Chapter 237: Clearing the Field, Powerful Cao Xing! (6000)

With this wave of [Soul Wither], Cao Xing dealt hundreds of hits!

And not a single damage number was lower than four thousand.

Sometimes, a critical hit could even deal nearly seven thousand damage!

If there were a damage meter right now.

Cao Xing's current damage would soar straight to the number one spot!

The effect of this kind of massive area-of-effect attack on this battlefield was truly terrifying!

As the first burst ended, Cao Xing heard over a dozen kill notifications.

And [Soul Wither] still had three more waves of damage.

"Bang! Bang!"

Flames continued to explode.

They directly blasted large numbers of low-health soldiers, knocking them over on the spot!

During this time, Renice, Hilda, and the others were not idle, each of them continuously launching attacks.

More and more ancient castle soldiers fell like harvested wheat.

When the four waves of [Soul Wither] damage ended.

With Cao Xing at the center, the surroundings were filled with the corpses of the fallen soldiers.

And he himself stood in the central area.

Like a formidable and elegant demon, with a wave of his hand, he left a million corpses in his wake!

The entire ancient castle fell silent.

Looking at the corpses covering the ground.

All the soldiers on the field gasped in cold air once again!

Because just with that one wave of area attacks!

The number of soldiers who died at the hands of Cao Xing and his group exceeded two hundred!

That was nearly one-third of the entire castle's forces!

This scene could only be described as terrifying.

Brutal! Too brutal!

Even Cao Xing's subordinates were stunned by this move.

Wild Boar Warrior Rabb raised his dual blades high, his eyes filled with shock.

"By the Beast God! Is this the true strength of our Lord? This is too powerful!"

The Centaur beside him also said excitedly, "That's right, Lord is indeed the strongest!"

Even the four newly joined Nightmare Archers looked at Cao Xing with intense respect.

[Because you displayed powerful strength, you have won over territory member: Meng Na. Loyalty has increased, current loyalty: 85]

[Because you displayed powerful strength, you have won over territory member: Meng Lita. Loyalty has increased, current loyalty: 84]

[Because you…]

Four consecutive notifications caused the loyalty of these Nightmare Archers to soar significantly.

As members of the Dream Spirit race, they also worshiped the strong.

Furthermore, this strong individual was their Lord.

At this moment, those soldiers also reacted.

They roared, "Scatter! All soldiers, scatter and attack them from different directions!"

"Wait for the monsters in those rooms to come out, then attack them together!"

The ancient castle soldiers seemed to have regained their senses and prepared to use a different tactic to deal with them.

However, nearly half of their forces had already been killed by Cao Xing!

The remaining ones could not stir up any trouble either.

Even if they released the monsters from those rooms, it would be of no use.

Next, Cao Xing began to engage in direct combat with this group of soldiers.

While continuously throwing [Fire of Malice], he commanded in an orderly manner.

Whenever a boss-level creature rushed over, Cao Xing would have everyone prioritize focusing fire on it.

If they really couldn't take it down, he would have Dabai go and knock them away.

More and more ancient castle soldiers fell, and the pressure on the group decreased.

Moreover, as they continued their slaughter, they also gained a large amount of experience points.

As white lights continued to rise.

His Tier 4 subordinates basically all leveled up once.

And Sarah had even leveled up to 32.

She had already killed all the crossbowmen on the towers and then joined the battle.

With the addition of this melee assassin, the battle became even more one-sided.

One after another, powerful elite soldiers and boss-level monsters fell.

Kill notifications appeared constantly.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance killed Mutant Black Bear lv40, Tier 4 boss-level creature, gained experience points: 12000]

[Combatants gained experience points: 6000]

[Your territory member: Assam killed Tamaila Soldier Captain lv39, Tier 4 elite-level creature, gained experience points: 3900]

[Combatants gained experience points: 1950]

[Your…]

Half an hour later, the battle ended.

