Chapter 458: Guh, Just Kill Me
“Seems like it didn’t work.” Jiang Li sensed no changes – he neither gained alchemy skills nor mastery over time.
Phyllis, Lance’s younger sister, looked at Jiang Li with resentful eyes.
A church without any deity statues could hardly be called a church.
Jiang Li casually molded seven statues and returned them to the church.
He still knew some basic artifact forging techniques.
Originally, Jiang Li had considered giving Phyllis his own statue instead – he was undoubtedly stronger than the seven deities, so his statue would naturally hold greater value.
But upon further consideration, he realized his statue wouldn’t grant people skills like the deities’ could, making it rather useless.
“Let’s set aside the matter of skills for now. Let’s continue our journey.”
Lance was confused. What journey?
Jiang Li said solemnly, “As the legendary hero, of course I must go defeat the Demon King. Remember what I said when inviting you to join my party?”
“I said we’d form a team to defeat the Demon King together.”
Lance’s expression turned strange.
There was no question about Jiang Li’s overwhelming strength – defeating the Demon King would be effortless.
But succeeding by merely clinging to Jiang Li’s coattails left Lance feeling rather unaccomplished.
Phyllis respectfully explained, “Lord Jiang Li, according to divine prophecy, the hero who defeats the Demon King must conquer four dungeons to obtain four legendary artifacts: the Hero’s Sword that can cut through anything, the Hero’s Ring with infinite magic power, the Hero’s Crown that resists mental control, and the Hero’s Shield capable of withstanding the Demon King’s attacks. Only with these four artifacts can the hero gain the power to defeat the Demon King.”
Jiang Li grew intrigued. “Quite the process. Then let’s head to the dungeons.”
After bidding farewell to Phyllis, Lance embarked on this new journey with an inexplicable premonition that it would be long and arduous.
Thirty seconds later, Lance stood dumbfounded at the entrance of the first dungeon.
Jiang Li called back, “What are you standing around for? Come in. And explain dungeons to me along the way.”
“Oh.” Lance snapped out of it and jogged to catch up.
“Dungeons have dozens of floors, each filled with monsters. The deeper you go, the stronger the monsters and the greater the challenge. The most difficult monster is always the floor boss at the very bottom.”
“Have you noticed most guild quests involve dungeons? Countless adventurers take these quests, battling monsters inside, completing missions, and trading monster hides, fangs and such for gold coins.”
“Conquering the bottom floor boss is the ultimate proof of an adventurer’s strength. My former Hero Party defeated six such bosses – not the fastest in history, but with the fewest casualties.”
“I originally planned to wait until we became legendary adventurers before attempting these four prophesied dungeons. But now…” Lance smiled bitterly.
Before he could continue, a scream interrupted them.
Ahead, several green-skinned goblins brandishing clubs surrounded a female archer whose clothes were in disarray.
“Guh… just kill me,” the archer resigned herself, seeing no chance of escape.
With a wave of his hand, Jiang Li sent the goblins flying.
“Those are goblins – among the most common demons, alongside slimes,” Lance explained, having wanted to rescue her himself but beaten to it by Jiang Li.
“Thank you both for saving me.” The archer wept with gratitude, well aware of what would have befallen her without Jiang Li’s intervention.
Her fair skin and artfully arranged golden hair framed slightly trembling pointed ears, clearly shaken by the ordeal.
She was obviously an elf.
As Jiang Li draped a robe over her shoulders, he asked, “Your physical abilities far surpass those goblins. How did you end up in such a state?”
“I-I never expected… Goblins are just beginner monsters, but they ambushed me. I got careless and took several hard hits to the head with their clubs.”
Lance frowned. “Dungeon exploration requires at least two adventurers. Why were you alone?”
“Forming temporary parties is such a hassle. I thought killing a few goblins would be easy… I never imagined…” Her voice trailed off in shame.
Lance scolded sharply, “Foolish! Do you know how many adventurers die in dungeons each year due to such arrogance? Goblins and slimes seem weak, but they’ve killed countless overconfident adventurers!”
“I’ve learned my lesson,” the archer admitted sincerely.
Jiang Li bent down, rubbing a pinch of soil between his fingers. He noticed the dungeon absorbing the dead goblins.
“This dungeon is interesting – it has some demonic formation set up. Whenever a living being dies here, the formation absorbs their dissipating energy, storing it until claimed.”
“Every floor has this formation,” Jiang Li observed with his spiritual sense.
“Lord Jiang Li, are you saying both demons and humans who die here have their energy absorbed by the dungeon?” Lance was astonished – he’d never heard such a theory.
“Not my opinion – it’s fact.”
“Lance, how many reckless adventurers like her are there?”
“Innumerable. We grew up on tales of heroic adventurers – brave, responsible, valuing comrades, overwhelmingly powerful. United in parties, they supposedly couldn’t lose.”
“These stories never mention heroes using strategy – only last-minute power surges to defeat enemies. My former party leader was exactly like those storybook heroes.”
“This makes many believe unity alone suffices – that numerical advantage against equally matched monsters guarantees victory.”
“Resulting in countless charging blindly to their deaths in dungeons.”
Lance’s preference for planning first was often seen as cowardice by others.
Jiang Li analyzed, “Clearly someone’s manipulating this – pitting adventurers against demons for their own gain.”
“Is this the Immortal Realm’s plan? No… even if adventurers and demons fight endlessly, it wouldn’t kill all living beings. Adventurers are just part of humanity – most never fight demons.”
“Two possibilities: either this isn’t the Immortal Realm’s plan, or it’s only part of it.”