Chapter 88 – Statue Enhancement Stone

Chapter 88 – Statue Enhancement Stone

Seeing the Inferior Demon Leader once again locked in combat with Chen Yun, the rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief.

The battle proceeded smoothly after that. Zeng Yue repeatedly pulled Chen Yun’s health back from the danger zone, keeping the fight’s rhythm exactly as Cheng Yang had planned.

Cao Cun hadn’t summoned another Shadow Wolf after his previous one fell in battle. At that time, the Inferior Demon Leader’s aggro was unstable, and having an unpredictable element like the Shadow Wolf could disrupt the battle flow. But now that Chen Yun had firm control over the demon leader, Cao Cun immediately summoned his Shadow Wolf to join the fight.

About ten seconds later, the Inferior Demon Leader’s health dropped to 700 points. Just three more rounds of attacks, and this creature would be finished.

But at that moment, the demon leader’s eyes suddenly turned blood red, radiating a wave of madness.

“Fall back! Prepare to heal!” Cheng Yang shouted, instantly moving to shield Zeng Yue.

The others reacted quickly, especially Chen Yun at the front. He leaped backward almost simultaneously with Cheng Yang’s command.

A soft *pop* sounded from within the Inferior Demon Leader’s body, followed by a mist of blood spraying from its surface, sweeping outward in all directions.

The already weakened Shadow Wolf was the first to be hit. Without even time to howl, it was engulfed by the blood mist, its health instantly depleted. Next was Chen Yun, who had managed to retreat about seven or eight meters. As the blood mist struck him, he let out a pained cry and was sent flying, stumbling as he continued to flee.

Cheng Yang and the others weren’t spared either. The blood mist swept through, dealing damage to anyone it touched.

“Heal Chen Yun!” Cheng Yang ordered tersely. Zeng Yue, shielded behind him, immediately understood and sent a Healing Light toward Chen Yun.

Chen Yun had lost at least 200 health points from that attack. Though he had quickly consumed a health potion while retreating, its effect hadn’t kicked in when he was hit. With only a few dozen health points left, he was terrified – staying put would mean certain death.

Fortunately, the health potion soon took effect, restoring 30 points and bringing his health to nearly 80. This gave him some relief – at least he wouldn’t be instantly killed by the demon leader now.

Zeng Yue’s Healing Light arrived just in time. With her powerful magic attack bonus, Chen Yun’s health immediately recovered to over 200 points.

Feeling like he had returned from the brink of death, Chen Yun charged back toward the Inferior Demon Leader with his steel blade. He was particularly worried now – his previous control over the demon leader had largely depended on the narrow temple entrance, which made it difficult for the creature to bypass him and attack the others. Without his blockade, the demon leader could easily charge through the entrance.

At that moment, Cheng Yang launched an Ice Ball, striking the Inferior Demon Leader. The creature’s charging body froze mid-motion, then toppled backward.

Everyone except Cheng Yang was stunned. Based on their estimates, the demon leader should have had six to seven hundred health points left. Even if their calculations were off, it should have had at least two to three hundred. How could Cheng Yang’s single Ice Ball have finished it?

Cheng Yang retrieved his staff and explained with a smile, “That last attack was a life-for-life move. It converted most of its remaining health into attack power, dealing damage to all nearby targets. The closer you were, the more damage you took. That attack probably dealt a total of nearly 700 points of damage to us, so it couldn’t have had much health left. It’s not surprising that my Ice Ball finished it off.”

Zeng Yue and the others immediately understood. No wonder Cheng Yang had moved to shield her first – with only 100 health points, she could have been instantly killed by the blood mist. Cheng Yang himself had lost over 100 health points from the attack.

Chen Yun said with lingering fear, “Leader, that skill is too overpowered! If it had used that at the beginning, we wouldn’t have had a chance to fight back – we’d have been wiped out instantly!”

Cheng Yang shook his head, “That’s impossible. The skill can only be activated when its health drops below 10%. Moreover, in this Nightmare difficulty dungeon, this skill shouldn’t appear at all. I suspect it only has this overpowered skill because we’re the first to clear it.”

