Chapter 159: Chapter 147: Underworld (Part 2) [Today’s 2nd Update]

Screech, screech…

Suddenly, a piercing sound of metal friction echoed from the tunnel ahead, faint at first, suggesting it was still far away.

As time passed, the sound grew louder, reminiscent of the clatter made by an old bicycle in motion.

Except it was far more exaggerated.

“You two, back off.”

Li Zheng promptly gestured for Xiao Siyuan and Lu Li to retreat to the rear. One was a support, and the other a sniper; standing at the front was too dangerous.

Once a fight started, they’d essentially be sitting ducks.

After all, dungeons were different from those individual rooms outside, as the difficulty increased severalfold.

“Okay, be careful.”

Xiao Siyuan nodded, pulling Lu Li back as they readied their weapons cautiously.

Lu Li wielded a Gold Level Tango51 sniper rifle, which was relatively light. Coupled with his enhanced physique, he was capable of standing and firing in rapid succession.

In the Matrix Game, the further one advanced, the less of an issue firearm recoil became.

“There’s killing intent.”

Zhan Zhouzhou came to stand beside Li Zheng, shoulder to shoulder, the electric light saber composed of thunder was already formed and held in her hand.

Li Zheng took a closer look, noticing that the sword was completely formed by brilliant lightning, twisting like electric serpents, appearing quite magical.

At the same time, he noticed Zhan Zhouzhou’s hand holding the sword was trembling slightly. With his understanding of Zhan Zhouzhou, whether in excitement or fear, this girl shouldn’t be exhibiting hand tremors.

Thus, the side effects of the Electric Light Sword were basically confirmed.

The user couldn’t completely ignore the paralysis and other effects brought by the lightning abilities they wielded.

Relatively speaking, the impact on themselves was much weaker.

Li Zheng estimated it was probably equivalent to the power of a lighter’s component hitting a person.

“Aren’t you martial arts practitioners a bit too mystical? Talking about killing intent?” Li Zheng shifted his gaze from the Electric Light Sword, casually making a jab.

“I think Sister Zhan means there’s hostility,” Li Chun spoke softly from behind the two, “See, even Little Spider can sense it.”

Li Zheng turned slightly and indeed saw the Little Spider guarding Li Chun, baring its fangs and claws, emitting a low hissing sound towards the direction of the screeching noise.

“Alright, then it seems it’s my problem.”

Li Zheng carefully sensed, confirming with his physique that he didn’t feel anything unusual, shrugged.

“It’s not your problem, this kind of sensing requires some talent. I only recently… Watch out, it’s coming!”

Zhan Zhouzhou intended to explain further but saw a broad black figure, two meters tall, emerging in the darkness, square-shaped.

“Get ready…”

Li Zheng collected his emotions; the Mysterious Declaration vanished in an instant, plunging the surroundings into darkness, with only Zhan Zhouzhou’s electric light saber offering a faint glow.

“Ah!”

The sudden darkness startled Li Chun into a scream, instinctively clutching Zhan Zhouzhou’s clothes tighter.

“On!”

Li Zheng gave a soft shout as dual blades landed in his hands, instantly imbued with Ice and Fire, illuminating blue and red lights.

The icy blue chill, the crimson blaze, the glow from these two extreme attribute abilities centered around Li Zheng, illuminating a three-meter radius.

“It’s so cold.”

Zhan Zhouzhou felt a chill as if she were suddenly in the depths of winter, couldn’t help but shiver.

“It’s so hot!”

Meanwhile, behind her, Li Chun felt like she was inside a melting furnace, the heat seemed intent on roasting her.

The young girl couldn’t bear it and quickly stepped back a few steps to escape the area affected by the blazing fire.

“Eek eek!”

Little Sakura retreated with her, hovering above Xiao Siyuan and others.

From the rear, Xiao Siyuan had already taken out a lantern, and though its faint light was no match for the Mysterious Declaration, it sufficed for seeing.

Lu Li, on the other hand, took out a flashlight, turning it on to illuminate the front.

With these two lighting tools, Li Chun felt at ease.

She wasn’t inherently afraid of darkness, only developing a reflexive fear of pure darkness after the Lin Feng incident.

“Has your ability upgraded?”

Zhan Zhouzhou was astonished. Previously when Li Zheng used his ability, the temperature affected a much smaller area, only about half of what it was now.

This girl braved the cold’s assault, standing firm.

“Yes.”

Li Zheng nodded slightly, not elaborating further, fixed his gaze on the approaching black figure.

In the dim flashlight beam from Lu Li, Li Zheng had already discerned what the shadow was.

“A hauling cart?”

A rusty metal haul cart, the like of which he had only seen in cartoons during his childhood, usually used in mines for ore transportation.

Fizzle~

Sparks suddenly erupted underneath the cart, its speed sharply decreased, and it soon halted fifteen meters in front of Li Zheng.

To Li Zheng, this distance was merely a blink of an eye.

So…

Li Chun just blinked once, and the blue and red gleam had already reached the front of the cart, like a celestial being descending, unmatched in momentum!

Just like with the previous dungeon boss, Li Zheng couldn’t be bothered with “cutscene” animations, choosing to act swiftly, disregarding martial decorum.

“Damn, this guy moves so fast, I wanted to borrow the Salted Fish from him!”

Xiao Siyuan’s weapon was only Silver Level. After seeing Li Zheng holding the Salted Fish Spear in the last dungeon, he became envious.

As he was complaining, Li Zheng slashed with his dual blades, silently breaking open the front of the chariot.

In the next moment, a whooshing sound reached him, and Li Zheng instinctively tilted his head, avoiding a black spearhead.

