Chapter 157: Hopeless Situation? But I Think I Can Revive

“Brother Chen, why did you stop?”

Yue Yu looked at Chen Xiyi, who was standing in front of the palace, feeling a bit confused.

After they got off the train, they had been heading straight towards the court of the Holy Purple Iris Empire. They were just about to enter, but Chen Xiyi suddenly stopped at the entrance, acting a bit strange.

“It’s nothing, I just found a little surprise.”

When he got close to the court, a red dot suddenly appeared on the Game Map inside the court.

If it was just a normal red dot, that would be one thing, but the prefix of this red dot was unusual.

[Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight]

He knew about knights. He had seen many people with prefixes like that before, but all of them were subordinates of nobles.

But this Sacred Knight was different. It was obvious he had noticed Chen Xiyi’s arrival, because his name directly changed from white to red.

Chen Xiyi didn’t have that ability. Currently, his detection range was only twenty meters. Because they had gone deep into the Holy Purple Iris Empire, his Qi Mechanism had weakened once again.

It was almost gone.

“A surprise?” Yue Yu was still confused.

But seeing Chen Xiyi walk in, he didn’t ask further.

After their arrival was announced, knights naturally escorted the group into the court.

“My dear Rosa, you’re back. Let me see, this fine young man must be the Yue Yu you mentioned in the telegram…” When Holy Purple Iris XVII saw Rosa, he glanced at Yue Yu and said some words of missing her.

Chen Xiyi’s attention, however, wasn’t on Holy Purple Iris XVII; he was just an ordinary person.

“Qi Refiner from afar, are you here to challenge the great Phoenix family?” an old voice came from behind.

The speaker was an old man leaning on a cane. The age spots on his body clearly showed he was very old.

“Grandfather, why have you come out?” Roskin hurried over to support him and greet him.

Clearly, this person was the previous emperor of the Holy Purple Iris Empire, the sixteenth generation.

In everyone’s eyes, he was just an old man who could be knocked over by a gust of wind. But in Chen Xiyi’s eyes, this man’s strength was immense, so strong that he wasn’t very confident he could win.

[Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight, Health Points: 100%, Status: Weak]

[Ability 1: Phoenix Bloodline]

[Ability 2: Way of the Knight]

[Ability 3: Sacred Arms]

[Ability 4: Immortal Body]

[Experiences]

[March: Recovered from the weak aftereffects of nirvana rebirth, discovered a Qi Refiner breaking the agreement by coming to the Holy Purple Iris Empire]

[March: Nirvana succeeded, extended lifespan by five hundred years]

[March: …]

‘Holy crap, this trap isn’t for Yue Yu, it’s for me.’

Chen Xiyi looked at Chris, his pupils contracting. He finally understood why Yue Yu had no issues; because this move wasn’t aimed at Yue Yu in the first place, it was aimed at him.

“What if I said it was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?” Chen Xiyi said hesitantly.

From Chris’s experiences, it seemed this Sacred Knight likely had some agreement with the Qi Refiners. He didn’t know the specifics, but one thing was clear: Qi Refiners weren’t supposed to come to the Holy Purple Iris Empire. Of course, not knowing was another matter.

Chris, however, laughed. “Do you think this old man would believe that?”

After saying that, Chris casually pushed Roskin aside. Flames suddenly ignited on his body, transforming into a giant firebird.

When the firebird landed on him, his old appearance rapidly vanished, turning into that of a young man.

“Since you’re here, then stay.”

As soon as Chris’s voice fell, everything went black before Chen Xiyi’s eyes. He was sent flying back, smashing into the wall.

[Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight attacked you, dealing 0% Health Points damage to you.]

[Enchantment: Thorns reflected the attack from Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight, dealing 100% Health Points damage to Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight.]

[Alloy Full Body Armor Durability decreased by 500 points.]

[Alloy Helmet Durability decreased by 500 points.]

[You gained a negative status: Burn (Phoenix Flame)]

[Burn (Phoenix Flame): Deals 10% Health Points damage per second and reduces Health Points recovery. If the caster dies or does not recall the Phoenix Flame, the burn will continue forcibly.]

[Enchantment: Tenacity took effect. You resisted the status: Burn (Phoenix Flame).]

[You gained a negative status: Burn (Phoenix Flame)]

Chen Xiyi was completely stunned. Damn, that one punch directly took half the Durability off his Alloy Full Body Armor and Alloy Helmet.

It also added an extremely powerful negative status. The Tenacity Enchantment could only resist it temporarily.

More importantly, the negative status didn’t convert into Health Points damage, meaning he had the status. So, the only possibility was that this negative status was provided by the Qi Refiner Module.

Also, even though Thorns reflected the attack and dealt 100% Health Points damage, why wasn’t the other party dead? And in the blink of an eye, his Health Points were full again. No, it didn’t even budge, right? Even the Weak status was gone. It was highly likely that his Phoenix Bloodline or Immortal Body had some kind of damage-lock ability.

How was he supposed to fight this? Ji Shan has no health bar, and you have damage-lock. Was a weak farming Player like him left with only death?

He finally understood: even if the enemy has a health bar, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can win.

“Thorn power? You Qi Refiners are blaspheming the noble bloodline.” Chris also felt the reflected damage from his attack, his tone low.

“I don’t know any Thorn power. Let me leave, and we’ll forget this ever happened. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.” Chen Xiyi’s tone also carried a hint of displeasure.

Clang~

Chris paid no attention. Although he didn’t know why Chen Xiyi didn’t die from his punch, he attributed it to the Qi Refiner’s abilities, and attacked again.

This time, however, the blow didn’t land on Chen Xiyi’s body, but was blocked by an Alloy Shield.

[Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight attacked you, but the attack was blocked by the Alloy Shield. It dealt 0% Health Points damage to you.]

[Enchantment: Thorns and Enchantment: Recoil took effect, reflecting the attack from Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight, dealing 100% Health Points damage to Chris Phoenix the Sacred Knight.]

This reflected damage was powerful. Thorns plus Recoil directly caused Chris’s skin to split and flesh to tear, but it healed completely in the next instant.

Bang~

In that same moment, Chen Xiyi pulled out a Firearm and fired, hitting Chris in the neck. A critical hit doubled the damage, dealing another 100% Health Points damage, yet the other party still didn’t die.

Instead, he frantically launched attacks at Chen Xiyi.

Multiple Alloy Shields were controlled by his Primordial Spirit, forming a phalanx formation. From the gaps between the shields, Firearms emerged one after another, continuously firing at Chris.

“Sacred Arms · Phoenix.”

Chris roared. Flames erupted from his body. A massive phoenix merged into him, forming a suit of armor. High-temperature flames formed a giant two-handed sword that swept towards the phalanx formation Chen Xiyi had built.

Logs of numerous Thorns and Recoil Enchantments constantly refreshed. Furthermore, Chris’s extremely fast attack speed caused the Alloy Shields’ Durability to continuously drop.

The Alloy Shields’ Durability was calculated per block instance, but Chris’s attack power far exceeded the shield’s block value of 10. This meant each attack reduced an Alloy Shield’s Durability by 1 point.

With his Sacred Arms, Chris’s attack frequency reached nearly ten thousand times per second. If Chen Xiyi hadn’t made the entire Alloy Shield phalanx rotate to distribute the attacks, one shield would be destroyed every second.

‘Crap, how do I fight someone this strong? Even 100% Health Points damage recovers. His vitality is just insane. Or does the Phoenix Bloodline’s immunity to death mean he just can’t die?’

[Dewdrop used Nectar Healing on you. You recovered 100% Health Points.]

Chen Xiyi was getting anxious now. He still had the Phoenix Flame Burn status on him. If he couldn’t kill Chris, he would take 10% Health Points damage every second.

‘No, it’s not that Chris can’t be killed, but that my damage isn’t sufficient to kill him. The resilience granted by his Phoenix Bloodline means that although his Health Points show as 100%, his recovery ability far exceeds 100%. Combined with the possible damage-lock, trying to kill him by accumulating damage through multiple hits is far from enough.’

My damage was high, but the opponent’s recovery was stronger, so to kill him, I had to burst out extremely high damage all at once.

