Chapter 66: Shattered Illusions and Spectral Blades
Before he had even taken a few steps, a beam of searing flame erupted from the magma to his side.
Liam shifted his weight and retreated, instinctively dodging the attack.
At the same moment, a charred figure burst from the molten flow.
Infernal Draugr (Bronze Grade)
Level: 50
HP: 10,000,000 / 10,000,000
Attack: 59,850
Skills: Incinerating Ray, Ossuary Inferno, Heart-Sear, Billowing Miasma, Empyrean Ember-Core, Hollow-Heart Venom, Nine-Corpse Flame Wraith, Unstoppable, Berserk.
Liam raised an eyebrow. The very first mob was a Bronze Grade boss, and its stats were borderline absurd.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
Liam unleashed a flurry of arrows.
In just over a second, the Infernal Draugr collapsed, dead.
"The fact that it survived more than one hit is actually impressive," Liam muttered.
Lately, he had been one-shotting almost every mob he encountered. With a single Basic Attack dealing over four hundred thousand True Damage and a firing rate of twenty arrows per second—not to mention the occasional procs of Death Cycle and Skyfire Meteor—most monsters were like wet paper before him.
This was Hell Difficulty.
Elite players like Valiant Snowflake would have been wiped the moment they stepped inside, yet Liam was trivializing the bosses.
A second one appeared, then a third, a fourth...
Infernal Draugrs continued to crawl out of the magma, but Liam cut them down with ease. They didn't even have the chance to fight back before their health bars vanished.
At his current damage output, a single Infernal Draugr only allowed him to stack 75 points of Max HP. That was only if he didn't land a critical hit or trigger Death Cycle and Skyfire Meteor; otherwise, the boss would die too fast for him to even gain those 75 points.
After nine consecutive Infernal Draugrs, Liam luckily managed to avoid any major skill procs, successfully stacking over six hundred HP.
He sighed.
Killing nine Hell Difficulty Bronze bosses just to gain six hundred HP felt slow. If he wanted to reach the next level of power, obtaining the Tome of Light and Shadow had to become his top priority.
While the proc rates for Death Cycle and Skyfire Meteor were relatively low, Chain Lightning triggered constantly. A single proc could clear an entire field, which was great for speed but terrible for stacking HP. Furthermore, his Dual True-Strike passive doubled his already ridiculous damage.
These skills weren't "bad"—in a life-or-death struggle, they were god-tier. But for his specific goal of farming permanent HP, they were actually a bit of a hindrance.
The dungeon’s progression mirrored the Traces of the Frost-Corpse; soon, the Infernal Draugrs began appearing in pairs.
Even so, two at a time barely slowed him down. They were dead before they could even finish their spawn animations.
After clearing nine more sets of pairs, Liam’s HP had increased by about ten thousand. It was a negligible improvement in the grand scheme of things.
Eventually, he reached a place called The Elder Settlement.
The settlement was a masterpiece of ancient architecture—black bricks, cyan tiles, pavilions, and lofts adorned with intricate carvings of dragons and phoenixes. An aura of profound antiquity washed over him. This wasn't some modern imitation; these were genuine ancient ruins.
The moment Liam stepped into the settlement, the constant environmental damage debuff vanished.
He scanned his surroundings. The place was deserted.
As he walked down the streets of the Elder Settlement, the silence grew oppressive. It felt as though the entire town was a ghost realm.
Liam frowned. The structure of this dungeon was remarkably similar to the Traces of the Frost-Corpse. Logically, there should be an NPC here.
He did a full lap of the area, gaining a general layout of the settlement, but found no one.
"Is it really empty?"
Just as he was about to move on, the faint sound of a zither drifted through the air.
He followed the melody and looked up at a high loft. There, a woman dressed in sheer, azure robes sat playing a zither. She was lightly made up and breathtakingly beautiful.
Liam opened his mouth to speak, but the Lady in Azure didn't slow her rhythm. Instead, the music manifested into a sharp blade of sound, hurtling toward him.
Twang!
Liam fired an arrow, meeting the sound blade mid-air. The two forces collided and shattered, leaving him unscathed.
The Lady in Azure remained expressionless. Her fingers danced across the strings, sending a barrage of spectral swords and blades fashioned from sound toward him.
Liam’s bow became a blur, his arrows intercepting every single projectile.
The tempo of the zither increased.