“So it is inside!”

With danger right in front of him, Li Zheng showed no signs of panic. The Black Blade with cold air disappeared, and his right hand’s Ion Cutting Blade transformed into a Fiery Long Staff.

He ducked to avoid the sweeping black spear, wielding the long staff with both hands to counter with a sweep of his own.

Crack!

With a notification of progress in Staff Mastery, Li Zheng’s precision hit struck the black spear shaft, the opponent didn’t budge an inch.

“What strength!”

Li Zheng’s nose twitched as he smelled something burning.

Looking down, he saw his clothes ignited by the high temperature!

In the past, Li Zheng would at most burn off half a sleeve and wouldn’t mind. But after the Ice and Fire Attachment upgrade, the affected range expanded. Now the clothes on his body were ignited, curling, and emitting a charred smell.

“Damn, will I have to wear Platinum Level metal clothes to avoid this from now on?”

Li Zheng quickly retreated, taking off all his clothes and storing them in the capsule residence.

This was a complete set of Silver Level armor. If it got burned, the loss would be too significant.

After some thought, he put away his Flying Device too, not daring to bet on whether it would get burned.

After all, the Flying Device was only Gold Level.

From the rear, Lu Li watched Li Zheng’s actions through the scope, amazed: “As expected of Father, even facing exposure he remains unfazed, I’m nothing compared to him!”

Li Chun had already turned beet red, averting her gaze, not daring to look further.

“Go!”

Zhan Zhouzhou spat lightly, halting the step she was about to take to join the attack, her cheeks blushing.

With the battle imminent, Li Zheng couldn’t concern himself with these matters. After securing his clothes, he gripped the long staff, focusing on the figure stepping out of the chariot.

It was a slender humanoid figure wrapped entirely in black fabric, features hidden, leaving only a pair of gray-white pupil-less eyes.

The figure’s limbs were thin and long, exaggerated in proportion, standing upright at only 1.6 meters tall but holding fan-sized hands.

In its hands was a pure black spear.

[Burrow Guard]

With a simple name, this signified the Burrow Guard’s identity — BOSS!

“Heh, heh.”

Li Zheng licked his lips, revealing a strange smile: “Just complained in the last dungeon, now a BOSS is thrown at me right away — so quick to teach me a lesson?”

Eyeing the spear, Li Zheng’s smile deepened: “Using a spear as a weapon, let’s see whether your spear art or my staff technique is superior!”

The smile instantly vanished, expression turning cold, as Li Zheng flicked his wrist and attacked with the long staff once more.

In the darkness, Xiao Siyuan and others watched the battlefield from a distance, barely making out a pair of exceptionally bright eyes and a pair of rods, one long and one short, twirling.

The long and thin one continued to duel with the BOSS.

The short and thick one, like a Cheering Stick, cheered and encouraged.

“So big!”

Li Chun, not sure when she turned back for a glance, exclaimed in shock and looked away.

Xiao Siyuan stepped forward a couple of steps, blocking Li Chun’s view, and said expressionlessly: “Children shouldn’t look at dirty things, or you’ll get styes!”

“Whimper?”

Little Sakura, who had been circling above, heard this, descended, and closed her eyes, not looking.

Lu Li didn’t know whether he was shocked by the size or Li Zheng’s skills, but he stood flabbergasted, finally managing to say: “Damn, is this a toad? Who has three legs?”

Only Zhan Zhouzhou, focused on the battle, didn’t dare relax her attention for a moment.

Genetic Force: 60/100

After a fierce and prolonged battle, Li Zheng’s Genetic Force was nearly half consumed, only matching the Burrow Guard equally.

It wasn’t that the Burrow Guard’s skills were inferior to Li Zheng’s, quite the opposite. Without Li Zheng’s Ice and Fire Attachment genetic ability, he would have lost eighty rounds ago.

“Heh, Little Feng surely is the luckiest, twelve consecutive ‘wishes come true’ blessings, such terrifying power!”

Li Zheng fought with enjoyment, thoughts flashing through his mind.

Just before entering the Underworld, during an hour of preparation, Li Zheng remembered that the Flame Flower was about to mature and released the capsule residence to harvest it.

To his surprise, just as the Flame Flower matured, a golden yellow light flashed through the Flame Branch.

It unexpectedly triggered the Intermediate Genetic Cultivation Liquid’s effect, producing a new species crop.

The flame-shaped flower quickly withered and shrunk, finally turning into a dark red Gilded Flame Fruit.

The tier increased from Silver to Gold.

The function of the Gilded Flame Fruit was ordinary, identical to the “Fire Fist Fruit” Li Zheng had eaten before.

Regrettably, after the fruit formed, the Flame Branch remained unchanged, neither becoming “Gilded Flame Grass” nor “Gilded Flame Branch”. Future produce, unless another cultivation effect is triggered, will still be the Flame Flower.

The most frustrating part is that the Gilded Flame Fruit cannot be planted!

This means there are only three Gilded Flame Fruits, and whether more can be obtained in the future is entirely up to luck!

Reluctantly, Li Zheng ate all three Gilded Flame Fruits on the spot to enhance his strength.

The three Gilded Flame Fruits precisely added 75 experience points to Ice and Fire Attachment, just enough to level it up to Lv2!

“I should coax Little Feng to wish for ‘wishes come true’ for me a few times every day, maybe I’ll have another chance at getting some Gilded Flame Fruits.”

With this in mind, Li Zheng suddenly noticed a wisp of faint black qi emanating from the Burrow Guard’s body.

In the next instant, the black qi gathered at the spear tip, thrusting towards his chest!