Chapter 153: Hanguang Sword

Standing dumbfounded at the sudden radiance enveloping my body, I watched as the old man looked utterly exhausted, beads of sweat slowly trickling down his wrinkled face.

"Ding~!"

System Prompt: You have received the Prophet's Blessing. All basic attributes are doubled, and all skill levels are increased by 5. The effect lasts for 24 hours and will disappear if you log off!

I was too stunned for words. When I opened my attribute panel, I couldn't help myself and snapped a screenshot right away!

Green Vegetable White Jade Soup (Swordsman)
Level: 46
HP: 7,830
Attack: 1,315-1,620 (x110%)
Defense: 1,325 (x110%)
Reputation: 15,300
Luck: 0
……

Defense 1,325, Attack 1,620, HP 7,830!

What kind of concept was this? A full set of top-tier level 50 orange equipment would barely amount to this much!

The duration was 24 hours, though logging off would wipe the buff. I had no idea if I could hold out for that long.

Panting heavily, the old man urged, "Go quickly! Be careful."

I leaped into the spatial rift, and the world before my eyes instantly plunged into an even deeper darkness.

A wide and distant corridor appeared before me, and I stood right in the middle of it. The surrounding walls were a burning crimson, with a faint glimmering light pulsing further inward.

"Ding~!"

System Prompt: You have entered the Rift Corridor. The quest has officially begun! Logging off will deduct 3 levels, abandoning the quest will deduct 5 levels and cause you to lose 5 skills!

Damn it! Who did I piss off to deserve this?!

I suddenly felt deeply wounded, longing to lean on Murong Shanshan's or Lu Xuehan's warm shoulders to comfort my battered soul.

There was no way out. Logging off now would cost me 3 levels, and I might even lose some skills—it simply wasn't worth it!

I tightened my grip on the Dark Sword; the key had vanished long ago.

The glow ahead grew increasingly intense. The magical beast must be right up ahead, I muttered to myself as I pressed forward.

Huh?

Wait!

There seemed to be some glowing objects embedded in the walls beside me!

I stepped closer for a look and was instantly ecstatic. This was actually a high-level herb—Dragon's Tongue Orchid!

I hurriedly checked my skill list. Sure enough, when the old man enhanced my skills, he had upgraded my gathering profession as well! My gathering skill was now at level 7!

I pulled out my dagger and began harvesting the herbs!

System Prompt: You have harvested Dragon's Tongue Orchid. Skill experience +300! Congratulations, your skill has leveled up!

I was slightly dazed for a moment before realizing that my previous skill experience must have been completely maxed out, just shy of a level-up, and this had pushed my gathering skill over the threshold.

For nearly half an hour, I swept clean every single Dragon's Tongue Orchid in the area. But the good things here were by no means limited to herbs; even the minerals embedded in the walls were of extremely high quality. Many of them were far beyond what my level 7 gathering skill could extract, yet I still amassed a massive amount of skill experience in the process.

Two hours later, after looting everything harvestable in the corridor, I finally remembered the primary objective of this quest—the magical beast at the end of the passage!

I packed up my belongings and moved forward. A scorching wave of heat hit me, and before I even reached the end, I was almost overwhelmed by the relentless rolling heat. What kind of monster could possibly place a restriction on someone as overpowered as the Prophet?

"Roar~!"

The entire corridor seemed as though it was about to be shaken apart. At that moment, I finally laid eyes on the opponent I had to face—a massive red dragon spewing crimson flames!

"Ah, a dragon?!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Idiot, I'm not a dragon, I'm a lizard!" the magical beast spoke.

I looked closer and saw that, sure enough, it lacked horns. It should indeed be classified as a lizard. However, the pair of wings on its back left me somewhat perplexed. In my memory, creatures like lizards didn't have wings, let alone the ability to speak. Had it evolved?

As I pondered this, the lizard spoke again: "Insignificant human, do you also wish to become a dragon-slaying hero?"

"If you're not a dragon, what the hell am I supposed to slay? I'm here to take you down and lift the restriction for the Prophet!"

The lizard actually laughed. "Thousands of years ago, our lizard clan was originally a branch of the dragon race. Did you really think we'd be so easy to deal with? That pathetic fool Ronin always treated me like a true dragon. Kid, let me tell you, you've been played by him!"

My face turned purple with fury, and I gritted out, "I know that already, you don't need to spell it out."

Seeming quite patient, the lizard continued, "I never placed any restriction on Ronin. It was simply that when he tried to seal me, my anti-magic shell reflected the spell right back, trapping him instead. Heheh, you're already the third so-called human hero to arrive. Ronin knows that killing me is the only way to undo the reflection restriction, which is why he sent you here. Do you understand now, you fool?"

Damn it! Being fooled by two NPCs in a single day—I really had no face left to live...

Seeming to sense my hesitation, the lizard's voice chilled. "Since you're here, let's fight! I won't let you leave this place alive!"

After all that talking, it still came down to a fight!

I charged forward with my sword, unleashing a Frost Slash with everything I had.

"Miss!"

My head instantly pounded. My proudest skill had actually missed. Was the heavens conspiring against me too? I checked the lizard's level—it was actually 75! No wonder it could evade my skill!

