Chapter 28: Unlocking the Origin Treasure Chest — The Lord's Heart!
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Zi Liyuan only needed to follow behind the Knight Squad, peacefully collecting the items dropped by the monsters.
In a wasteland with such a broad field of vision, which is basically flat as a pancake, a full-fledged Knight Squad is like an existence that's cheating.
Any Gnoll encountered, be it an elite or a rare one, whether Level 30 or Level 32, just shattered upon contact, dying if merely grazed.
This was nothing less than a cavalry trampling a battalion, sweeping through invincibly.
Zi Liyuan listened pleasantly to the system's notification sounds, watching his experience steadily rise, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled upwards—this might be the most relaxing dungeon run ever.
Heroic difficulty dungeons provide great experience points, especially when killing monsters around seven or eight levels higher, there's an even larger bonus to the experience gained.
Basically, a Level 30 elite monster could grant over 2000 experience points.
A Level 32 rare monster could offer over 6000 experience points.
By the time he had bulldozed his way to the final boss, Zi Liyuan gained another 350k experience points, which directly pushed his level to Level 24 (150k/600k).
[Gnoll Chieftain (Heroic BOSS)]
[Level]: Level 35
[Attributes]: Physical Damage 400, Physical Defense 75, Magic Resistance 50, Health 150k, Magic Power 50k.
[Skill]: ???
[Combat Power]: 400
Crossbow Skeleton's bolts never missed, stacking three layers of Sunder Armor effect, reducing the BOSS's physical resistance by 30%.
Skeleton Knights charged fearlessly, and with the boost from the attack aura, they dealt over 30 damage upon collision with the BOSS.
Shield Combat Skeletons watched intently, prepared to entertain guests at any moment, ready to taunt and greet adversaries with their shield.
The Stone Demon stood quietly erect, faithfully guarding by the master's side, always ready to shield the body, blocking fatal injuries.
The battle commenced with the Skeleton Army ganging up on the BOSS.
Bones shattered and flew across the battlefield, and rows of Skeleton Cannon Fodder simply couldn't withstand a single hit from the BOSS's normal attacks, not to mention its skills.
Each time the BOSS used a skill, it forecasted the inevitable fate of shattering skeletons.
Unfortunately, this was a purely physical BOSS, lacking the kind of wide-area clearing skills that Mages possess.
Therefore, it was destined that the Gnoll Chieftain, amidst the torrent of Skeleton Knights, would be knocked hither and thither, withered and demoralized, ultimately getting decapitated.
[Killing the Gnoll Chieftain (Level 35, Heroic BOSS), experience +150k]
[Equipment obtained: Gnoll Shovel (Blue) x1, Gnoll Miner's Shovel (Blue) x1, Gnoll Leather Cap (Green) x1, Gnoll Leather Shoes (Green) x1]
[Items obtained: Vitalizing Potion (Level 30) x10, Mana Potion (Level 30) x20, Magic Blood Potion (Level 30) x5]
[Materials obtained: Gnoll Hero Blood (Silver) x4, Gnoll Gold (Blue) x5, Gnoll Candle (Green) x10, Iron Ore (White) x20...]
"The experience is decent, but these drops are a bit of a letdown, not at all befitting the status of a Heroic BOSS."
Glancing at his talent on the attribute panel, Zi Liyuan thought he had many ties with Lady Luck, but it seemed to have degenerated into just one leg.
["Gnoll Wasteland" Level 35 dungeon cleared successfully, begin reward settlement.]
[You have gained 200k experience points.]
[You may stay in the dungeon for ten minutes or be directly teleported out.]
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Looking at the experience pool at LV24 (500K/600K), Zi Liyuan felt somewhat helpless.
Grinding dungeons was indeed a fast way to gain experience, but there were restrictions for characters below third job change, and there was a daily limit to dungeon entries, unless you could continuously find wild dungeons outside.
How easy was it to find a wild dungeon?
Zi Liyuan was certain that his encounter with one was definitely because he had a lot of "legs" with the goddess of luck and was thus specially favored!
Shaking his head, Zi Liyuan didn't teleport out of the dungeon; instead, he opened his Spatial Backpack and took out a blood-colored chest that was half the height of a person.
Special Dungeon Origin Chest (Gold Grade): a chest condensed from the essence of dungeons. When opened, it will cause a heavenly phenomenon.
(Note: 50% chance to get gold lord-grade materials, 30% chance to get gold lord-grade items, 15% chance to get gold lord-grade equipment, 4% chance to get gold lord-grade skills, 0.99% chance to get gold lord-grade building blueprints, 0.01% chance to get a gold lord-grade Lord's Heart.)
When he first got the chest, Zi Liyuan didn't rush to open it because he was afraid of being caught in a temporal-spatial disturbance, instead choosing to leave the dungeon.
The reason he hadn't opened it for so long was that opening the Origin Chest would cause a heavenly phenomenon, as recorded in the high school textbooks.
A heavenly phenomenon, once it appeared, would surely attract a bunch of experts to investigate, and it could bring him big trouble, even mortal danger.
He dared not open the Origin Chest in the outside world.
So the only choice was to open it while inside a dungeon, where even if the chest caused a heavenly phenomenon, it wouldn't spill over into the real world.
"Come on, goddess of luck's designated brand drop—Lord's Heart, let's go!"
With a slap on the blood-colored chest, Zi Liyuan flipped open the lid and a surge of blood-light soared up, dyeing the entire dungeon world in a blood-red color.
In Zi Liyuan's eyes, above the sky of the dungeon, an endless starry sky appeared, along with the phantom of a chain, flickering in and out of view.
But as he widened his eyes, trying to see everything clearly, he found the whole dungeon space had become misty and dreamlike.
Only a diamond-shaped crystal, emitting a faint golden glow, floated in front of him.
Lord's Heart (Gold Grade): A crystallized rule condensed from the essence of dungeons. Once entering the Sea of Realms, it can be used to activate and open the second page of the lord template for job holders.
The description was simple; its function, immensely powerful.
Because only with the Lord's Heart could one become a lord of a land after entering the Sea of Realms, and even set foot on the path to becoming among deities and demons.
There are limits for job holders, especially those on Blue Star. When they reach level 100 and the fourth job change, their levels will be sealed again. To break the seal, one must seek breakthroughs within the Sea of Realms.
Without an activated Lord's Heart, players who enter the Sea of Realms and wish to return to Blue Star face innumerable difficulties.
Only players who become lords can return at a fixed time each year, although there is a time limit for this as well.
Zi Liyuan was so persistent about getting into Dragon Academy because he wanted to compete for a spot to obtain the Lord's Heart.
It was only at the Nine Great Divine States Academy where they held annual battles for the Lord's Heart, with each academy offering a thousand Lord's Hearts for their students to compete over.
The number of competitors included all students from first to fourth year, with the total usually around 50K to 60K.
Having obtained a Lord's Heart now meant that Zi Liyuan no longer had to worry about his future. What he needed to do now was to rush to level 100 and gather vast resources in order to be fully prepared for entering the Sea of Realms.
Within the Great Xia Empire, the place with the most abundant resources was Dragon Academy, the foremost among the nine academies.
Therefore, he was determined to be this year's college entrance examination top-scorer!
If they didn't give him an invitation card, then he would force his way in with his own strength!
After playing with the Lord's Heart for a while, Zi Liyuan put it into his Spatial Backpack and then left the dungeon space.
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