Chapter 183: Unlucky

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“The Flying Feather Gem, again!”

Lin Jie was exasperated. Something never changed—like how the Battle Emperor would never resolve the problems of being unlucky even if he was reborn. After clearing nearly three-quarters of the Cave of Crystals, he felt depressed when he looked down at the dozens of sparkling crystals—all the Flying Feather Gems—in his bag.

The drop-rate of gems was not high, and he had killed 400+ monsters in this cave already. That meant almost clearing off all the monsters in the cave. Yet, all he got were… 31 Flying Feather Gems!

The Cave of Crystals’ monsters could drop more than 10 different types of gems! There’s really nothing much else to say, other than the fact that he was just plain unlucky! This was also the reason why Lin Jie had not been able to gather the Shemendes Iron Cloak after two whole months.

Lin Jie consoled himself to look at things positively. After all, Flying Feather Gems, which could increase Movement Speed, were more practical. Movement Speed was a Stats which was important to all kinds of jobs. Flying Feather Gems which could increase Movement Speed by 1% were considered low-class gems, those which could increase Movement Speed by 2% were considered middle-class gems, and those which could increase Movement Speed by 3% were considered high-class gems. Within all the gems Lin Jie collected, he had four gems which were high-class gems.

‘Well, surely, that wasn’t too bad.’

Lin Jie was greeted with an even colder temperature as he proceeded deeper into the cave, continuing his exploration. It was hard to imagine that such a cold place could exist within a live volcano.

Kacha—

The stone wall beneath his feet revealed a crack. Lin Jie brightened up at this. He stomped onto the ground, and the ground immediately broke apart!

“Feather Drop Spell!”

Elemental Magics appeared and surrounded Lin Jie, decreasing his descent speed. After a few seconds, Lin Jie finally landed safely on solid ground.

The place he stood at now was the ruins of a once-grand shrine. This hidden map beneath the Cave of Crystals was named the Crystals Ruins. According to legends, this was a burial ground left behind from the Period of the Giant Dragons, and an Ice Dragon’s Egg hidden here was the reason why such a cave of crystals was formed within this live volcano. This legend had once attracted numerous treasure-hunters, and they had searched long and hard for the Ice Dragon’s Egg within the Cave of Crystals and the Crystals Ruins, but they had returned disappointed eventually.

Judging from the shape of the Crystals Ruins, this place was definitely not a human establishment. It was roughly 50 meters in height, and its surrounding walls were covered in crystallized walls of that height. One could see slanted crystallized pillars everywhere, and the place reeked of Barbarian vibes.

The smooth crystallized walls would make even the best climbers within the Bandits feel helpless.

“Silver Feathers, come out now!” With a wave of his right hand, the Silver-Feathered Eagle appeared within Lin Jie’s palms. It flapped its wings and soared up into the air.

Lin Jie guessed only Flying pets had the ability to see the full view of such maps.

Activating Spirit Vision, Lin Jie observed the whole ruins from mid-air. There was a human-shaped like figure the size of a house in the middle of the Crystals Ruins. This was the only monster in the Crystals Ruins, and also the greatest Boss within the Cave of Crystals: the Crystal Giant! It was a Level 32 gold-tiered Boss and was extremely powerful. At the same time, it was a Boss which everyone fought for in Lin Jie’s previous life. The reason for this was simple: one could gain gems worth the entire Cave of Crystals’ treasures by killing it!

The Crystal Giant was deep in slumber and did not discover any unusual happenings around him. This was because the Silver-Feathered Eagle had cleverly activated disguise mode while circling and observing the Crystal Giant.

Suddenly, Lin Jie discovered a strange thing. There was a Treasure chest located on the giant’s neck area! Looking at its color, it was a Dark-Gold Treasure chest!

