Calamity Messenger

Chapter 331 - 267: Tombstone Mountain Secret Realm (Part 2)

As soon as the idea came to him, ’Ye Si’ equipped the Fire-Controlling Bracelet to ignite the fire paper and slashed into the spider web, which indeed caught fire. Soon, the entire clearing was ablaze, and the spider web was quite resistant to burning, lasting a full five minutes. The Corpse Ghosts endured the burning damage and were cleared out by Yan Qing before the flames extinguished.

It looked simple, and indeed wasn’t very difficult. The only challenge of the fire attack strategy was that players themselves also incur burning damage. However, Yan Qing wasn’t concerned about the cost, having plenty of money and blue resources.

Yan Qing was quite surprised that the small monsters didn’t drop any loot, not even a single Spiritual Jade! But once he found the treasure chest under the Tombstone Tree, he immediately understood that this dungeon might be the most local-friendly Secret Realm—the majority of rewards were gathered in the treasure chest.

The chest was bursting with Spiritual Jade and Blood Replenishing Pills, and besides that, there were items like ’roast chicken,’ ’bacon,’ ’braised pork rice,’ and other foods, making Yan Qing feel the creator’s nastiness... Whatever, leave it to the alt characters for healing.

Even having only cleared the front forest, the chest unlocked a Second-Turn Messenger Mask:

"Yaksha Mask"

"Grade: Second-Turn Rare"

"Required Conditions: 10 points of Qi Blood, 15 points of Spiritual Soul"

"Effect·Yaksha Bodyguard: At the moment of being attacked, summon Yaksha to help resist damage. Each point of Spiritual Power can offset 30 points of damage, consuming at least 1 point to trigger, up to 10 points. This item can work simultaneously with other defensive tokens."

"Effect·Yaksha Possession: Continuously wearing the Yaksha Mask will gradually grow your Spiritual Soul, your hands will grow sharp claws, and your attacks might transfer to other targets."

"Evaluation: To live better, sometimes people change beyond recognition."

The defensive effect of the Yaksha Mask is not outstanding. Compared to something like the Heart-Protecting Mirror, which has a high total defense barrier, it can only withstand 300 points of damage at a time. Any attack exceeding 300 points will inevitably cause damage, no matter how much Spiritual Power there is. The margin for error is too low. If there’s a choice, the messenger will certainly opt for larger defensive tokens.

But the Yaksha Mask is great in that it doesn’t need to be your main defensive token. It can be a third option! The Bodhisattva Pendant merely increases defense damage reduction, like flirting at the edges, whereas the Yaksha Mask substantively stacks with other defensive tokens. It may not be suitable as a primary, but as a third choice, it’s practically perfect, no need to hesitate—equip it!

Entering the Middle Forest, upon triggering the Demon revival, Yan Qing feels suddenly enlightened.

Five "Demon Sect Outcast Corpses," and one "Demon Sect Elder Corpse," are elite monsters!

The ground is still covered with webs. After igniting the area, ’Ye Si’ first dealt with the five Demon Sect Outcast Corpses, then turned and ran, deliberately luring the Elder Corpse Ghost out of the fire zone.

Yan Qing set a peculiar command for ’Ye Si’: Stand still, automatically replenish Spiritual Power to repair defense barriers, obediently endure the Elder Corpse Ghost’s attacks!

He returned to the character interface and chose to log in ’Yan Shiyi.’

’Yan Shiyi’ was still near the Secret Realm’s entrance and hadn’t followed ’Ye Si’ deeper in. By the time he reached the Middle Forest, ’Ye Si’ had already been scratched twenty times by the Elder Corpse Ghost.

The Elder Corpse Ghost is a Third-Turn Elite Demon, with strength roughly around level 35, each normal attack dealing several hundred points of damage. In just that short time, ’Ye Si’ consumed hundreds to thousands of points of Spiritual Power, like turning on a faucet.

However, this Spiritual Jade cost is akin to drizzle for Yan Qing now. ’Yan Shiyi’ grasped the Seven Steps Chant and approached the Elder Corpse Ghost, slashing with a sword.

The Elder Corpse Ghost’s health bar dropped a little. More importantly, its Karmic Force bar was revealed!

Indeed, a Buddhist Sect token can also liberate the Secret Realm’s Corpse Ghost!

