12: Chapter 12 You Didn't Die in Vain Today

When the mechanism for the stone steps was pressed, a dull clicking sound came from inside the mountain gate, like an old well buried underground being pried open again.

Sect Master Di Kun did not go down immediately. He stood behind the white stone line, watching the Split-Back Demon Mastiff through the half-burnt barricade.

The Demon Mastiff's left hind leg was still dripping blood, but its pace remained steady. It drove the low-level Yao Beasts to continue filling the pit, testing out the remaining traps one by one and crushing them.

This thing could no longer be fought by guessing.

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand, and the surrounding noise died down layer by layer.

"I am authorizing one planned suicide for trial and error." His voice fell before the mountain gate, every word suppressing the sound of the wind. "Only one person is allowed. The goal is not to kill it, but to trade for its complete attack rhythm."

The Sect Protection Elder's grip on the broken shovel tightened sharply, the splintered wooden handle cutting into his palm. He stepped forward half a step: "Sect Master, this is not a normal charge. Using a Disciple's life to test a Yao Beast's Move is too crazy!"

The remaining color on the faces of the few handymen faded further.

However, the Dark Souls Youth pulled his wooden sword out of the mud, his shoulder still slumped, blood staining the corner of his mouth. He shook his neck, his joints making faint cracking sounds.

"I'll do it," he said. "If no one feeds the action table for this kind of BOSS, we'll all be feeding it kills later."

The Speedrun Youth looked down from above: "You were just swatted, your status isn't full."

"Perfect," the Dark Souls Youth looked up at the Split-Back Demon Mastiff, his eyes shining terrifyingly. "Practicing dodging with low health makes for better muscle memory."

The Chuunibyou Youth opened his mouth, crumpling the cloth strip on his right arm: "Your lines sound like you're about to have a tombstone erected."

The Dark Souls Youth glanced at him: "Remember to write on the tombstone: Died from being too noob, currently optimizing."

A handyman couldn't help but chuckle, then immediately covered his mouth.

Sect Master Di Kun did not laugh. He walked up to the Dark Souls Youth and tapped the blade of the wooden sword with his right knuckles. The wooden sword was full of cracks, stained with wolf blood and mud, making a dull sound when tapped.

"Resurrection is not free," Sect Master Di Kun said. "Spirit Stones, the Soul Reconstruction Pool, and the Sect's Luck will all be burned. Every time you die, a piece of the Taichu Sect's lifeblood is lost. Today, you are not dying in vain; you are buying intelligence for the Sect."

The playful smile on the Dark Souls Youth's face faded slightly.

He shouldered his wooden sword and turned to walk toward the white stone line. When he reached the line, he stopped, turned back, and grinned: "Then I'll try to buy something expensive."

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand.

"No one is to save anyone. Speedrun Youth, record; Tower Defense Youth, mark points; Life-Skill Player, prepare for post-resurrection processing; everyone else, retreat half a level."

The Sect Protection Elder's teeth ground together, but he did not stop him again. He waved his hand to drive the handymen behind the second layer of barricades, standing at the very front himself, holding his broken shovel horizontally to cover the gap in the retreat for Sect Master Di Kun.

The Dark Souls Youth crossed the white stone line.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff immediately looked up.

The Dark Souls Youth did not charge straight in. He stepped on the edge of the wolf corpses left from the first wave, bypassed two broken stakes, and positioned himself in front of the Demon Mastiff's right side. He tapped the wooden sword on the ground—once, twice—and the third time he tapped a stone brittle from fire, shattering it with a piercing sound.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff slammed its front paws down.

"First pounce, shoulder Moves first!" the Dark Souls Youth shouted, rolling to the left. The Demon Mastiff's pounce missed, its front paws slamming into the ground, turning mud and bone fragments into a slurry. It did not stop; its tail swept over, the black spikes dragging a black line.

"Followed by a tail sweep!"

The Dark Souls Youth flattened himself against the ground, the black spikes scraping over his back and tearing away a piece of clothing. After the tail sweep, the Demon Mastiff's head had already turned back, its fangs biting toward his landing spot.