A white light rose from Cao Xing.

[Your level has increased, current level: 31]

[This upgrade provided stat boosts: Strength +11, Agility +13, Spirit +19, Constitution +14, HP +1000]

Hearing the system prompt, Cao Xing said, "Good heavens, after Tier 4, the stat bonus for leveling up is this high?"

"And it gave me 1000 HP directly!"

Feeling the power surging within him again, Cao Xing clenched his fists in excitement.

This feeling is really comfortable…

Then, he turned his gaze to the combatants on the field.

In half an hour of fighting, they had taken out a large number of enemies.

At this moment, everyone was radiating a fierce aura, and their eyes were burning with intense battle intent!

And Cao Xing had exited the [Demon Transformation] state.

At this moment, the surroundings were a scene of chaos.

The ground was covered with hundreds of corpses of fused soldiers, as well as the bodies of failed experiments.

"Whew…"

Cao Xing took a deep breath.

Then, intense joy appeared in his eyes!

This time, he did not use the [Book of the Dead of Ascalon], nor did he bring those Ascalon Warriors.

Instead, relying on his own strength, he had flattened all the enemies in this ancient castle!

Compared to a week ago, Cao Xing's strength had undergone a qualitative improvement.

Meanwhile, Cao Xing looked at the [Soul Orb], [Intermediate Heart of Strength], and [Advanced Heart of Strength] scattered all over the ground.

"Very good! If we digest all these things, it will allow many of us to improve again!"

He quickly ordered, "Everyone, start cleaning the battlefield, collect all the items dropped by those soldiers and monsters."

"Muxue, take Renice and Isabelle to protect yourself, then go search those towers."

"Assam, Braum, you follow me to search the other side."

"We'll split up."

After receiving Cao Xing's order, everyone began to take action.

Then, they began to search the ancient castle without obstruction.

Cao Xing quickly entered tower after tower, then collected the items inside into his backpack.

[Obtained: Tamaila Craft Ale * 8]

[Obtained: Sapphire Necklace (Blue) * 2]

[Obtained: Coins * 2371]

[Obtained: Destroyer Crossbow (Purple) * 4]

[Obtained: Refined Iron Arrow * 470]

[Obtained…]

Searching through tower after tower.

Aside from the miscellaneous materials.

The quantity of [Destroyer Crossbow] and arrows in Cao Xing's backpack was also constantly increasing!

Soon, he and Liu Muxue had looted all the resources in every tower of the ancient castle.

The two quickly reunited.

Liu Muxue handed all the crossbows and arrows she had just obtained to Cao Xing.

He took a look at his backpack.

[Destroyer Crossbow (Purple) * 147]

[Refined Iron Arrow (Blue) * 15440]

"Good heavens, over a hundred Destroyer Crossbows! And over ten thousand Refined Iron Arrows."

"Haha, just relying on the power of these crossbows, we can definitely fend off a wave of small Ice Dragon Horn challenges!"

At this moment, Cao Xing couldn't help but laugh!

Clearly, just based on this haul, their exploration of the ancient castle this time was worth the trip.

Even Liu Muxue knew how astonishing their harvest was this time.

At this moment, a pair of necklaces appeared in Cao Xing's hand.

Although these two necklaces were only of Blue quality, their appearance was very beautiful.

The silver chain had a sparkling sapphire hanging at the bottom.

Moreover, there were no fake gemstones in this world.

If these two necklaces appeared on Blue Star, they would be priceless ornaments.

He glanced at the stats.

[Sapphire Necklace (Blue)]

[Quality: Fine]

[Bonus Effect ①: Spirit +5, Constitution +5]

[Bonus Effect ②: Luck +2]

(Equipment Introduction: A gorgeous sapphire necklace, it is said that the person who wears it will have good things happen.)

Although the stats were very ordinary, the Luck +2 was quite nice.

Cao Xing also put it into his backpack.

However, the good news didn't stop there.

