Chapter 280: Adventurer World, Dungeon Opening (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Challenger Notice (All Channels): The game is about to undergo a major version update; this update launches a special mode: Adventurer World.

Adventurer World Introduction:

A special spatial scene crafted by the Blue Lamp Clan using the "Adventurer" component of the Divine Lamp rules, transforming the original survival challenges of the Di Ku Shi Jie into a rule-driven dungeon trial ground.

The original random exploration mode of the Di Ku Shi Jie will be replaced by fixed dungeons; each dungeon is an independent space containing specific monsters, traps, and reward mechanisms.

Dungeons are divided into 32 difficulty levels; the higher the difficulty, the greater the challenge reward for completing the adventure.

Reward Pool Introduction:

Dungeon rewards in the Adventurer World are divided into five types.

Divine Coins: Random quantities drop when monsters in the Adventurer World die; the higher the dungeon difficulty, the more Divine Coins randomly dropped by monsters slain in the scene.

Resource Types: Spirit Ore, Spirit Plants, Spirit Springs, and a series of resources carrying spiritual substances.

Flesh and Blood, Elemental Essences: After the war, the Blue Lamp Clan refines the life energy of hostile races and crafts them into essence clusters for storage; these can drop probabilistically in the Adventurer World by slaying monsters.

Weapons and Equipment: Random quality equipment drops from slain monsters; the higher the dungeon difficulty, the higher the probability that monsters slain in the scene drop high-quality weapons and equipment.

Rule Fragments: The rule framework left after the rule source is drained; it no longer possesses rule power, retaining only the concretized portion, with a probability of retaining faint rule efficacy that the Divine Lamp rules cannot absorb; monsters in the dungeon scene drop them randomly, the higher the dungeon difficulty, the higher the drop probability; they can be crafted into pseudo-rules.

After this update concludes, a new functional building will launch at the Di Ku Shi Jie newbie village spatial node: the Adventurer Teleportation Array.

Players can use the teleportation array to travel directly to the Adventurer World for trial challenges.

Comment Section:

Star Walker Boundless: Dungeon parties rejoice; the reason I dislike the Underground World is that exploration relies too much on luck, and there is no strategy content to exchange, after all, the Underground World is too vast; with bad luck, one might enter several scenes in a row and have their soul return to the Underworld immediately, wasting huge amounts of time. In comparison, I prefer the Death Space where strategies can be exchanged and clear methods researched together, but Death Space slots depend on a lottery. Finally, the true dungeon mode has launched.

Boiling Wine, Frying Tea: The forum's dungeon discussion section is finally about to rise; this is a victory for dungeon parties. In the future, we will be the strongest faction beneath the Hunting Party, or even surpass the Hunting Party to become the number one faction; the era belonging to dungeon parties has arrived!

Little Pig Peppa: I look forward to you releasing dungeon strategies; best to include some speed-clear strategies. Judging by the update introduction, it seems there are no restrictions on farming dungeons; so, is it possible to farm low-difficulty dungeons at high levels and obtain high-frequency rewards through speed-clear competitions?

Liu Er Liu: Solo players are also rejoicing; I just don't like sticking with fixed teams. In the future, I can enter dungeons with ad-hoc groups, meeting different players every day. I just don't know how dungeon rewards will be distributed, after all, dungeon outputs are directly given as rewards, unlike hunting monsters outside which give direct feedback.

The emergence of the Adventurer World sparked heated discussion among players.

The topic gradually shifted from the dungeon settings of the Adventurer World to issues regarding benefit distribution.

Before this, the players' benefit distribution method was very simple.

Everything was distributed according to the system-set scheme; rewards produced from slaying monsters were fairly distributed to every player in the party mode. If a tanking-style player in the team needed extra benefits allocated, then every player in the team would take a portion of their own rewards and trade them to the tanking-style player.

But this mode clearly cannot be used in the Adventurer World created by the Blue Lamp Clan.

Slaying outputs are completely random and not distributed via the system; this is like the monster-slaying equipment drop mode in early games.