Even more importantly, all those old sneaks had arrived.

Chen Xiyi glanced at the map and saw white dots with the Qi Refiner prefix continuously appearing, without even Chris noticing.

It was clear that Chris was no match for the Qi Refiners at all.

They bore no ill will, yet they wanted him dead; they had clearly realized that Chen Xiyi was not from this world and had successfully joined the ranks of the Qi Refiners, so they wanted to use this chance to have him killed.

Whether he died or Chris died, the Qi Refiners did not care, as they would suffer no losses and instead stood to gain corresponding benefits.

As for why they wanted Chen Xiyi and Chris to confront each other, rather than having him killed outright, they were likely wary of something.

So, Chen Xiyi knew that even if he won, these Qi Refiners probably would not let him go.

One minute—I can last at most one more minute. Unless I have Dewdrop use Nectar Healing to save me, I’ll have to go back and wait for revival after three more punches at most…

Oh crap, I can revive!

Chen Xiyi suddenly remembered one thing: he was a Player, and he could revive.

He hadn’t died in so long that he had forgotten about this function.

You bunch of turtles! If this place won’t have me, there are other places that will. Today, I’ll make sure you learn what it means to shout “Allahu Akbar” in praise!

Ten thousand triple-enchanted TNTs will show you why flowers are so uniquely red.

Chen Xiyi was cornered now. He could escape back to the Underground Shelter using the Home Protector, but what then?

His days would definitely not be easy, because the Qi Refiners could hunt him down for trying to disrupt their share. He couldn’t even beat the Sacred Knight Chris, let alone the Qi Refiners.

The moment ten thousand triple-enchanted TNTs exploded, Chen Xiyi, Chris, the entire palace, and the Purple Iris City were all blasted into a bottomless abyss.

At the very bottom, lava churned continuously, marking what was once the capital of the Holy Purple Iris Empire.

[You used TNT × 10000, dealing 100% damage to your Health Points]

[Your Alloy Full Body Armor was destroyed]

[Your Alloy Helmet was destroyed]

[Your Alloy Shield…]

[Life-substitution Death Evasion took effect, leaving you with 1% Health Points]

[You used TNT × 10000, dealing 100% damage to the Sacred Knight Chris Phoenix’s Health Points]

[You killed the Sacred Knight Chris Phoenix]

[You collected the corpse of the exploded Sacred Knight Chris Phoenix and obtained: Outfit (Knight), Phoenix Bloodline, Knight Inheritance, Human Blood…]

[You suffered residual TNT damage, dealing 1% damage to your Health Points. You have died.]

[Pi Xiu activated the ability “Only In, No Out.” You did not drop any items.]

…

“This foreign demon is finally eliminated. Too bad we wasted a Phoenix Bloodline,” Sima Mei said coldly as he watched the lava surging up from below.

“It was just a defective product anyway. If you want one, you can cultivate another. Eliminating the foreign demon was the main point,” Ji Shan replied.

“This foreign demon was unusual. Before, they were all weak time travelers without any strength. This one not only became a Qi Refiner but also developed so much in such a short time. If killing a foreign demon in our world didn’t cause a calamity between the two realms, we wouldn’t have needed to go through all this trouble.”

“Fortune and misfortune are intertwined. Every time we pull in a world, foreign demons follow. But if a foreign demon dies in the New World after growing to a certain extent, it can also bring benefits. Wait, why hasn’t anything changed?”

“Maybe we just need to wait a little longer?”

The Qi Refiners suddenly realized that the benefits from the foreign demon’s death had not appeared.

“Could it be that he isn’t dead?”

“Impossible. We saw with our own eyes that Chen Xiyi’s Qi Mechanism disappeared. With such a huge explosion and the burn of the phoenix flames, unless he had forged his own path, even a Primordial Spirit couldn’t withstand that much damage.”

The Qi Refiners argued back and forth until Ji Shan finally spoke up: “Maybe it’s because the explosion was too big, and he died so thoroughly that we didn’t get any benefits.”

“After all, of all the foreign demons we’ve encountered, this one was the most unique.”