77: New system tasks

[Stage 4 Quest unlocked. Please continue to increase the Secret Realm's popularity by hosting a grand event.]

[Please plan a feasible proposal as soon as possible and submit it to the System. The System will automatically refine the event details for you.]

Lin Chuan listened to the System's prompts with an excited face. When it came to hosting an event, what could be more entertaining than a universal PK tournament? It seemed the Moonlight Tavern was about to become a permanent fixture for these cultivators.

Once the leveling event ended, he would immediately have the System refine the tournament details. At that time, he would be able to enjoy an otherworldly version of the DNF World Championship.

Inside the Tower of Delusion, both Jian Wuxie and A Fei's health and mana were nearly depleted. While Xiao Hongyuan was doing slightly better, she only had half her health remaining.

In contrast, that Fighter seemed tireless. Every so often, she would release a Nen Shield, and if anyone got close, she would use Doppelganger Blast and Lions Roar to force them back. This left the three of them with a deep sense of powerlessness.

The three could only take turns resting, seizing every possible opportunity to land a sword strike on that woman.

Although the woman still had the energy to release skills, the dense wounds on her body gave the three a glimmer of hope, thinking that the next strike would surely drain her last bit of life.

Nearby, Quan Wudi was panting heavily, still locked in a struggle with that skeleton. If someone didn't know better, they would think the two were kindred spirits who couldn't bear to strike a killing blow.

A perfectly good battle had been turned into a turn-based fight by the two. Quan Wudi would scratch a few times, and the skeleton would jump up and whack him with a bone, going back and forth.

Finally, under the tag-team assault of Jian Wuxie and the others, the woman finally knelt on the ground in frustration, muttered something, and lay down to disappear. The three had never experienced such a grueling battle; as soon as the woman vanished, they all slumped onto the ground to rest.

Jian Wuxie looked at his nearly empty health bar and used Death Defiance to bring it up a bit, feeling slightly more at ease. Then, he pulled out some rum and took a sip, hoping to recover some mana.

A moment later, he shouted in despair, "Supplies can't even be used to recover here!"

Xiao Hongyuan and the other also realized this, and could only shake their heads with bitter smiles, turning their gaze toward Quan Wudi, who was still fighting the skeleton.

"Brother Quan, are you still doing okay? It's just a small mob; haven't you finished it after all this time?" Jian Wuxie teased.

Quan Wudi replied while panting heavily, "Easy for you to say! Although this guy's attack isn't high, look, are my attacks doing much damage to him? This guy's defense is incredibly high."

A Fei said, "Brother Quan, fight a bit longer. We'll go help you after we rest for a bit."

And so, a bizarre scene unfolded where Jian Wuxie and the other two sat on the ground, watching Quan Wudi and a skeleton wrestle with each other.

After an unknown amount of time, the three stood up and swapped Quan Wudi out.

Quan Wudi lay directly on the ground, gasping for breath.

The three surrounded the skeleton and immediately realized that Quan Wudi was right—this guy's defense was indeed very high. Xiao Hongyuan saw her light sword slash across, only leaving a shallow mark on the white bone.

Fortunately, Jian Wuxie's +12 weapon was still able to make some progress against the skeleton.

Under the twin swords of Xiao Hongyuan and Jian Wuxie, the skeleton was soon covered in cracks. After A Fei used his last bit of mana to cast Erosion Purimon to lower the skeleton's defense, its bones finally shattered, and it collapsed, turning into white light and disappearing.

Watching the skeleton vanish, the four had never looked forward to the Reaper's appearance as much as they did now.

Sure enough, the Reaper appeared, waving his hand to fully restore the four's status.

"Heh heh heh, I like seeing strong people fight each other. Continue upward." The Reaper laughed and vanished.

With their status fully restored, the four seemed to have been resurrected, becoming lively and vigorous once again.

Reaching the thirteenth floor, they saw a human standing between two zombies. He looked like a Gunner, wielding a thick hand cannon as a weapon.

