Chapter 59

In the hall of the Silver White Holy Temple, the president of the Heaven's Guild, Heaven's Spear, looked down at the message in his hand and cursed under his breath. So many people couldn't even stop a thief. However, he didn't have time to worry about that now. The next wave of monsters was about to respawn. Looking at his and his teammates' health and mana, which had only recovered a little, Heaven's Spear hesitated, wondering whether they should continue.

It was Fang Yi's first time here. The interior of the main hall was much larger than it appeared, a vast space that seemed to stretch endlessly. It was unclear whether high-level spatial magic or illusions were attached to it, but many ancient relics and magic couldn't be judged by modern standards. The pillars and walls were inlaid with beautiful moonstones, so the visibility in the hall wasn't significantly affected. Fang Yi cautiously crept along the wall, quickly reaching the center of the hall.

Two massive, unknown monster statues squatted on either side, looking ferocious and terrifying. The central passage was quite wide, about thirty feet, but unlike the surrounding ground, the entire path was paved with black stones, giving it an ancient and oppressive feel.

Looking down the passage, rows of stone pillars extended into the distant darkness on both sides. Each pillar's top was carved with various beasts, some flying, some crouching, with exquisite craftsmanship. The developers of "Miracle" never skimped on details, and it was clear they had put a lot of thought into it.

During the beta test, a few experts had attempted the challenge in this ruin and posted a live stream. The current situation was similar, except that the things here looked even more aged.

Fang Yi checked his status and filled his quick slots with potions. He knew that stealth wouldn't work here, so he drew his dual blades and stepped onto the black path.

A grating sound that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up echoed, and a stone statue on the right pillar let out a strange cry. Its originally grayish-white body suddenly turned deep green, and it jumped from the pillar to Fang Yi's front, extending its two-foot-long neck and biting at his vital areas.

A level 5 goblin, Fang Yi didn't even bother to draw his blade. He kicked the goblin with a straight kick, followed by an iron elbow, and the green goblin turned into a streak of light and flew back to the top of the pillar. Fang Yi continued walking, waiting for the next monster to appear.

Although the live stream showed that the team eventually failed and fled, the challenge format was clearly explained: as players progressed, the activated monsters would gradually become stronger. The highest record Fang Yi knew of was set by a mage during the beta test, who killed the eighth wave of monsters but was overwhelmed by the ninth wave. Since everyone was still in the exploration phase during the beta, this mysterious challenge with unknown rewards had never been completed.

Interrupting his thoughts about the mage, Fang Yi stared at the fourth wave of monsters jumping down from the pillars, spitting out a mouthful of saliva. The miniature human statue on the pillar had somehow turned into such a large thing. Would there be earth dragons or something like that next? Fang Yi relaxed his fingers on the hilt, thinking to himself.

The large, stinking creature in front of him was the ogre that had chased him for miles in the mine near Farview Town. But times had changed. Now, he was no longer a chicken turned into a duck, or a dead fish turned over. It was his turn to enjoy the feeling of being targeted! Fang Yi muttered to himself, his short sword and curved blade slicing through the air with a whistling sound. Although his strength was still far inferior to the ogre's, without the level advantage, the ogre was just a thick-skinned warrior with no skills. Fang Yi quickly closed the distance, blocking the ogre's wooden club with his dual blades in a cross, then leaned forward and stabbed the ogre's waist with two quick slashes.

The Infinite Trial had no time limit, so Fang Yi didn't rush to attack. He dodged the ogre's attacks, occasionally landing a few quick strikes, and after about three minutes, he defeated the ogre without taking any damage.

Taking advantage of the gap between waves, Fang Yi sat cross-legged on the ground, took a few deep breaths, and slowly recovered his stamina. The stench of the ogre on his body made him feel nauseous, worse than the smell of the Golden Right Hand's shield. Fang Yi pinched his nose and closed his eyes, counting the time. This stench was an environmental effect, similar to mud splashes or rain, and it would take five minutes of game time to disappear.

Fortunately, it wasn't a tracking scent, Fang Yi thought, as it would seriously affect his combat ability. Soon, with two dull thuds, the fifth wave of monsters jumped down from the pillars. Fang Yi, still pinching his nose, opened his eyes and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Two ogres.

"Didn't your people block the outside? Why can't you get it back!?"

Heaven's Spear looked at the spitting fat man with disgust but had to speak the truth. "A thief rushed in, he stealthed to the door, and my people couldn't stop him. He's definitely behind us now." Heaven's Spear continued, "He's alone, so he won't last long."

Heaven's Spear was also seething with anger. They had challenged up to the seventh wave, encountering three level 15 troll priests with insane healing talents and their own healing skills, leaving no chance of victory. The fat man in front of him had somehow dropped the hand crossbow he had just taken out.

Desperado was so frustrated that he felt like spitting blood. A few days ago, his necklace and an unknown gem were looted, and today he had planned to challenge this difficult task to boost his extremely low morale. Even if he couldn't win, he wouldn't run, right? But two of the three troll priests were proficient in the plant domain, and they were directly entangled to death. Now, the dropped items might be picked up by others.

"What's the name of the thief who went in?" Desperado asked weakly.

Heaven's Spear checked the message manager and replied, "It seems to be... called Block."

Desperado was stunned, then his forehead heated up, and his vision turned black.

Fang Yi took a deep breath, sheathed his blades, and stretched his slightly numb arms. After the two ogres, there was an ogre shaman, followed by a shaman and an ogre warrior, and then a shaman and two warriors. At this point, even Fang Yi couldn't maintain zero damage. He had to use his blade skills, launching fierce attacks. After defeating the three large creatures, he was left with only half his health. Fang Yi tilted his head back and drank a healing potion, applying a bandage for the third time.

Not far ahead, Fang Yi unexpectedly found a grayish-white crossbow-like object on the dark ground. Equipment? This was a common trick used by demon-type monsters. If he touched it, a large amount of acid might spray onto his face. However, the trap detection skill showed no reaction. Fang Yi calculated the time and realized that the respawn time hadn't arrived yet. Could it really be the equipment dropped by the previous group? Thinking about this, Fang Yi couldn't help but chuckle.

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