Chapter 1139: Strange Mechanism, Purification?!

"Let's go, go down and have a look," Su Sheng ordered his lion mount beneath his seat to step into the black crystal plaza first.

No matter what, since the mission has already begun it cannot fail; the earlier failure on the Eagle Sauce Server had already spread, and as one of the participants Su Sheng naturally knows this mission must not fail.

The party quickly arrived at the edge of the black crystal throne at the center of the black crystal plaza.

Spawn~

At that moment, a faint light curtain rose directly from the edge of the black crystal plaza.

"Um— are we trapped?" Shen Wang said, looking at the situation before him with some surprise.

Su Sheng's expression was not good; he surveyed the entire black crystal plaza and, given the circumstances, realized that if they were to fight the boss they'd be confined to this plaza, and any large‑area AOE from the boss would be problematic.

Boom!

Immediately, the whole black crystal plaza trembled lightly, and strands of black Demon Energy rose from beneath the throne.

Then the dark energy coalesced into several demon‑soldier forms, unmistakably the level‑83 Cave Patrol Guardians encountered earlier.

"Careful!"

As soon as those patrol guards appeared, they immediately attacked the group; there were four or five of them!

After a brief scramble, the group steadied the situation.

Shen Wang tangled with one, Xingchen used a pet to block another, Su Sheng single‑handedly took on three, and Li Wenwan coordinated Focus Fire with Su Sheng.

Huang Mingxin kept an eye on Su Sheng's and Shen Wang's HP, while Xingchen didn't really need Huang Mingxin's attention.

After a short time, having cleared the five monsters, it quieted down.

"Is this the final point? But where's the boss?"

Having dealt with the five monsters, the group remained on guard, yet for a while there was no movement.

What's going on?!

At this moment Xingchen controlled one of his pets to approach the edge, but upon touching the light curtain at the boundary, it could not get out.

The others weren't surprised; they had guessed this when the light curtains rose.

"Strange~"

Where's the boss?

Everyone felt frustrated: a barren black crystal plaza, you come in and can't leave, five monsters spawn, then nothing else.

No boss, and no further monster spawns.

"Everyone, observe and look for clues," Su Sheng said, a bit headache‑filled, glancing at the mission time limit.

Su Sheng would rather face monsters with bizarre attributes than deal with these riddle‑like mechanisms.

The group searched the black crystal plaza for clues, but the platform was so small that aside from the central Crystal Throne, it was barren.

So the mystery must obviously be on top of the throne.

Yet the throne itself looked ordinary, with nothing special, the only oddity being that the black crystal throne seemed fused with the plaza.

He gave it a push, but nothing happened.

After a careful look around, he saw no mechanism.

"Sit on it and try."

Shen Wang said, now it's just a matter of sitting on it.

Su Sheng was about to dismount his mount, but Xingchen had already stepped onto it.

Under the seat...

Buzz~

As Xingchen sat down, the throne trembled slightly.

Then black energy rose from the base, and several monsters spawned again.

"Whoa~"

Shen Wang shouted, then hurried to take on the monsters.

Another five monsters spawned.

Xingchen also got up from the throne to help deal with the monsters.

After a few minutes, the group finished clearing those monsters.

Su Sheng looked at Xingchen and asked, "How's it going?"

"It said something about a Purification value, but after I sat for a while the Purification value was still zero percent."

Xingchen replied.

Purification value?!

The others were bewildered.

"Let me try," Shen Wang said, picking up the purple equipment dropped by a monster, dismounting his terrain‑dragon mount, and, under everyone's gaze, sitting on the throne.

No response~

"The Purification value is there, but it doesn't change," Shen Wang complained, then tapped the armrest, trying to see if there was any mechanism.

But after a moment, Shen Wang, a bit discouraged, spread his hands and stood up.

"I don't see any mechanism; the Purification value is still zero percent."

Su Sheng's eyebrows twitched slightly.

This made everyone frustrated again—what the heck is going on?!

"Mechanisms are the worst~," Li Wenwan teased, playing with the fire‑eating sparrow on her shoulder.

