Chapter 138: Pilgrim of the Departed Souls

"Since the party is fully assembled, let's begin. The Red Blood Witch Temple cannot be opened without ten players present—ugh, what a ridiculous design." Axe-Carrier grunted, shouldering his single-bladed long axe, and swaggered into the pitch-black cave first.

"Ding! The Red Blood Witch Temple is preparing to open. Completion: 1/10. Remaining players, please take your positions."

As soon as Axe-Carrier stepped into the cave, a notification rang in everyone's ears. Windless-Blood followed immediately, and the notification sounded again, updating the completion to 2/10. Seeing this, the other players filed into the cave one after another. Once Ye Chen and Cold-Moon Frost, the final team, stepped inside, the entire cave suddenly illuminated; dark red magic lamps appeared out of thin air along both sides. The Red Blood Witch Temple had officially opened.

The deep cave was filled with an eerie red glow, and faint, guttural roars of beasts echoed from the depths. The players exchanged glances, their expressions solemn. It seemed the Lich was not alone; the Red Blood Witch Temple was clearly filled with the Lich's henchmen and minions.

"Haha, since none of you dare to lead the way, I will. But if there’s any loot, it’s mine." Seeing Wind-Chasing Youth and the others hesitate, Axe-Carrier laughed dismissively and strode into the cave.

Ye Chen’s lips curled into a cold smile. Loot? There were only monsters—though those monsters were, in a sense, loot. His loot.

"You seem to know something," Cold-Moon Frost said, her sharp gaze detecting Ye Chen's subtle smirk. She spoke in the party channel, her voice raspy yet strangely melodic.

"Isn't it good to have someone scouting? Let’s catch up," Ye Chen replied in the public channel. The others nodded with smiles, brandishing their weapons as they followed.

They hadn't traveled far before a scream erupted from Axe-Carrier at the front. As the group rounded a corner, they saw a massive skeleton burst from the ground and attack him with a blade.

[Undead Pilgrim] (Leader-level)
HP: 90,000
Level: 35

The players gasped upon seeing the stats. They hadn't expected to encounter a Leader-level monster so early. However, their expressions quickly shifted to greed. For ordinary players, a solitary Leader-level monster might be a nuisance, but for this group of elites, it meant experience and gear—hard to come by in the wild.

"This one is ours! If you want one, find your own!" Axe-Carrier roared at the players behind him who were eager to jump in. Windless-Blood drew his daggers, glaring coldly at those who dared to approach. The other players hesitated; Axe-Carrier and Windless-Blood were among the strongest present, and no one wanted to provoke them.

"Sword-Mad! Sword-Mad, there’s another one here! Hurry over!" Wind-Chasing Youth had already located the next Undead Pilgrim. His teammates rushed over, and the rest of the group quickly scattered to claim their own targets.

Cold-Moon Frost drew her daggers, preparing to move deeper into the cave with light steps. Suddenly, Ye Chen spoke coldly in the party channel: "You’d better not provoke those Undead Pilgrims, or I guarantee you'll regret it."

"What exactly do you know? Even if Leader-level monsters don't drop the best gear, the experience is incredibly generous. You don't want it?" Cold-Moon Frost turned her beautiful eyes toward him.

"Nothing, just a minor curse. All attributes reduced by 10 points for one week."

Cold-Moon Frost stopped in her tracks. A 10-point reduction in all attributes, while not permanent, was a nasty penalty. If it were true, the experience and mediocre loot weren't worth the trouble.

Ninety thousand HP was nothing to these experts. In less than ten minutes, the Undead Pilgrim fought by Axe-Carrier and Windless-Blood was on its last breath. Ye Chen and Cold-Moon Frost stood behind a nearby corner, watching quietly.

*Thwack.* Axe-Carrier’s axe landed squarely on the creature's chest, depleting its final sliver of health. With a loud thud, the Undead Pilgrim collapsed.

Axe-Carrier and Windless-Blood, who had been smiling, suddenly froze.

"Damn it! There's no experience!" Axe-Carrier bellowed.

"Nothing dropped!" Windless-Blood’s face darkened.

Before they could complain further, a notification informing them that all their attributes had been reduced by 10 points for a week sent them into a rage, and they began to curse loudly.

