Hidden level unlocked! (7200)

Chapter 578: Hidden Stage Activated! (7200)

Two consecutive forbidden spells directly took the lives of 160,000 resurrected army soldiers.

This is the terror of a Hero-level mage!

On such a large battlefield, a forbidden spell can easily take the lives of hundreds of thousands of living beings—it's practically a head harvester!

Now, Isabelle's level has directly risen to level 97. She only needs 3 more levels to reach the maximum level of 100.

"Very good! Let's not talk about the ninth wave for now, since those are just some liches."

"As for the tenth wave, besides the Overlord-level BOSS, there are also a large number of resurrected army soldiers."

"With this, it's more than enough to let Isabelle reach level 100!"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing became even more expectant.

Now the battles at the south gate and north gate have ended smoothly.

Only the east gate and west gate battlefields remain.

However, these two battlefields don't need much worry.

After all, with Sarah and Lana, these two Overlord-level creatures, guarding them, dealing with these resurrected army soldiers is completely overwhelming!

Of course, the most outstanding performer is the newly joined Green Snake Lana.

It was known before that she can borrow the power of the Legendary Great Snake: Green Scale at any time.

At this moment, she has also entered her transformed state!

A giant snake several hundred meters long, covered entirely in green scales, appeared.

Then, she opened her bloody mouth and spat out a ball of green venom.

"Splash!!!"

Mouthfuls of green venom were spat out by her, covering an area of several dozen meters ahead.

All passing monsters were instantly contaminated by the venom, and the poison stacks on their status bar instantly rose to 20 stacks.

Stacks.

"ll—"

[-543147]

[-532543]

[-563918]

[-563461]

Damage numbers of five to six hundred thousand floated up one after another, and a large number of monsters were poisoned to death on the spot!

The venom intensity of this Green Snake is not inferior to Hilda's Blood Poison.

However, Hilda can stack up to 100 layers, while Green Snake Lana can only stack up to 20 layers. In terms of sustained damage, the Blood Spider Queen is still stronger.

Besides that, Green Snake Lana has another attack method.

As a burst of green smoke emanated from her body, a large number of green snake phantoms rushed out.

"Splash splash~!"

One green snake after another flashed like lightning, then rushed onto these resurrected army soldiers, biting madly.

The monster groups fell in swaths.

Of course, Sarah, who was defending alongside her, was equally terrifying.

[Assassination Overlord Domain] + [Shadow Hourglass], these two methods that can reset skill cooldowns, when combined,

completely achieved continuous chaining of various small skills.

One group attack skill after another was thrown out, and the resurrected army soldiers were cut down in swaths.

Soon, the west gate stabilized.

The battlefield at the north gate was defended by Assam and his Frost Wolf Winter.

Although they didn't have forbidden spell-level group attack methods, they were also beings who had received various blessings,

and their monster-clearing speed was terrifying.

Moreover, even if they occasionally missed some monsters, it didn't matter much.

After all, on the city wall behind them, there were still a large number of combat personnel waiting to be deployed.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes,

the battlefields at the east and west gates had all ended.

Glancing at the battle information, everyone's levels had risen again.

First, Green Snake Lana's level had risen to 98 in one breath.

Sarah's level had smoothly reached 97.

Assam and Frost Wolf Winter had currently reached level 87 and 85.

Cao Xing thought: "From this, it seems Sarah and Lana will most likely reach max level tonight."

"As for Assam and Winter, it's a bit uncertain. They'll probably only reach around level 90."

"But that's already enough. After all, I don't have any extra Relics or Heart of Legend on hand to let them break through."

Thinking of this, he continued the challenge.

Next were the ninth and tenth waves.

Just as Cao Xing had expected.

The ninth wave was a few liches, but the number had doubled compared to last time.

It became a full 12 liches attacking simultaneously.

Of course, because they had been prepared long ago, this time they were not caught off guard. Instead, they interrupted all the skills of these sinister resurrected liches as quickly as possible.

Due to the spell backlash, these liches all fell to the ground and were quickly surrounded by a group of strong individuals, then subjected to rounds of frenzied attacks.

The ninth wave battle ended.

[Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the ninth wave of the Monster Siege challenge and received rewards: Ancient Bright Moon Treasure Chest*1,

Bright Moon Treasure Chest*1, gold points +200]

Then came the tenth wave.

Led by twelve level 100 Overlord-level creatures—Resurrected Wild Ghosts—commanding 280,000 resurrected army soldiers, attacking from four directions!

This powerful force made Cao Xing take it a bit more seriously.

He continued to send out a large number of core combat personnel specifically to deal with the Overlords and Commander-level creatures within.

