Leoz lifted his head, casually hefting a Rock Ghost phalanx in his hand. He unhurriedly circled around the forming Tomb Rock Guard, coming to the third coffin on the right, and skillfully retrieved a five-meter-long giant sword from within.

The coarse blade seemed like nothing more than a massive stone club, having the shape of a blade but lacking any sense of sharpness. Long-term weathering and corrosion left it rusted, yet, strangely, once in hand, its weight quickly adjusted to perfectly suit the Sword Bearer's level.

"Only thunder can pierce the mountains."

Leoz placed the Rock Ghost phalanx into the groove of the sword's hilt guard.

Roar!

The surging rock layers took full form, and a giant samurai spread its arms, rushing toward Leoz in an instant.

[Ultimate Magic: Inessential Chanting, Rock Earthquake Belt]

[Prohibition Exemption: Dimensional Anchor]

[Super Mode: Instantaneous Earth Dragon Roaring Wave]

The ground shook violently, spewing forth intense magma. Simultaneously, terrifying dimensional energy utterly sealed the space; time and space functions were rendered ineffective here.

Out of the magma leapt eight giant dragons, entwined in sulfurous smoke. Their sharp screeches shattered eardrums, causing bleeding, making it impossible to chant incantations or cast spells.

Three sequential spell lights descended, and the Tomb Rock Guard clenched its fist and smashed it down on Leoz's head.

Click.

The next moment, the entire blade immediately exploded into dazzling lightning. The surface rock and rust shattered instantly, revealing a finely-crafted, smooth-cut blade!

Meanwhile, vivid images of humanoid figures wielding blades and shifting stances flooded into Leoz's mind. Holding his breath, detailed virtual shadows of movements appeared before him, instructing him step-by-step on how to execute them.

Combat Technique: Ultimate Domination Slash

So detailed, it's like a comprehensive combat technique tutorial...

"But there's no need for that."

Leoz spun the blade with one hand. Storms and thunder surged endlessly, stirring the skies and earth, and his immense power instantly engulfed the Tomb Rock Guard's upper body.

————Boom!

[Dominator Body Penetration]

[Invincible Piercing]

[Forced Destruction]

[Storm Strike]

[Absolute Hit]

The five-fold effects attached to the sword activated simultaneously, and just like a home-run baseball hit, the Tomb Rock Guard was instantly catapulted, smashing fiercely into the wall.

Whoosh——

The enormous blade suddenly halted, and Leoz shook his head vigorously. His contacts-disguised eyes burst forth with a wild red glow.

The next moment, he reversed his grip on the giant sword, using the twisting force of his waist, and flung it outward!

Whizz-Bang!

The Tomb Rock Guard latched onto the walls around it, its body covered with traces of lightning and weathering. Just as it sat up, the advancing lightning pierced through its chest. The hard, heavy armor was penetrated instantly, the rock was melted and shattered, and the lightning, like a venomous snake, struck directly at the energy seed core, completely piercing its body and crashing into the crypt's rocky mountain.

Clang!

The giant sword embedded firmly into the rocky mountain. As the guard collapsed and crumbled into fragments, the lightning gradually dimmed, hiding its magical presence.

Leoz stepped forward and removed the Rock Ghost phalanx from the giant sword:

"Couldn't have done it without you."

Thanks to countless players in the 'previous life', experimenting with various tricks to explore, people connected the Rock Ghost phalanx with another task, "Mysterious Rock Inheritance." This allowed him to cleave through obstacles and enter the [Mysterious Rock Lord]'s tomb as if exploiting a cheat.

Speaking of which, normally if one separated these tasks, they'd end up in a nested storyline: rescue a Scholar, then the Scholar gets captured, find clues to save him, need to collect materials to help, and collecting materials requires killing monsters. After slaying the monsters, you're then required to make a 'trolley problem'-like moral choice.

In the previous life, players facing a writer who penned such plots had no solution but to curse the writer's ancestors.

Now, knowing this is a real world, players can hardly face it with a calm mind.

Leoz never engages in such frivolous tasks; his principle is efficiency above all else. Game experience and moral introspection are all dismissed; they should not interfere with his speedrun.

However, even with the near-cheat Rock Ghost phalanx, it doesn't mean things will be easy henceforth.

Firstly, his method is entirely one-time use.

The Scorpion Beast was lured and killed without yielding any useful materials.

The giant sword, once used, became completely scrapped, roughly equivalent to losing a level 300 melee "Heirloom Masterpiece" item.

Killing the Tomb Rock Guard in this way precluded receiving the achievement.

Despite these losses, Leoz felt no loss or regret.

His method's losses were numerous, yet the greatest advantage was undeniable:

It ensured he could complete the challenge with absolutely no injuries.

After defeating the second layer's guard, Leoz continued his crafty methods, even exploiting a bug to skip levels, leveraging flaws in the array to bypass trial obstacles and proceed to the bottom layer.

There was no sentiment for the wills of ancestral predecessors, only skills honed and summarized through the game.

As human and divine wills gradually merged, Leoz became increasingly adept. This was thanks to Redd Gold and Xides, who contributed humanity and desire, letting him know what he wanted, and granting him his own Independent Will and dreams.

Truth be told, Redd Gold, as an ally, has been quite generous.

If not for the matter of Severston, Leoz may have indeed chosen her as a long-term strategic ally.

But Rednaya might not understand that after acquiring humanity, Leoz was no longer that simple Cannon Fodder Deity; he desired more, much more.

[Choosing this path was also to avoid Rednaya's surveillance, as she certainly planted numerous spies on me to monitor my actions.]

However, the tomb of the [Mysterious Rock Lord] possessed strong dimensional power, enough to block external surveillance.

At this time, Rednaya was likely gnashing her teeth, anxiously biting her finger, wondering where he was.

[Just as well; I can't let Rednaya completely control me. Showing some independence might lead her to think I haven't fully allied with her, prompting her to invest more.]

Unified front value must be fought for.

Moreover, solely tying himself to Rednaya made Leoz uneasy.

When it comes to betrayal, Rednaya has a track record.

Betrayal is like infidelity; there's only once and countless times. Once tasted benefits from betrayal, even the purest men and women cannot return to their former selves.

What's more, Rednaya was never a decent person.

Dai Yawen and her mentor, the [Adventurous Saintess] Vellia, even the [Doctor] Senator who created the Dragon Mortality Weapon, all said:

Redd is not to be trusted.

Though it seemed he and Rednaya were natural allies, in reality, after inspecting his situation, besides Severston, he had an interesting potential ally to choose from.

And this required not only obtaining the Rock Ghost, the Holy Beast, but also the help of a wild deity…

"Here we are."

Leoz lifted his head, gazing at the black coffin ahead.

"Finally, it's time to take the Talent of a Martial Way genius—[Mysterious Rock Lord]."

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