Chapter 268: Alchemy Room |
After decapitating the red-haired flying zombie, the luster of the Emperor's Jade Dragon grew somewhat brighter. The red-haired flying zombie's attribute stats were much higher than Bai Mu's, so this counted as a cross-level kill. Furthermore, he behaved extremely calmly, generously explaining his plan and the Jade Dragon's effects to this guy without hiding anything. Such an unflinching display while standing in the position of a superior undoubtedly exuded a 'kingly demeanor'.
Therefore, after he decapitated this flying zombie, the Emperor's Jade Dragon became even brighter. As long as Bai Mu didn't do anything to lower his status, such as failing the next decapitation, it could still be used until the end of the script.
However, after finishing off this flying zombie, there were no more terrifying ghosts or monsters around. The only ones left were his teammates, so he put the Jade Dragon back into his inventory.
Feeling the power forcing them to kneel vanish from their bodies, the few of them took a few glances at the headless corpse and hurriedly stood up.
Although Bai Mu was the one who killed the flying zombie, since this guy was the final boss of the script, everyone heard the notification sound upon its death. The notification sound proved that this guy was truly dead. And everyone present had heard Bai Mu's explanation, understanding exactly what he had done and how he had killed this boss.
I Love a Sword said slowly, "Brother Bai... what exactly did you do when you were moving alone?"
"I just got lucky and triggered a Side Quest, that's all." Bai Mu crouched down and rummaged through the flying zombie's corpse, trying to find some useful items on it.
"Just lucky?" I Love a Sword looked at the imposing large wild boar in the corridor and swallowed hard.
He only treated it as an expert's modest words. Killing a boss of this level couldn't simply be summarized as 'good luck'. How could it be possible without real strength?
It turned out there was a bigshot matched into the same script with them. They thought their own skill levels were pretty good, but in reality, they were dragging down the average.
Their view of Bai Mu underwent a world-shaking change at this moment. They finally understood what Scattered Fireflies meant when she said, "Brother Bai is actually very strong."
They looked toward Scattered Fireflies, and Scattered Fireflies revealed an expression of 'I told you so'.
On the other side, Xiao Wei jumped down from the deer's back and hid behind Bai Mu. With so many strangers around, she felt a bit shy. After all, she was a girl who grew up in the Middle Ages. She wasn't that naturally outgoing; her personality was relatively timid and conservative, to the point of being a bit stubborn and old-fashioned.
Bai Mu canceled Tuya's summon and stored the Deer Summoning Necklace into his inventory. The large wild boar's summon duration still had a few minutes left, so Bai Mu just waited for it to disappear naturally.
The Witch also returned from the exit. Her pale skin, bloody skirt, and sharp nails made the others afraid to approach her, silently making way for her.
She brought back that ceramic doll. Besides that, she also carried a small, crystal-clear jade stone in her arms. Those ghost children, having found the tomb's exit, were finally freed from their enslavement.
This jade stone was what they left behind. Freeing the ghost children seemed to count as an unprompted quest that yielded an item reward. [Name: Pure Soul Jade]
[Quality: Rare]
[Type: Special Item]
[Effect: When held, it increases the maximum limit of special energy points and boosts the energy point recovery speed.]
[Note: A flawless soul jade, devoid of any chaotic power. Even a baby would not be harmed by its power. It is a priceless treasure.]
Judging from the description, this soul jade seemed not only usable as equipment but also more like some kind of material. In the worldview of this script, it could probably be used to refine magical artifacts or for alchemy.
It could be considered an item with quite a high difficulty of acquisition. Normally, one would probably have to rely on luck to stumble into that tomb chamber and coincidentally possess some skills to communicate with ghosts to discover this matter and lead the ghost children away. Liberating the ghost children purely through deduction like Bai Mu did was extremely difficult. The main reason was the tight time limit, which left players no room to slowly solve puzzles and dig into the lore.
After accepting the soul jade, Bai Mu casually patted the Witch's head, said, "Thanks for the trouble," and canceled her summon.
Seeing this, the others roughly understood: that monster in the bloody skirt, that tall deer, the large wild boar, and the girl hiding in a cloak behind Bai Mu were all his summons.
