Chapter 169: Chapter 169: Exploring Death Worm's Nest, The Secret Area
Chapter 169: Exploring Death Worm's Nest, The Secret Area
The battlefield was strewn with spoils, and no more enemies remained.
This time, without waiting for John's reminder, Malina immediately ordered her people to clean up the battlefield.
John, uninterested in the loot, turned his attention to his own stats.
In this battle, he had Plundered over 30,000 attribute points, once again significantly boosting his strength.
More importantly, his Divinity had reached 117 points-those Four-Winged Angels had each yielded 2 points of Divinity.
Additionally, his Luck had risen to an impressive 89 points.
Now, when he used Demon Slayer Slash, his stun chance was nearly 10%.
If he fought an enemy one-on-one, and they had no resistance to control-type skills, they were guaranteed to be stunned until their death.
[Announcement: Heavenly Court has successfully defended against the Monster Tide. Beast Clan faction Heavenly Court established.]
[Beast Clan Heavenly Court Faction Bonus: Joining the Heavenly Court faction increases the chance of awakening beast bloodlines by 50%.]
...
At that moment, the system announcement echoed, confirming that the Beast Clan had successfully established their faction.
"Heavenly Court? That must be that Black Turtle kid!" Tony remarked, surprised, glancing over at John.
John nodded, but after reading the system announcement, he felt somewhat disappointed. "Awakening bloodlines? That bonus doesn't seem particularly useful."
"Kid, you don't understand a thing!" Tony snapped, glaring at him before explaining, "The bonus might look unimpressive, but at the level of gods, it's invaluable. Do you even know what awakening bloodlines does?"
"What does it do?" John asked, genuinely curious.
Tony continued, "Awakening a bloodline grants you additional attribute bonuses. More importantly, only by awakening bloodlines can you refine the Beast Clan's treasured artifacts and become a being on par with the gods. I'd advise you to join the Beast Clan faction-you might even save Jean's life."
John frowned. "What do you mean? Is Jean in danger?"
"Not exactly," Ben chimed in. "Jean could help you awaken your bloodline, but the price would be her life."
"Oh," John responded nonchalantly. "I already have a bloodline-the Spirit Fox Bloodline."
He had acquired the Spirit Fox Bloodline by slaying White, the Fox Clan's prodigy and prophesied savior, thereby becoming the new savior himself.
Tony gave him a sharp look. "You might possess the Spirit Fox Bloodline, but you haven't awakened it yet. Figure out how to awaken your own bloodline and don't go using Jean for that."
"Do I look like that kind of guy?" John responded, exasperated.
At the moment, he wasn't particularly interested in the Beast Clan's treasured artifacts. He still remembered the instructions from the woman in green-to seek out and refine the Immortal Bone, Immortal Sword, Immortal Body, and Spirit Sense.
John speculated that the treasures he sought-Immortal Bone, Immortal Sword, Immortal Body, and Spirit Sense-were no less powerful than the legendary artifacts of the Beast Clan, gods, or demon race.
[Announcement: Phoenix City has successfully defended against the Monster Tide and established the Undead Kingdom faction.]
[Undead Kingdom Faction Bonus: Health +50%; and on the first death each day, there is a 50% chance to resurrect with no penalty.]
...
Another announcement rang out, confirming the successful establishment of the
Undead faction.
The faction bonus-50% extra health and a 50% chance to resurrect upon first death each day.
It greatly increased the survival chances of Phoenix City players.
However, John wasn't particularly impressed with the bonus.
Tony and Ben merely sighed in acknowledgment.
"Kid, do you have anything else for us? If not, send us back," Tony said, clearly irritated. He had been in the middle of trying to push his Dark Element Affinity to 100 points when John summoned him, interrupting his progress just as he was about to succeed.
"Thanks for your help, seniors," John replied gratefully, opening a spatial rift to the Abyss to send the two back.
He hesitated briefly, wondering about Sini's progress, but chose not to enter the Abyss. The priority now was to rescue Tracy.
Soon after, the battlefield cleanup was complete, and Malina handed John 130,000 skill stones and three artifacts.
John glanced at the artifacts' attributes, noting they didn't suit him, and casually stowed them away.
As for the 130,000 skill stones, he refined them all, gaining 130,000 skill points.
"Take me leveling!" Malina demanded, eyeing him expectantly.
After defending against the Monster Tide, she had reached level 191 and was eager to hit 200 for her fifth career advancement.
"No time. Also, you still owe me two dance videos for the 2GI paid. If you've got nothing else to do, go learn some dance moves," John replied dismissively, uninterested in humoring her. With a thought, he disappeared, entering Death Land.
Avis and the Undead Lord followed him into Death Land as well.
"You jerk!" Malina stomped her foot in frustration, cursing him before returning to Phoenix
City.
The Monster Tide defense had yielded great rewards, but most importantly, the Phoenix Guild members could now join the Undead Kingdom, greatly enhancing their survival capabilities.
...
"Old man!" Death Land-Tracy's face lit up with joy as she rushed to greet John.
Anna and Yuel were there too. After helping the Beast Clan establish their faction, they had nothing else to do and had come to Death Land to keep Tracy company.
"Have you found a way to rescue Tracy?" Anna asked John, her eyes full of hope.
"Yes, I'm here this time specifically to free Tracy," John nodded confidently.
He had already consulted Tony, who mentioned that Elsa's Divinity was likely over 100 points.
