Nie Yan glanced at the Phineth’s Essence Orb in his backpack, wondering when this item would finally come into use, then decided to meet up with the others before confronting the Cave Lord.
“Have you collected the other fragments of the diary?” Nie Yan asked. Those diary pieces were also clues for an ambush-related quest.
“We have three pieces here. Combined with the two you have, we can synthesize a complete diary,” Cui Can Dao Guang explained. They had cleared quite a few monsters along the way and also opened several chests to obtain the remaining three diary fragments.
Cui Can Dao Guang shared the contents of the remaining three diary fragments.
“Although I know full well that Empress Phineth only needs this body of mine, I still willingly become her vessel… I am a humble cave-dweller, but I willingly offer my life and this useless body, just to prove my love for you… Revered Empress Phineth, when the long, lonely winter night comes, and my soul and body turn to dust, will you remember the humble love of that foolish cave-dweller?”
That was the content of the remaining three diary fragments.
Though these diary fragments were relatively easy to collect, they seemed to hide some secrets that still needed deciphering.
“I’ll come over immediately,” Nie Yan said. He traversed through the paths the same way, sprinting all the way until he finally exited the cave area.
He saw Cui Can Dao Guang and the others scattered about, replenishing their health and mana.
“Where are Sun and Yi Chui Ding Qing?” Nie Yan asked, not seeing the two among them.
“They are scouting ahead,” Cui Can Dao Guang replied. Sun and Yi Chui Ding Qing had actually found the Cave Lord’s location before Nie Yan.
“Let me see those three diary fragments,” Nie Yan requested. With all five fragments gathered, he wondered what changes might occur.
Cui Can Dao Guang traded the three diary fragments to Nie Yan.
The transaction was confirmed, and the three diary fragments entered Nie Yan’s backpack. With all five fragments together, a dazzling light flashed, and the diary transformed into a single, tattered scroll bearing the title: “Immortal Spirit: The Love of the Humble.”
There was also a description: it contained infinite mysterious power. The holder would be guided by the spirit to follow Empress Phineth’s footsteps. Possessing this item could cause the Cave Lord’s attributes to surge several times.
[System: Empress Phineth has been gone for a thousand years. It is said she went deep underground, draining the Cave Lord’s life before leaving behind a single immortal soul within its corpse. No matter how many times it is killed, with every nightfall, the Cave Lord will resurrect.]
This diary appeared extremely ancient, with waves of energy swirling across its surface, a power capable of transcending space.
Nie Yan’s intuition told him this diary was no ordinary item—it might be another quest clue.
“It seems this quest must be completed underground. You’ll have to figure it out on your own—we probably can’t help,” Shui Se Yan Tou sighed. Currently, among all classes, only rogues could venture underground. Other classes would be hunted relentlessly by players from the opposing faction if they entered enemy territory.
The current conflict between the two factions was limited to border skirmishes. Few dared to venture deep into enemy lands. The deeper one went into enemy territory, the more severe the attribute penalties became. In the past, someone had compiled statistics showing that near the enemy capital, a player’s attributes could drop by around 60%—a serious disadvantage. Near the capital of the Evil Order nation, a level 50 Good-aligned player might struggle against a level 40 Evil-aligned player.
Among everyone, only Nie Yan was suitable for this task. Though Sun had improved somewhat, he still lacked maturity and steadiness. As for Yi Chui Ding Qing, she would definitely refuse to stay in a dark, eerie dungeon for long.
“I’ll check it out after this,” Nie Yan said. He would definitely have to go to the dungeon to at least scout the situation.
As they were chatting, Sun and Yi Chui Ding Qing returned.
Cui Can Dao Guang moved aside slightly, appearing somewhat awkward.
“How is it over there?” Nie Yan asked.
“We found the Cave Lord. There are dozens of elite cave-dweller guards around it, and about five or six hundred crystal cave-dwellers,” Yi Chui Ding Qing replied, glancing at Cui Can Dao Guang.
Nie Yan patted Cui Can Dao Guang on the shoulder and laughed, “Don’t act like a shy girl.”
Indeed, one thing counteracts another. Though Cui Can Dao Guang was a legendary figure in his past life, and even now in the Bull Tribe he was a commanding presence—decisive and ruthless in battle—it was quite strange that he was so timid around Yi Chui Ding Qing.
“Let’s go check it out together,” Nie Yan said. They needed to see the situation for themselves.
