Chapter 246 – Ready to Face Death Again?

From within the black fog emerged a young man, standing at 1.87 meters tall, with fair skin and handsome features.

He wore a dark blue Golden Bear Level battle suit, exuding a calm and poised demeanor that hinted at a rare nobility uncommon among ordinary people.

There was no energy shield around him, and the black fog swirling in the air enveloped him, adding an aura of mystery.

“Where did this fool come from? In such thick death energy, he’s not even using an energy field… is he not afraid that his body will be corroded by the death energy?” someone in the team couldn’t help but mutter. Halfway through the sentence, they suddenly remembered something and looked sharply at Xie Jun.

Xie Jun’s lips pressed together lightly as he responded with a faint “Hmm.”

The four members of the team suddenly had peculiar expressions.

Each one looked at the young man walking towards them, their eyes now filled with a sort of inexplicable amusement.

The young man remained calm under their stares.

His direction was different from that of the five-member team, and he walked past them without saying a word.

The two sides parted ways in silence until the young man’s figure completely disappeared into the vast black fog.

“He seems to be going…”

After he had gone, someone in the team turned their head with a slightly strange expression, “to the Ruins City that we dare not enter.”

“No protective shield, going to such a dangerous place, he’s really gutsy…”

“A rising star fresh out of the academy, it’s normal…”

After discussing for a few moments, someone asked Xie Jun, “Old Xie, should we warn him? In a place like this, talent and background can’t substitute for strength… he might just end up losing his life.”

Xie Jun stood in place, his eyes flickering a few times before he calmly shook his head, “No need. If he dares to venture alone, he certainly has something to rely on. At least for now, he should be able to protect himself.

A little setback might not be a bad thing for someone like him. For Old Song’s sake, we can consider helping him later. But for now, we should focus on our own task.”

“Hmm.”

The others had no objections and ceased their conversation, continuing their journey along the predetermined route.

“Rip—”

Lu Yuan tore open the wrapping paper and stuffed a finger-length energy bar into his mouth, chewing slowly.

He was currently standing in front of a dilapidated City.

The City boasted towering walls over 30 meters high. Although most of them had collapsed and were shrouded in a thick black fog, traces of its former grandeur were still visible.

The encounter with Xie Jun and his group hadn’t affected Lu Yuan in the slightest.

After discovering hidden clues within the Wailing Ruins, he now felt like a player engrossed in a mystery game.

Much of his interest was focused on uncovering the truth behind this secret realm.

He even felt fortunate for his earlier refusal to join, as he would likely have missed out on such an intriguing part.

Lu Yuan finished chewing the energy bar, mildly tricking his stomach.

He took out his communicator and attempted to contact the outside world, but received no response.

Lu Yuan didn’t mind. Calmly, he quickly moved towards the Ruins City ahead.

As he approached, fragmented and blurry images occasionally flashed through his mind.

These were memories he had absorbed from the farmer monsters regarding this City.

“@￥..”

Lu Yuan uttered a few strange syllables.

This was the Ancient Brent language pronunciation of the current city, which could be directly translated to mean Fenglu City.

“My mental power is increasing, but it seems there are some impurities mixed in…”

Lu Yuan passed through the completely decayed city gate and began spreading out his mental power to control the undead crow while gently massaging his temples with his fingers.

He had already noticed this earlier.

After absorbing the memories of over a hundred farmer monsters, his proficiency in Ancient Brent Language had risen to level 2, the fusion progress of his ancient language expert and student professions reached 1%, and his mental power had increased…

All these benefits, but they also brought some side effects.

Occasionally, unfamiliar chaotic memory images would pop into his mind.

It was as if grains of sand had mixed into a basin of clear water; with just a slight stir, the impurities from the bottom would float up.

This was somewhat unsettling for Lu Yuan, who had always maintained a pure will.

“Guess I’ll have to let my brain clean itself up slowly…”

Lu Yuan imagined a progress bar appearing in his mind, showing the message: “Garbage Cleaning in Progress…”

“I should be more mindful when absorbing black beads in the future…”

Although he wasn’t sure what consequences might arise if the mental clutter reached a certain level, Lu Yuan figured it would be nothing good.

He stepped into the City.

The alloy combat boots made crisp sounds against the gray stone slabs of the road.

The footsteps were like small stones dropping into water, creating ripples that spread outward.

Soon, the black fog around Lu Yuan began to churn.

It grew increasingly intense, almost as if boiling.

Through the images relayed by the undead crow, Lu Yuan could “see”—

Around him, on the main street of the City, figures began to appear within the dense black fog, swiftly charging towards him.

These decayed figures, shrouded in thick death energy, quickly surrounded Lu Yuan. They were clearly stronger than the farmer monsters he had previously encountered.

There were warriors in armor, wielding greatswords or spears, each step they took causing the black fog to wail.

Lu Yuan remained calm, continuing to walk unhurriedly in the direction of the main road.

As the figures around him gathered to a certain extent and the cold weapons shrouded in death energy were about to strike him…

Lu Yuan spoke in a low voice, “Panic Boiling!”

[Death Messenger (extraordinary)]’s first core skill—lv1 [Panic Boiling]!

Activate!

In an instant, an invisible and distorted force field silently formed around Lu Yuan.

In the air, fear ignited like a silent flame.

