173: Chapter 173 The Gaze of the God of the Dead! Another Archmage Slain

Above the ruins of the guardians tower, the afterglow of the setting sun was fragmented by the dust rising into the sky.

Qin Ji stood beside the sacred pillar of light that had not yet completely dissipated, his purple-gold pupils showing no trace of the confusion of recent resurrection, only an abyss-like cold killing intent. He casually patted his sleeve, his gaze sweeping over the mess on the ground, precisely locking onto the figures about to turn and flee.

"Since you've come, why rush to leave?"

The voice was not loud, but it was like a biting wind sweeping across an extremely cold ice plain, sending a chill down the spines of those frantically fleeing ahead.

Luolin Muye's figure paused. He could feel the substantial sense of oppression behind him rapidly approaching. It was the suffocating feeling brought by pure numerical suppression, a despair that even rules could not erase.

"Hmm."

Luolin Muye let out a suppressed hum, a compromise born from extreme unwillingness intertwined with reason. He took a deep look at Village Chief Wang and Archmage Abid beside him, his eyes conveying a resolute signal.

Retreat.

Must retreat.

Even 'killing' couldn't stop this monster; continuing to fight was meaningless and would only lead to the complete loss of the Star Kingdom's elite here.

"Go!!"

Village Chief Wang suddenly turned around, his previously hunched body once again erupting with a tragic Aura. The rusty iron sword in his hand was held across his chest, and his cloudy old eyes burned with a death-defying flame, attempting to construct a defense line for the others with his own flesh and blood.

"Want to leave? Did you ask me?"

Qin Ji's lips curled into a mocking arc.

His Agility attribute had long since surpassed the limits of Mortal comprehension. The ground beneath his feet shattered into powder the moment he exerted force. His entire body, like a teleportation, left a afterimage, completely ignoring Village Chief Wang's obstruction.

For this type of pure tank warrior, Qin Ji had no interest in even glancing at him.

His target was clear — Routwas, the Golden Priest who was buffing everyone with acceleration, and Archmage Abid, who wielded the threat of forbidden spells.

As for Village Chief Wang?

The huge gap in movement speed and attack speed meant he could only eat dust behind Qin Ji.

"Ah—!!"

A shrill scream suddenly rang out, interrupting the group's retreat rhythm.

Routwas, the Golden Priest running at the back, suddenly began to convulse violently. Above his head, the gray skull mark was like a Grim Reaper's countdown, each flicker taking away a massive amount of his health.

Although Qin Ji had died earlier, the Karma damage of the book of life and death did not stop its judgment.

Now, with Qin Ji's resurrection, this power seemed to have received its master's blessing, becoming even more rampant.

Thud.

The light in Routwas's eyes quickly dimmed, his magnificent golden robes instantly lost their luster, and he fell into the rubble like a withered tree.

[Ding! You have killed 'High Priest Routwas'!]

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player 'Snow Emperor' for successfully killing 'High Priest Routwas' of the Star Kingdom. This is a special announcement, and we hope all players will continue their efforts.]

[Server Announcement...]

The cold System notification once again exploded above the sky, like a death knell, heavily striking the hearts of the survivors.

The demise of a Golden Priest was a limb-severing pain for the Star Kingdom.

"Routwas..."

Luolin Muye's eyes instantly became bloodshot, but his footsteps did not falter. He knew very well that turning back now would be a buy-one-get-one-free.

Qin Ji ignored the corpse on the ground, flipping through the book of life and death in his hand, his indifferent eyes once again locking onto the next prey.

Archmage Abid.

Buzz!

An invisible wave of Death Qi instantly descended upon Abid.

Abid, who was chanting a teleportation spell, suddenly stiffened. He was horrified to find that his health bar was plummeting at an alarming rate. The feeling of weakness from his life force being forcibly drained made even his hand holding the staff tremble.

He knew he had been targeted.

That demon didn't intend to let him go.

"Is there no other way?"

Abid looked at Luolin Muye, who was frantically fleeing ahead, a trace of despair flashing in his eyes, then turning into a resolute madness. "Sister... I may not be able to avenge you. Snow Emperor... is too strong."

Ahead, Luolin Muye seemed to sense something and abruptly turned back.

When he saw Abid, enveloped in Death Qi and having stopped, this battle-hardened warrior finally broke down.

"Snow Emperor!!"

Luolin Muye stared fixedly at the figure strolling leisurely through the ruins, his eyes bloodshot, filled with a hatred that wished to devour him alive.

"By the Goddess of Ice and Snow, I, Luolin Muye, will surely kill you and grind your bones to dust! If I break this oath, may heaven and earth punish me!!"

