Chapter 340: Harvest: High-Tier Class [Lord of Corruption]
April 19th.
Despair Valley.
For the past three days, the Oasis Humans dared not approach the central area of the Oasis, because the Lord Hero was temporarily staying there.
Of course, they weren't afraid of the Lord Hero, but of the dragon he had captured. An oppressive, fear-inducing pressure shrouded that area.
Little Nick's mother wanted to see the dragon that had killed her child, but before she could even get close, she was knocked unconscious by that pressure.
Within the Oasis, only the most powerful, Alar, was able to approach that area.
Tap!
Carrying a meal, Alar trod on the soft green grass and arrived at the central area near the water source, a fine layer of sweat unconsciously beading on her forehead.
It was not her first time approaching this place, yet her body still tensed uncontrollably. A sense of horror and panic rose from the bottom of her heart, like a cat whose fur suddenly stood on end upon sensing danger.
"Huu... huu..."
She took two deep breaths to calm the palpitations in her heart.
Alar walked deeper again. She could already hear the trickling sound of flowing water, and a not-so-large wooden cabin came into view.
A faint bloody scent hung in the air, and she could vaguely feel that the temperature here seemed slightly higher than the surrounding area.
She merely glanced at the wooden cabin.
Alar felt a heart-stopping terror, an urge to drop the food in her hands and flee. This emotion of "fear" was completely beyond her control.
Even when she had faced the powerful Gray Dwarf Race, with her entire tribe on the brink of extinction, Alar had never been as terrified as she was now.
She had heard the Lord Hero mention that this seemed to be a power called dragon's aura, which could have a suppressive effect on enemies.
It was too terrifying.
Even after being defeated and captured alive by the Lord Hero, it could still release such power.
Alar truly couldn't imagine just how powerful and magnificent the Lord Hero, who could fight and defeat a dragon, really was.
Alar sighed inwardly. That was a realm she could no longer comprehend.
This unimaginable power filled Alar, who revered strength, with fascination, adoration, and a longing admiration.
"I've troubled you, Alar."
A faint, gentle voice came from within the cabin.
As the voice appeared, Alar's body trembled unnaturally, like a believer's irrepressible excitement and worship upon receiving a response from their god.
She carefully placed the meal in her hands at a spot about ten meters away from the wooden cabin.
"Your... f-food is here, Lord Hero."
Alar stuttered slightly, unsure if it was due to the pressure in the air or her own nervousness.
She didn't dare get any closer to the wooden cabin, afraid she would make an unsightly fool of herself due to the power of the dragon's aura and be seen by the Lord Hero.
After putting down the food, Alar finally left the area.
"Creeak— Squeak—"
The wooden door was pulled open.
Tang Zheng walked out of the wooden cabin, his face a mask of complex thoughts. He came to the spot where the tray was placed, sat down cross-legged, and began to eat heartily.
With his current strength, going hungry for a few days wouldn't be a problem. However, as a member of the human race, basic needs like breathing, eating, and sleeping didn't disappear just because his power increased.
For the past two days, he had been studying the [Heart of the True Dragon Lord]. The more he studied it, the more he discovered the heart's uniqueness. It didn't just contain alchemy technology.
It also held the power of some special magic and rituals.
In short, it was a huge headache.
The Eight Greed Kings possessed the World Item [Nameless Spellbook]. The basic effect of this World Item was that it recorded all the Tier Magic in the world.
This naturally included all the Tier Magic from the game YGGDRASIL before its arrival. Moreover, Tang Zheng couldn't be certain if this World Item had developed other derivative abilities after appearing in the Otherworld.
After all, in the lore, every World Item was an item condensed from a destroyed world, possessing power comparable to an entire world.
If this [Heart of the True Dragon Lord] was created using an ability derived from the [Nameless Spellbook], then no matter how much he studied it, he would inevitably get no results.
Therefore, Tang Zheng's current line of thinking wasn't to figure out how the heart was made, but how it turned the dragonoid Ladon into a dragon.
Simply put, he didn't need to know how to build a refrigerator for now; he just needed to figure out how to use one.
Three days passed with no breakthroughs, but Tang Zheng did manage to get some more information about the Eight Greed Kings from the mouth of the dragonoid Ladon.
For example, the individual appearances of the Eight Greed Kings, speculations about their races, and so on. There was also one other matter that he was quite concerned about.