He alone assembled an entire army. This lineup seemed much stronger than the four of them put together. After all, the four of them could only run for their lives when facing that flying zombie, whereas Bai Mu's summoning brigade had pinned the flying zombie to the ground and beaten it up.
"Now we've completely cleared this script, right?" Brewing Cat let out a long sigh of relief.
Regardless, the biggest threat was already dead, and the exit was right before their eyes. This script was essentially cleared.
When they were blocked by that flying zombie, she really thought she was dead for sure. But relying on a powerful teammate, she ultimately survived a disaster. Moreover, the script boss was killed by Bai Mu, meaning they would also receive a portion of the rewards. The rewards certainly wouldn't be as generous as the main contributor's, but getting a share of the spoils was already a huge bargain.
"I kind of miss my bed." I Love a Sword rubbed his forehead. "However, the fact that we can clear it this time is all thanks to Brother Bai. Your jade dragon... could it be, could it be a Perfect grade piece of equipment?"
Bai Mu nodded and stood up. He had actually found something on the flying zombie's corpse.
[Name: Stone Talisman]
[Type: Special Item]
[Note: It seems... it can open a door somewhere.]
"If you want to leave, you can go first. I still want to stroll around the script for a bit," Bai Mu said. "Maybe I can pick up some equipment or do some quests."
"Brother Bai, I'll go with you," Scattered Fireflies stated very loyally.
"Well... I'm actually not in that much of a rush to go to bed," I Love a Sword said. "Brother Bai, take me along."
"We... we're not in a rush either," Brewing Cat said.
Not clinging to a ready-made carry and returning to the Community just to laze around would be too much of a waste.
Besides, the part that followed was the phase of reaping gold and silver treasures after slaying the evil dragon. Quitting now would be a massive loss.
So the five of them regrouped and explored the unvisited areas deep within the tomb again. Since Xiao Wei was truly afraid of strangers, and having obtained the Blood of God, she seemed to strongly dislike the tomb's environment, Bai Mu had her transform back into a doll and tucked her into his pocket.
There were still some scattered ghosts and monsters in the tomb. With their level of skill, they easily dealt with them. The five of them explored the tomb unhurriedly, truly turning it into a picnic-like atmosphere.
Anyway, the Main Quest would only be considered complete once they exited the tomb. Therefore, right now, having taken care of the final boss, elite monsters, and most of the normal mobs, they could absolutely stroll around this place as if it were their own home.
Of course, they had to squeeze every bit of value out of every nook and cranny before calling it done.
The few of them went back and forth quite leisurely. Neither traps nor ghosts could do anything to them. Although the equipment in the script couldn't be taken out, they did harvest a few skill books and obtained some items that could increase the script rating.
Bai Mu told the layout of this 'Seven Evils Corpse Refining' to I Love a Sword. This player, who understood Feng Shui, quickly deduced the main pathways and map of the tomb.
Holding the map drawn by I Love a Sword, Bai Mu cleared every room they encountered along the way, not letting a single normal mob slip away.
After several hours of exploration, they finally arrived at the Main Tomb Chamber.
The door to that tomb chamber was open. After entering, it was very spacious. They could see the coffin right in the middle, which was unexpectedly crafted from jade. A thick stench of blood permeated the tomb chamber. The coffin was overflowing with human blood, already smelling foul and rotten.
In the deepest part of the tomb chamber, Bai Mu found a recess that exactly matched the shape of the Stone Talisman. After placing it inside, the stone door slowly opened. Inside, inextinguishable candles were burning. Right in the middle was a massive bronze alchemy furnace. The smell in the alchemy room was much better than in the tomb chamber; at least there was no foul stench, just a pungent smell of medicinal herbs and the dusty scent of long-stagnant air.
Bai Mu took the lead and walked in. There was no aura of ghosts or monsters in this alchemy room; instead, its decoration was very plain, resembling the alchemy room of a righteous practitioner. On the wall opposite the alchemy room, there were several small golden furnaces, as well as a pile of bamboo slips and some medicinal herbs.