After I bade the two girls farewell, I looked at Mengchuan"s corpse. It was curled up in a heap. His heart"s desires had been fulfilled and it seemed like he no longer had any lingering attachments to this world. He simply lay there muttering, "So much time has pa.s.sed. How long have I been sleeping? My kingdom has been reduced to ashes, lost in the sands of time. My friends and loved ones have turned to dust. What meaning is there behind my struggle? What is the point of this futile and empty existence?"
I hurriedly said, "Thunder single-handedly brought about the destruction of the Roland Empire! Do you not even bear a shred of resentment toward him? In present times, Thunder has the power to cover the heavens with a single hand and he still rampages about unchecked in the three realms. Mengchuan, if you still consider yourself a man, then accept this resurrection that the Wind Singer is offering you. Fight on! For the dignity of the human race! For your fallen comrades and loved ones!"
"You"re right…"
A flicker of life appeared in Mengchuan"s cloudy eyes. "Young warrior, you are like a bright lamp s.h.i.+ning in this eternal night. You have my thanks!"
I chuckled. "Your comrades would definitely want to see you pull yourself together. Since Dada has fused with my Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf, then you have also become my friend! Come with me! We will go to the Violet Empire and look for Xinran. She definitely knows of a way to resurrect you."
"Alright, let"s do it!"
……
It was time to wrap everything up now that I had finished all of the quests that Mengchuan had given me.
I sheathed the Cyan Netherworld Sword before crouching down and carefully picking up Mengchuan"s corpse. I was deathly afraid of dropping any of his bones by accident, so I used the Soul Suppressing Cloak to wrap up his remains. After that, I summoned my clone and the Phantom Wolf King to protect him as we left the ruined capital and started to sprint toward the Violet Empire.
It was at this moment that I heard a beep. It was a message from Beiming Xue: "Big bro, I"m tired. I"m gonna go to bed first. What time will you be sleeping?"
I replied, "In about an hour? Go to sleep first, Beiming. I have two nice surprises for you once you wake up, heh heh…"
"Oh? Oh?! What nice surprises?!" Beiming Xue exclaimed excitedly.
I paused for a moment and then shared the screenshots of the 6-star Outstanding bow, the Dragonbone String, and the Bone Eroding Arrow skill. The first was a super long-range weapon, the divine weapon ranked sixth in the entire server! The second was a skill that would greatly lower an enemy"s Defense, something that would be invaluable when fighting against metal-armor players and bosses!
Beiming Xue"s surprise and joy overwhelmed her for an instant but she quickly responded to my message. Her bubbly excitement was evident in her voice as she said: "Hehe, big bro, was this something that dropped after you and Sister Eve killed that boss? Aaaaaaah! I love you so much! I"m not gonna go to sleep anymore. Message me once you return to the city. I"ll wait for you so that we can go to bed together!"
"Oh? Well, that"s fine too, I guess. Just busy yourself with something, I"ll be done soon enough."
"Alright! Be careful, big bro! I"ll just set up a stall in Sky City and wait for you!"
"Gotcha."
I turned off the chat window. Both the Dragonbone String and Bone Eroding Arrow were treasures that money couldn"t buy. My Luck was pretty darn good. I managed to get both of them from this excursion to the Roland Empire"s ruins.
Of course, killing Mad Warrior Buffett, a Level 170 Heaven Rank boss, could be considered a miracle in and of itself. However, we had paid a heavy price as well. Our three-man party of Famous Generals had died twice while fighting this boss, so it could be said that we had used these lives to buy our victory. Then again, if it was another party with less firepower and healing, even a thousand lives wouldn"t be enough against that insane boss.
Even my attack power wasn"t enough to truly cut through the Defense of this Level 170 Heaven Rank boss, so there would be very few people in the China server who would be able to hurt him. Furthermore, He Yi"s Royal Road had boosted all of our stats by 50%, and this made my HP and Defense extremely high too.
I could well imagine Mad Dragon"s main force trying to kill the Mad Warrior. Losers like Iron Pardon and Roaming Dragon would be one-shot by Buffett"s flurry attack and Coldmoon Rose might not even be able to break through his Defense. Even if they brought a hundred thousand players with them, most of them would likely be nothing more than fodder.
Heavenblessed"s system allowed bosses to rise in level and rank, just like players. The more players they killed, the stronger a boss would become. That was why bosses like Thunder and Coldblade would only grow stronger and stronger. In fact, there was a distinct possibility that they would eventually be practically impossible to kill.
……
A man, a shadow, and a little wolf darted through the forest at lightning speed as they sprinted toward the Violet Empire. After running for a full 45 minutes, we finally entered the Violet Empire"s territory. We went straight to the palace and I didn"t disturb the Shadow Dancer Xue Wei this time. I personally went to the altar and selected the teleportation formation. Just as expected, one of the destinations I could choose was the G.o.d Domain. Xinran had already opened the door for me.
Whoos.h.!.+
Teleporting to the G.o.d Domain was free. When I clicked on the b.u.t.ton, a dazzling light blinded me and I appeared in the gloomy and mysterious G.o.d Domain. I raised my head and saw a tiny dot slowly grow bigger as it dashed down from the sky filled with blood-red clouds. It was that ugly and sinister-looking Winged Silver Dragon. A tiny beauty clad in dark red armor was sitting on the back of the ugly dragon. Her long hair danced in the wind as she beamed at me. She shouted, "Big brother, did you finish all the quests in the ruins of the Roland Empire?"
"Yes."
I nodded my head and looked toward Mengchuan"s remains. I continued, "I brought Mengchuan"s corpse here, but the energy of his soul is very weak. Xinran, can we begin the resurrection ritual right away?"
