Underground Palace Collapses (, Alas, Please Give Some Collections and Votes!)

"Flower of the Other Shore!"

Xiao Hen looked down at the goddess's chest and abdomen. Black flowers of the other shore flickered with streaks of red light, gathering strand by strand into a pillar that shot upward and spread throughout the entire space.

Hu Bayi and the others had already begun fighting the suddenly appearing zombie skeletons, but these monsters were too numerous—endless, practically. One after another, the "awakening" creatures charged at their position.

"Quick, smash the Flower of the Other Shore! The red light from that flower is affecting us, creating this twisted illusion. We have to destroy it to wipe out these monsters!" Hu Bayi shouted.

Xiao Hen didn't move. He reached out, grabbed the Flower of the Other Shore, and tried to stow it into his Storage Space, but paused. In his mind, he called out: "Shuttle, I've got the Flower of the Other Shore. Why can't I put it away?"

"The energy of the Crystal of Illusion, the Flower of the Other Shore, is being activated. Retrieval requires time. Please wait, Host..."

"Wait?" Xiao Hen's eye twitched. Damn it, how long could he afford to wait now?

"Hurry! Smash the Flower of the Other Shore!" Shirley Yang struggled to fend off skeleton attacks, twisting her head to yell at Xiao Hen.

"Mine... my Flower of the Other Shore. It's mine. I'm saved." Ying Caihong screamed hoarsely, dodging monster strikes while staring greedily at the flower in Xiao Hen's hand.

Xiao Hen gritted his teeth. Watching Hu Bayi and the others in danger, he couldn't just stand by.

"Damn it, how much longer? How long?" Xiao Hen demanded in his mind.

"Ten minutes. Please be patient, Host," the Shuttle replied, its voice calm and ethereal, utterly devoid of emotion.

"Fuck..." Xiao Hen spat a curse. Clutching the flower in one hand, he leaped forcefully from the coffin to the large platform of the Underground Palace where Hu Bayi and the others were.

Hu Bayi, Wang Kaixuan, and the rest were under relentless assault from countless monsters, perilously close to being overwhelmed. Big Gold Tooth, in particular, had been chased until he had nowhere left to run.

"Mine! The Flower of the Other Shore is mine! Give it to me!" Ying Caihong's wig had fallen off, revealing a horrifying scar on her scalp like a centipede. Spotting Xiao Hen on the platform, she lunged at him in a frenzy, trying to snatch the flower.

"Get lost!" Xiao Hen kicked out, sending Ying Caihong tumbling several times.

He glanced at his Character Panel. The task bar clearly showed: Side Quest: Protect Ying Caihong into the Goddess Tomb until the Flower of the Other Shore is obtained. Side Quest Complete. Reward: Spring Rain Swordplay. Claim reward now?

Xiao Hen's eyes lit up. Since the side quest was done, what use was she now?

He raised his gun and fired three times—bang, bang, bang. Ying Caihong took shots to the forehead, chest, and abdomen. She convulsed and collapsed, clearly dead beyond any doubt.

"Ah, help! Big dumplings, they're all big dumplings!" Big Gold Tooth's cries for help rang out. Xiao Hen turned, fired a few more shots, but these illusion-born monsters barely flinched under gunfire. They just wouldn't die.

Wang Kaixuan dove over, dragging Big Gold Tooth out of the way of a monster's strike, and shouted to Xiao Hen: "The Flower of the Other Shore! Give it to me! I promised Xiao Ding—I swore I'd help her find it!"

Xiao Hen stowed his pistol and pulled out the Silver Light Sword, a reward from the Shuttle stored in his Storage Space. With one swing, he cleaved through a charging Japanese zombie; with another, he shattered a skeleton monster.

He moved fast—a flicker of motion and he was beside Hu Bayi and the others, dispatching the zombies surrounding them and Shirley Yang in a few strokes. "You all okay?"

Hu Bayi caught his breath, then looked solemnly at Xiao Hen. "Destroy the Flower of the Other Shore now, or these monsters won't vanish. As long as the illusion covers this place, they're infinite."

"No. Just a few more minutes—wait a few more minutes!" Xiao Hen shook his head. Then he turned to face a towering ancient general's corpse charging at him. His sword met the general's broad blade with a clash.

"Huh? It blocked me!" Xiao Hen pressed the attack with effort, finally shattering the general's remains.

"These monsters are getting stronger over time!" Xiao Hen's expression shifted.

"Shuttle, can I claim the side quest reward now?" he asked in his mind. The reward was Spring Rain Swordplay. He didn't know if it would be directly imparted or given as a Sword Manual to learn slowly. If the latter, he was screwed—there was no time to practice swordsmanship now.

"Yes. Confirm claim?" the Shuttle said flatly.

"Will the swordplay be transmitted directly into my mind, or do I have to learn it step by step?" Xiao Hen asked. That was the key.

"It will be transmitted as an information stream directly to the Host's mind."

The Shuttle's answer lifted Xiao Hen's spirits. "Then claim it immediately."

"Reward issued. Please check, Host."

Xiao Hen felt a slight dizziness, then a stream of information materialized in his mind. With a thought, it crystallized into clear memories, stored in his brain's memory region.

A faint smile touched Xiao Hen's lips. He thrust his sword again, taking the lead against the waves of zombies, skeletons, and crawling Corpse Poison Victims bearing down on Hu Bayi, Shirley Yang, Wang Kaixuan, and Big Gold Tooth.

His sword strikes shifted from brute-force hacking to a flowing, unbroken, exquisite swordplay. The technique grew smoother, his kill speed climbing steadily. As he wove through the fray, no monster lasted three moves against him—not even the massive creatures with ram-horned skulls. Under his blade's gleaming edge, they were pierced through the head and shattered to pieces.

"This swordplay lets me leverage my strengths better. It's even boosted my Combat Power significantly." Xiao Hen stole a glance at his Character Panel. The Combat Power had jumped from thirty-seven to fifty-seven.

Just one set of sword techniques, and it had raised his Combat Power by a full twenty points. That was terrifying.

He focused. His physical stats hadn't improved—only his swordsmanship and combat endurance. And endurance was a key metric in the Kroatia civilization's evaluation of combat strength; sheer burst damage alone wasn't definitive proof of power there.

"The swordplay... I'm getting more fluent."

Xiao Hen flicked the Silver Light Sword. The blade trembled, emitting a soft ring. Long and elegant, like autumn water or a willow leaf, it turned into a streak of silver-white radiance in his hand.

As the light flashed, countless demons and monsters turned to ash. Xiao Hen sheathed his sword and looked around. The illusionary fiends had thinned out. Several monsters in the distance halted, unwilling to approach him.

"That... that swordplay is incredible..." Wang Kaixuan stared, dumbfounded. Xiao Hen's movements had been blindingly fast. Now that he'd fully unleashed his combat ability, the gap between him and ordinary people was enormous.

"No kidding." Hu Bayi swallowed hard.

Ding. Main quest completed. Story world mission ended. Host may leave within one year. Leave now?

"No."

Xiao Hen declined. The Flower of the Other Shore in his left hand had vanished.

"Huh? Where'd it go?" Wang Kaixuan, who had been watching the flower the whole time—still clinging to the promise he'd made Ding Sitian—was the first to notice it was gone.

Rumble...

At that moment, the flower's disappearance triggered a tremor throughout the tomb. The ancient burial site's self-destruct mechanism had begun.

"Not good—the Underground Palace is collapsing. Quick, everyone watch out, the tomb's self-destruct mechanism has been triggered. Be careful!" Hu Bayi shouted.

"Move it!" Wang Kaixuan dragged Big Gold Tooth along as they scrambled forward.

Hu Bayi also pulled Shirley Yang, dodging the falling rubble overhead.

Swoosh. Xiao Hen cleaved a chunk of stone in two with his sword, then turned his gaze toward the coffin. There, Princess Augu's body still lay. If the Underground Palace really collapsed, the corpse would surely be destroyed too.

"Hey, go! Get the hell out of here!" Hu Bayi glanced back at Xiao Hen, frozen in place, and yelled.

"You all go, don't worry about me!" Xiao Hen called back, then with a leap, he charged toward the Goddess's Coffin. He knew Hu Bayi and the others could escape safely, but he still had something to do.

Hu Bayi and the others were stunned. What was he up to?

"Forget him, we need to save our own skins!" Wang Kaixuan urged.

"Go!"

By then, Xiao Hen was already beside the goddess's corpse. While swinging his sword to shatter falling rocks, he reached out and touched the body.

Guess the plot...

What was Xiao Hen doing in the end?

Come on, whoever guesses right gets my respect!