Xingchen's gaze also lingered on her—or rather on the fire‑eating sparrow on her shoulder; after cooperating in the Dungeon, Xingchen knew Li Wenwan's sparrow was an exceptional pet, its damage matching that of ordinary Mage players at this stage.

This naturally made the pet‑reliant Xingchen envious.

Su Sheng also tried to sit, but there was no response, just the same as when Shen Wang sat.

The group just kept grinding around the entire black crystal throne for about ten minutes, but no one could break the stalemate.

Purification value? How to purify is the question!

You have to sit on the throne to see the Purification value, but there's no hint on how to purify.

Even Li Wenwan, unable to hold back, hurled a Fireball straight at the ground, yet the black crystal plaza showed no reaction.

For a moment everyone felt helpless; the mission time had only about six hours left, and no one could find a way to break the stalemate.

At that moment, five monsters refreshed.

After the group cooperated to deal with those monsters, they fell back into a deadlock.

Having cleared those five monsters, Shen Wang sat down again, yet still no indication of increased Evolution value.

"It seems clearing the refreshed monsters doesn't increase the Purification value," Shen Wang said helplessly.

Everyone frowned; how exactly does this Evolution value grow?

"Have you noticed the plaza looks a bit darker?"

At that moment, Huang Mingxin, also frowning and observing, suddenly spoke up.

Hearing that, the group was startled, then began inspecting the surrounding black crystal plaza.

Sure enough, compared with when they first entered, the whole black crystal plaza was indeed a shade darker—not very obvious, but noticeable.

Su Sheng furrowed his brow slightly; although he didn't know the exact situation and the mechanics weren't fully understood, he could feel that the extra darkness was not a good sign.

"Everyone, think—how can we break this?"

Su Sheng had no idea at the moment.

If this mission fails, it won't be fun.

Based on the previous Dungeon experience on the Eagle Sauce Server, Su Sheng had thought this Dungeon would get stuck on difficulty.

So they discussed forming this vanguard squad.

The five‑person vanguard squad's strength was unquestionable; in terms of difficulty alone, it was still within an acceptable range.

Unexpectedly, they ended up stuck on the mechanics stage.

They grinded a bit more, and the time officially hit six hours exactly!

At this point, Li Wenwan approached the throne and sat down.

She saw the Evolution value, but it was still zero.

"Mingxin sister, you try too."

After standing, Li Wenwan went to Huang Mingxin's side and said.

The people present were trustworthy, so Li Wenwan directly called Huang Mingxin by her real name.

Huang Mingxin didn't refuse; among the five, she alone hadn't sat on this throne, perhaps sitting might reveal something.

So Huang Mingxin went straight to the throne's spot and sat down.

Spawn~

As Huang Mingxin sat on the throne, a change occurred instantly.

Huang Mingxin was startled!

Everyone's expression turned shocked, looking at Huang Mingxin on the throne.

Huang Mingxin's body began to emit a glow—the Holy Light Priest's holy light power.

"What's going on? Did you trigger a trap?" Li Wenwan asked, bewildered.

"No. I just sat down, and that's it."

Huang Mingxin was also a bit confused.

Su Sheng lifted his brow: "Did you see the Purification value? Did it increase?"

"I saw it, it increased, but very slowly—0.01%."

She replied, then added, "Also my Mana is slowly decreasing, and the Purification Spell is gray, unusable."

"Try standing up now," Shen Wang said at that moment.

"Can't, I can't stand up, can't move," Huang Mingxin said, looking dazed.

Buzz~

While the group was still pondering, a wisp of black vapor was expelled from the throne.

The wisp coalesced on the plaza into a mass of Shadow Monster.

84 Elite Monster!

Shadow of the Demon Cave!

And it wasn't just one; three appeared at once!

As soon as those monsters appeared, they ignored Su Sheng, Shen Wang, Xingchen, and Li Wenwan, and lunged at Huang Mingxin on the black gold throne.

"Block them!"

Su Sheng immediately raised Shield, Taunt!

Alright!

There's Hate Value!

Shen Wang and Xingchen also reacted instantly—one charged forward, another controlled a pet, and together they blocked the other two Shadow of the Demon Cave.

