Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Ember Not Yet Extinguished

Does this thing have a health bar, or is it down to a single sliver?

What does that mean? Is this flame a monster that can be slain?

Chen Qi could sense it. Deep within the boundless black mist before him, a single spark was still burning. That was the final remnant of the Lord of Mist City. If he could extinguish it, he could defeat that lord!

The sanctuary lamp has already shown you the weak point of the stone idol.

You sense a chance at victory. Do you attack the flame?

As long as that spark is defeated, there may still be a way out...

Chen Qi drew a long breath and committed every last card he had.

The flower-spirit potion that could heal the body. The bloodblade state that feared neither pain nor bloodshed. The Fogwalker’s Garb. And the Lampshadow Fox hidden within his clothing.

To lose was to die. To succeed was to die.

One final charge!

You draw upon the potion’s power. Your blood thickens, and flowers keep blooming from your wounds.

Your body burns hot, and a glimmer of fire flashes in your eyes.

Within the black mist, the stone idol of the Lord of Mist City sees your intent and, in a single step, swings at you.

You brace it with your left arm in that instant and unleash the domain of black fire, covering your own form within the black mist!

Lampshadow Fox, extinguish the city lord’s flame!

With the Lampshadow Fox’s dark step and shadow-slinking art, its speed was no slower than yours, and it was far better at concealing itself.

The Lampshadow Fox leaps from beneath your clothes and rushes along the darkness on the ground toward the flame.

Why can he move so smoothly?

The Lord of Mist City looks at you in disbelief and darts toward the fox’s shadow. Its spiritual aura is far too obvious.

The Lord of Mist City thrusts a blade into the ground, striking at the shadow racing beneath it.

At the very moment the enemy swings, you activate Featherlight Leap. A violent surge of wind bursts from behind you, carrying you past the Lampshadow Fox in an instant!

Too slow! You cannot do it! He will stop you!

He cannot see the aura within you soaked by calamity. You should not be able to endure this black mist.

The stone idol of the Lord of Mist City cannot accept it and instantly blocks your path, slashing at you with its long blade.

A great spray of blood bursts from your chest!

With the support of the bloodblade state and the flower-spirit potion, even losing arms or legs means nothing.

So long as you can reach that place, never mind a leg or an arm. Even if this life itself is lost, so be it!

You seize the opponent’s stone longsword with your left hand, locking into position, and fling your right hand with all your might!

The Shadowpiercing Dagger shoots from your right hand like a sharpened arrow and strikes the last spark of the Lord of Mist City!

Hah, the dagger whistles past!

The Shadowpiercing Dagger passes through that flame, and then...

Did it work?

Chen Qi stared at the text below, his heart pounding with excitement.

The flame trembles a few times, then finally fades away.

The flame is out...

The instant the flame goes out, you retreat.

The Lord of Mist City turns to look at the flame that symbolizes his final will.

His last spark has been extinguished!

The hand of the Lord of Mist City is growing stiff beyond measure, and the blade in his grasp falls to the ground.

He looks at the dying flame, then slowly turns to look at you...

Did it succeed...

Chen Qi read the text. In that fleeting instant, his game character had given everything he had!

The Lord of Mist City looks upon this black mist, upon the traveler from afar. You have passed the trial of this treasure!

The stone idol of the Lord of Mist City begins to crack apart slowly. He looks at his own hand, then with the last shred of his will gazes into the black mist from which he was born. Within that mist, memories of the past keep rising.

It is over. You are weak, but you are a qualified trial-bearer. No, you are a trial-bearer who has surpassed him himself!

Traveler from afar, may you seize the power within it. May you emerge from confusion. May you find the heavens you have longed for.

And not, like him, remain forever trapped in the bewilderment of past failure, never able to leave it behind.

The stone idol of the Lord of Mist City slowly walks into the black mist. Those mists are his bewilderment, and more than that, his life and memories. He cannot escape them, and so he dissolves away together with the surging darkness.

I passed...

At last, I passed...

Chen Qi stared at those lines, relief flooding him, his feelings beyond expression!