As the music grew more frantic, the number of sound blades multiplied. Liam’s firing speed rose in tandem, matching her note for note.
A moment later, the music stopped abruptly.
The Lady in Azure rose and gave Liam a graceful bow. "I am Autumn Rivers. It is a pleasure to meet you. Your mastery of the bow is truly peerless."
Liam offered a non-committal smile. "Are you the only one in this settlement?"
Autumn Rivers shook her head. "Of course not. It is simply that given your current strength, I am the only one you are permitted to see."
"Oh?" Liam asked. "And what do I get for seeing you?"
Autumn Rivers arched an eyebrow. With a graceful sweep of her hands, her outer robe slid off, revealing skin as white as snow.
"Your aim was so impressive just now. I wonder... would you like to come to my private chambers so I might receive a more... personal lesson in your archery?"
Liam paused. Autumn Rivers was stunning, easily rivaling any top-tier celebrity. This was a blatant attempt at seduction.
Does doing this in a game count as a crime? he wondered. Probably not. Think of it as a temporary girlfriend.
Provided she isn't a trap.
But of course, she was. In a place like this, a woman throwing herself at a stranger was never "just" a woman.
"My archery is an ancestral secret; I don't share it easily," Liam grinned. "If you really want to learn, you'll have to show me if you have the heart—and the 'assets'—to handle my teachings. Otherwise, I can't show you a thing."
Autumn Rivers knit her brows. "You want to see... here?"
"Is that a problem?" Liam’s grin widened.
Autumn Rivers' expression soured. She realized he wasn't falling for it.
"Do you find me so beneath you? Then I suppose I have no choice but to invite you to your death."
Liam stepped forward and barked, "Cut the act, you monster! Show your true form!"
Autumn Rivers' face flickered. "You have some skill, seeing through my disguise."
"I originally intended to just drain a bit of your essence and let you go," she hissed. "Now, you aren't leaving at all."
Her hands blurred over the zither. The music now carried a bone-chilling, ghostly energy. As the notes reached Liam’s ears, the world around him warped and transformed.
Suddenly, he was sitting on a throne. Below him, hundreds of officials bowed in unison.
"Long live the Emperor! Ten thousand years to the Emperor!"
Foreign envoys arrived, presenting the Nine Beauties of the West and chests overflowing with legendary treasures. The scene was hyper-realistic; it felt as though the entire world was truly at his feet.
The Nine Beauties were exquisite, their figures provocative as they danced and played music for his pleasure.
Beyond the beauties, the treasures from the Western Regions were even more staggering.
The Deity-Scourge, the God-Slayer Blade, the Sea-Quelling Pillar, the Bell of the Eastern Sovereign...
Each was a legendary Divine Artifact, and they were all being offered to him as tribute.
Liam watched it all with cold, detached eyes.
"Human greed is rooted in wealth, power, and lust," Autumn Rivers' voice echoed through the void. "With all three before you, I refuse to believe you aren't tempted."
"The moment your heart wavers, you will never leave my Moonlit Zither Realm."
She was supremely confident in her illusion. She was already picturing Liam’s mind crumbling under the weight of his own desires.
However, Liam reached out, grabbed the neck of the nearest 'beauty,' and ruthlessly snapped it.
"Immune to lust?" Autumn Rivers was slightly surprised. Given Liam’s face, he looked exactly like the type of man who would be lead by his loins. How could he be so cold? "Fine. If lust won't work, there is still wealth and power."
But Liam’s next move shocked her again.
He raised his bow and fired a single shot, shattering the Divine Artifacts into dust.
Then, he turned his gaze toward the kneeling officials. He didn't leave a single one alive.
Autumn Rivers' expression turned icy. Her fingers flew across the strings.
"Even if you despise wealth, power, and lust, it doesn't matter! You still cannot escape my illusion!"
She wasn't worried. Anyone with a brain knew they were in an illusion, and those with strong wills would naturally resist. If simply resisting the temptations was enough to break the realm, it would be a useless skill.
But just as she prepared to watch Liam struggle, he raised his longbow once more.
He didn't aim at her, which made her smirk even more.
Whiz!
The arrow tore through the air.
Autumn Rivers waited for the arrow to vanish into the illusory sky, but her eyes widened in horror. Mid-flight, the arrow suddenly curved, tracing a perfect arc that headed straight for her face.
-400,010!
