Chapter 123

Xiang Jianxing stared at the suddenly appearing Luandan, a bittersweet smile crossing his face.

He didn't just look like he hadn't fought—he truly hadn't fought at all.

Not even Luandan could have imagined this outcome, and neither could Xiang Jianxing himself.

Who would have thought that Xiang Jianxing, of all people, would one day clear an instance by lying down—and be carried through it by a low-level newbie?

What? He'd just lain down through Quiet Town? A monster newbie is still a newbie? Then it's fine.

At the start of the instance, Xiang Jianxing had been deeply wary of Luandan hiding in the shadows, viewing this powerful cultist of the Evil God as a venomous snake that might strike at any moment—he had to remain constantly alert to his back and keep reserves.

But now, Xiang Jianxing actually welcomed Luandan jumping out to cause trouble; otherwise, after an entire corrupted instance, he'd have acted fewer times than a sprinkle of scallion—how embarrassing.

"Perfect!" Xiang Jianxing roared, commanding his flying sword to shoot straight at Luandan.

Luandan's raw strength had never matched Xiang Jianxing's, and as the vessel of the out-of-control instance, he'd already drained vast amounts of energy and stamina—now the gap had widened further.

He'd assumed his minor losses compared to Xiang Jianxing's battle against the corrupted instance were negligible, but he never imagined Xiang Jianxing had barely expended anything.

After all the effort to create a corrupted instance, the one locked inside—Xiang Jianxing—was in better condition than he was.

All his meticulous planning had only given him a debuff—he couldn't accept this!

It must be that the Painter had given him a faulty corrupted instance! No matter how Luandan cursed, he could no longer change the situation.

The Boss room formed by the corrupted instance was meant for ambushing Xiang Jianxing—once entered, it sealed shut, and only the death of one side would break the space open.

Undeniably, as a candidate for Saint of the Quiet Church, Luandan had real strength to dare challenge Xiang Jianxing.

The runes covering his body, summoned in battle, materialized as tangible incantations, each carrying a different power.

Fire, ice, wind blades, lightning strikes…

Each one was mighty in display, matching Xiang Jianxing blow for blow—the two were locked in stalemate for a time.

But in Wu Chang's eyes, the battle had ended from the very beginning.

Luandan's skills couldn't harm Xiang Jianxing, while every one of Xiang Jianxing's attacks left some sword qi piercing Luandan.

The temporary stalemate existed only because Xiang Jianxing was cautious, fearing Luandan's final desperate counterattack.

Their battle also demonstrated to Wu Chang how high-end players fought—what rhythm and methods to use.

Players might be weaker than Bosses, but the danger between player-versus-player combat was no less than a Boss fight.

The fight lasted nearly half an hour—longer than the time Wu Chang had spent defeating the Tree of Miracles and the Great Miracle combined.

Finally, Xiang Jianxing forced Luandan to reveal all his cards, confirmed he had no new tricks, then changed his sword formation and coldly shouted: "Downpour Style!"

Dozens of sword qi erupted from the flying sword, like a violent downpour, lashing toward Luandan.

Amid the sword rain, Luandan's B-rank shield was pierced through; countless sword qi tore through his body, turning him into a sieve.

As he died, Luandan was filled with bitter resentment—he looked up at the sky and spat:

"Damn Painter! If your corrupted instance hadn't been fake, I'd have used the Evil God's Gaze at full strength—you wouldn't have been my match! Even in death, I won't let that dog off!"

With that, Luandan closed his eyes and died in hatred.

A deep crimson malice flew from his body, streaking into the distance—likely clinging to the Painter.

When Deep Abyss players die, their personal space and bound items are reclaimed by the Deep Abyss Game; only special items remain.

After Luandan's death, an ancient-looking book appeared on his corpse.

The ancient book floated automatically to Xiang Jianxing's front, its pages turning rapidly without wind. From Wu Chang's perspective, the pages were blank, but Xiang Jianxing watched with intense focus, occasionally showing expressions of sudden understanding.