"Third is the bite!"

He forced his waist to twist, avoiding the direct hit of the fangs, but his left shoulder was struck by the tip of the Demon Mastiff's claw. The sound of his shoulder bone shattering was clear even from ten feet away, and his entire arm hung limp. The Dark Souls Youth was swatted to the edge of the pit, half his face slamming against a stone, blood immediately blurring his vision.

The Speedrun Youth lay on a tree, the charcoal pencil in his hand nearly piercing the bark: "Pounce, tail, bite, the interval is extremely short! After the tail sweep, the head returns to the right side, the landing spot suppresses the player, it's not random!"

The Tower Defense Youth knelt beside the stone wall, carving the position of every claw print onto the stone surface: "Its turn is affected by the terrain; when there is a stone wall on the right, the tail sweep shortens, and when the left side is open, it goes full range!"

Sect Master Di Kun stared at the trajectory of the Dark Souls Youth's fall.

The Demon Mastiff's movements were too fast for the handymen to see clearly, but he could see the location where dust rose each time. The first pounce suppressed the front, the tail sweep blocked the side roll, and the third bite targeted the landing spot—this was not simple animal instinct; it was a set hunting routine.

The Dark Souls Youth propped his body up with his good right hand and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.

"Again!"

This time he did not wait for the Demon Mastiff to pounce, but instead dragged his broken arm closer to the loose stone ground. The Split-Back Demon Mastiff was enraged; the low growl in its throat became heavy, its back spikes flared, and it dug its front paws into the ground.

Sect Master Di Kun tapped his fingers on his sword hilt twice.

The Speedrun Youth's voice was as fast as a breaking string: "Don't go in a straight line! At full speed, it will do a two-stage claw press! The left hind leg, force it to step on that loose stone!"

The Dark Souls Youth's steps were wobbly, but every step landed between corpses and broken stakes. He put himself into a dead end that seemed to have no retreat; behind him was a line of fire, to his left was the edge of the pit, and to his right was the cracked stone ground.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff finally pounced at full speed.

Its massive body knocked aside a Yao Beast blocking its path, its front paws landing, the second claw immediately pressing down. The Dark Souls Youth rolled under the first claw, and the second claw grazed his lower leg, slamming into the ground. The sound of bone cracking came, but he used this force to slide to the right.

The Demon Mastiff's left hind leg stepped onto the loose stone ground.

The stone ground sank an inch.

This time, its body experienced a brief imbalance; its back spikes all tilted to the left, and there was a gap in its shoulder and neck that it could not immediately correct.

"Left hind leg!" the Speedrun Youth shouted until his voice cracked. "There is a pause before it plants its foot!"

The Dark Souls Youth saw it too. He grabbed the wooden sword with his right hand, trying to thrust the tip toward that old injured leg. Just as the wooden sword was raised, the Split-Back Demon Mastiff turned around in a rage, its front claw slamming down with a black shadow.

Sect Master Di Kun's hand pressed against his sword hilt, he did not Move.

The claw shadow landed.

The Dark Souls Youth was swatted into the mud. The ground collapsed into a human-shaped crater, mud and blood splashing up together, the wooden sword snapped in two, and half of it flew back inside the white stone line, rolling to the feet of the Chuunibyou Youth.

The last roar came from the crater.

"Left hind leg! There's a recovery period after the three-hit combo!"

The voice cut off.

Only the low panting of the Split-Back Demon Mastiff remained at the valley entrance. It lifted its claw, blood and mud sticking to it; the Dark Souls Youth's body did not Move again.

The fire oil bags in the hands of the few handymen dropped to the ground. The Sect Protection Elder closed his eyes, then opened them again, holding the shovel even lower. The Chuunibyou Youth bent down to pick up the broken wooden sword, his fingertips turning white.

Sect Master Di Kun turned around.

"Everyone, retreat half a level," he ordered. "Tower Defense Youth, open half of the second preset point, don't let it charge in a straight line. Speedrun Youth, continue reporting the leg. Life-Skill Player, follow me down to the Soul Reconstruction Pool."