The death energy monsters attempting to besiege Lu Yuan were momentarily slowed, some even showing signs of retreating.

Lv2 [Underworld Garment] clung to Lu Yuan’s body.

Lu Yuan strolled casually, but around his body, numerous afterimages appeared, swiftly dispatching the surrounding monsters.

With nonchalance, he made moves, and with just a touch from him-

These monsters’ bodies crumbled like Jenga blocks, quickly eroding into dust and disappearing.

To someone like Lu Yuan, who possessed at least Level S combat power normally, these monsters with average strength not exceeding Level A were nothing more than weeds.

His hands were like scythes.

Lifting up and bringing down… rows of weeds were cut down.

Lu Yuan collected the black beads left behind by these monsters, crushing them one by one.

He cleared the area while simultaneously absorbing the beads.

On the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel, the experience points for several skills were constantly skyrocketing.

Finally… on the panel, the originally lv8 [Death Energy Entanglement] skill, once its experience points hit a certain limit… quietly advanced to lv9 (0/25600).

“Boom!”

The death energy around Lu Yuan surged abruptly, like a roaring black flame burning intensely.

His expression shifted slightly as two five-meter-long black wings condensed on his back, their edges as sharp as blades.

He suddenly lunged forward, wings spread wide, leaving a long black streak as his body soared.

Wherever he passed, the nearby monsters froze in place.

Then, silently, their bodies split in half and crumbled into sand…

The fragmented images in Lu Yuan’s mind never ceased.

The outline of Fenglu City grew clearer and more detailed.

“Holy Light… bishop… crow… catastrophe… death! Death! Death!”

Lu Yuan suddenly took a leap into the air, his massive black wings flapping forcefully.

The black wings formed by the lv9 [Death Energy Entanglement] skill were qualitatively more advanced than at lv8.

Although they still couldn’t support Lu Yuan to soar freely like a bird, they significantly slowed his descent.

He could glide smoothly downward.

With countless chaotic images flooding his mind, Lu Yuan massaged his furrowed, throbbing brow, narrowed his eyes, and looked down from above.

Lu Yuan then noticed that on the many streets and buildings of this ruined city, the same phrase was inscribed in Ancient Spirit Language, in various sizes: “Praise death! Praise death!” The phrase extended all the way to the end of the main road, where a dilapidated and empty square lay.

“Thud—”

Lu Yuan landed lightly, his feet touching the ground.

He looked up, carefully examining the statue standing in the center of the square.

Behind him, the black fog continued to churn, and countless figures corrupted by death energy kept approaching him.

Yet, he remained calm, seeming not to notice them at all, merely gazing quietly upward.

It was a broken and decayed statue.

The statue depicted a woman in an elegant dress, one arm placed over her chest, while the other seemed to be raised as if holding something.

Unfortunately, the raised hand was broken off above the wrist, leaving it empty.

Judging by the curves of the body and the arms, this figure was likely a very dignified and beautiful goddess.

But…

It had the head of a black crow.

Lu Yuan noticed a distinct cut mark at the neck, suggesting that the crow’s head was added later.

The base of the statue was inscribed in Ancient Spirit Language: “Praise death, we are all children of the crow deity…”

The writing also showed signs of being smeared.

“The crow deity… Lamashtu? But her figure doesn’t look like this…”

Lu Yuan recalled the countless times he had seen the woman in the black dress bathing in the Styx within the Crow Dreamscape.

Comparing with the statue before him, it was not the same person.

As he contemplated, suddenly…

“Boom!”

Three figures slowly emerged in front of Lu Yuan.

The leading figure was shrouded in a massive, decayed black robe, head bowed, seemingly holding something in its hands.

On either side of this figure, stood a knight over two meters tall, clad in black heavy armor, wielding a greatsword with both hands.

All three figures were surrounded by an incredibly dense death energy, even more concentrated than that around Lu Yuan.

“Emissary level? No, not quite there yet…”

“Whoosh—whoosh—”

The sound of the wind howled behind Lu Yuan as vast amounts of death energy gathered towards the square.

A dense and massive dark cloud formed, hovering overhead.

The death energy monsters pursuing Lu Yuan continuously appeared, gradually surrounding the square completely.

All the monsters’ consciousness converged on Lu Yuan, their empty, chilling gazes enveloping him.

Cold, eerie, decayed, and desolate auras surged from all directions like ocean tides, causing the temperature in the square to plummet rapidly, dropping to freezing levels.

Trapped within this army of the dead, Lu Yuan’s expression remained calm, without the slightest hint of disturbance.

“Sigh…”

A faint sigh suddenly echoed through the square.

Following this, Lu Yuan’s body began to expand outward…

“Crack, crack—”

His form continued to grow, becoming taller.

His hair lengthened as well.

A few breaths later, a wave of scorching heat radiated outwards.

A towering figure, standing two and a half meters tall, with blazing red skin and wildly flying black hair, appeared in the center.

Black death energy coursed over this massive body like flames.

Two five-meter-long black wings spread out behind him.

A deep and hoarse voice murmured to itself.

“I really hate it when someone interrupts me while I’m advancing the main quest.”

“Are you prepared… to face death a second time?”

After saying that, a loud “boom!” echoed.

The dark cloud of death energy above the square suddenly ruptured.

Below, the death energy monsters were uprooted and flung in all directions like weeds forcefully pulled out and haphazardly thrown…