180: Powerful skills, signs of ruins rising again

Looking at the newly acquired abilities and skills, Ye Xiao was naturally overjoyed.

The first ability, Earth Wall, was precisely the skill that the Rock-Earth Giant possessed.

It wasn't bad.

A maximum 100% physical defense increase; no wonder the Rock-Earth Giant' defense was ridiculously high earlier.

The only thing that Ye Xiao found a bit regrettable was that this ability would reset after taking damage. If it could last indefinitely, that would truly be invincible.

However, Ye Xiao wasn't greedy. With the defense boost from Earth Wall, it could greatly increase his safety factor if he was ambushed by an enemy. It was, after all, a decent defensive skill.

What truly surprised Ye Xiao was the skill Nourishment of the Earth.

In the Eternal World, except for areas like Path of Exile which are covered by special rules, once a Professional's health drops to zero in other places, it means true death, not like in games where they can revive.

Furthermore, among all known Professions, no Professional can learn a skill that resurrects the dead, including healers who focus on healing.

However, Nourishment of the Earth, right before him, shattered this universally accepted understanding.

Although the cost was to convert it into deducting the Professional's total accumulated experience, it must be said that with this passive skill, he implicitly gained an extra life.

However, Nourishment of the Earth had a fatal flaw: upon taking fatal damage, all experience and level would reset to zero.

This was the problem. In combat, once a Professional's level drops to zero, their attributes will fall to an extremely low point.

This way, even if he didn't die after taking the first fatal blow, he would have no ability to resist the enemy's subsequent attacks.

Thus, Nourishment of the Earth would only serve to extend his life by a mere two seconds.

Could it be that when Nourishment of the Earth is triggered, he's supposed to lie on the ground and play dead, hoping the enemy won't notice?

The probability wasn't zero, but it was extremely low.

At the same time, Nourishment of the Earth's ability to randomly plunder an enemy's skill was completely useless for most people.

After all, normal people have limited skill bars.

If he was killed by a high-level boss, or a Professional with a rare skill,

and he just happened to randomly acquire that skill, then everything would be fine.

But what if he, a mage, was killed by a warrior and triggered the effect of Nourishment of the Earth? Then, his skill bar would implicitly gain a useless warrior skill.

Of course, this was for ordinary people.

Ye Xiao, however, possessed the Infinite Skill Bar.

Nourishment of the Earth was quite compatible with Ye Xiao.

Once an enemy triggered Nourishment of the Earth, he could randomly learn one of the enemy's skills. This would not only grant him an additional skill but also trigger the effect of the endless chain of life, and both his Intelligence and Strength would increase simultaneously.

It was simply a bug-like skill for stacking skills.

However, after the initial joy, Ye Xiao's expression suddenly turned a bit strange.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that his health points were a staggering 15.78 million.

Moreover, as his strength continuously grew these days, his dual defenses also increased exponentially.

With his current terrifying health and defensive capabilities, it seemed a bit difficult for him to die.

Furthermore, compared to others, Ye Xiao's own growth attributes did not account for a large proportion of his overall combat power.

However, if he encountered an evenly matched enemy, a significant drop in attributes would still be a very dangerous thing.

Considering all this, the effect of Nourishment of the Earth seemed to be even weaker than Earth Wall.

Thinking of this, Ye Xiao couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

He wasn't afraid of losing levels now, as he had already dropped once before because of that little gold guy, but with the boost from his equipment, his combat power hadn't suffered much.

What he feared now was that he couldn't die. He couldn't possibly take off all his equipment during a fight, could he?

If he did that, even if he was truly worn down to death by the enemy, without the support of his equipment, leveling in this beginner area at level 0 would be no different from seeking death.

Ye Xiao sighed helplessly, without a better solution.

At this moment, Milad, who had been following behind Ye Xiao, saw that all the Rock-Earth Giant had been eliminated, and his old face was filled with excitement.

"Kid, I really didn't expect you to be so strong. You almost scared me to death just now."

Hearing Milad's words, Ye Xiao rolled his eyes, not giving him any face at all, "Didn't you just say you already knew I was extraordinary? If so, what was there to be afraid of?"

Milad's old face flushed, then his eyes darted around, and he cleared his throat, saying, "Alright, let's not dwell on such minor details. Since the monsters guarding the outside are dead, let's quickly enter the ruins."

Ye Xiao hadn't forgotten the purpose of their trip. Hearing Milad bring up the main topic, he naturally didn't hesitate.

He nodded in agreement and followed behind Milad, preparing to head to the Xiling Ruins.

However, just as the two of them were about to move,

the scatteredgravel on the ground suddenly floated up mysteriously at that moment.

Ye Xiao was startled, "What is this?"

Milad heard him but didn't know how to answer, as it was his first time encountering such a situation.

However, Milad didn't need to answer.

The next moment, thegravel on the ground, which originally belonged to the Rock-Earth Giant, seemed to be pulled by some force, rapidly gathering towards a certain direction in the sky.

The entire process took less than three seconds. When all thegravel had gathered, the entire space above was completely enveloped, obscuring the sky and sun.