For friend groups or guild teams, solving this problem is actually quite easy.

Let one player collect all the rewards produced from this dungeon run, then list them on the Trading Post, and finally distribute the Shou Shou Jili obtained according to the agreed-upon scheme.

But if it is a wild party, a trust issue exists.

Unfamiliar players take all the rewards away; after selling, they distribute them, and it is impossible to judge how much Shou Shou Jili was sold for based solely on log screenshots.

Items listed on the Trading Post have no lock-in period; theoretically, the other party can find a few players to watch the Trading Post and snap up the resource the second it is listed, losing only some Shou Shou Jili transaction fees at most.

For high-value items, this method can earn considerable profits.

Potential benefit distribution issues have made forum players start thinking about how to solve this problem before the official releases relevant functions.

Amidst the heated discussion, four distribution schemes emerged.

The first scheme: Roll Point Party.

The distribution method is: whenever a monster is slain and drops equipment or resources, the Guide assigns a random number for distribution.

This is like rolling dice in early games; the player with the higher roll gets the reward, while those who didn't roll high get nothing.

After one round of the dungeon, unless one is extremely unlucky, one will basically roll a winning number a few times.

This mode is relatively fair, relying entirely on luck for distribution, with no possibility of cheating.

Among them, the "Divine Coins" dropped by monsters serve as the currency in the Adventurer World; players in the team distribute them fairly. If there is a surplus in the average distribution, it is given to the party leader who formed the dungeon team, counting as the leader's extra reward.

For example, if 30 players participate in the dungeon together and the total reward for this round is 35 Divine Coins, then the surplus 5 coins after average distribution go to the party leader, or to the tanking-style player in the team.

The second scheme: Gold Party.

Any resources produced by the dungeon must be distributed via Shou Shou Jili bidding; the final rewards are split equally among team members.

For example, in a team of 30 players, a monster is slain and drops a Spirit Plant; ownership will be auctioned internally, with the highest bidder offering a price of 1000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

Then this Spirit Plant belongs to the highest bidder; even if this Spirit Plant can be sold for a much higher value later, it has nothing to do with the other players in the team.

The 1000 points of Shou Shou Jili obtained from the bidding are then directly distributed equally among the other 29 players in the team.

Each person receives 34.48 Shou Shou Jili.

This distribution scheme is transparent throughout; even if a player does not obtain any dungeon output, they still receive the Shou Shou Jili offered by other players during bidding.

It is very suitable for solo players without guilds or friend groups; rewards are settled on the spot, requiring no waiting period.

The third scheme: DKP Party.

This mode is more suitable for players who have friend groups or guild teams; it can only be used by player teams with fixed members.

Accumulate DKP through attendance and performance, then use internal points to bid on items.

For example.

Attendance Points: Participating in dungeon activities on time according to the party leader's requirements each time grants a fixed amount of DKP.

Slaying a dungeon boss grants DKP.

Serving as team commander or tanking tank may grant extra supplementary DKP...

Suppose Player A didn't like anything in this round of the dungeon and ended up with 100 points of DKP when the dungeon ended; then the points will not be cleared but will continue to be saved in the guild log, usable again in the next round.

Suppose a certain player did not bid any points on any item for three consecutive rounds, but in the fourth round of the dungeon, a "Rule Fragment" dropped. At this moment, the player bids 300 points; no other player in the team can compete, allowing them to secure the highest reward in a manner akin to picking up a bargain.

This reward even exceeds the combined rewards of the previous few rounds of dungeons.

Players who hoard points lose money on potions in the Player's Early Phase, but can later strike it rich in one go by cashing out their accumulated points; they might also never find anything good, hoarding points endlessly.

If two players bid the same number of points during the auction, an additional roll is conducted.

The player with the higher roll wins the auctioned item, while the losing player retains their points.

This system originates from early online games, distributing Fu Ben Shi Jie benefits through a "more work, more pay" approach.

The only drawback is the high time cost; newcomers or occasional players find it hard to compete with other guild members.

