Things were pretty silent on the first floor. As we silently approached the northeast corner of the map, we saw a narrow stairway that led further down. We could probably reach the second underground floor if we went down there.

Gripping the Ghost Ice Soul, I stuck my head closer and tried to see what was below us. “Damn, it’s completely pitch-black. What to do?”

Lin Yixin kicked me from behind. “Get your ass down there and you’ll know what to do naturally!”

Boom!

I fell down the stairway with outstretched arms, but thankfully it wasn’t a long fall. The first and second floors were only three meters apart at most. Things were still pretty dark in here, and the floors were covered in eerie white bones. Clearly, they were the remains of NPC adventurers who had tried to challenge this map. Level 60 mobs might not matter to us players, but they could be absolutely deadly to some NPCs.

The only source of light in the map was the dim light of the torches on the walls. I had no idea how long they had been burning, only that a scorched smell was tickling my nose.

I looked up and saw a bunch of ancient drawings on the wall. They were all traditional drawings of beautiful women, or more specifically naked ladies with big bottoms stroking their hair coquettishly. In some sense, this absolutely qualified as art.

The more I looked, the happier I became. I couldn’t help but point a finger at one of the drawings and laughed. “Hahaha, I had no idea that succubi bottoms are this round. They even have a short tail above it! So cute…”

Lin Yixin gritted her teeth in anger because her chosen race was a succubus. She glared at me and said, “I see you’re a man of culture. Don’t say I didn’t warn you that the Divine Martial Token might be taken by Blue Sky Scar, Transient Smoke and Clouds and Tempest Shadow if we dilly-dally for too long. Actually, if you like these drawings so much, why don’t you stay here until the end of time?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Relax, Beauty Yi. I doubt the boss on the last floor is going to be a small fry. It’s true that Blue Sky Scar and his goons are strong, but they’re also way too arrogant for their own good. How are they going to challenge the boss when they haven’t even brought a priest with them? Who knows, they may be all dead by the time we reach the ninth floor!”

Lin Yixin shot me a disgruntled look and snorted, but didn’t say anything. I guessed that she tacitly admitted that my logic was right.

Murong Mingyue was so engrossed with the drawings that she accidentally ran into me. I immediately felt something big and soft enveloping my arm.

“Huh?” I let out a cry of surprise.

Lin Yixin asked, “What’s wrong?”

Murong Mingyue hurriedly took two steps backward and said, “It’s nothing. Let’s not waste any more time and look for the entrance to the third floor!”

“Okay!”

……

We walked carefully and tried to avoid the mobs on the second floor as much as possible. They were just Level 62 common mobs that gave little EXP and had poor loot table. There was just no incentive for us to fight them.

We barely took a couple of steps before a pitch-black cave appeared in front of us. It was the entrance to Devil Spirit Hall’s third floor!

Just like before, I walked at the front while the two girls followed behind me.

While we were walking down the stairs, Murong Mingyue asked, “Blue Sky Scar and his friends are on the fifth floor already. Dominating Heaven Blade and Indigo Collar are both on the fourth floor, and their coordinates are pretty much right next to one another. I think they’re… fighting each other?”

I smiled. “Let’s check the list again in a few minutes. I have a feeling that someone’s about to die very soon.”

“Yeah!”

We entered the third floor, and the mobs were now Level 64. Again, neither Lin Yixin nor I were interested in such lousy mobs. Murong Mingyue was interested, but she couldn’t beat them.

A few minutes later, Murong Mingyue suddenly cried out. “Fuck!”

“What’s wrong, sis?” I turned around to ask.

“Check the coordinate log. It seems like Indigo Collar couldn’t defeat Dominating Heaven Blade and was forced to escape to the fifth floor. However, he vanished the second he entered the place…”

I checked the coordinates of the Candle Dragon party carefully before gasping in realization. “Fuck! Those bastards are lying in wait at the exit to the fifth floor and ambushing anyone who passes through! So despicable! This behavior is unbefitting of their status!”

Lin Yixin giggled. “Come on, this is normal. No one here is a small fry after all. Plus, who cares if they’re CGL Hall of Famers? One swing is all it takes to kill any of them…”

Murong Mingyue burst into laughter. “Beauty Lin is bursting with confidence, I see!”

Lin Yixin returned the smile before saying, “Thank you…”

Their dynamic caught me a little off-guard. “Since when did you two get so close to each other?”

“Huh? Are we?”

“...”

God, women are such unfathomable creatures!

……

When the three of us arrived at the fourth floor, we immediately saw Dominating Heaven Blade fighting against a group of green ghosts at the distance.They were all Level 68. When Dominating Heaven Blade saw us, he immediately drank an HP potion and ordered his pet to attack faster. He was trying to clear out all the mobs before we reached him.

We didn’t try to kill him while his hands were full. Why would we need to use trickery, when the chances of Lin Yixin and I killing Dominating Heaven Blade were infinitely close to 100%? If we really wanted to kill him, we could just walk up to him and take revenge for all the players he had killed at the plaza.

Murong Mingyue raised her magic staff warily. “What should we do, Lu Chen? Should we kill Dominating Heaven Blade?”

I shook my head. “Not yet!”

After Dominating Heaven Blade was done, he actually walked right up to us and said, “Guys and girls, I believe that this is the time we put our grudges behind us temporarily. As you may have noticed already, Blue Sky Scar, Tempest Shadow and Transient Smoke and Clouds have set up an ambush at the entry to the fifth floor. Anyone who enters their sights carelessly will be one-shot without mercy!”

