Chapter 181: Exploration Ends
Seeing that Edwin still had no reaction, Zhou Ning fixed him with a deep gaze, the corners of his lips absent of a smile.
Edwin's pupils shrank involuntarily. Even though the other man was his student and held no malice in his eyes, in the instant Zhou Ning looked at him, he felt an overwhelming sense of threat—far more terrifying than even Archibald.
"…Alright." He nodded unconsciously.
By this time, the three reawakened statues had already charged into the hall. Along with them came a fearsome gray-black monster that looked especially menacing.
It seemed a mysterious power was continuously reviving powerful undead creatures and driving them to attack all intruders.
"Cool."
Leandro, who had witnessed the whole scene, couldn't help but exclaim with genuine admiration as he saw Wayne Sturwell step forward and grip the blade of the rune sword barehanded.
In that moment, Leandro once again felt the same instinctual dread he had experienced over a month ago. Just like back then, facing Wayne felt like confronting a natural enemy—someone who could kill him at any moment. Clearly, Wayne hadn't shown his true strength during their previous fight.
Just like Edwin, Leandro sensed a danger that exceeded even that of Archibald.
"Let's go!"
Seeing the endless wave of undead flooding into the hall, Edwin realized this ruin was nothing like he had imagined—it reeked of a "Death God's" aura.
In fact, the area seemed to be under the influence of the Death God's authority. Otherwise, there couldn't be this many undead continuously resurrecting and gathering here. Creatures like Archibald shouldn't have retained their strength from life. If they lingered any longer, they could all die here.
After recovering a bit, Edwin quickly led the team in retreat, drawing the awakened statues and undead monsters away with them to buy Wayne Sturwell room to fight one-on-one.
...
Elsewhere, Archibald looked up and met Zhou Ning's eyes. Within his hollow sockets, two bright blue flames burned. Without hesitation, he swung the rune sword at Zhou Ning. In an instant, white frost condensed in the air as a cloud of freezing, translucent mist swept toward him.
Zhou Ning pulled his hat down and walked straight through the mist, unfazed. Pa! He raised his right hand and once again grabbed the rune sword squarely, completely ignoring the cuts tearing into his palm.
In his epic vampire form, his regeneration was maxed out—trading injuries meant nothing to him.
A slight smile tugged at Zhou Ning's lips. As his palm gripped the blade, a brilliant white light flared from it, surging through the rune sword. Instantly, black smoke hissed from Archibald's hand along with the sound of searing flesh.
"Ahhh!"
Archibald let out his first scream of pain and instinctively released the rune sword.
But at that moment, his supernatural powers exploded outward. A wave of layered frost slammed into Zhou Ning, forcing him back a step as ice coated his arms and body.
Dozens of translucent wraiths and spirits appeared in the air, surging toward their enemy.
Holding the rune sword he had just snatched from Archibald, Zhou Ning calmly watched the ghostly swarm. He could feel the bone-deep chill radiating from their very souls, but he didn't dodge. He waited until they were almost upon him—until countless ghostly hands reached for his body—before a layer of radiant white energy rippled across his skin.
The wave-like radiance, bright as sunlight, erupted from his body. With a crackling sound like fat sizzling in flame, every spirit that touched him was instantly reduced to ash.
At that moment, even the ever-dedicated content creator "Qingbai Wild Sake" was left stunned. Wayne Sturwell glanced at the rune sword covered in sinister patterns, clicked his tongue in disgust, and—just like his guns that appeared and vanished mid-battle—the sword disappeared from his hand as well.
Wait—did he just loot the enemy's weapon like that?
He casually tossed the rune greatsword into his inventory and launched another assault without hesitation. Leaning forward, Zhou Ning dashed ahead. However, to his surprise, Archibald's hand-to-hand combat was quite formidable. He continued summoning spirits and wraiths to attack, and although they were restrained by Zhou Ning's ripple energy, without a weapon Zhou Ning was evenly matched for the moment.
After a brief scuffle, Zhou Ning saw Archibald aim his palm at him, from which dozens of black threads suddenly shot forth—
Death's Grasp!
Zhou Ning felt himself being pulled forward uncontrollably. But instead of resisting, he used his extraordinary physique to halt himself mid-drag. Then, in a flash, he grabbed Archibald's arm and sent a surge of powerful ripple energy into it. A burning stench filled the air, and plumes of black smoke rose from Archibald's body.
Caught off guard by the sudden counterattack, dark symbols lit up in Archibald's glowing blue eyes. Reflexively, he tried to draw his sword to strike—but his hand was empty. After a moment of stunned silence, black, viscous liquid suddenly spread beneath his feet, quickly expanding across the ground.
From within the liquid, one black monster after another emerged and lunged at Zhou Ning.
Despite "Qingbai Wild Sake" and "Haicheng" dying again under the black tide, the monsters posed no threat to Zhou Ning. Any creature that touched his ripple aura was instantly burned to ashes.
Zhou Ning had no intention of letting Archibald off. He yanked him forward, clenched his fist, leaned back, and launched a devastating punch straight into Archibald's face.
Direct hit!
Archibald staggered backward, reflexively reaching for a sword that wasn't there. Zhou Ning took the opening to charge again, dragging him back and hammering him with a flurry of ripple-powered punches like a torrential rainstorm.
Massive damage numbers flooded the interface like a waterfall. After two full minutes of brutal pummeling, Archibald's life finally hit zero.
Wait a second…
Zhou Ning paused, then drew his ebony and ivory pistols and aimed the barrel at Archibald's head. Smiling faintly, he bid him farewell:
"Goodbye."
...
[You have defeated Archibald (Lv. 72 Death Knight) across levels. Your personal damage contribution: 92%. You gained 156,200 XP and 1 Legendary Point.]
[Cross-level kill bonus (15 levels): +150% XP. You gained 234,300 XP.]
[Boss defeat progress via firearms: 5/5.]
[You have earned the right to create an advanced class.]
Zhou Ning's smile faded. He glanced at Archibald's corpse—bones shattered in countless places—and noticed that the log said "defeated" instead of "killed." Could that mean… he might revive again?
Just then, another message popped up: the temple exploration quest had been settled. Edwin and the others had likely escaped the temple successfully.
[Quest "Explore the Temple" completed!]
[Explore Grand Hall — Complete]
[Explore Ritual Chamber — Complete]
[Explore Statue Hall — Complete]
[Explore Exhibit Room — Complete]
[Explore Grand Altar — Incomplete]
[Explore Underground Catacombs — Incomplete]
[Quest Rating: B]
[You gained 230,000 XP! You received Dungeon Summoning Stone: Temple of the Death God (Upper Floor) (Lv. 55–72).]
Not bad. Zhou Ning let out a long breath. Though this adventure had been dangerous and exhausting, and even forced him to use some of his trump cards, the payoff was substantial. A point of Legendary fame—something money couldn't buy—was well worth it.
A definite profit.
Zhou Ning looked at the two players who had just been killed in the black tide and then revived. He casually crafted an exploration quest with a hefty reward just for them. Their performance had been solid—worth cultivating. Since he got the lion's share, he figured they could at least get some scraps.
The quest had no requirements and could be turned in instantly. This left Qingbai Wild Sake and Haicheng ecstatic and only strengthened their resolve to stick with him.
After giving the rewards, Zhou Ning seriously debated whether to continue exploring. But after thinking it through, he decided to play it safe. If the upper floor of the Temple of the Death God was already at level 72, the lower floor would only be more dangerous.
Better to quit while ahead—and return once he was strong enough.