DKP teams and gold teams each suit different player groups.

The advantage of DKP teams lies in long-term stability, suiting groups with fixed members; the distribution method is more detailed, and players in the team do not need to hoard Shou Shou Jili, as they can convert their Shou Shou Jili into personal strength at any time, relying solely on point distribution.

Gold teams lean more towards flexibility; for solo players seeking immediate returns, every round is a fresh start.

The drawback is that gold team players must hoard a certain amount of Shou Shou Jili; if they do not carry enough Shou Shou Jili, they risk being undercut by other players.

For example, a Rule Fragment drops during a Fu Ben Shi Jie trial.

It turns out that none of the 30 players in the team carried much Shou Shou Jili, except for one player who had 3000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

According to the rules, the player who bids 3000 points of Shou Shou Jili will own the Rule Fragment.

The remaining players can only split a pitiful 100-plus points of Shou Shou Jili.

However, the selling price of a Rule Fragment on the Trading Hall starts at hundreds of thousands of Shou Shou Jili.

The behavior of gold team players hoarding Shou Shou Jili is essentially to ensure their own interests are not harmed.

Even if they don't want the item, they can drive up the price of Fu Ben Shi Jie resources to a reasonable level by bidding higher; even if they win the bid, they can resell it on the Trading Hall.

But from the perspective of team cooperation, the tacit understanding developed over time among fixed members in a DKP team far exceeds that of a gold team composed of solo players.

The fourth option: Mixed Team.

This is a Fu Ben Shi Jie distribution mode applicable only to friend-and-family teams.

The distribution plan can be adjusted flexibly.

Common items dropped from the Fu Ben Shi Jie can be distributed via rolling to add fun, or via DKP bidding; for high-value items, they can be handed to a trusted team captain or a specific player, and after selling on the Trading Hall, the Shou Shou Jili can be distributed to the team members.

This mode requires absolute trust among the players in the team.

They can even rotate turns to earn profits.

For example, in a ten-person friend-and-family team, all profits from the first round go to Player A, all profits from the second round go to Player B... As for how much profit this Fu Ben Shi Jie round yields, it depends entirely on luck.

Through discussion on the forum, players gradually formed a clear choice.

The Adventurer World also perfected itself during this process, fully generating.

Underground Cave Spatial Node.

After a flash of Bai Guang, a five-person squad led by Hong Yang emerged from the teleportation point.

Summoning the map, a tattered parchment map unfolded in their minds.

They noticed a new icon to the north within the node space; this was the newly launched: Adventurer Teleportation Point.

The icon's shape resembled a dim blue magic lamp, with spiral Rule Runes winding around the lamp body, and the base consisted of three interlocking black stone spikes.

Without hesitation, they immediately set off towards the Adventurer Teleportation Point.

Hong Yang led the way, holding an upgraded Rune Resonance Spear.

Ah Qi followed on his left, flipping a dagger between his fingers; he was the only Assassin-type player in the team.

Old Wu carried a shield on his right, his steps heavy; he was the most reliable bastion of the squad.

Xiao Ye walked in the middle, hands in pockets, with faint Qi blood fluctuations swirling around him; a floating Flame Bow followed behind his back.

He was the team's archer, possessing the ability to snipe targets from a distance.

Xiao Hua walked at the very back of the team, wearing a flower crown transformed from a Rune Resonance Weapon; she was the strongest magic-type player in the team regarding area-of-effect burst damage, and was teased by other team members as a "Glass Cannon."

This meant she was as fragile as glass and easily shattered, while "Cannon" referred to Xiao Hua's terrifying damage output, capable of dealing tons of damage instantly.

Before long, Hong Yang led the squad to the teleportation point.

Before their eyes lay a teleportation point shaped like a bronze wheel branded into the ground, half the size of a soccer field; the edge was etched with thirty-two grooves, each containing flowing semi-solidified crimson magma; the center of the wheel was not solid, but suspended with a phantom image of a magic lamp Rule, with fragmented light and shadow scenes flashing occasionally in the vortex at the top.