Lin Yixin nodded affirmatively. “No need to emphasize something even an idiot could tell. What do you want to do?”

Dominating Heaven Blade clenched his fists and said angrily, “Candle Dragon has gone too fucking far this time. The fact that they sent four of their best players to snatch the Devil Spirit Hall from us shows how little they think of Floating Ice City! As I said earlier, I think we should put our grudges behind us, join forces and dismantle their trap together!”

I smiled at his suggestion before asking, “And how do you suggest we do that?”

Dominating Heaven Blade shot me a glance and smiled. “We all know that your Defense is insane, and that is without accounting for your Ghost Deity Armor. So this is my plan: You will go down first and attract their firepower. Out of all of us, you are the only one who can endure their combined attacks and not die. Then, Wind Fantasy should go down next as the DPS and work with you to take out one of them. Finally, Murong Mingyue and I will enter the fifth floor and focus down their archer, Transient Smoke and Clouds. Her healing will keep all of us alive and prevent us from being kited to death. After that, everything should go quite smoothly.”

I hid a laugh. In theory, his plan was pretty sound. He wanted me to go down first, Lin Yixin second and himself third. I was the bait who was going to set off the trap, so my HP would definitely be low. Lin Yixin might be able to kill one or even two enemies if everything went smoothly, but her health would fall pretty low as well. If Dominating Heaven Blade decided to backstab us during this time, it was entirely possible for him to destroy me, Lin Yixin and the CGL Hall of Famers all at once!

Oh yes, in theory his plan was very sound. Unfortunately, it was also so fucking obvious that even a blind man could tell what he was plotting!

So I let out a laugh and said, “The plan’s pretty good, but there are some flaws that I need to point out!”

“Oh? What do you mean?” A hint of excitement flashed across Dominating Heaven Blade’s expression.

I pointed my chin toward Lin Yixin’s direction before saying, “Beauty Wind Fantasy is a great DPS, but she’s a wanderer. This means that her effective HP is lower than a warrior’s. Therefore, I believe that you should be the second player to go down the stairs. I have full confidence in your Attack and Defense stats… of course, you are free to decline my plan. We just won’t be working with each other, that’s all.”

Dominating Heaven Blade’s facial muscles twitched. Clearly, he liked this plan far less compared to his original plan. Unfortunately for him, he had no choice but to accept, since I was already PMing Lin Yixin in secret: “Yiyi, let’s kill him if he rejects the plan, okay?”

Lin Yixin replied magnanimously, “As long as you’re happy~~”

In the end, Dominating Heaven Blade forced a smile on his face and replied, “Okay then. Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand will go down first, I’ll go second, Beauty Wind Fantasy third and Beauty Murong fourth. Who should we focus down after we reach the fifth floor?”

I answered, “Let’s kill Blue Sky Scar first. His attack power is higher than both his allies’!”

“Got it!”

……

I walked to the forefront while PMing Lin Yixin at the same time, “Yiyi, if Dominating Heaven Blade tries to kill me you absolutely have to murder him, okay? Don’t let me die…”

Lin Yixin responded with a smile, “Don’t worry, I will make your death count…”

“Fuck!”

Everyone’s coordinates were visible on the map, and I was sure that our ambushers had already noticed us. I held my breath and used a fiery red card. It was the Blood Skeleton Card that increased its user’s max HP by 15%. I should be able to survive just a bit longer with this.

Lin Yixin also secretly used a Greedy Wolf Card, increasing her own attack speed and movement speed by 5%. The big battle was near, and we all had to be at our absolute best.

“Roar!”

I used Wild Roar and buffed everyone’s Attack by 15%. Dominating Heaven Blade didn’t get the buff because he wasn’t a party member. There was nothing he could do even though I did it right in front of his face, though. After all, our cooperation was temporary, and neither of us had any reason to trust him.

Rustle rustle…

I continued to walk down the cordierite-made stairs until I saw a ray of light in front of me. Then, I sent my Dark Wasp toward the front without any hesitation. My Dark Wasp was a boss-tier pet with a respectable amount of HP and Defense, so it made perfect sense to waste the enemy's firepower with it.

Swoosh!

The Dark Wasp flew fearlessly to the fifth floor, but when it was met with fire and lightning the second it entered the map. My poor pet was killed instantly, and its killers were none other than Blue Sky Scar and Tempest Shadow.

“What? A pet!”

By the time Blue Sky Scar let out his cry in surprise, my Ice Ray had already hit him in the back of his heart!

Puchi!

My sword left a shocking wound behind Blue Sky Scar’s back. At the same time, a damage number appeared above his head—1108!

The Blue Sky War God was prepared to die the moment he was wrapped in ice, but that didn’t mean he was going to go down without resistance. He chugged a Rank 6 Health Potion and instantly restored himself to full health!

Whoosh!

I dashed past Blue Sky Scar like an icy wind and turned around as quickly as I could. Then, stepping toward him like a lightning bolt, I activated Pardon and swung the Ghost Ice Soul!

MISS!

Blue Sky Scar’s face was full of shock. He could do nothing when my follow-up attack hit him squarely in the chest!

2257!

Unfortunately, the attack wasn’t enough to one-shot him. However, Dominating Heaven Blade showed up just in time to slash Blue Sky scar across the head, shouting, “Blue Sky War God my ass! Die!”

Blue Sky Scar let out a muffled groan when the Blaze skill exploded and consumed him. Before he died, he stared hatefully at Dominating Heaven Blade and shouted, “Dominating Heaven Blade, you scumbag!”