500 years ago, the sole survivor among the Six Great Gods, the Dark God Surshana, did not initially clash with the Eight Greed Kings.
"Theorizing based on the timeline, the Eight Greed Kings only suddenly went to war with the 'Dark God' Surshana after annihilating a large number of Dragon Lords, and they ended up killing him."
"There must have been some kind of irreconcilable conflict. Perhaps the Slane Theocracy knows more."
Lost in thought, Tang Zheng finished his meal in large mouthfuls, then stood up and walked back into the wooden cabin.
Click!
The wooden door closed again.
Inside the empty room, the dragonoid Ladon lay unconscious on the ground, still under the control of Charm Species.
Tang Zheng surmised that the dragon's aura automatically emanating from him likely originated from the [Heart of the True Dragon Lord].
It had little effect on him, to a negligible degree.
The level difference between them wasn't large to begin with, and the [Valkyrie]'s Divine Blessing Body also provided strong resistance to various debuffs.
For the moment, Tang Zheng didn't look at the dragonoid Ladon. Instead, he focused his gaze on his status panel. In the past two days, besides his research, he hadn't forgotten to collect Experience.
[Experience Slot: 5,500,001 / 360,000]
He had collected 4.5 million Experience in three days, and adding the previous 1 million, he had accumulated 5.5 million.
"That's enough to raise [Dark Knight] to max level." A faint smile appeared on Tang Zheng's lips.
In the past, he wouldn't have been able to waste time researching magic and items; just collecting 5.5 million Experience would have been enough of a headache for him.
*Consume Experience.*
Tang Zheng willed it in his mind.
The Experience in his Experience Slot began to rapidly deplete.
————
Overall Level: 51
[Experience Slot: 440,001 / 850,000]
Class:
Basic Class: Genius 10 Lv (Warrior…)
Intermediate Class: Dark Knight 10 Lv
Advanced/Special Class: …
————
As the 5.5 million Experience was consumed in one go, [Dark Knight] was finally raised to max level.
Tang Zheng sat cross-legged in the wooden cabin, his entire aura surging as his level increased. As he broke through Level 50, a faint, shimmering light flashed across the surface of his skin.
Unlike a mere increase in stats, this time, Tang Zheng perceived it carefully, sensing a change in his very life level, originating from within his physical body and radiating outward. Although it lasted only for an instant, the sensation was incredibly clear.
If he hadn't been paying close attention, it would have been easy to confuse it with the increase in physical strength that came with a stat boost.
"If advancing from Level 28 to 29 into the 'Heroic Realm' was one bottleneck, then Level 50 is the second bottleneck."
"Judging by the Tier Magic system, this corresponds to the 8th Tier (Lv 50-56)."
This thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind as his [Dark Knight] class, now at max level, completely stabilized.
In an instant!
The light throughout the wooden cabin seemed to twist around Tang Zheng as a central point, causing the brightness in the room to dim by several degrees.
An eruption of black energy overflowed, transforming into a faint, black mist that flickered in and out of sight, forming an irregular shape around Tang Zheng!
Bzz—
The status panel vibrated.
*Class build requirements met.*
Tang Zheng's gaze fell upon his status panel. Seeing the message appear, he had an "as expected" look on his face, though he still felt a little excited inside.
*[Genius] class has converted to [Paladin].*
*Class build achieved—Low-Tier Class [Paladin 10 Lv], Intermediate Class [Dark Knight 10 Lv].*
*High-Tier Class triggered: Lord of Corruption.*
*Accept class?*
*Accept class,* Tang Zheng responded in his mind.
...
Class: Lord of Corruption
Level: High-Tier Class
Ability Effects:
Passive:
*Power of Corruption*: All attacks or skills can be imbued with corrosive negative attribute damage.
*Fallen's Grace*: Grants a certain bonus to negative attribute and concealment-type abilities, and increases Holy Attribute Resistance by 20%.
*Heart of Darkness*: Grants Complete Movement Impairment Resistance.
Active Skill:
*Sinking Aura*: Releases a special aura that covers a 15m radius, inflicting a Bind effect on all individuals within range.
Description: Betray that useless faith. The flesh is but a worthless vessel. Only darkness and despair are eternal. We are the destroyers of order.
(Note: For every level increase, the four stats (MP, HP, Physical Defense, Magic Defense) increase by 15 points.)
