177: Chapter 177 Reaching Level 100
"A-Ah Li?"
Jiang He's heart pounded wildly.
"Master, it's me. I am Ah Li."
The voice grew closer, yet Ah Li's figure remained unseen.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Jiang He.
A soft voice whispered in his ear: "Follow me, Master."
"Wait." Jiang He shouted in a hurry, then, unable to tell the direction, continued to call out loudly: "Everyone, hold hands! Don't get separated!"
Immediately after, only the sound of chaotic footsteps could be heard.
The group gathered together, linking wrists with one another.
After Jiang He repeatedly confirmed that everyone was in place, he said: "Alright, Ah Li, we can go."
"Mm-hmm."
Everyone continued to move forward aimlessly in the pitch darkness.
Who knows how much time had passed.
A man's voice rang out: "Ah Li, is that you back?"
"Mm-hmm, hurry and open the barrier."
The next second, a crack suddenly tore open in the darkness before them.
The group finally saw the light again.
Once everyone walked out, Ah Li immediately threw herself into Jiang He's arms, holding him tightly.
"Wuu... Master, Ah Li has finally seen you again."
Jiang He's expression was tense.
It wasn't because he was unhappy to see Ah Li.
Rather, the scene before him made it impossible for him to relax.
He was all too familiar with this place.
The final level of the Endless Purgatory, Gu Tian's dwelling place.
After tossing and turning for over half a year, he never expected to return here.
Even though their levels now far exceeded what they were back then, it still filled him with an indescribable dread.
Afterward, Jiang He recounted the incident where they had inadvertently stumbled into the Path of Death.
Gu Tian shook his head: "What you entered just now was not the real Path of Death."
"Not the real Path of Death? What do you mean?" Jiang He asked, puzzled.
"That was a spatial rift that appeared suddenly. Ah Li and I discovered it by accident as well."
"At first, we didn't intend to go in and investigate, but just now, Ah Li said she felt a familiar presence inside, so we went in to take a look."
Hearing Gu Tian's explanation, Jiang He recalled carefully.
In that moment just now, he indeed had a sense of familiarity with the Path of Death, but it was also a bit different.
There were no dangerous paths involving lightning, flames, or falling rocks; it was just void throughout, without any light, as if time had stopped.
"Wuu... are we going to be trapped here forever?" Zhou Rui asked with a crying tone.
But no one responded.
Everyone looked at Jiang He in silence.
Right now, he was the only one most familiar with this place.
Jiang He looked troubled, sighed, and turned to ask Gu Tian:
"Is the Path of Death still the only way out?"
Although Gu Tian was unwilling to admit it, he still nodded.
"No, there is another way."
Suddenly, Ah Li ran in front of Jiang He and said loudly.
She had just noticed that Master was already level 99, and the other companions were also close to level 100.
She suddenly thought of a possibility.
"What way?" Jiang He asked hurriedly, hope appearing on his face.
"Master, if you all reach level 100, I think there should be a chance to leave."
"Level 100?" Jiang He was slightly puzzled.
"Yes, according to the game rules, after reaching level 100, the Reincarnation Trial will appear. If you pass the trial challenge then, perhaps you will be able to go back."
Jiang He fell into deep thought.
No one had ever challenged the Reincarnation Trial; no one knew exactly what the situation was.
Originally, he had planned that after everyone reached level 100, he would first upgrade their equipment and prepare some life-saving items, starting only when everything was ready.
But now they were trapped in the Endless Purgatory; let alone equipment and resources, even leveling up had become extremely difficult.
He knew there were monsters here, but for them right now, that little bit of experience was simply not enough.
Relying on that little bit of experience points, how long would they have to fight?
Gu Tian seemed to see Jiang He's confusion, sighed, and said: "I can help you."
Endless Trial, first level.
"Gu Tian, I'm sorry to trouble you..." Jiang He said apologetically.
"It's fine. You are Ah Li's Master, no need to be polite with me." Gu Tian replied in a calm tone.
Jiang He nodded and looked at everyone.
"Everyone knows what to do, right?"
"Mm-hmm." Everyone nodded in unison.
On the way here, Jiang He had already explained the rules of the Endless Trial to everyone.
It was divided into 100 rounds in total, and in each round, monsters of different levels and quantities would appear.
But for them right now, it posed no threat at all.
Of course, the experience was also pitifully low.
But fortunately, there was Gu Tian.
He was willing to sacrifice his own level cultivation to increase the level of the monsters in the trial, thereby allowing everyone to gain more experience.
Seeing Gu Tian walk toward the trial checkpoint, everyone's faces were filled with apology.
Just now when they learned that Gu Tian had reached as high as 86 Reincarnations, they all gasped.
They understood that every Reincarnation for him was a trial filled with risks.
Going from one Reincarnation to two was not as simple as leveling up from level one to level two.
From monster strength and risk levels to the required experience, every step was exceptionally difficult.
Yet he was willing to sacrifice the fruits of his hard work to help them.
"Ahhh—"
Gu Tian roared in pain.
Streaks of blood-red light radiated from his body, drifting toward the entire trial reincarnation field.
Immediately after, the forms of the monsters began to undergo huge changes.
The lowest-level Red-Haired Monsters, originally about the same height as humans, now saw their body sizes explode, and the aura emitting from their bodies became even more terrifying.
"My god, this, this grew too fast, right?"
Everyone couldn't help but exclaim.
In the blink of an eye, the average level of the monsters directly increased by 30 levels.
And Gu Tian's level display was gradually decreasing.
86 Reincarnations.
82 Reincarnations.
79 Reincarnations.
75 Reincarnations.
It dropped all the way to 65 Reincarnations before stopping.
He had consumed a full 31 Reincarnations worth of experience to increase the levels of all monsters in the 100 rounds of this trial.
Bang—
Gu Tian was exhausted, covered in sweat, and knelt on one knee on the ground.
Ah Li, heartbroken, quickly ran up to support him.
Jiang He also walked over with a heavy expression: "Gu Tian, thank you..."
At this moment, Gu Tian was too exhausted to speak, almost fainting, and collapsed into Ah Li's arms.
Ah Li's tears fell pitter-patter, and she choked out: "Ma-Master, no need to thank him. This is what Gu Tian wanted himself... You guys hurry and go, I need to take him back to rest."
Jiang He nodded.
He knew this debt of gratitude could never be repaid.
What was the concept of dropping 31 Reincarnations?
The strongest BOSS he had encountered so far was only at 3 Reincarnations.
If this Gu Tian went outside, wouldn't he be an invincible existence?
Watching Ah Li support Gu Tian as they left, Jiang He slowly turned around.
"Let's go, don't let his good intentions go to waste."
Everyone nodded and stepped into the Reincarnation Trial field.
Time flew by, and several months passed.
Jiang He and the others fought to the final level of the Reincarnation Trial field.
They had long since reached level 100.
But due to the game rules, they couldn't leave without completing the Reincarnation Trial.
Bang—
"Xiao Bei, hold it back!"
"Understood!"
Thump, thump, thump—
Jiang He moved his figure rapidly, silently counting in his heart.
3, 2, 1...
"That's it, now!"
He waved his arm, and a red light rapidly gathered from above, finally shrouding the BOSS.
"Everyone, concentrate your firepower and attack!"
Bang, bang, bang—
In an instant, flames splashed everywhere, and countless cold lights flashed by one after another.
The hundred-level trial finally ended.
At the same time, a new prompt popped up before everyone's eyes:
[Do you wish to participate in the Reincarnation Trial?]