Chapter 349: Reunion with the White Bone Demon King

"Five White Bone Demon Spirit Pills!? If I run this a few more times, both my Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram and Heavenly Will True Scripture can break through to Skilled!"

Yang Ling was pleasantly surprised.

This dungeon run was actually much easier for him than the first time he'd entered.

But that first run had earned an A rating, while this time the Three Minor Stages completion was exceptionally high. The ratings offset each other, and he still got an S+!

"I hit the jackpot! My Three Minor Stages rating was F-! But I still got 3 Spirit Nurturing Pills as a reward!"

Qin Mo suddenly let out a startled cry, practically delirious with joy.

"Mine was F- too, same reward as yours."

"Same here..."

Delight filled everyone's eyes. Even for disciples of first-rate sects like Lin Caiyi, three Spirit Nurturing Pills was an excellent reward! Nothing to sneeze at!

"One Spirit Nurturing Pill can boost Martial Arts Technique Proficiency by 500 points, and it doesn't cost any time or effort."

"Three pills can push a single Martial Arts Technique straight to Comprehensive Mastery!"

However, Martial Arts Techniques weren't exactly easy to come by. Most of the people present didn't have any spare techniques to cultivate.

Their average Martial Arts Technique level was already at Comprehensive Mastery, close to Flawless Proficiency.

Only Lin Caiyi and her peers had reached Flawless Proficiency long ago, and were now sprinting toward the Skilled level.

"My Martial Arts Technique isn't far from Flawless Proficiency. With these three Spirit Nurturing Pills, I reckon I can break through to Flawless Proficiency within another month."

Chen Guoqing muttered to himself.

His Martial Arts Technique, the Thief-Capturing Saber Technique, was classified as unranked.

It might look unremarkable, but combined with his identity as an Ironclad Department constable, reaching Flawless Proficiency with the Thief-Capturing Saber Technique could earn him a chance at the Third-Rate Tiger-Capturing Saber Technique!

As a veteran player, he deeply understood how massive an impact a ranked Martial Arts Technique had on a player!

Right now, of all the Internal Techniques and Martial Arts Techniques most players cultivated, ninety percent were unranked!

"Guo Qing, as soon as your Thief-Capturing Saber Technique reaches Flawless Proficiency, I'll put in a request for the Tiger-Capturing Saber Technique on your behalf."

Yang Ling smiled, then swept his gaze over Chen Xu and the others:

"The same goes for all of you. This is the easiest path to a Third-Rate Martial Arts Technique, and there are no lingering worries.

And later on, you can even advance to the Second-Rate Dragon-Capturing Saber Technique."

Chen Xu and the others were ecstatic.

As long as they stayed in the Ironclad Department, their Internal Technique Methods and Martial Arts Techniques would keep improving steadily.

No fear of superiors squeezing them for bribes or holding things over their heads.

"I'm not greedy. Having one Third-Rate Martial Arts Technique is more than enough."

Li Tianye muttered softly.

"Even an F- rating gives three Spirit Nurturing Pills... Boss, what was your rating?"

Qin Mo asked out of curiosity.

"S+."

Yang Ling replied, then turned and headed toward the final boss location.

The people behind him stood frozen in place, silent for a long moment.

Li Shou let out a soft sigh:

"Old Qin, you shouldn't have asked."

Qin Mo also felt he shouldn't have asked.

But in his heart, he was calculating: if an F- could yield 3 Spirit Nurturing Pills, then how many could an S+ yield!?

He couldn't figure it out. Seeing the others already following Yang Ling, he quickly scurried after them.

"Once we pass through this passage, we'll reach the final boss."

"But this passage has requirements for your breath-holding abilities."

Yang Ling stood at the entrance of the passage, not rushing in. He swept his gaze over the group:

"Halfway through, the path will be flooded with water. You'll need to swim a stretch."

These words instantly reminded Lin Caiyi and the others of their trip to the Water Qilin Cave back then.

