"So let me get this straight: you want to rob Mingyu of his four Holy Giant Dragon pet eggs?"

"But of course! A true hero would extract a tiger’s tooth directly from its mouth!"

Murong Mingyue’s huge, round breasts jiggled up and down as she giggled. "Dude, the sixth Purgatory Sovereign, Strella itself, is guarding the four dragon eggs. We’re getting our asses kicked by Michael already, and now you want us to challenge a Divine Rank boss? You may be able to style on the likes of Warsky and Laughing of the Heavens, but I doubt you’ll be able to do the same to the Dragon God, ‘true hero’…"

I wasn’t deterred by her pessimism though. "Now, now, it’s not a good habit to praise others and put yourself down, not to mention that we have never been the type to return empty-handed before a mountain of treasure. None of us will get a good night’s sleep if we give up without even trying to fight for the four Holy Giant Dragon eggs. What do you say, Eve?"

He Yi nodded. "Yes. It’s better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all!"

Murong Mingyue shrugged. "Well, I’m just the healer. Do whatever you want!"

"Mn!"

……

Corpses filled the plains directly in front of the Dragon God Cave. Countless Sky City and Violet Empire soldiers had died there to cut down the undead army Mingyu had summoned. Now, even Mingyu and Michael were so grievously wounded that they were unable to continue fighting any longer.

"Cough cough…"

Michael supported Mingyu while his master coughed out mouthfuls of blood. "Are you really okay, my lord? And… are we really entering the Dragon God Cave?"

Mingyu nodded. "Yes, we are. That old bastard Strella was just an elder when I left Dragon Domain. Imagine my surprise when I returned and found that he had become a Dragon God. Still, there is nothing to worry about. Strella will behave in my presence, which is why the Dragon God Cave is the safest place we can escape to right now!"

"Yes, my lord!"

……

Michael and Mingyu jumped into the entrance of the Dragon God Cave and vanished. Light and energy could be seen emanating from it, and occasionally we could hear the growls of vile beasts as well. I had no doubt that the Dragon God Cave would be a map to die for, both figuratively and literally. It might even contain more than one Divine Rank boss!

Chiang!

After the two bosses had disappeared, Karinshan sheathed her weapon and slowly walked up to the broken Dragon Knight Captain Callan. There was a small pool of blood beneath him, but thankfully he seemed to have survived the ordeal. Clutching her wound, she asked in a concerned voice, "Are you okay, ancient dragon knight?"

Callan opened his eyes a little and smiled at her. "I know you, Karinshan. You are Fia and Annie’s successor, aren’t you?"

Karinshan nodded.

Callan exhaled deeply. "It’s a shame that I have reached the end of my lifespan. Even if I haven’t, I wouldn’t be able to serve the Silver Moon Alliance as an undead. Maybe… maybe I could’ve lived if Lady Binglan was still around…"

However, Karinshan raised Callan’s chin and declared with determination, "Don’t worry, Callan. I won’t let you die here!"

She placed her palm on his chest and transferred some sort of pink energy into his body. His wounds immediately started healing themselves.

"Your… your Majesty! Are you casting the Soul Returning Spell? You’re hurting your own cultivation!" Ziyan exclaimed in shock.

Sweating a little from the exertion, Karinshan shook her head and smiled at her general. "It’s just a couple decades of cultivation, not to mention that any price is worth saving Callan."

Callan trembled. "Your Majesty, I’m an undead, a ghost who passed away a long time ago… Can you really accept someone like me?"

Karinshan nodded firmly. "Yes, I can!"

Callan closed his eyes and trembled some more.

……

Meanwhile, I was shaking my head at the scene. "Karinshan is going all out to recruit Callan, it seems. Well, Sky City is lacking a top-tier general like Callan, and as a dragon knight captain he is going to enhance Sky City’s NPC legion strength by a lot. Well played, Princess Karinshan, well played!"

Lin Yixin pointed at Violet Empire’s direction with her lips. "I saw Queen Sophia attempting to make a move on Callan too, but she was just one step too slow due to her injury. A shame. I bet she’s incredibly annoyed right now…"

I glanced in Queen Sophia’s direction. She had to be assisted by her subordinates to sit down on a giant rock due to her abdominal injury. Whatever one might say about the undead queen, a lack of tryhard was definitely not one of them.

Still holding the Dragonslaying Sword, Xue Wei knelt in front of Queen Sophia and asked, "Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

Sophia nodded. "Don’t worry, I’m not dying anytime soon. All is well as long as the Dragonslaying Sword is in our hands!"

"Mn!"

Xue Wei gripped the sword tighter in response.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. A near invisible man dashed past me before I realized what was going on and headed straight for Xue Wei’s direction. He slammed a black spear into Xue Wei’s wrist to make her loosen her grip before stealing the Dragonslaying Sword right from her grasp. Finally, he slipped into the forest and vanished from sight almost all too quickly!

"God dammit!"

Xue Wei rose to her feet and stomped the ground in fury. "What… what the hell just happened? That man stole the Dragonslaying Sword before I could do anything! Y-your Majesty, please allow me to take my leave. I’m going to hunt that bastard down right now!"

Xue Wei mounted her horse and gave the order. Soon, thousands of undead cavalrymen took off in the direction of the thief.

……

"Holy shit. I didn’t know that NPCs could steal from each other." Murong Mingyue looked completely baffled by what had just happened.