Isabelle, Sarah, Assam, and others all did their utmost to kill enemies within the monster groups.

The warriors also cooperated quite well.

Basically, after beating the monsters to low health, they left the final blow to them.

Of course, this would slow down the battle efficiency.

But it didn't matter.

This was the last wave of the Monster Siege, so Cao Xing naturally had to utilize it to the fullest.

Since his level had reached the maximum of 100, he had not made a move.

Isabelle, on the other hand, vibrated her Wind Wings, flying in midair, occasionally waving her staff to release one super-large-range Holy Light Ball after another.

"!!"

The Holy Light Balls fell, blasting a large number of resurrected army soldiers on the spot!

In the blink of an eye, about fifty minutes of the fourth wave battle had passed.

At the same time, those level 100 Overlord-level monsters—Resurrected Wild Ghosts—had all been slain.

The number of other monsters had also been reduced by about two-thirds. The massive monster deaths brought a massive amount of experience.

Green Snake Lana's level smoothly rose to 100.

Isabelle's level had risen to 99 with 67% progress, and Sarah's level had reached 99 with 54% progress.

As for Assam and his Frost Wolf, one was level 89, the other level 87.

Seeing this, Cao Xing thought: "From this, it seems Isabelle and Sarah reaching max level tonight is a sure thing."

"As for Assam, it's about as expected—he'll stop at level 90."

"But it's fine. As long as Isabelle can reach level 100, that's enough!"

Everyone continued to slay the resurrected army soldiers below, and experience points kept increasing.

Before five minutes passed, a system prompt appeared.

[Your territory member: Isabelle Gospel's level has been raised to level 100, reaching the current rank cap.]

A few more minutes passed.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance's level has been raised, current level 100, reaching the current rank cap.]

In the territory, two more level 100 Hero-level units were added.

Counting Malenia, Dragon Speaker Bing Lan and her giant dragon, Green Snake Lana, Liu Muxue, and Cao Xing.

The entire territory now had eight level 100 creatures!

And most of them were Overlords, Mutated Overlords!

It went without saying what a terrifying force this was!

About half an hour later, the battle was nearing its end.

When the last resurrected army soldier was slain, it also declared the complete end of the Monster Siege.

[You have successfully cleared the tenth wave of the Monster Siege challenge.]

[Received clearance rewards: Ancient Bright Moon Treasure Chest*1, Divine Power Shard*3, gold points +500]

A satisfied smile appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"Very good, another 3 Divine Power Shards."

"Besides that, quite a few treasure chests were also given."

"Now in my backpack, there are three Bright Moon Treasure Chests and three Ancient Bright Moon ones that can be opened."

"Although there's no hidden reward like last time, it's still quite good!"

Among these, what Cao Xing needed most were Divine Power Shards.

He glanced at the number of all shards in his backpack.

[Divine Power Shard]*22

"22 shards are equivalent to 220 points of divine power value that can be replenished."

"And during this time, Malenia's divine power value has recovered to 33 points, and the divine power value in the power beads has also accumulated to 45 points."

"Added together, that's nearly three hundred points of divine power value!"

"If I also absorb the two hundred points of divine power from the two Relics, it will be completely enough for Malenia to activate her second form!"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing couldn't help but feel a bit excited.

Once Malenia transforms into a Legendary.

He would not only become the first lord among global Survivors to have a Legendary-level sub-profession territory member.

Now he might also become the first lord to have a Legendary-level combat profession!

"However—before that, there's still a problem—"

"That is, if I let Malenia absorb the divine power value from the Relic, then I can't let Isabelle break through to Holy Light Priest."

"But if I let Isabelle break through, if it succeeds, that's fine, but if it fails, the divine power value contained in the Relic will disappear."

"And in that case, I would lose 100 points of divine power value and a Heart of Legend."

"Not only would I be unable to gather enough divine power value for Malenia's second form, but even Isabelle wouldn't be able to break through to Legendary."

"Or should I play it safe and let Malenia absorb the divine power value from the Light Mark?"

Although the probability of Isabelle's breakthrough failing was very small, even a small probability was possible.

There were still seven days until the Blood Legion appears.

Cao Xing had to prepare for the worst.

After all, he now desperately needed a Legendary-level force!

Having a Legendary meant he had the power to establish himself on this continent!

If the Watchers wanted to deal with him, they would need to send at least two to three Legendaries, and they might even be counter-killed by him!

By then, combined with the Old King, he would no longer fear the threats of these guys!

Just as he was hesitating, a second prompt appeared.

[Survivor Cao Xing, please pay attention! Because you have consecutively cleared the tenth round of the Monster Siege challenge twice, the Monster Siege hidden stage is now open for you!]

