Chapter 344: Wave after Wave of Trials, Difficulty Rising

Sword Qi is like a swamp, trapping Jiang Chen within, making every step impossible.

This Skill is an area attack that also carries damage and Control effects.

Sword Qi rains densely onto the Bone Armor, producing a "ding‑ding dang‑dang" sound.

Every second, Jiang Chen must endure a dozen‑plus Sword Qi strikes, at a very high frequency.

Its only drawback is slightly insufficient damage, unable to break the Bone Armor.

However, the Sword Qi swamp cannot impose Control on Jiang Chen; both the Bone Armor and the Status Immunity passive Skills ignore its effect.

Jiang Chen remains unaffected and releases Soul Burn again.

Another wail sounds, and the Divine Swordmaster's aura sharply wanes.

The final Star Ring also explodes, and the Long Sword in its hand swings down toward Jiang Chen from afar.

In that instant, Jiang Chen feels himself locked on.

Blazing Sword Qi descends, completely engulfing Jiang Chen.

The ground is cleaved, forming a massive fissure.

Skill: Slash Earth!

The Divine Swordmaster smiles; this is his most powerful attack Skill.

He is confident that none of his peers can withstand it.

Even if Jiang Chen does not die, he will be gravely wounded.

He stares intently at the Sword Qi and sees a flickering Flame within it.

His complexion changes abruptly, then he freezes in place, his whole body collapsing softly onto the ground.

The third Flame vanishes at his brow, and as he had expected, he is slain.

Sword Qi disappears, and simultaneously the Divine Swordmaster's body and that Long Sword vanish. The first stage is considered cleared.

Jiang Chen continues moving toward the village.

It must be said, the power of the last Star Ring Skill just now was quite impressive.

It already matches a strike from a Crimson Moon Demon.

A Level 40 Divine Swordmaster can deliver attacks comparable to those of a Level 55 Lord-level Demon.

This shows that this profession's damage is indeed astounding.

Jiang Chen harbors a vague suspicion about the purpose behind Yi Shen's actions.

This is Yi Shen's Secret Realm; Yi Shen is its master.

All of this is naturally directed by him.

While pondering, another figure appears in his sight.

The same appearance, same ornaments, even an identical Long Sword.

Not to mention, even the stance and aura have no discernible difference.

The only difference is that the Star Rings on its wrist have an extra pair.

Six Star Rings.

The swordsman also points his sword at Jiang Chen, in the identical posture, "Level 49, Holy Light Swordmaster."

"Come forward, kill me."

"Or be killed by me, forever remain here."

Even the lines are unchanged.

The Holy Light Swordmaster is an upgraded version of the Divine Swordmaster.

After a second Job Change triggers Profession Ascension, the Divine Swordmaster becomes a Holy Light Swordmaster.

Its attributes are stronger, its Skills are stronger, and it has more Star Rings.

The Divine Swordmaster gains one Star Ring every Level 10, while the Holy Light Swordmaster can gain two Star Rings every Level 10.

The Star Rings on a Divine Swordmaster's wrist are its Skills.

Aside from the most basic Sword Qi attacks, some powerful Skills must be executed via Star Rings.

Star Rings possess a variety of abilities; they can perform Curse Removal, heal oneself, grant buffs, and so on.

After announcing its affiliation, it immediately charges toward Jiang Chen.

Its speed surpasses the previous one, appearing almost instantly before Jiang Chen.

Sword Qi weaves chaotically, tilting wildly.

Jiang Chen lifts his hand, still starting with the Aging Curse!

The opponent's Star Ring explodes, and Sword Qi rips and shatters the Curse.

Moreover, for a period of time, they will not be affected by the Curse.

Sword Qi strikes the Bone Armor, making it glitter.

Its damage is also considerably higher than before.

Jiang Chen replicates the method; in one‑on‑one combat, Soul Burn remains the best battle Skill.

Auto‑lock, no aiming required.

Once locked, even Jiang Chen can hit accurately with his eyes closed.

Soul Burn has just ignited, and Jiang Chen suddenly loses the target he had locked onto.

A Star Ring explodes, and nearly a hundred identical Holy Light Swordmasters appear before his eyes.

They densely surround Jiang Chen.

Each one's aura is exactly the same, making it hard to tell real from fake.

Everyone attacks Jiang Chen together; in an instant, Sword Qi criss‑crosses like a tide surging forward.

"Is it a Clone? The Star Ring's Skill is indeed strange, it can break free from the Soul Burn lock."

"But does it have more people than me?"

A thought stirred within, a cold wind howled, and an Undead Legion appeared beside him.

Divine Archer and Great Mage acted simultaneously.

Elemental Explosion, arrows flew like lightning.

The swordsman's upper hundred clones were instantly eliminated.

The Holy Light Swordsman's eyes clearly showed shock.