‘No one had discovered any Treasure chest here in my previous life. Maybe… when they activated the giant’s plot, this Treasure chest was smashed to pieces by the Crystal Giant,’ mused Lin Jie secretly as he continued his observation with help from the Silver-Feathered Eagle. There was a closed door behind the Crystal Giant. Numerous players had verified that this was a door that couldn’t be opened at all, but anyone who came in contact with this door would be teleported to the exterior Cave of Crystals—amidst the gushing lava.

As Lin Jie observed further with the Silver-Feathered Eagle, he discovered in shock that there were hidden Treasure chests on the crystallized walls all around! They were all being sealed by the crystals, and were at least silver grade or above!

‘What the heck!’

This was purely a ploy by the system to disgust the players—no one could take out those Treasure chests!

Lin Jie stopped eyeing enviously at all the Treasure chests available, and focused on the one which was most accessible: the Treasure chest on the Crystal Giant!

As a giant-type monster, the Crystal Giant had up to 200,000 health points. Its mode of attack was very crude: by stepping! Other than causing double damage from the remnant tremors from its steps, it could stun its enemies for more than three seconds. As soon as one was stepped on by the Crystal Giant, they would be unable to resist more than three other normal attacks by the giant. Lin Jie would be hammered and tortured to half-death state even with his 2,520 health points.

In Lin Jie’s previous life, huge sacrifices had been made every time anyone tried to kill the Crystal Giant.

Lin Jie took out Broken Blade and began observing the surroundings. Taking on the Crystal Giant single-handedly was not an easy feat, he had to make all kinds of necessary and possible preparations.

The slanted crystallized pillars around seemed to become harder and colder under the effect of the cold temperature. Lin Jie touched one of them, and an idea formed. He activated Flame Boost, and Broken Blade turned blazing red!

Army Obliteration!

After slashing a few times onto the crystallized pillar, the blazing sharp sword melted a few big holes on the pillar! Lin Jie slashed with Broken Blade around continuously, and the crystals creaked apart after a great “kacha” sound, breaking into two great pieces! After another great boom, half of the crystallized pillar fell down onto the ground.

Looking at how an inverted ‘V-shaped’ was formed between the two remaining halves of the crystallized pillar, Lin Jie nodded in satisfaction. He came to another pillar and repeated the same process. The remnants of the broken crystallized pillars combined together to form a cage-like establishment.

“Okay, about done.” Lin Jie looked at his work and carried Broken Blade on his back while he walked towards the Crystal Giant. Only when he neared it did he finally feel personally how oppressive this species of creature could be! A rough human face was carved upon the revolving doors-like crystals, and the sleeping giant actually looked quite mesmerizing from certain angles.

Lin Jie took off all his equipment and activated the Feather Drop spell. He needed to lessen his weight until he was as light as possible. Climbing secretly onto the Crystal Giant’s back, he crept along silently.

The moment the Feather Drop spell was deactivated, Lin Jie held his breath and did not dare to move.

The giant’s body vibrated slightly, but it did not wake up. Lin Jie heaved a sigh of relief and waited for the Feather Drop spell to totally cool down before he proceeded on. 10 plus minutes passed before he finally reached the giant’s neck area!

The Treasure chest was indeed a Dark-Gold Treasure chest—and it was not locked!

Lin Jie was elated. He immediately started the process of opening the Treasure chest. The loading process of Dark-Gold Treasure chest was super slow, and it was lucky that Lin Jie had the wisdom to take off all the equipment he wore beforehand so as to ensure his movements were as silent as possible. Or else, the opening process of the Dark Gold treasure chest would have woken up this big fellow beneath his feet.

‘Opening of the treasure chest… 1%… 2%…’

The opening progress was really slow. Lin Jie gulped nervously and stared fixedly at the Treasure chest.

With the passing of time, the giant which Lin Jie was stepping on seemed more and more restless. Even if it was still in slumber, it seemed to feel some unease.

85%… 86%…

Drops of perspiration dripped down from Lin Jie’s forehead. If the Crystal Giant stood up now, the Treasure chest on its neck would be smashed to pieces!

