Chapter 7: Chapter 7: The Cave of Langhuan
Translator: 549690339
Fairy house key, White Wood Level, that teleports to the Immortal's Cave Mansion when used and has a limit of one use per day.
Ye Rong clenched the key, and with a slight breaking motion, a stream of starlight engulfed him, teleporting him away in an instant.
Each fairy house key is connected to a teleport point of the Immortal's Cave Mansion. However, these Immortal's Cave Mansions are independent instances, meaning players cannot meet each other within. Also, any changes inside won't affect the progress of the corresponding instances existing in The Other Shore.
In The Other Shore, Flying Swords and magical treasures above the fifth grade have a definite total quantity. Especially, ninth-grade Flying Swords and magical treasures exist only as unique items – no second identical item could exist.
However, the presence of the fairy house keys could potentially duplicate treasures stored in those Immortal's Cave Mansions, making an identical replica with the same effect and abilities. This contributes to why fairy house keys, despite their rarity, only increase in value toward the later stages of the game.
But Immortal's Cave Mansions concealing treasures are filled with traps and restrictions. Even through conventional means, obtaining it is difficult unless with help from a clan. Even with a high-grade fairy house key, and extremely good luck to be transported to the desired Immortal's Cave Mansion, it is nearly impossible to pass the trials single-handedly.
The cave of Langhuan, Yellow cave D-class.
A System Notice Sound rang, and Ye Rong found himself amidst a somewhat gloomy and desolate Stone Hall.
The length and width were equal, about one hundred steps in measurement, forming a square shape.
Long rectangular green bricks covered the entire hall ground. In the corners dripped water forming repetitive echoes, "drip-drip-drip".
On the four-faced bluestone walls hung several wall lamps. A few seemingly ever-burning, flickering orange flames emitted faint light. It barely lit the entire hall, enough for one to inspect its contents.
Rows of wooden bookshelves were neatly arranged. However, not a single book was left upon them – it was bare.
Due to the lengthy time of deposition, the thick layer of dust and spider webs were an ordinary sight on the bookshelves. Ye Rong even suspected that a slight push of these ancient bookshelves would cause them to topple over, creaking eerily."
Ye Rong took a cautious step forward. The haushing silence around accentuated his footsteps, and no matter how much he quietened them, their echo was unavoidable.
"Not participating in the internal beta test is a real disadvantage. Other than the pitiful content I learned from the forum, I have no idea whatsoever what changes may occur inside the Immortal's Cave Mansion and what kind of trials are involved."
Mumbling to himself, Ye Rong moved forward cautiously, step by step. His hand held the Peach-tree Sword steadily, the tip of the sword kept lowered, ready to respond to attacks from any direction at the fastest speed.
Clack, clack —clack, clack!
The ground between the bookshelves began to rattle, one by one, Yuzu Wood Puppets stood up. Two dim red lights flickered in their eye holes.
Battered Yuzu Wood Puppet, 5th-grade mechanical creature.
"One, two, three, four, five, six! Six battered Yuzu Wood Puppets!"
Ye Rong counted the number of enemies he would have to face immediately. Wobbling as they approached him, these Yuzu Wood Puppets brandished their weapons. No one would believe they were welcoming Ye Rong.
Maybe due to their long existence, some parts of these Yuzu Wood Puppets were damaged. At least, their strength had significantly reduced compared to their original state.
It was fortunate they had weakened, otherwise Ye Rong would have had no choice but to give up and wait for his imminent death. The White Wood Level fairy house key would not have led him into such a high-level situation– beyond the player's range.
Facing six 5th-grade mechanical puppets head-on was a sure path to death. Ye Rong knew this as soon as he saw the chilling glint on the fine steel weapons in the puppets' hands. Nonetheless, his advantage lied in the fact that he moved faster than the Yuzu Wood Puppets. He could wear these seemingly dull mechanical puppets with a slow burn strategy using the Fire spell.
-4
When the fire spell collided with an Yuzu wooden puppet and ignited tiny sparks, revealing damages, Ye Rong couldn't help but curse under his breath.
"Damn it, it's a wooden puppet. How come it's so resistant to fire magic?!"
The fire spell struck the Yuzu wood puppet, leaving only a shallow, black mark on it, as though they were striking on metal.
Ye Rong didn't know how much health an Yuzu wooden puppet had, but judging from its level and characteristics, it must be several times that of a Red Fox. Even if he could wear it down little by little with fire spells, his Qi definitely wouldn't be enough.
Ye Rong carried three Blood-Supplementing pills and a dose of Recovery powder, purchasing all of this had exhausted all the copper coins he had managed to scrape together. The heartless System merchant was definitely one of the most cursed NPCs by the players.
While slowly whittling down their health with fire spells, Ye Rong's thoughts raced in search of a feasible solution. But suddenly he gaped in horror, noticing the situation on the field had changed again, but this time in an extremely disadvantageous direction for him.
The six Yuzu wood puppets unexpectedly split into two teams, they bypassed the bookshelf and surrounded Ye Rong from the front and back.
Real mechanical beings of just 5th level, yet with an intelligent AI like this!
Even if the Yuzu wood puppets moved slowly, they would easily surround him with their numerical advantage and leave no room to escape.
Watching the Yuzu wood puppets draw closer, Ye Rong gritted his teeth. As he blasted a fireball, he also charged towards the closest Yuzu wood puppet carrying the Peach-tree sword.
If he hesitated any longer and allowed them to encircle him, he will certainly lose all chances of survival.
Ding!
The Peach-tree sword precisely hit the steel blade of the Yuzu wood puppet, deflecting its weapon slightly. Ye Rong took a step forward to close the distance and ruthlessly cut toward its chest.
In "Shushan Swordsman", Ye Rong was famous for his excellency in manipulating the Flying Sword. His signature move, One Sword Withering and Prosperity, dictated the life and death of others. The Other Shore and Shushan Swordsman used a similar operating system, so of course Ye Rong found it easy to master. Even the Peach-tree sword, not officially considered a flying sword, was unpredictable and nimble in his hands.
-11
This one strike caused much more damage than the fire spell, but it still didn't look promising. At this rate, Ye Rong would certainly exhaust his Blood-Supplementing pills before wiping out the Yuzu wood puppets.
The Blood-Supplementing Pill, once taken, can restore 150 points of vital energy within five seconds, uninterrupted.
As for Recovery Powder, once taken, it can restore 120 points of Qi within five seconds, uninterrupted.
Each time Ye Rong defended against an attack from the Yuzu wood puppet, the power transferred through the Peach-tree sword caused his arm to tremble violently, feeling numb and sour. To enhance the flexibility of sword movement, he had to forego the two-handed grip and held the sword one-handed instead.
After defending against only a few strikes and making a few attacks on his own, the second Yuzu wood puppet was already launching its attack.
Very soon, the third, and the fourth Yuzu wood Puppet followed suit.
"This won't work!"
Ye Rong suddenly threw himself at the empty bookshelf beside him, swerving out of two incoming swords while shattering the old bookshelf, sending dust skyrocketing.
Ye Rong hunkered down, lifting the Peach-tree sword as quickly as he could to parry any possible incoming strikes.
But, he parried in vain...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone