novelraw Chapter 178-1: The Hidden Canyon of the Bamogo Mountains (1)
Chapter 178-1: The Hidden Canyon of the Bamogo Mountains (1)
[The soldiers of the legion surged forward onto the blood-soaked battlefield in an unending stream. Facing the ocean-like tide of starborn monsters, their courage and conviction seemed so pale and powerless in this moment.]
[Countless vibrant lives turned into corpses, all for the sole purpose of blocking the monsters’ advance and creating a chance for the Scholars to escape.]
[You charged forward with all your might, your mind left with only a single thought: to keep advancing. One monster after another fell at your feet…]
[You gradually became separated from the soldiers behind you, remembering only the mechanical motions of swinging the giant club in your hands.]
[You defeated an Unknown Starborn Creature. You did not gain any experience points.]
[You defeated an Unknown Starborn Creature…]
[You defeated…]
[…]
[You feel extremely exhausted!]
Lin Xun furrowed his brows, a deep sense of unease welling up.As the Legate of the Oath Legion, staying behind to cover the retreat was in line with the trial’s requirements.
Yet in the face of endless monsters, even the mighty physique of the Earth Giant Shell would eventually tire.
Enough ants could bite an elephant to death. Being devoured by the monsters was the final outcome awaiting him.
Although the game text offered no options, he actually had two choices at this point.
One was to use his Shell talent to gigantify the Shell, unleashing Scorching Gaze of Flowing Fire, Weak Point Insight, Blessing of Mother Earth, and other skills to go all out and carve a path of blood.
The other was to conserve strength, maintain the current state, and wait until the Shell’s stamina was about to run dry before using the recently acquired Apiz Ore to restore his fatigue.
Going all out would undoubtedly drain stamina even faster. Facing these inexhaustible waves of monsters, Lin Xun felt that cutting a path through them simply wasn’t realistic.
He couldn’t help but think of the words inscribed on the stone stele: If you possess a will as unshakable as stone, unwavering and resolute, then touch this stele.
He exhaled slowly and chose to keep enduring.
He only had four pieces of Apiz Ore in his inventory and no idea whether they would last until the battle turned around.
[You continue to tirelessly swing your weapon. Wherever you pass, monster corpses carpet the ground.]
[…]
[You feel utterly exhausted. Even shifting your feet a little is an impossible luxury…]
His heart clenched tight, knowing that his fatigue had reached the critical point and the Shell was about to collapse.
He quickly opened his inventory and clicked on the item.
[You take out a faintly glowing piece of ore, shove it into your mouth, and crush it between your teeth before swallowing.]
[A surge of heat wells up from deep within your body, spreading outward. You feel inexhaustible strength erupting from your flesh!]
[Veins bulge across your body, your skin cracking apart to reveal swelling, knotted muscles beneath. Every pore is seeping blood.]
[You used Apiz Ore. The Shell consumes part of its vitality, and all fatigue is fully restored!]
[Bathed in fresh blood, you feel your weapon is no longer heavy. Every part of your body brims with power!]
[You stride forward and charge once more into the boundless ocean of monsters…]
[…]
Lin Xun had no idea how many monsters he had killed.
He could only occasionally glimpse the crimson fatigue warnings amid the dense flood of text scrolling across the screen.
Whenever the Earth Giant Shell was about to collapse, he would use another ore to restore stamina.
One after another, the pieces of ore were consumed, and their count was approaching zero.
The only bit of luck was that the Earth Giant was tough enough that sacrificing some life to regain stamina wouldn’t instantly deplete his health bar and make him drop dead on the spot.
[You used Apiz Ore. The Shell consumes part of its vitality, and all fatigue is fully restored!]
The last piece of restorative ore was gone.
Lin Xun could only wish the number of these trash-heap ores in his inventory were 99…
“This trial’s difficulty is downright insane!”
[…]
[You feel slightly fatigued!]
Whether it was a side effect of the ore or simply his own imagination, Lin Xun couldn’t tell.
He only knew that after each use of the restorative ore, the fatigue notifications appeared faster than before!
