Chapter Forty: The Flaming Corpse

"It seems that challenging higher-level monsters is not really realistic. Should we consider retreating?" Lilith asked, her brows slightly furrowed.

"No need!" Lin Zheng replied. "The hoodlum and I can still handle these monsters. The consumption will be a bit high, but that’s not an issue. I’ve brought plenty of white-cut chicken, and with your healing and output, it shouldn't be too much of a problem! Yuki, is the mission map far from here?"

"Not far, just ahead," Yuki said, looking forward.

"That's good. It means the monsters in the mission area shouldn't be too high-level," Lin Zheng said, relieved. "Then, let’s continue!"

Guided by Yuki, the group slowly moved toward the mission location. Along the way, they encountered quite a few Web Weavers. Yang Qi tried her hand at them, but she immediately felt like she had been set back to square one. Her damage to the monsters was low, and the damage she took in return was high—it was incredibly frustrating! She secretly vowed that once she reached her second transition, she would definitely make these damned spiders pay!

Just as Yuki had said, the mission location wasn't far, and they soon arrived at the entrance. It was a massive valley; looking out, the entire basin was a fiery red, as if the earth itself were burning. As Lin Zheng stepped into the valley, a notification chimed: "You have entered the map 'Blood Valley.' The monsters in this area are of a high level; please proceed with caution!"

Lin Zheng opened the map to take a look at Blood Valley. It was a winding canyon, not particularly deep, and they could reach the end in a short time—provided, of course, they didn't get killed by the monsters along the way. He also checked the map's description:

*Blood Valley, formerly known as Peach Blossom Valley a thousand years ago, was conquered by a tyrannical nobleman. When the valley mistress, Linglong, resisted, she was killed. In her dying breath, Linglong used a heavy price to curse the entire valley, plunging it into a sea of flames and killing all the invaders. These slain invaders, influenced by the curse, were denied reincarnation and transformed into the undead monsters that guard Blood Valley today.*

Hmm? The monsters inside are of the undead type? Seeing this, Lin Zheng’s eyes lit up. This was good news! Both he and Yang Qi possessed the title "Ghost Warrior," which granted a 30% damage bonus against undead monsters! This effectively offset the damage penalty from the level difference. Furthermore, they would receive an additional 30% experience bonus for killing undead creatures! Lin Zheng looked at Yang Qi; it seemed she had realized the situation as well, as a smile appeared on her face.

"Get ready to head in. Let's be clear: the main goal is to complete the mission, not to grind for levels. So, we only clear the monsters blocking our path. Be careful not to attract unnecessary aggro, and let's get to the end of the valley as quickly as possible! Everyone understand?" After scanning the group and seeing everyone nod, he continued: "Then let's go. The hoodlum and I will take the vanguard, Yuki will handle magical support, Lilith, keep our health up. Xiaomeng, you focus on protecting Yuki and the others; you are forbidden from charging to the front lines! As for Xiran, you just stay back and leech some experience." With positions assigned, the party carefully stepped into Blood Valley.

"That’s strange. We’ve been walking for so long, how come we haven't seen a single monster?" Lilith asked with a frown. As she said, they had been in the valley for a while, yet they hadn't seen even a shadow of a monster! Lin Zheng also felt something was off. The valley wasn't that long; if there were no monsters by now, could it be that they were all gathered at the far end?

*Snap—* Xiaomeng stepped into a small pit in the ground, stumbled, and nearly fell! Just as the little girl was pouting and trying to steady herself, the ground in front of her suddenly cracked open with a *pop*, and a blood-stained, rotting claw reached out, almost grabbing her face! Xiaomeng was stunned for a moment, and then, a 120,000-decibel scream erupted from her throat!

"Ah—!" Xiaomeng shrieked, drew her sword, and hacked at the rotting claw! A damage value of -650 floated up. Before she could land another strike, the claw pushed against the ground, and a rotting corpse wearing tattered armor with flickering flames crawling on its body climbed out.

*Clang—* The corpse drew a flame-engulfed sword from its waist, opened its fleshless mouth, let out a blood-curdling roar, and swung at Xiaomeng! *Ding—!* Lin Zheng, who had already noticed the situation, blocked the strike with his dismantled Shattered Moon. A -179 damage value appeared above his head. This damage sent a chill down his spine—a blocked hit still dealt 179 damage? How high must this monster's attack be!

As the weapons clashed and rebounded, Yang Qi immediately rushed in from Lin Zheng’s side, delivering a Furious Slash: -3940. She followed up with two standard strikes: -1675 and -1760. After the two strikes, she blocked horizontally. *Ding—* Another successful parry. Lin Zheng, in perfect sync, swapped places with Yang Qi, delivering a Low Kick and a Stomp: -3310 and -3214. He swung his dual swords for two more hits: -1790 and -1810, and finally, he kicked the corpse away: -1320!

*Thud—* The corpse hit the ground and stopped moving, dropping some loot! However, before they could catch their breath, the surrounding ground began to crack, and one rotting corpse after another crawled out, surrounding their party in the blink of an eye!

