88: The Second Prince bravely ventures into the dark gate.

While the four were still looking for suitable merchants in the Gold Coin Zone to trade gold coins, someone in the Secret Realm had already entered the Dark Corridor Dungeon Instance ahead of them.

This team was not Lin Chuan and his two disciples; leading them was a young Gunner wearing an exaggerated red robe with golden patterns and a four-winged golden Avatar on his back.

If Lin Chuan were here, he would surely be surprised, because the Avatar this Gunner was wearing was actually the second set of Rare Avatars that had just gone online after the recent System upgrade—the Wings of Celestial (commonly known as the sky set).

This Gunner was none other than the Second Prince of the Southern Border's royal family, Yuwen Jing Tian.

The Second Prince adjusted the wings on his back and couldn't help but say, "As expected of a Rare Set; it's so domineering, truly fitting of my status."

An old man carrying a cross behind him said, "Pardon my meddling, but this outfit is too expensive. To synthesize it, Second Prince, you spent nearly two hundred thousand Spirit Stones."

To his surprise, the Second Prince said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter, Elder Shen. You get what you pay for; the attributes added by this Avatar set aren't low either."

"Alright." The Second Prince turned to look at the Fighter and Ghost Swordsman behind him. "Captain Yang, Commander Ma, although the level of your equipment isn't high, I spent a fortune to have them all forged to +7 or higher. Work hard for this Prince, and eventually, we'll get a Rare Avatar set for everyone to wear!"

The Fighter and Ghost Swordsman immediately knelt on one knee and said, "Thank you, Second Prince! We will surely fight to the death for the Second Prince, even if we must sacrifice our lives!"

The Second Prince nodded with satisfaction and quickly stepped forward to help them up somewhat insincerely, saying, "Ah! You overstate things!"

The old man called Elder Shen quickly whispered in the Second Prince's ear, "Second Prince, these two are close officials of your father, the Emperor. Doing this, is it perhaps a bit..."

"Hehe, the struggle between princes has always been like this. Should I really learn from my dear eldest brother, who only knows how to lead troops into battle?" The Second Prince interrupted Elder Shen.

"I've seen it; the gap between us and the four on the Rank leaderboard isn't that large. Let's hurry in. In this final half-day, this Prince must surpass them and take the top spot!" the Second Prince said loudly.

Elder Shen shook his head helplessly and grumbled in his heart, "I've watched you grow up since you were a kid; how could I not know what you're made of? You're acting like you're deep and calculating now, but in reality, no one knows better than I do that you're no different from a silly boy."

The Second Prince led the team directly into the Dark Corridor. Upon entering, they saw only a long hallway with a few stone-carved guards standing there.

"Second Prince, it seems these statues are monsters, just like those adventurer statues. Let me go forward and test them out," said the Fighter known as Captain Yang.

"Mm, thank you for your hard work," the Second Prince said indifferently.

Captain Yang immediately ran forward, touching each statue as he passed.

Sure enough, after Captain Yang had touched all the statues, their stone skin began to peel off, turning into suits of armor holding either swords or axes.

The Ghost Swordsman, Commander Ma, took a look and said, "These armors are truly eerie. They look empty, as if no one is wearing them, yet they can move on their own."

"Mm, let's start the fight!" the Second Prince said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Commander Ma was surrounded by blood energy, directly applying the Blood Frenzy state to himself; he was clearly a Berserker as well.

Seeing all the statues activated and surrounding him, Captain Yang immediately applied two buffs to himself as well.

A faint golden-red light emanated from the edges of his body, covering his skin. He directly tanked an attack from an axe-wielding guard and delivered a Low Kick to the armored guard's legs.

The armor on the guard's legs was kicked apart, leaving only the torso armor floating eerily in mid-air, unable to move.

On the other hand, Captain Yang, hit by the giant axe, seemed completely unaffected, not even retreating a single step.

Suddenly, he withdrew his hands wearing Gauntlets and, in a posture practiced for two and a half years, leaned his shoulder forward and roared at the armors in front of him, "Iron Mountain Lean!"

His shoulder emitted a terrifying force, slamming directly into a suit of armor in front of him, shattering it into pieces with a single move, which then vanished into white light.

The Second Prince looked at the battle before him and nodded with great satisfaction. "Not bad, those gold coins weren't spent in vain."

After saying that, he turned back and called out, "Elder Shen!"

The old man nodded, placed his hand on his forehead, and pointed at the Second Prince. "Weapon Blessing!"

A bright yellow light instantly flickered on the long rifle in the Second Prince's hand, looking very conspicuous.

Elder Shen didn't stop and continued to point. "Slow Heal."

A green halo appeared on the Second Prince's body.

The Second Prince laughed heartily and applied a buff to himself as well; the blue light on the rifle in his hand flickered.

The Second Prince performed a sliding tackle, quickly approaching those guard statues.

With a 'bang', the rifle fired a bullet, directly hitting an armored guard right in front.

The moment the guard was hit by the bullet, blue light suddenly appeared on its body, and countless tiny ice thorns stabbed directly into the armor, causing its speed to slow down significantly.

The 'bang bang' sounds rang out a few more times, and those statues that hadn't died yet were all hit by the ice-blue bullets, becoming sluggish.

The Second Prince suddenly pulled a silver-white grenade from his waist and threw it directly into the group of guards.

With a 'boom', the guards slowed by the ice bullets were blown over, pieces of armor flying everywhere; several were killed instantly.

The ones that didn't die had arcs of electricity emitting a sizzling sound on their bodies.

Commander Ma immediately stepped forward, swinging his Greatsword and Blood Sword, finishing off all the remaining armors.

The Second Prince smiled with satisfaction. "Not bad, everyone has become much stronger after their Class Advancement."

After saying that, he led the group directly into the next room.

As soon as they entered, it was pitch black, and they could only vaguely see some short figures moving in the darkness.

"Eh? Why is it so dark? Are there no lamps lit?" The Second Prince was a bit annoyed.

Just as he finished speaking, a 'clack' sound was heard at his feet, as if something had dropped beside him.

"What's that!" The Second Prince was startled and immediately backed away.

After waiting for a while and seeing no movement, the Second Prince said, "Captain Yang, please go and see what just fell down."

Captain Yang hesitated for a moment but still fumbled his way over, searched on the ground, and picked up a four-pointed iron throwing knife. "Second Prince, it's a dart."

"Be careful; something must be hiding in this darkness," the Second Prince warned.

Suddenly, there was another 'clack', and something else dropped by his feet.

The Second Prince cursed, "These monsters are truly cunning, throwing darts in the dark, though their aim is a bit poor."

After saying that, he crouched down, wanting to pick up the dart and take a look.

The Second Prince's hand felt around the ground. "Huh? It doesn't seem to be a dart. What is this?" The Second Prince felt something round, picked it up curiously, and held it before his eyes to see more clearly.

The sphere he held before his eyes suddenly emitted a dark red light. Just as the Second Prince saw it clearly and before he could react, a 'boom' exploded, lighting up the surroundings in an instant.