Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 891 The Gravekeeper [6.1k words]

A biting wind swept across the hazy gray sky, fluttering the tattered banners stuck upside down on the old iron halberds. Combined with the dried dark red bloodstains and the scarred rock walls, it was enough to make one imagine how terrible the war had been here.

"Have we finally arrived? The end of the Heroes' Cemetery."

At the entrance to that treacherous mountain path, barely wide enough for one person to pass sideways, a figure shrouded in a black cloak could be seen braving the fierce wind, gazing up at the massive cliff at the end of the path, their pupils, marked with dark red cracks, shifting slightly.

If you look closely at the face under the cloak, you'll find that it is none other than Xin Lailai, who came from inside the Heroes' Tomb.

"It's a very dangerous stretch of road... If you accidentally fall, you'll probably be dead on the spot."

Inside the soul space, Ling Yuzi gazed at the narrow mountain path, which not only bore traces of the rain but also had several places worn smooth by the rain, and muttered softly.

In fact, according to the route map given to them by the nameless nun, they should not have gone in this direction, but should have taken the shortcut that the other party had built with ropes when they came.

However, when they arrived at the shortcut, it had become a dead end due to landslides and other problems. They were forced to take a long detour and choose a side road that was not recommended on the map.

"At least we've made it here safely. Now... all we need to do is figure out how to get through this section of road."

Xin Lailai gazed at the mountain path before her, her eyes flickering slightly. After staring at it for a while, she took a deep breath, faced the rock wall, and carefully began to walk along the narrow path, which was only a hand's width wide.

*Thud!*

Suddenly, a faint rolling sound was heard. Several pieces of rock tumbled down from the top of the cliff, bumped against the mountain path, and then plunged into the darkness that seemed like a bottomless abyss with a splash, without the slightest echo.

As Xin Lailai watched this scene, her eyes flickered, and she keenly glanced at the top of the rock wall. When she saw the desiccated corpse hanging halfway up it, she decisively stopped and moved, instead taking out a slightly heavy stone from her waist and throwing it forward.

Pfft!
The next second, a slightly muffled thud echoed from the mountain path, spreading with the wind. As the noise subsided, the mummified corpse that had been hanging from the cliff seemed to come alive. Suddenly, it gripped its broken dagger and slammed it down from the cliff face, plunging it into the spot directly below amidst a shower of sparks. Then, it shook its head blankly, seemingly wondering why it had missed its target. And then—

Bang!
A muddy leather boot slammed into the resurrected mummified corpse, sending it tumbling into the boundless darkness below. As a few specks of light rose from the darkness and entered Xin Lailai's body, who had delivered the kick, she nodded slightly, glancing at the 'Blessing Interface' at the edge of her vision, a look of satisfaction in her eyes.

Soul Points +10

The desiccated creature they just encountered was the only enemy they had ever faced in the Hero's Graveyard, and the information that popped up on the Blessing interface was the 'reward' they would always receive after defeating it.

As a type of creature that exists everywhere in the Hero's Graveyard, the mummies called 'wanderers' are mostly inactive. Only when there is an extremely obvious movement around them will they suddenly react like pitcher plants to the prey that appears within their attack range.

Incidentally, because he didn't know how to distinguish these beastly creatures with extremely strong disguises when he first left the cemetery, he and Ling Yuzi were chased by more than thirty wandering spirits for half an hour while taking a detour. In the end, they managed to take them down one by one by using the "Qin King circling the pillar" method.

This is why they performed so skillfully just now. After all, if any master of technique were chased by such a small monster for half an hour, they would probably memorize every single movement and habit it made, from raising its head to farting.

"Hmm... there seem to be a few hanging below the mountain path ahead as well."

"I saw them. I'll send them on their way when we get there."

On the mountain path, Xin Lailai, who had been trained into a 'wandering hunter', glanced at the several pairs of claws that were extremely well hidden not far away, as well as a small section of rock wall that suddenly sank inward in the distance, and sneered twice in her mind.

You like to hide and launch surprise attacks, right?
He promised to make these guys understand the consequences of trying to launch a sneak attack in such a dangerous place right away!

Then, the next second, Xin Lailai sneered as if she had some kind of resentment in her voice, and took a small half step to the side with unusual domineering manner.

Despite their murderous intent, they are currently climbing a treacherous path that could scare even those with a fear of heights to the point of fainting. If they are in a hurry to get there, they are truly in a rush to get going.

"I always feel like Lai Lai, you're such a disgrace..."

"Stop joking, this is called being cautious!"

……

So, half an hour later.

Soul Points +10

"Phew... With that, the last one is done."

A long sigh of relief rose from the gray sky. On a secluded path at the end of the mountain road, Xin Lailai looked at the desiccated corpse that had crumbled into gray dust and the information that popped up on the blessing interface. A hint of emotion appeared in her eyes.

If they were in their prime, they could probably leap across a mountain path less than 700 meters long with a single bound. But now, they can only cautiously inch their way across, worrying about falling even when jumping over a crevice less than two meters wide. If they encounter more than three enemies, they will be chased and rolled on the ground. It's fair to say they are in a very sorry state.

"Hmm... why am I suddenly a little worried about the upcoming battle? Lai Lai, do you think we won't be able to beat the Watchers that the nun mentioned?"

"We can only hope that its value doesn't exceed ours by too much; otherwise, we'll have to retreat temporarily and look for other methods."

Inside the soul space, Ling Yuzi muttered with some worry, while Xin Lailai also looked solemnly at the distant cliff and said in a deep voice.

They had already experienced firsthand how frail this body was on their way here. Even an ordinary person with a kitchen knife could easily handle seventeen or eighteen enemies like the Wandering Souls, but with their pitiful mobility, they could be easily chased all over the graveyard.

Of course, this is also closely related to the rules of this world. The excessive pressure of action, the severely suppressed perception, and the limited endurance all mean that in this world, if you are surrounded, unless you have an absolutely overwhelming attribute advantage, you can only avoid or fight a guerrilla war.

As for a one-on-one fight?

Although they are masters of technique and very confident in their one-on-one abilities, as the saying goes, everything depends on the numerical difference.

If they can strike the opponent with a single sword strike without even taking a sliver of health, then forget about fighting; being able to escape would be a stroke of luck.

"In any case, let's test the waters first, after all, our shields still have a lot of durability left."

Xin Lailai spoke, glancing at the worn-out little round shield in her left hand, her eyes slightly lowered.

……

【The Decaying Small Round Shield (68%)】

Strength: F-
Stamina: F+
Combat Skill: Precision Parry

Description: A very ordinary small round shield. Due to the corrosion caused by the passage of time, its performance has declined significantly, and its resistance to physical attacks and fire damage has decreased.

……

Precise parry.

This is the source of their confidence to test the formidable enemy the nameless nun spoke of.

According to their tests, the shields in this world are different from those in the Paradise. Even if they block an attack with their shields, they will still take some damage and lose some stamina.

At first glance, this might seem like a useless feature, but once they enter the 'shield-raised' state, no matter which direction the attack comes from, as long as the attack intensity cannot exhaust all their stamina in one go, they will inevitably be affected by the damage reduction effect brought by the shield.

Or rather, rather than a physical act of blocking, the act of blocking in this world is more like a process of calling upon protective energy. The evidence for this is that after they raised their shields to withstand an attack, a new "Blocking Fetish (↑)" appeared in the status bar of the Blessing interface, similar to "Sword Fetish (↑)" and "Spell Fetish (↑)".
……

"Parry Feat (↑)": When performing a parry, parry strength is increased by 20%.

……

This phenomenon led Xin Lailai to a conjecture: perhaps the reason they were unable to draw out the power of magic masters and soul masters before was because they had not yet come into contact with the 'rules' of this world that correspond to magic and soul energy.

Of course, this can only be verified later. Right now, the most important thing is the combat skill of 'precise parry' that they have mastered.

According to their tests, this combat skill does not consume any mana, but it severely tests their judgment. It can only be activated when there is an opening in the opponent's attack, and a mistake could be fatal. However, if activated successfully, it can perfectly neutralize the opponent's damage while dealing a heavy blow to the opponent's 'endurance' attribute, putting them into a weakened state that only occurs when endurance is depleted. In this situation, a single follow-up heavy blow can often finish off an enemy that would normally require about three sword strikes to defeat.

In other words, with this combat skill, as long as the difference in physical ability between them and their enemies is not too great, they can use this move to constantly create opportunities for themselves and make up for the numerical gap with absolute combat experience and skills.

As for what to do if the enemy's combat experience is no less than theirs, or if their attacks are flawless and their stats are overwhelmingly superior, well... in such a situation, if you don't try to escape, are you just going to stay put and wait to die?

Incidentally, in addition to the two 'mechanisms' mentioned above, they also discovered on their way here that the world's definition of the effects of injury and life points is quite unique.

Simply put, even if they suffer some damage, or even a blow that is theoretically enough to shatter their bodies, they will not suffer any real physical damage. Instead, like the weapons in their hands, they will lose a significant amount of 'durability', which is the 'health points' displayed in their blessing interface, while their bodies remain intact.

As for the root cause of this phenomenon, based on the phenomena they observed when killing wandering spirits along the way and the extent of their own injuries, it is likely that what truly sustains the activities of living beings in this world is not simply life energy, but rather the 'retrospective' characteristic, similar to the equipment and weapons they wield.

In other words, in this world, no matter how fatal the physical damage, as long as their remaining 'rewind' ability... that is, the 'health points' displayed on the blessing interface have not been depleted, they will not lose their ability to move and fight.

From a combat perspective, this is undoubtedly a wonderful thing, since it means that as long as they have 1 point of health left, they can maintain the same combat power as when they are at their peak. However, once you realize that this means that every enemy in this world has this characteristic, you will suddenly find that this is not so wonderful.

"Is this it? The exit of the Heroes' Cemetery..."

"Hmm, so that's the gravedigger... He looks like he's sleeping. Lai Lai, what are our chances of sneaking past him?"

"I estimate... it's 0%."

After walking along the path for a while, Xin Lailai successfully climbed to the top of the cliff. She pushed aside the dark green bushes and followed the wide stone steps built in ancient style to the huge stone platform at the end of the cliff. Looking at the statue-like figure kneeling on one knee in the center of the platform, with black liquid like oil flowing from his body and supported by a three-meter-long halberd, a very solemn look flashed in her eyes.

Can't avoid it.

The moment he saw the other party, his master technique master's intuition told him that if they dared to approach, the tall, statue-like figure in front of them would instantly come to life and give them an incredibly profound "no passage" warning.

but……

"Is this the only way to get there?"

Xin Lailai gazed at the scene before her, her eyes bypassing the tall warrior sculpture in the center of the platform, and landing on the heavy black iron gate behind the other party that led to the bridge. After a moment of silence, she strode forward.

Now that we're here, it's obviously impossible for them to turn back without a reason. Besides, at times like this, it's time to use one of those barbarian techniques' favorite sayings:
Whether we have the right to stop them or not, we'll only know after the battle!
Zheng——! !

The clanging of the rusty sword echoed from the ancient platform stained with dark red blood. As Xin Lailai stepped in, the tall figure kneeling on one knee in the center of the stone platform seemed to sense something. Amidst the sound of crumbling rocks, he slowly raised his head, and two beams of light, like magma, rose from his pupils beneath his gray armor.

"The one who is ashes..."

A hoarse, dry murmur accompanied by a heavy, powerful stomp. The tall, awakened figure stared intently at Xin Lailai's frail frame. Pulling a massive stone halberd weathered into the ground beside him, he leaped high into the air with an imposing aura, bringing it down on Xin Lailai. Xin Lailai's pupils contracted sharply, and without hesitation, she rolled to the side. The next second—

Boom!

The halberd crashed down, sending up a cloud of rubble and dust that engulfed Xin Lailai's figure. The entire stone platform trembled violently. In the dust, Xin Lailai, barely managing to maintain her posture after the tumble, knelt on one knee like a knight in salute, looking up at the imposing figure before her. Her eyes, cracked like magma, held a cold and calm gaze.

"You... need to prove... your qualifications!!"

Boom——! !

The heavy, dull thud rang out again. The tall figure who had just unleashed the attack did not immediately pursue. Instead, he stomped away the dust blocking their path and looked down at Xin Lailai as if scrutinizing her.

[Warning: You have triggered the Gravekeeper's Trial. If you continue, you will be unable to escape the battle!]

"I see... This is a trial specifically arranged here."

Golden-red characters, as if formed from pages of flame, appeared, but Xin Lailai simply stood up with an unusually calm expression, looked up at the tall tomb keeper in front of her, glanced at the gray mist that had somehow appeared around her behind her, and suddenly smiled.

"In that case..."

Let him see what kind of "surprises" this world has prepared for them, the "outsiders"?
The calm footsteps fell, and in the next instant, a gust of wind swept up from the platform without warning. The thin gray mist that had been swirling around them seemed to be drawn by something, rushing towards the only exit behind them, turning into an airtight fog gate that completely blocked their escape route.

As the fog gate coalesced, the tall tomb guardian in front of Xin Lailai seemed to sense something. The firelight in his pupils flickered slightly, and his left arm, amidst the sound of the rock shell peeling away, gripped the stone halberd that was slanted into the ground. Under Xin Lailai's gaze, he suddenly stomped forward and swept the halberd towards Xin Lailai with a heavy thud.

[Notice: You have accepted the trial of the "Ash Keeper" Gravekeeper and are unable to leave the battle!]

As the golden-red text from the Blessing interface fell, Xin Lailai, who was in the path of the Gravekeeper's attack, rolled to the side without hesitation, just in time to avoid the Gravekeeper's attack. At the last moment before the roll ended, she suddenly sprang up and launched a diagonal slash at the Gravekeeper's back.

Get ready.

Bang——! !

A slightly muffled slashing sound rang out, and the gravedigger, attacked from behind, staggered slightly, but without pausing. Instead, he swung his right arm through a gust of wind, his hand, thicker than Xin Lailai's waist, reaching for the gravedigger's head. But in the next instant—

Boom!
A sound like hammers clashing rang out. Just as the gravedigger's grab attack was about to hit Xin Lailai, her left arm appeared in the path of the attack as if she had foreseen it. In a flash of pale golden light, she accurately blocked the attack with her worn round shield, but she was also knocked back several meters.

Boom—!

The sound of something cutting through the air came, but the tomb keeper, who had failed to land his first blow, did not stop at all. Instead, like an extremely experienced warrior, he swung the huge stone halberd in his left hand and hurtled towards Xin Lailai.

boom!
The stone halberd fell and collided with the stone pillar behind Xin Lailai, causing the entire stone platform to shake again. Xin Lailai, like a cunning rabbit, once again narrowly avoided the attack by using a 'donkey roll' technique.

Get ready!

In the next instant, the heavy, slanted sword, gleaming with white light, fell again, striking the gap in the guardian's hind leg armor at a very tricky angle. The guard's body bent involuntarily, and he staggered from the impact of the sword. A change seemed to appear in the corner of his eye as he glanced at Xin Lailai.

As the trial guardians stationed here, the true consciousness of the tomb keeper has long been worn away over the years, and he is now merely guarding this place on instinct. His actual combat ability is far inferior to what it used to be.

Even so, relying on the remaining combat memories in its body and its overwhelming power advantage, it has successfully hunted countless ashes and wandering souls who want to pass through this place over the long years, and has even formed a certain fixed impression on these guys who have awakened from the graveyard.

Weak, powerless, arrogant, impulsive.

Only the instinct to thirst for fire remains, along with the memories of battles when they were strong in life, but they cannot adapt to the fact that they are weak. They always fantasize about overcoming the huge gap in physical strength to confront it head-on, but they can only die under its halberd. This is the only impression the gravedigger has of the 'Ash'.

But at this moment, its intuition, drawn from its physical combat memories, was frantically reminding it that this 'ash' before it was unlike any of the creatures it had ever encountered before.

It's not just about combat experience and timing, but more importantly...

—The opponent seems to be particularly well-suited to this kind of combat with a frail body!

Boom!

The powerful sound of the stone halberd falling rang out once again. On the ancient platform, which resembled an arena, Xin Lailai, whose figure was like a child compared to the tomb keeper, calmly crawled under his crotch. Then, she swiftly slashed her sword at his unguarded and helpless lower back, causing the tomb keeper to stagger again. The health bar displayed on the blessing interface decreased by a small amount once more.

Xin Lailai didn't know how the gravediggers reacted to the battle, but for them, who had experienced countless life-or-death battles along the way, the current fighting style was nothing to brag about or care about.

Or, to put it another way, for those powerful contractors who start with top-tier inheritance and top-tier talent, there may not be such a so-called weak period. But for him, who didn't even reach the standard value when he started out, and who relied entirely on his struggles in the Demon Slayer world to improve, his current fighting style... is just picking up what he trained in the past again.

Being chased and rolling on the ground? Crawling between the enemy's legs everywhere? Only able to stealthily launch a couple of attacks like a weakling? Specializing in exploiting the enemy's weaknesses?
Sorry, but his training in the Demon Slayer world actually started with these techniques on how the weak can survive against demons with huge physical advantages!

……

(End of this chapter)