...
—Whoosh!—
With the successful acquisition of the class, the faint black mist suffusing Tang Zheng's body rapidly thickened, its surface flickering with a faint black light, looking somewhat strange and terrifying.
He opened his eyes.
An oppressive feeling filled the room.
A black light faintly flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes. Looking at the black mist coiling around his body, he raised his arm and casually waved it.
Swish!
The black mist completely dissipated.
"Similar to the situation with [Holy Knight] and [Holy Lord], it's a further enhancement of the previous class."
Tang Zheng scanned the class information for [Lord of Corruption] on his status panel and compared it with [Holy Lord].
He found that the new class seemed to be more practical.
The Dark Knight's *Power of Pain* and the *Power of Corruption* seemed somewhat similar.
However, the effect of *Power of Corruption* not only allowed him to add the negative attribute to normal attacks but also to skills, making his attack methods more diverse.
"The name of the class is certainly grand, but overall, it's still rather mediocre," Tang Zheng commented.
Among the class's passive abilities, what surprised Tang Zheng the most was the addition of "Complete Movement Impairment Resistance." Even the class skill was an area-of-effect control skill; both were quite practical.
He raised his hand and grasped at the empty air, and a magic greatsword appeared in his palm.
"Holy attribute."
The surface of the sword blade vibrated slightly, and a layer of holy energy covered the magic greatsword. Tang Zheng flicked his wrist. "Negative attribute."
The holy energy on the magic greatsword immediately twisted and dissipated, replaced by a layer of black energy, giving it a somewhat terrifying appearance.
"With [Mad Mage] and [Magic Swordsman] combined, I can use physical attacks of the four elements."
"Now, with [Holy Lord] and [Lord of Corruption], I can also use holy and negative attributes."
Tang Zheng chuckled softly. Unconsciously, he realized he could now wield the power of six different attributes.
He looked at the resistances he possessed on his status panel.
...
Complete Curse Resistance, Complete Movement Impairment Resistance, Fire Attribute Nullification, Poison Resistance II (below Lv 30), Dark Attribute Resistance (80%), Holy Attribute Resistance (40%), Weapon Extra Specialization (Slash: 100%, Cleave: 50%)
...
"Logically, holy and negative attributes should be complete opposites, yet I can now use both powers simultaneously," Tang Zheng mused.
He hadn't forgotten that when he was preparing to learn *Undead Summoning*, he discovered a skill conflict with *Angel Summoning*.
But now, there was no class conflict. This was likely because the basic build for both high-tier classes originated from the [Paladin] basic class.
"Next is to level up these two high-tier classes. I wonder if it will trigger a special class." Tang Zheng's eyes lit up.
After that, he continued the process of de-leveling, removing [Dark Knight] from his class build and only keeping the newly acquired high-tier class.
Tang Zheng then continued his research on the dragonoid Ladon's "Heart of the True Dragon Lord," and also indirectly learned about the true situation in the area surrounding Despair Valley from him.
This place was on the far eastern edge of the continent, in a very remote location. Besides the dragonoid Ladon, there were no other strong individuals to be found.
His biggest worries—whether there were other True Dragon Lords or remnant factions of Players—were also confirmed to be nonexistent here.
The next night, Tang Zheng walked out of the wooden cabin and came to the outskirts of the water source, where he saw two people already waiting for him.
"Lord Hero!"
"Lord Hero!"
Alar and Tribe Leader Diyelong hurriedly spoke with reverence.
Ever since everyone had witnessed Tang Zheng defeat a dragon, the Oasis Humans' feelings toward Tang Zheng had gone beyond mere respect, evolving into adoration and fanaticism.
"I plan to leave the Oasis tomorrow. I wanted to let you know in advance."
Tang Zheng waved his hand casually, signaling for the two of them not to be so formal, and spoke with a smile.
"Ah!"
Alar let out a cry of surprise and quickly looked up. "Lord Hero, you're leaving so soon?"
Last time, the Lord Hero had stayed for half a month, so she thought he would stay longer this time as well.
Alar unconsciously fiddled with her pants.
"Alar, the Lord Hero naturally has his own plans," Tribe Leader Diyelong chided.
"No need to be so serious, Tribe Leader Diyelong."
"I obtained more detailed information about this region from the dragonoid that attacked you, so I have a new plan," Tang Zheng said gently.
(end of chapter)