At this moment, the square was filled with player figures.

The regional voice channel was also full of shouts calling for party members.

Hong Yang pushed through the crowd and stepped onto the Adventurer Teleportation Array first; instantly, a prompt popped up in his mind:

【Challenger Prompt: Fu Ben Shi Jie teleportation function activated. Open the function panel to view.】

Realizing this was a function usable only in specific areas, Hong Yang immediately opened the panel and clicked the "Magic Lamp Icon" that appeared at the bottom.

Before his eyes appeared a translucent bookshelf interface floating in the void, scrollable for selection; each book on it represented an independent Fu Ben Shi Jie.

The book covers displayed dynamic Fu Ben Shi Jie scenes, while the difficulty level was marked below in blood-red text.

The bottom right corner of the interface also had a clickable "Magic Lamp Shop."

Hong Yang's gaze focused on the first Fu Ben Shi Jie; the cover depicted a blood-red Wang Zuo piled from ten thousand skulls; atop the Wang Zuo, a figure clad in black armor slowly raised their head to look at him, with black ghostly flames igniting in their eye sockets.

Relevant information immediately floated up.

"Bone Wang Zuo":

Difficulty Level: 4 (Suitable for teams of players with a main Painful Painful Minghun level of 55 or above (30+ people) to challenge)

Background Introduction: The Fu Ben Shi Jie framework background comes from the "Bone Clan" Wang Cheng; this race was born with the ability to control the bones of the dead, once establishing a Bone Dynasty spanning five worlds; after descending into the Monster World... the Blue Lamp Clan noticed the "Undead March Rule," and after their civilization was crushed, the Blue Lamp Clan turned the Wang Cheng into a Fu Ben Shi Jie framework; now, the black-armored figure sitting on the Wang Zuo is the lingering echo of the last monarch of the Bone Clan.

Hong Yang shifted his gaze from "Bone Wang Zuo," his focus settling on the second Fu Ben Shi Jie; the suspended book rolled slowly like curtains blown by the wind.

The cover of the second Fu Ben Shi Jie resembled a theater; the audience seats were filled with faceless puppets, while a twisted figure on the center stage simultaneously enacted joy and wailing.

All colors in the scene flowed slowly, like an oil painting washed by rain.

"Delirium Theater":

Difficulty Level: 3 (Suitable for teams of players with a main Painful Painful Minghun level of 45+ or above to challenge)

Background introduction: The Theater Tomb Clan, which feeds on emotions, excels at acquiring emotional power generated by audiences through performance. After being annihilated by the Blue Lantern Clan, the clan's memories became trapped in an endless curtain call; every performance on the stage is a memory loop of the Theater Tomb Clan's painful struggle before their destruction.

The gaze shifted to the cover of the third dungeon.

Crimson magma churned, and a massive hammer rose from the sea of fire, chains coiling around the hammerhead, the ends of the chains binding some struggling living creature.

"Heart of the Furnace":

Dungeon difficulty: Level 4 (suitable for player teams with a main Painful Painful Minghun level of 55+).

Background introduction: The forging clan "Ember Clan" was once famous in the small world for its smelting techniques; its people regarded scorching magma as a furnace, using chains to imprison abyssal living fire as forging energy. In pursuit of the most extreme forging materials, after climbing to the peak of the small world, the Ember Clan chose to shatter the void and descend into the Monster World...

While flipping through, Hong Yang's gaze focused on the bottom left corner, and he was instantly startled by the number.

Number of dungeon scenes: 1592.

If every dungeon's background comes from a clan destroyed by the Blue Lantern Clan, this number represents that 1592 clans have already fallen beneath the Blue Lantern Clan's butcher's knife.

This is only the clans the Blue Lantern Clan deemed to have potential to be made into dungeons; how many clans they have actually destroyed is difficult to estimate.

"What an evil race."

After sighing that remark, Hong Yang suddenly thought of the Black Tide Legion.

