"Huh?"
Li Canghai paused slightly, "You... you're going to the eighth floor?"
"Mmm."
Lin Zhao nodded, "The monsters on the seventh floor haven't moved much, and there's still one boss left. Your Azure Knights have more people, so we'll have to move. We'll go fight the tougher monsters on the eighth floor."
Li Canghai's brow furrowed, and he said, "On the sixth floor, Prosperous Peony is concentrating their forces to break through the gate. Our Azure Knights are struggling to hold them back. Besides, when we formed our alliance, we had a mutual defense pact. How about this... Alliance Leader Baiyi, why don't you lead your Scarlet Moon Knights' elites down to the sixth floor and hold back the Prosperous Peony's assault at the entrance? With your strength... you can definitely hold your ground."
"..."
Lin Zhao frowned. As expected, this Li Canghai was as greedy as a wolf and as cunning as a fox, truly a master of human affairs.
"Isn't that a bit much?"
Chen Xue stepped forward, holding her great rock spear, and smiled, "It's not that our Scarlet Moon Knights are unwilling to help the Alliance Leader, but we're just too few. Ten people, how can we possibly fight against Prosperous Peony's thousands of players? Our previous encounters with Prosperous Peony were mostly small-scale ambushes. If it comes to a head-on battle, it would still be the Azure Knights!"
"Indeed."
Lin Zhao smiled, "Alliance Leader Li Canghai asking us few people to hold back Prosperous Peony is like sending us to our deaths. Forget it, forget it. When two tigers fight, our Scarlet Moon Knights are like rabbits; of course, the further we run, the better."
He then raised his brow and said, "Scarlet Moon Knights, to the eighth floor, quickly!"
"Yes, boss!"
Ding Chi and Chen Xue led their people away. The entrance to the eighth floor had been found, and it wasn't too far. After all, the higher you go, the smaller the map becomes. By the ninth floor, the map would probably be the size of a football field.
Lin Zhao walked at the rear, covering the others. His Azure Spring Sword hung low, and he wore a gentle smile when looking at Li Canghai. In reality, his flying sword, Bright Moon, had already flown out of the Sword Containment Lake and was about to burst forth from his acupoints, ready to launch a fatal blow against Li Canghai. If a fight were to break out, Lin Zhao couldn't guarantee victory, but he was certain he could kill Li Canghai!
As Lin Zhao slowly departed, Li Canghai's heart was filled with unease. Sending Lin Zhao and his group to the eighth floor meant all the resources there should rightfully belong to the Azure Knights! However, Li Canghai hesitated to make a move for two reasons. First, he had too few people with him. Only 20 people had reached the seventh floor so far. While he and Bu Su Li Ren and a few others were quite formidable, could they truly defeat the ten-person team of the Scarlet Moon Knights led by Baiyi and Xue Qiancheng? After all, Yu Jin, Rong Xing, and Lu Li had all been famous figures on the Cloud-Soaring County level rankings before.
Second, the Azure Knights had deployed over 700 people to block the entrance on the sixth floor, attempting to trap all of Prosperous Peony's players on the fifth floor. One could imagine how furious the Ghost King must be at this moment. The determination and strength of Prosperous Peony to break through the gate would be unimaginable. The Azure Knights were already struggling to hold them back, and now they had to divert attention to eliminate the Scarlet Moon Knights, which could easily lead to their downfall.
Therefore, Li Canghai dared not act rashly. He could only endure for a while longer, waiting for his people to explore as much of the seventh floor map as possible, to acquire more skill books like "Universe Throw," "Reinforced Meteor," and "Group Heal." Ideally, they could find a "Eight Gates Lock Formation" skill book, which their formation master could learn and use, and then they would have a chance to win against the Scarlet Moon Knights!
He frowned, and in an instant, felt that everything was within his grasp.
...
Eighth Floor. The moment Lin Zhao stepped onto the eighth floor, a chime sounded in his ears—
"Ding!"
System prompt: You have entered the map [Chaos Temple Seventh Floor]. This map currently has 3 bosses (Dark Gold tier), 5 copies of [Universe Throw], 5 copies of [Group Heal], 5 copies of [Reinforced Meteor], and 5 copies of [Eight Gates Lock Formation] skill books carried by random monsters. They will drop upon defeat!
...
The resources on the eighth floor were similar to the seventh floor, with just one additional boss. However, the eighth floor map was smaller, and the monster density was relatively lower, so the drop rate for skill books would be slightly higher.
Lin Zhao glanced at his level. He was just a sliver away from level 51. The experience gained from leveling while fighting monsters and bosses in the Chaos Temple was indeed quite fast. He walked directly to Chen Xue and handed her all the items dropped by the boss, saying, "Ah Xue, distribute the equipment. I'm going to level up; time is pressing."
"Mmm."
Chen Xue shared the spoils from the seventh floor one by one in the party chat. Unfortunately, their luck wasn't great this time; no Dark Gold items dropped. They only got a Gold tier dagger for Mo Yin, and a Gold tier armor boots for Zhang Jun, who won the roll. The rest were Silver tier items, distributed casually. Afterward, there was even a copy of "Universe Throw," which was given to Luo Man. With this, all the heavy armor players in the Scarlet Moon Knights had learned "Universe Throw," significantly increasing their combat power.
