Ominous Aura and Drowning Bone

"It's in, it's in."

The Intermediate Awakened from various universities who were waiting by the Dead Spirit Lake jumped into the lake one after another.

It should be noted that awakened individuals possess Psychic Field. When they extend this Psychic Field underwater, they have enough oxygen to breathe for a short period of time. Generally speaking, the breath-holding ability of Intermediate Awakened is around ten minutes.

Therefore, these awakened trainees can jump directly into the lake and swim to the bottom in just two or three minutes to enter the portal to the Treasure Ground Space without needing to carry any additional diving equipment.

The awakened ones who were just assigned to scout need to stay underwater for a long time to observe the extent to which the portal to the Treasure Ground Space is open, which is why they need to carry oxygen tanks.

After Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi entered the water and swam, they felt that the water of the Dead Spirit Lake was indeed icy cold. This icy feeling directly affected their spirit. Ordinary people probably couldn't withstand it. Only awakened individuals with physiques far superior to ordinary people could endure this bone-chilling feeling of yin energy.

After swimming for a little over a minute, the two reached the bottom of the lake and saw a slightly dim light curtain, which was clearly the entrance to the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space.

Li Shuyi gently squeezed Bai Xiaowen's hand and made a thumbs-up gesture. Bai Xiaowen smiled and nodded, and the two of them, one after the other, plunged into the light screen.

A slight feeling of weightlessness came over him. Bai Xiaowen had entered the light curtain headfirst and feet first, but after entering the light curtain, although his body did not move, he felt as if he had returned to a normal standing posture with his head up and feet down.

It felt strange, like the whole world had turned upside down, with the sky becoming the earth and the earth becoming the sky.

Once the feeling of weightlessness disappeared, the scenery before my eyes finally came to a standstill.

"My God... have I arrived in Hell or the underworld?"

The sky above Bai Xiaowen's head was dark, completely obscured by swirling, dark blue clouds.

The ground beneath their feet was riddled with cracks, some only a finger's width wide, while others were over ten meters wide, enough to be called canyons.

The land was generally dark brown, and wisps of white mist occasionally rose from the cracks in the earth.

Bai Xiaowen knew that this white mist was called "Ghost Mist," which was different from the normal fog on Earth. It was formed by the condensation of yin Grievance Power, and was icy cold to the bone.

When an Awakened being is within the Ghost Mist Zone, they will automatically receive an immediate negative status effect: Yin Aura, the recovery speed of stamina, Life Value, and Divine Might will be greatly reduced, almost to the point of stagnation. In other words, the Awakened's ability to continue fighting will be greatly weakened within the Ghost Mist Zone.

However, within the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space, the Ghost Mist Zone is absolutely unavoidable.

In the outermost areas, the area of Ghost Mist Zone is not very large. However, the deeper one goes, into the core area of Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space, the denser the Ghost Mist becomes. The very center is almost entirely covered by the Ghost Mist.

More importantly, many of the unique treasures of the Dead Spirit Lake are produced in the Ghost Mist Zone. For example, Bai Xiaowen's target on this trip, the Ghost Hydra, is a monster that dwells in the Ghost Mist Zone deep within the Dead Spirit Lake.

Of course, the negative effects of the Yin Aura the Ghost Mist Zone can be avoided; this is a valuable lesson learned by the awakened ones who have ventured into this Treasure Ground Space time and again.

"To proceed normally in the Ghost Mist Zone, we must collect a set of ' Undead Disguise '!" Bai Xiaowen recalled the prepared materials. "Undead Disguise requires the fusion of Netherworld Grass and Drowning Bone. The more Netherworld Grass and the higher Drowning Bone quality, the more perfect the Undead Disguise will be."

Bai Xiaowen consulted the map to observe her initial position.

"To the left are rolling mountains, to the right is Pingyuan. A massive fissure in the earth runs east to west..."

Bai Xiaowen quickly confirmed that he was located at the southernmost end of the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space, with the Ghostspirit Mountains to the west and the Ominous Plains to the east. As for the huge rift blocking his way, it was called the Netherworld Rift.

This is the southernmost region among the seven convergence zones designated by Bai Xiaowen.

The confluence point in the due south region is called Yinwind Ridge, located within the Netherworld Rift.

Bai Xiaowen contacted his team and sensed Li Shuyi's location. He could only roughly determine that Li Shuyi was to his northeast, seemingly quite far away.

"Let's head to the rendezvous point at Yinwind Ridge first and wait for a while. Yinwind Ridge itself is a well-known ruin within the treasure land of the Dead Spirit Lake."

