Chapter 131| Chapter 132| Chapter 133
Chapter 131: Earthquake
“What do you want for lunch? I have the day off, so let me cook!” Lu Yunxi offered enthusiastically.
Her apprentice had been doing all the cooking lately. While his culinary skills were decent, they were still far inferior to her own.
She patted her chest gently, silently comforting her stomach: Don’t worry, you’ll be having a feast soon!
“My appetite hasn’t been great lately. Could you make something sour?”
“I want something sweet!”
Shen San and Wen Liyun spoke at almost exactly the same time.
Hearing each other, the two men locked eyes. Shen San’s gaze was ice-cold, while Wen Liyun’s eyes brimmed with a gentle warmth.
“Sister, since your disciple said he wants something sweet, you should make him something sweet,” Wen Liyun said with a faint smile. He lowered his head slightly, as if trying to hide the disappointment on his face. “It’s fine if I don’t have anything sour.”
“I can make both! Sweet, sour, bitter, spicy—I can do it all,” Lu Yunxi said with a smile.
Shen San’s glare sharpened into a barrage of invisible daggers, stabbing fiercely toward Wen Liyun.
Lu Yunxi noticed the sparks flying between them, but she didn’t care in the slightest. Shen San had logged on not long after Wen Liyun did, and the two of them had been at each other’s throats ever since.
Lu Yunxi figured this was just the legendary dynamic of “good bros always roughhousing with each other,” right? She had seen plenty of good friends act like this in the past.
Wisps of smoke soon rose from the stoves. As kitchen knives danced through the air, all that could be seen were flashes of cold steel, accompanied by the rapid, rhythmic sound of chopping. Perhaps it was the anticipation of finally eating her own cooking, but Lu Yunxi was in high spirits and worked at lightning speed.
Shen San and Wen Liyun exchanged another loaded glance before simultaneously heading toward the kitchen to help bring out the dishes.
When they reached the doorway, neither man yielded.
The frame was simply too narrow for two grown men to pass through at the same time. They squeezed together shoulder-to-shoulder, both refusing to back down.
Shen San was very strong, but he didn’t dare use too much force, terrified that Wen Liyun would pull another stunt and throw himself to the ground just to complain to their master. Wen Liyun looked frail, but he was actually quite skilled.
The two of them remained deadlocked at the door.
Suddenly, Wen Liyun collapsed to the ground, his face pale and pitiful.
Crap! Shen San thought to himself. He looked up, immediately catching his master’s disapproving gaze. He turned his head back and caught a fleeting look of sheer provocation in Wen Liyun’s eyes.
Shen San gritted his teeth. Damn it! He was the one who followed Master first, okay?!
“Hello, friends!” a voice suddenly chirped as a figure popped into view.
It was Luo Mingyi. As soon as he logged online, he was hit by a mouth-watering aroma profound enough to shake his very soul. Ignoring his daily login rewards, he had rushed straight over in a panic.
He had arrived at the perfect time. The dishes were finished and ready to be served.
Shen San scoffed. “What a coincidence. Every time we need help, you’re mysteriously busy, but the second the cooking is done, here you are.”
“Alas, life is just full of coincidences!” Luo Mingyi replied shamelessly.
Shen San shifted his attention. “Why isn’t Young Master Wen trying to find a way to cultivate? Don’t you want to leave this place?”
Wen Liyun smiled mildly. “You make a fair point. However, the scenery here is picturesque and the climate is pleasant. Staying here indefinitely doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”
Luo Mingyi chimed in, “Why do you keep asking us, anyway? Haven’t you gone back home at all? Even if your job is easy and flexible, you can’t just vanish for half a year, right? You can’t exactly work from inside the game!”
Wen Liyun looked at them with genuine curiosity. “What game?”
“…”
Lu Yunxi sat calmly among the three of them, entirely unfazed. Variations of this exact scene had played out countless times; the only difference from day to day was the specific words they used to snipe at each other. She was completely numb to it by now.
After eating her fill, Lu Yunxi went to take a nap.
