Gacha pull: I obtained a god-level talent.

"A level 15 monster gives 2000 experience points, which is several times more than other monsters of the same level!"

Upon receiving the notification, Zhang Yuan felt a surge of excitement.

Killing one monster here is equivalent to killing several outside, and it's also an instant kill, so the speed isn't slow.

Leveling up in this instance might be a good option.

As Zhang Yuan ventured deeper into the dungeon, he encountered several more Shadow Forest Giants, which he easily defeated, resulting in a rapid increase in experience points.

During this time, Zhang Yuan also encountered other monsters, but their attributes were similar to those of the Shadow Forest Giant, and they were all instantly killed.

Zhang Yuan pushed his way through the dungeon, and by the time he reached the deepest part of the dungeon, his experience bar had reached 70%, making his leveling speed insane.

Deep within the Shadow Forest lies a gray altar, with numerous corpses hanging from the withered trees surrounding it, creating a bloody and eerie atmosphere.

There are many candles on the altar, and in the center of the altar is a scarecrow tied to a cross, which looks like the boss of this instance.

Shadow Scarecrow

Use the Eye of the Abyss.

【Shadow Scarecrow (Leader)】

【Level: 16】

【Strength: 0】

[Agility: 0]

【Spirit: 10000】

[Physique: 0]

[Skills: Mental Storm, Death Curse, Resurrection]

"The spirit of 10000?"

When Zhang Yuan saw the boss's attributes, a wicked smile immediately appeared on his face.

This boss's attributes are indeed terrifying; if a team is unaware of the situation, they would likely be wiped out easily.

However, Zhang Yuan possesses the unique martial skill of Chixiao.

One of Chixiao's passive abilities is that the holder is immune to mental attacks!

It can be said that Zhang Yuan's exclusive weapon is a perfect counter to this mental-type boss!

The shadowy scarecrow stood motionless on the altar, appearing harmless.

Zhang Yuan showed no mercy and immediately controlled the iron sword to attack. The Shadow Scarecrow's strength and physique were both 0, so it should be easy to kill it instantly.

However, when Zhang Yuan pierced the Shadow Scarecrow with his iron sword, the kill notification did not appear.

A green light shone around the Shadow Scarecrow, and its wounds disappeared.

"A resurgence of skills?"

Seeing this, Zhang Yuan tried to attack several more times, but the Shadow Scarecrow would still revive and could not be killed.

"It's definitely a bug in the mechanism; there should be other ways to kill it."

Zhang Yuan abandoned physical attacks and focused his attention on the altar, where he discovered four thick candles at the four corners of the altar's edge.

"Could it be related to those candles?"

Zhang Yuan tried to extinguish one of the candles, and the Shadow Scarecrow suddenly let out a piercing scream.

Skill: Mental Storm.

A terrifying storm spread outwards, and Chi Xiao immediately conjured a red barrier around Zhang Yuan, blocking the attack of the Shadow Scarecrow.

"Mental attacks are indeed ineffective against me."

Seeing that the Shadow Scarecrow attacked after he extinguished the candle, Zhang Yuan realized he was on the right track and immediately went to extinguish the other candles.

Every time Zhang Yuan extinguishes a scarecrow, the Shadow Scarecrow unleashes a mental storm.

When Zhang Yuan extinguished the last candle, the Shadow Scarecrow did not unleash a mental storm, but instead began to twist and scream continuously before exploding!

A beam of death shot towards Zhang Yuan.

Skill: Death Curse!

If not purified within one minute, death will ensue.

Chixiao's passive ability was activated, blocking the final blow from the Shadow Scarecrow.

[Successfully killed the Shadow Scarecrow, experience +20000]

[Obtained the Cursed Necklace.]

The kill notification appeared, but Zhang Yuan was still shaken.

If he doesn't have a passive ability to be immune to mental attacks, then to clear this dungeon, he must have a Paladin or Priest with purification skills present; otherwise, once he is afflicted by the death curse, he will surely die!

"If we write this information into a strategy guide and submit it to the Adventurers' Guild, we should be able to earn a lot of money and save a lot of lives."

Zhang Yuan silently noted this down, then checked his newly acquired equipment.

【Cursed Necklace (Special Accessory): Spirit +500, the wearer gains the skill Spirit Storm, but is also afflicted with a Spirit Curse, reducing Strength and Constitution by 250. No equipment level restriction.】

[Note: One of the three-piece curse set.]

[Mental Storm: Unleashes a wide-range mental howl, dealing damage equal to 10 times the caster's mental power to each enemy.]

"The cursed necklace has ridiculously high stat bonuses and deductions, and it has no level restrictions, making it a special piece of equipment like the Crimson Sky Necklace..."

Zhang Yuan was somewhat conflicted when he saw the properties of the cursed necklace.

His sword damage is related to mental power. Adding 500 mental power is equivalent to increasing his attributes by 17 levels. Moreover, the skill Mental Storm also makes up for his lack of area-of-effect attacks.

Although his Constellation 4 grants him splash damage, it's only 10%, which becomes insufficient as monsters' health increases in the later stages of the game.

Even now, his single splash damage isn't enough to kill elite monsters instantly.

However, his area-of-effect (AoE) skills are different. His fourth constellation effect is that for every enemy he attacks within the sword array, other enemies will suffer 10% splash damage. This means that the more enemies his AoE skills hit, the higher the cumulative splash damage will be.

When there are more than 10 enemies, the splash damage exceeds the damage of the skill itself!

For him, Mental Storm was a divine skill for clearing out large numbers of mobs.

However, the 250 reduction in strength and constitution is quite infuriating. He currently has 230 strength and 165 constitution. Wearing this necklace will directly reduce his attributes to negative numbers, and he might be cursed to death on the spot.

He would need to be at least level 30 to wear this cursed necklace.

"Wait, this necklace's mental curse... shouldn't it also be considered a mental attack?"

Zhang Yuan suddenly noticed a blind spot: the cursed necklace would curse its holder, while his exclusive weapon, Crimson Sky, would grant him immunity to mental attacks.

Based on Chi Xiao's performance just now, the Shadow Scarecrow's mental storm and death curse had no effect on him. Logically speaking... Chi Xiao should also be able to neutralize the mental curse of this curse necklace.

With that in mind, Zhang Yuan immediately decided to try wearing the necklace; if it didn't work, he could simply take it off.

After putting on the cursed necklace, Zhang Yuan only felt a chill on his neck and his vision became much clearer. Other than that, he felt nothing else.

Zhang Yuan immediately checked his attributes.

Name: Zhang Yuan

【Class: Sword Formation Master (Unique)】

[Level: 13 (82.00%)]

【Strength: 230】

[Agility: 165]

【Spirit: 990】

[Physique: 165]

[Special Class Attributes: Critical Hit Rate (22%), Critical Hit Damage (220%)]

[Talents: Absolute Luck (Level 1), I Am a Sword Immortal (Level 1), Eye of the Abyss]

[Equipment: Iron Sword Case (10/10), Divine Sword Crimson Sky, Imperial Special Merit Badge, Cursed Necklace]

[Skills: Sword Formation (Level 3), Sword Control (Level 3), Sword Formation Space, Poison Resistance (Level 1), Mental Storm]

[Ascension: Sixth Life]

My mental strength increased by 500, while my strength and physique did not decrease. My guess was correct!

"As expected of a unique weapon, it's immune to mental attacks. Does that mean I can wear cursed equipment without worrying about negative effects?"

Zhang Yuan was overjoyed to see that Chi Xiao could truly negate the negative effects of the cursed necklace.

You should know that the cursed necklace has a note that it is one of the three cursed pieces!

If he were to collect the entire Cursed Set, gaining powerful bonuses while ignoring negative effects, he wouldn't know how strong he could become!

While Zhang Yuan was excited, a brand new treasure chest appeared in the center of the altar.

Zhang Yuan stepped forward and opened the treasure chest, which then lit up with colorful light.

[Obtained 1 God Stone]

[First clear of Nightmare difficulty Shadowwood dungeon grants bonus reward: Cursed Ring.]