The Life-Skill Player immediately shouldered her medicine box, the small knife at her waist still dripping with Yao Beast blood. As she ran past the white stone line, she glanced at the crater at the valley entrance, then pulled her gaze back to the buckle of her medicine box.

The underground stone steps were damp, with rough Spirit patterns embedded in the wall crevices. Sect Master Di Kun walked quickly, his footsteps muffled by the roar of the Demon Mastiff coming from above. Every impact shook dust from the stone steps.

The Soul Reconstruction Pool was in the center of the underground chamber.

The pool was originally only half full, the deep blue luster flowing along the water's surface like thin ice ruffled by the wind. Spirit Stones that had just been sorted yesterday were piled by the pool, though the quantity was not large. Sect Master Di Kun walked to the side of the pool, a pale silver Sect mark appearing on the back of his right hand, and light patterns lit up along his finger bones.

He grabbed a handful of Spirit Stones and threw them into the pool.

As the first handful of Spirit Stones entered the water, the deep blue pool surface churned violently, and white mist sprayed out from the bottom. With the second and third handfuls, the Spirit Stones kept sinking, but the brightness of the pool water seemed to be swallowed by something, brightening for a moment, then dimming a notch.

The Life-Skill Player stood nearby, her fingers gripping the edge of her medicine box: "The consumption this time is faster than last time."

Sect Master Di Kun did not look back: "Keep count."

"Twenty, thirty, forty..."

The sound of Spirit Stones entering the pool became more frequent. Every piece that fell felt like it was hitting Sect Master Di Kun's eardrums. A booming sound of wooden barriers breaking came from above; the Tower Defense Youth roared while adjusting the crossbow positions, and the Speedrun Youth's reporting voice was cut in and out by the stone walls.

"Sixty."

A blurry human figure appeared in the center of the pool, as if being dragged up from deep water. The figure struggled, dissipated, and was then forcibly stitched back together by silver patterns. One by one, the Spirit patterns by the pool lit up and then dimmed, and fine cracks seeped out on the stone walls.

"Seventy."

Sect Master Di Kun opened the last bag of Spirit Stones, his fingers sweeping across the bottom of the bag; only ten remained. He paused for half a breath, then pushed all ten into the pool.

"Eighty," the Life-Skill Player whispered.

The Soul Reconstruction Pool sank suddenly.

The deep blue pool surface dropped by a visible notch, a wisp of its original flowing luster was drained away, and several dark patterns were revealed at the bottom of the pool. White mist exploded, and the Dark Souls Youth's body fell out of the pool, kneeling heavily on the stone slab.

He opened his mouth to cough, but what he spat out was not blood, but a cold mist glowing with blue light. When his right hand propped him up, his fingers opened a beat too late, and his eyes stared at Sect Master Di Kun, but his focus was slow to settle.

The Life-Skill Player immediately squatted down, pulled open his eyelids, and gripped his wrist: "Perception lag, slow muscle reaction, the Soul body has just reconnected, he cannot go to the front line immediately."

The Dark Souls Youth's throat moved, his voice light and airy: "Was I... incredibly cool just now?"

The Life-Skill Player slapped the back of his head, controlling the force to be very light: "Don't talk, save some Soul."

Sect Master Di Kun looked down at the pool surface.

Eighty Spirit Stones were gone, the Origin of the Spirit Pool was dimmed by a wisp, and the Dark Souls Youth had become half a cripple for the short term. This fighting style could crack the Demon Mastiff's mechanism, but the cost cut into the Taichu Sect like a knife. If they burned through this two or three more times, the Soul Reconstruction Pool would run dry before the Yao Beast tide flattened the mountain gate.

There was another loud noise from above.

A layer of dust fell from the ceiling of the stone chamber, floating into the pool water and slowly sinking into the dimming deep blue light. Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand to wipe the water marks from the edge of the pool, turned, and stepped onto the stone steps, his old sword at his waist clattering from the vibration. From the direction of the mountain gate, the roar of the Split-Back Demon Mastiff poured in along the tunnel, blowing the remaining fire on the walls backward.