New Passive: Soul Poison

So it was a tombstone?

No, there was a grip on the back. More precisely, it really was a shield.

It just happened to look like a tombstone, and its name was Tombstone as well.

The shield itself had no attributes or bonuses. Its first special effect was that the shield’s quality and level would follow those of the wielder’s other weapon.

Liu Xuan scratched his head. He already had a shield called [Celestial Being], and there was nothing wrong with getting another one to switch between.

The problem was that the other effects of [Divine Tomb] still had to be unlocked in dreams. He had no idea what they were or whether they were powerful.

Besides, setting aside [Celestial Being], which was incredibly comfortable to use, its powerful utility made it difficult to replace. Even if he really did switch between the two, [Divine Tomb]’s quality would follow that of Liu Xuan’s other weapon: [Golden Wind].

[Golden Wind] was a decent epic one-handed sword, but it couldn’t bring out [Divine Tomb]’s full potential. That would be a bit of a waste.

“Wait. What if I dual-wield shields?”

Liu Xuan had asked about this long ago. Other classes that could use shields, such as soldiers, were limited to equipping only one shield.

If they used a two-handed shield, they couldn’t wield any other weapon.

If they used a one-handed shield, their other hand could only hold another type of one-handed weapon. They couldn’t equip two one-handed shields.

But Liu Xuan could.

His [Pacifist] had no restrictions whatsoever when it came to weapon types.

There was no problem with holding a one-handed shield in each hand.

As for the fact that two shields had no offensive power, Liu Xuan’s response was simple: I don’t have any offensive power to begin with.

You’re saying I fight like a turtle?

So what? I’m a turtle. If you’ve got what it takes, come and hit me.

And so he equipped [Celestial Being] in his right hand and [Divine Tomb] in his left.

The latter’s attributes immediately changed:

[Divine Tomb]

Type: One-Handed Shield

Quality: Divine Tier 3

Level Requirement: Level 10

Effect One: This shield’s quality and level requirement are equal to those of the other one-handed weapon you are holding.

Effect Two: The wielder of this shield shall never find rest. (When sleeping, you will enter the illusion of its original owner and gradually recover the shield’s abilities.)

Liu Xuan’s eyes lit up. [Divine Tomb] hadn’t merely copied [Celestial Being]’s “Divine” quality—it had even copied its Tier 3 stage of growth.

In other words, as [Celestial Being] continued to level up, [Divine Tomb]’s quality would rise along with it.

Now that was satisfying~

This was what they called a match made in heaven.

As for the “never find rest” mentioned in Effect Two, meaning he would enter an illusion whenever he slept, Liu Xuan didn’t care in the slightest.

So what if it was a nightmare?

He had played countless virtual games before. In terms of actual experience, there was hardly any difference between them and an illusion. What kind of demons and monsters hadn’t he seen?

He wasn’t afraid!

Well... as long as there weren’t any spiders.

...

There was one final item in the chest: a scroll, and it looked familiar too.

[Proof of Boar Demon Slayer: Offer it to an altar somewhere to prove your battle achievements. You may receive an unusual reward.]

Another proof. He was just about to head to the Godless White Tower, so he would soon be able to figure out what all these proofs were for.

The moment Liu Xuan picked up the proof, the red mist before him twisted violently. In the next instant, he found himself back in the great hall above.

He ran over to check the hole he had used to descend. It had already been sealed again, and this time, no matter how much he jumped, the stone slab above didn’t budge.

It seemed that access to the space below was temporarily forbidden.

Liu Xuan was still somewhat curious about that enormous arm, but there was nothing he could do for now.

After leaving the ancient ruins, he headed back toward Orenburg while drawing the passive skill he had obtained from leveling up.

[Soul Venom: When an enemy is simultaneously afflicted by your “Poison” and “Fear” effects, the duration of “Fear” is extended to match that of “Poison.” The duration cannot be stacked, and the control duration is still affected by Tenacity. During this period, the target will indiscriminately attack the nearest unit.]

The moment Liu Xuan saw this passive, his eyes lit up.

Originally, [Fear] had a fixed duration of only two seconds, and that duration would be further reduced according to the target’s Tenacity.

For example, the [Blood Prison Boar Demon] he had just encountered had a Tenacity of 80%, meaning [Fear] could control it for only 0.4 seconds.

But now, with [Soul Venom], as long as he applied both [Fear] and [Poison] at the same time, the former’s duration would become equal to the latter’s.

[Poison] lasted a full twelve seconds. Even against a boss with 80% Tenacity, [Fear] would still last 2.4 seconds.

That was an extremely long control duration!

And during that period, the target wouldn’t simply flee in random directions. Instead, it would launch indiscriminate attacks against the nearest targets.

Liu Xuan thought that was pretty good.

If the boss had other allies, they would attack one another.

If it didn’t, Liu Xuan would be more than happy to let the boss hit him a few more times.

There was nothing he could do about it. The bosses he had encountered lately were getting more cunning by the day. Whenever they fought Liu Xuan, they were always overly cautious and constantly tried to control the frequency of their attacks.

It was incredibly annoying.

As a boss, couldn’t you have some pride? How could you be afraid of an “ordinary” warrior like me?

A real man should fight head-on.

Trying to calculate my skills? Have you no shame?

After drawing his passive skill, Liu Xuan assigned the 37 attribute points he had gained from leveling up to Strength.

A notification immediately appeared before his eyes:

[Your skill “Giant’s Blood” proficiency has increased. It has reached Level 2.]

[Giant’s Blood (Level 2): Your HP × 1200%. (Proficiency: 11/1000)]

The skill’s effect had improved somewhat. But because Liu Xuan’s base HP was already absurdly high, that additional 200% caused his health to surge from a little over 550,000 to 660,000 in an instant!

“If I level this skill up a few more times, breaking one million HP will be just around the corner.”

Liu Xuan thought to himself: Heg’s passive [Way of Fundamentals] is ridiculously powerful. Hmm, Zhang Meng was right after all. Russo really is no good—swordsmen can instantly kill shield-bearers.

...

“Hahaha, Russo, my good brother! We meet again!”

The moment Liu Xuan returned to Orenburg, he gave General Russo, who was standing with his troops in formation, a “warm” hug.

“Have you been settling in well here in the city?”

General Russo laughed heartily. “Very well. You know what kind of place I lived in before. How could this place not be better? I just don’t know why I’ve been sneezing so much lately. Do you think someone’s been cursing me behind my back?”

Liu Xuan hurriedly waved his hands and laughed awkwardly. “Of course not! You’re so respected, General. I think the houses here simply haven’t been repaired yet, and you’ve caught a bit of a cold.”

“Is that so?” Russo looked puzzled. “But I don’t feel unwell.”

“Ah, let’s not talk about that. Are your men ready? We’re about to head north.”

Hearing Liu Xuan bring up business, Russo could only put his doubts aside. He pointed to the soldiers behind him.

“We’ve been ready for ages. We can set out with your forces at any time and join you in retaking Crescent City!”

“All right. I’ll go say goodbye to Zhang Meng, then set out immediately.”

At the mention of Zhang Meng’s name, Russo suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, “By the way, Zhang Meng told me before that he wanted to learn the Shield Guard’s abilities from me, but he hasn’t come by in ages. Why is that?”

“Huh? Haha, well… um, he’s been busy lately and hasn’t had the time. Once all the wars are over, he’ll probably come to you to change class to Shield Guard.”

Yeah, it was probably better not to let Russo know that Zhang Meng had already teamed up with Heg.