Chapter 80: The Altar, Sparkling Gems!

Chapter 80: The Altar, Sparkling Gems!

"Well then, let's go in!"

With those words, Assam was the first to step inside the gate.

Dabai followed closely behind.

Next came Renice and Blot, along with two Centaur warriors.

Meanwhile, Cao Xing and Liu Muxue sat on the tracked robot, bringing up the rear.

The group entered the passage in a grand procession.

This was the source of Cao Xing's confidence.

He believed that with their current strength, they were more than capable of handling any dangers inside.

Tap… tap, tap…

The dense sound of the group's footsteps echoed, along with the rumbling of the tracked robot rolling over the brickwork.

Cao Xing noticed that they were currently in a brick-and-stone passage.

As they went deeper, the space opened up considerably, wide enough to accommodate two of Dabai's size side by side.

Cao Xing began to look around.

With a glance, he actually spotted some good things.

Several burning candlesticks were mounted on both sides of the passage.

These candlesticks had an ornate appearance, gleaming with a golden luster.

Seeing the golden light, Cao Xing's habit of hoarding everything in sight kicked in again.

"Assam, help me take those candlesticks down."

Assam did as he was told, taking the candlesticks off the wall and handing them to Cao Xing.

A system prompt appeared.

[Obtained Gilded Candlestick *1]

"Holy cow, these are gold-plated?"

Although it wasn't solid gold, it still pleasantly surprised Cao Xing.

Just based on the exquisite carvings on the candlestick, it was already worth a fortune.

[Gilded Candlestick: An exquisite handicraft that can be sold to chambers of commerce for a handsome price.]

"Haha, they really can be sold. Hilton should love this batch of goods."

Even if they couldn't be sold, bringing them back to decorate his lord's cabin would be quite nice.

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction and put it away.

Then, he had Assam and Andrew take down all the candlesticks they encountered along the way.

[Obtained Gilded Candlestick *1]

[Obtained Gilded Candlestick *1]

[Obtained…]

After advancing about a hundred meters, Cao Xing had already collected over twenty Gilded Candlesticks, a bountiful harvest.

Just then, Assam, who was walking at the very front, suddenly said alertly, "I sense an evil aura!"

He raised his longsword, standing ready for battle.

At the same time, Cao Xing also heard the sound of footsteps coming from ahead in the passage.

Crack! Crack!

The footsteps were very strange, sounding as if an ice sculpture were walking.

As the footsteps drew closer, Cao Xing could even feel the temperature in the passage dropping significantly.

[Current Temperature: -37°C]

"What on earth is that? Making such a grand entrance?" Cao Xing wondered.

Then, they saw the source of the footsteps.

They were two short creatures with pointed ears and stubby limbs.

Their iconic appearance made it clear that they were two goblins.

However, the difference was that these goblins were covered from head to toe in a layer of deathly pale, granular frost.

Their eyes were hollow and their skin was deathly pale, as if they had been dead for a long time.

"Be careful, Lord! There's something wrong with these goblins!"

Assam said warily.

Just then, the two goblins spotted Cao Xing and the others and instantly charged over.

Seeing the enemy initiate the attack,

Cao Xing ordered, "Go, take them down."

With those words, Assam dashed straight ahead.

He quickly clashed with the two goblins.

He brandished his longsword, slashing upward from below.

"Swish!"

However, his Frost Wolf Swordplay, which had always been invincible before, now felt as if it were hitting a block of ice, producing a crisp clink sound.

[-274]

This damage didn't seem low.

However, compared to Assam's attack power of nearly five hundred, it was reduced by almost half!

In other words, these two ice-like goblins had incredibly high defense.

The two goblins counterattacked immediately.

They swung their claws and pounced forward fiercely.

Bang! Bang!

[-231]

[-247]

The immense force caused the Frost Wolf to instantly retreat several steps.

Seeing this, Cao Xing said in surprise, "Whoa… they're this strong?"

Just then, Assam found the right angle and swept his longsword across with precision.

"Puff! Puff!"

[-315]

[-332]

The two goblins were knocked into the air by Assam.

Having just become a Chieftain-tier creature, Assam was terrifyingly strong now.

Even though the levels of these two goblins were clearly much higher than his, Assam was completely fearless.

Swish! Swish, swish!

He swung his knight's longsword so fast it formed an impenetrable barrier.

Every time the two goblins tried to attack the Frost Wolf beneath him, they would be knocked back by Assam.

Seeing this, Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he directly ordered, "Attack together, kill these two goblins."

