Underground Mausoleum, First Floor (2-in-1)

While invisible, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi whispered to each other through the Team Channel.

"Xiao Wen, Richard's goal is the same as ours. We can sneak into the Grand Mausoleum when the seal is broken," Li Shuyi said.

Bai Xiaowen gave a wry smile, "If I could, I wouldn't want this guy to interfere. Without him and Glandis's side, we would only need to deal with a group of nuns plus the two Boss Tier, Melda and the rough old woman. Not only would we have the benefit of killing the Boss Tier, but we wouldn't have to act so stealthily."

Li Shuyi nodded. "It is indeed unexpected that Richard, as the fourth prince of the Lionheart Empire, would personally lead his troops here, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"No, this guy is very likely not the real Richard." Bai Xiaowen then told Li Shuyi the information he had Insight —that the target was in disguise.

"This is an imposter? Then who is he impersonating?" Li Shuyi was slightly surprised, then suggested, "Let's step forward and expose him."

"No, this guy was able to fool Goliya, which means he must have proof that he is the fourth prince of the Lionheart Empire. We are on opposing sides, and both the Monastery Glandis hate me to the core. No one will believe what I say, and instead, the imposter prince will turn the tables on me."

Bai Xiaowen paused for a moment, then added, "However, it's not entirely hopeless. This imposter prince seems very strange, with a particular interest in the things sealed in the Monastery. Even without us exposing him, his true identity will surely be revealed once we reach the Grand Mausoleum, and a fierce conflict between the three parties is highly likely! We'll sneak in quietly first, and then jump out to clean up the mess when the time is right."

Li Shuyi was very excited and said with a smile, "The aftermath of a civil war among a group of bosses! I can't wait!"

Dean Melda led a group of Leader Tier powerhouses out of the central courtyard and headed towards the back mountain.

Behind the Monastery, on the hill, stands a tombstone-shaped tower—though the above-ground portion is more decorative, resembling a long lightning rod pointing towards the sky; the actual structure lies underground.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi only dared to follow from a distance. They could see from afar that Dean Melda was kneeling on the ground, seemingly praying for some time.

At the spire's tip, a soft white light shimmered, transforming into a halo that slowly descended from top to bottom, eventually settling on the base of the spire.

In an instant, the entire ground glowed, and the snow around the base of the spire was blown away by an invisible force, revealing the dark blue-green rocky ground.

Then, the spire began to rotate. After a slow full rotation, a small door at the base of the spire opened, revealing a deep, downward-spiraling staircase entrance.

"This is the entrance to the Grand Mausoleum. Go in! May the Lord forgive my transgression," said Dean Melda. "I have only broken the outer seal of the Grand Mausoleum. The inner seal can only be opened after someone guards the ' Bright Pass ' for me after I enter."

Richard summoned two guards and ordered them to stand watch at the entrance. Then, the Boss Tier filed in.

Bai Xiaowen aimed a sharp Insight at the guard on duty.

[Francis Botom (Elite Tier Level 8) / Solemn Procession]

[Race: Human Species / Human Race]

[Occupation: Royal Halberd Guard]

[Attributes: Strength 39, Agility 31, Constitution 40, Spirit 22]

[Skill 1: Solemn Procession: For each Royal Halberd Guard ally nearby (including yourself), your Life Value increases by 10%, up to a maximum increase of 100% of your original maximum Life Value.]

[Skill 2: Cover: Omitted.]

[Skill 3: Halberd Thrust: With an attack speed equivalent to double agility, thrust out the halberd with incredible speed. If the target's armor value is less than the attacker's total attack power, the target will be Piercing the halberd, taking additional damage and inflicting a bleeding effect. Enemies hit and Piercing by two or more Halberd Thrust skills simultaneously will also suffer Imprisonment effect.]

[Skill 4: Majesty of the Lionheart Royal Family LV2: Increases Life Value by an additional 200 points.]

"Royal Halberd Guard... are relatively balanced in attributes, except for slightly lower spirit, their strength, agility, and physique are about the same. These Elite Tier creatures rely on their numerical advantage; once more than 10 Royal Halberd Guard form an encirclement, even Leader Tier expert will find it difficult to escape unscathed."

Bai Xiaowen analyzed the situation and concluded. "There are only two Royal Halberd Guard blocking our way, so they pose no threat. We should act as quickly as possible and eliminate them within the allotted time! Otherwise, they might have any warning signs."

Li Shuyi nodded. She quietly circled around to within five meters of the two Royal Halberd Guard, closing in on them.

Bai Xiaowen counted down three, two, one. When only one finger remained upright, the Intimidation skill was activated!

Li Shuyi broke free from her stealth and charged forward, stabbing a Royal Halberd Guard with a halberd! The man, gripped by Fear Status, didn't even flinch before being struck in a vital spot, blood spurting out.

For certain reasons, Bai Xiaowen did not summon the new creature Soul-Siphoning Banshee Delifa. Instead, he sent out four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier to assist the Butcher in descending from the sky and launching a fierce attack on the wounded Royal Halberd Guard.

Although the opponent had 720 Life Value, his armor was drastically reduced, making him very fragile, and his Life Value plummeted. The combined Shield Bash of the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier prevented him from making any warning moves.

In just three seconds, the first Royal Halberd Guard fell to the ground, while the other halberd-wielding guard was still in Fear Status and had not yet recovered!

Bai Xiaowen flicked his wrist, Talisman Switching to the Heart-Confounding Talisman, and launched the second wave of attack.

The halberd-wielding guard was immediately stunned after being struck by Fear Status. Under the combined attack of Li Shuyi and the summoned creatures, his Life Value were quickly depleted, and he collapsed to the ground.

A silver treasure chest materialized above the corpse of the second halberd-wielding guard.

Upon opening the treasure chest, Li Shuyi had her Yi-Yi chance to draw a blue weapon: the Guard Halberd. This piece of equipment boasted considerable attack power and was also "Bind on Equip," giving it some trading value.

Neither of them had time to appreciate the blue halberd; they casually put it into their Storage Space and rushed directly into the spiral descending staircase of the Grand Mausoleum.

As they rushed out of the staircase exit, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi exclaimed "Huh!" and simultaneously shivered!

Spirit Realm Rules Prompt Message;

"You have arrived at the first underground level of the Grand Mausoleum. You are affected by the Yin-Energy Envelopment. The recovery speed of your Life Value, Divine Might, and physical strength has been greatly reduced."

"Yin-Energy Envelopment..."

Bai Xiaowen recalled, "This feeling is very familiar. There was a similar area Yin-Energy Envelopment in the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space. I didn't expect the Grand Mausoleum to be the same. It seems that a considerable part of the difficulty of the Grand Mausoleum comes from its harsh environment."

"However, last time at the Dead Spirit Lake, your Undead Species summoned creatures seemed unaffected by the Yin-Energy Envelopment energy," Li Shuyi reminded her.

Bai Xiaowen nodded and summoned the Butcher again.

The Butcher had used the Rot skill for a few seconds during the battle, and its Life Value hadn't fully recovered. Now, under the influence of the Yin energy, its Life Value was recovering rapidly, and a faint "smile" appeared on its bewildered and ugly face, accompanied by a soft humming sound like that of a succulent animal.

"Yes, that's right. Apart from Rageclaw, all my other summoned creatures should receive the positive bonus from Yin energy. This is a huge advantage," Bai Xiaowen said.

"This is your home turf," Li Shuyi said with a smile. "I'll try to avoid unnecessary fighting."

"That's right, conserve your energy for the crucial team fight."

Bai Xiaowen waved his hand, summoning four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, Shadow Assassin, Skeleton Champion, and Kitz. After thinking for a moment, he also summoned the Bone Warlock.

In such a place, the Bone Warlock doesn't need to worry about a lack of Divine Might at all. The Thunderstrike Art can be used as soon as its cooldown time is over, making it a turret with unlimited firepower. The best part is that it also has Bane of Evil effect.

Despite having certain advantages, Bai Xiaowen was not blindly optimistic. He had already discovered that the underground floor of the Grand Mausoleum had a rather complex structure. For example, the square underground tomb they had just arrived at after descending the steps had doors on the opposite and left and right walls, making it somewhat difficult to decide which path to take.

"There are many Leader Tier powerhouses on the other side, and most importantly, with Melda there, they know the way! Right now, all we know is that they are going to ' Bright Pass,' but I have absolutely no idea where that place is." Bai Xiaowen was not blindly optimistic just because this was his home turf.

"We can follow the trail of their battle. They need to kill the undead monsters in the Grand Mausoleum to move forward, so we can just look for their corpses," Li Shuyi said.

"That is indeed a solution."

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. Using the pale, faint light from the glowing moss growing on the walls of the tomb, he looked around.

The tomb was completely empty, except for a few ancient stone coffins that were half-open, and there were no monster corpses.

There were no signs of a struggle in the tomb, and most strangely, there were no footprints of Melda and her group. Bai Xiaowen's Sherlock Holmes-like tracking skills were also useless.

"This tomb chamber doesn't have it. Let's open a door and take a look."

Bai Xiaowen manipulated the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier to push open a wooden door.

Roar!

A roar rang out, and two Skeleton Soldier charged straight at them.

These Skeleton Soldier were level 7, but in terms of strength, they were far inferior to Bai Xiaowen's Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier. Especially with Bai Xiaowen's One-Handed Swordsmanship and Shield Mastery Specialty, the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier could unleash even greater power.

The two wild Skeleton Soldier were utterly no match for them, but something strange happened as they died.

Boom! Boom!

The shockwave exploded, and the two wild Skeleton Soldier were instantly pulverized into two streams of cold energy, scattering the surrounding dust in all directions! Not even a trace of their corpses remained.

"I finally understand why there were no bodies in the tomb just now..." Li Shuyi said.

Bai Xiaowen squinted at the footprints, which had been smoothed over by the blast wave and then covered again by the flying dust. "I finally understand why there were no signs of a fight."

"What should we do?" Li Shuyi asked.

"We can only take it one step at a time. Let's explore in one direction." Bai Xiaowen was resilient and did not feel discouraged.

He tapped his head lightly with his finger and said with a smile, "Although I don't know the map, with each step I take, the corresponding topographical map will be imprinted in my mind. It will take us a little longer to find the Bright Pass, but it won't be delayed for too long."

After confirming, the two headed north.

As they ventured deeper, the undead monsters they encountered along the way became increasingly powerful and formidable.

Skeleton Archer, Skeleton Mage, Skeleton Champion...

Ghost, Vampire, Zombie...

The vast majority of the monsters were those that had appeared in Bai Xiaowen's Black Soul Stone. Bai Xiaowen manipulated his own undead army to fight them, creating a kind of illusion of a mirror battle, but of course, this was just an illusion.

Bai Xiaowen's undead army was clearly stronger. In terms of attributes, with the boost from Bai Xiaowen's Divine Might and the Spirit Channeling, they were no weaker than the opposing undead monsters. However, in terms of skills, they were far superior—summoned creatures that had devoured the souls of powerful beings possessed more powerful abilities.

Bai Xiaowen's rapidly improving Battle Specialty over the past few months also played a crucial role. Without this period of accumulation and improvement, it certainly wouldn't have been so easy for him to challenge this mausoleum when he first reached level six.

The boost to strength from Battle Specialty is not reflected on the character panel, but rather in actual combat.

Li Shuyi admired Bai Xiaowen's all-out battle, feeling that Bai Xiaowen's fighting style possessed a great artistic beauty. Each summoned creature was like a component of a huge, sophisticated machine, operating efficiently.

The seventh wave of monsters was mainly composed of Bonefolk, and Bai Xiaowen was distracted by manipulating his summoned creatures to deal with them. One of the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier thrust its sword from a tricky angle, hitting an enemy Skeleton Soldier Skeleton Soldier behind it, raised its left arm, and obliquely raised its iron shield. An enemy Skeleton Champion's greatsword slashed at the iron shield, only causing negligible recoil damage...

At the same time, Bai Xiaowen's enhanced Skeleton Champion, under the protection of two other swordsmen and shieldmen, had been charging up his sword for a short while. Taking advantage of the enemy Skeleton Champion's inability to retract its slashing motion and its lack of time to defend and dodge, he slashed down with his sword, severing its skull and sending it rolling far away.

Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and Skeleton Champion are like this, while agile creatures like Shadow Assassin are even more flashy.

Under Bai Xiaowen's control, who had advanced to level 7 combat and level 7 Swordsmanship Specialty, the Shadow Assassin moved through the gaps between the opponent's Blade, delivering a sudden strike with the ease of a martial arts master who could "pass through a sea of flowers without a single petal touching him."

The damage wasn't high, but... it looked cool, that's all that matters.

That's all for today's two updates... Also, thank you for the blessings!