A massive damage number erupted over her head.
"How was that? Surprised?" Liam’s eyes locked onto her.
Autumn Rivers gasped, her face pale with disbelief. "You... you broke my illusion? How is that possible?!"
Liam smiled thinly. "A petty illusion like this is hardly worth mentioning."
With his Immaculate Eye, he could see through any deception. As impressive as her realm was, it wasn't enough to fool his vision.
"Hmph! If illusions won't work, then witness the true power of the Wraith of the Demonic Zither!"
She snarled and began frantically plucking the strings. The music transformed into a stampede of spectral dragons and tigers, surging toward Liam with crushing pressure.
Liam’s eyes narrowed.
Quintuple Shot!
A hundred arrows a second!
"How is he so fast..."
Autumn Rivers' face went pale as a hundred arrows collided with her spectral beasts.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two forces clashed repeatedly. Autumn Rivers was quickly overwhelmed. Her hands began to tremble under the intensity of the exchange, and a faint flush crept into her cheeks from the strain. Sweat beaded on her forehead, matting her hair and soaking through her thin silk robes.
Liam’s brow furrowed, and his barrage intensified.
In the next heartbeat, Skyfire Meteor proc'd.
Thousands of fireballs rained from the sky, engulfing Autumn Rivers in a literal firestorm.
Already at her limit, the meteor strike broke her completely.
"Stop! I can't take any more!" she screamed. "What kind of monster are you? How can you be this strong?!"
Liam’s lips curled. "I have plenty more where that came from. Want to try?"
Autumn Rivers' face was dark with resentment. "Enough! I'm done talking. What do you want?"
Liam looked around casually. "I'm here for loot, obviously. That zither in your hand looks decent. Give it to me."
"In your dreams!"
"If you won't give it to me, I’ll just have to take it."
Autumn Rivers grit her teeth, glaring at him. "If you kill someone here, you will face a dire punishment."
"Oh?" Liam retorted. "Are you even human?"
Autumn Rivers flinched, clearly not expecting him to be so difficult to rattle.
"You're here for the Desiccated Abode, aren't you? You shouldn't linger here."
"I wasn't planning on lingering, but then I saw your zither." Liam raised his bow. "Hand over the Fiendish Lyre, and I'll let you live."
"She already told you—you cannot kill anyone here."
Just as Liam was about to fire, a refined, gentle voice drifted over.
A young scholar holding a folding fan stepped into view. He was pale, looking as though he suffered from a severe lack of vitality—or perhaps just too many nights spent over books.
Liam frowned. "I'm going to kill her. You have a problem with that?"
If he didn't have his infinite resurrection skill, Liam might have played it low-key. But now? He wanted to be humble, but his strength simply wouldn't allow it.
"Young man, do you not know the saying? 'The tallest tree catches the wind, and the loudest man invites disaster,'" the Young Scholar said smoothly. His tone was flat, yet it carried an undeniable weight of authority.
"You called me young," Liam smirked. "Don't you know that being loud is a young man’s privilege?"
The Young Scholar sighed. "I was loud once too... until the day I ended up here."
"It doesn't matter. You’re impressive for your age, so a bit of arrogance is expected. I’ll just have to beat you into the dirt a few times. You’ll find your humility soon enough."
With a flick of his fingers, a spectral blade flew out from behind the scholar.
Whiz!
The blade reached Liam in the blink of an eye.
Liam leaned back to dodge the strike, but the spectral blade seemed to have eyes of its own. It banked mid-air and swerved back toward him.
This time, Liam didn't dodge. He wanted to see exactly how strong this scholar’s attack was.
The spectral blade tore through his chest.
-999,999!!
An astronomical damage number popped up.
One hit. Nearly a million damage.
Absolutely terrifying.
After tanking the hit, Liam unleashed his own counterattack.
Quintuple Shot. A hundred arrows per second.
The Young Scholar remained calm. He formed a hand seal, and nine spectral blades began orbiting his body like a shield. Every arrow that drew near was sliced into splinters. Not a single one touched him.
At the same time, he sent the spectral blade back out to hunt Liam.
Liam’s expression hardened. This scholar was significantly more powerful than he had anticipated. The spectral blade acted like a homing missile; no matter how Liam moved, it stayed locked on.
But Liam didn't panic. While dodging, he continued to pour a relentless stream of arrows into the scholar's defenses.
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