"Looks like a Gunner, skilled in long-range attacks. We must get close; we can't let him wear us down!" Xiao Hongyuan said calmly.

Just as she finished speaking, the green-robed Gunner jumped up. With a bang from the hand cannon in the air, he flew backward.

"Leave the zombies to you, Brother Quan! Let's chase!" Jian Wuxie roared, activating Three-Stage Slash to pursue.

Xiao Hongyuan and A Fei followed closely behind, both using Three-Stage Slash to chase after the Gunner.

Just as the three closed in on the Gunner, a smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly crossed his arms.

With a loud 'bang', a large area in front of him was suddenly blanketed by bullets, heavily wounding all three.

If Lin Chuan were there, he would have recognized it at a glance as the Crossfire skill.

The three were knocked back by the sudden burst of the skill and were horrified to find that half their health had been taken in a single hit, their faces filled with shock.

Seeing his tactic succeed, the Gunner immediately jumped, intending to repeat the same trick to jump to the other side and stay away from the three.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Hongyuan also jumped immediately. With a flash of silver sword light and an Aerial Chain Slash, she actually knocked the Gunner down from mid-air.

The Gunner fell to the ground, landing right between Jian Wuxie and A Fei.

A Fei immediately released a Ghost God. Feeling the buff from the ghost god phantom, Jian Wuxie smiled and said, "Let's see how you run this time!"

With that, he activated Soul Devouring Hand, grabbing the Gunner by the throat.

A Fei wasn't idle either; he gave Jian Wuxie a signal and began charging Spirit Devouring Ghost Slash.

Seeing A Fei's signal, Jian Wuxie instantly understood what he wanted to do. His Soul Devouring Hand erupted towards A Fei, knocking the Gunner back in A Fei's direction.

Seeing the Gunner flying towards him, A Fei immediately unleashed the fully charged Spirit Devouring Ghost Slash. The pitch-black Sword Qi and the ghost god phantom passed directly through the Gunner.

Just like that, the Gunner, who had only released a single Crossfire, was slain by the coordinated skills of the two.

The two zombies were also eliminated with the help of Quan Wudi and Xiao Hongyuan.

After waiting for the Reaper to restore their status, they finally reached the fourteenth floor.

On the fourteenth floor, there were two huge purple spiders and a purple-skinned woman wearing sharp claws just like Quan Wudi.

Just as the four got a clear look, the woman suddenly released a skill. A purple liquid welled up on the claws, and some dripped onto the ground from the blades, emitting white corrosive smoke that anyone could tell was highly toxic.

Just as the four were about to step forward, the Female Fighter suddenly cast a large blue net, trapping all four who failed to react in time.

The next moment, the woman pulled hard, dragging the four in front of her.

She extended her sharp claws and lunged directly at Xiao Hongyuan, who was at the very front.

Xiao Hongyuan's shoulder was pierced by the claws, and she was lifted into the air by the Female Fighter. Then, the claws turned glowing red as if they were being burned by fire.

Xiao Hongyuan felt the blades inside her body begin to burn, and then an explosion occurred—the claws had actually exploded.

"Ah!" Xiao Hongyuan screamed in pain as she was sent flying by the explosion. Not only was her shoulder scorched, but she also fell into a poisoned state, with her remaining one-third of health rapidly draining away.

Quan Wudi and the other two had only just broken free from the net's restraint. He stepped forward, grabbed the woman's slender waist, and slammed the Female Fighter onto the ground with a Suplex.

Jian Wuxie glanced at Xiao Hongyuan's status and saw it wasn't a major problem. He immediately used Uppercut to knock back the two poison spiders that had already approached.

After being slammed to the ground, the Female Fighter unexpectedly rose instantly with great agility. She grabbed Quan Wudi in return, and with a surge of immense strength, pinned him directly to the ground.

Then, she raised her sturdy thighs and sat directly on top of Quan Wudi. The suggestive posture made A Fei, who was standing nearby, blush, and for a moment, he even forgot to stop her.