After so many years, he had finally passed the trial, and all the treasures within it would be his!

This long road had finally reached its end.

It felt like an exam prepared for over many years, at last finished.

It felt like the girl he had secretly loved suddenly confessing to him.

It felt like the rotten company he had quit had suddenly gone bankrupt.

A thousand words boiled down to one: satisfying!

Chen Qi let out a long breath and eagerly looked to the text that followed.

A line of flaming words appeared.

You keep exhaling heavily. With the healing power of the flower-spirit potion, your wounds are rapidly closing!

Far in the distance, a tiny flame lights once more. That is your reward!

You slowly walk toward the flame.

You extend your hand. The flame is so faint, yet so searingly hot.

You take the flame into your hand.

You have obtained the soul core taken from the calamity beast by the land without light: Unfinished Ember.

Chen Qi hurriedly checked it.

Unfinished Ember:

Item type: Soul core. It safeguards your soul and greatly enhances your intuition. Only one soul core can be equipped at a time.

Description: Something taken from the abyss of darkness. May this flame burn brightly in your hands.

Aspect: Intuition 50 required. Non-lantern aspects may still equip it, but the enhancement will be greatly reduced.

Abilities:

Soul Guard: Intuition increased by 50 percent, spiritual power increased by 50 percent.

Ember Breath: When you suffer a fatal wound, you can directly expend spiritual power to repair your body. Current spiritual power required to remold the body: 10.

A fifty percent increase to intuition, and a fifty percent increase to spiritual power!

Chen Qi looked at those two panels. Just those two simple lines of enhancement were already enough to be called formidable!

The simplest numerical boost. The purest form of strength!

In the New Dawn game, apart from innate talents, items and skills that enhance attributes by percentage are exceedingly rare. Let alone one with such terrifying bonuses!

More than that, the other passive was practically another life!

The increase in intuition and spiritual power meant he could challenge far stronger arts.

Chen Qi kept reading.

The Lord of Mist City had left behind more than one thing!

You stand here.

A servant stone idol approaches and hands you a jet-black cubic box.

You plant your blade in the ground, force yourself upright, and take the box.

Traveler’s Box:

Aspect: Lantern

Equipment requirement: none; bond required. From its very creation, its designer found a way to remove its equipment restrictions.

Description: An ancient traveler once wanted to journey far away, yet did not wish to leave his home. So he transformed his home into a box he could carry with him.

The Lord of Mist City once placed large amounts of food and medicine inside it to sustain their deathly expedition.

Function: Contains a vast space within. Spending one second allows entry into it, and the items inside can be withdrawn or stored at will.

Owner: None.

Chen Qi looked at the item. This should be the legendary storage box!

Unlike other games, in New Dawn, space-type items are exceedingly rare. According to the forums of the Daybreak Society, even elite players mostly still use Earth warehouses to store their belongings!

What an excellent item!

Wait...

Chen Qi set aside some strange little thoughts, first taking the item, then continuing.

You have obtained the Mist Sword Pendant.

Mist Sword Pendant:

Description: Void

Introduction: The relic of a powerful sinner once obtained by the Death Legion. In order not to have his power drained by the Black River Prison, the sinner infused his blood and strength into this Mist Sword Pendant.

Within the Death Legion, the Lord of Mist City used this item to prevent night raids.

Function: After use, it can summon a sinner’s body, of the same rank as you, possessing powerful mist-based arts to fight for you. Cooldown: 1 day.

You touch the item and faint wisps of black fire seem to rise from it.

A summoning item...

Chen Qi studied it, wondering whether a sinner and a shadow soul were any different, and whether it would possess skills of its own.

You put these items away. With the destruction of the Lord of Mist City’s stone idol, this trial ground is growing fragile.

The trial ground is collapsing bit by bit, stones and grit falling continuously.

You listen, and outside, the miststorm still rages, stirring wave after wave of towering fog.

You faintly hear a great many crows crying out.

You stride outside at once. The mist rolls and churns endlessly. Everyone out there has been plunged into panic by the calamity, and the hunters and prisoners are no exception.

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