Beiming Xue asked, "Who was it? I can’t believe someone managed to steal the Dragonslaying Sword right under Xue Wei’s nose! That’s terrifying…"

I uttered through gritted teeth. "Who else? It has to be that thief god, Dragon Domain Scavenger! I thought the motherfucker was gone forever, but he actually came back and even stole the Dragonslaying Sword! There’s no way Xue Wei and her troops can catch up to him. Not even I on my Ancient Divine Dragon am faster than him…"

Lian Xin said, "Thank goodness we’ve already turned in our quest. Whatever happens to the Dragonslaying Sword doesn’t really concern us anymore…"

I strongly agreed, "Yeah, this is Xue Wei’s business now…"

……

Meanwhile, Karinshan had returned to her troops and ordered them to set up some defenses inside the canyon. "We have no idea what’s inside Dragon God Cave, so we shouldn’t head inside carelessly! Ziyan, dispatch our scouts to scope out the mountain ranges of Dragon Domain and analyze the presences within Dragon God Cave! Also, contact the Sword Arts Guild via magical projection and tell them to send 4 sword saints over! Without their help, there is no chance we’ll be able to kill Strella!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

It didn’t take long for the NPCs of Sky City to set up a temporary fortress at the edge of Dragon God Cave. Their timing couldn’t be any more perfect because practically everyone was low on equipment durability and potions. Once we replenished ourselves, we would be able to explore the Dragon God Cave in tip-top condition.

The same couldn’t be said for foreign players such as Flowing Cloud and Snowy Night, however. These were Sky City NPCs, so there was no way they were selling any product or service to a foreign empire. They would have to get their repairs and restocks somewhere else, if such a place even existed.

……

"Alright, let’s go!"

After I repaired my equipment and restocked my potions, I turned to the girls and the Phantom Wolf King beside me. "Strella might be impossible to beat, but we must give it a whirl at the very least. That being said, we’re not going to do it right away. There are only 7 of us, so my plan is to scout out the area until Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon and the rest of our troops arrive. Once they do, we can finally challenge Strella!"

The girls all nodded affirmatively. "Mn!"

It was at this moment Xinran walked up to me. She was followed by the ugly Winged Silver Dragon and Bloody Finger the Headless Knight. She looked at me and said, "I need to protect Sophia from danger, so I won’t be able to accompany you into the Dragon God Cave, big bro. I promise I’ll go inside and find you if you’re in danger though. I won’t let you bear all the danger alone!"

I nodded but gave Xinran a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don’t worry, Xinran. Big bro isn’t like you. I’m a player, so I can afford to die once or twice. You don’t have to worry about me at all. Worst-case scenario, I fail to kill Strella and lose a couple of levels. It’s no biggie…"

Xinran looked confused. "I don’t understand what you mean, but I’ll listen to you, big bro. Be careful!"

"I will!"

After I bade Xinran goodbye, our seven-man party arrived at the entrance of the Dragon God Cave. Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon, Natural Flow, Blazing Hot Lips, White Bird and more were waiting for backup because the map was rated SSS Rank, meaning that even the normal mobs on this map would be extremely dangerous to us players. Also, they were hoping that someone give in to their impulses and play the cannon fodder for them. It wasn’t like Strella was going to die anytime soon anyway, so acting as the patient fisherman was the best play for now.

I waved my Chill of the Nine Provinces at Warsky before smiling at him. "Why are you just standing there and doing nothing, Warsky? Have you traded your courage for the Immortal Blade?"

Warsky smiled back politely and said, "I’m just waiting for my archers to arrive. Trust me when I say I’ll explore the Dragon God Cave after gathering a hundred-man party of eighth-promotion archers. You feel free to go ahead though, happy adventuring!"

I smiled again. "Very well. Let us meet again in Dragon God Cave. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though: it’s dark inside Dragon God Cave, so I might accidentally hurt you if you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Warsky jabbed back. "I can protect myself, so you don’t need to worry about me. You’re the one who should take care not to get killed by Candle Dragon, haha!"

"Haha!"

After the false pleasantries and fake laughter were done, I returned to the girls and lowered my voice to a whisper, "You guys wait here while I enter the map. I’ll message you all once I confirm that it’s safe to come in."

Beiming Xue nodded. "Mn. Be careful, big brother!"

Pure Love refreshed my buffs, and my HP jumped to almost 2.7 million. After all the battles we had fought, everyone in the party had climbed to a whole new level of strength. This was especially true in my case because I now had 600k+ effective Defense and scarily-high Magic Resist as well. This was the biggest reason I wanted to challenge the Dragon God Strella. How could I not challenge my limits after obtaining so many high-level pieces of equipment?

……

The light shining from within the Dragon God Cave looked a bit like flickering flames. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was though since the entrance was enveloped by a barrier. The only way to know for sure was to step inside.

After I took off and passed through the barrier completely...

Swhoosh…

My vision brightened, and my skin tingled due to the sudden rise in temperature. I had entered an incredibly wide area with stone stairs surrounding the giant abyss directly in front of me. I tried to look down, but couldn’t see a bottom at all. The stone stairs were at least 30 meters wide, and they seemed to lead to the very bottom of the cave.

Beep!

Combat Log: You have entered the map "Dragon God Cave First Floor”. This is a forbidden map; players who die within can not enter it again for 24 hours!