214: Who exactly is Chapter 214?

The bamboo forest began to twist and dissipate.

As he was leaving, the extremely beautiful woman named Yan Yan cast a lingering glance his way.

Her eyes held three parts resentment and seven parts regret.

It was as if she was silently accusing Chen You of why he couldn't stay three more days, thus ruining her chance to experience an intense and exciting illicit affair.

This NPC's professional dedication was truly top-tier.

In the next instant, light and shadow shifted.

That ambiguous and melodramatic atmosphere of the martial world completely vanished, replaced by the eternal, unchanging silence and coldness.

He was back in the magnificent Shadow Throne Room, seated high upon the throne.

Below him, Shadow Monarch Dai knelt on one knee, standing with his head bowed, his posture as respectful as a statue.

The farce just now felt like an insignificant, fleeting dream.

"That's it? Nothing more?" Chen You spoke, his voice echoing in the vast hall.

Xiao Dai slowly raised his head, his dark golden pupils showing no ripple of emotion.

"Yes, Your Majesty. You have passed the final trial. From this moment forward, you are the sole sovereign of the Shadow Throne Room."

"You are the true... Shadow Monarch!"

As his words fell, the entire Source Realm shook once more.

In Thousand Light City, the updated public square was still packed with players.

The Shadow Monarch statue, which represented the 'The Path of the Monarch' dungeon and was originally vague and shrouded in shadow, erupted with bursts of pitch-black light without any warning!

"Holy crap! What's going on?!"

"Is it a bug? Is the server going down for maintenance again?"

"Quick, look at the statue! It... It's moving!"

Countless players recoiled in shock from this sudden anomaly, looking up in terror.

They watched as countless cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the massive stone statue, stone chips flaking off.

Immediately after, a surge of pure dark energy spewed forth from within the statue, swallowing and reshaping all the shattered stone!

The light scattered.

A brand-new statue appeared in everyone's sight.

It was a monarch clad in ghostly, dark armor, wearing a ferocious crown, leaning on a greatsword planted on the ground, sitting quietly upon a throne.

His entire body was covered by armor, and not the slightest detail of his face could be seen.

But the aura of aloofness and dominance emanating from the statue, an aura that seemed capable of freezing heaven and earth, caused every player gazing upon it to feel a pang of dread.

Those eyes, which seemed to contain endless lightning and the abyss, looked down upon the entire main city through the visor.

That imposing aura of looking down upon all creation was a thousand times more concrete than the previous shadow form!

More importantly, on the statue's pedestal, a line of golden text inscribed by the system slowly materialized.

[Shadow Monarch: Chen You]

...No, that wasn't right.

Players rubbed their eyes and discovered those were not the characters for 'Chen You'.

Instead, it was a string of mysterious runes they could not understand at all, yet they could feel the boundless Dao resonance within them.

This was the ID style Chen You had chosen without even knowing when; only he and the system could read it.

But this did not stop the players from exploding!

"The Monarch... The Monarch has appeared?! Did someone clear it?!"

"So fast? Haven't the Three Great Divine Races only just passed the first elder?"

"This image is too handsome! If they release a skin for this, I'll buy them all out!"

"Stop kidding, you can't even afford one of his toes!"

...

In front of the 'mirror of true sight,' the third stage of the 'The Path of the Monarch' dungeon.

The second team of the Titan Temple was experiencing a painful wipe, and the atmosphere was heavy.

The team leader, Tai Pi, was vigorously dissecting their recent mistakes.

"...That backlash aura has a wind-up animation! The mage group must stop the moment the BOSS raises its hand! How many times have I said it!"

Just as he was in the middle of his tirade, dozens of messages suddenly popped up in the guild channel, interrupting his lecture.

[Tai Ya]: Holy crap! Everyone, look at the square! The Monarch statue changed!

[Tai Jing]: What's going on? I just resurrected, why is the statue... why has it become lifelike? No, I mean, the texture is completely different!

[Tai Bao]: The name! Look at the name! There's a name on the statue's base! Even though I can't read the characters, it definitely has an owner!

The guild channel instantly went into an uproar.

Tai Pi frowned deeply, clicked on the channel screenshot, and as soon as he saw it, his pupils contracted sharply.

