Four Split Personalities

Motan regained his footing and found himself enveloped in pitch darkness. He couldn’t see anything, not even the tip of his nose. Although Half-Dragon People generally had better vision than humans, Dwarves, Dwarves, and most Half-beast People, the absence of any light source meant even an Elf would be blind here.

The only thing Motan could be sure of was that he had indeed arrived at the Dragon King’s Tomb, because...

[The Sleeping Prince 6 completed, Reward: 50,000 optional experience points, All Attributes +5, Advance in Scale Against Talents, automatically receive next quest chain]

[The Sleeping Prince 7]

Quality: Unique Legendary

Contents: Pass the Dragon King’s tests (0/5); Reach the deepest chamber of the tomb (0/1)

Reward: 100,000 optional experience points

[Note: Firm[data deleted]mind (mist), do not [data deleted]die (laughter).]

...

After glancing at the quest log, Motan suddenly felt that he might actually burn through all the good karma he had accumulated over the last twenty-some years in the next couple of days. Counting the series of rewards he had received earlier, he was now less than two hundred thousand experience points away from reaching level 25 as a Knight of Thorns. He had even gained a massive boost in Basic Attributes equivalent to two levels of professional enhancement, placing his current status not far from an average level 26 player. Though this was far from top-tier strength, and not enough to crack the top hundred in the leaderboards, considering his average daily online time, one could describe it as insanely high.

Of course, happy as he was, Motan wasn’t about to let this minor improvement cloud his judgment. After all, he was facing an ominous tomb with an uncertain path ahead. Even if he had received numerous rewards earlier, a single failure in the upcoming tasks could mean starting over—losing levels, equipment, and reputation. Randomization into another race could make him lose many Half-Dragon talents, so he absolutely couldn’t afford to be careless.

Honestly, had the system not given warnings like "this task is beyond your current strength," "continuing could lead to death," or "go level up" when he accepted the sixth ring quest, Motan would never have considered targeting the Dragon King’s Tomb. And if the newly appeared seventh ring quest had included such warnings, he would have instantly grabbed Ji Xiaoge and escaped through the Teleportation Array, returning once his abilities were sufficiently advanced—essentially, when the system thought he was ready.

Regardless, Motan’s immediate priority was to ensure the safety of his surrounding environment. Despite the lack of system prompts, he couldn’t afford to relax. Even tasks suitable for his level weren’t just about blindly forging ahead; for instance, the time (strictly speaking, three months ago) he was causing trouble as Tan Mo in Pato City, the system gave no warnings, yet the task of "destroying the hero Dave" was filled with deadly traps, which was still relevant despite being escalated by the actions of those involved in the task.

To summarize, non-advertised tasks could still be lethal; advertised tasks were almost certainly fatal if ignored, similar to bone thieves. If Motan had challenged them with the strength he had when he first entered Dragon Soul Town, being skinned alive was definitely on the cards.

He had to be extremely careful, first confirming the safety of the environment. If there was any imminent threat, it was better to stay near the Teleportation Array for a quick escape. If not, then he would consider how to deal with the lighting—this was the plan.

Speaking of which, some might wonder, where was the girl?

The big sister, where was she?

Of course, there was no way he could forget such a big girl. In fact, the moment he teleported, he knew Ji Xiaoge’s situation because...

"Excuse me, you’re stepping on my foot."

While organizing his thoughts and looking around, Motan casually addressed the teammate who for some reason had been standing dazed in place.

"Ah!!!"

A crisp and short scream erupted next to him. Motan felt the slight pressure on his boot suddenly lessen, then heard a ’swish’.

"Be careful, don’t rush to space out now," he said. "Figure out what’s around us first."

Steadily supporting the girl’s slim waist, after realizing she was trembling slightly, he couldn’t help but add, "If you’re scared, just stand behind me."

The girl steadied herself, let out a gruff hum, and a somewhat quivering voice defiantly rose next to Motan, "Who’s scared? I don’t have that kind of cutesy weak spots!"

"But you’re trembling."

"Can’t I just be cold?!"

"This place seems warmer than A Sang’s Mage Tower... uh, well, if it’s cold, it’s cold."

Motan didn’t bluntly point out her bravado, but slightly shifted his position to partially shield Ji Xiaoge, chuckling, "There seems to be no problem around here; although it’s not visible, there’s no strange smell in the air and no sounds other than the two of us. There probably aren’t any monsters lurking nearby, but don’t let your guard down; I can’t sense things like Magic Prohibition."