At this moment, Blot walked over and said respectfully, "Lord, the battlefield has been cleaned up."

"We have collected all the dropped items together, please take a look."

Hearing this, a curve appeared on Cao Xing's lips again.

"Very good, I'm coming right over!"

After saying this, he went to the open space outside.

At the same time, he also saw the Soul Orbs, Hearts of Strength, and the soldiers' weapons covering the ground.

He directly collected that huge pile of items.

[Obtained: Chaotic Triple Soul Orb (Purple) * 8]

[Obtained: Chaotic Soldier Captain Soul Orb (Blue) * 47]

[Obtained: Chaotic Soldier Soul Orb (Green) * 472]

[Obtained: Tamaila Captain's Seal (Blue) * 15]

[Obtained: Tamaila Soldier's Seal (Green) * 251]

[Obtained: Advanced Heart of Strength * 3]

[Obtained: Intermediate Heart of Strength * 63]

[Obtained…]

Apart from that, there were some miscellaneous materials, as well as those blue or green weapons.

"Not bad, not bad. With this one-time harvest of several hundred level 30~40 weapons, the weapons for the warriors in the territory are sorted."

"Moreover, counting the Intermediate Hearts of Strength in my backpack, it adds up to 157!"

"After going back this time, not only can we upgrade the Ascalon Warriors to Tier 3, but some of the Wild Boar Warriors can also be upgraded to Tier 3."

Thinking of this, the joy in Cao Xing's heart grew even stronger.

Meanwhile.

After the soldiers in the ancient castle were wiped out by them, the place returned to that oppressive, quiet state.

There wasn't a sound.

Cao Xing looked toward the center of the ancient castle, at that hundred-meter-tall tower.

He also knew that it was the place where the legendary witch resided.

Moreover, judging by the Old Witch's fairy tale, those three powerful monsters might also be inside the tower.

A look of doubt appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"It's a bit strange, did our huge battle commotion not disturb the existence inside?"

Liu Muxue leaned over and said, "Could it be that those monsters, for some reason, can only stay inside the tower and thus cannot come out?"

Cao Xing pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's possible."

"However, let's ignore that for now; we still have to explore that tower anyway."

Liu Muxue nodded slightly.

Next, it was time for the moment Cao Xing was looking forward to the most: distributing the loot!

This time, they had taken out hundreds of soldiers and obtained a large amount of good stuff.

He first glanced at his backpack.

The items available to boost everyone's strength were those [Soul Orbs] and [Advanced Heart of Strength].

Among them, there were 9 purple-grade [Soul Orbs].

Cao Xing picked out 3 with Spirit + Agility + Constitution for himself.

2 with Spirit + Strength + Constitution were given to Liu Muxue.

The other four had different attributes.

Cao Xing distributed two each to his two main generals, Sarah and Assam.

Then, he distributed the blue-grade [Soul Orbs].

There were 52 in total.

He and Liu Muxue each obtained 10 [Soul Orbs], with attributes of Spirit + Constitution or Spirit + Strength.

This was just enough to use up the usage limit.

The others were distributed to Sarah, Assam, Andrew, Renice, and others according to their attributes.

Next were the green-grade [Soul Orbs], which had the largest quantity.

The dozen or so people present were each assigned 10 based on their attributes.

At this moment, everyone held the orbs in their hands, looks of contemplation appearing in their eyes.

They had seen Cao Xing use them once before, but they didn't know the specific function of these things.

Elisa said, "Lord, are these candy? Can Elisa eat them?"

Tong Chuchu heard this and chimed in, "Chuchu loves candy the most!"

Cao Xing replied speechlessly, "These things aren't for eating."

"You just crush them, and they will increase your physical attributes."

Hearing this, looks of realization appeared in everyone's eyes.

But in Elisa's eyes, a look of disappointment appeared.

Cao Xing added, "However, remember that for every Soul Orb you use, you need to wait one minute before using another."

