Chapter 20: Bedchamber Key
Inside the eighth layer of the Black Nest, Su Xiao was surrounded at the center by a large swarm of insect warriors.
He had fought his way from the first layer to the eighth, gaining no World Source or dropped treasure chests. The reason was that the Black Nest was a trial. With ten layers in total, passing the tenth would grant a settlement reward.
Only then would rewards like World Source and treasure chests be obtained. Not only that, but upon first entering the first layer of the Black Nest, Su Xiao had received a prompt that the final reward would also include a title.
This was a rare opportunity for Su Xiao, as he had too few means of acquiring titles.
Su Xiao’s perception was fully extended. Around him were still 62 insect warriors, all at the Eighth Rank in combat power. They had strong survivability and extremely powerful offensive capabilities, their only weakness being that they possessed no “active abilities” whatsoever.
Clang, clang, clang!
Su Xiao slashed apart several incoming armored blades—weapons of the mantis warriors. He had been wounded by them before; they dealt high slashing damage as well as true damage derived from Agility attributes.
‘Blade Path Sword: Slay.’
Su Xiao slanted a slash outward. With a whoosh, a blood-red chain of light shot forth, shattering three insect warriors. Before they broke apart, they flailed and roared.
Pfft.
A white bone spear pierced through Su Xiao’s lower abdomen. He smashed the handle of his blade against it, shattering the spear into pieces. Slapping one hand onto the ground, a large amount of arcing Cyan Steel Shadow Energy spread outward.
All the surrounding insect warriors retreated repeatedly, some even rolling on the ground.
Su Xiao’s internal Cyan Steel Shadow Energy was suddenly halved, triggering the Undying Shadow ability.
Undying Shadow: Each time the Hunter consumes 10% of his Mana Points, a life force activation occurs, greatly accelerating the recovery rate of his own life force. Over the following 5 seconds, he gradually recovers 10% of his Health Points.
Su Xiao’s Health Points rapidly recovered, the bloody hole in his abdomen gradually healing and expelling the bone spear fragments inside.
Su Xiao sidestepped as a black shadow flashed past. He thrust his long blade downward, pinning an insect warrior to the ground.
As he pulled the blade free, the insect warrior’s soul energy was drawn out, first passing through Dragon-Slaying Flash, then entering Su Xiao’s arm. Pale blue patterns appeared on his right forearm, triggering the passive effect of Azure Shadow King. The absorbed soul energy was converted into Mana Points, circulated through his entire body, and then transformed into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
Blood Qi surged wildly. Su Xiao reached out and grabbed an insect warrior’s head, gathering Cyan Steel Shadow Energy in his hand. He slammed the insect warrior hard against the ground.
Boom!
The entire eighth layer of the Black Nest shook. Su Xiao straightened up, crushing the white faceplate in his hand with a crack, exhaling a mouthful of Blood Qi.
“Roar!!”
The dozens of insect warriors around Su Xiao roared in unison, layers of black shockwaves spreading outward. A crystal layer formed around Su Xiao. Within it, he released his grip on the blade, crossed his arms and bent them, then slammed them outward against his own sides.
With a thunderous boom, Su Xiao shattered the crystal layer around him himself. Large, sharp crystal fragments sprayed in all directions, piercing the roaring insect warriors and causing them to shriek in agony, their roars interrupted.
Su Xiao gripped the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash again. The battle continued.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao crushed the head of the last insect warrior underfoot. Blood dripped from his chin. He wondered just how many years it had taken to accumulate so many insect warriors.
In a corner, Yueling’s small face was covered in sweat. She had been hammered for half an hour. What made her despair was that she couldn’t even fight back; she could only defend in the corner, blocking who knows how many Ring Breaks and Blade Chains. The only thing she remembered vividly was being invaded by that pale blue arc energy—it really hurt. Her internal Radiance Energy had dropped to 513 points.
Su Xiao wouldn’t normally use Cyan Steel Shadow Energy like this. Without injuring the enemy, releasing large amounts of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy could only disperse the enemy’s bodily energy, with very weak damage effects.
When surrounded by insect warriors, Su Xiao’s Cyan Steel Shadow Energy was inexhaustible. He had released large amounts earlier specifically to trigger the Undying Shadow ability.
After pulling three bone spears from his chest, abdomen, and thigh, Su Xiao walked toward the corner. Once he killed all enemies on the eighth layer, the ground hole in the corner would open. He had seen this many times in the previous layers.
“Aren’t you going to rest?”
Yueling, who was panting, spoke. As soon as she finished, she saw Su Xiao leap into the ground hole of the eighth layer.