With ’Yan Shiyi’ fervently slashing, the Karmic Force bar gradually dwindled, and system prompts quickly popped up:

"You have comprehended ’Basic Swordsmanship,’ current level 1"

"Your Qi Blood increased by 0.1"

"Your Spiritual Soul increased by 0.5"

"Your Dexterity increased by 1"

"You have leveled up to level 2!"

"You have comprehended ’Basic Swordsmanship,’ current level 2"

"You have comprehended..."

When only 13% of the Elder Corpse Ghost’s Karmic Force bar remained, ’Yan Shiyi’s Basic Swordsmanship stubbornly leveled up to 10, directly auto-transitioning into the hidden profession Martial Arts Messenger!

That’s right, ’Yan Shiyi’ is a level 1 alt character, and Yan Qing has hardly invested any talents in him, with bizarre stats like 505, 5 points in Qi Blood and 5 points in Dexterity, without adding 1 point in insight, dubbed clueless, quite a pair with Ye Si.

The reason for this setup is to suppress ’Yan Shiyi’s leveling speed. Unfortunately, it still accidentally leveled up during battle and transitioned.

As the Karmic Force bar and health points cleared one after another, the Elder Corpse Ghost turned to ashes and dissipated. Finally, the game popped up Yan Qing’s eagerly awaited information:

"You have liberated an Eternal Sinner."

"In this battle, you successfully liberated an Eternal Sinner with a challenge level > 20, your total contribution was 67%, exceeding the 50% doubling line but not reaching the 75% champion line."

"You absorbed 4 points of Celestial Calamity Karmic Force!"

"You have comprehended ’Advanced Swordsmanship,’ current level 3"

"Your Qi Blood increased by 0.5"

"Your Spiritual Soul increased by 0.5"

"Your Dexterity increased by 1"

"You have leveled up to level 12!"

points of Celestial Calamity Karmic Force!

Just in this short moment, ’Yan Shiyi’ acquired more Celestial Calamity Karmic Force than the ’Rabbit Heroine’ did in three BOSS encounters!

His Celestial Calamity Karmic Force has now climbed to 15 points.

This is why Yan Qing tries to suppress ’Yan Shiyi’s level. The greater the level difference between enemies and allies, the more Celestial Calamity Karmic Force is rewarded!

If not for ’Ye Si’ enduring the beating and igniting the spider web area, taking away 33% of contribution, ’Yan Shiyi’ could have earned even more Celestial Calamity Karmic Force!

Looking at the place where the Elder Corpse Ghost vanished, Yan Qing felt this time was a loss. Due to the dungeon’s mechanism, monsters in this instance don’t drop loot. Even liberating the elite monster won’t result in a big bounty.

The treasure chest after the Middle Forest rewarded not just the Yaksha Mask but also the Yaksha Long Spear, though it’s just at the Third Transformation Ordinary Level. Tomorrow, it’ll be given to Pharmacist’s Wish to deal with it.

Reaching the Rear Forest, a massive spider nest appeared in the clearing, with a crystal-clear cocoon inside, vaguely visible with the graceful form of a maiden.

However, unlike before, ’Ye Si’ climbed onto the tombstone to observe the battle, with Yan Qing fully focused on controlling ’Yan Shiyi.’

That’s right, what Yan Qing is going to do next is to leap 20 levels and, with First Transition Cultivation, solo the Demon King of the Third-Turn Secret Realm!

The mechanician’s strength is enough to erase the disparity in body power!

As ’Yan Shiyi’ stepped into the area, the spider nest began to tremble, and the maiden in the cocoon softly called out a name: "Fu Xiang... Fu Xiang..."

The spider nest shattered, the cocoon completely cracked, but inside was empty, with no one there. Only lingering white mist emerged from within, weaving the surrounding spider silk into the form of a maiden. As the mist merged with the spider silk, the Spider Silk Lady emitted a sob, launching the BOSS battle!

"Spider Silk Corpse Spirit - Saintess Echo"!

’Yan Shiyi’ slashed with a sword, triggering the Karmic Force bar!

The Spider Silk Lady unleashed a range attack, a wide white silk sweep, bursting the outermost layer of ’Yan Shiyi’s Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror!

Perfect, Yan Qing has thoroughly grasped the data between the enemy and allies. Now comes the real operation—

Run away!