Chapter 145: Dark Demonic Lightning

“I’ll take this silver-grade piece and this bronze—huh?”

Ye Chen had just selected the silver-grade equipment and was about to casually choose a few bronze items to make up the difference when his gaze suddenly fixed on a battered parchment scroll.

[Unnamed Parchment] (Unknown Item): Records scattered fragments of dark magic knowledge. It does not appear to be of much use. Class Restriction: Dark Arbiter.

This was the first unknown item Ye Chen had encountered that was specifically restricted to Dark Arbiters, and it immediately piqued his interest.

“I got this from a silver-grade creature while teaming up with someone else, but I never figured out what it was for. There aren’t many Dark Arbiters around, and nobody was willing to pay a high price for it, so I kept it. Since it came from a silver-grade creature, it shouldn’t be too bad, right? Maybe it even hides some kind of secret. How about counting it as one piece of silver-grade equipment to make up for you?” Cold Moon Frost blinked, her expression sly.

“You’ve got some nerve. Most unknown items can only be exchanged with NPCs for a few potions, and you want to count this as a piece of silver-grade equipment?” Ye Chen shook his head like a rattle. He was no sucker to be fleeced—he was the one who usually fleeced suckers.

“Night Dawn, that woman’s unnamed parchment is something good. You must get it.”

Just as Ye Chen was about to choose a few more bronze items, 2058’s voice suddenly rang in his ear.

At the sound of 2058’s voice, Ye Chen’s pupils contracted slightly. He cleverly lowered his head as though examining the equipment, masking his reaction so well that Cold Moon Frost noticed nothing.

He did not rush to select the unnamed parchment. Ye Chen knew that if he appeared too eager, Cold Moon Frost would surely demand an outrageous price. To obtain the parchment at the lowest possible cost, he had no choice but to take the roundabout approach.

Ye Chen casually glanced over the bronze equipment in the trading window and pointed at them. “This one with all points in strength, this one with all points in agility, and this one with all points in intelligence. Hmm… this one with all points in constitution. Those four, plus the silver-grade leggings, should do.”

As she watched him point out the equipment, the corner of Cold Moon Frost’s eye twitched faintly. She forced a dry laugh. “You accuse me of making an outrageous demand, yet you’re the one butchering a fat sheep. Four single-attribute bronze items are practically worth more than one silver-grade item. No way. You can choose two at most. Even if I don’t care about the money, you can’t treat me like a fool.”

“Then one silver-grade item and two single-attribute bronze items. Add that lousy parchment scroll you tried to charge me an outrageous price for, and that should be fair, right? I’ve already made concessions. If you don’t agree, I’m not selling anything.” Ye Chen wore an utterly indifferent expression, as though asking for the parchment were merely retaliation for Cold Moon Frost’s attempt to fleece him.

Cold Moon Frost studied him suspiciously, but she could not detect the slightest clue from his face. After pondering for a moment, she nodded. “All right, it’s yours. That’s a fair price. Neither of us loses out.”

“Then let’s trade.”

Ye Chen placed the Soul-Slaying Dagger into the trade window. Once Cold Moon Frost had removed the remaining items, he immediately confirmed the trade.

In truth, Cold Moon Frost was even more impatient than Ye Chen. The moment she saw him confirm the transaction, she happily confirmed it as well.

The trade succeeded. Cold Moon Frost eagerly equipped the Soul-Slaying Dagger, while Ye Chen hurriedly stored the other pieces of equipment in his bag. The two exchanged a glance and smiled with satisfaction.

“There’s one last skill book. Open it and see what it is. Ha, now I almost hope it isn’t something for thieves. Otherwise, with neither money nor equipment, I won’t be able to exchange for it, and I’ll only end up heartbroken.” Cold Moon Frost stared at the final skill book dropped by the lich, her face filled with conflicting emotions.

Ye Chen smiled, bent down, and picked up the skill book glowing with a faint black radiance. The moment he saw its attributes, his breath caught and his heartbeat quickened.

[Dark Thunderstorm] (Skill Book): A devastating dark spell. Summons lightning from the demon realm to strike the enemy, dealing 150% attack damage to the target and inflicting paralysis for three seconds. Skill power increases with skill level.

“What an overbearing dark spell. The attack power is impressive enough, but that paralysis effect is truly monstrous. With this control skill, your heavy artillery build will be invincible.” Cold Moon Frost gave a faint cry of surprise when she saw the attributes of Dark Thunderstorm. Her face was filled with envy. Although Dark Thunderstorm was not a rare skill, its power was not far below that of one.

Ye Chen was delighted as well. His current weakness was the insufficient number of powerful skills. When attacking, he often found himself unable to maintain a smooth chain of abilities. With Dark Thunderstorm, the situation would improve considerably. After exhausting his Chain Fireballs, he would no longer have to throw Dark Fireballs one by one. Moreover, Dark Thunderstorm came with a paralysis effect—a rare form of crowd control among dark priests.

“All right, the mission is complete. Let’s wait for the Blood-Red Witch Hall to teleport us back automatically. I can’t wait to return and test this sword.” Seeing Ye Chen immediately learn Dark Thunderstorm, a flicker of envy passed through Cold Moon Frost’s eyes. But the next moment, she happily began playing with her golden dagger, already imagining herself slaughtering everything in her path once they returned.

“Return? I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a while longer.” Ye Chen shook his head. He pointed toward the Blazing Sword Spirit standing quietly to one side, his expression complicated. “We have to kill it first. As long as there are monsters inside the witch hall, the teleportation won’t activate.”