However, less than half an hour after she drifted off, a deep rumbling echoed from all directions. It was impossible to pinpoint the source, but the entire world began to violently shake.
Her eyes snapped open. She sat up, her expression turning grave as she scanned her surroundings.
This feeling is way too familiar!
Could it be like the Ice Continent again? Was another massive dragon sprawled out on the ground, snoring away? Couldn’t these dragons just find a normal cave to sleep in? Did they really have to burrow into the ground?
With that thought, she scrambled out of bed, shoved her feet into her shoes, and dashed toward the door.
Danger!
In the event of an earthquake, evacuate to an open area immediately and crouch with your hands covering your head. The safety drills from her past life flashed through her mind on instinct.
But even with her incredible reaction speed, she was still a fraction of a second too slow.
Just as she stepped out of her room, a deafening crash shattered the air. The roof tiles above came cascading down like heavy rain, filling the room with a clattering din and a thick cloud of dust.
Seeing the dark soot and sharp debris rushing toward her face, she squeezed her eyes shut, wrapped her arms around her head, and dropped into a crouch. Unfortunately, the table was too far away for her to take cover underneath, leaving her no choice but to press herself tightly against the wall.
Thankfully, with her current stats, she wouldn’t sustain any real injuries… but it was still going to hurt!
Lu Yunxi squatted there in silence, mentally opening the player forum to take a look. To her surprise, not a single player was talking about an earthquake. Was it only happening in her specific area?
Fortunately, the terrifying tremor didn’t last long.
After she had cowered there for a few minutes, the violent shaking finally subsided. Thinking of the three men outside, she quickly stood up, wanting to check if they were alright.
However—
She had barely taken a step when she realized her line of sight had dropped. Normally, when she stood straight, the courtyard wall was about two heads taller than her. But now, looking straight ahead, her gaze only reached halfway up the wall. The table in the distance, which usually sat at her waist, now required her to crane her neck upward just to see the top.
Lu Yunxi: ???
Drawing on her past experiences, she froze for a second before a horrifying realization hit her.
Am I shrinking again? But I haven’t eaten any Sea Mushrooms!
Her perspective continued to plummet until—
Clang!
A massive plume of thick black smoke exploded right in front of her, carrying a foul, musty stench that made her stomach churn. Caught off guard, Lu Yunxi inhaled a lungful of the soot.
“Cough… hack! Pfft!” She frantically waved her hands in front of her face, fanning away the blinding smoke. She coughed violently before finally managing to blink open her watery, stinging eyes.
The dark smoke was incredibly irritating. Not only were her eyes streaming with tears, but the inside of her nose burned, triggering a rapid series of sneezes.
After struggling to clear her vision, she was finally able to take in her surroundings.
It turned out she hadn’t shrunk at all. She had fallen straight through the floor of her house and plummeted underground.
It was a pitch-black space. High above her was a gaping hole—the exact spot she had dropped from—and stretching out in front of her was a long, dark corridor leading to parts unknown.
Recalling the subterranean dungeons she used to frequent, Lu Yunxi suspected there might be an entire network of them hidden beneath this area.
But that didn’t matter right now. She could explore a dungeon whenever she wanted. The immediate priority was to climb back up and assess the situation on the surface.
What happened to my house? she worried. Hopefully, it isn’t completely destroyed. If the roof just needs patching, that’s fine, but if I have to rebuild the whole thing from scratch…
Fuelled by anxiety, she leaped upward.
But to her utter disbelief, she—a top-tier master—completely failed to launch herself into the air.
It wasn’t an invisible air wall blocking her path. Rather, a translucent screen popped into view:
[System Prompt: You are currently in a special location and cannot use Qinggong.]
Lu Yunxi stared at the prompt in deafening silence.
She moved closer to the walls of the pit and inspected them, finding the earth incredibly smooth and slick. Without any footholds, free-climbing out would be nearly impossible.
Opening her spatial inventory, she rummaged around until she found a thick coil of rope she had crafted a while back, complete with a heavy metal grappling hook at the end.