As long as John's Divinity surpassed hers, he would be able to break her hold over Tracy.
"Really?" The women's faces lit up with joy.
Especially Tracy, who had been feeling as if she were trapped here. Though she knew it wasn't
anyone's fault, it still felt like a form of imprisonment.
John nodded and gently took Tracy's hand, attempting to use his Divinity to dissolve the
divine energy that was controlling her.
He could clearly sense the foreign power within her.
But despite trying several times, he failed to remove it.
"What's going on?" John frowned. Tony and Ben wouldn't have lied to him, so the only
possibility was that Elsa's Divinity was far stronger than his.
After so many years of cultivation, it seemed that Elsa's Divinity had increased beyond what
John anticipated.
"Old man, how's it going?" Tracy asked anxiously when she noticed John hadn't made any
progress.
John smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. It's working, but it'll take a few more attempts. I can't remove all the divine energy in one go."
He didn't want to disappoint Tracy, so he lied to ease her mind.
"Really?" Tracy's face brightened with relief. As long as there was progress, she wasn't too concerned about the timing.
John nodded, continuing, "Just hold on a little longer. I'll help remove more of it in a few
days."
"Alright!" Tracy nodded obediently, trusting him completely.
"Don't worry, benefactor. We'll stay here with Tracy and keep her company," Anna added.
John didn't say much more. With a thought, he left Death Land and reappeared just outside Phoenix City.
The battlefield was still littered with monster corpses, and members of the Phoenix
Guild were busy cleaning up.
John sighed inwardly. His Divinity was still insufficient, and there wasn't a quick way to hunt
enough angels to increase it.
His only hope now lay in the Death Worm's Nest, the secret area he had yet to explore.
Now that he had reached the sixth tier, he could finally enter this Secret Area.
The only question was whether it was connected to the City of Angels.
"I should bring Malina along. She could help with the battles and the cleanup," he thought.
Since the other women were busy with their own tasks, John decided to take Malina into the Death Worm's Nest to explore and level up.
Following one of the Phoenix Guild members, John found Malina busy in the City Lord's
Manor.
Since the Undead Lord had established his faction and gone back to Death Land.
Malina had taken charge of everything.
But she didn't mind. After all, Phoenix City was her domain.
"What are you doing here?" Malina asked, her face showing clear annoyance as she spotted
John entering the room. "I keep my word. If you're here about the dance videos, don't worry,
I'll deliver on my promise."
She assumed John had come to pester her about the dance videos.
John remained calm and said, "I'm here to take you leveling." "Really?" Malina's eyes lit up, but then she quickly grew suspicious. "You're not going to make some unreasonable demands, are you?"
"Do I seem like that kind of person? Just tell me if you're interested," John replied casually.
All he really wanted was some free labor, and taking her to level up was just an afterthought.
"Of course I'm interested. Where are we going to level up?" Malina eagerly handed off her duties to her subordinates and asked, clearly excited.
"To a Secret Area," John said, sending her a party invitation.
The Death Worm's Nest Secret Area didn't have a fixed coordinate. As long as you had the
scroll, you could enter anytime.
It seemed to be a permanent Secret Area.
One of the few special places that didn't require coordinates to access, making it more unique.
Once Malina joined the party, John activated the Death Worm's Nest Secret Area, and both of them disappeared into thin air.
The next moment, they found themselves standing on a vast plain.
A gentle breeze rustled the grass, creating soft ripples across the landscape, accompanied by
the occasional chirp of insects and birds.
The place was peaceful and serene, far too calm for what John had expected.
He frowned, feeling puzzled.
Death Worm's Nest-shouldn't it be some kind of underground cave? Why was it an open
plain?
"Godslayer, it doesn't seem like there are any monsters here," Malina commented as she curiously scanned the area.
"Let's search around," John said, summoning his black dragon Avis. The two of them took to
the skies, flying across the mysterious space in search of answers.
...
For three days, John and Malina wandered through the Secret Area, finally mapping out its
vast landscape.
The region was enormous, rivaling Death Land in size, and it was divided into four zones. There was a large grassland, a desert, and two dense forests on either side.
The grasslands and desert appeared devoid of monsters, but both forests were home to
powerful creatures.
In one forest were Dark Spiders, and in the other, Dual-Bladed Mantises-all of them formidable beasts of at least the sixth tier.
"Avis, let's start by dealing with the Dark Spiders," John commanded. They flew over the
forest where the Dark Spiders lurked.
Whoosh!
John unleashed Hellfire, which engulfed the entire forest in flames.
The trees caught fire, and the air was filled with the piercing screams.
Those the Dark Spiders.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
These creatures were mostly ordinary sixth-tier monsters, unable to withstand John's magic.
[You have slain a level 800 sixth-tier Dark Spider. You gained 17,730 experience points.]
...
The notifications flashed as John steadily gained experience points. Malina, however, seemed unimpressed by the slow pace of leveling. "Godslayer, this is too
slow. I leveled up way faster during the Monster Tide defense."
John sighed, rolling his eyes. These were just regular sixth-tier monsters-how could they
compare to the powerful Dark Humans or Angel Race enemies?
"Master, there's a seventh-tier legendary boss!" Avis suddenly spoke up, alerting them.
John had sensed it too.
Below them, trees toppled as an enormous Dark Spider, the size of a small hill, emerged from
the forest.
It was a seventh-tier pinnacle legendary boss.