Star Rings burst open one after another!

Skill: Sword Qi Swamp!

Skill: Ground Slash!

Useless, the Skeletons are not affected by Sword Qi Swamp Control.

Lich General's one Skill directly removes negative status.

Sharp Sword Qi descended from the sky onto the Skeleton.

The Skeleton's Healing Technique light burst out from the Sword Qi.

The Skeleton Great Mage and Divine Archer's attacks hit first.

The Holy Light Swordsman's body rang with continuous bang bang bang explosion sounds.

The Undead Legion gave it only two chances to use Skills, then came a sharp counterattack.

The Level 49 Holy Light Swordsman was instantly killed without doubt.

Jiang Chen kept moving forward, this time he didn't bother to dismiss the Undead Legion.

The Skeletons' movements produced constant clicking sounds, seeming to become discordant notes in this Secret Realm.

But to Jiang Chen's ears, it was a sound that put him at ease.

"There should be more, right!"

Just thinking that, his gaze already caught a silhouette.

An unchanging appearance, probably even the words are the same.

Besides the Star Ring on his wrist, there was another pair.

Four pairs of Star Rings.

His level should also have reached Level 59.

Jiang Chen didn't waste words: as long as you haven't passed Level 70, there's no fear.

Even if you've passed Level 70, you have to fight to know.

It's not like I haven't killed Level 70; I've even slain a Demon King Clone.

A thought stirred, and the Skeletons began to move.

Hundreds of meters apart, the Skeleton Great Mage and Skeleton Divine Archer acted simultaneously.

The Holy Light Swordsman standing far away suddenly erupted with dazzling light.

Within the light, Jiang Chen saw it fall to the ground.

The Skeleton Great Mage and Skeleton Divine Archer, a round of focused fire, instantly killed.

Straightforward and clean, without any waste of words.

No talk, just act!

This is Jiang Chen's way of acting.

Getting closer to the village, Jiang Chen arrived at the village entrance.

Here one can see the village houses very clearly, just as Jiang Chen first guessed, the houses are also made of various elements.

Smoke rises from the village, but there is no sign of people.

Another Swordsman stood at the village entrance, guarding the road into the village.

Look at the Star Ring on his wrist.

Five pairs, ten Star Rings.

He should be Level 69.

Without a word, the Undead Legion already acted.

Explosion sounds rang, the Skeleton Great Mage and Skeleton Divine Archer focused fire again.

Both attacks are lock‑on type, impossible to dodge.

This time the Swordsman clearly prepared; the moment the attack arrived, three Star Rings on his wrist exploded together.

Instantly, over a thousand identical Clones appeared.

The Skeleton Great Mage and Divine Archer's attacks only destroyed a few of those Clones.

These Clones, once appeared, rushed toward Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen knew its true body was definitely hidden among them, just hard to discern.

Jiang Chen's mind moved, "Free Attack!"

Explosion sounds all around, Arrow Rain like lightning.

A massive number of Clones were swiftly shredded; not a single Clone could get near Jiang Chen.

Suddenly one Clone emitted intense Sword Qi.

The Sword Qi split in two, one streak rose to the heavens, the other formed armor around the body.

The Sword Qi rising from the sky fell like a meteor.

With a thunderous boom, this strike was extremely powerful.

All the Skeletons were sent flying, and even the Lich General did not escape.

The attack did not carry a knockback effect; what dominated was pure, overwhelming impact force.

A Level 69 swordsman had attributes far more powerful than at Level 59, with a greatly increased attack power.

The swordsman did not take the opportunity to attack Jiang Chen, but instead appeared before the Lich General.

The Star Ring exploded, and the Sword Qi emitted a dark red glow.

The Long Sword stabbed into the Lich General's body, and in that instant the Lich General seemed frozen, unable to move.

All Skills were also instantly sealed.

The swordsman's Star Ring exploded again as he struck back with a reverse sword slash.

Skill: Sword Qi Marsh!

This time, the Sword Qi Marsh covered an extremely large area, enveloping several hundred meters in all directions, trapping all the Skeletons within it.

Jiang Chen was slightly startled, not expecting that someone could actually seal the Lich General.

With the Lich General itself sealed, it naturally could not remove the abnormal status from its team.

The swordsman began to output wildly against the Lich General.

However, a Level 40 Lich General, after its own Legion Enhancement buff, had a constitution as high as 350,000.

Its defense was astonishingly high, making it impossible to kill easily.

Yet the swordsman tirelessly launched a fierce assault on the Lich General.

The Soul Burn in Jiang Chen's hand flickered, but he found he still could not lock onto the target.

The opponent's Clones had not all died yet.

In that case...

With a thought, two more Undead Legions appeared.

The Lich General activated the Purge skill the moment it appeared.

The Skeletons broke free, and the Lich General, whose Skills had been sealed, also recovered.