Compared to the number of clans destroyed, the Blue Lantern Clan is at best a stumbling executioner in front of the Black Tide Legion.

The Black Tide Legion is the true clan crusher.

Without pondering this question further, he began to select a dungeon.

According to descriptions by forum players, the Blue Lantern Clan's dungeons have two entry methods.

The first method requires traveling to the teleportation array the Blue Lantern Clan established in the original Di Ku Shi Jie, which also contains mental visual templates for selecting dungeons.

They players do not need to go through such trouble; there is a direct route right in the village.

For the first challenge, he selected the dungeon "Bone Wang Zuo," with difficulty slightly lower than the team's combined combat power.

Instantly, a challenger notification rang simultaneously in the minds of him and his teammates:

【Challenger Notification (Squad): Captain has confirmed the dungeon: Bone Wang Zuo. Follow the teleportation?】

Below the notification box were five extinguished magic lamps.

After Hong Yang clicked confirm with his consciousness, the first magic lamp lit up, followed by the four magic lamps representing his teammates lighting up in succession.

Instantly, Intense Weightlessness swept over him.

The scene before his eyes became blurred and distorted.

When his vision cleared, Hong Yang found himself standing on a gray-white wasteland.

The sky was a oppressive dark red, like congealed blood clouds.

Occasionally, pale white lightning flashed silently, illuminating the towering black Wang Cheng in the distance.

This city was not built of bricks and stone, but stacked from countless massive bones; skeletal bone pillars supported towering structures, and twisted vertebrae coiled into arches.

At the direction of the city gate, in the hollow eye sockets of two hundred-meter-tall bone giant skulls, ghostly green soul fires burned, silently gazing forward.

Crack!

The ground beneath his feet was not solid; walking made it easy to crush bone fragments, producing a crisp sound.

The air was filled with the scent of decay and the residue of kerosene burning; occasionally a cold wind swept past, as if one could hear faint whispers, like millions of lost souls murmuring in the ears.

In the distance, a road paved with countless skeletal arms wound toward the Wang Cheng; the bone-white fingers seemed ready to grab the ankles of passersby at any moment, dragging them into a bone cage to be devoured.

"So, does this dungeon have no quest hints?" Ah Qi, still playing with his dagger, asked with a puzzled expression.

"It's called the Adventurer World, after all. Adventurers naturally focus on adventure; how could they give you clear quests, or even a map to check? We are essentially pioneering new territory," Old Wu, holding a shield, grinned as he spoke, then walked to the very front of the squad.

Hong Yang immediately followed Old Wu's steps.

Just as Old Wu stepped onto the road paved with skeletal arms, the ground suddenly trembled.

Countless bone fingers suddenly burst upward, grabbing at Old Wu like living creatures; at the same time, the bone piles on both sides of the road churned violently, and dozens of skeletal soldiers with mangled bodies crawled out of the bone piles, ghostly green soul fires igniting in their hollow eye sockets as they brandished bone blades and tattered shields, closing in to surround him.

"Here they come!"

Old Wu barked low, slamming his great shield onto the ground; a mighty qi suddenly expanded, shattering the grabbing bone fingers.

Then, with practiced skill, he sidestepped and thrust his shield forward, forcibly crashing into the skeleton group; runes on the shield surface flickered, and immediately the surrounding skeleton warriors roared and lunged at him.

Hong Yang also acted at this moment, kicking the end of the spear in his hand; as the spear flipped through the air, he caught it with a reverse grip, mighty qi coiling around the spear. With a horizontal slash, he cleaved three skeletons in half at the waist. After activating the Speed trait, spear shadows rained down like a violent storm, grinding the bone fragments completely into powder.

Ah Qi's figure also vanished into the shadows at this moment; the next second, the head of a skeleton archer suddenly flew into the air. With the cold light of his dagger flashing repeatedly, the skeleton frame was dismantled into scattered bone fragments before it even hit the ground.

She moved like a ghost through the skeleton warriors, targeting only the skeleton mages in the rear ranks; every time she appeared, it was accompanied by a fatal strike enhanced by the Critical Hit trait.

