Chapter 20: A Rare Moment of Leisure

In a vast circular chamber, iron chains and shackles hung from the walls. At the center stood the final boss of the first level of the Skeleton Dungeon—a towering skeletal warrior wielding a broken greatsword, a true skeleton knight.

[Skeletal Warrior
Race: Skeletal Undead
Rank: Common
Level: 14
Health: 40
Attack: 16
Defense: 8
Agility: 6
Traits: Skeletal body, undead mind, mastery of heavy weapons]

The atmosphere and setting were quite evocative, and the stats of this skeletal warrior were impressive—significantly stronger than the ordinary skeletons and skeletal soldiers roaming the first level. Yet, for some reason, it failed to instill much pressure on Xiao Yang.

Having cleared the hidden areas, survived the zombie corridors, and even faced elite bosses of full-fledged rank, this skeletal warrior no longer felt all that formidable to Xiao Yang.

Originally, Xiao Yang had planned to proceed cautiously, waiting until after the second Celestial Trade to push his strength to five points, equip the Blackstone Prison set, and then challenge the first level’s final boss.

But plans never keep pace with change. Within just two days, Xiao Yang had thoroughly wiped out all enemies before the boss—actually, more precisely, in just a day and a half.

With time to spare and little else to do, Xiao Yang decided to get an early look at the level one boss. This test, however, was not entirely satisfying. In the end, Xiao Yang chose to retreat and return to his original plan.

The problem was simply that his weapon was too weak.

Fighting this skeletal warrior knight was no easy feat. His wild short-handled axe, dealing only six points of damage, barely made a dent beyond the forced minimal health reduction. It couldn’t penetrate the boss’s defense.

And trying to circle the boss like a nimble monkey, as he had done with earlier skeletal warriors, was hindered by this boss’s relatively high agility.

Though there was still a five-point agility difference between them, the fight was possible but far from easy, and mistakes were costly. It was better to wait until strength reached five points and the Blackstone Prison set was equipped—then he could crush this skeletal warrior outright.

Better to be prudent.

So, Xiao Yang slowly withdrew from the boss room. The skeletal warrior tried to chase him but barely took a step before being restrained by the heavy iron chains binding it.

Clearly, some restrictions had been placed on this gatekeeper boss: until Xiao Yang truly entered the arena, it could never be fully unleashed.

And so, Xiao Yang fully withdrew.

Now the situation was at a stalemate, requiring further patience. Over these days of battle, Xiao Yang and Xiao Gu had nearly cleared the entire first floor of the dungeon using nothing but a novice’s axe.

In the meantime, Xiao Yang took a moment to revisit the Zombie Prison. The familiar rolling wheels echoed as the skeletal orbs chased him relentlessly. The prison was now deserted—aside from a few overcrowded cells still holding prisoner zombies, the exploration area was devoid of any moving creatures.

Xiao Yang returned to confirm the corpse mushroom he had unearthed was still there. From afar, cautiously, he spotted the tip of the mushroom peeking out in the filthy storage room.

It was still there, relieving him.

The day before the second Celestial Trade, bored, Xiao Yang turned his attention to the prisoner zombies he had previously overlooked. He pulled out those overcrowded prisoners one by one and defeated them.

After clearing them, Xiao Yang returned to the upper dungeon level, back to the initial safe house, collapsing onto a pile of clutter.

He resolved to bring more items to the Celestial Trade this time—especially the gold coins sold at a high price last time and some antiques he had collected.

Hopefully, a benevolent dragon maiden would come to buy them all!

This time, Xiao Yang even considered entering the boss room to attack the boss directly with his six-damage wild short-handled axe. But the fewer skeletons meant fewer materials dropped; after all, last time most of his Ling Coins came from those green-quality skeletal long bones.

Now, having cleared the skeletons, only five or six green long bones remained.

His main goods this time were a pair of exquisite-quality zombie leather boots—and a white scroll of the Heavy Strike skill.

Worried about a shortage of items, Xiao Yang held back the Heavy Strike scroll.

Since entering the Skeleton Dungeon, Xiao Yang had twice been struck by the thought that the monsters here didn’t respawn like in games.

Once, when first entering the dungeon, cautiously clearing the skeletons that suddenly crawled out of the ground, he was grateful they did not respawn like in a game.

And now, looking mournfully at the empty Skeleton Dungeon, he lamented that the monsters didn’t respawn either.

Of course, perhaps they did respawn, but only after a certain waiting period.

Suddenly idle, in this rare moment of leisure, Xiao Yang felt a pang of homesickness. In truth, his home was not far—just beyond a corridor.

But returning was not easy—not due to any complicated reason, but because a terrifying skeleton dragging a massive axe patrolled that corridor, ready to cleave down anyone who tried to pass.

Honestly, he felt his being drawn into this skeleton dungeon was strange enough—forced to enter a monster-infested underground to clear out the basement, only to become a player in some godly game.

In this sudden pause, lying back on the pile of debris, Xiao Yang’s thoughts wandered aimlessly.

Meanwhile, a small figure appeared silently in the corner of the safe house, crouching without a sound, quietly watching the reclining Xiao Yang, the soul fire in its eyes flickering.

Truly, this was a rare moment of peace.