This roar was mournful and venomous, like a cuckoo crying blood.

Qin Ji merely glanced at him indifferently, casually waving the god-beating whip to disperse the dust in the air, his tone as calm as if he were commenting on the weather: "Talk to me when you can defeat me."

This disregard was more infuriating than insults.

Luolin Muye's teeth almost shattered, but ultimately, reason prevailed. He took a deep look at the already doomed Abid, then, with the few remaining personal guards, disappeared into the distance of the ruins without looking back.

Village Chief Wang wanted to rush back to save him, but Abid pushed him away with a repelling fire ring.

"Go!!"

Abid roared, "If you don't leave now, none of you will make it out!"

Village Chief Wang's body trembled, and he finally let out a sorrowful sigh of indignation, turning to follow Luolin Muye.

On the battlefield, only Qin Ji and Abid remained.

"It seems you've been abandoned." Qin Ji approached step by step, each step landing on the beat of Abid's heart.

Abid said nothing.

His gaze gradually shifted from fear to ferocity, finally settling on a chilling madness.

If he couldn't live, then he would drag this demon to Hell with him!

He suddenly raised his staff high, his previously gaunt body began to tremble violently, and obscure, convoluted incantations spewed from his mouth, each syllable carrying a bloody taste.

"Great God of the Undead, humble Abid is willing to offer his Soul and all his life, begging you to cast your gaze and help me eradicate this evildoer!!"

Qin Ji's advancing footsteps paused slightly, and his brows furrowed.

"Forsaking faith, selling one's Soul..."

For an orthodox mage serving the stars and magic, defecting to the God of the Undead was not only a betrayal of their country but also a betrayal of their professional dignity.

Yet now, these two incredible things were happening right before his eyes.

Boom—!!

Without any warning.

Above the sky, the clouds, originally stained red by the sunset, were instantly dyed a deathly gray. A column of gray light, dozens of meters in diameter, descended from the sky, enveloping Archmage Abid.

"Ah ah ah ah—!!"

Amidst the screams, Abid's flesh and blood body began to burn rapidly.

That was not fire, but some kind of corrosive undead rule. His skin shriveled and peeled, his muscles turned to ash, revealing the pale bones beneath.

In just two seconds.

The Archmage in robes disappeared, replaced by a skeletal lich burning withDark green Soul fire.

In his hand, the staff that once symbolized glory had also transformed into a bone-white scepter, and a chilling Aura, several times more powerful than before, spread out like a tsunami.

"Undead Summoning—Return, you departed Souls slain by Snow Emperor!!"

Abid (Undead Form) let out a hoarse roar, and his bone scepter heavily struck the ground.

Crack! Crack!

The ground around Qin Ji instantly cracked, and as soil surged, pale skeletal hands broke through the earth.

Immediately after, several familiar figures, carrying a dense Death Qi, slowly climbed out from underground.

King Abra, clad in shattered royal armor and wielding a broken sword.

Archmage Aibier, with a twisted face and tattered robes.

And...

Princess Tixuejian, whom Qin Ji had just shattered with a whip.

At this moment, Princess Tixuejian's beautiful face was covered in livid spots, her eyes vacant and lifeless, with only two flickering ghost fires staring fixedly at Qin Ji.

"These..."

A trace of surprise flashed in Qin Ji's eyes, and he gasped (crossed out), his gaze becoming slightly grave.

He had seen Undead Summoning before.

Its advanced branch, Spirit Seizing and Dispatch, could indeed capture the Souls of the dead for one's own use.

But Spirit Seizing and Dispatch had severe limitations.

Firstly, the target had to be personally killed by the caster or have a complete Soul collected; secondly, the summoned Undead's strength would be greatly reduced; most importantly, this was usually a forbidden skill that could only be mastered by Saint-Grade talents or in the Late Stage.

Abid was merely a Third-Turn Archmage; how could he do it?

Moreover...

King Abra, Archmage Aibier—Abid was not present when these people died, making it impossible for him to collect their Souls.

Unless...

A bold and terrifying guess flashed through Qin Ji's mind.

These Undead were not summoned by Abid through his own abilities.

But rather—the God of the Undead!

Only a deity acting personally could ignore the limitations of space and time, forcibly retrieve these specific Souls from the River Styx, and bestow upon them their combat power from life.

"If that's the case..."

Qin Ji tightened his grip on the god-beating whip, his gaze becoming as sharp as a blade. "That means the true body of the God of the Undead, or His Incarnation, is within the Star Kingdom!"

A nation, in theory, absolutely forbids two deities from interfering.

Since the Star Kingdom has faith in the Goddess of Ice and Snow, why would the God of the Undead dare to intervene so brazenly?