Lu Yunxi eyed the gaping hole high above, swung the rope to gather momentum, and hurled the hook upward.
Clack.
She gave the rope a few hard tugs and nodded in satisfaction. She had no idea what the hook had latched onto, but it held firm against her weight. It would definitely hold while she climbed.
She rubbed her palms together, gripped the rough fibers, and hoisted herself up.
Heave, ho!
The pit was actually much deeper than she had initially estimated—roughly fifty meters straight down.
But a little distance wouldn’t deter her! Lu Yunxi shinnied up the rope with ease, genuinely starting to enjoy the physical exertion the higher she went.
However, just as she reached the halfway mark, a faint, peculiar noise echoed from the surface above.
She frowned. Gripping the rope tightly with one hand and planting her feet flat against the dirt wall for stability, she strained her ears to listen.
What was that sound?
Almost instantly, the surface fell dead silent once more.
She blinked, wondering if she was just hearing things, and resumed pulling herself up the rope.
However—?
Chapter 132: Special Copy
Lu Yunxi continued her climb.
Suddenly, a sharp, scraping sound echoed from above, and the rope began to slide rapidly through her hands. She stared blankly at the line going slack, immediately threw a protective shield around herself, and fell into deep thought.
How strange. Why would the rope suddenly lose its tension?
Could it be…
She looked up just in time to see a heavy wooden table plummeting straight down from the gaping hole above. The grappling hook at the end of her rope was snagged firmly around one of its legs.
Lu Yunxi watched helplessly as the table crashed directly into her protective shield, shattering into a spray of splinters. She pressed a hand to her forehead, sighing in resignation.
Now she understood.
Her hook had caught on the table leg. When she first started climbing, she had been careful and gradual with her weight, so the table hadn’t budged. But as she continued to ascend—occasionally swinging and jerking in the air—the constant tugging gradually dragged the table across the floor until it finally tipped over the edge.
She rubbed her temples, nursing a growing headache and a healthy dose of skepticism.
With her current strength stat hovering near 900, could she actually climb out of here? Was there anything on the surface heavy enough to anchor her weight?
Determined to try again, Lu Yunxi coiled the rope and hurled the hook upward a second time.
Half an hour later.
Lu Yunxi stood at the bottom of the pit. Scattered around her was a graveyard of household furniture: a smashed table, a dozen broken chairs, a shattered cabinet, and even an entire uprooted tree.
She tilted her head back to look at the hole overhead, which had grown significantly wider from all the heavy objects she had forcefully yanked down, and fell into a profound silence.
Fortunately, her rope was crafted from rare, high-grade materials; otherwise, it would have snapped long ago. Still, it was becoming painfully obvious that climbing out was not an option.
Giving up on the vertical route, Lu Yunxi turned her attention to the dark corridor leading away from the pit. The moment she stepped toward it, a system notification flared to life.
[You are entering a special dungeon. Do you wish to proceed? Note: This is a single-attempt dungeon. If you fail, you will lose access permanently.]
She froze.
A dungeon with no retries? This was a first for the game.
A rare wave of nervousness washed over her. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she clicked confirm.
Lu Yunxi ventured into the pitch-black passage. The rhythmic click of her boots echoed sharply against the stone walls, sounding eerie and unnerving in the oppressive silence.
Five minutes passed.
She tightened her grip on her bow. In games like this, the most powerful entities always appeared at the very end. Could the boss of this dungeon be a Grandmaster-level opponent?
Ten minutes passed.
Her anxiety mounted, and a cold bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Her mind was wound as tight as a piano wire.
No, this won’t do.
Lu Yunxi frowned and came to a sudden halt. Anyone who practiced martial arts knew that anxiety and panic were fatal flaws. The more tense you were, the easier it was for your inner energy to go wild and lead you astray. Cultivation required a calm, unblemished mind.
She sat down cross-legged on the cold floor, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing and quiet her thoughts. Once she felt completely grounded and relaxed, she stood back up and resumed her march.
This time, she wasn’t nervous at all. In fact, she was starting to feel completely numb.