[Hidden Stage: Monster quantity: 1, Monster level: 110 (Legendary creature)]

[After clearing the hidden stage, you will receive a special reward. Do you want to challenge?]

"Holy crap! Hidden stage!"

"And this time, the monster inside is actually at the Legendary level!"

Seeing the prompt above, Cao Xing was instantly shocked!

After the shock, he quickly calmed down and began to analyze.

"According to previous estimates, with my current territory combat power, without using trump cards, it's enough to deal with one Legendary."

"But even among Legendaries, there are strong and weak ones and different combat specialties."

"If it's a Legendary that isn't good at group attacks, like the assassin that came to kill me last time, that's fine."

"But if it's a Legendary with an extremely wide attack range, it won't be easy to deal with."

"If I'm not careful and it affects other areas, my territory will suffer heavy losses!"

"Can I first let Malenia absorb all the divine power contained in the Relics, and then challenge it?"

At that moment, a system prompt appeared.

[Please make a choice as soon as possible. Remaining time: 29 seconds—]

Cao Xing also knew that his idea had fallen through.

This little time was not enough for Malenia to absorb all the divine power value.

A conflicted expression appeared on his face again.

"Damn it—I didn't expect the hidden stage to actually be a Legendary creature."

"Although this level of monster is terrifying, if I can kill it, the reward will definitely be terrifying!"

"Last time I was just a little short of killing that Legendary, and now, my territory's strength has also been greatly enhanced."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing gritted his teeth and said: "Damn it, let's do it!"

He quickly said: "All combat personnel, attention! Continue to prepare for battle!"

"The enemy is a Legendary!"

Hearing this, the thousands of combat personnel in the entire territory all felt a chill!

They had originally thought that after the tenth wave of battle ended, they could almost rest tonight.

But now, their lord actually said they had to continue fighting, and against a Legendary-level enemy!

For a moment, everyone's pupils dilated sharply, and the blood in their bodies began to accelerate.

Of course, this was not fear, but excitement!

Excitement to fight a Legendary enemy!

The last battle with that Watcher had already dispelled their fear of Legendaries.

Everyone was eager to try.

In the blink of an eye, all combat personnel in the territory began to take action.

All archers stood on the city walls, drawing their bowstrings.

Other staff quickly moved Frost Catapults, Neros Cannons, and other war tools over.

The melee units were waiting in strict formation below the city walls.

[part:gemini-3.5-flash]

When only the last few seconds of the countdown remained,

Cao Xing clicked to confirm the challenge!

[You have made your choice. The Monster Siege hidden stage has been unlocked. Please prepare for battle.]

The moment the notification faded, everyone sensed an extremely evil aura suddenly appear ahead!

It felt as if some long-sealed evil entity had awakened, and the air filled with the scent of death and decay.

Everyone looked over, and through the pitch-black night, they could see a towering figure.

It stood at least a hundred meters tall, slowly emerging from the darkness with an astonishingly oppressive presence.

As it drew closer, everyone could clearly see the monster's form.

It looked like a creature made purely of rotting flesh and tentacles, resembling a giant octopus floating in the air.

The difference was that its tentacles were short, densely packed, and constantly writhing.

Of course, this wasn't even its most bizarre feature.

The strangest part was that a massive, pitch-black eyeball grew on the body of this rotting octopus.

The eyeball was at least ten meters in diameter and was capable of movement.

Anyone targeted by its gaze would feel a deep, instinctual shudder from the bottom of their heart.

"Holy crap! Is the resurrected army always this disgusting-looking?" Cao Xing couldn't help but complain.

Then, he quickly scanned the monster's attributes.

[Eye of Zhaitan]

[Race: resurrected army]

[Level: 110]

[Life Tier: Overlord-level Creature]

[divine power value: ??? (Unable to inspect)]

[HP: 345,000,000 / 345,000,000]

[Attack Power: 1,324,500 ~ 1,324,500]

[Armor: 124,196 ~ 128,754]

[Skills: Death Ray (Basic Attack), Fel Shield, Land of Bone Spikes, Summon Evil Spirits, Evil Eye Curse]

[Commander-level Skill: Death Vortex (Condenses the power of death to form a death vortex covering a 3,000-meter radius, drawing in enemies within the vortex and pulling them closer rapidly.

Upon entering attack range, the Eye of Zhaitan will extend numerous tentacles to pierce the bodies of surrounding enemies,

draining 462,782 HP per second over the next 60 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours.)]

[Overlord-level Skill: Domain of the Death Eye (Increases status resistance by 30%. Every 30 seconds, inflicts 5 stacks of Plague Poison on all enemies, detonating all negative statuses once 10 stacks are reached.)]

