Xu Youyou found it strange, but he only grumbled a bit and had no intention of digging deeper.
After all, the dungeons he and Zuo Lin'an ran were no ordinary One-Star dungeons.
His figure vanished from the spot. After a few flickers, he quickly appeared behind the last player.
Xu Youyou slowly raised his hand. Even in such a dim environment, a faint, cold gleam seemed to flash across his sharp, pitch-black fingernails.
He grabbed the man's neck from behind. Even without applying pressure, his razor-sharp nails sliced through the fragile skin, causing blood to well out.
Ignoring the blood running down his arm, Xu Youyou disregarded the man's painful cries and struggles, slowly lifting him into the air to execute his Death Rule.
But at that exact moment, he suddenly noticed something appear in the other man's hand.
Without a second thought, Xu Youyou immediately switched back to his living body state.
Fortunately, the player's back was turned to him, so he couldn't see this transition from specter to human.
In the next instant, the object in the other man's hand vanished.
Xu Youyou stood in place for a moment but felt nothing. It seemed the special effect of that specter item was indeed targeted specifically at specters.
Because he had switched to his living body state in time, he had escaped unscathed.
However, the player clearly sensed that something was amiss.
Just as Xu Youyou switched states, the player distinctly felt the hand gripping his neck change from ice-cold to a warm, human temperature.
Was this... body heat?
Which meant the one choking him was a living person?
If it was a living person, it made sense that his specter item had failed.
But... why?
He was absolutely certain that what had appeared at first was the dungeon's specter.
So, why did it turn into a living person?
Unfortunately, his question would never be answered.
Once Xu Youyou confirmed that the specter item's effect had passed, he switched back to his specter body state.
He tore the player before him apart piece by piece until he was completely dead.
Finally, he casually tossed the man's head onto the ground and let out a long sigh of relief.
“It's finally over.”
“Phew, I almost thought I was going to fail this time. Thank goodness...”
Instead of immediately taking out his phone to share the good news with Zuo Lin'an, he quickly left the dungeon and headed straight over to find him.
As for the signs of battle left in the dungeon, he dumped the entire cleanup job onto Xuan Jiu.
Next...
Perhaps because he had successfully killed a player with a unique special talent, Xu Youyou got a bit overconfident.
As a result, the very next dungeon taught him a harsh lesson.
This time, four out of the twenty players were in a group together.
Two of them had opened Daily Dungeons and invited one person each, while simultaneously using a specter item that allowed them to be placed in the same dungeon.
And they were all veterans.
They possessed a specter item that could pinpoint a specter's location, methods to repel a specter from a distance, and a special talent that could directly repel a specter.
What was even more terrifying was that all four of them were strictly of the Houtian Rank!
On top of that, they had previously cleared the Lingyang First High School dungeon and were considered elites among the veteran players!
As soon as the dungeon opened, they realized the importance of food through the main quest's description and immediately monopolized all the food and water in the dungeon.
The other players were no match for them and did not dare to make a move against them.
In the end...
Xu Youyou failed to wipe out all the players. In fact, those who successfully cleared the dungeon included not only these four but also several other players who had managed to scrape by until the third day.
【The dungeon has ended. Eight players have cleared it. This dungeon is temporarily locked. Please wait for the next world to open to restart it.】
Xu Youyou stared at the message on his phone and took a deep breath.
“It's definitely not because I got cocky.”
“Even if I hadn't, those who were meant to clear it still would have.”
Fortunately, he still gained two unsolvable specters, which made up for his losses.
Earlier in the dungeon, those four veteran players had monopolized all the food and water.
The other players were left to fend for themselves.
In the end, several martial artists whose strength hadn't reached the Houtian Rank banded together and took control of the ordinary people who had never practiced martial arts.
They drank their blood and carved their flesh, while having to ensure they remained alive during the process.
After all, once a player died, everything, including their corpse, would vanish.
But if they could keep them alive, their flesh and blood would remain available.
Xu Youyou had initially wanted to attack them.
But after seeing this, he abandoned the idea.
This was because every time they carved flesh from a person, there was a risk. A single mistake could easily kill them.
Realizing this, Xu Youyou naturally chose not to disturb them.
Afterward, these martial artists set a strict order to take turns. As it turned out, two unlucky bastards accidentally killed their captives while carving flesh.
And that was how the two unsolvable specters currently wandering the dungeon had come to be.
Although the dungeon was temporarily locked and Xu Youyou felt a bit downcast...
...he took comfort in knowing that there was only a little over a month left before the 【Wuxia World】 was completely assimilated, so the temporary lockdown of his dungeon wasn't a big deal.
He just needed to wait a little longer.
Time flowed by, and another month passed.
The renovation of Zuo Lin'an's dungeon had reached its final wrapping-up stage.
According to the construction team's estimates, it would still take about ten to fifteen days.
One morning, Zuo Lin'an led his team to the mountain peak to inspect the newly constructed old residence.
A young man walked beside him, introducing the place as they strolled along.
“This old residence was built entirely in the style of over two hundred years ago. Although the storyline begins a century ago, pushing the construction date of this old residence back another hundred years gives it a much stronger sense of history.”
As he spoke, he pointed out some of the details to Zuo Lin'an.
“Many areas have undergone distressing treatment, though they aren't fully completed yet.”
Through the other man's detailed explanation, Zuo Lin'an became thoroughly familiar with the old residence.
During this time, they also checked the secret passage and the underground secret room, finding no issues.
After inspecting the old residence, they walked to the front of the courtyard.
The ground here was paved with neat bluestone slabs. Further ahead was the edge of the cliff, which was lined with wooden guardrails carved with numerous patterns.
Flowers, plants, trees, birds, insects, and fish.
It just looked a bit old and dirty.
But that was normal.
Before long, two people walked over from nearby carrying baskets, scattering countless withered leaves over the clean, neat bluestone slabs.
In no time, the area was covered with withered leaves.
Zuo Lin'an nodded inwardly. This was exactly how it needed to look to fit the plot.
“I requested a crevice under the cliff where a corpse could be hidden. You didn't forget about that, did you?”
Just as he finished speaking, a dark figure carrying a corpse appeared behind him.
This was his specter body.
As for the corpse it carried, it was the one he had purchased earlier, which was of a similar build to his own.
Its clothes had already been changed, and of course, its face was completely obscured.
“Of course, it's right down there, roughly halfway between the peak and the foot of the mountain.”
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