Boom!

Just then, Xiao Hua also acted; the rune-resonating flower crown on her head lit up, and with a light flick of her fingertips, a Gao Ta composed of elemental energy suddenly rose from the ground. The spewing elements instantly melted the attacking skeleton soldiers.

At the very back of the squad, Xiao Ye's gaze jumped between the skeleton warriors; every time her vision focused, she applied the "Mark" trait.

Her pupils contracted slightly; in her field of view, blue light spots appeared above the heads of all marked skeleton warriors.

As her fingertips loosened, the moment the bowstring vibrated, an arrow wrapped in blood qi force left the string and shot forth, suddenly splitting mid-flight.

Dozens of crimson streams of light poured down like a rainstorm, each one precisely piercing the head of a skeleton warrior.

Where the arrows passed, bones crumbled, and the black qi was completely burned away by the blood qi force before it could dissipate.

When the skull of the last shield-wielding skeleton was pierced by the stream of light, the bone blade it held high happened to stop right in front of Old Wu's shield; then, with a clatter, it scattered all over the ground, exploding into three gold coins that fell.

The battlefield suddenly fell silent, with only the faint sound of bone debris rolling.

【166】 Ah Qi's figure emerged from the shadows, twirling his dagger in a flourish:

Ah Qi's figure emerged from the shadows, and he twirled the dagger in a flourish:

"Yo, Xiao Ye is really strong, huh?"

Xiao Ye gently stroked her longbow, a slight smile curling her lips:

"With enough marks, the arrows naturally fly faster."

After ending the battle, their gazes swept over the Dropped Items on the ground.

Afterwards, they all moved to collect the spoils.

After the final tally, this battle yielded nine God-Cast Coins.

Analysis revealed that God-Cast Coins are crafted from spiritual materials and can be directly sacrificed to Beneath Di Zhao to convert into Shou Shou Jili.

However, doing so is the most wasteful choice; this currency can be used to purchase specific items in the "Divine Lamp Shop," including Rule Fragments.

Secondly, a Level 2 Spirit Plant also dropped.

The yield wasn't high, but this random loot setting instantly gave them a sense of anticipation.

According to the official update announcement, low-difficulty dungeons also have a chance to drop high-value resources, though this probability is merely low.

"So awesome, this is way more fun than the Di Ku Shi Jie. Let's rush the wilderness and then whip up a speedrun guide." Ah Qi's eyes sparkled, clearly having fallen in love with the Adventurer World's gameplay.

At this moment, Old Wu raised his shield again and continued leading the party forward, pushing toward Wang Cheng.

Along the way, groups of Skeleton Warriors frequently revived and attacked them.

But the Skeleton Warriors' Hunt Levels were all around 45, posing absolutely no threat.

As the squad ventured deeper, the chilling aura of the Bone Wasteland grew increasingly heavy.

Scattered bones on the ground gathered on their own, forming twisted bone spikes that protruded from both sides of the road, as if the entire earth was resisting their advance.

The silhouette of Wang Cheng in the distance also became clearer and clearer in their line of sight.

"Almost there. Do you think the boss of the first act scene will appear at the city gate?" Hong Yang gripped his spear tightly, the spear tip emitting a gust of qi, his body always tense, ready to deal with any sudden situation.

"It's actually quite possible. According to normal game settings, the city gate is generally where the first-stage boss appears, and then entering the city opens the second act." Ah Qi nodded in agreement, then continued along this topic:

"And it's highly likely it will jump down from the city gate to block our path."

"You guys really can analyze things. This is a wilderness rush; it would be strange if you actually guessed correctly." Xiao Ye couldn't help but complain.

Amidst the idle chatter, they arrived within a hundred meters of the city gate.

Just then, the ground trembled violently.

