Chapter 123 - 114: Yu Zhun, Do You Dare to Kill Me?

Chapter 123: Chapter 114: Yu Zhun, Do You Dare to Kill Me?

"It’s useless!" Perianla laughed heartily. "Your attack couldn’t possibly make me—"

[Life Value -234,350]

Perianla’s laughter came to an abrupt halt. Staring at the health bar above his head that had been instantly emptied, his expression shifted to unprecedented terror.

"What is going on?" he screamed internally. "Why was I instantly killed?! This makes no sense! It’s impossible! Why didn’t [Attack and Defense Boundary] take effect?!"

Without even a glance at Perianla—who shattered into countless specks of light and vanished from the spot—Yu Zhun abruptly accelerated. The moment [Taunt] wore off, he charged at Zelos Hill in the rear, who now wore the same terrified expression.

"How did you break through Perianla’s talent restriction?!" Zelos Hill had lost all his former composure, his face filled with bewilderment and despair. "Perianla’s talent, [Attack and Defense Boundary], restricts the damage he takes from exceeding 10% of his maximum Life Value!

"How could you instantly kill him?

"That’s impossible!"

"Hmm? That guy just now had a talent effect like that?" Yu Zhun raised an eyebrow in thought. "So annoying. I hate being asked questions. I’ll have to look into finding an ability or item that can mute people later."

"Because my kill Mechanism forces the target’s Life Value to zero. It doesn’t count as damage," Yu Zhun answered as he arrived in front of Zelos Hill and thrust out [Nether’s Sigh]. "Now, it’s your turn to die."

[Life Value -62,347]

"Forcing Life Value to zero..." Zelos Hill’s pupils rapidly dilated. The bewilderment in his eyes faded, leaving behind only profound despair. How could they have encountered such a terrifying talent?

The next moment, Zelos Hill dissolved into specks of light, leaving behind a massive pile of dropped items and Equipment. Yu Zhun casually collected both of their loot and charged straight toward the boss’s main hall on the thirty-first floor.

There was no second One-Hit Kill talent on Blue Star to serve as a reference, but after some research, Yu Zhun had gained a new understanding of his own abilities. Just as he had said, One-Hit Kill did not actually count as damage.

Damage followed a fundamental logic. A standard damage value was calculated by first subtracting the defender’s corresponding defense from the attacker’s attack to get a base damage value. Then, following the sequence of amplification before reduction, damage boosts and damage reductions were sequentially multiplied against the base damage value. The final result was the ultimate damage taken by the defender.

For example, 1,000 Physical Attack against 200 Physical Defense resulted in a damage value of 800. If the defender had a 10% damage reduction, the mitigated hit would deal 720 points of damage. If the attacker simultaneously had a 10% damage boost, the calculation would apply the boost first and the reduction second, ultimately dealing 792 points of damage to the defender.

Another special type of damage was percentage-based damage—such as dealing physical damage equal to 10% of maximum Life Value to a target with 20,000 Life Value. In this scenario, the Physical Attack wasn’t the attacker’s own Physical Attack. Instead, 10% of the target’s maximum Life Value was treated as the temporary Physical Attack for this strike—meaning 2,000 Physical Attack. This value could still be lowered by Physical Defense and influenced by damage reductions and boosts. Ultimately, it might not actually deal a true 10% of the maximum Life Value in damage.

Regardless of which of these two damage logics applied, there was always a process of subtracting defense from attack and calculating damage reductions and boosts.

However, forcing Life Value to zero bypassed this process entirely. Against a target with one million Life Value, it would deduct one million points of Life Value. Against a target with one hundred Life Value, it would deduct one hundred points.

Yet, it was still distinct from dealing true damage equal to 100% of maximum Life Value. For targets with the exact same maximum Life Value, the amount deducted varied depending on whether they were at low health or full health. The ultimate goal was simply to force their Life Value to zero.

Because it did not count as damage, Yu Zhun’s One-Hit Kill was unaffected by damage reductions. When facing Marcell and Nivea, it had completely ignored their ultra-high damage reductions and directly executed the kills. And because it did not count as damage, Yu Zhun’s One-Hit Kill could ignore Perianla’s [Attack and Defense Boundary].

Of course, this did not mean Yu Zhun’s talent was invincible.

When facing the Cold Ice Mirror Demon, the opponent’s "untargetable" state had left Yu Zhun with no way to strike. When facing the Red Moon Golem, the opponent’s Mechanism to resurrect after its Life Value reached zero had forced Yu Zhun to strike multiple times.