Two hours later, she was still walking down the exact same endless passage. The surrounding environment hadn’t changed by a single pixel.
Lu Yunxi stopped again, leaning in close to inspect the stone wall. Did this dungeon require her to solve some kind of puzzle? Were there hidden clues indicating an exit, or had she stumbled into a Five Elements Bagua formation?
But the wall was just a wall—completely smooth, bare, and devoid of any inscriptions or murals.
Sighing with exhaustion, she kept walking. Eventually, she grew so tired of holding her guard that she simply sheathed her weapon.
Yet, the exact moment her weapon snapped back into its holster, a cluster of silhouettes materialized in the darkness ahead.
Huh?
Before she could even make out their features, another group of figures materialized directly behind her, cutting off her retreat.
Lu Yunxi was thoroughly bewildered. What kind of bizarre mechanic was this? Did the enemies only spawn once a player disarmed themselves?
“Hello?” she called out tentatively, squinting through the gloom to get a better look.
However, a dense, unnatural black fog shrouded the figures, completely obscuring their faces.
Something’s wrong.
Instinctively, she flared her protective shield back to life. Given her current level and stats, if she couldn’t see through the fog, these entities had to be incredibly dangerous.
Could they be—oh my god!
Lu Yunxi shrieked internally.
Zombies!
A wave of primal terror gripped her, stealing the breath from her lungs and leaving her utterly speechless. Her wide, panicked eyes were the only indication of her sheer horror. She might be a high-level powerhouse, but being ambushed by the literal undead in a dark, claustrophobic tunnel was enough to rattle anyone.
Fortunately, her protective barrier was quite large. The zombies threw themselves forward, flailing and snapping, but they bounced harmlessly off the glowing dome.
Watching the undead pile up like a mountain against her shield, completely unable to breach her defenses, Lu Yunxi slowly calmed down. In fact, she felt a sudden urge to laugh at her own panic.
She cast a second layer on her protective shield, expanding the barrier outward to forcefully plow the zombies back. Once she had cleared some breathing room, she drew her bow.
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
After letting fly several thousand arrows in a dazzling, rapid-fire blur, she lowered her bow, crossed her arms, and smiled confidently. With an AOE burst like that, no enemy should have been able to survive a single round against her.
Brushing a speck of imaginary dust off her sleeve, Lu Yunxi took a step forward—only for her eyes to widen in sheer disbelief.
Unbelievably, the zombies were completely unscathed, save for their torn, tattered clothing.
Lu Yunxi stood rooted to the spot, her mind reeling with question marks. Perplexed, she cast an appraisal skill on the horde.
[Zombies: Mysterious, mindless creatures possessing immortal bodies. They can resurrect indefinitely and can only be permanently destroyed using specialized talismans.]
Reading the prompt, she looked back up at the sea of rotting faces, her expression going entirely blank.
So it wasn’t that her arrows hadn’t damaged them; they were just instantly resurrecting the moment they died. They were infinitely more annoying than indestructible cockroaches.
And what on earth was a “specialized talisman”?
Lu Yunxi was a habitual hoarder who loved collecting all sorts of oddities, but even her massive inventory didn’t contain anything like that. Wait…
She perked up as a thought struck her. What about the ancient items left behind by her ancestors from the cultivation world? She still had those stored away!
She immediately began flipping through her spatial storage. Unfortunately, while there were plenty of talismans, they were all mundane household varieties—ones used for automatically watering fields or clearing away dust. None of them possessed any offensive capabilities against the undead.
Left with no other choice, she pulled out an ancient manual on talisman crafting. She decided to study the text on the fly, attempting to draw the runes himself before tossing the finished paper at the horde.
However—
The makeshift talisman drifted through the air and slapped onto the forehead of a leading zombie, only to slide off and flutter to the ground. Nothing happened.
She scratched her head in sheer frustration. This was her hundredth attempt. She had followed the stroke order, the constraints, and the diagrams in the book to a tee. Her technique should have been flawless. Why wasn’t it working?
