Chapter 369, The Torned Ancient City

Translator: Silavin

 

Not just Andrei, even Lu Fan had not expected such a place to exist on Shadow Isle.

 

Before them was a Torned Ancient City.

 

The ancient city was so vast that its boundaries could not be seen at a glance. Such a place was almost equal in size to Jianghai City’s urban area, which Lu Fan grew up in.

 

The reason it was called ‘torned’ was because this ancient city had clearly experienced a catastrophe. Although the ancient buildings were still well preserved, one could see that the city was covered in gashes of varying sizes, as if swept by wind blades.

 

The largest of these gashes were hundreds of metres long and dozens of metres wide. Some majestic buildings that happened to be in their path were directly split apart. The cuts were so clean it was as if they got sliced by something incredibly sharp.

 

Even the smaller gashes were over ten metres long, showing that the attacks that left these marks could easily kill Third Profession Players.

 

So far, what they saw was only at the ancient city’s edge.

 

Further inside, the frequency of gashes seemed even higher.

 

It seemed like this ancient city had once been visited by some extraordinary being, who left all these gnashes.

 

However, as the shadow mist gradually thickened, although Lu Fan’s vision could see this enormous ancient city, he could not make out what lay in its depths.

 

Lu Fan had read the description of Shadow Isle Essence. It was actually a material called Blessed Light Stone that had been corrupted by shadow energy. [Could whatever that had corrupted this place be the culprit? The one who caused this whole ancient city to become so torned?]

 

Lu Fan could not draw a conclusion. He guessed they would have to wait until they Completed Andrei’s Mission to learn about the answer.

 

From what they could see, this ancient city sat at Shadow Isle’s centre. Since Andrei’s Mission pointed to the middle of Shadow Isle, the so-called Shadow Spring Core should also be in this ancient city.

 

Therefore, the group needed to enter the city.

 

Lu Fan checked the Shadow Isle Essence in his Inventory. After a day of collecting, he now had about seventy pieces of Shadow Isle Essence. [Seems like gathering enough of this to craft the Shadow Dragon King Contract wouldn’t be a problem. There should be many more Shadow Isle Monsters in this ancient city that could provide me with plenty of Shadow Isle Essence.]

 

Thinking this, Lu Fan asked Andrei if the Mission Guide pointed directly to this Torned Ancient City. If so, they should set out immediately.

 

Andrei confirmed they needed to enter the city, so Lu Fan led the way, riding the Fallen Corpse Holy Dragon King as he advanced toward the city.

 

After walking for about ten minutes, the group arrived close to the city gate.

 

Here, the shadow mist seemed thinner, and their range of vision was considerably better than before. They could clearly see the city gate and the scene before it.

 

The ancient city’s gate was also in ruins, with only half of the massive gate remaining. The other half seemed to have been cleanly sliced away by something sharp and enormous.

 

Before the city gate, extending for a full ten kilometres, was a graveyard.

 

The graveyard was filled with scattered graves, most without tombstones, just mounds of earth. Moreover, these graves, in fact, the ground itself, was releasing greyish-black gas. This clearly indicated this was no ordinary graveyard.

 

Lu Fan stopped some distance from the graveyard, not continuing forward.

 

Seeing this, Ye Wuxian was wise. She looked at the seemingly empty graveyard and asked, “What’s wrong, are there Monsters ahead?”

 

The others also looked at Lu Fan, wanting for his answer. After all, among everyone present, only Lu Fan could sense whether Shadow Isle Monsters were present.

 

Lu Fan’s expression was interesting as he nodded and said. “Yes, and quite a lot of them.”

 

“How many?”

 

“Countless.”

 

“Huh? You’re not joking, right?” Ye Wuxian was a bit skeptical, because although the area ahead looked eerie, it was completely silent.

 

Lu Fan smiled and said, “If you don’t believe me, let me demonstrate.”

 

Saying this, Lu Fan had the Fallen Corpse Holy Dragon King summon a Shadow Thrower.

 

This Shadow Thrower was specifically kept by Lu Fan as cannon fodder. Under Lu Fan’s order, the Shadow Thrower traveled along the ground, rushing into the graveyard ahead.

 

However, in the next second, a surprising scene occurred.

 

Numerous purplish-black magic orbs appeared from thin air. Though only fist-sized, they clearly contained considerable power.

 

At once, hundreds of these magic orbs appeared, all floating like fireflies around the Shadow Thrower before bursting with light.

 

*Boom!* With a huge explosion, the Shadow Thrower vanished, replaced by a crater about ten metres in diameter.

 

This scene left Andrei and the others speechless.

 

At the same time, Ye Wuxian now believed that there were indeed invisible Monsters in the graveyard ahead, and countless of them.

 

“This… their attack is seriously dangerous. Brother, can your Baby Dragon’s Jade Shield withstand this?” Andrei’s expression changed as he scratched his head and asked Lu Fan.

 

Lu Fan nodded and said. “Of course, Xiao Cui’s Jade Shield blocks damage based on the number of hits. So, if it is only one attack, it will definitely be blocked. But, there are too many enemies over there. If each one of them releases a Skill, her Jade Shield definitely won’t hold.”

 

“Then, what do we do?” Andrei and the three Fourth Profession Players felt troubled. The path ahead seemed like a death trap they would not be able to cross.

 

Lu Fan remained calm, drawing out a Summoning Array to summon Xiao Ye, saying. “Don’t rush. Let me first find a way to check their Attributes, then formulate a plan.”

 

As Xiao Ye appeared, Lu Fan immediately had her share her Black Dragon Perception with him. Using Xiao Ye’s senses, he easily saw through the Concealed Monsters ahead and created an Attribute Panel to share with everyone.

 

“The ones that had just attacked are Level 95 Silver Grade Bosses called Shadow Death Sirens. They appear to be a Mage Type Monster with High Magic Attack but Low Health Points and Defense. Even my Physical Attack should be able to instantly kill them. They are all under Concealment, and are hovering above the graveyard. So far, they number about three hundred.”

 

“As for the other Monsters, they’re hidden underground beneath those graves. Although I can sense their presence and can tell they’re Warrior Type Monsters, I can’t use Appraisal on them because the soil is blocking Appraise. Right now, their exact Level and Attributes are unknown.”

 

“Still, given their numbers, they probably aren’t High Grade Bosses. Likely similar to the Shadow Death Sirens, they are just Mobs. The only thing worth noting is their truly massive numbers, By conservative estimates… there must be thousands of them.”

 

Lu Fan explained the situation ahead.

 

After a pause, he frowned slightly and added, “Wait, I think I’ve found a different Monster… it should be a Higher Grade Boss!”

 

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