Chapter 1030: with translation of chapter title

Puff puff~

In an instant, massive bursts of damage erupted from the heads of the War Knights.

These guys' damage is truly high.

At the same time, the Mages and archers behind the soldier statue formation launched another synchronized volley.

With that, the charging War Knights saw their HP drop to roughly half.

Two more rounds of Focus Fire and casualties could appear here.

However, everyone's combat strategy is clear: War Knights are fundamentally burst‑damage classes, not sustained melee classes.

Thus, after the speed boost was applied, Wei Wen Huaming and Nightcoming Big Bear led the charge, unleashing their highest‑damage skills, then instantly turned their horses and fled without looking back.

In this round, although no Knife‑Shield soldier statue was killed.

But all those Knife‑Shield soldier statues were already in a wounded state… Actually, you can't say none were killed; the only kill was made by Su Sheng.

Relying on his monstrous base stats and a few high‑damage skills he later unleashed, Su Sheng instantly blasted a Knife‑Shield soldier statue.

He revealed the Spearman soldier statues behind the Knife‑Shield ones.

However, by then everyone had already turned and retreated, and Su Sheng didn't stay.

He looked back; even after a wave of charge, the formation remained perfectly ordered, and he squinted slightly.

Even though they're just puppet soldier statues.

But this formation is truly impressive.

If a player‑formed formation could stay unshaken under such a powerful impact, it would be elite among elites.

Enough talk, we have to go; if we linger, we'll get Focus Fire.

Then Su Sheng used Divination to catch up with the retreating War Knights.

Swish swish swish swish swish~

While everyone retreated, the archer soldier statues and Mage soldier statues behind launched another wave of ranged attacks that descended.

But it's not a big problem!

Because as the Yanhuang elite formation advanced, the retreating War Knights entered the Priest Guild's Healing Technique range.

Lines of Healing Technique fell!

The War Knights' HP was fully restored at once, so facing the falling attacks, there were naturally no casualties!

Then the Yanhuang side's formation shifted again, opening a path; the War Knights swarmed through the opened road, moving to the rear.

Now the distance is too short; even if they turn and charge, they can't build up speed, and a speed‑less War Knight is no better than junk.

So they will go to the rear, wait for skill cooldowns, then unleash another burst.

And as the war goes on, the knights withdraw.

Next, it's the Yanhuang side's Thousand-Person Team's performance.

Swish swish swish!!

Arrows rained down from the sky, soaring high.

Launch!

Because the opponent also has a legion formation.

Thus this battle is a full‑blown legion versus legion clash.

Su Sheng stood at the front of the formation, his eyes slightly narrowed.

He didn't retreat with the War Knights because he doesn't need a speed boost.

But letting him charge on his own would be somewhat impractical.

He can only wait until both formations draw closer and the ranged fire isn't focused on him, then Su Sheng can charge.

Honestly, facing these puppet soldier formations is even more taxing for Su Sheng than facing player formations.

First, his level and stats are extremely high, far surpassing ordinary players at this stage.

Currently, ordinary players' minor skills rarely pierce Su Sheng's defense, and without terrain constraints Su Sheng can move freely to dodge most skills.

Secondly, crucially, even when these soldier formations are hit, they show no sign of disorder.

But with player formations, once you carve a breach you can rush in, using the player's collision volume, Su Sheng can avoid many attacks.

Or, like before, wait until the War Knights are ready, then charge together.

But by then both sides' ranged units have already started dueling!

Puff puff puff~

High‑thrown arrows fell in volleys, striking the Knife‑Shield soldier statues directly.

Some also hit other soldier statues behind, and some even fell short in front of the formation.

But most still landed precisely on those Knife‑Shield soldier statues.

Crackle crackle~

This time, many Knife‑Shield soldier statues finally fell apart under the Arrow Rain.

At the same time, the archers on the soldier statue side launched another round of throws.

But they were all blocked by the front‑line heavy‑armor players raising Shield Raise.

At the same time, the light of Healing Technique began to shine.

Fortunately, that's the advantage of their formation; so far, no Priest has been seen in this soldier statue formation.

As the distance closed further, the Mages also began bombarding.

For a moment, attacks came back and forth, quite lively.

Overall, Yanhuang holds an absolute advantage!

But in reality, the coordination between the two sides leaves Yanhuang's side a step behind.

The attack rhythm of the clay soldier formation is like a preset computer program—precise and lethal.

However, it also appears a bit rigid.

On the Yanhuang Thousand-Person Squad side, although it is somewhat uneven in comparison, it is also much more agile.

Of course, the main core is the presence of the Priest Guild.

With the Priests' healing, Yanhuang's side can be assured of no casualties.

Meanwhile, over at the mercenary formation, under the bombardment of ranged attacks, the clay soldier formation begins to crumble piece by piece.

Da la da la da la~

And at that moment, dense hoofbeats again echoed from behind the Yanhuang Thousand-Person Squad.

Su Sheng knows that the War Knight Corps has started charging again; their burst cooldown has already reset.

Su Sheng, naturally unwilling to fall behind, drives the mythic lion to charge once more.

In this way, it took roughly twenty minutes.

Yanhuang's side, at zero casualties, directly smashed this wave of clay soldier formation.

A huge wave of experience points!

At the same time, some loot scattered down onto the floor of the passage.

"Ah, I see."

Seeing this, Zhang Zhi gave a slight nod; it seems this clay soldier formation is a single whole.

Earlier, before fully crushing this formation, killing those puppets yielded no reward, no experience, and no loot.

At that time Zhang Zhi was frustrated; without a reward, this wave could be a slight loss.