It was also at this moment that a peculiar green light, without any warning, surged from the center of the pile ofgravel, instantly engulfing all thegravel.

This sudden change caused both Ye Xiao and Milad to unconsciously take two steps back.

Just as Ye Xiao was frowning, an extremely deep and heavy voice suddenly emanated from within that immensely large ball of light.

"Intruder, you have killed enough of my kin. This is not where you should be. Leave."

Ye Xiao looked at Milad beside him.

However, the latter had clearly never encountered such a situation before, so he couldn't answer.

Nevertheless, despite Milad's fear of this unknown entity, he was also somewhat excited.

After all, he had been studying the Xiling Ruins for some years, and this was the first time he had encountered such a situation, which would be of great help to his research.

Thinking of this, Milad immediately overcame his fear and asked the energy mass, "What are you? Why are you appearing in the outer perimeter of the Xiling Ruins?"

Hearing Milad's words, the green energy mass flickered continuously, and after a moment, another voice emerged.

"Weak Meiya People, I have allowed you to enter several times before and did not bother with you, but from today onwards, if you dare to trespass again, I will kill you."

These words immediately made Milad's face stiffen.

This unknown entity even knew all of this?

But he had entered the Xiling Ruins several times before and had never discovered the existence of this thing.

Moreover, since the other party had allowed him to enter before, why wouldn't it now?

Due to the terrifying power constantly growing within the ball of light, Milad, though filled with questions, wisely kept silent.

It was also at this moment that the green light mass suddenly expanded, and a giant snake head, completely covered in boulders, burst out from the light.

First the snake head, then the snake body.

Just like that, when the light completely dissipated, a giant snake, twenty-three meters long and entirely composed of stone, appeared before Ye Xiao. Its body was incredibly massive.

Only its two eyes glowed with a deep green light, flickering continuously.

At the same time, the monster's panel information appeared before Ye Xiao immediately.

[Nether Rock Serpent · Special Type]

[Level: 300]

[Health: ???]

[Attack: ???]

[Defense: ???]

...Level 300?

Ye Xiao looked at the Nether Rock Serpent, his heart surging with shock.

Although his current strength allowed him to confront even Professionals of Nine Revolution or even Six Revolution,

level 300 was an existence Ye Xiao couldn't even touch right now.

A level 300 Human Job Holders was already at the peak of Nine Revolution, just one step away from potentially entering Ten Revolution, which is the legendary pinnacle of the Divine Realm.

However, Ye Xiao had once reviewed many historical documents and found that, let alone Human Job Holders, even the former Meiya People seemed to have no record of anyone reaching this realm.

Perhaps it was intentionally hidden, or perhaps this realm simply didn't exist.

Gradually, over time, everything about this realm became a legend.

But even without entering this legendary divine realm, Professionals at level 300 were capable of shattering mountains with a raise of their hand, severing rivers with a flick of their wrist, existing on the verge of transcendence.

And level 300 monsters... it was said their combat power far exceeded that of Human Job Holders of the same level.

Yet, now, such a terrifying existence had appeared right before Ye Xiao's eyes.

At this moment, he had no time to wonder why this level 300 Nether Rock Serpent was unrestricted by rules and appeared here.

His first thought was to escape.

Due to the vast difference in levels, all information about this Nether Rock Serpent, except for its name, was displayed as question marks.

But Ye Xiao was not arrogant enough to think he could fight it head-on.

On the other hand, Milad, upon seeing the Nether Rock Serpent appear, this somewhat crazed old man, contrary to his usual self, stared at the huge creature before him with shining eyes.

"Guardian beast, it's actually a guardian beast..."

Watching Milad soExcited that he was nearly in tears, Ye Xiao, who had been about to leave, involuntarily paused.

"You know it?"

Milad's expression was very excited, "Legend has it that wherever guardian beasts appear, there must be a World Treasure nearby."

"Treasure?" Ye Xiao's expression grew more bewildered; he had never heard that name before.

Rarely, Little Gold's voice reached Ye Xiao's ears through the Red Moon Space.

"Initially, the Father God created the Eternal World with his own life, and along with the world, Treasures containing immensely powerful functions were also born."

"Then what is this guardian beast?"

Little Gold's voice drifted over, "According to the records of Red Moon Mother, each Treasure contains a wisp of World Rule. If this rule gets out of control, it will lead to the collapse of the world. Father God discovered this, but he was already powerless to change it at that time. So, with his last breath, he created a race born to guard the Treasures, which are the guardian beasts before you."

Ye Xiao suddenly understood, but then he was troubled again.

Although he wasn't sure what the Treasure specifically was, he already understood its power from Little Gold, and naturally, his interest was piqued. However, facing a level 300 guardian beast, he felt he had no chance of winning.

However, at this moment, Little Gold spoke again: "Although Father God created the guardian beast race with his last breath, his life essence was already exhausted at that time, so he couldn't grant the guardian beast race true life. This also led to the guardian beast race not being complete life forms."

"What's the use of telling me this?" Ye Xiao asked, puzzled.