As she mindlessly flipped through the manual’s pages, a small footnote at the bottom of a sheet caught her eye.
[Note: Talismans are powered entirely by the caster’s spiritual energy. The higher the cultivator’s realm, the more spiritual energy is infused, and the greater the talisman’s efficacy. This is why a talisman crafted by a Nascent Soul eccentric possesses power vastly superior to one made by a Qi Refining disciple.]
Lu Yunxi stared at the text, freezing in place.
You have got to be kidding me!
No wonder she had wasted two straight days drawing papers to absolutely no avail! Without spiritual energy, these talismans were nothing more than ordinary paper. Why would the author put such a crucial, fundamental piece of advice at the very back of the book?
Her eye twitched as she looked at the zombies clawing at her barrier. Lowering her head, she fell into deep thought. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit her. She didn’t need to fight them to win.
Lu Yunxi maintained her protective shield, completely ignoring the rotting monsters gnashing their teeth outside the glass-like dome, and began to march forward.
The barrier acted exactly like a heavy bulldozer, forcefully plowing the sea of zombies out of her path and shoving them to the sides of the tunnel. While this strategy didn’t actually defeat the monsters, it allowed her to make steady horizontal progress.
If she could just push through to the very end of the passage, she would surely find a way out of this nightmare dungeon.
Watching the distance close behind her, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief and quickened her pace.
After pushing forward for a full day and night, with the zombies piled up like mountains along the tunnel walls, she finally spotted a glimmer of hope ahead.
Lu Yunxi was ninety percent certain that the distant opening filtering a soft light was her exit. The entire corridor had been cast in oppressive darkness, making that single illuminated spot stand out like a beacon. If that wasn’t the exit, nothing was.
An excited grin broke out across her face. She accelerated into a full sprint, rushing toward the light.
However—
The light vanished in an instant, plunging her world right back into darkness.
Looking up, she saw a colossal, towering silhouette wedging itself directly into the mouth of the cave, completely blocking out the sun.
Lu Yunxi: ???
She stared up at the gargantuan zombie boss, utterly speechless.
“Hey! Get out of the way!” she yelled, her voice echoing in the cave.
The Zombie King showed absolutely no intention of moving. Instead, it bared its teeth in a mocking, hideous grin, opened its massive maw, and unleashed a torrent of roaring flames straight at her.
With no other choice, Lu Yunxi was forced to retaliate.
Unfortunately, this Zombie King was a Level 90 Boss—one level higher than her own current cap, and infinitely more formidable than the standard horde. Not only did it share their immortal biology, but it also boasted skin as hard as iron and bones like tempered steel.
She wasn’t even trying to kill it; she just wanted to blast a small gap through its massive frame so she could slip past and escape. But even after she had completely drained her mana pool, leaving her gasping for breath and drenched in sweat, she couldn’t leave so much as a single scratch on its body.
Chapter 133: The Zombie King
Lu Yunxi fought for what felt like an eternity, but she couldn’t make a dent in the Zombie King.
Refusing to waste any more time or energy, she layered three protective shields in a row, expanding the safe zone around herself. She then pulled out a tent and a sleeping bag from her inventory, fully prepared to take a nap before resuming the boss fight.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of deafening explosions shattered the peace.
Lu Yunxi peeked through a gap in her tent and saw the Zombie King relentlessly spewing torrents of flame against her outermost barrier. She let out a heavy sigh, half-opened her eyes, and dragged herself out of her cozy sleeping bag to confront the monster.
“Look, big brother, what exactly do you want?” she grumbled, radiating a dark aura of sleep-deprived resentment.
She had barely rested a wink earlier because she was too busy navigating that endless corridor. Now, this creature wouldn’t let her leave, and it wouldn’t let her sleep. Was it insane?!
The Zombie King loomed over her, bringing down a massive, sweeping hand to swat her away.
Lu Yunxi’s eyes narrowed. Oh, come on!
This was the exact same trick the giant eagle had pulled back on the Ice Continent. Seeing that it couldn’t break her defenses, it decided to just swat her around like a toy ball.
