"Puchi!"
A sword pierced through Gu Ke Wu Ming's armor, passing through his heart bathed in bloody light. In the next second, Gu Ke Wu Ming performed a blood bar disappearance technique. Although as a high-tier sword cultivator his blood bar was very long, under Lin Zhao's sword, it was instantly gone—
"32767!"
"138615!"
...
Two damage numbers. The 30,000+ was the damage from Qian Kun Yi Zhi, while the 130,000+ was the 15 times normal damage effect of Zhu Ri Zhe Yi Ji. This indicated that Lin Zhao's basic attack damage to Gu Ke Wu Ming was around 9,000+, which was quite good. Even without Zhu Ri Zhe Yi Ji, a set of skills would have been enough to take down Gu Ke Wu Ming.
"Huala~~~"
Gu Ke Wu Ming's body turned into white light in mid-air, and then exploded into a pile of loot. Among them were seven True Martial Scrolls. Gu Ke Wu Ming was a player from the Demon race faction and had been hunting Human race players with his sword on the Stone of Destiny map, so his spoils were also plentiful, second only to Lin Zhao. He would definitely be able to summon the ultimate boss within 48 hours.
Unfortunately, that was no longer the case, as he had run into Lin Zhao.
"Hoo..."
Lin Zhao collected all the True Martial Scrolls and took a deep breath. Although Gu Ke Wu Ming didn't drop any equipment, he did hand over the True Martial Scrolls and Divine Contract Pages, which was still good. This would significantly delay his next summoning of the ultimate boss. Lin Zhao was very interested in the ultimate loot of the Stone of Destiny map. The number of players in the national server who could truly solo the ultimate boss was extremely limited. Gu Ke Wu Ming might have been one of them. Killing Gu Ke Wu Ming was buying himself time.
It was time to find a place to summon the ultimate boss.
Lin Zhao landed gracefully, inadvertently stepping into a quicksand vortex and being teleported. He then continued to trigger traps, trying to find a small,雷-free zone. It took him nearly 20 minutes to finally find a safe area of 100x100 yards. He then shared the total of 16 True Martial Scrolls in his inventory with the studio channel, saying, "I'm going to start the attempt."
"Ah?!"
Shen Xingchen was stunned. "So fast!"
"Too fast..."
Chen Xue said, "I've only just collected 3 True Martial Scrolls."
Ding Chi laughed, "Do you have confidence?"
"I don't know."
Lin Zhao smiled, "I haven't fought it before, so I'll just try summoning it and see."
Luo Man chuckled, "Brother, good luck, you'll definitely win!"
Mo Chenxue also whispered, "Yes, victory, in one go!"
Chen Xue smiled, "Alright, you focus on the strategy, don't worry about us."
"Okay."
...
Lin Zhao took another deep breath and confirmed the use of the True Martial Scrolls. Instantly, 10 of the scrolls "swished" and transformed into golden light, condensing in the air ahead. The sky and earth suddenly changed color, and a humming sound filled the air. Lin Zhao frowned as he looked ahead, sensing the vibration of an extremely powerful aura. Was it the legendary Human Emperor Wang Chong?
Within the golden ripples in the air, Lin Zhao seemed to see a figure, clad in armor with a cape fluttering in the wind. The aura was terrifying, almost suppressing the entire world. The surrounding desert landscape was constantly distorting and deforming. Before even making a move, such celestial phenomena appeared. What kind of realm was this? The fourteenth realm, or perhaps... the legendary fifteenth realm?
Not long after, the boundary slowly closed. The person smiled slightly, and a projection descended upon the mortal world. The aura immediately weakened considerably. Then, in the next second, Lin Zhao's body was pulled by the formation's power, and he was instantly teleported into a magnificent and resplendent palace. He had overthought it; when challenging a boss, one would be teleported to a dedicated map, so there was no need to scout for safe spots on the Stone of Destiny map.
A bell sound echoed through the sky above the system's main city—
"Ding!"
System Announcement: Congratulations to player [Bai Yi] for successfully summoning [Human Emperor Wang Chong - Projection] (Ghost God Level Boss). After defeating the Boss, you will definitely obtain the supreme treasure [Stone of Destiny] (Immortal Grade)!
...
"It's summoned already?"
In a corner of the Stone of Destiny map, Su Xinghe had just killed a Golden Sand Scorpion. Looking at his inventory, he had a total of 6 True Martial Scrolls, still a long way to go. According to the rules of the Stone of Destiny map, once a player defeated the final boss, the map would be closed, meaning everyone was essentially paving the way for the first player to conquer it.
The rules of this map were truly unreasonable.
In another corner of the map, Leng Yan slowly withdrew his long sword from the head of a Wolf King, flicked his wrist to shake off the blood, and smiled as he looked at the sky. As expected of him, he had gathered ten True Martial Scrolls so quickly. Would he succeed on his first try? If so, he wouldn't even have a chance to farm monsters.
Hurry up and farm monsters!
Further away, Yi Shi Cang Liang stood on his flying sword. With a dive attack, he felled a Golden Sand Scorpion. After picking up a Divine Contract Page, he looked at the sky and laughed, "As expected of my brother Lin Zhao, so fast!"
On the large Stone of Destiny map, at this moment, everyone looked up at the sky.
...
Inside the palace.
Lin Zhao held his breath, not daring to make a sound. Directly in front of him, the boss, clad in armor and exuding a killing aura, held a gleaming long sword. This sword made Lin Zhao feel a sense of trance. He felt that this sword should not be here. The blade of the sword was engraved with the sun, moon, and stars on one side, and mountains, rivers, plants, and trees on the other. The divine power it contained was immense. It was a true divine sword that could slay demons and vanquish devils, a sword of kingship.
Xuanyuan Sword?
A name surfaced in his mind, but it didn't seem quite right. If the Xuanyuan Sword truly existed in the background story he was in, it should at least be among the Ten Great Famous Swords. However, in "Tian Xia," the Ten Great Famous Swords included the Dragon Slaying Sword, the Bookworm Sword, and the Fu Su Sword, but no Xuanyuan Sword. Perhaps the other party was a summoner from another dimension, giving away equipment?!
The thought made his heart pound. However, upon seeing the boss's introduction, his heart sank considerably. The gap was too vast; he couldn't see any attributes at all—
[Human Emperor Wang Chong - Projection] (Ghost God Level Boss)
Level: 150
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
Health: ???
Skills: [Great Yin-Yang Heaven and Earth Creation Technique] [All Beings Ghost God Annihilation Art]
Biography: Human Emperor Wang Chong, known as the God of Slaughter. He practiced martial arts from a young age. After joining the army, his military achievements were outstanding. In his first battle, he decisively defeated the Mongol-Ural allied forces and was enfeoffed as the Young Marquis. He then won battle after battle, achieving numerous unprecedented military exploits, and eventually ascended to the Upper Realm, where he holds a divine position in the Sea of Heavens. Tired of the endless wars, he descended a projection to the mortal realm to find a new master for his supreme treasure, the Stone of Destiny.
...
While the specific attributes were hidden, this Ghost God level boss was level 150. Although it only had two skills, their names sounded incredibly powerful. Listen to the names: All Beings Ghost God Annihilation Art. It's not as good as your Farmer's Three Punches or your Sword Qi Cage, is it? So, Lin Zhao was a little intimidated.
"Fight?"
Human Emperor Wang Chong slowly raised the Xuanyuan Sword in his hand, a smile curling on his lips. "Those who fear battle, begone!"
"..."
Lin Zhao frowned. Even if you're strong, can't you at least be polite? So, he slowly drew Li Quan and said with a smile, "Why not fight?"
"Excellent."
Human Emperor Wang Chong's divine power surged. He immediately thrust out the Xuanyuan Sword, and streaks of Yin-Yang creation light appeared. Even with Lin Zhao's Illusory Armor, Enlightenment, and Sword Qi Bodyguard skills fully active, he still felt a chill. In the next moment, his health bar dropped by 35%. He quickly used a Sword Draw Slash to evade, and Li Quan, imbued with the power of Ascending Dragon Slash + Sweeping Thousand Armies + Qian Kun Yi Zhi, struck the opponent, sending him flying into the air.
However, amidst the clanging sparks of the sword strikes, the armor worn by the opponent seemed extraordinary. Lin Zhao's entire combo only managed to chip away less than 10,000 health from the opponent. His basic attacks on this Human Emperor only dealt a meager 1,000+ damage. How could he possibly fight this?
"All beings, ghost gods, all annihilated!"
Human Emperor Wang Chong suddenly raised an arm, and the entire hall instantly dimmed. Streams of power that destroyed life and death surged, and Lin Zhao's health bar dropped rapidly. Relying solely on life steal from attacks was clearly not enough.
It's no good, I can't fight!
He made a decisive decision and activated his invincibility skill, simultaneously crushing a town scroll.
Let's go, let's go. With the current attributes, I can't win.
...
"Swish!"
Lin Zhao's figure reappeared in Bai Di City. However, he wasn't too dejected. Everything was within expectations. If a Ghost God level boss could be soloed so easily, then this game would probably be at its end. Therefore, in Lin Zhao's view, the "Stone of Destiny" map was designed to be a long-term map, intended to "recycle" players' charm points and make the top players fight fiercely on this map to enhance the dominance of "Tian Xia" in the national gaming scene. This game already occupied 88% of the market, but it seemed the game developers were still not satisfied, aiming for the legendary 100% and leaving no room for others.
"What's wrong?"
Shen Xingchen said in the studio channel, "Did you fail?"
"Yes, I couldn't win. The boss's armor is too high, and my attacks can't penetrate its defense."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "I'm not staying up late tonight. I plan to get a good night's sleep. Are you guys going to stay up to play?"
"No."
Chen Xue said, "Changed my mind. If even you can't break its defense, there's no need for us to rush. Shall we all log off and rest well?"
"Alright!"
Everyone logged off, had a late-night snack, and then slept soundly.
...
Early morning.
Yan City, the headquarters of "Tian Xia" in the Huaxia region.
A young man in a suit stood in front of a massive holographic projection, watching the in-game footage. He couldn't help but smile. Suddenly, he stood up and heavily slapped the table, exclaiming, "Didn't I tell you? The difficulty of this map is set to SSS-grade. Even Lin Baiyi of Xue Yu Tian Chi can't conquer it. Tomorrow, tell the few board members to relax. The direct profits and attention revenue from this Stone of Destiny map will continue to grow. Tell them to rest assured, and their investment in this map will ultimately be very profitable."
"Hmph!"
A middle-aged man smiled faintly. "Alright, everyone can go back and rest."