Chapter 86 – Nightmare Difficulty

Cheng Yang slipped the ring onto his finger and focused his consciousness on it. Instantly, he sensed a separate space before his eyes—a cubic meter in volume. While it couldn’t accommodate large items, it was perfect for storing potions.

Unlike ordinary equipment, the storage ring didn’t enhance the user’s attributes or occupy an equipment slot.

After storing the ring, Cheng Yang prepared to leave. The shopkeeper couldn’t help but call out, “Lord, are you sure you don’t need anything else? We have—”

“Not for now. I’ll visit your shop again when the opportunity arises,” Cheng Yang replied with a smile before decisively exiting.

That night, Cheng Yang began his cultivation. With his current eightfold cultivation speed, he was quite satisfied. To achieve even greater speed, he needed to accumulate one million spiritual energy points—a feat that would take considerable time without a windfall.

After a session of cultivation, Cheng Yang’s progress reached 13.1%. At this rate, he would need about forty more days to advance to the Warrior rank. This was already remarkably fast. In his previous life, after a year of the apocalypse, the strongest known human was only at the initial Warrior rank. For Cheng Yang to reach this level by the fiftieth day of the apocalypse was a testament to his immense advantage.

At dawn, Cheng Yang emerged from his courtyard and proceeded to upgrade the attributes of the five profession statues. The four main profession statues were now only one attribute away from reaching level 4. Once upgraded, the number of people each statue could transform would skyrocket. Cheng Yang also didn’t forget to upgrade the attributes of the Priest statue.

After completing these tasks, Cheng Yang began preparations to conquer the Blood Church dungeon on Nightmare difficulty.

With his current strength, the Hard difficulty posed no challenge. Thus, he set his sights on Nightmare difficulty—the primary reason he had used the Divine Grace privilege to enhance his strength.

In his previous life, someone had cleared a Nightmare-difficulty beginner dungeon. The strongest monsters there were second-tier initial-stage demonic beasts.

However, Nightmare difficulty earned its name not just because of the second-tier initial-stage monsters but also because the final demonic beast introduced the concept of a game BOSS. This meant that in Nightmare difficulty, the final BOSS couldn’t be measured by ordinary monster standards.

According to previous classifications, a Nightmare-difficulty BOSS was the most basic type, with ten times the health and double the defense of a same-tier demonic beast. While its attack power remained unchanged, the increased health and defense firmly established it as a BOSS.

Essentially, defeating such a BOSS required a balance of offense, defense, and healing—especially from a Priest. Without a Priest, even with life potions, a Warrior might not survive the BOSS’s onslaught unless they carried over a hundred potions.

Cheng Yang had long pondered how to conquer the Nightmare-difficulty Blood Church dungeon. Previously, his strength was insufficient, and his territory lacked powerful allies. However, after advancing to the peak-level Magic Apprentice, everything changed.

Normally, a second-tier initial-stage demonic beast would have around 480 health. At ten times that, the BOSS would have a staggering 4,800 health. Its defense would also double from 16 to 32—a truly frustrating change.

If it were just increased health, human combatants might have been able to wear the BOSS down with potions. But with doubled defense, even high-level Apprentices couldn’t deal significant damage. Without equipment, even peak-level Apprentices would only deal single-digit damage—a negligible amount against 4,800 health.

Cheng Yang’s current attack power was an impressive 64 points, allowing him to deal considerable damage to the BOSS. If all five party members had similar attack power, they could collectively deal 160 damage per round. It would take them 30 rounds to defeat the BOSS.

In those 30 rounds, the second-tier initial-stage demonic beast, with its 80-point attack power, would deal over 60 damage per round to a peak-level Warrior Apprentice, even with armor. With only 250 health, the Warrior could withstand at most four attacks.

Using medium life potions, the Warrior could barely sustain themselves by consuming one potion per attack. Nearly 30 potions weren’t an unbearable cost for a team attempting Nightmare difficulty. However, this calculation was based on ideal conditions. If the BOSS unleashed any special skills, the battle could take a completely different turn.

Thus, Cheng Yang decided to bring a Priest. Not only would this boost their attack power, but it would also provide crucial healing in critical moments.

Cheng Yang summoned a high-level Priest Apprentice—the first Priest he had ever summoned—along with Chen Yun and two others to ensure a smoother dungeon run.

Chen Yun and the others had been summoned three to four days prior. The day before, Cheng Yang had spent 1,000 spiritual energy points to teach them high-level Apprentice skills: Charge for the Warrior, Power Shot for the Archer, Sacred Protection for the Priest, Shadow Wolf Enhancement for the Summoner, and Wind Bind for the Mage.

These skills were undeniably practical, significantly enhancing the combatants’ effectiveness.

The only downside was the Priest’s Sacred Protection, which might frustrate Priests since it meant they still lacked offensive skills even at high-level Apprentice rank. However, this made the Priest class even more sought-after, especially in Falling Phoenix Village, where Priests could heal, boost defense, and enhance attack power. As these skills leveled up, the Priest’s role would become even more indispensable.

Cheng Yang wasn’t concerned about the Priest’s lack of offensive capabilities. As long as they enhanced the territory’s overall combat strength, that was far more valuable than individual attack power. After all, the limited number of Priest transformation slots meant their offensive contributions wouldn’t significantly impact the territory’s overall strength.

When Chen Yun and the others arrived, Cheng Yang first visited the alchemy lab to stock up on mana and life potions before heading to the Blood Church dungeon’s entrance.

Cheng Yang opened the dungeon’s teleportation list and, without hesitation, selected Nightmare difficulty.

In an instant, Cheng Yang and his team were transported into the dungeon.

Unlike the slightly dim skies of the Normal or Hard difficulty versions, the Nightmare-difficulty Blood Church dungeon was entirely different. The change wasn’t in the buildings but in the overall atmosphere.

The moment they entered, Cheng Yang and his team were overwhelmed by a murderous aura. The sky was tinged with a faint red hue, creating an oppressive atmosphere.

In his previous life, the highest difficulty cleared was Nightmare. As for the final Hell difficulty, while some had entered, none had succeeded. Most perished at the hands of the final BOSS, with only a few managing to survive by hiding until the dungeon’s time limit expired.

In the Hell-difficulty Blood Church dungeon, the sky and ground were entirely blood-red, hence its name. Thus, Cheng Yang wasn’t surprised by the current environment.

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