[Hero Combat Technique: None]

[Legendary Skill: Death Annihilation – Domain Erosion (Consumes 10 divine power value to release all death energy, turning a 20,000-meter radius into a land of death. Within this range, all creatures below Legendary rank have their attributes suppressed by 30% and skill cooldowns increased by 100 seconds.

During this period, they will take damage equal to 556% of the Eye of Zhaitan's attack power per second, and receive 3 stacks of Plague effect.

This skill lasts for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours.)]

[Talent: Power of Rebirth (Upon death, revives once with full HP. Currently sealed, unusable.)]

(Note: The Eye of Zhaitan is the eye of the Death Dragon. Zhaitan can use this eye to view other continents or planes.)

"Holy crap—are this monster's skills really that terrifying?"

A Commander-level Death Vortex, plus an Overlord Domain!

And on top of that, an even more terrifying Legendary skill!

Any of these moves could easily wipe out the entire territory.

Moreover, this Eye of Zhaitan was exactly the kind of monster Cao Xing feared most—one that excelled at area-of-effect attacks!

A solemn expression gradually appeared in his eyes.

Fortunately, however, the Eye of Zhaitan's revival talent was sealed by the system.

Otherwise, if they finally managed to kill this guy only for it to immediately revive with full health, it would be utterly despairing!

Cao Xing quickly thought it through in his mind.

"It's about what I expected. A Legendary creature's HP is over 200 million, and its attack power is over one million."

"The only good news is that only its skills have large areas of effect; its basic attack range isn't that ridiculous."

"This is winnable!"

With this in mind, he made his decision.

He would try his best to take down this Eye of Zhaitan without using the [Lizardman Statue]!

At this moment, the massive eyeball was slowly approaching from three kilometers away, about to enter attack range.

He took a deep breath, "All ranged units, get ready!"

Upon hearing the order, all archers on the field instantly drew their bows, while the Frost Catapults and Neros Cannons were already loaded with ammunition!

Cao Xing himself flapped the Wind Wings on his back, rushing out a kilometer or two to quickly close in on the monster.

He couldn't let the Eye of Zhaitan get within two kilometers of the territory!

At the same time, seeing Cao Xing fly over, the giant eye launched an attack in an instant.

*Buzz!*

A pitch-black death ray shot toward him at extreme speed, landing on him.

It seemed to know that this Otherworld Lord was the key to this group and needed to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

Cao Xing did not dodge; he also wanted to see how large the basic attack range of this Legendary monster was.

*Crack!*

The death ray landed directly on Cao Xing, piercing through him.

However, it only managed to pierce through a layer of Holy Shield.

Through this attack, Cao Xing reached a conclusion.

"The maximum range of the Eye of Zhaitan's basic attack is about five hundred meters, and its maximum diameter is ten meters."

"I haven't seen the full attack power yet, but it's estimated to be over a million."

"To deal with this guy with minimal casualties, we must pin it down at a safe distance, but not too far. We must ensure all defense towers in the territory can reach it to help with damage output."

He quickly organized the battle plan in his mind.

"Braum, enter the Primordial Giant form and keep this monster pinned between 1,500 and 2,000 meters!"

Upon hearing the order, a figure leaped fiercely from the city wall and charged toward the giant, one-eyed monster at extreme speed!

As he ran, the figure's body expanded rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a hundred-meter-tall giant, matching this Legendary creature in size!

Seeing this, the eyeball of the Eye of Zhaitan rolled, seemingly not focusing its gaze on Braum.

Instead, its pupil contracted sharply, and the flesh all over its body began to writhe rapidly.

In the next moment, a cloud of black mist suddenly appeared above Cao Xing's head at a terrifying speed.

This skill was precisely its Boss-level skill—Evil Eye Curse!

It could inflict 10 stacks of Plague Curse on an enemy, immediately detonating the plague effects on them for ten times the damage!

Furthermore, over the next 60 seconds, the plague damage taken would be doubled.

This single-target skill could be described as absolutely terrifying, capable of even insta-killing Hero-level units.

Not to mention, it was cast by a Legendary creature, making it almost impossible to avoid!

Sarah, Liu Muxue, and the others on the field saw the black mist descend upon Cao Xing's head, and looks of horror appeared in their eyes!

"Ah Xing!"

"My Lord!"

They instinctively wanted to rush over to save him. However, the black mist was simply too fast and had already landed on Cao Xing's head.

*Buzz!*

A burst of death energy instantly enveloped Cao Xing.

At this moment, a status text floated above his head.

[Immune!]