"Yeah." Xinran hopped off Akachi"s back and ran toward me. She grabbed onto my arm and said, "Big brother, hold on tightly to Mengchuan. I"ll bring you the magic formation I prepared to resurrect him."
"Okay…"
A wild and fierce power tugged against my arm as Xinran leapt into the air while holding on to my arm. Ah, she was really fast! Akachi"s voice rang out from below us. "Oh, my adorable master, wait for your most loyal slave. My wings are simply too heavy, so there"s no way that I"ll ever be able to catch up to you as you streak across the sky like a comet…"
I turned around and scowled at Akachi. I really wished that I could smack that disgusting and wicked dragon with my sword at this moment.
The blood-red clouds in front of us slowly parted as Xinran swooped down toward the earth. The ground rapidly grew larger in my eyes as I sped toward the ground. I soon saw that a huge magic formation glowing with a faint blue light had been drawn into the earth. It was practically as big as half a canyon and there were many mysterious-looking magic stones flickering within it.
"It"s done…" After she landed on the ground, Xinran pointed a finger at the center of the distant pentagram formation and said, "Big brother, put Mengchuan in that spot…"
"Alright!"
I strode forward and put Mengchuan in the center of the magic formation. After that, I quickly ran out of the formation and stood beside Xinran.
After Xinran waved a hand, the Dragonbone Spear started to appear. Seven gloomy red lights flickered around the handle of the spear and those lights were the fragments of Mengchuan"s soul!
Crack!
The Dragonbone Spear thrust itself into the ground as Xinran swiftly flew across the ground. A vast swell of energy instantly surged out of the earth, instantly lighting up the whole magic formation. The six-sided star glowed with a flowing light as Mengchuan, who was in the middle of the formation, raised his rotten head to observe what was happening around him. When he saw Xinran floating in the air, a serene smile appeared on his face.
Xinran soon raised her beautiful face toward the sky as those blood-red eyes stared at all the heavenly bodies arrayed in it. Her lips curved up into a smile as she started chanting her spell. "O" great lord of Purgatory, break the contract of the soul and indulge the desires of the dead! Let the never-ending cycle of reincarnation of h.e.l.l come to a pause! Fresh sacrifices have already been prepared, so I, the Wind Singer, beseech you! Purgatory Reincarnation—Resurrection!"
The earth rumbled and cracked apart as a huge blood-red hand stretched out from h.e.l.l and grabbed Mengchuan"s body. Xinran raised her hand and a beam of light shot out of her palm and smacked into the blood-red hand. She repeated the process a few more times before the huge arm finally fled back into Purgatory in an almost resentful manner.
The Winged Silver Dragon descended from the skies. As it beat its wings, it threw several bisons and large lizards down to the hole in the ground. These magic beasts squealed as they fell into h.e.l.l. Those must be the fresh sacrifices that Xinran had mentioned.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
A response echoed out from the purgatory and beams of blood-colored energy shot into the sky and gradually engulfed Mengchuan"s corpse. In the next instant, flesh actually started to grow on Mengchuan"s withered bones, and his bones themselves were being transformed! Even though the process looked quite gruesome, it was a good sign that his resurrection was going well!
A long time later, Mengchuan"s body finally finished reconst.i.tuting itself. Strong muscles rippled across his frame as new skin stretched out over it. His face regained the color a living person had and his rejuvenated features looked as sharp as a blade. His eyes were solemn and determined and he had a full head of long golden hair. But Xinran wasn"t done yet. She did not only resurrect Mengchuan, she had even prepared a full suit of weapons and armor!
Whoosh, whoosh...
A gray longsword fell to the ground and landed right in front of Mengchuan. A full suit of ebon armor also followed right after. What came next was even more outrageous. An undead skeleton horse wreathed in purple flames actually fell to the ground as well.
Mengchuan"s eyes were full of shock as he slowly changed into his new armor. He grasped the handle of the gray longsword as he leapt onto the back of the skeletal horse. As he raised his longsword in the air, it gave a long whinny as if to vent ten thousand years of rage and frustration.
Thud!
Mengchuan leapt off his new mount and fell to his knees in a show of devotion. He said, "Lord Wind Singer, I am yours to wield as you see fit! There is nothing that I, Mengchuan, can do to repay you for granting me new flesh, but I am yours to command until the end of my existence!"
A satisfied smile appeared on Xinran"s face as she said, "Mengchuan, you were originally a fierce warrior who wasn"t the least bit inferior to Thunder. Now that I have given you a new life and raised your cultivation, you need to swear this solemn oath. Swear that you will devote this new life to the protection of all living things in this world! Swear that you will stop the b.l.o.o.d.y shadow of the undead from eating away at this continent!"
"Yes, my lord!"
……
A small smile appeared on my face as I whispered to Xinran, "Xinran, congratulations on gaining a fierce general!"
Xinran giggled and turned to look at me. After that, she clung onto one of my arms and said, "Big brother, this was all because of your hard work. If you hadn"t accomplished your quest, I would have never been able to lure Thunder out. Hmmm, Xinran doesn"t really have many treasures to give to big brother. But this… well, this might be something that big brother can use…"
When she finished saying those words, the system notice rang in the air and told me that I had gained a large amount of experience. After that, Xinran presented a large black pearl to me with both hands.
"Hmmm, what is this? I asked in a puzzled voice as I stared at the black pearl.
"Just take a look and see!"
"Uh huh…"
I took the pearl from Xinran. My eyes immediately lit up when I examined it. It really was something good.
Purgatory Thunder Beast (Heaven Rank Pet Egg): A wild beast native to the purgatory. The Purgatory Thunder Beast is born with innate lightning energy, and it is skilled at using its sharp claws to rip its enemies apart. It can also attack its enemies from a long range with shockingly powerful lightning bolts. Level Requirement: 145. Reputation Cost: 20000. Cost: 50000 gold.