[Settling rewards: Obtained items/props: Heaven Swallowing Beast, Dragon Qi Amulet]
[Experience rewarded: 18%]
[Main storyline quest settlement complete!]
[Settlement finished! Exiting the Spirit Realm in ten minutes.]
*Huh, no Demon Lord character card reward? It seems the Demon Lord didn't possess many Dominator-grade props either, or maybe not many were left stored in the card?*
*Still, it's not bad. The dungeon rewarded two Dominator-grade props. The Imperial Preceptor's Heaven Swallowing Beast is great stuff—a supreme divine tool for defense...*
A sun sigil surfaced on Zhang Yuanqing's forehead. Vast, powerful solar divine power poured into his body, widening his meridians and cleansing his cells so his physical form could accommodate even more—and purer—solar divine power.
*It feels so comfortable, yet I'm still utterly exhausted...* His eyelids grew heavy and drowsiness pulled at him. Without even inspecting his reward props, Zhang Yuanqing collapsed directly into unconsciousness.
The Life Source Fluid had healed his physical wounds, but the price of using the Kui Cow Drum was the draining of soul power.
His spirit had long been worn to its limit. Like an exhausted youth who had pulled an all-nighter for three straight days and nights in an internet cafe, no amount of willpower could fend off the encroaching sleep.
Sigils corresponding to their respective classes flared on the foreheads of Fu Qingyang, Xiao Yuan, and the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter. Feeling the influx of spiritual power, a comforting sense of release washed over them—the dust had settled, and the great catastrophe had passed.
Over the course of a mere ten days, they had nearly forgotten they were modern people, so thoroughly immersed had they been in the world of the dungeon.
Consequently, when the dungeon finally came to an end, they felt as though an entire lifetime had slipped by.
The difficulty of "Ruler of a Fallen Nation" had somewhat exceeded reasonable limits. They had merely played supporting roles; the ones shouldering the greatest pressure were Fu Qingyang and Yuanshi Tianzun.
One had led fifty thousand troops to defend a city against a level-9 Dominator and an army of four hundred thousand. Every single day had been a life-and-death battle, during which he also had to deploy troops, command operations, arrange tactics, and analyze enemy movements.
The other had it even worse. If he wasn't being backstabbed by allies, he was being targeted for assassination by enemies; if he wasn't actively on the run, he was about to flee. All the while, he had to see through the enemy's schemes and find a way out by piecing together clues from the smallest details.
In the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's eyes, the difficulty of "Ruler of a Fallen Nation" was comparable to an S-rank dungeon in the Dominator stage. She had experienced other A-rank Dominator dungeons, and none had been anywhere near as grueling as this one.
It was likely because their team included Fu Qingyang, an 8th-level swordsman. Had everyone been level 7, the difficulty might not have scaled so high.
Seeing that her useless junior brother had already fainted, Commandery Princess Yinyao trotted cheerily over to Xiao Yuan, intending to leave the dungeon alongside her.
Fu Qingyang sat cross-legged and retrieved a sword from his inventory. The weapon was a radiant gold throughout, as though forged from solid gold. Its hilt was shaped like a dragon's body, while the guard formed a dragon's head.
The blade projected from the dragon's maw, measuring roughly three feet in length and radiating razor-sharp edges.
After inspecting the item's attributes, a faint smile broke across his cold, austere face.
This sword was superior to every blade he had ever seen. Apart from Grand Marshal Fu Qingxuan's personal sword, not even the sword of the Sword Pavilion Elder could compare to it.
Of course, the Sword Pavilion Elder's puppetry was unmatched beneath heaven, while his swordsmanship was merely standard; hence, he had never pursued supreme-grade swords.
***
Zhang Yuanqing woke slowly to the sight of a pure white ceiling. He was back in his bedroom at the Fujia Bay Villa.
The curtains were drawn, and the room was completely quiet. Thanks to the bunny girls keeping it clean and ventilated, the air didn't feel stale at all.
He checked the time: 4:30 AM.
He recalled that the dungeon had concluded around 2:00 AM.
He had slept for a solid two hours.
Zhang Yuanqing let out a long yawn and stretched his limbs. "It's been ages since I felt this exhausted after a sleep!"
He got up, loosened his muscles and bones, picked up his phone from the desk, opened his chat app, and tapped into the "Return of the Dead" guild group.
Over a hundred unread messages filled the log.
[Xie Lingxi: Wow, I reached level 5! Level 5, yay! A single dungeon gave 82% exp—that's unbelievable!]
[Queen: I'm level 5 now too, and I got a high-quality Saint prop! Fortune favors the bold. Thank you, Guild Leader, love you forever!]
[Guan Ya: The exp reward was quite generous, though the prop reward was average. Maybe my hidden score was too low?]
[Xie Lingxi: Well, Sister Guan Ya, you were idling on the sidelines for several days, after all. Unlike me, who stuck by Brother the entire time and helped solve all his worries!]