ROAR—

The Crystal Giant’s body vibrated violently, and it seemed like an earthquake! A great breaking sound was heard from beneath its body—it was about to stretch out its limbs!

Just at this moment!

Creak—

The Treasure chest finally opened! Lin Jie groped around blindly with his hands in the Dark Gold Treasure chest. There was some probability that Dark Gold fragments could be found in Dark Gold Treasure chest! Grabbing a rod-shaped, cold item from the Treasure chest, Lin Jie shoved it down in his backpack without thinking much. Just when he was about to keep his outstretched arms, the Crystal Giant stood up! It was going into enraged mode!

Lin Jie turned back and saw that the sharp stone ceilings of the ruins seemed nearer and nearer. If even a Dark-Gold Treasure chest could not withstand a bump from this ceiling, how would he, a mere human being, survive then?

Looking at the Treasure chest reluctantly, Lin Jie made up his mind and activated the Feather Drop spell. He jumped off from the giant’s shoulders and put on his equipment in the process!

Kaboom—

A great bumping sound rose up from behind him. The giant’s back hit the edges of the ruins, and the Treasure chest was shattered into pieces!

Feeling the cold air brush past his cheeks, Lin Jie looked at the giant cage which he had constructed. If only he could lure the giant over there…

At this moment, the giant’s palm snatched him up!

“Wth!” cursed Lin Jie. The giant was enraged because he was abruptly woken up from his deep sleep, and he glared down angrily at the person he held in his hands, preparing to gobble him up!

“Thunder Descent!”

Thunder covered Lin Jie’s body. Purplish thunder sizzled around the giant’s fingertips, and after a sharp cry, the Crystal Giant finally opened his palms! Lin Jie’s body was released, and he dropped down from the air, landing onto the ground with his face!

It was lucky that Lin Jie had become quite thick-skinned – both literally and figuratively – since his rebirth! Without caring to touch his swollen face, he activated Forward Charge and rushed towards the cage made up by the pillars’ remnants! The Crystal Giant stretched out his arms and followed suit angrily!

“One, two, three… JUMP!”

From time to time, Lin Jie turned back to observe the Crystal Giant’s actions in order to calculate his speed. When the giant stomped down on the ground, he would make a deep leap and avoid the giant’s clasp! A shockwave passed by his lower body, and he felt chilly down there.

“Jump!”

“Jump!”

As he continued to run forward to the cage, Lin Jie made deep frog leaps to avoid being caught by the giant! Shockwaves passed by his lower body, and as the shockwaves could radiate at least to two meters high, Lin Jie must always do a split as perfect as he could and leap up really high in the air to avoid being harmed. Otherwise… his poor private parts would come in contact with the waves, and that would be disastrous!

As he neared the cage, Lin Jie ran harder and faster and slipped through the holes in between the pillars.

The Crystal Giant obviously did not have much of a brain, and he bumped right into the remnants of the pillars! With this collision, the pillars finally broke away and crashed downwards onto the giant, trapping it tightly!

Ang—

The Crystal Giant let out a tragic yell and hit all around with his fists. The shockwaves became more rampant, and the broken crystals flew around like hailstones, hurting Lin Jie when they smashed onto him!

Lin Jie hurriedly wriggled out from a hole and crawled towards the giant’s backside.

As a giant, every single part of his body was extremely huge—including his buttocks. After crawling hard for a few seconds, Lin Jie finally managed to reach this almost zero-defense area of the giant’s body. However, as the giant was thrashing around and vibrating too violently, Lin Jie lost his balance, and… slipped right into its butt hole!

Coocoo… coocoo!

Several anxious “coocoo” sounds were heard in the air. As it flew around scouting the area, the Silver-Feathered Eagle witnessed what happened! This smart fellow, which comprehended what happened to its master, broke out in laughter uncontrollably, and almost knocked its head onto the cave’s walls! It nearly fell down due to losing its balance while flying in the air!