Dabai was the first to let out a long trumpet.

"Moo—"

Then, it stomped its thick elephant hooves and charged forward wildly.

Bang!

Dabai swung its trunk, throwing both goblins into the air and slamming them heavily against the walls on both sides.

[-512]

[-507]

Two large damage numbers floated up.

At the same time,

Sarah, Andrew, and Renice nearby all launched their attacks.

Sarah appeared behind one of the goblins like a ghost, her Shadow Blade slicing through.

Clink!

[-576]

Obviously, Sarah's attack was also heavily mitigated, but it still dealt decent damage.

And this strike completely enraged the goblin.

It quickly scrambled up from the ground, extended its frost-covered claws, and pounced toward Sarah.

Swish! Swish!

[-156]

[-148]

After two claw strikes, two damage numbers appeared above Sarah's head.

They only dealt slightly over 300 damage in total.

Seeing this, Cao Xing felt completely at ease.

With the support of multiple buffs, the damage Sarah took was also greatly mitigated.

Now, with the other recruited creatures joining the fray, these two strange goblins could no longer stir up any trouble.

In fact, even Brent Brimstone and Renice didn't need to do much.

Cao Xing began to inspect the stats of the two goblins.

[Corrupted Goblin: Level 18]

[Race: Goblin]

[HP: 3212/6740]

[Attack Power: 361–378]

[Skills: Corrupted Claw Strike (Swings corrupted claws, dealing 80% of Attack Power as damage twice to the enemy, and applying 2 stacks of Frost Corruption Mark)

Corrupted Carapace (Covered in corrupted ice, armor is increased by an additional 100 points, and physical damage taken is reduced by 10%)]

[Talent: Alchemy]

[Note: These are goblins guarding the palace. For some reason, they have been eroded by ice corruption, losing their sanity while gaining even greater power.]

…

Seeing the description, a look of realization appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"I see. No wonder these goblins are so strong; it's because of these curses."

At this moment, the two goblins were surrounded and attacked by everyone.

Assam and Andrew continuously dealt terrifying damage to them, with two other Chieftain-tier creatures on the side.

There was basically no suspense in this battle.

Cao Xing also raised his staff and threw three ice spikes over.

[-74]

[-75]

[-77]

Three damage numbers floated up.

For Cao Xing, whose attack power had already broken past 200, this damage seemed very low.

Cao Xing sighed, "This Corrupted Carapace skill is a bit ridiculous!"

"It directly increases armor by 100 points, which is equivalent to the bonus of a whole set of equipment."

However, although Cao Xing's attack power was low, the attack power of the other recruited creatures was very substantial.

Sarah, cooperating with the forklift robot, was dealing with one Corrupted Goblin, her Shadow Blade flashing continuously.

[-587]

[-571]

[-1129!]

Terrifying damage numbers floated up one after another.

Before long, this Corrupted Goblin's HP dropped below one thousand.

Meanwhile, Sarah had also taken four attacks.

Although her HP didn't drop much, what was somewhat troublesome was that a faint layer of white frost had appeared on the parts of Sarah's body that were hit.

Cao Xing checked Sarah's status.

[Status: Corrupted Mark * 4 (When the Corrupted Mark accumulates to 10 stacks, it will reduce Max HP by 10% until the Corrupted Mark disappears)]

Seeing the description of this Corrupted Mark,

Cao Xing mused, "This is a bit tricky."

"It actually reduces Max HP by a percentage. If we were besieged by a group of Corrupted Goblins, wouldn't they be able to reduce an enemy's HP to its lowest point just by stacking the Frost Corruption state?"

"No wonder the system said this is a high-difficulty area. Just these two goblins at the entrance could wipe out quite a few Survivor squads."

At this time, it was the Aurora Knight's turn to step up.

Cao Xing looked at Liu Muxue beside him and said, "Muxue, remember to keep an eye on their statuses."

"If you see anyone with more than 5 stacks of the Corrupted Mark, throw a Purify spell on them."

With Liu Muxue's stats now upgraded, a single cast of [Purify] could cleanse 3 stacks of negative statuses.

Moreover, the cooldown of this basic skill wasn't long, with only a 5-second CD.

Holding her shield, Liu Muxue responded solemnly, "Okay… I will, Axing!"

After speaking, she raised her longsword and cast a burst of Holy Aurora toward Sarah.

At the same time,

Renice nearby was also launching attacks at the two goblins.

She stood straight as a pine tree, perfectly showcasing her slender curves.

Slowly drawing her bowstring, she shot an arrow in an instant.

