Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Strong as a Rock

On the boundless plain, there was no lush green grass, only withered grass roots and various desiccated bones buried in the soil.

The sky was dim, as if covered by a thick mass of clouds, and the howling wind carried a stench of decay and corruption.

Zi Liyuan frowned, enduring the rotten smell in the air, and immediately initiated his Spirit probing and activated the Eye of Death.

The information in his mind left him somewhat astonished.

Within a range of more than fifteen hundred meters, there were no living creatures, but the land was rife with fragments of dense, matted bones.

“What a sinister environment, this wouldn’t happen to be a battlefield, would it?”

Lao Tie’s towering figure appeared beside him promptly, bringing a wave of reassuring security.

The next moment, a colossal Skeleton Summoning Array appeared, with vast death energy transforming into a deathly mist. Ghostly green flames flickered in and out of visibility within the mist.

The sound of horse hooves, combined with the “click-clack” of rubbing bones, emanated from within the Array as the Nether Skeleton Knights stepped out slowly in rows and squadrons.

At LV14 Skeleton Summoning, it was possible to summon up to 8192 Skeletons at once, but limited by the Spirit capacity, he could only summon up to the maximum capacity of his Spirit at one time.

Right now, Zi Liyuan, fitted with one red and two purple pieces of equipment along with shoulder gear, saw his base attributes surge once again.

[Player]: Zi Liyuan LV60 (3.2 billion/22 million x2), Constitution 1108, Spirit 1612, Spiritual Power 1345

[Comprehensive Attributes]: Life 135176, Spiritual Energy 164090, Physical Damage +1312, Magic Damage +1923, Physical Defense +1440, Magical Resistance +2231, Movement Speed +120%, Casting Speed +25%

With the rise in level, not only Zi Liyuan, but also Lao Tie and various summoned creatures experienced a surge in attributes.

[Lao Tie, LV60, Hybrid Damage 12914, Physical Defense 9494, Magic Defense 7882, Life 1040000 (Shield Value 3120000)]

[Demon Spider, LV60, Physical Damage 6600, Physical Defense 1320, Magic Resistance 1200, Life 30000000, Spiritual Energy 12000000]

[Nether Skeleton Knight, LV15, Physical Damage 262, Physical Defense 130, Magic Resistance 76, Life 1870, Skills: Charge, Frenzied Rush]

This was still without triggering various aura enhancements.

However, looking at the Demon Spider he summoned with the new equipment, Zi Liyuan was momentarily at a loss for words.

Lao Tie was a mutated summon, but he used a template of a silver hero BOSS, and except for life attribute, he absolutely dominated over the Epic BOSS, the Demon Spider.

“Lao Tie’s attributes are definitely beyond those of a Legendary BOSS of the same order, and might even be on par with an Emperor BOSS from the tier above.”

At least in the aspect of dual resistance, Lao Tie was absolutely not inferior to an Emperor BOSS of the same order, and Zi Liyuan was confident about this.

As Zi Liyuan was analyzing the attributes of various summoned creatures, the earth began to tremble, followed by countless roars coming from all directions.

He had just scanned the surroundings and found no living creatures, but now countless monsters had appeared, swarming towards him from every direction.

“Damn, this spawn is way too terrifying, right? Filling the entire screen?!”

Numerous different kinds of monsters turned into a monstrous tide, charging en masse, causing the ground to shake unceasingly.

“Nether Knights, charge!”

Immediately, Zi Liyuan activated “Attack Aura” and “Evil Moon Aura,” then, controlling 1600 Skeleton Cavalry, he split them into two groups of 800 each, flanking from the left and right, and charged at the incoming tide of monsters.

The LV15 Attack Aura increased attack power by 80 points, and the Evil Moon Aura added 20% to damage, 15% to physical defense, 10% to magic resistance, and a 5% increase in speed.

With the boost from the auras, the Skeleton Cavalry’s damage soared to 410 points, enough to break through the defenses of the LV80 minor monsters charging at them.

As the two forces clashed, bones flew and fragments scattered; the two groups of Skeleton Cavalry didn’t even make a ripple before being swallowed by the vast wave of monsters.

True to their name, the Skeleton Cannon Fodder Group was tragically frail.

Cr*p!

Swearing under his breath, he raised his hand to summon again, but this time the beings that emerged from the summoning array were no longer Skeleton Cavalry, but Skeleton Warriors wielding bone shields.

1600 Shield Combat Skeletons, under the control of Zi Liyuan, formed a circular defensive formation around him, standing firmly in place like an iron pillar driven into the plain.

The relentless assaults of the monsters couldn’t break through the Shield Combat Skeletons, who had adopted a defensive stance.

The Shield Warriors on the outermost layer were struck so hard they scattered in all directions, then were torn to shreds by the monsters, significantly slowing the momentum of the charge.

After shattering the outer three layers of Shield Warriors, the monsters’ assault finally slowed and ultimately turned into trench warfare.

At that moment, Zi Liyuan wasn’t idle; as soon as the outer three layers of Shield Warriors perished, he immediately summoned reinforcements.

However, the Skeletons he now summoned were no longer Shield Warriors, but Skeleton Mages instead!

With a slight adjustment to the formation, Shield Combat Skeletons slowly expanded outwards, enlarging the inner space for the Skeleton Mages to begin their performance.

First came the “Death Withering” skill, blanketing the area; as the monsters were densely packed, the Skeleton Mages simply had to cast it indiscriminately into the crowd.

The monsters, no longer charging, couldn’t instantly kill the Shield Combat Skeletons, especially since these Skeletons had activated their defensive posture and were solely focused on defense, ignoring all attacks.

With Shield Combat Skeletons creating space, the Skeleton Mages commenced their barrage of attacks.

“Death Withering” remained the primary ability, and they kept throwing it into the monster pile, sticking to the cooldown. The rest of the time, they alternated between casting Nether Fire Rockets and Nether Fire Scorching. Lastly, whenever a corpse appeared on the ground, they would instantly drag it up to convert it into Skeleton Cannon Fodder.

As the battle progressed, the ranks of the Skeleton Cannon Fodder Group swelled, and their defensive territory expanded bit by bit.

Half an hour later…

The perimeter was now entirely Skeleton Warriors, and all the Skeletons summoned by Zi Liyuan had evolved into Skeleton Mages.

With 1600 Skeleton Mages raising an army of 16000 Skeleton Warriors, they formed a massive circular formation in the midst of the monsters, standing resolutely like a divine needle set in a flood, unbreakable and as solid as rock.

“Half an hour and not a single BOSS in sight, this dungeon is a bit of a scam!”

Zi Liyuan didn’t know how many monsters he had slain, but when he checked the system prompts, he saw his experience had increased by 60 million, roughly 2.2 million XP per minute.

“The experience is decent, but I really want to encounter a Third Order LV80 Lord Boss and see how formidable it is.”

These ordinary monsters, despite all being of a rare template, lacked any form of intelligence, charging blindly to their deaths with no strategy.