There was another reason Ye Chen did not mention: the demonic sword could only be unsealed by killing the sword spirit.

“Kill it?” Cold Moon Frost was also taken aback. She hesitated before saying, “Isn’t it your pet? Didn’t the lich say it had recognized you as its master?”

Ye Chen gave a bitter smile. “That was only needed for the secret realm. Do you really think the authorities would allow a player in his thirties to bring along a level-sixty spirit-grade pet? Impossible.”

Cold Moon Frost nodded in understanding. It was indeed impossible. If the Blazing Sword Spirit could really be brought outside, the entire Divine Descent would be thrown into chaos. Given the sword spirit’s strength, dealing with the players—most of whom were currently in their thirties—would be like cutting down children with a single stroke. It could probably wipe out an entire large guild all by itself.

“Then let’s kill it. It did just help us, after all. Even though it’s only a monster, I still feel a little guilty. You strike first.” Cold Moon Frost’s tone was strange.

Ye Chen grimaced. He felt the same way, but there was no alternative. He immediately ordered the Blazing Sword Spirit to stand still, then raised the Abyssal Staff and cast a Dark Thunderstorm.

Crack!

Blue-black lightning crashed down upon the Blazing Sword Spirit’s head.

-735.

A blood-red number floated above the sword spirit. The damage was not high, but Ye Chen quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At least he could break through its defenses. To deal that much damage against a level-sixty spirit-grade creature was already quite impressive.

Chain Fireballs!

Boom, boom, boom!

Three explosions rang out in succession, each dealing roughly eight hundred points of damage. Ye Chen’s Dark Fireball had now reached level six, so it was only natural for its damage to be slightly higher than that of Dark Thunderstorm.

Once he had made his move, Ye Chen quickly cast aside his inexplicable reluctance and unleashed his full strength against the sword spirit, a living target that could not fight back. But the sword spirit’s health was simply too immense. After attacking for a long while, the enormous health bar had barely diminished. By a conservative estimate, Ye Chen would need at least an hour to grind the Blazing Sword Spirit to death.

Seeing this, Cold Moon Frost joined the attack. At a time like this, one more person meant one more share of strength, and they could leave the Blood-Red Witch Hall that much sooner. She stepped forward and waved her hand, sending out a flaming blade.

Smack!

-1,325.

The dagger wreathed in flames struck the sword spirit in the chest. The damage made both Ye Chen and Cold Moon Frost stare in surprise. This thief had dealt even more damage than Ye Chen’s heavy artillery build—and it was only ordinary damage, not a critical hit.

“Spirit-slaying! It’s the spirit-slaying effect—it ignores defense!” Cold Moon Frost recovered and let out a delighted cheer. She grabbed Ye Chen’s arm excitedly. “This is incredible! The spirit-slaying effect is incredible! With this dagger, even heavily armored classes will have to fear me. If I’d had this dagger earlier, Axebreaker would never have been my match.”

Ye Chen nodded. It was indeed true. Even if the activation rate of spirit-slaying was not high, thieves attacked at an extremely rapid pace. With enough strikes, it would inevitably trigger. Given Cold Moon Frost’s current attack power, a single spirit-slaying effect would be enough to make even a mighty heavy-armored warrior break into a cold sweat. As for cloth-armored classes…

Ye Chen broke into a sweat as well. This woman had a chance of killing him instantly. Fortunately, they did not live in the same city. Then again, he could also kill her effortlessly. In the end, it would come down to who struck first…

With Ye Chen and Cold Moon Frost attacking together, their speed increased considerably. Cold Moon Frost triggered the spirit-slaying effect from time to time, and her overall damage output was actually slightly higher than Ye Chen’s. Time passed second by second. After more than half an hour of continuous attacks, the sword spirit’s health bar finally reached its end. In at most five more minutes, this level-sixty spirit-grade creature would be dead.

“Night Dawn, do you think this Blazing Sword Spirit will drop a few spirit-grade items for us?” Cold Moon Frost suddenly asked, excitement returning to her voice.

“No,” Ye Chen replied with absolute certainty.

“Why? It’s a level-sixty spirit-grade creature.” Cold Moon Frost widened her beautiful eyes.

“Because it has already become a player’s pet, and pets don’t drop equipment. You didn’t know that?”

“Of course I know. But I heard that if a pet has been tamed for less than an hour, there’s still a chance it can drop equipment.” Cold Moon Frost sounded uncertain herself.

“Is that really a thing?” Ye Chen pressed.

“I think so.” Cold Moon Frost sounded even less confident.

While the two stared at each other, 2058’s voice suddenly reached Ye Chen through a private message.

“A wild monster does indeed have a chance to drop equipment within one hour of being tamed by a player. However, the probability is extremely low. According to the system’s parameters, the drop rate for a spirit-grade monster is below three percent—essentially negligible.”

Ye Chen had initially been excited upon hearing that there was a chance of obtaining equipment. But when he heard that the odds were only three percent, he gave up. It was better not to hope for anything; otherwise, receiving nothing would only be disappointing.

Boom, boom, boom!

-812, -835, -1,566 (Critical Hit!)

Three Dark Fireballs struck the severely wounded Blazing Sword Spirit, finally emptying the last of the level-sixty spirit-grade creature’s health.

The clock stopped at the fifty-eighth minute after the sword spirit had been tamed.

To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.