Shoo!

The arrow hit its mark.

[-372!]

This arrow struck the Corrupted Goblin's head, dealing critical damage.

Shoo! Shoo, shoo!

The Shaman also cast a totem skill, increasing the critical rate and hit rate of friendly units.

Under the onslaught of several powerful creatures,

the HP of the two Corrupted Goblins at the entrance quickly hit rock bottom.

With a single slash from Sarah, the last goblin fell.

[Your territory member, Sarah Blade Dance, has killed Corrupted Goblin Lv18, gaining 200 EXP]

[Combatants gained 100 EXP]

[Your territory member, Renice Hawkeye, has killed Corrupted Goblin Lv19, gaining 220 EXP]

[Combatants gained 110 EXP]

…

The entire battle took less than thirty seconds.

Cao Xing was delighted.

"Although these goblins are tricky to deal with, they give quite a lot of EXP, comparable to killing a Level 12 elite monster."

Cao Xing glanced at his EXP bar.

[Current Level: Level 8 (16%)]

Liu Muxue's level had also reached Level 7 (4%).

Currently on the leaderboard, the two of them were still first and second, leading by a wide margin.

"Great. This way, we just need to wait until we both reach Level 10, and with the help of the leaderboard rewards, we can advance directly."

"Not only that, but there are also two recruitment scrolls, which can significantly boost my territory's strength."

Cao Xing's heart was filled with anticipation.

However, the more important thing right now was to explore this Goblin Treasury.

Then, as was his custom, Cao Xing approached the goblins' bodies and began to loot them.

[Obtained Large Ration * 1]

[Obtained Book of Mana (Medium) * 1]

[Obtained Corrupted Scale * 7]

[Obtained Primary Elemental Crystal * 2]

As usual, Cao Xing checked the attributes of the two newly obtained materials.

[Book of Mana (Medium): Increases a friendly unit's Spirit attribute by 2 points.]

(Note: Cannot be used on the Lord.)

…

[Corrupted Scale: A scale tainted with a corrupted aura.]

(Can be used to craft certain special equipment, or turned in to the 'Dragon Research Society' after collecting a certain amount to receive rich rewards.)

"Is it related to dragons again?"

Cao Xing shook his head and put the two items away.

Then he said, "Let's keep moving."

Following this brick passage, the group continued forward for about two hundred meters.

Soon, they arrived at a spacious area that looked like a hall.

There were ancient stone pillars, and in the middle of the hall stood a black altar carved with mysterious patterns.

A group of Corrupted Goblins knelt before the altar, as if worshiping something.

Their bodies were stiff and covered in frost, appearing to have remained in this posture for a very long time.

Cao Xing took a quick glance; the number of goblins here exceeded ten.

Among them, he also saw a strong goblin wearing armor and holding a black iron hammer.

He glanced at their stats.

[Corrupted Goblin: Level 19]

[Race: Goblin]

[HP: 6840/6840]

[Attack Power: 377–384]

[Armor: 137–154 (+100 extra)]

[Skills: Corrupted Claw Strike, Corrupted Carapace.]

…

[Corrupted Goblin Warrior: Level 20]

[Race: Goblin]

[Rank: Tier 2 Elite Creature]

[HP: 10760/10760]

[Attack Power: 554–571]

[Armor: 215–243 (+100 extra)]

[Skills: Head-on Hammer Strike (Deals a heavy blow to the enemy, causing 150% of Attack Power as damage and stunning the enemy for 2 seconds)

Enrage (After taking 10 attacks, enters an enraged state, increasing attack speed by 20%)

Earth-Shattering Slam (Heavily swings the hammer, dealing 80% of Attack Power as damage to enemies within five meters and applying 1 stack of Corrupted Mark)

Lesser Corrupted Carapace (Armor +100)]

[Talent: Alchemy]

…

"Holy cow, an elite monster with 4 skills, and it even has Corrupted Carapace."

Obviously, with over three hundred armor, this guy's defense was absolutely terrifying.

On top of that, there were eleven ordinary goblins nearby.

The strength of the goblins here was quite formidable.

They could easily wipe out a hundred-person Survivor team.

Cao Xing didn't charge over immediately but continued to look for something in this hall.

Behind that group of goblins, Cao Xing seemed to see a row of treasure chests!

There were four chests in total: two silver chests and two bronze chests.

"As expected of a Goblin Treasury! To have so many chests appear all at once!"

And what caught Cao Xing's attention even more was that black altar.

There seemed to be several sparkling gems embedded in it!

…

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