A crystal layer formed on Su Xiao’s body surface. Clattering sounds came from all around as he descended. Black spikes shot out from the cave walls, but they were all blocked by the crystal layer on his body, falling along with him.
With a crack, Su Xiao crushed a hard shell and landed in the ninth layer. It was very quiet inside. Two-meter-tall white eggs were scattered everywhere.
As Su Xiao arrived, a black claw pierced out from one white egg. A drenched insect warrior stepped out of the egg. In the eye sockets of its head’s exoskeleton, a brownish-yellow glow appeared.
Squelch, squelch…
One by one, the two-meter-tall white eggs burst open. A total of 264 insect warriors awakened—twice the number of the eighth layer.
Su Xiao stepped forward. The insect warriors roared and charged at him. An ordinary Apollo appeared in Su Xiao’s hand, and he forcibly detonated it.
Boom.
Solar Flame spread, filling the entire ninth layer. Not only that, but the Solar Flame also surged upward through the hole above.
Bubu Wang, Baha, and Yueling were peering down from the ground hole on the upper layer. Just then, a wave of heat hit them, and a small amount of Solar Flame washed over their faces.
The Solar Flame formed a pillar of fire, blasting against the ceiling of the seventh layer. Bubu Wang, who had tilted his head back, looked stunned. He glanced at Yueling and Baha—they were all in similar shape. Baha’s feathers were singed, Yueling’s hair was slightly burnt at the ends, and her face was flushed.
The rumbling from the lower layer continued for nearly an hour before stopping. Inside the ninth layer, sparks dotted the walls. Su Xiao sat on a pile of stacked insect warrior corpses, Dragon-Slashing Flash stuck in the ground beside him. He took out a cigarette, pressed the tip against the Black King Bracer, and soon the cigarette was lit.
Su Xiao exhaled smoke. He had fought from the first layer to the ninth and was starting to get tired. He planned to rest a while before entering the tenth—the final layer.
As it turned out, fighting all the way through was the right choice. In truth, there was no other option; this was the only path to see the Wolf Spider Queen.
Su Xiao speculated that the Black Nest was built and arranged by the Wolf Spider Queen’s insect minions.
When the temperature in the ninth layer dropped a bit, Bubu Wang, Baha, and Yueling all jumped down. Seeing Bubu Wang’s slightly scorched dog head, Su Xiao understood what had happened.
After resting a while, Su Xiao’s stamina recovered significantly. He walked to the corner. This time, there was no ground hole, but a staircase leading downward.
Descending a hundred meters along the stairs, a straight corridor stretching endlessly appeared. A colorful, seven-hued human-faced moth was inside the corridor. With her at the center, scale powder drifted outward, filling the entire corridor.
[Prompt: You have undergone Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Charm, Willpower, and Soul Strength judgment…]
[This judgment is a Mental Charm type judgment.]
[Forcibly interrupting judgment…]
[Blade Grandmaster has exempted you from this Mental Charm.]
…
Su Xiao looked at the colorful moth ahead. It seemed he had already passed the tenth layer of the Black Nest? Surprisingly simple.
“Woof.”
Bubu Wang sat on the ground, then did a frog leap. Nearby, Baha tilted his head and said, “Hehehehehe, I’m a sand sculpture.”
Beside them, Yueling pulled a handful of feathers from Baha and put them in her mouth to chew.
“So delicious~”
Yueling’s pupils turned multicolored. Seeing this, Su Xiao placed his hand on the blade hilt but did not draw.
Zheng.
A cold light flashed across the colorful moth. She burst into a large number of light particles, but these particles immediately converged again, eventually forming a key.
[You have obtained ‘Queen’s Bedchamber Key’.]
[You have passed the Black Nest (total of ten layers). Your faction favorability in the Underground Kingdom has changed.]
[Faction favorability has been converted to faction reputation.]
[Current faction reputation: Revered (55,000/300,000 points).]
[Wherever you walk in the Underground Kingdom, all insects must show you respect or bow to you…]
…
[You have passed the Black Nest (total of ten layers).]
[Total time taken: 3 hours 42 minutes.]
[You have obtained 15% World Source.]
[You have obtained 3,200 Soul Coins.]
[You have obtained title: Glory of the Insects (★★★★★★).]
[You have obtained title: Combat Master (★★★★★★).]
[You have obtained Holy Spirit Chest: Black Nest (Set Chest).]
[Upon opening this chest, you can randomly obtain one of the following three Holy Spirit Rank sets.]
[1. Charm Attribute Holy Spirit Rank Set (8/8).]
[2. Melee Combat Holy Spirit Rank Set (6/6).]
[3. Technique Type Holy Spirit Rank Set (3/3).]
[Prompt: All three Holy Spirit Rank sets are exclusive to this world.]