I unleashed a Combo attack!

"1,250!"
"Miss!"
"Miss!"
"2,560!"

Not bad, it triggered a critical hit. It seemed this 1,620 attack power was indeed formidable.

Just as I was feeling pleased with myself, the lizard's counter-attack arrived. A torrential wave of fiery breath washed down over me. The intense heat felt as if it were going to incinerate everything, freezing me in my tracks from sheer terror.

A sharp, searing pain racked my entire body. The sensation of being burned by dragon fire was truly agonizing. What was worse, my HP plummeted by over 2,000 in a single instant! At this rate, the lizard would only need four attacks to wipe me out!

I hurriedly swallowed a level 2 health recovery potion and continued fighting fiercely. Since there was no way out anyway, rather than waiting to die, I might as well drag it down with me in a desperate struggle to the death!

Facts proved that it was the shark-catching net, and I was the fathead carp...

When the lizard accumulated its sixth fire-breath blast, I finally failed to withstand the crushing 2,500 damage...

My whole body flared with pain, and then a sudden sense of relief washed over me. Was this what dying felt like? Why did it feel like smoking weed...

A white flash swept past, and I found myself reappearing inside the corridor...

My scalp started to go numb. Are you kidding me? Dying doesn't even let you respawn back in the city?

Gritting my teeth, I dashed forward once again to continue challenging this level 75 lizard boss. The fact that my HP fully restored upon every respawn and revival gave me a sliver of breathing room. The lizard, however, wasn't having an easy time either; it must have been marveling at the sheer tenacity and endurance of the human before it.

Two hours flew by. Murong Shanshan sent me a text message saying she was going to sleep, but I didn't reply because I had no time. Xinhui came over with fruit for me to eat and tapped on my helmet, but I ignored her as well, terrified that logging off would cost me 5 levels.

Yet, at this point, how many levels I lost seemed to matter very little. All I wanted right now was to take down this bastard boss...

A full three hours had passed, and I had died 17 times. My level had dropped all the way back down to 34. But what gave me a glimmer of hope was that the lizard's health bar had also dropped by nearly 1/3. This meant I still had a chance! I was going to prove that an undying cockroach was the toughest creature alive!

Until 8:00 AM the next morning, I finally succeeded!

The lizard's health bar had bottomed out, while mine was in no better shape. My attribute panel displayed my currently glaring level—34!

"It was all worth it!"

I kept repeating this phrase to myself as mental support to keep grinding it down...

"Boom~!"

The lizard's massive body crashed down like a small mountain, its two fleshy wings severed during my final onslaught. Several pieces of equipment radiating multicolored light scattered across the ground, and gold coins were piled up like a small hill.

I was utterly exhausted!

With a sense of bittersweet satisfaction, I swept the equipment and gold straight into my inventory. At that moment, the system prompt signaling quest completion rang out.

"Swish~!"

I was teleported back before the old Prophet. He now held a sapphire staff in his hand—presumably the very item he had used to bind himself.

"Young man, congratulations, you succeeded! This belongs to you as your reward!"

"Ding~!"

System Prompt: You have completed the special quest—Rescue the Prophet. You have gained 200 million experience, 10,000 gold coins, and +8,000 reputation! You have received the quest reward: Hanguang Sword!

[Hanguang Sword] (Orange Equipment)
Attack: 320-450
Strength: +70
Stamina: +70
Agility: +70
Intelligence: +70
Bonus: Attacks have a chance to trigger Holy Light, simultaneously damaging the target and healing yourself.
Required Level: 45
……

I stared in utter disbelief. Was this legendary orange equipment?

Everything truly was worth it!

I checked my level again. The experience gained from slaying the lizard had bumped me from level 34 to 36, and the quest reward experience had further propelled me from level 36 to 38. Though I was still eight levels lower than when I started, I had traded it for several top-tier pieces of gear. Thinking about it, I hadn't really lost much! Most importantly, killing a level 75 boss at level 34 meant the drop rate under that massive level gap was bound to be astronomical.

Right, I hadn't checked the pile of loot dropped by the lizard yet. I hurriedly opened my inventory. There was another longsword, a piece of armor, and gear for several other classes. What piqued my anticipation, however, was a purplish-red book. Based on past experience, most skill books were blue, so why was this one purple?

Putting everything else aside, I checked the book first—

[Netherflame Sky Strike]: Skill book. Requires a level 40 Mage.

I was instantly overjoyed. This was undoubtedly a massive area-of-effect (AoE) spell for Mages, and a ridiculously overpowered one at that. If I guessed correctly, it should be a massive-scale flame scorching attack. And judging by the name "Netherflame"—what did netherflame imply? It was fire that did not belong to the mortal realm; the destructive intensity of its attacks could well be imagined.

Items dropped by a level 75 Gold-tier boss truly lived up to their reputation. With a heart full of supreme bliss, I looked down at the next piece of gear—first was that massive sword radiating a crimson red glow—

[Blood-Red Sword] (Orange Equipment)
Attack: 380-525
Strength: +85
Stamina: +80
Agility: +85
Intelligence: +72
Bonus: Utilizes bloodthirsty power to absorb the target's HP upon striking. Life-steal effect: 10%.
Required Level: 50