This strike did not cause any damage to him.

Seeing this, a look of joy immediately appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"I almost forgot, I have the 'Death Walker' title, which grants immunity to all corpse poison and plague effects."

"This skill seems to have no effect on me at all!"

The subordinates behind him also showed expressions of pleasant surprise in their eyes!

Once the crisis was averted, Cao Xing quickly ordered, "Attack with everything you've got!"

Upon hearing the command, all ranged units launched their attacks one after another!

"Boom! Boom!"

Seven Neros Cannons, five Frost Catapults, and a large number of Corrosive Arrow Towers and Frost Arrow Towers were all activated!

Red and blue artillery shells streaked through the night sky, trailing fire!

Intermingled with them were the wind blades and ground spikes of the mages.

They all rained down upon the massive eyeball.

"Boom! Boom!"

Shell after shell exploded, rising into mushroom clouds over ten meters high!

Densely packed wind blades and ground spikes continuously slashed across the rotting body, triggering waves of damage.

[-2637]

[-2482]

[-10627]

[-9862]

[-452!]

[-547!]

[-356!]

[-376!]

Under the Eye of Zhaitan's 120,000 armor, everyone's attacks were significantly mitigated.

The few five-digit damage numbers among them were blasted out by the Neros Cannons and the heroes in the territory.

But that didn't matter; after all, Cao Xing had plenty of ranged units on his side.

Just this single wave of attacks shaved off over two million HP from the Eye of Zhaitan.

Meanwhile, Braum had already arrived in front of the Eye of Zhaitan, holding up his massive shield.

Then, with a fierce roar, he activated his forced taunt state, forcing the Eye of Zhaitan to attack the hundred-meter-tall giant.

Cao Xing quickly commanded, "Farnaz, use the 'Curse Infestation' skill on this guy."

Priestess Farnaz raised the [Staff of Distortion], and a mass of black energy surged into the Eye of Zhaitan, drastically reducing its luck value.

Then, Cao Xing used the [Orb of Cursed Luck], drastically reducing the monster's luck value once again.

Although the effect of the reduced luck value hadn't manifested yet, it was definitely useful!

At the very least, it would increase the chance of the enemy getting crowd-controlled in the upcoming battle.

Meanwhile,

after being repeatedly focused by everyone's fire, the Eye of Zhaitan seemed to be enraged.

Its deep pupil swept over everyone on the field, as if looking at a swarm of ants!

However, under the taunted state, it could only continuously attack Braum.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

Death rays landed on Braum one after another, dealing terrifying amounts of damage.

[-1,557,363]

[-1,649,521]

[-1,842,432]

Cao Xing quickly did the math.

"The attack frequency of this Eye of Zhaitan is about three to four times per second, and its damage per second is around 5 million. With Braum's HP, that means he can hold out for about four seconds."

"Now, with the simultaneous healing from the Level 100 Liu Muxue and Isabelle, the refreshing of Holy Shield, plus the 10 Tribal Witch Doctors, they can keep Braum standing for about another two seconds."

"However, Isabelle has a Commander-level skill that can instantly restore Braum to full health and block an attack.

,

"By conservative estimates, Braum can block this guy for at least 10 seconds!"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing felt reassured.

Braum's defense was as terrifying as ever, able to hold down even such a Legendary creature for so long.

The only trouble, however, was that all of the Eye of Zhaitan's attacks inflicted a death plague effect.

Cao Xing quickly commanded, "Light Feather Chicken, start focusing on Braum now and clear all the negative statuses on him with all your might."

"Everyone else, keep attacking."

"Seraphis, Frost Moose, Volibear, Dabai!"

"Throw all your crowd control skills at it!"

The moment they heard the order, everyone threw out a massive amount of crowd control skills.

Cao Xing himself also raised his staff and began to unleash wide-range slow skills.

Extreme Cold Dragon Breath!

Extreme Cold Breath!

Extreme Ice Bloom!

Thousand Miles of Ice!

With this wave of various crowd control and slow skills stacking,

they had already proven earlier that they could affect Legendary creatures.

And now was no exception!

As various ice element arrays appeared, intense cold air erupted wildly, causing the surrounding temperature to drop directly by over ten degrees.

Layers of frost gradually emerged on the surface of the giant Eye of Zhaitan's terrifying body, and its movements slowed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Furthermore, as the cold air continued to blast out, the terrifying creature was frozen into a massive ice sculpture in the blink of an eye.

"Haha! It's frozen!"

Cao Xing didn't expect that the first attempt at crowd control would be this easy.

Obviously, this was highly likely the influence of the luck value. After all, this guy had his luck value slashed by a whopping 200 points!