"At the end, we'll come to a pool. The pool has Giant Tilapia in it—their teeth are razor sharp, and the flesh on their bodies is rotting.

If you get bitten, you'll probably be poisoned."

Yang Ling said solemnly: "You can each decide for yourselves whether to continue forward."

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances. Qin Mo, upon hearing there'd be swimming, immediately relaxed.

That was right up his alley.

"Brother Yang, if some players don't make it to the final stage, will the final boss still be triggered?"

Lin Caiyi raised a question.

Yang Ling was briefly taken aback.

Zhang Shendao looked thoughtful: "If the boss doesn't appear because some players failed to reach the final stage...

There's a good chance the mission will fail."

"After all, this passage outside will collapse. By then, going back across would be impossible."

"That does seem to be the case."

Yang Ling nodded slightly. If the White Bone Demon King wasn't triggered, that meant all players who entered the final stage would have to stay there for a full thirty days, then have the mission fail.

"Everyone's level is pretty high by now. Even the weakest among us counts as Ninth-Rank in terms of combat ability.

Holding our breath for a short while shouldn't be a problem."

Lin Caiyi scanned the group, then looked at Zhang Yan:

"Zhang Yan's strength is a bit lacking, but I can help her swim through that stretch."

Zhang Yan's face showed gratitude.

"Mm. As long as we look out for each other, there's hardly any real danger."

Yang Ling made the decision on the spot:

"Let's go. We're all going to the final stage together."

"You all go ahead. I'll take the rear."

Everyone trusted Yang Ling completely. They knew there wasn't much danger up ahead.

Sure enough, when they were halfway through the passage, the tunnel behind them collapsed, and a torrent flooded the passage in an instant.

Everyone swam forward with all their might.

By now, their attribute points had long since surpassed ordinary people by too great a margin.

Their breath-holding capacity had multiplied several times over.

Narrowly avoiding disaster, everyone made it into the large pool of the final stage.

The Giant Tilapia hadn't appeared yet.

Yang Ling urged them to climb ashore.

Only after everyone had gotten out of the water did dark shadows begin to appear in the pool in droves.

These Giant Tilapia were a full size larger than last time.

The biggest one leaped out of the water, its mouth opening and closing continuously, jagged teeth grinding together with a clicking sound!

Qin Mo and the others gasped sharply. If one of those bit you, even a Seventh-Rank cultivation level wouldn't save you—you'd get your guts torn straight out!

"Brother Yang, is the White Bone Demon King inside that thing?"

Li Shou's gaze landed on a massive coffin not far away, and he secretly sucked in a cold breath.

That coffin was so huge—could the White Bone Demon King inside be a giant?

Everyone's eyes also snapped to the coffin, curiosity and wariness mingled in their gazes.

"The White Bone Demon King will come out soon. It'll most likely give us a choice. Just pick no."

Yang Ling reminded them.

At that moment, black smoke began pouring continuously from the cracks in the coffin.

The entire coffin started trembling, producing violent sounds.

Then the White Bone Demon King's voice thundered through the cavern:

"Demon-Clearing Squad, is it? You've got some nerve, daring to barge into this king's resting chamber. I'll give you one chance—kneel and beg for mercy, and this king might spare your worthless lives!"

[Kneel and beg for mercy?]

[Yes/No]

A prompt appeared before everyone.

"..."

"That's almost considerate. You actually survive by kneeling?"

Zhang Wei muttered.

Thanks to Yang Ling's earlier warning, everyone chose no without hesitation.

"Hahaha! You damned little insects, you've thrown away your last chance to live!"

The coffin exploded in an instant. When the dust cleared, a figure at least three and a half meters tall stood before them.

"Half a meter taller than before, and a full size bigger all around!"

Yang Ling's eyes sharpened.

[White Bone Demon King]

Strength: 550

Agility: 400

Spirit: 1

HP: 12000

Special Skill: Ironclad Fortress

[Twelfth update delivered. Keep those update requests and five-star ratings coming!]