A cold smile touched her lips. She was no longer the defenseless player she used to be. She had evolved.
Folding her arms across her chest, Lu Yunxi stood completely still, a glint of mockery in her eyes.
The Zombie King scratched and slammed against the shimmering barrier like a maniac, but the shield remained rooted to the spot, entirely immovable. Watching the monster throw its futile tantrum, Lu Yunxi unleashed a barrage of several thousand arrows to vent her lingering frustration before turning on her heel and marching back to her tent.
She pulled the quilt over her head, covering both her eyes and ears.
Eventually, the Zombie King grew exhausted from the one-sided assault and retreated to the far side of the cavern to rest. For a brief period, the only remaining sound was the faint, rhythmic thudding of the lower-level zombie minions hopping around.
After a long, rejuvenating sleep, Lu Yunxi finally woke up with her energy fully restored. It was time to explore the area.
According to standard gaming logic, the antidote to a poison usually grew within the vicinity of the venomous plant itself. By that same token, shouldn’t there be something in this cavern that could serve as the Zombie King’s ultimate nemesis?
Holding up her protective barrier to shove the zombie minions aside, she began to meticulously scour the surroundings, refusing to overlook so much as a stray blade of grass wedged in the corners of the stone walls.
Sure enough, the terrain near the cave entrance was different; the previous corridor hadn’t hosted a single sign of life. After a thorough search, Lu Yunxi managed to salvage eight unknown weeds, two unique pieces of gravel, and a dull, gray oval sphere.
Curious, she crushed the weeds into a pulp, extracting a small bowl of an incredibly fragrant medicinal juice. She was just about to dip her arrowheads into the mixture when she paused to check its description.
[A Bowl of Medicinal Juice: ??? Has unknown effects. Please use with caution.]
Staring at the three question marks, a sudden wave of restlessness washed over her.
In her previous life, her existence had been rigid and entirely routine—dominated by nothing but studying and working. Perhaps because she had been constrained for so long, she had completely let herself go after transmigrating into this world. An adventure like this was exactly what she craved.
Her hand trembled slightly as she raised the bowl toward her lips. Defeating the Zombie King was important, sure… but this herbal juice just smelled so incredibly good! It didn’t have a single trace of the bitter aroma typically associated with medicine.
Just as she was about to take a reckless gulp of the mysterious liquid, the gray sphere resting on the ground next to her suddenly flashed.
Calling it a flash was a bit of an exaggeration; it was more like the dull, ash-colored surface had suddenly lightened, looking as though a thick layer of dust had been wiped away to reveal its true form.
Lu Yunxi froze, lowering the bowl. She blinked, bending down to inspect the object with growing curiosity.
The oval item strongly resembled an egg, but it was currently gray and completely devoid of life—the textbook definition of a dud. Why had it suddenly brightened?
She had passed on Shen San’s dragon egg previously because she felt she was too small and weak to properly raise a pet. But if this egg could actually hatch… she was definitely keeping it! No other player had stumbled across this place, which meant this was destiny.
Fascinated, she leaned in closer to examine the shell. However, she was so entirely engrossed in the strange egg that she forgot about the bowl in her hand. With a slight tilt of her wrist, the liquid spilled over the rim.
“Ah—!”
She bolted upright, hastily straightening the bowl, but it was already empty. Every drop of the precious juice had poured directly onto the egg.
Silence fell over the cavern.
Well, great. Now she didn’t have to agonize over the risks of drinking the unknown fluid. There wasn’t a single drop left.
Sighing at her own clumsiness, she tossed the empty bowl back into her inventory and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the egg clean. But as she leaned down, she watched in amazement as the shell actively drank in the strange herbal juice.
Lu Yunxi froze, utterly bewildered.
How strange. Do eggs need to eat medicine too?
She tried to recall how her apprentice had hatched his pet egg, but players possessed a dedicated pet system that automated the entire incubation process. She had never seen anyone have to go through a method like this.