Unexpectedly, this formation is a whole; only after completely clearing it will there be a reward.

Previously thought each clay soldier puppet was an individual unit.

However, at this moment, no one looked at the loot on the ground.

Because after these clay soldiers were cleared, some unexpected events suddenly appeared.

Low, guttural roars echoed through the alley, like the lament of the dead.

In the wreckage of the completely shattered clay soldier formation, gray‑white silhouettes floated up.

That is…

A spirit!

And those silhouettes all looked gratefully toward Yanhuang's formation, then rose into the sky and slowly dissipated.

Su Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

He recalled the description of this Dungeon.

To let all the dead rest.

Earlier Su Sheng was puzzled; the first stage featured a ghost‑faced spider, which had nothing to do with the dead.

The second stage was a trap corridor, with a massive stone statue puppet boss.

That also had no connection to the dead.

It turns out they were waiting here. These clay soldiers must have been bearing the souls of the dead; after destroying them, the dead can be freed.

In that case…

This must be the final stage of the Dungeon.

Then Su Sheng climbed up, canceled his Mounted State, and began picking up the loot on the ground.

Not bad, finally not just materials. These minor monsters drop gear around level 70–75. There's only one purple piece; the rest are blue and green.

Can't use them now, but later they'll be mainstream gear for regular players; even if Yanhuang's people don't need them, they can be sold for money.

With everything packed up, the group pressed on.

From here on, along this passage, every so often a clay soldier formation appears.

Almost every formation looks as if cast from the same mold.

Whether in number of clay soldiers, their types, or attack methods, they're identical.

So dealing with them poses no difficulty; it's a walk in the park.

This clearing took several hours.

But no one showed any impatience.

These monsters give high experience.

Note that although a clay soldier formation is a single unit,

the rewards for Jin Yanzi seem to be based on the number of clay soldiers, and these puppets are all level 77!

Add the Dungeon's extra experience bonus and the lack of an experience protection mechanism.

Although earlier the experience from the second boss was devoured solely by Su Sheng.

Yet as they fought onward, the Yanhuang Thousand-Person Team occasionally saw golden light flicker.

Clearly a player leveled up.

Moreover, although these formations have high base stats, Yanhuang's side handles them with ease, killing through without any casualties.

This is practically a perk, so naturally no one objects.

But soon, soon, the situation changes.

After clearing about four hours' worth of clay soldier formations, this passage also ends.

Initially thought it would be a plaza.

Unexpectedly, ahead is a grand hall!!

At the end of this passage stands a massive, yet ruined grand hall.

However, even though the hall looks somewhat ruined, from the surface decorations and marks it is clear that this hall was once resplendent with gold and jade.

Naturally there is nothing more to say; maintain the battle formation and press on.

Inside the hall, the floor is also riddled with cracks, and the walls and columns are covered entirely with magical runes.

After entering the hall, the group encountered new enemies.

It is, again, a formation of soldier figurines.

But this time the formation lacks archers and mages.

There are only two types of soldier figurines!

One type are knight soldier figurines riding mounts and wielding long spears; behind those figurines is a group similar to the earlier mage figurines… the most unwelcome of all so far… Priest soldier figurines!

The two sides have just come face to face.

The soldier figurine formation gave the Yanhuang members little time to think.

Boom—!

All those knight soldier figurines "charged on horseback," barreling straight toward Yanhuang's side.

But calling it a charge is less accurate than calling it a slide.

They each have a mechanism base linked to the irregular floor cracks, and they slid along the crack patterns at great speed.

Yet at a glance it looks just like a galloping charge.

"Ranged fire attack! War Knights, get on top and block them for now!"

Zhang Zhi immediately made arrangements; he would not just watch those knight soldier figurines rush straight at them, since a player's team formation, unlike the figurine formation, does not break under the strongest frontal charge.

Although Yanhuang's members are all elite, if the figurines' stats are high they could disrupt the formation.

A hail of ranged attacks rained down.

Those cavalry soldier figurines raised their shields.

Clang‑clank, they blocked part of the attacks, and the resulting damage was relatively low.

Seeing this, everyone furrowed their brows slightly; the damage was almost one‑third of that from the earlier figurine formation.

But as the monster's information was shared, they finally understood why.

Imperial Guard soldier figurine. Knight (Elite Monster)

Level: 78

…

…

So that's it.

The soldier puppets encountered after entering the hall are Elite Monster units, so their stats are naturally higher than those of the ordinary soldier puppets earlier.

And that's not all…

Yanhuang's War Knights, including Su Sheng, all surged forward, colliding with the knight soldier figurines at once.

Then, coordinated with ranged fire, they continuously suppressed the health of those knight soldier figurines.

But at this moment the Priest soldier figurines behind emitted streams of magical energy!

The magical energy traveled along their bases, quickly conducting through the floor cracks and linking to the knight soldier figurines.

The knight figurines' health began to recover rapidly.

And then it got a bit frustrating…

These knight figurines already have high stats, and Yanhuang only has a Thousand-Person Team, which has already lost some members; under these conditions, eliminating the knight figurines becomes far more difficult.

Moreover, their stats are not only high in durability; their damage output is also extremely exaggerated.

Each long spear radiated skill effects, like stabbing a major artery.

For the War Knights tasked with interception, aside from Su Sheng, the other players' health bars were like a Bungee Effect.

It also helped that Yanhuang's Priest Guild was passing the checks easily; otherwise there would already be casualties.

Zhang Zhi's eyebrows twitched slightly; this can't continue.

Zhang Zhi stared at the Priest soldier figurines behind, squinting, and decided they must be cleared first.

If it were still the corridor environment from before, it might be unrealistic, but this is a grand hall!