In a very short span of time, ten corpses that had already been corpses lay on the ground, and the bodies sprawled across it added several more degrees of horror to an already grim place. Before coming here Ye Tianxie had assumed he would be facing traps and monsters of one kind or another; it had never occurred to him that what would greet him were the members of the Heaven Soul mercenary corps themselves.

From one, to two, to three, to four… the difficulty had multiplied with every wave, and Ye Tianxie had begun to sneer at the System’s recommendation of a level-20 party. The final enemy had not yet appeared, and already the strength of the enemies here exceeded anything ordinary level-20 players could handle. To beat these Elites — far more terrifying than ordinary 3-star Elites — would, in his view, take a full party of level-25 players across every class… and they would have to be experts among players.

Of the original thirteen coffins, three remained. At the center stood the striking golden coffin, and to its left and right lay the last two silver coffins, their lids still unopened.

Last time it had been four 3-star Elites… so what about this time…

When the sound of a coffin lid being pushed open came again, Ye Tianxie’s brow furrowed slightly — because this time only the two silver coffins opened, and not the one gold and two silver he had pictured opening together.

The quest’s progression would only grow harder, so this time… could it really be just two 3-star Elites?

Certainly not.

These two silver coffins were the ones nearest the golden coffin… they had to be special in some way.

When the two figures in full silver hauled their heavy, death-wreathed bodies clear of the coffins, Ye Tianxie knew his judgment had not been wrong in the slightest.

One still wore silver armor and carried a silver longsword… but the silver armor on his body looked heavier than the earlier warriors’, and sealed him in more tightly; heavy plate covered him from head to foot, and apart from a pair of exposed eyes there was hardly any bare place to find. And his left hand held up a broad shield wide enough to hide half his body.

The other was deathly pale and, setting aside that horrifying air of death, rather delicate-looking. He wore a long silver robe with a grey-white aura drifting through the silver, embroidered with complex, twisting magical patterns — clearly a fine magic robe. And the long staff in his hand gave away his class…

Qi Zhen: Level 20 Lord BOSS, HP 33,000. The “Immovable Soul” who always charged at the very front of the Heaven Soul mercenary corps, possessing unparalleled defensive ability and serving as the corps’ indispensable wall of protection. Died in the Demon-Sealing Battle a hundred years ago; now possessed by demonic energy from the Tower of Fate, which has generated a degree of demonized consciousness, his dead body carrying a small portion of the will and abilities he held in life. Talent: fears no death-attribute attack; automatically recovers 100 HP per second. Skills — Mass Taunt: effect identical to the Guardian’s Mass Taunt. Spirit Taunt: a high-grade single-target taunt able to agitate the depths of a target’s spirit to an extreme degree. The taunted target has a very high probability of falling into a state of rage it cannot pull itself out of, launching a reckless, frenzied attack on the one who cast the taunt. Immovable Wall: the Immovable Soul’s high-grade guardian technique. Once used, the self becomes as steady as a mountain, wholly immune to all knockback, knockdown and knock-fly effects; own Defense +15%, movement speed −30%. Activates after being subjected to three or more knockback, knockdown or knock-fly effects. Berserk Shield Bash: an advanced form of the Guardian’s Heavy Shield Bash. Gathers the strength of the whole body to slam the shield into every enemy in a small area ahead. Damage equal to 80% of a normal attack, 50% chance to trigger knockback or knockdown, 50% chance to inflict a 2–4 second stun. Cooldown 5 seconds; very high activation frequency. Ultimate — Sacred Fire: burns the Guardian’s own soul to raise a sacred fire of protection over himself and every companion around him. For 1 minute after use, his own and all nearby companions’ Defense +30% and maximum HP +50%. Cooldown three minutes; very low activation frequency. Weakness: fears all Light- and Life-attribute skills.