Bai Xiaowen summoned Rageclaw, and the two of them walked down a slope into the Netherworld Rift. White mist surrounded them, and Bai Xiaowen shivered slightly, while Rageclaw snorted. This white Ghost Mist seemed to be absorbing the heat emanating from their bodies.

Bai Xiaowen checked his personal panel and, sure enough, a new negative status, "Yin-Energy Envelopment," appeared, with the same effect as described in the information.

The Ghost Mist here was relatively thin and had little impact on visibility. In Bai Xiaowen's line of sight, he could already see a hunched, dark figure getting up and staggering towards him.

[Drowned Zombie (Level 5)]

[Race: Undead Species / Corpse Demonfolk]

[Attributes: Strength 24, Agility 11, Constitution 22, Spirit 5]

[Skill 1: Ominous Aura: Passive. The breath of Drowned Zombie brings misfortune. Enemies within melee range will accumulate layers of Ominous Aura Ominous Aura over time, each layer temporarily reducing all attributes by 1 point, up to a maximum of 10 layers. The negative effect will dissipate 10 seconds after leaving combat.]

[Skill 2: Sluggishness: Passive, Drowned Zombie take 25% less damage. Drowned Zombie ' base attack speed is reduced by 25%.]

"This monster is a bit troublesome, especially for melee combat."

Bai Xiaowen withdrew his Insight. The passive skill [Sluggishness] is a double-edged sword; while reducing the damage taken, it also reduces his own damage output. However, when combined with the first passive skill of the Drowned Zombie, it becomes somewhat unfair, and the longer the battle lasts, the more disadvantageous it becomes for the Awakened One.

If 10 layers of Ominous Aura are stacked, all attributes will decrease by 10 points. It should be noted that these Drowned Zombie do not appear alone; Bai Xiaowen can see three of them.

I wonder if the "Ominous Aura" of the three Zombie is calculated uniformly or separately. If it's calculated separately, that's a bit terrifying. If all three Zombie ' passives are stacked to 10 layers, that's 30 layers of Ominous Aura. No matter how powerful your Hero Class, with all your attributes reduced by 30 points, you won't be able to move an inch.

Bai Xiaowen raised his hand and summoned two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and Bone Warlock, while simultaneously drawing his Desert Eagle. He needed to finish this quickly.

Bang! A gunshot rang out, and the first bullet from the Desert Eagle pierced the forehead of a Drowned Zombie.

The scorching bullet ripped open the skull of the Drowned Zombie.

100% Critical Hit rate! Headshot! Vital Strike!

Of course, there's also the Piercing effect of the first bullet, which ignores defense, except that it hits the vital point between the eyebrows, thus ignoring the target's armor.

The Drowned Zombie collapsed to the ground with a thud, instantly killed by Bai Xiaowen.

Two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier raised their shields to block the remaining two Drowned Zombie, while Rageclaw circled behind the Drowned Zombie and swung his giant claws, scratching them viciously.

The two Drowned Zombie were just level 6 monsters with Standard Template. Although they had a 25% damage reduction, they still couldn't withstand the violent output of Bai Xiaowen, Rageclaw, and the Bone Warlock, and quickly fell to the ground after about ten seconds.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the number of layers of "Ominous Aura" on Rageclaw's body. In just over ten seconds of fighting, three layers had actually been stacked.

"I remember that in the very first second after the battle began, Rageclaw and the two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier were covered in two layers of Ominous Aura, one layer each from the two Drowned Zombie. The subsequent focused fire killed one first, and the other was held off for ten seconds before another layer of ominous aura was added to each of them."

Bai Xiaowen summarized the mechanism of the Ominous Aura stacking effect of Drowned Zombie. If it is a Drowned Zombie, the first layer of Ominous Aura effect will be stacked immediately after entering the battle, and then an additional layer of Ominous Aura will be added every 10 seconds, up to a maximum of 10 layers.

The three layers of Ominous Aura on Rageclaw are a combined negative status. This means that the Ominous Aura can stack up to 10 layers. No matter how many Drowned Zombie there are, the number of layers will not exceed 10. It's just that the more drowned Zombie there are, the faster the layers stack up.

Bai Xiaowen made up his mind. He walked to the three Drowned Zombie and began to loot their spoils.

After drowning, the Drowned Zombie' bodies quickly turned into gray mist and dissipated, merging into the world. Only a few scattered black bones remained where they died.

When Bai Xiaowen's fingers touched these bones, he received a notification that these were one of the materials needed for the Undead Disguise — Drowning Bone (lower grade). Bai Xiaowen obtained three in total.