Countless bone fragments on the ground seemed drawn by an invisible force, converging toward the city gate. Under the gaze of the squad, they rapidly piled up and reconstructed, finally forming a giant Skeleton Knight nearly five meters tall. It wore heavy armor covering its entire body, held a lance twisted from spinal bones, and the skeletal warhorse beneath it reared its front hooves, spewing eerie green flames from its mouth. Its red-glowing eyes locked onto the group, radiating ferocious killing intent.

As analysis swept over it, the Skeleton Knight's information flooded their minds:

【Bone Vanguard · Karun】:

Hunt Level: 71.

Target Introduction: Once the commander of the Bone Clan's Royal Court Imperial Guard, he defended the city gate with his flesh and blood during his life. When the Blue Lamp Clan crushed Wang Cheng, his lingering soul and the warhorse's bones were twisted and fused by the Divine Lamp's rules, becoming an eternal gatekeeper. The lance "Wailing Spine" was forged from the spinal cords of seven defeated strongmen; when the spear tip trembles, it emits a soul-stealing shriek. It is the boss of the first act scene in the Bone Wang Zuo dungeon.

After reading the analysis information, Xiao Ye's eyes immediately widened.

"Damn, you guys were right. The boss really did appear at the city gate. You guessed half of it."

"Here comes a proper one!" Ah Qi licked his lips, and his figure vanished into the shadows.

Old Wu said nothing, smashing his heavy shield onto the ground:

"Get ready to fight. Xiao Hua and Xiao Ye, watch your positioning; don't get smashed to pieces."

Before his words had even faded, the Bone Vanguard galloped forward on its horse, the lance pointing directly at Old Wu. The ground cracked beneath the iron hooves, and eerie green flames trailed behind in a long streak.

Boom!

In the instant the lance collided with the giant shield, a shockwave exploded. Old Wu was forcibly pushed back several meters, the runes on the shield surface flashing alternately.

At this moment, Hong Yang had already flashed to the side. His spear, wrapped in crimson qi, swept fiercely toward the front leg joints of the skeletal warhorse.

Crack!

Bone shards flew everywhere, and the bone horse's body tilted. Xiao Ye's arrows had already predicted the boss's trajectory of imbalance; three arrows wrapped in spiral airflow shot toward the Skeleton Knight's skull in a triangular formation.

The Bone Vanguard suddenly raised its arm to block, but Ah Qi leaped out from the shadows behind it. Dagger cold light flashed repeatedly as he stabbed at the soul fire within the cracks of the skull.

Roar!

The Bone Vanguard emitted a silent roar; a mental shockwave instantly caused the squad players' heads to throb with pain.

The Bone Vanguard's surrounding bone armor burst, and countless bone spikes shot out in all directions.

Xiao Hua was prepared long ago and decisively stepped behind Xiao Ye.

Old Wu's reaction was also extremely fast; he raised his hand to release blood qi, generating a blood wall in front of Xiao Hua and Xiao Ye.

The bone spikes struck the blood wall shield, producing a dense sound like rain beating on banana leaves.

Hong Yang seized the opportunity, leaped into the air, and his spear's crimson light surged violently. He thrust downward in a two-handed cleaving posture.

This strike instantly pierced through the Bone Vanguard's chest, and the lower bone horse was pierced along with it, pinning them to the ground.

Ah Qi's figure appeared again, swapping places with a clone behind the Bone Vanguard. Under the buff of the Critical Strike trait, his dagger suddenly hammered down toward the head. After piercing the skull, he swapped places with the clone again and instantly vanished.

At the same time, Xiao Hua in the rear had already activated the Extreme Speed trait.

Countless dancing runes were reflected in her pupils. Ink Flame, Charging Thunder, Dissolution, and Freezing—four types of rule element energies surged within her body.

Finally, a hand of "Void Grasp," formed by the fusion of various rule element powers, suddenly materialized above the Bone Vanguard's head and smashed down fiercely.

At this moment, the other squad members had already moved far away.

The not-yet-dead Bone Vanguard was just about to lift its lance when it was met by the Destruction Torrent released by Xiao Hua.