While she was lost in thought, the liquid completely vanished into the shell, leaving no trace behind. The entire egg looked completely rejuvenated—clean, pristine, and a beautiful shade of milk-white.
Suddenly, the zombies outside the barrier grew incredibly agitated.
Lu Yunxi glanced at them through the shimmering dome, completely ignoring their frantic clawing as she scooped the fragile, beautiful egg into her arms.
“You’re going to follow me from now on, so I need to give you a proper name,” she murmured, gently stroking the warm surface. A wave of affection welled up in her heart, and she resolved to find a truly magnificent name for her new companion.
“Xiaobai? Baibai? Dabai?”
Unfortunately, creativity was not her strong suit, and her ideas were profoundly uninspired. After shooting down her hundredth attempt, she remembered the collection of webnovel storybooks she had purchased to pass the time.
She had bought them purely for leisure, but perhaps they could offer some creative inspiration. After flipping through several dozen volumes, her eyes locked onto a legendary, peerless name: Long Aotian.
“From this day forth, your name shall be Long Aotian!” She held the egg up triumphantly, her face lit by a brilliant smile. “Do you like it?”
The egg remained entirely motionless.
“I chose this name because I want you to grow up to be as resilient, dominant, and fiercely independent as the protagonist himself. I—”
Before she could finish, a sudden, violent gust of wind sliced through the cavern, carrying a wave of blistering heat. Lu Yunxi’s instincts flared. Her gaze sharpened as she instinctively jerked her head to the side, narrowly evading the projectile.
When she spun around to look, her jaw dropped. Her protective barrier—a shield that had never once been breached—now had a massive, gaping hole torn right through its center.
Her expression darkened instantly.
Impossible! The Zombie King is only Level 90. How could it possibly shatter my shield? Is this a system bug?!
She was currently at the Master realm. For an entity to break her barrier so effortlessly, they would need to be at the Grandmaster realm—the legendary Level 100. Yet, according to the sect elders, no cultivator in living memory had ever reached that height, leaving many to wonder if the realm even existed.
Then this Zombie King…
A second blast of roaring flames erupted toward her, snapping her out of her stupor. She threw herself to the side, narrowly dodging the inferno.
How could this be happening? The Zombie King had actually reached Level 100! When she had inspected it earlier, its status bar had clearly indicated Level 90.
She scanned the cavern in disbelief, and the truth suddenly hit her. The mountains of lower-level zombie minions that had previously filled the tunnel were entirely gone. Had the Zombie King reached the Grandmaster realm by sacrificing its own horde for a massive power surge?
Before she could ponder the mechanics any further, she was forced onto the defensive.
The Zombie King’s current offensive output was staggering. Lu Yunxi quickly stashed Long Aotian safely back into her inventory and locked her focus onto the monster ahead.
Even though the Zombie King was technically only eleven levels higher than her base stats, the gap between the Master and Grandmaster realms was a literal chasm. A Level 100 boss was a completely different beast. Not only did its destructive power skyrocket, but its agility was absolutely monstrous. It could run, leap, and completely defy the laws of gravity, scaling the cavern walls and scuttling across the ceiling with terrifying speed. It was entirely incomparable to the clumsy, hopping minions from before.
Lu Yunxi shoved a stat-boosting bun into her mouth, her fingers moving in a blur as she unleashed a relentless stream of arrows targeted precisely at the monster’s eyes, throat, and joints. She constantly refreshed her personal barriers, but despite her flawless accuracy, the boss’s health bar didn’t drop by a single pixel.
Back when it was Level 90, she had at least been able to chip away at its defenses and stagger it. Now, her attacks bounced off harmlessly.
“The Grandmaster realm really lives up to its reputation,” she muttered between gritted teeth.
“Hmph, of course!”
A chilling, gravelly voice echoed through the cavern. The Zombie King let out a cold, mocking sneer. “Upon ascending to the Grandmaster realm, my physical vessel was entirely reborn. No matter how divine your mortal weapons may be, you cannot hope to pierce my flesh. A pathetic human like you will never comprehend the glorious sensation of ascending to godhood!”