The group advanced forward. The space ahead became increasingly expansive. Looking up, massive lava-filled pillars hung from above, about fifty to sixty yards high, spanning thousands of yards in diameter—an entire underground world.
In the distance, a massive cave-dweller appeared, towering five or six yards tall, its entire body glowing red like an ancient beast. Around it, countless cave-dwellers stood guard, a truly magnificent sight.
With such a large group of monsters gathered, it would be troublesome to lure them out one by one.
“How should we deal with them?”
The team members were thinking about ways to deal with the Cave Lord. Nie Yan looked up at the cavern ceiling, where stone pillars hung down—there seemed to be places to stand. However, he doubted he could kill the cave-dwellers below with arrows alone. It might take forever, and even then, he couldn’t kill the Cave Lord with arrows, as its health regenerated quickly and it had armor-piercing resistance.
Suddenly, an idea struck Nie Yan. Though he couldn’t climb up himself, he could send Tang Yao up there!
Nie Yan shared his idea with Tang Yao, who brightened and said, “Not sure if it’ll work, but I’ll try.”
Nie Yan traded the Ring of the Crawler and the Ring of the Weaver to Tang Yao. Tang Yao was already quite familiar with the Ring of the Crawler. The Ring of the Weaver was just an extra precaution.
Tang Yao confirmed the trade and equipped both rings. Activating the Ring of the Crawler, he skillfully began climbing up the cavern ceiling.
Everyone looked up in amazement as Tang Yao crawled along like a spider.
“Seriously… how is this even possible?” everyone muttered in disbelief.
Tang Yao stepped onto two hanging stone pillars, standing steadily.
As for Tang Yao’s Arcane Sprite, it followed Nie Yan and the others at ground level.
“How is it?” Nie Yan asked in the party chat.
“I’m stable here and can cast spells!” Tang Yao replied. He began chanting, quickly gathering fire elements.
Red clouds gathered above the group of cave-dwellers. Then, fireballs rained down in rapid succession. Boom! Boom! Boom! The fireballs caused massive damage, throwing the cave-dwellers into chaos. Yet they couldn’t locate their attacker.
Awesome! Tang Yao thought excitedly. He unleashed spell after spell, all area-of-effect spells, raining destruction upon them. Soon, large numbers of cave-dwellers lay dead on the ground.
Tang Yao’s spell damage was terrifying. Few monsters could withstand his AoE spells—they were as powerful as high-tier spells from others!
The AoE spells didn’t stop. Five or six AoE spells at once covered a far greater area than even high-tier spells. The magical storm was breathtaking.
Wave after wave of crystal cave-dwellers fell. The dozens of elite guards couldn’t hold out either. Even the Cave Lord took some damage from Tang Yao’s AoE spells, though its health quickly regenerated.
Watching the crystal cave-dwellers being wiped out at an astonishing rate, everyone was stunned. They had expected it to take at least four or five hours to slowly whittle them down—a massive, time-consuming process. Yet with Nie Yan’s method, the entire group was cleared within minutes.
Soon, one by one, the elite cave-dweller guards fell.
Equipment dropped everywhere, gleaming and dazzling.
When Tang Yao stopped casting AoE spells, only the Cave Lord and a few low-health elite guards remained standing.
Tang Yao then used single-target spells to finish off the remaining elite guards.
Now, only the Cave Lord remained on the battlefield—making it much easier to handle.
The team members finally realized the power of special items, and many began thinking about acquiring more such items in the future.
Special items were rare, but due to their unclear effects and value, they occasionally appeared on the market for as little as one or two gold coins. If one was lucky enough to encounter one, they should definitely buy it. Some team members regretted missing such opportunities in the past when they had seen special items at low prices but hadn’t purchased them.
Only Nie Yan could utilize a special item to such an extent.
“I’ll pull aggro. Everyone, get ready,” Nie Yan said, running toward the Cave Lord.
Cui Can Dao Guang and the others spread out and formed their formation, ready to engage the Cave Lord.
Nie Yan raised the Headless Knight Doro’s Crossbow and fired five arrows toward the Cave Lord.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The five arrows struck the Cave Lord. It roared furiously, emitting a deafening bellow like a mountain collapsing into the sea. The entire cavern trembled violently, as if it were about to collapse. Then, the Cave Lord charged toward Nie Yan with massive strides.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage