King's Protection

His gaze shifted to the remaining two pieces of equipment: one was shaped like an hourglass, while the other resembled an exaggeratedly large hat. Zhonya's Hourglass provided 700 energy damage and 450 armor. Once activated, it rendered its user invincible for three seconds, though they could neither attack nor move during that time. Its cooldown was twenty-four hours.

Rabadon's Deathcap increased energy damage by 1,200 and additionally boosted energy damage output by 40%. Though these two pieces could not compare to the overall attributes of the "Kingdom: Millennium War" set, their unique passive effects—whether brief invincibility or a massive damage increase—were both top-tier.

The only flaw was that they were standalone pieces and could not trigger set bonuses. "You can have these two, Li," Li Chen said, tossing over the hourglass and wizard hat.

Considering that Yan Lingji cultivated both magic and martial arts, equipment with purely magical bonuses would be better used by Li, who specialized in spells. "Huh? You're really giving such valuable equipment to me, President?"

"Take them. I can't use them anyway." Li Chen waved it off carelessly. Li held the hourglass in her left hand and pressed the wizard hat tightly to her chest with her right, her fingertips trembling slightly.

Having practically coasted through the entire battle, she suddenly received such generous rewards. It left her deeply uneasy. The moment she grasped the two divine artifacts, vast energy surged into her body, directly raising her strength to the peak of B-Class.

"Let's go. Next map. This time, I'll handle it personally." Li Chen brushed nonexistent dust from his hands and led the three of them into the second tomb. He used the same trick again—when a pebble struck the knight statue, the sleeping guardian awoke with a thunderous crash.

Dragon-Level Disaster: Myra the Guardian!

The giant figure clad in bronze armor held a shield in his left hand and a hammer in his right. A hoarse question seeped from the gaps in his armor: "Who dares disturb my slumber?" Though his warhammer was not as swift as Vortex of Wind, his confidence as the strongest defender of the Immortal Knights was no empty boast.

A dangerous red glow currently flickered around him—physical damage reflection mode had been activated. But everything had two sides. In this state, his magic resistance was almost pitifully weak. Once one understood the mechanism, this metal can became much easier to deal with.

"Awakening Skill—Shore of Redemption: Holy Spear of Punishment!"

With the breakthrough power granted by Grandis, the "Gospel Messenger," Li Chen gained might comparable to that of a "Seraph."

Dazzling holy light erupted, gathering in his hand into a long spear of light wreathed in the aura of judgment. Its tip pointed directly at Myra the Guardian and descended with the force to destroy heaven and earth—

The might of this strike was enough to overturn the entire continent!

"It seems... my weakness has been seen through..."

Myra the Guardian seemed to resign himself to his fate, abandoning all resistance as he dissolved into starlight beneath the blinding holy radiance.

Instant kill! Absolute domination!

Yan Lingji and the others only saw a flash of brilliant light before their powerful enemy had turned into loot scattered across the ground.

"Gather the loot."

Li Chen looked at the additional ten thousand energy points, his gaze settling on the orb containing the power of laws.

[King's Protection]

Defense increased by 1000% (including physical resistance/magic resistance/elemental resistance)

Defense Law +666

Passive: Damage Reflection

Absorbing his second Law Orb made him look forward even more to the law powers possessed by the later bosses.

"Another 'Millennium Chronicle' set component?"

Li Chen handed the two exclusive pieces of equipment to Yatogami Tohka. When the final piece of armor fell into place, the set effect abruptly activated:

Attack increased by 35%

Defense increased by 100%

At this moment, Tohka's defense was already enough to take Thor's axe head-on. Unless she encountered a mid-stage Super-Dragon-Level expert, no one could possibly break through this legendary armor.

"This last item is..."

A crimson drop of blood floated above Yan Lingji's palm, and its terrifying heat distorted the surrounding air.

An ordinary person would be burned to ashes merely by approaching that scorching heat.

The final piece of loot was not equipment, but a drop of blood containing mysterious power—Incomplete Vermilion Bird Blood.

Only when the president personally cleared a dungeon was it possible to obtain such an item.

Effect: Fire affinity increased by 100%, fire resistance increased by 500%. After consumption, there is a random chance of awakening an Incomplete Vermilion Bird Bloodline.

"Who wants this?"

"No. My instincts reject it." Yatogami Tohka shook her head and stepped back, her tone resolute.

The source of her power was "Kingdom." If she forcibly fused with the power of the Vermilion Bird, the two forces would inevitably clash.

If "Kingdom" prevailed, the Vermilion Bird Blood would become useless. If the Vermilion Bird Blood suppressed "Kingdom," Tohka's existence would be erased.

Neither outcome would be good for her.

"I'm not interested either." Li refused as well, a trace of resistance showing in her eyes.

Her attributes were not compatible with fire, so Vermilion Bird Blood was not the best choice for her.

With the two of them withdrawing, this drop of Vermilion Bird Blood found its most suitable destination.

"Yan Lingji, you take it."

"Me? This... is too valuable, isn't it?" She hesitated slightly, uncertainty in her voice.

If it had been equipment, it would have been easier to accept, since the boost from a single piece was limited.

But an item capable of awakening the bloodline of an ancient divine beast, even an incomplete one, was worth far more than ordinary equipment.

"There may be risks during the fusion. Take it after we leave."

"Mm."

Li Chen used telekinesis to form a container and sealed the Vermilion Bird Blood within it.

Bloodlines obtained through lottery draws could be fused directly, but this was his first attempt at inheriting power by directly swallowing a drop of blood. The dangers were unknown, so he decided to help Yan Lingji complete the fusion after the dungeon was over.

Once she successfully awakened the Incomplete Vermilion Bird Bloodline, Li Chen himself would also gain a higher-level power—the complete Vermilion Bird Bloodline.

Though it could not compare to the ancient divine beast Phoenix, it would still greatly improve his strength.

"Let's go. Next tomb."

After gathering the loot, the four of them entered the third floor.

The guardian here was a Dragon-Level Calamity—Eston of Ice!

He wore heavy ice-blue armor, held a shield in his left hand and an icy crystal longsword in his right. His chilling aura seemed to freeze the blood in their veins.

Li Chen and Yatogami Tohka had yet to notice anything unusual, but Li had already wrapped herself into a furball with her snow-white fluffy tail, while Yan Lingji endured unprecedented attribute suppression.

Ice and fire had always opposed each other.

When frost ran rampant, blazing flames would eventually freeze. Where infernos blazed skyward, profound ice would turn to mist.

Eston of Ice, who possessed Dragon-Level Calamity strength, completely overwhelmed Yan Lingji. Even her evolved "Fire Charm Art" could not gather so much as the smallest flame.

The gap in strength was as unquestionable as Madara Uchiha toying with the Five Kage.

"Intruders—"

"Your end will be unimaginably miserable."

"Rot away slowly within eternal winter!"

Just like the useless guard Myra before him, Eston of Ice delivered his villainous declaration as usual.

Yet before three seconds had passed, he had turned into ice crystal fragments scattered across the ground—Li Chen had dismantled him into parts with his bare hands.

The dropped [Mercy: Extreme Cold Freeze] set naturally went to Yoshino. But the true loot was the pale blue orb wreathed in cold air:

[King's Protection: Ice]

Ice attribute increase +1000%

Ice Law Comprehension +666

Passive Domain: Within a radius of one hundred meters, enemies' attack speed and movement speed are forcibly reduced by 30%

As the third Law Orb was absorbed, Li Chen's understanding of the power of rules rose to another level. The guardians of the next two tombs—"Gurad of Flame" and "Vordos of Light"—could not even last three seconds before him, contributing the [Severity: Furious Flame] and [Crown: Light of Fantasy] sets respectively.

He had intended to give the fire set to Yan Lingji, but after fusing with the incomplete Vermilion Bird Blood, she firmly declined. The two divine sets could only be stored away for the time being, awaiting their destined owners.

"Final boss. Let's wrap this up."

Li Chen rolled his wrists, familiar with every corner of the dungeon. As the grand finale of an Ultra-Dragon-Level Calamity dungeon, this final guardian was on an entirely different level from those useless foes before.

The young man, having gathered the power of all five elemental laws, stepped into the final royal tomb, and the ground began to tremble.

When Li Chen reached his destination, what stood before him was not a sleeping member of the Immortal Knights.

A five-meter-tall giant sat upon a throne, holding a massive warhammer carved with runes as he pondered. He had once suffered an unprecedented defeat, and his glorious civilization had fallen with it.

Unlike the knights who had sunk into slumber, this king had always contemplated the cause of his failure. Only when the intruders broke the silence did he awaken from his thoughts. "Interesting. Someone actually managed to see me alive? That means you defeated my Immortal Knights."

"But that is meaningless. I am not on the same level as them!" The final boss revealed his title—Ultra-Dragon-Level Threat: Hammer King Borodin.

Paladin slowly rose to his feet, and terrifying pressure swept forth like a primordial beast. There was no doubt that his heavy hammer could shatter the earth's surface. "Kneel before me, and I may grant you glory."

"Those who defy me have only death!" he declared word by word. "I am the Immortal King—Paladin!" Defeating the knights proved that the intruders had strength. If they were willing to pledge loyalty, he might forgive them.

"Ridiculous! You, who lost to Jig, dare speak so arrogantly?" This pierced Paladin's deepest shame—the defeat that had ended his great ambition.

"You're courting death!"

The runic warhammer rumbled like a mountain as the king moved. This divine artifact had been forged from the rarest metal on the continent, fused with divine blood and divinity itself. It was comparable to a legendary weapon in the Marvel Universe, forged from Uru metal and infused with Odin's divine power.

"That pressure..."

"It's terrifying." Li murmured, playing with her snow-white fluffy tail.

Yan Lingji understood that feeling all too well.

When facing S-Class Heroes, aside from King's intimidating enhanced "Engine of Death," she had barely felt any pressure, after all, they were comrades who fought alongside her.

Yet when they faced Hammer King Borodin, Yan Lingji and Li truly realized that those S-Class Heroes were beings capable of contending with such monsters.

"You think you can defeat me?"

"Arrogant! How dare you scorn this king's majesty!"

"Even Jig lost to me. You're nothing but his defeated subordinate. Just obediently become dust of history." Li Chen's demonic crimson eyes stared directly at Hammer King Borodin, radiating soul-stirring pressure.

That power, which surpassed Ghost God Jig, even made Hammer King Borodin instinctively avert his gaze.

The Hammer King Borodin of the past would never have shown such weakness.

But ever since his crushing defeat at Jig's hands, cracks had appeared in his heart as a strong man.

Realizing that he had backed down, Hammer King Borodin flew into a rage. He raised his massive hammer high, as though he intended to smash the entire world apart.

"You!"

"Get down!"

"On your knees!"

The runes upon the giant hammer lit up one by one, as if the power of a god revived through blood sacrifice. A heavy aura of earth swept outward.

"Rumble—"

Amid a roar like mountains collapsing and earth splitting apart, the giant hammer came crashing down. The aftershock of this blow was enough to cover the entire dungeon. There was nowhere to evade.

"Then let me show you the pinnacle of science—God's Domain."

Endless data flowed through Li Chen's eyes as his brain raced at high speed.

Accelerator, the South American branch minister, had reached Level 5 in "Vector Manipulation," placing him among the greatest heroes.

Li Chen's ability had gone a step further, entering God's Domain and becoming Level 6, surpassing even absolute ability users.

He raised one hand and faced Hammer King Borodin's destructive strike head-on.