In his previous life, Cheng Yang had never heard of the final boss in the Nightmare difficulty Blood Church dungeon having this skill. It was only when he saw the demon leader’s eyes turn blood red that he remembered someone describing this ultimate skill in the Hell difficulty version on the forums.

If Cheng Yang hadn’t reacted quickly, Chen Yun, being so close to the demon leader, would have taken the brunt of the damage and likely been instantly killed.

Now that the battle was finally over, though full of twists and turns, the result was satisfactory – they had successfully cleared the Nightmare difficulty dungeon.

Clearing a Nightmare difficulty dungeon was of immense significance, far beyond that of clearing a normal dungeon.

Looking at the silver-white staff on the ground, Cheng Yang felt extremely pleased. He could finally replace his Bone Spirit Staff.

Actually, Cheng Yang hadn’t had the Bone Spirit Staff for long – only about seven or eight days. Such rapid equipment upgrades were beyond what others could hope for. But this new staff was definitely worth replacing it with, as it was a Gold-grade staff.

In his previous life, the first clear of the Blood Church dungeon had also dropped a Gold-grade item, which was why Cheng Yang was so confident this was a Gold-grade staff.

Cheng Yang picked up the staff and immediately saw its attributes:

An exceptional piece of equipment!

Cheng Yang wasn’t surprised by the +10 Magic Attack – that was standard for Gold-grade weapons. But the Magic Missile +1 was truly remarkable. This meant it increased the skill level by 1, equivalent to a 10% damage boost for Magic Missile.

However, Cheng Yang soon felt frustrated. Since he had become an Ice Mage, his original Magic Missile skill had transformed into Ice Ball. While the skill was more powerful now, he couldn’t benefit from the Magic Missile +1 enhancement.

This was perhaps one of the drawbacks of special classes. Generally, equipment dropped from dungeons was designed for common classes and didn’t fully suit special classes. To get suitable equipment, special class users usually had to gather materials and have them custom-made.

Even without the Magic Missile +1 bonus, this Mithril Staff was undoubtedly the top weapon of this stage. If the gods were to create a weapon ranking, this staff would undoubtedly take first place.

Cheng Yang immediately equipped the new staff and stored his old Bone Spirit Staff in his spatial ring. After leaving the dungeon, he could give it to another mage in their territory. The +4 attack boost would significantly enhance a novice Apprentice mage’s power.

“Leader, we’ve cleared the dungeon. Can we head back now?” Chen Yun asked with a hint of joy.

Cheng Yang replied, “Not so fast. This might still be the first clear of this dungeon. There might be even greater rewards waiting for us. Wait here while I check the prayer hall.”

With that, Cheng Yang entered the prayer hall alone. The interior looked much the same as during their previous visits, except the walls had turned a dark red, creating an oppressive atmosphere.

On the high platform at the back of the hall sat an item. Compared to the Skill Inheritance Orb they had obtained last time, this object looked quite ordinary. If the Skill Inheritance Orb was a gem, this was just a rough, irregular stone.

Cheng Yang was familiar with the first-clear rewards for the Normal and Hard difficulties of the Blood Church dungeon. But what the Nightmare difficulty might offer was unknown to him.

Climbing onto the platform, Cheng Yang picked up the irregular gray stone and examined its properties:

Just as he had expected. With this item, he could enhance one attribute of the Priest Statue.

But a question lingered in Cheng Yang’s mind: Did the enhancement affect the statue’s current attributes or its base attributes? For example, if the Priest Statue’s Magic Attack enhancement was currently at 11%, using this stone would boost it to 22%. But what about future upgrades? Would they continue at the original enhancement rate, or at double the rate?

If it followed the original enhancement rate, the Statue Enhancement Stone would become more valuable the later it was used. But if future upgrades also doubled, then the timing of its use wouldn’t matter.

In his previous life, the Nightmare difficulty of the Blood Church dungeon hadn’t been cleared until nearly a year later. By then, some powerful field settlements had already upgraded to Level 3 Villages. While the Statue Enhancement Stone had enhanced one of the statue’s attributes, whether the effect continued beyond that remained unverified before Cheng Yang’s death.

PS: Seeking recommendations and collections…