It hadn’t been long, yet the Earth Giant was already crying out that it couldn’t keep going.
“I have to think of something!”
Lin Xun knitted his brows tight, racking his brain for a way to endure until the trial ended.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
He hurriedly opened the Shell panel and tried to switch to the mage Shell.
[Knowledge-Seeking President of the Direct Vision Association Shell does not meet the trial requirements. Forcibly possessing it will result in trial failure.]
[Do you still want to possess the Knowledge-Seeking President of the Direct Vision Association Shell?]
“You bastard!”
This hellish game wasn’t about to let Lin Xun exploit any loopholes.
Seeing the Earth Giant grow weaker by the moment, his mind raced.
The other Shells in the panel were all in full condition.
The text clearly stated the mage Shell didn’t qualify, and the trial conditions specified ‘powerful limbs, simple mind.’
He clenched his teeth and spent 1 point of soul strength to reshape a knight Shell.
[You have successfully possessed the Blood Sun Paladin of Disciplin’ Shell!]
It really worked!
Lin Xun quickly equipped the Thunder Dragon Staff-Spear onto the Paladin.
[A monstrous creature lunges at you, the tip of its sharp limb stabbing straight toward your chest.]
[You grip the spear in both hands. Golden lightning coils along the shaft. Mustering all your strength, you thrust forward!]
[The spearhead failed to pierce the creature’s hardened carapace. Your all-out strike could only barely drive it back.]
Lin Xun’s mouth twitched.
He attacked again…
Monsters that had fallen to a single strike from the Earth Giant Shell now took multiple hits from the Paladin to bring down.
Even wielding the Epic+ grade Thunder Dragon Staff-Spear, he still needed several consecutive blows to kill one starborn creature.
“So this is the difference between an honor student and a problem student…”
The quality of the Paladin of Discipline Shell was far inferior to that of the Earth Giant, and the difference in strength between the two Shells was vast.
Fortunately, after he stripped the Earth Giant’s full set of armor and put it on the Paladin, this ‘tank knight’ could still barely hold on and wasn’t immediately beaten to death by the horde of monsters.
But the good times didn’t last…
[You defeated an Unknown Starborn Creature…]
[…]
[You feel slightly fatigued!]
“…”
Lin Xun almost wanted to throw the Paladin of Discipline down a sewer.
“The Earth Giant overdrawing its stamina with drugs was one thing, but you’re tiring this fast without any drugs?!”
He tried to switch to the Dancer Shell and the others.
As expected, this hellish game refused him without hesitation.
It wasn’t long before the game text once again displayed that the Shell was fatigued.
Lin Xun estimated that it wouldn’t take much longer before the Paladin of Discipline collapsed from exhaustion.
Before entering the trial, he had mentally prepared himself, vaguely expecting that the trial’s difficulty would be extreme.
But he hadn’t imagined that the ‘resolute’ described on the stone stele meant facing endless waves of monsters on the battlefield.
“I absolutely can’t give up! If I die here and get eliminated, never mind whether the trial can even be triggered again.”
“Just think, where would I find more of those ores to recover stamina? If those four ores were the entire stock in the cave, then even if I could re-enter the trial, there would be no hope of passing!”
Lin Xun opened the inventory again, searching for any usable items.
His gaze halted, then immediately fell on a Corrupted Red Sorrel gathering dust in the corner.
He still had one last stalk of the Corrupted Red Sorrel he’d bought in the Blood Sun World. This item could only restore the fatigue of a ‘Corrupted’ Shell.
Seeing that the Paladin was about to collapse, he swiftly switched Shells.
[You possessed the Corrupted Earth Giant Shell!]
[You used Blood-Red Sorrel. The Shell’s fatigue has been fully restored!]
[You heft the Ancient Dragonfang Greatclub in your hands, striding forward once more, charging into the boundless ocean of monsters…]
“Hopefully this will last until the trial ends. Surely it can’t be that I have to kill every single monster on this battlefield to pass the trial.”
“If that really is the case, no one could ever clear it!”
Lin Xun kept enduring, waiting for the turn of events he deserved.