Behind the Drowning Bone is an additional note: this special material is formed from the Yin energy of the Dead Spirit Lake, and can only be formed within the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space. If it leaves the Treasure Ground Space, it will quickly dissipate.

These three ordinary Drowned Zombie did not drop any treasure chests; they only left behind three Drowning Bone.

However, Bai Xiaowen wasn't discouraged; this was the normal drop rate. If the drop rate from regular monster chests were that high, then Psionic Points and Psionic Items wouldn't be so scarce.

After walking several hundred meters deeper into the Netherworld Rift, Bai Xiaowen suddenly stopped, raised the Desert Eagle abruptly, and fired to his left.

A muffled panting sound rang out, and a pair of blood-red eyes appeared in the mist, followed by the dull thud of a massive hand slamming into the ground.

In the mist, a giant crocodile over three meters long Pounce. It had been Stealth for a long time, but it hadn't escaped Bai Xiaowen's Mental Scan.

The equally massive Rageclaw Pounce forward, dodging the crocodile's first attack, then circled to the side and unleashed its Rend skill, leaving several claw marks on the crocodile's skin, though no blood was drawn.

[Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile (Elite Tier Level 6)]

[Race: Beast Species / Terrestrial Beasts]

[Attributes: Strength 37, Agility 22, Constitution 30, Spirit 14]

[Skill 1: Thick Hide: The Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile receives an additional 30% armor.]

[Skill 2: Ambush: The Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile can blend seamlessly into its surroundings, reducing the chance of being detected. When it attacks undetected, it will inflict a Stun and deal additional damage.]

[Skill 3: Hunting: The Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile Pounce Bite its target. The target must first pass a Strength check, otherwise it will be unable to escape and will continuously lose Life Value; the target must also pass a Constitution check, otherwise it will be crippled.]

"Life forms still exist within the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space."

The Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's strongest skill is undoubtedly its third Hunting skill, which can be considered its main attack. Of course, the Ambush skill is also troublesome for awakened individuals who lack detection methods or have lower priority, but it does not pose an obstacle for Bai Xiaowen.

The Rageclaw withstood the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's normal attacks, while the Bone Warlock's Thunderstrike Art rained down, leaving wisps of green smoke on the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's body. Spell damage is not reduced by armor.

Bai Xiaowen, on the other hand, activated the Rapid-Fire Mode, doubling the rate of fire and unleashing a barrage of bullets.

At this point, the Piercing effect becomes apparent. Every three bullets, the fourth bullet will ignore armor, leaving the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile with no choice but to take the full damage.

Roar!

The Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile suddenly kicked off with its short, powerful claws, its large mouth full of sharp teeth opening wide to bite down on the Rageclaw. Bai Xiaowen instantly received a notification; this was the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's Hunting skill.

Crack!

A bolt of Lightning Strike struck from the sky. After the Skeleton Mage transformed into the Bone Warlock, Lightning Throw became Thunderstrike Art, which was faster and the lightning energy no longer needed a "projectile" to travel through the air. Bai Xiaowen found it much easier to use as an interrupt skill, and the amount of lead he needed to calculate also decreased.

If it's a physical interrupt skill, like the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier's "Shield Bash," the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile can withstand it. But spells ignore its armor, and the interrupt effect takes effect immediately, paralyzing the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile and abruptly halting its charge.

Rageclaw's agility far surpasses that of the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile. With the interrupt skill's restraint, it easily dodged the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's pounce and unleashed its Bite skill. Under Bai Xiaowen's Fine Control, Rageclaw's attack landed precisely on the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's injured area.

With a tearing sound, the Rageclaw ripped a large chunk of flesh from the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile's body. This attack not only caused Critical Hit but also inflicted Moderate Bleeding.

The Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile writhed in agony, almost going berserk. However, no matter how much it struggled, as a level 6 Elite Tier, it was no match for Bai Xiaowen. Its remaining Life Value were quickly depleted, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Above the corpse of the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile, a Silver Treasure Chest appeared.

Although a treasure chest appeared, Bai Xiaowen's focus was not on the treasure chest.

Crocodile meat is delicious and nutritious; every part of it is valuable. Although the Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile lives in a slightly different environment than ordinary crocodiles, it is essentially still Beast Species, its species hasn't changed, and it is edible. Compared to the meat of Mutant Dog or mutated wild boars, it is much more expensive.

Yesterday was Lunar New Year's Eve, and I took a break. Today, amidst the sound of firecrackers, I managed to write two chapters. Happy Chinese New Year everyone! There will be more updates today.