Behind this, there must be a shocking major version event.

"Kill!!"

In the instant Qin Ji was contemplating, Abid had already issued the attack command.

Roar!

King Abra, who had transformed into an Undead creature, let out an inhuman roar. His combat instinct from life instantly turned him into a black lightning bolt, his broken sword, imbued with corrosive Death Qi, thrust directly at Qin Ji's throat.

On the other side, Queen Fiodingyu transformed into an afterimage, ghost-like, circling behind Qin Ji.

And Princess Tixuejian raised her staff high, countless ice cones turning into black ice rain, sealing off all of Qin Ji's evasion space.

Three BOSS-level Undead, plus an Abid who had sacrificed himself for a burst of power.

This lineup was enough to flatten any hundred-person elite group at the current stage.

"A bit interesting."

Facing the encirclement from all directions, Qin Ji advanced instead of retreating.

"Three Heads, Six Arms!"

Boom!

The Qi and blood within his body instantly boiled, and his seemingly slender frame suddenly erupted with terrifying energy fluctuations.

Amidst the twisting light and shadows, two other bodies and four arms seemed to materialize at his sides. This was not an illusion, but a visual afterimage generated by extreme attack speed, and combined with his terrifying strength attribute, each afterimage possessed True Damage.

Clang!!

The god-beating whip and King Abra's broken sword collided fiercely.

Just one strike.

The once majestic King, along with his sword, was sent flying backward, half of his skeletal body exploding into bone powder in mid-air.

Immediately after, Qin Ji grabbed with a backhand.

The Queen's Undead, attempting a sneak attack, had her throat (cervical spine) precisely choked by him.

"Died once and still not at peace."

Qin Ji snorted coldly, tightening his grip.

Crack!

The Queen's cervical spine instantly shattered, her skull rolled to the ground, and the cluster of Soul fire was casually crushed by Qin Ji.

This was absolute power.

In the face of absolute attribute suppression, so-called skills, coordination, and numerical superiority were nothing but a joke.

In the distance, Village Chief Wang, who hadn't gone far, turned back and witnessed this scene.

He saw the figure moving unimpeded amidst the Undead siege, and also the tragic sight of King Abra being shattered with a single blow.

"Archmage Abid, your sacrifice was worth it..."

Village Chief Wang sighed, his eyes complex. "At least, it helped us confirm a piece of news."

The God of the Undead had indeed intervened.

He no longer lingered, disappearing completely into the wilderness under the cover of night.

At the center of the battlefield.

Abid did not flinch because of his companions' instant deaths, or rather, having sacrificed his Soul, he no longer possessed emotions like fear.

He frantically waved his scepter, and waves of deathly gray ripples continuously impacted Qin Ji's defenses.

However.

In the face of the book of life and death's True Damage, which ignored defense, all these struggles seemed so futile.

-93200!

-93200!

With a health loss rate of nearly 100,000 per second, even Abid's BOSS-level health couldn't last long.

Thirty seconds later.

As Qin Ji shattered Princess Tixuejian's last piece of skull with a whip, Abid's health bar finally hit zero.

"Snow Emperor... the gods... will not let you go..."

Abid uttered his last hoarse curse, and his flaming skeletal body collapsed with a crash, turning into a pile of lifeless scattered bones.

[Ding! You have killed 'Archmage Abid'!]

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player 'Snow Emperor' for successfully killing 'Archmage Abid' of the Star Kingdom. This is a special announcement, and we hope all players will continue their efforts!!]

[Server Announcement...]

The world finally fell silent.

Qin Ji stood amidst the scattered bones and ruins, surrounded by the dense Death Qi that had not yet fully dissipated.

He slowly put away the god-beating whip, his gaze sweeping over the gray-white ashes of Abid at his feet, finding no valuable drops. It seemed that this sacrifice-style of play came at the cost of even equipment being sacrificed to the evil god.

"God of the Undead, huh..."

Qin Ji murmured to himself, his fingers gently caressing the newly acquired [Fragment of the Wheel of Time and Space] in his backpack.

This trip to the Star Kingdom seemed even more complicated than he had imagined.

Not only did it involve the Legacy of the Goddess of Ice and Snow, but now even the Undead-aligned deity had entered the fray.

However.

What of it?

Qin Ji raised his head, looking at the gradually rising blood-red crescent moon in the sky. The night wind stirred his torn battle robe, revealing the rock-hard muscle lines beneath. He casually kicked away a skull blocking his path, his purple-gold pupils glinting in the night with a light more dangerous than Undead fire, like an ancient Vicious Beast that had just feasted but was still not satiated, indifferently observing this land that he was about to thoroughly turn upside down.