After the First Turn, the Priest’s First-Turn Profession, [Resurrection High Priest], possessed a similar skill. It could prematurely apply a buff akin to Resurrection Armor to other players, which could similarly counter One-Hit Kill. When facing the twenty-fourth floor boss of the Nether Land, Demon Commander Long Xie, the opponent’s [Scale Return] possessed an "immune to attacks" effect. This was also capable of rendering One-Hit Kill ineffective.

Because while One-Hit Kill did not count as damage, it still counted as an attack.

[Life Value -16,000,000]

At the cost of nearly depleting his shield, Yu Zhun finally and successfully killed the thirty-first floor boss, whose Mechanisms had been growing increasingly unsolvable.

A moment before stepping onto the Teleportation Array, he heard a low hum echoing from the other side of the thirty-first floor. The opponent at the other Teleportation Array had also secured their kill.

With the latest arrivals of the third party having been entirely wiped out by Yu Zhun, only the two of them remained in the first echelon. And in the upcoming thirty-second floor, there was only one Teleportation Array.

[Congratulations on successfully clearing the thirty-first floor of the Nether Land!]

[Current Stage Rewards: EXP +1,000,000, Selective Lv.30 Epic Equipment x1, Personal Divine Demon Medals x10, World God-Demon Medals x10, Special Buff [Bravery]!]

[[Bravery]: Gain the following temporary buff in the [Nether Abyss] Dungeon: Life Value +80%]

[Proceed to the Next Floor]

"Bravery, huh..." A hint of a smile surfaced on Yu Zhun’s face. "This buff couldn’t have come at a better time."

Prior to this, he had already obtained the corresponding buffs for Physical Defense and Magic Defense. Now, his Life Value, Physical Defense, and Magic Defense had all received a 100% temporary boost. Coupled with the 50% increase to all three attributes provided by [Nether General], his three most important attributes had all gained a massive 150% boost.

Add to that the refreshed [Asura] buff and [Pure Land] shield upon entering the next floor, along with the combined effects of his other Equipment...

Soaring battle intent flared in Yu Zhun’s eyes. At this moment, he was unprecedentedly powerful! No matter who his opponent was, he firmly believed he would seize ultimate victory!

With that thought in mind, Yu Zhun swiftly selected [Proceed to the Next Floor]. With a flash of his silhouette, he vanished into the Teleportation Array.

***

"Yu Zhun has entered the thirty-second floor!" Zhu Xiuming’s voice suddenly spiked in pitch within the Divine Revelation Hall. Usually stoic and unexpressive, his face now bore indescribable exhilaration and anticipation, causing the hideous scar on his face to tremble slightly.

The group of Strongest seated below him couldn’t help but reveal looks of anticipation as well.

Nearly ten hours had passed since Yu Zhun entered the Dungeon. For these ten hours, they had remained glued to their seats in the main conference hall, postponing all other matters. Was this harrowing Dungeon battle that had caused them so much anxiety finally coming to an end?

"His ranking on the Talent Leaderboard has already climbed to thirty-sixth," Asoka spoke in a low voice, trying hard to suppress the excitement in his tone.

"Don’t pop the champagne too early; this floor is equally perilous," Ji Ruoxu said slowly, maintaining his composure. "There is only one Teleportation Array on this floor." ℯℓ.

Hearing this, the joy on everyone’s faces gradually faded. Indeed, if the thirty-third floor was the final trial, then the Teleportation Array on the thirty-second floor would be the stage for the most brutal competition. If another player’s progress matched Yu Zhun’s, they might engage in a peak life-and-death showdown within the [Nether Abyss]!

Zhu Xiuming couldn’t help but touch the hideous scar on his face again. This wound was a souvenir from the thirty-second floor of the Nether Land.

In the past, relying on his SSS-rank talent, [Unrivaled Command]—which allowed him to resurrect slain non-player units to fight for him—he had been invincible and unchallenged in the Nether Abyss. No player could threaten him while he was surrounded by a massive horde of Demons, making him the absolute strongest of his generation.

Still young and harboring an indomitable will, he had swept through the [Nether Abyss], fighting his way from the twenty-third floor all the way to the thirty-first floor, completely unstoppable.

And then, outside the main hall of the thirty-second floor, Zhu Xiuming met that fated nemesis of a man. Even though he exhausted all his strength to sever one of the man’s fingers, in the end, Zhu Xiuming was still the one forced to flee the scene in a miserable state.

It was because the other party’s talent was stronger than his!

Even after leaving the [Nether Abyss], Zhu Xiuming still didn’t know whether the man hadn’t killed him back then because he couldn’t, or because he simply chose not to.

Scenes from the past surfaced in his mind. Even though he was no longer the person he used to be, he still couldn’t let go of that man.

A touch of worry and anticipation inevitably welled up in Zhu Xiuming’s eyes. He hoped that Yu Zhun would be able to witness everything that he himself had failed to see.