Mo Yan: Level 20 Lord BOSS, HP 14,000. The “Holy Word Soul” of the Heaven Soul mercenary corps, the corps’ ever-indispensable spiritual backbone, possessing extremely strong healing and support ability. Died in the Demon-Sealing Battle a hundred years ago; now possessed by demonic energy from the Tower of Fate, which has generated a degree of demonized consciousness, his dead body carrying a small portion of the will and abilities he held in life. Talent: Undead Body — a body already dead; all death-attribute attacks are entirely ineffective; automatically recovers 100 MP per second. Skills — Blink: instantly moves the caster to any position within a three-meter radius. Costs 60 MP; cooldown three seconds. Undead Healing: a high-grade healing technique mutated under the corrosion of demonic energy, able to heal a self and companions who have become undead. Restores 3,000 HP to the caster and nearby companions. Costs 150 MP; cooldown 5 seconds. Undead Holy Shield: a high-grade holy-shield technique mutated under the corrosion of demonic energy; summons an undead shield to guard the caster and nearby companions. A target holding the shield negates 70% of the damage of the next attack. Single use only. Costs 70 MP; cooldown 5 seconds. Undead Blessing: a high-grade blessing technique mutated under the corrosion of demonic energy. On use, the caster’s and all nearby companions’ attack power, defense, accuracy and evasion all rise by 20% for 3 minutes. Costs 220 MP; no cooldown. Undead Resurrection: a high-grade resurrection technique mutated under the corrosion of demonic energy; can revive undead companions who have lost their demonized consciousness and restore 30% of their HP. Costs 600 MP; cooldown 3 minutes. Weakness: fears all Light- and Life-attribute skills.

This time there were only two of them. But they were no longer 3-star Elites as before — they were two… Lord BOSSes!!

Had these been two Lord BOSSes on par with ordinary Lord BOSSes, Ye Tianxie might have been briefly surprised but would have thought little of it. But when he saw clearly every skill and description belonging to this “Immovable Soul” and “Holy Word Soul,” he drew a private breath of cold air.

Almost without hesitation he moved like lightning, and before either of them had begun to act he leveled the Hour of Fate and charged the Holy Word Soul with its terrifying support abilities.

Both were Level 20 Lord BOSSes, but the Immovable Soul had over thirty thousand HP while the Holy Word Soul had only fourteen thousand. As a Guardian with powerful protective ability, the Immovable Soul’s attack power was comparatively feeble — visible from his skills alone — and the Holy Word Soul had no attack skills whatsoever… Facing either one alone would have required no effort worth the name. Given the guardian soul’s HP and defense, killing him would only take a little longer, and his low attack power made him less of a threat than a Lord BOSS of the same level; while facing the purely supportive Holy Word Soul alone required no pressure to speak of at all…

But the two of them appearing together made for a rather terrifying combination.

In the instant Ye Tianxie attacked the Holy Word Soul, those dead-fish eyes turned toward him, and in the moment their eyes met, Ye Tianxie saw a dim glimmer in his pupils… and that glimmer stirred something faintly in him.

BAM!

The Dragon Rend Slash cut through the afterimage the Holy Word Soul left behind and slammed hard into the ground, while the Holy Word Soul appeared two meters off to his right, the staff in his hand blazing with grey-white light as a broad sheet of it poured down from above and covered both his own body and the Immovable Soul’s.

They didn’t merely have greater strength; they had a more mature consciousness. They no longer knew nothing but attacking.

Under Undead Blessing, haloes marking four raised attributes rose from both of them at once, and in the moment Ye Tianxie turned back, an enormous shield was already slamming toward his body.

The instant that heavy wind rose behind him, Ye Tianxie already knew what was there. As he turned he threw his body into a sideways leap, narrowly clearing the Immovable Soul’s Berserk Shield Bash, then spun back at speed and brought a Dragon Rend Slash down overhead.

-863!

The Immovable Soul’s defensive ability was every bit as formidable as imagined; a double-damage Dragon Rend Slash raised a damage figure on him that didn’t even break a thousand. Ye Tianxie frowned inwardly — and just then an indescribable, bizarre sound issued from the guardian soul’s mouth, jabbing sharply at Ye Tianxie’s ears and setting the strings of his spirit shaking violently.

He looked up and met the Immovable Soul’s eyes, which seemed set into the armor itself — eyes that seemed to hold the greatest and most unbearable contempt, mockery and disdain in the world… An unstoppable fire of rage flared up in Ye Tianxie’s heart, a fire that nearly drowned his mind and his whole body, flames that seemed liable to burst at any moment and blow his body apart along with them.

Without his noticing, a berserk pale red had entered Ye Tianxie’s eyes. He gave a low roar, raised the Hour of Fate high, and charged the Immovable Soul like an enraged, starving wolf.

-840, -838, -851…

-251, -255, -239…

Dragon Rend Slash fell overhead again and again, and against his powerful base attack the Immovable Soul’s health bar drained slowly. And the Immovable Soul’s attacks landed on Ye Tianxie again and again… Ye Tianxie was making no use whatsoever of his terrifying talent stats now, having lost every instinct for evasion. It was as though he faced an enemy he could not live beneath the same sky as, wanting only to tear him utterly apart with the most savage attacks at the greatest speed, without a thought spared for anything else.

(End of Chapter 172)