The Void Grasp exploded the instant it touched the Bone Vanguard, transforming into four spiraling, entangled elemental energies pouring down. Ink Flame burned, Charging Thunder tore, Dissolution Liquid corroded, and Ice Fog froze. The Bone Vanguard's body was instantly shrouded in blinding four-colored light, then exploded into a shower of bone dust.

Xiao Hua withdrew her hand that had been clapping from a distance, pretending to be calm as she said:

"What a pity. If I hadn't changed those 10% of attributes, I wouldn't have needed any of you to act; I would have one-shot it instantly."

"Stop showing off, Glass Cannon." Ah Qi, emerging from his Twilight Form, couldn't help but roll his eyes:

"If it weren't for us, the boss could sneeze and shake you to death. Don't forget last time when a piece of rubble pierced your body and you rolled around on the ground in pain."

"Nyeh nyeh nyeh, you talk too much. This Law Mage will smash your skull with one palm." Upon hearing this, Xiao Hua stuck her tongue out at Ah Qi, then raised her hand to clap in the air, her expression fierce.

Just then, the Challenger Prompt sounded:

【Challenger Prompt (Squad): Defeat "Bone Vanguard · Karun," obtain the City Gate Key, and proceed to the second act scene of the Bone Wang Zuo dungeon.】

At the same time, a sphere of light materialized at the spot where Kallon had died, the thin film of energy flowing across its surface dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The instant the sphere of light shattered, three streaks of flowing light shot out, hung suspended in the air for several seconds, then dropped.

A sweep of Analyze revealed a total of three items.

The first item was a bone called "Wailing Spine," which could be sacrificed to Beneath Di Zhao in exchange for 1,300 points of Shou Shou Jili.

The second item was a bizarrely shaped flower; Analyze showed it to be a Tier-4 spirit plant, which could be sold on the Trading Hall for over 2,000 Shou Shou Jili.

When the squad members focused their gaze on the third item, the expressions on their faces instantly froze.

【Rule Fragment: March of the Dead (1/20)】:

Rule Description: One fragment of the "March of the Dead Rule," which has had its origin drained. Shou Shou Jili may be channeled into it to complete the missing portions, but it can only be restored to the strength of a "Pseudo-Rule," retaining part of the rule's power.

March of the Dead: Consume rule energy (Shou Shou Jili may be substituted) to awaken the corpses of the dead, causing them to fight in the form of "Bone Servants." Duration: Permanent.

Tip: The completeness of the corpse, and the power it possessed in life, determine the strength of the resurrected Bone Servant.

……

After reading the Analyze contents, they were astonished to discover that the third item was actually a Rule Fragment.

The squad members immediately widened their eyes.

"Holy shit, something big just happened."

Even though this was merely a fragment with its origin drained, and only 1/20 of the complete rule, its value was still incalculable.

"Hiss, the reward from sacrificing Beneath Di Zhao is 468,000 Shou Shou Jili. We're rich, we're filthy rich." Old Wu's breathing grew Cu Zhong; he could no longer remain calm, and the hand gripping his shield trembled slightly.

"Hahaha, the very first battle of the Fu Ben Shi Jie and we already got loot. Allow me to take a screenshot and post it on the forum." Saying so, Xiao Ye had his guide avatar move away from himself, took a photo of himself together with the Rule Fragment, and after opening the forum, pasted the Analyze screenshot onto the photo.

【Fu Ben Shi Jie First Clear Report: Sometimes, when luck comes, even Beneath Di Zhao can't stop it…】

As squad leader, Hong Yang said nothing; after screenshotting the Analyze contents, he posted them in the regional channel.

Immediately, the furious cursing of hot-tempered brothers rose one after another:

"You really should die—why couldn't it have been me."

"Pah, disgusting. Wouldn't it be better to just quietly get rich? You just had to show it off. The 3 Shou Shou Jili crystals I just got suddenly don't feel so good anymore. You really should die!"

"This thing's pretty useless. DM me to trade, I'll take it off your hands for 500 Shou Shou Jili. No need to thank me."

(End of Chapter)