As the wordless secret scripture finished turning, the gray sky over the Peace Zone dissipated like smoke; the citizens of Wanghai City, who had been inside the corrupted instance, awoke as from a great dream, staring around in confusion.

What's going on? Why am I here? What just happened? Many checked the time and froze in shock.

Shit! It's already 4 PM? How did I miss work?!

Some citizens with sharper intuition vaguely recalled having followed the crowd, shouting something shameful.

But when they tried harder, they couldn't remember at all—and that hazy feeling, like a dream fading upon waking, vanished quickly as they became fully conscious.

With the corrupted instance gone, Wu Chang and Xiang Jianxing appeared in the center of the Peace Zone, from their hidden space.

Looking at the streets around them, now alive again as if nothing had happened, Wu Chang felt a sense of unreality.

A rogue B-rank corrupted instance just ended like this? That's not right—I've never seen an instance end this way before.

Not to mention the Moonlight Sanatorium where a true Evil God descended—even the two C-rank instances, Suishui Ping'an and Quiet Town, had Bosses at the end: one was Seeing Chiyuan, who spent a hundred years arranging Baili Huaishan to plunder lives and recreate himself; the other was the Count seeking to become an Evil God, and the Old Six Holy Mother aiming to harvest the entire multiverse.

Compared to them, was the Great Miracle, this alien, even qualified? From its design and performance, the Great Miracle and the Tree of Miracles looked like low-difficulty Bosses, artificially inflated to B-rank instance levels—nowhere near the oppressive weight of the Bosses in his previous instances.

Was the difficulty reduced because "Wish Fulfillment" was manifested by the Painter's ability?

Or is it that most Deep Abyss players actually face instances like this—is this the true difficulty of the Deep Abyss Game?

Now it was Wu Chang's turn to feel jealous.

While the Authority handled the aftermath of the corrupted instance, he began tallying his gains.

First, a corrupted instance is still an instance—after breaking it, the Poison of the Mortal absorbed 1 energy point, bringing his total to 5/10.

He was now halfway to activating the item.

Before today, he hadn't held much hope for the Poison of the Mortal, even thinking its utility might not surpass the Shadowed Face, let alone the Saint's Relic Mask fused with Ailin.

But after hearing Shi Ning say the Painter could roam the Wasteland Realm unchecked, unbound by any rules, with the Four Organizations and all Evil God cultists avoiding him—he began reevaluating the power of S-rank items.

And the Painter had used an S-rank item to manifest a rogue instance—this made him reconsider the strength of S-rank items.

He hoped the energized Poison of the Mortal would surprise him.

The second gain was experience—massive amounts of experience.

Four Dancing Puppets, one Miracle Committee member, plus the Tree of Miracles and the Great Miracle, had granted him a total of 15,160 experience points.

(15860/3400)—(12460/3800)—(8660/4200)—(4460/4700).

The huge experience boost raised him three and a half levels, to Level 15 (4460/4700), giving him 25 free attribute points.

At this rate, after one more instance, his attributes would meet the requirements for the Mystic Knight class transformation—he could consider starting the transformation quest.

The Tree of Miracles and the Great Miracle had not only granted him high experience but also left behind a local specialty.

As the "Wish-Fulfillment" dungeon shattered, Wu Chang had assumed the "Radiance of Great Miracles" on his person would go to waste, yet upon exiting the dungeon, this state unexpectedly transformed into a seven-colored stone whose surface shimmered with starlight.

"Item Name: Stone of Miracles"

"Item Type: Time-Limited Consumable"

"Item Description: It can fulfill one of your wishes; the difficulty level of the wish must not exceed the upper limit of a Rank B dungeon in the Wasteland Realm. Remaining existence time of the item: 24 hours."

"Note: With the death of the last Miracle Walker, the power of miracles begins to dissipate; you must make your final wish before the power of miracles completely vanishes."

(End of Chapter)