The monsters on the eighth floor were higher level, 58 Dark Gold tier monsters, with a chance to drop Dark Gold equipment and even more valuable skill books. Currently, skill books like "Universe Throw," "Reinforced Meteor," and "Eight Gates Lock Formation" could sell for exorbitant prices in the auction house. After all, only a few dozen copies of these books dropped in the entire Chaos Temple, but the demand in Cloud-Soaring County was at least in the millions, if not more.
In less than ten minutes, a golden shower of light descended from the sky. He had leveled up to 51.
Since he had officially changed his class, Lin Zhao clearly felt that his leveling speed had slowed down considerably. He had been grinding intensely since noon, and now, approaching five o'clock, he had already killed two Dark Gold tier bosses. Yet, he had only managed to reach level 51 with great difficulty. This illustrated how exponentially the experience required for leveling had increased.
"You guys go ahead and fight."
Chen Xue glanced at Lin Zhao's monster-killing scene in the distance, her heart filled with joy. She could also gain experience by following along. This feeling of being an experience battery was still so good. She turned and grabbed her spear to search for the eighth-floor boss. If possible, they should defeat the boss quickly and move to the ninth floor. Li Canghai's group was not to be trifled with and could turn hostile at any moment.
"Lin Zhao."
A short while later, Chen Xue said, "Sister Juzi messaged me asking if we're logging off for dinner. What do you say?"
"Don't rush yet."
Lin Zhao, while killing monsters, thought for a moment and replied, "Tell Sister Juzi we'll log off for dinner around six. Ask her to cook a little less; we'll be quick."
"Mmm, okay~~~"
...
In less than half an hour, Lin Zhao had already dropped two books: one "Reinforced Meteor" and one "Universe Throw." Qing Ning had recently dropped a "Reinforced Meteor" herself, so these two books didn't need to be handed over to the guild. They could be put up for auction when they returned to Cloud-Soaring County. Only by selling them could he continue to nurture his flying sword. The daily consumption of 20,000 general currency felt like a heavy stone pressing on Lin Zhao's heart, making him weary. He had to earn more money, or his mental state would become unstable.
After a while longer, Chen Xue said in the party chat, "The coordinates of the three bosses, and the entrance to the ninth floor, have all been found. I've marked them on the map. What do you say? Should we fight the bosses, or go to the ninth floor?"
"It's almost time for dinner."
Lin Zhao checked the time, "Let's fight one boss, then go to the ninth floor. Clear out an area before logging off?"
"Deal!"
Chen Xue chose a level 58 melee boss as their target. It was a general wielding a blood-red spear, clad in blood-colored armor, looking down at everyone with an air of supreme arrogance. After about 12 minutes, the battle ended with Lin Zhao and his group beating him down, dropping a pile of gold coins and equipment.
This time, their luck was decent. A level 50 Dark Gold tier dagger dropped, which Mo Yin took again. It was so satisfying to get exactly what he needed, making Ding Chi, Zhang Jun, and Rong Xing's faces turn green.
Afterward, a Gold tier leather chest armor dropped, which "Monster Who Loves to Eat People" rolled and took, making him ecstatic. Following that were a few Silver tier items, distributed casually.
...
"Let's go to the ninth floor!"
Lin Zhao, holding the Azure Spring Sword, walked at the forefront, frowning as he stepped into the ninth-floor map.
"Whoosh~~~"
A sharp gust of wind met him. When he opened his eyes, he found that there were no monsters on the ninth floor. Only one boss was chained up, with his arms and legs bound. Clad in golden, flowing armor, he knelt quietly in the center of an altar. Four thick iron chains bound his limbs, connecting to giant pillars around the hall. Four thinner chains passed through his clavicle and other bones, locking them and connecting to the hilt of a massive sword embedded in the rock behind him.
In the spot where this person knelt, blood-red runes were carved into the earth, as if the entire Chaos Temple was a grand formation sealing this person.
And above this person's head, a blood-red ID floated—
Chaos Sword God, Jian Chen.
...
"What's wrong?"
Behind him, Chen Xue also stepped onto the ninth floor, pushing Lin Zhao forward a few steps. Her beautiful eyes landed on the man chained in the center of the hall, and she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "This person's aura... he looks like a protagonist!"
"Mmm..."
Lin Zhao smiled and nodded, "But not here."
"Right!"
Ding Chi raised his hand, drawing his sword, "Kill him!"
"Don't rush."
The next second, Lin Zhao read the introduction of this man, known as the "Chaos Sword God," and shared it directly in the party channel—
[Chaos Sword God · Jian Chen] (Molten Gold tier boss)
Level: 60
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
Health: ???
Skills: ???
Introduction: Chaos Sword God, a generation's sword dao king, traversed the eight directions and swept through the four seas. However, in his twilight years, he delved too deeply into the pursuit of the ultimate sword dao and descended into the demonic path. Upon realizing his own mental state's gradual corruption, Jian Chen decided to seal himself, locking himself away in this Chaos Temple, far from the mortal world. As long as the power within him was sealed, he would not harm humanity. Now, after tens of thousands of years of decay, Jian Chen's power is almost depleted, yet he still emanates demonic energy. He is no longer the supreme being of the human world he once was.
...
"Please note a detail."
Chen Xue pursed her red lips, "This is Molten Gold tier, no longer a Dark Gold tier boss."