Chapter 45: Tarnished Affection—A Devoted Heart Never Meets a Good End
[Ring: Twisted Covenant]
[Quality: Extraordinary]
[Applicable Level: None]
[Required Attributes: None]
[Strength: +0]
[Agility: +0]
[Constitution: +10]
[Spirit: +50]
[Effect 1: Summon two level 40 mutated flower spirits to fight for you.]
[Effect 2: Fusion.]
[Evaluation: The flower spirit once formed a covenant with the tree spirit; together, they would be the eternal guardians of the forest. Until the giant tree was corrupted by power, bringing the taint of the abyss to this land.]
...
“An extraordinary quality ring. Its effects aren’t impressive, but the attribute bonuses are fairly standard.”
“The first effect is easy enough to understand, but what does the second effect—fusion—mean?”
Song Qi pondered the ring for a while.
“Could it be that this ring isn’t complete?”
He then turned his attention to the evaluation beneath the ring.
“So this dungeon actually has a background story.”
“Flower spirit, giant tree, and a covenant.”
“Could the flower spirit be this mutated mother flower? And the tree spirit is probably the giant tree man on the other side?”
“Interesting... makes me want to know what happens next.”
Song Qi gazed into the distance.
The battle formation formed by the terracotta warriors, paired with Ying Zheng’s domain ability, made the flower spirits collapse almost instantly; countless had already died within moments.
There was no need for him to help further.
“Time to head to the other shore.”
Song Qi leapt, crossing the river. He wielded the halberd as though it were a mace, bringing it down with a mighty swing!
Bang!
With a single strike, dead wood flew, and the several-meter-tall giant tree man clutched the missing chunk of his head, swaying before collapsing with a thunderous crash.
“Ah! That feels good~~”
“Only hard things are satisfying to fight—cutting vines just doesn’t feel the same.”
Song Qi shouted exuberantly, then stood in place for a moment.
Yet, after a while...
The mutated giant tree leader did not appear.
“Strange, is its target not me?”
“Or is there only one boss in this dungeon?”
After considering for a bit, Song Qi decided not to dwell on it and focus on the task at hand.
He leapt again, charging toward another giant tree man.
Although he lacked Lü Bu’s skills, sheer attribute superiority was enough for him to obliterate these monsters.
The two of them slaughtered together, and efficiency soared!
In no time, countless giant tree heads were smashed with ease.
Every second, there was the dull sound of bodies hitting the ground.
Every second, innumerable chunks of wood exploded.
The crisp, rhythmic sound of gaining experience was like raindrops, setting Song Qi’s heart ablaze.
About half an hour later...
Boom!
As the last giant tree man fell, a golden light descended onto Song Qi's head.
He had finally reached level 21.
But...
“There’s no completion notification, and the dungeon core hasn’t appeared.”
“Are there still some monsters left?”
Perplexed, Song Qi looked around.
All the giant trees had been uprooted, lying on the ground.
Every monster on the plain had been cleared.
Green liquid was everywhere, flowing so abundantly it even turned the river’s color.
Looking around, there was only Song Qi and his two summoned spirits.
Not a single other living creature remained.
“That can’t be right.”
Song Qi searched again, and finally focused on the river in the middle.
In this dungeon, only the riverbed had yet to be explored.
He walked to the bank, tentatively reaching his hand into the water.
In the next moment...
Boom!!!
A huge, moss-covered hand suddenly erupted from beneath the riverbed, carrying torrents of water as it crashed toward Song Qi’s face.
“Flesh!!!”
A raspy, deep roar thundered in his ears, seemingly imbued with a compulsive force.
Caught off guard, Song Qi was rooted in place, unable to dodge.
But he remained unflustered.
“Sir, be careful.”
Ying Zheng brought his fore and middle fingers together and lifted them; instantly, countless grains of yellow sand coalesced in front of Song Qi, forming a terracotta soldier.
Bang!
The terracotta warrior took the blow head-on, half its body shattered.
Only then did Song Qi finally see this last boss clearly.
Its body was immense!
Towering like a small mountain, estimated at over fifty meters tall.
Its entire form was covered in tough bark and moss, branches forming limbs, while wisps of black aura seeped from gaps in the bark.
Suspended in midair, a human face hung like a mask.
It was sinister and terrifying!
Song Qi checked its information...
Monster: Mutated Tree Spirit
Level: 47
Strength: 1987
Constitution: 2196
Agility: 135
Spirit: 69
Skills: [Resilient Bark][Camouflage][Corrosion]
Evaluation: Driven by jealousy, the tree spirit actively absorbed the power of the abyss, gaining immense strength but losing all reason, reduced to a beast guided only by instinct.
...
After reading the description, Song Qi was now sure.
This was the other boss of the dungeon.
“Lü Bu!”
“Understood!”
No need for further instruction, Lü Bu leapt into action, arching his body backward and gripping his weapon tightly.
He was like a bow drawn to its limit!
Scarlet light blazed from the halberd, chilling to behold.
This glow appeared only when he unleashed [Sacrificial Strike].
“Kill!”
Lü Bu roared, slashing down in fury!
Thunder roared!!!!
This strike shook the heavens and earth!
The mutated tree spirit’s head was shattered into splinters the moment it was hit!
The force of the blow carried on, sending the river into a frenzy, splashing water hundreds of meters high!
It was as if a massive bomb had detonated in the river.
Immediately afterward, Song Qi heard the familiar system notification.
[Experience +49730]
[Congratulations! You have perfectly cleared this dungeon.]
[Please collect the dungeon core promptly.]
Hummmm~~
A crystal-clear gemstone descended from the sky, stopping before Song Qi.
Yet Song Qi did not take it right away.
Once the dungeon core was collected, the entire dungeon would instantly collapse, and he’d be forcibly ejected.
But as long as he didn’t collect it, he could remain here.
So he deliberately left the core untouched, moving instead to the mutated tree spirit’s corpse, crouching to search it thoroughly.
If his guess was correct, this boss should drop a similar piece of equipment.
Song Qi searched for quite a while before finally finding something hard beneath its torso.
His eyes lit up, and he quickly withdrew his hand.
Sure enough, it was another ring!
[Ring: Tarnished Affection]
[Quality: Extraordinary]
[Applicable Level: None]
[Required Attributes: None]
[Strength: +50]
[Agility: +0]
[Constitution: +10]
[Spirit: +0]
[Effect 1: Summon two level 40 mutated giant tree men to fight for you.]
[Effect 2: Fusion.]
[Evaluation: The tree spirit adored the flower spirit, willingly hollowing out its own body to be her home for a hundred years. Though their relationship remained only that of allies, he was deeply content, longing for such a life to go on forever... until a stranger was personally invited by the flower spirit to spend the night in her dwelling.]