Because the mental protection function of [Faith's Thought] refreshed every 60 seconds.

Therefore, using them within the cooldown period might carry the risk of failure.

Hearing this, everyone present nodded one after another.

Then, everyone's journey of attribute improvement began.

[You used a Chaotic Triple Soul Orb (Purple), gaining attribute improvement: Spirit +20, Strength +20, Constitution +20]

[You used a Chaotic Triple Soul Orb (Purple), gaining attribute improvement: Strength +20, Agility +20, Spirit +20]

[You used…]

…

After three system prompts, Cao Xing felt that his body had once again gained a significant improvement.

Even his thinking ability had been significantly enhanced.

"Very good, one purple Soul Orb provides an attribute boost comparable to leveling up once after reaching Tier 4."

"However, these are relatively scarce."

"Next, let's see the bonuses from those blue-grade and green-grade Soul Orbs."

Thus, Cao Xing continued to wait for the refresh of [Faith's Thought].

Then he continued to use the [Soul Orbs].

[You used a Chaotic Fusion Soul Orb (Blue), gaining attribute improvement: Constitution +15]

[You used a Chaotic Fusion Soul Orb (Blue), gaining attribute improvement: Spirit +15]

[You used…]

System prompts kept scrolling.

Cao Xing watched his attributes constantly increasing.

It took about half an hour.

Everyone finished consuming this batch of [Soul Orbs].

Their attributes all grew significantly.

Especially Cao Xing; his Spirit attribute had increased from the original 839 directly to 1032!

It could be called a powerful transformation!

Including Liu Muxue's Spirit and Constitution, which also received huge improvements.

Moreover, next, Liu Muxue could continue to use the [Advanced Heart of Strength] to further boost her attributes!

As the team's Aurora Knight, Liu Muxue's improvement would bring huge help to everyone.

Thinking of this, a look of excitement also appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Then, he took out the 3 [Advanced Heart of Strength] from his backpack.

He gave one to Liu Muxue, one to Braun, and then fed one to Dabai.

The two of them accepted them together.

Cao Xing walked over to Dabai to help it use the Heart of Strength.

"Crack!"

As the red crystal was crushed, pure power surged into their bodies.

Liu Muxue, Braun, and Dabai all began their breakthroughs.

Everyone felt the aura on them rising, and they waited silently.

A moment later, Liu Muxue suddenly opened her eyes, revealing clear pupils!

Everyone even felt an invisible mental fluctuation on her.

It was as if she had completed some kind of transformation and reached another level.

Seeing this situation, everyone knew that Liu Muxue had likely succeeded.

[Your subordinate lord: Liu Muxue has successfully broken through using the Advanced Heart of Strength, becoming a Tier 4 Aurora Knight, base attributes increased by 100%]

…

Seeing the system prompt, a joyful smile appeared on Cao Xing's face.

He intended to check Liu Muxue's attributes.

But just at this moment—

From Braun and Dabai, a powerful aura also rose!

Because of the surging power in its body, Dabai couldn't help but let out a satisfied roar.

"Moo—"

Braun also laughed, "Knight Assam, I have taken a step ahead of you and broken through to Tier 4."

"You have to work hard too, haha!"

Assam spread his hands with a casual smile on his face.

Because he had a trial quest, it was easier to complete at a lower level.

So Cao Xing had never let him break through.

However, this time Cao Xing had a premonition that they would complete this task in that high tower of the ancient castle!

Two consecutive system prompts appeared.

[Your pet: Dabai has successfully broken through using the Advanced Heart of Strength, becoming a Tier 4 Boss-level creature, base attributes increased by 100%]

[Your territory member: Braun Ironwall has successfully broken through using the Advanced Heart of Strength, becoming a Tier 4 Leader-level creature, base attributes increased by 100%]

…

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing was even more pleasantly surprised, "Good, good, good! All three of them actually succeeded!"

He excitedly clicked on their attributes.

[Cao Xing's pet: Dabai]

[Race: Beast]

[Tier: Level 30 0/300000 (Tier 4 Boss-level creature)]

[Detailed attributes: Click to view]

…

[Ice Shield Guard: Braun Ironwall]

[Race: Human]

[Level: Level 30 0/300000 (Tier 4 Leader-level creature)]

[Detailed attributes: Click to view]

…

[Loyalty: 100]

[Survivor: Liu Muxue]

[Race: Blue Star Human]

[Level: Level 30 0/300000 (Tier 4 Aurora Knight)]

[Detailed attributes: Click to view]

…

"Terrifying!"

Cao Xing couldn't help but exclaim at this moment.

Both Dabai and Braun were existence levels of "blood tanks".

Braun's current HP was about to break through to 100,000.

And because Dabai had the bloodline of a giant beast, its HP was almost reaching 140,000!

As for Liu Muxue, her attributes were equally powerful.

Because she held a broken legendary weapon, it could increase all attributes by 200 points.

Now, just the Blessing of Courage could increase attack power by over a thousand!

Clearly, Liu Muxue's improvement would allow everyone in the entire territory to have a huge surge in strength!

Liu Muxue had just broken through, and her body was still covered in a sacred Aurora.

At this moment, she walked towards Cao Xing gracefully like a beautiful goddess.

She said softly, "Axing, I succeeded too."

Cao Xing smiled and nodded, "Not bad, Muxue."

"You are a great help to us after reaching Tier 4."

Receiving Cao Xing's recognition, a look of joy also appeared on Liu Muxue's face.

"Muxue, start refreshing the status for everyone."

"Next, we are going to enter the ancient castle."

After speaking, Cao Xing and Liu Muxue began to re-apply the status to everyone present.

Including Andrew, [Life Bloom] and [Thorn Armor] and other status skills were re-applied.

It took another 30 minutes or so, and the BUFF status on everyone was refreshed.

In an instant, everyone's strength surged.

The two Dragon Blood Warriors felt the power in their bodies, excitement in their eyes.

"The blessings from the Lady of the Territory and the Lord are getting stronger and stronger!"

"Yes, it's a truly terrifying improvement. I feel that my current strength can already suppress the Dragon Blood Warrior leader in the clan!"

The Wild Boar Warrior nearby also said excitedly, "Oh! The Wild Boar Warrior feels that he is terrifyingly strong now!"

"Lord, I dare to challenge a leader of the same tier one-on-one now!"

Everyone felt the surging power in their bodies and was extremely excited!

Cao Xing smiled, "Although everyone has improved their strength quite a bit, don't underestimate the enemy. The creatures inside this ancient castle should be very strong."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions tightened, and then they nodded solemnly.

Then, Cao Xing said, "Alright, get ready, we are going straight into the ancient castle."

The group led by Cao Xing walked straight to the center of the ancient castle, to the tower that was over a hundred meters high.

"Tap tap… tap tap…"

Everyone walked on the bluestone floor, making dull footsteps.

As they approached, they gradually saw the appearance of this tower clearly.

The tower was built entirely of stone, looking very heavy, with several pitch-black windows visible, full of medieval style.

The diameter was about two or three hundred meters, and the height was four or five hundred meters.

It could be said that the largest building in the entire ancient castle was this tower.

Just from the appearance, one could tell that the internal space of the tower must be huge.

Everyone walked around the ancient castle and soon saw a black iron gate about six meters high.

But strangely, this gate was not locked and could be pushed open at any time.

Seeing this scene, everyone present looked at Cao Xing.

They knew that as long as they entered this tower, they could uncover the secret that had been hidden in this ancient castle for many years.

Cao Xing also took a deep breath.

"Assam, Braun, go open the door."

"Yes, my Lord!"

After speaking, the two strong creatures walked forward, and then one on the left and one on the right, pulled open the iron gate!