’s clothes.

The excitement in Li Yao’s eyes, however, grew more intense!

He was like a blank sheet of paper, while the opponent was a transcendent sword master.

With the two sparring, Li Yao’s gains were imaginable.

And,

perhaps because the Dark Wing Black Dragon’s Spirit power was extremely high, Li Yao felt his mind was incredibly clear, and he was comprehending things much faster than usual!

His sword speed became faster and faster, and the angles of his strikes became increasingly tricky.

If other professionals saw this scene, they would definitely think the world had gone mad!

This was a Named-level monster!

Placed anywhere, it was an existence that required human-wave tactics to swarm!

This kid was actually using a Named-level monster to practice moves?

Only Li Yao could do this.

Possessing the Chess Player talent to ignore damage, while having the confidence to insta-kill the opponent at any time,

allowed him to obtain such a heaven-sent opportunity.

Sparring with a sword master for one minute was worth months of hard study!

[Professional comprehended skill: Beginner Swordsmanship LV1]

[Professional comprehended skill: Beginner Swordsmanship LV7]

[Professional comprehended skill: Intermediate Swordsmanship LV1]

Li Yao was completely immersed in the sword sparring, not even noticing the system information.

But Dogretooth was having none of it.

“Roar, roar, roar!”

A violent roar rang out; Dogretooth leaped backward to create distance, looking at the human in front of it with an inconceivable gaze.

In these few minutes, it had slashed this human at least a hundred times!

And yet, he was still standing in front of it, full of energy.

Dogretooth looked at the heavy sword in its hand in disbelief.

Has it been too long, and the sword has become dull?

Li Yao didn’t care what the opponent thought; he raised his sword and rushed toward Dogretooth.

Dogretooth was old, but it wasn’t stupid.

As a sword master, how could it not perceive that the opponent’s sword skill level was rising?

This was using it to practice moves!

This was simply an insult!

When had it ever suffered such humiliation?!

Immediately,

it held the heavy sword across its chest, thunder light surged, electric arcs danced frantically around its body, and endless thunder element energy gathered toward it.

Releasing a big move without knowing the opponent’s bottom line is a major taboo!

But anger made Dogretooth completely lose its sanity.

It just wanted to use the sword in its hand to personally slay this damned human.

“Big move?”

Li Yao was startled, feeling a bit disappointed.

The opponent’s appearance clearly showed it didn’t want to continue being a teacher and was starting a skill-based bombardment.

Shamefully,

after sparring for so long, his sword hadn’t touched the opponent even once.

“Swish!”

Six wings suddenly spread from Li Yao’s back, his pupils turned into dragon-like vertical slits, and a layer of pitch-black flame wrapped around his entire body.

The Dark Wing Black Dragon’s [Fold Wings] skill, once released, returned it to its original state, and its stats recovered to their peak.

“Since I’ve learned your sword skills, I’ll leave you a whole corpse.”

Li Yao stepped out and appeared in front of Dogretooth.

His longsword turned into shears, shooting out like needles.

[-]

[-5191]

[-4721]

The drawback of Dogretooth’s big move was that it required four seconds of charging.

During these five seconds, it couldn’t make any movements.

Li Yao swung several swords in a short time, and the second stage of damage arrived on schedule after two seconds!

[- (Weakness Attack)]

[- (Weakness Attack)]

Li Yao discovered this drawback and hit every weakness.

Third stage!

Li Yao felt all his magic power being drained in an instant, and unparalleled energy was released from his sword.

Just at this moment, Dogretooth finished charging.

A shocking slash tore through the sky, splitting it in two, and at the same time, it slashed onto Li Yao.

Li Yao’s body stalled in place.

The third stage of Needle Cluster Shot landed on Dogretooth’s neck.

[- (Weakness Damage/Critical)]

[- (Bleeding)]

[- (Bleeding)]

A hideous gash appeared on Dogretooth’s neck, and a large amount of dark green blood sprayed out.

Dogretooth clutched its neck, looking at Li Yao in disbelief, and then fell to the ground because its blood had drained out.

“Sorry, I promised to leave you a whole corpse.”

Li Yao looked at the ten-centimeter hole in the opponent’s neck and whispered softly.

The Predator’s [Devour Evolution] cooldown still had more than half left.

Li Yao shook his head firmly.

Even if the cooldown had ended, he would definitely have left a whole corpse.

That’s right!

It must be that way.

It must be like this.