"Hiss—" Looking at the dense swarm of rotting corpses, Lin Zheng gasped. Damn it! They were in big trouble now! He donned the Black Crow Mask to check the attributes of these freaks:

*Flaming Corrupted Corpse: Level 52 (Elite type). Physical Attack 1850-2414, Physical Defense 780, Magic Defense 750, HP 18750. Skill: Flaming Slash LV1. An elite swordsman cursed and killed a thousand years ago; his soul is trapped within the corpse, unable to reincarnate, turning him into an undead. He hates all living beings and is immune to all fire-type magic.*

"Crap! An attack cap of 2414, and it has a Level 1 Flaming Slash!" Lin Zheng shouted, his face turning pale. Hearing this, the others’ expressions changed as well. A Level 1 Flaming Slash was a powerful skill dealing 350% of maximum physical attack—the signature move of a swordsman, their bread and butter! With these monsters' attack power and the level-difference penalty, no one here could withstand a single hit!

"Quick! Break out, run toward the cliff face! Find somewhere to take cover!" Yang Qi yelled. If they were slow, they would be torn to pieces by these disgusting corpses! After shouting, Yang Qi gave a sharp cry: "Ghost God!"

"Roar—" A massive phantom of a Ghost God appeared behind Yang Qi. After a roar, it possessed her. Instantly, Yang Qi was cloaked in black mist, forming a faint, fierce-looking armor, and her eyes burned with a blood-red light! It gave this beautiful woman a menacing, otherworldly charm, like a goddess of darkness. The image was incredibly badass, leaving the others in awe!

*Ghost God Level 1: Summon a Ghost God to possess the user for 5 minutes. While in the Ghost God state, attack is increased by 100%, damage taken is reduced by 80%, HP recovery +100%, and it imposes a suppression effect on undead monsters, reducing all their attributes by 50%. Cooldown: 30 minutes.*

Lin Zheng quickly checked the skill info and was shocked by its sheer power! This skill was terrifying! In a state of equal level, someone who activated Ghost God could basically sweep through all other players! Lin Zheng was itching to try it himself, but he stayed clear-headed, realizing now was not the time. He had to wait until Yang Qi’s Ghost God state ended; otherwise, the 5 minutes of suppression would be wasted!

"Death Charge!" Yang Qi, empowered by the Ghost God, shouted. The massive spectral figure reappeared, and as she dashed forward, its enormous body knocked all the corpses blocking their path out of the way! In an instant, a path toward the cliff was cleared! Lin Zheng’s eyes brightened, and he immediately sprinted toward the cliff with the others.

"There's a fissure over there!" Lan Xiran, sharp-eyed, pointed to a spot on the cliff. Lin Zheng looked and saw a significant crack, large enough to accommodate them all! Yang Qi saw it too and roared as she charged toward it, the massive Ghost God knocking corpse after corpse into the air. The group followed closely behind and finally dived into the fissure as they were surrounded. Yang Qi was the last to enter. As the massive Ghost God vanished, she turned around and unleashed a Golden Crow Slash. Accompanied by a shrill bird cry, a giant three-legged Golden Crow dove into the dense swarm of corpses. *Boom—* Sunfire engulfed a large area, and amid shrill ghostly wails, all the corpses caught in the blast were reduced to ash. In that instant, everyone leveled up!

"Damn! I’ve seen it a few times, but your Golden Crow Slash is just too broken! A massive weapon of destruction indeed!" Lin Zheng remarked, looking at the scorched earth left behind. To his surprise, Yang Qi didn't boast; instead, she screamed at Lilith: "Lilith! Heal! Heal! I’m almost out of HP!" Lin Zheng then noticed that Yang Qi had less than a quarter of her health left!

It turned out that the "Death Charge" skill came at a steep price. It could only be activated while in the Ghost God state, and it drained 5% of maximum HP per second. However, the user was invincible during the charge, knocking back obstacles and dealing 400% of maximum physical damage. It was incredibly powerful for breaking through sieges or initiating a heavy strike!

Hiding in the fissure, only two corpses could attack them at once. Yang Qi healed up and quickly joined Lin Zheng to block the incoming foes. Although there were fewer corpses that could reach them, they had no room to dodge and had to take the hits head-on. Fortunately, with the Ghost God effect active, the corpses' standard attacks couldn't break their defenses. The Flaming Slash, however, hurt; it could deal over 5000 damage to Lin Zheng. Without the Ghost God effect, a single hit would have one-shot him! However, Yang Qi’s Ghost God effect was fleeting, and the 5 minutes were almost up. At that moment, Lin Zheng shouted and activated his own Ghost God. With his attack power skyrocketing, he rushed out, using a Level 2 Explosion and Stomp into the swarm. The attack range reached a diameter of 11 meters, and with one strike, all the corpses within that radius fell with ghostly wails. With one Golden Crow Slash and one Explosion, 99% of the corpses were eradicated. The remaining few were quickly finished off by the group—everyone except the leeching Lan Xiran joined the fray—and within minutes, they had wiped them all out.