However, these Shadow of the Demon Cave's attributes were far higher than the earlier patrol monsters.

Even though only one level higher, their stats were about a third higher, not weaker than a typical Normal BOSS.

Su Sheng's side was fine, but Xingchen's side was less optimistic; two pets were instantly smashed.

Shen Wang was being tossed about, his HP fluctuated like a roller coaster; if not for the terrain dragon's Mounted State bonus, he'd be worse.

Shen Wang probably already played his Bottom Card.

The attributes of these monsters are truly overpowered.

The only thing they're somewhat relieved about is that Huang Mingxin is sitting on the throne; although she can't stand up and the Purification Spell is disabled, her other abilities are still usable.

But the mana consumption is even more exaggerated, because while seated on the throne her mana continuously drains.

Coordinating with Huang Mingxin's healing, after a flurry of frantic effort they finally killed the three monsters.

When the three monsters died, they instantly turned into black energy and vanished; aside from a hefty amount of experience, there was nothing else.

Everyone stared at each other.

"It seems that this so‑called Purification can only increase the Purification value through a Priest,"

Shen Wang looked at Huang Mingxin, who sat on the throne radiating pure white holy light, and couldn't help to make a snide remark.

"Looks like it, but there's no hint at all; that's just plain disgusting," Li Wenwan also complained.

Indeed…

They had been puzzling over it for so long without finding any mechanism or the like, and who could have thought that simply having a Priest player sit down would solve it.

"So, if the party doesn't bring a Priest, this Dungeon is doomed to fail,"

Xingchen spoke, but after finishing felt something was off: "But it seems that in a normal run of the Dungeon, nobody would go without a Priest."

That's indeed the case; in a Dungeon run, the T‑position and support slots are indispensable.

Damage roles can vary widely—warrior physical DPS, archer physical DPS, Mage magical DPS, or even an assassin's burst DPS.

But the T and the support healer are absolutely essential!

"How's it going? How much has the evolution value increased?"

Su Sheng looked up at Huang Mingxin.

"0.05%"

Huang Mingxin spoke.

Su Sheng frowned and made a rough estimate: "At this rate, it'll take a little over four hours, more or less."

"Of course, assuming nothing else changes."

At that moment Li Wenwan suddenly pointed at the throne where Huang Mingxin was seated: "Look, isn't Sister Mingxin's seat a bit less dark now?"

Everyone immediately looked.

Sure enough, with Huang Mingxin on the throne, the area around her seat—originally a pitch‑black black crystal throne—started to become slightly translucent.

"Purification value 1%!"

Huang Mingxin suddenly reminded them.

Spawn~

At that moment, another strand of black energy peeled away from the throne and finally manifested as three monster silhouettes!

The group couldn't attend to anything else and had to continue dealing with the newly spawned monsters as before.

After some effort, they finally cleared the monsters that had just spawned.

Now everyone understood.

The final mechanic of this Dungeon must be to Purify the black crystal plaza.

And to Purify the black crystal plaza, a Priest's presence is required.

The Priest must remain fixed on the throne, while the others are responsible for handling the monsters formed from Demon Energy that detach from the black crystal plaza as the Purification value rises.

Protect the Priest player on the throne.

"If nothing changes later, this Dungeon doesn't seem hard; we just need to guard…"

Xingchen clicked his tongue, but before finishing his sentence he sensed everyone's stare and silently fell silent.

He kept shouting in his mind, 'I'm not a jinx!'

Purification value 2%!

At this point, Huang Mingxin reminded them again.

The group instantly became alert!

But this time, four spawned!

Four monsters!

Everyone was stunned…

In the end, Su Sheng alone took on two!

Although Su Sheng shouldered two alone, the pressure was high and he couldn't free a hand to finish quickly, but he still held up.

After Li Wenwan, together with Shen Wang, swiftly dealt with one, Shen Wang came over to take another, barely stabilizing the situation.

But after clearing those four monsters, the group hadn't had time to catch their breath.

Huang Mingxin on the throne reminded them again…

Purification value 3%!

Fortunately, this time only three monsters spawned.