Even through the picture, he could feel a suffocating pressure emanating from the new statue.

That armor, that crown, all screamed 'Keep your distance' with domineering authority.

Just then, a golden management message from the guild was pinned by the Guild Master, Salos.

[Salos]: Who can tell me what is happening in the dungeon right now?

The entire channel fell silent.

Tai Pi, who had been thoroughly beaten by Chen You in the arena, quickly replied.

[Tai Pi]: Guild Master, we are still at the third BOSS and just wiped. Damn it, this BOSS mechanism is too disgusting.

[Salos]: Where is that Chen You?

[Tai Pi]: No idea! He moves fast, he should be facing the fourth BOSS by now. But... there was no first-clear announcement afterward, so he must be stuck further ahead, right?

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into contemplation.

The logic seemed sound.

If any BOSS was first-cleared, a world announcement would absolutely not be absent.

Since there was no announcement, it meant Chen You hadn't cleared it yet.

But if he hadn't cleared it, how could they explain the Monarch statue outside, which already had a mysterious name carved onto it?

...

In the Moon Gods Radiance Guild channel.

[Moonfall Base]: It must be Big Shot Chen You again! Besides him, I can't think of anyone else who could cause such a huge commotion!

[Moon Smart]: Guild Master, I have a bold guess. Look, there's no first-clear announcement on the world channel, but the statue materialized and had its name carved ahead of time...

[Arrow of the Moon]: Go on.

[Moon Smart]: Is there a possibility... that Chen You, through some method we don't know, activated the true final BOSS?

This guess caused the entire guild channel to fall silent for three seconds.

[Moonfall Base]: That makes some sense.

...

Meanwhile, the Roman God Clan side appeared much more restrained.

Guild Master Oro seemed uninterested in dwelling on the matter of the statue.

As soon as information about the statue surfaced, Oro quickly spoke up to stop speculation.

[Oro]: Our current mission is pioneering; don't let other things distract our focus.

[Ao Doghead]: Guild Master, I'll just say one thing.

[Oro]: Say it.

[Ao Doghead]: I don't know what's going on with the statue, so stop private messaging me about it!

...

Chen You naturally couldn't hear the clamor outside; he was focused on his own task panel.

[Task Progress: Collect Monarch's Relics (0 / 7)]

The 'New Monarch' quest was not complete.

As for what the relics were or where to find them, the quest offered no explanation.

Chen You frowned.

"Xiao Dai."

"Your subordinate is here."

"This quest, the Monarch's Relics, what are they? Where do I find them?"

Xiao Dai shook his head, looking innocent, "I don't know either."

His expression seemed to say: I'm just a proxy, how could I know these things?

Chen You sighed and didn't bother to press further.

Since it was a Mythic quest, it wasn't surprising that it wasn't easy to complete.

He had already been delayed by that ridiculous trial for so long, and he hadn't even finished the dungeon yet.

He leaned slightly forward, revealing a gentle smile.

"Alright, let's put the quest aside for now and talk about something practical."

"Xiao Dai, this dungeon, 'The Path of the Monarch,' you... aren't you the final BOSS?"

Xiao Dai instantly snapped to attention, slapped his chest, and declared, "Your subordinate is your most loyal guard, sworn to defend the Throne Room to the death!"

"Mm, high resolve, I am very pleased.", Chen You nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, regarding the 'first clear' of this dungeon's final BOSS, and that entire set of legendary 'Monarch Set,' plus all the rare materials..."

"Do you... understand what I mean?"

Xiao Dai fell silent.

In the great hall, you could hear a pin drop.

After a full half a minute, he spoke again, his voice carrying a calm sense of profound realization.

"Your subordinate understands."

"Your glory is above all else."

As soon as the words fell, a clear sword chime rang out.

"Clang—!"

A greatsword composed of pure dark energy materialized out of thin air in Xiao Dai's hand.

Chen You's eyelid twitched: "Wait, what are you doing?"

Xiao Dai held the sword with one hand, his movements fluid and natural, without the slightest hesitation. He directly placed the blade, which flickered with terrifying energy, across his own neck.

He looked at Chen You, his gaze incredibly serious, even carrying a hint of sacred duty.

"I offer you the final rite of coronation."