[Guan Ya: @Xie Lingxi, hitting level 5 made you this cocky?]
[Brother Red Chicken: Wasn't I the one accompanying your brother through thick and thin and solving his worries?!]
[Queen: No, that was Jingwei!]
[Tianxia Guihuo: I received a decent-quality prop, and my level reached mid-level 6. I can try the mid-year Slaughter Dungeon now. Guan Ya, Brother Red Chicken, we can form a team. By the way, how was your reward prop? @Brother Red Chicken]
[Brother Red Chicken: Pokkai! My reward prop is top-grade, corresponding to level 6. Fuck, pokkai!]
[Guan Ya: Brother Red Chicken was on the tyrant's side the whole time. Unlike Queen and Lingxi, who wasted half the dungeon's progress, his rewards should have been the most bountiful. Why does he sound so unhappy?]
[Brother Red Chicken: It's a defensive prop.]
[Guan Ya: That's great. Fire Mages are like swordsmen—high burst damage, weak defense. It covers your weakness. By the way, it seems Yuanshi hasn't woken up yet.]
[Brother Red Chicken: It's called 'Loyal Retainer of the Mutilated.' The prerequisite cost to use it is self-castration.]
[Guan Ya: Uh... well...]
[Xie Lingxi: Ah, what an interesting prop!]
[Tianxia Guihuo: Fits you perfectly. @Brother Red Chicken!]
[Queen: Can women use it? How would a woman castrate herself? Remove her own uterus?]
[Brother Red Chicken: Women can't use it; it's strictly limited to eunuchs... Huh, why hasn't Xiahou Aotian popped up to brag? He's not showing off? Did he change his nature?]
Brother Red Chicken smoothly changed the subject.
[Xiahou Aotian: Keep your shirts on. I'm shouting challenges outside our Patriarch's gate, but the old scoundrel pulled his head into his shell like a turtle and doesn't dare accept my duel.]
[Guan Ya: Be careful. Don't think you can act without fear just because you're his descendant.]
[Xiahou Aotian: A real man born between heaven and earth—how can he languish in obscurity for long—]
[Brother Red Chicken: Is Xiahou Aotian still there?]
[Guan Ya: He's cold. Start digging the grave.]
*Xiahou Aotian hasn't made a peep for half an hour. He's probably been hung from a drone by the Patriarch again to be put on public display! The Xiahou family's Patriarch is a demigod, yet Xiahou Aotian can still infuriate him like this. You can see just how insufferable the guy is...* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly.
After sending "I'm awake" into the group, he opened his character status interface to inspect his experience bar.
—30%
After clearing the Slaughter Dungeon, his experience had been 12%. Ruler of a Fallen Nation had awarded 18%.
"A high-difficulty level-8 dungeon only awarded 18% exp. Tsk, after advancing to Dominator, leveling up slows to a crawl," Zhang Yuanqing sighed.
In the Extraordinary stage, a single S-rank dungeon earned an entire level. In the Saint stage, two S-rank dungeons earned a level. But at the Dominator stage, a dungeon whose difficulty was on par with a level-7 S-rank only granted 18%.
No wonder it had taken Fu Qingxuan an entire year to progress from Dominator to demigod.
No wonder Boss Fu had copied Big Sis once and never attempted it again.
Running high-intensity dungeons back-to-back was more than anyone could bear.
"Two S-rank dungeons, or three A-rank ones, should be enough to push me to level 8." Zhang Yuanqing pinched the bridge of his nose. "I just don't know if there's enough time!"
There was no telling when Ling Tuo might trigger another Morality Points Disappearance Incident. If it was half a year or a full year from now, that would be fine—the evil faction would face a returned Dragon King in Yuanshi Tianzun.
But if it happened within six months...
*After suffering such a major catastrophe, the orthodox faction ought to take the initiative. If they just keep playing passive defense, they don't deserve to win! I'll enter another dungeon in a few days; for now, I should wait and see how things develop,* Zhang Yuanqing thought.
It was a good chance to rest for a few days and keep an eye on shifts in the broader situation.
Next, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory, drew out the Heaven Swallowing Beast, and inspected its properties.
[Name: Heaven Swallowing Beast]
[Type: Weapon]
[Function: Refining]
[Description: An ancient cultivator passed away in a secluded mountain cavern. A portion of his power fused with a jade Pixiu within the cave, transforming it into a magical treasure. Once awakened, it devours all surrounding spiritual power. After filling its belly, fifteen minutes later it unlocks a secondary devouring phase capable of swallowing physical matter.]
[Remark 1: Raising it is simple: one meal a day.]
[Remark 2: Before it is full, it will never stop.]
[Remark 3: When driven to extreme starvation, it devours its master!]
Zhang Yuanqing drew a sharp breath. *This thing is an absolute essence-drainer! It took the combined efforts of four Dominators plus the energy of multiple item sets just to barely fill its belly.*
*With my scrawny arms and legs, if I have to feed it every single day, I'll be clutching the wall just to walk within three days.*
"The upkeep on this Dominator prop is a bit steep."
Even so, its quality was remarkably high, corresponding to an 8th-level Dominator. With this, Zhang Yuanqing could easily hold his own against three or four Dominators joining forces—a genuine divine weapon for group combat.
Furthermore, the second phase of awakening allowed it to swallow physical matter—namely, enemies and props. Any enemy or item devoured by the Heaven Swallowing Beast would be refined into ash.
However, that second devouring phase could only be used once every twenty-four hours.
"Thank goodness we killed the Imperial Preceptor in time. If the Heaven Swallowing Beast had unlocked its second phase, at least one of the four of us would definitely have died." Zhang Yuanqing felt a lingering chill.
He placed the Heaven Swallowing Beast atop his head, activated the prop's devouring skill, and began slowly feeding it.
Then, he retrieved the second reward prop—the Dragon Qi Amulet!
It was a shield-shaped gold medallion forged from solid gold and etched with a dragon relief. After holding it for several seconds, its item details appeared:
[Name: Dragon Qi Amulet]
[Type: Accessory]
[Function: Curse]
[Description: An amulet condensed from the aspirations of the people and the destiny of the nation. The dragon qi formed from the gathered hearts of the populace can ward off gu poison, curses, and wraiths, and carries an innate concealment effect. Anyone who attacks the wearer has a certain probability of suffering the curse of the Five Celestial Decays. The wearer's level of injury, the enemy's state, skills, and other factors determine the curse's probability. Killing the wearer is guaranteed to trigger the curse of the Five Celestial Decays.]
[Remark 1: Taken from the people, used for the people. After each use, you must perform twenty good deeds.]
[Remark 2: It makes the bearer deeply concerned with politics and eager to debate political matters.]
"'Killing the wearer is guaranteed to trigger the curse of the Five Celestial Decays...' If only it had one more sentence at the end: 'Cannot be resisted, cannot be dispelled!' That would make it a rule-based item. What a pity, what a pity." Zhang Yuanqing murmured with endless greed, stroking the golden medallion with fond affection.
The functions of warding off gu poison, curses, and wraiths overlapped with a Day Wanderer's passive traits, rendering them somewhat redundant, while the innate concealment also duplicated the Companion Spirit Moon.
However, the negative debuff of the Five Celestial Decays was extraordinarily useful.
Killing the wearer guaranteed triggering the Five Celestial Decays, and the wearer didn't necessarily have to be the owner of the prop. He could simply have a yin corpse wear the amulet, ensuring the enemy would trigger the Five Celestial Decays with absolute certainty.
The only slight regret was that this prop was of mid-tier quality, corresponding to a level-7 Dominator rather than level 8.
After all, expecting a single dungeon to reward him with two level-8 props was unrealistic.
Of course, that didn't mean the Five Celestial Decays were ineffective against an 8th-level Dominator. The phrasing "guaranteed to trigger" implied that, barring special countermeasures, even an 8th-level Dominator would suffer the curse, which functioned like a severe weakening debuff.
Setting aside the Dragon Qi Amulet, Zhang Yuanqing picked up his phone and messaged the Palace Master, Xiao Yuan, and the Demon Eye Heavenly King to ask if they had received any Dominator-grade props.
The unanimous reply: None!
Asking Fu Qingyang next, he learned that the boss had obtained a divine blade.
"Dominator props are exceedingly rare. For a high-difficulty dungeon to yield three is already astounding—likely because we claimed the first clear." After pondering for a moment, Zhang Yuanqing deposited the Chaotic Oil Painting into the guild warehouse and posted an announcement in the group.
Normally, he did not share Dominator-grade props.
Placing this prop into the guild warehouse was primarily for Xiao Yuan and the Palace Master's use—especially Xiao Yuan, who had just advanced to Dominator and only had the Treasure-Dropping Gold Coin at her side, which wasn't an offensive weapon.
With access to the Chaotic Oil Painting, her odds of victory against enemies of the same caliber would improve significantly in the future.
***
The night was deep. Streetlamps throughout the residential area cast pale light, tinting the concrete ground like frost.
Fu Qingyang, his hair completely white, sat at his desk diligently writing his mission report, uploading the dungeon strategy guide for "Ruler of a Fallen Nation" into the Five Elements Alliance database.
After hitting send, he walked over to the liquor cabinet, poured a glass of cognac, and sipped it slowly.
Less than half an hour after uploading the dungeon walkthrough, the view count had already surpassed twenty, meaning twenty Dominators had browsed the guide.
This was well within Fu Qingyang's expectations. After all, "Ruler of a Fallen Nation" had once broken two puppeteers and wiped out every swordsman who entered alongside them.
It had long been deemed excessively difficult, and further attempts had been suspended until they finally cleared it today.
A few minutes later, the chime of incoming messages began ringing steadily in the White Tiger Troops' Dominator chat group.
Chapter 885