Cold-Moon Frost’s lips curled into a smile. She looked at Ye Chen earnestly and said, "You’re quite interesting. You know quite a lot."

Watching Axe-Carrier and Windless-Blood storm off into the depths of the cave, leaving the corpse behind, Ye Chen smiled. Ignoring Cold-Moon Frost’s surprise, he walked up to the skeleton. He twisted the Ring of Lost Souls on his index finger, and a bolt of pitch-black light shot from the ring into the corpse.

"Is... is that soul-enslaving magic?" Cold-Moon Frost asked, clearly startled. She was well-traveled and recognized the type of magic immediately.

*Pop.* With a faint sound, a small Undead Pilgrim crawled out from the skeleton’s head. The blade-wielding creature bowed respectfully to Ye Chen, inhaled deeply, and instantly returned to its full size.

[Undead Pilgrim] (Leader-level)
HP: 63,000
Level: 35

"Heh, I didn't expect you to be hiding your true strength. I thought you were the weakest of the group, but it seems you might be the best. Night-Morning, why haven't I heard this name before? With a move like this undead magic, you shouldn't be unknown," Cold-Moon Frost said, blinking in astonishment.

Ye Chen ignored her. If the mission hadn't required a two-person party, he wouldn't have bothered teaming up. Besides, even when this woman smiled, she radiated a chilling aura—too cold for his liking. Most importantly, she had called him a weirdo!

"Stingy man." Watching Ye Chen walk away, Cold-Moon Frost narrowed her eyes and hurried to follow.

As they pressed on, they encountered three more Undead Pilgrim corpses. Ye Chen used his ring to enslave them all. Looking at the four Undead Pilgrims behind him, he felt a surge of excitement. This was one of the secrets of the Red Blood Witch Temple: the undead here could be enslaved with a 100% success rate. It was a shame they couldn't be taken out of the dungeon, or it would have been truly insane.

Cold-Moon Frost’s gaze toward him had changed. Initially, she had viewed him as a disposable rookie, invited only to fill a slot. When she saw he was a level 38 player who hadn't even completed his first class advancement, she had pegged him as a loser. Even when he mentioned the secret of the Pilgrims, she had only been mildly surprised. But as he summoned one Leader-level Pilgrim after another, her impression shifted to one of wariness.

She knew that while the other teams were clearing these monsters easily, it was only because they were fighting them one by one. Without a Holy Priest for healing, even a strong tank would struggle against more than two of these, let alone four. Four Leader-level monsters could dictate the fate of any player in this temple.

Most importantly, a player with such abilities could never be incompetent. With this kind of undead magic, one could thrive even in the most dangerous undead maps. Her expression grew serious; she now viewed Ye Chen as a peer, not a useless amateur.

When they reached the end of the cave, the four towering Undead Pilgrims behind them shocked the other eight players. They stood on high alert, recognizing them as summoned creatures.

"Damn, four Leader-level summons? Do they know how to use Undead Summoning?"

"Sword-Mad, you're from the same city as that woman. Does she have this skill?"

"Never heard of it. But it couldn't be that level-one-advancement rookie's summon, could it? Maybe it’s a new skill for Shura-Blade."

"Yeah, definitely not that rookie's. If it were his, I’d eat the summons myself."

"My thoughts exactly."

The group whispered among themselves, not bothering to lower their voices. Ye Chen and Cold-Moon Frost heard every word, but neither reacted. They had already agreed that Ye Chen would remain a hidden trump card until the critical moment.

"Ding! All surviving players have arrived. The second floor of the Red Blood Witch Temple is now open. Objective: Collect ten Soul Crystals to activate the magic circle and enter the third floor to challenge the Lich. Soul Crystals can be obtained from monsters on the second floor."

As the announcement faded, the blood-red gate ahead slowly opened. Inside lay a hall the size of a football field. At the far end was a blood-red magic circle with ten empty slots—clearly for the Soul Crystals.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*

The moment they stepped into the hall, blood-red pillars of light erupted. Each pillar spawned a monster. In an instant, twenty Leader-level undead monsters appeared.

But there were only twenty.

The players' expressions shifted drastically. The five teams immediately distanced themselves from one another.

Even if every Leader-level monster dropped a Soul Crystal, at most two teams could proceed to the third floor.

A slaughter was now inevitable.