Little Gold rolled his eyes, "Because they are not complete life forms, the guardian beast race cannot give birth to new life like other living races. And it has been thousands of years since Father God created them. As non-life forms, their energy has probably been largely consumed over this long period of time."

Ye Xiao's eyes brightened slightly, and he couldn't help but dismiss the idea of escaping.

If Little Gold wasn't mistaken, there might actually be a chance.

At this moment, the Nether Rock Serpent turned its massive stone head and slowly moved closer.

"Human, I warn you again, take this Meiya People and leave here, otherwise, I will act."

With Little Gold's analysis, hearing these words from the Nether Rock Serpent now made Ye Xiao keenly spot a clue.

Logically speaking, given the strength of this Nether Rock Serpent and the fact that Ye Xiao had killed so many of its kind earlier, there was no reason for it to be so polite to him.

The only explanation was as Little Gold had explained.

Thinking of this, Ye Xiao felt a bit more confident. "What if I insist on going in?"

Upon hearing this, the Nether Rock Serpent's entire body glowed green intensely, and its tone became even colder, "Human, are you provoking me?"

This aura directly pushed back the excited Milad a few steps, but Ye Xiao, facing the overbearing Nether Rock Serpent, raised his guard to the highest, yet his expression remained fixed on the Nether Rock Serpent.

He was going to gamble.

If he won, he would have a chance to obtain the legendary Treasure.

As for if he lost, Void Phantom coupled with Little Gold's barrier-breaking ability meant the Nether Rock Serpent couldn't stop him.

What's more, he had just mastered Nourishment of the Earth, which greatly reduced his margin for error.

This risk was worth taking.

In the sky, the Nether Rock Serpent's green eyes flickered a few times in response to Ye Xiao's provocation. The surrounding air seemed to solidify at this moment, and the atmosphere became incredibly oppressive.

Milad, who was standing behind Ye Xiao, also snapped back to reality, his expression already one of extreme terror.

He knew about guardian beasts and naturally understood their terrifying nature.

He wanted to run, but under the mysterious and immense pressure, Milad found that his legs simply couldn't move.

This was the terrifying aspect of a level 300 guardian beast.

For a moment, Milad screamed internally, 'If you want to die, don't drag me with you!'

Just now, the guardian beast had clearly said it would let them leave, but now, this bastard actually dared to provoke it.

Even though Ye Xiao's previously displayed strength had shocked him, he didn't believe such strength would be a match for the guardian beast.

He simply couldn't imagine where Ye Xiao got the confidence to provoke the other party.

Wasn't this just asking for death?

Milad was on the verge of tears.

He usually liked to court death, but he always had a grasp of the situation; it didn't mean he actually wanted to die.

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to Milad's reaction at this moment.

The Nether Rock Serpent's massive body moved slightly, approaching again.

However, the Nether Rock Serpent didn't attack but said eerily, "It seems you've discovered it."

Ye Xiao's body trembled slightly, and a burst of light erupted in his eyes.

The Nether Rock Serpent was quite straightforward and said directly, "Perhaps you know of our race's existence, and you know our weakness, but there's one thing you don't know."

"What?" Ye Xiao asked softly.

At this moment, a hint of dominance entered the Nether Rock Serpent's voice.

"Most of my energy has indeed been eroded by time. If I were to fight you, even if I could win, I would pay an irreversible price, which is not something I wish to see. That's why I advised you to leave, rather than directly attacking."

After a pause, the Nether Rock Serpent's tone shifted, and it said coldly, "However, as a guardian of this race, even death would not allow the Treasure to fall into anyone's hands. Since you are unwilling to leave, then embrace death!"

In an instant, Ye Xiao felt an inexplicable pang of fear.

The next moment, an unmatchable and powerful aura suddenly erupted from the Nether Rock Serpent, engulfing the entire space.

"This is..."

Ye Xiao's pupils constricted. He knew that with his current strength, he absolutely could not withstand this power.

"Retreat!"

Ye Xiao pulled the still terrified Milad and flew backward.

However, the Nether Rock Serpent would not let Ye Xiao off easily. Its massive body erupted with unimaginable speed, charging fiercely at Ye Xiao.

"Human, it's useless. Once the self-destruction is activated, as long as you are still in this space, you will be annihilated by my power."

Self-destruction!?

Ye Xiao was somewhat astonished. He had never expected this Nether Rock Serpent to be so volatile, not even bothering with a probing attack, and directly intending to perish with him from the start.

At the same time, the Nether Rock Serpent's entire body emitted a continuous stream of terrifying green light, and its hard body rapidly expanded at this moment.

"Anyone who dares to covet the Treasure shall face judgment!"

After the Nether Rock Serpent roared, its body directly exploded.

In an instant, a terrifying energy surged out like a floodgate opening. The entire space even shook violently at this moment, as if it could collapse at any time.

As a result, when Ye Xiao activated Void Phantom immediately, he suddenly found that the skill had failed.

Presumably, this terrifying energy had directly caused spatial instability, making his skill unusable.

Amidst his shock, Ye Xiao had completely run out of time to escape.

Just as he was about to cast Restriction Barrier to resist this explosive energy, his hand stopped.

At the same time, a crazy thought arose in his mind.