God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 1: Meeting Death

Blood ran down Shen Wuxia’s left arm as he forced himself through the lava-erupting corridor, dragging Zhao Ren beside him while smoke scraped at their throats.

Zhao Ren pressed one hand against his torn stomach, but blood still leaked between his fingers and fell across the burning stone.

Behind them, claws scraped through the passage, close enough that each tremor reached Wuxia’s boots.

"Keep moving," Wuxia said, tightening his grip on Zhao Ren’s shoulder. "The exit marker is still ahead."

Zhao Ren gave a weak laugh that turned into a cough. "Captain... that marker has been lying since yesterday."

A blue system panel flickered before Wuxia’s blurred vision, and he forced his trembling eyes to focus.

[Player: Shen Wuxia]

[Level: 93]

[Talent: B-rank]

[Class: Blade Fighter]

[Health: 31%]

[Mana: 18%]

His gaze shifted toward the Team tab, where every name had already turned grey except Zhao Ren’s.

The dungeon had been listed as a low-level instance for Level 85 to 95 players, an easy clear with heavy rewards.

Then Terrain changed, elite monsters replaced ordinary beasts, and the exit sealed before a debuff struck them too deep to retreat.

For three days, Shen Wuxia watched the dungeon change while his team died one after another.

Zhao Ren grabbed his sleeve, his bloodshot eyes suddenly clearing. "Captain... Qin Haoran gave this place away too easily."

Shen Wuxia’s steps slowed for half a breath, and that name sank into his mind but before he could answer, the wall beside them burst open.

A black-scaled beast tore through the stone, its claw punching through Zhao Ren’s chest before either of them could move.

Zhao Ren’s body jerked once, his fingers still hooked around Wuxia’s sleeve as blood spilled from his mouth.

The beast dragged him sideways and smashed him against the broken wall, leaving a dark mark across the burning stone.

Shen Wuxia crossed the distance before the beast could bite down and drove his blade through its eye.

It thrashed against the wall, tearing stone loose, but Wuxia stepped closer and twisted the sword until the skull cracked.

The beast collapsed onto the corridor floor, black blood spreading beneath its body.

Zhao Ren slid down from the wall a moment later, but the light in his eyes had already faded, and the last name on the Team tab turned grey.

Shen Wuxia stood over him with his sword buried inside the dead beast’s skull, his breathing caught between rage and silence.

Then he ripped the blade free and stabbed downward through the beast’s throat.

The corpse no longer moved, yet Wuxia stabbed again, cracking the stone beneath it as black blood splashed across his hands.

A reward-rich academy instance like this should have caused a fight between guilds, yet Qin Haoran had passed it to him with a smile.

Shen Wuxia had known that young master was not simple, but his team still needed one successful clear.

Now Zhao Ren lay dead beside him, and every answer pointed back toward that smiling young master.

Before Wuxia’s blade could fall again, the corridor sank under a heavier pressure and a deep growl rolled through the cavern ahead, shaking dust from the cracked ceiling.

From the smoke beyond the broken passage, a wolf-like behemoth walked into view, its black fur burning with molten cracks.

Every smaller beast nearby lowered its body as the heat rose until the air bent near its claws.

[Dungeon Boss: Molten Abyss Wolf King]

[Level: 110]

[Second Transformation Beast]

[Bloodline: King]

A Level 110 Second Transformation Beast should not exist inside a Level 85 to 95 instance..

Behind the Wolf King, the unstable dungeon gate pulsed through the cracked cavern wall, and Wuxia remembered where this instance had appeared.

The eastern public district stood beyond that gate, close to shelters and trade streets outside the academy zone.

If this beast escaped, the people outside would not even understand what killed them.

Shen Wuxia stepped away from Zhao Ren’s body and raised his sword with one hand. "You killed my team," he said quietly.

The Wolf King lowered its body as molten light gathered beneath its claws, but Wuxia did not retreat.

The Wolf King moved first, its claw shattering the ground where Wuxia had stood a breath earlier.

Wuxia slid beneath the impact, cut across its foreleg, and retreated before the tail could tear through him. The wound was shallow, almost meaningless against the beast’s body.

Smaller monsters rushed from the side tunnels, surrounding him while the gate behind the boss pulsed again.

The dungeon was unstable. If the Wolf King kept feeding power into the gate, the outside seal might not hold.

Wuxia charged before the next wave could form, cutting through two beasts before driving his sword toward the Wolf King’s chest.

The boss slammed one paw down, and a molten spike tore through Wuxia’s side before his blade carved a shallow line across its chest.

The beast’s tail smashed him through two broken pillars.

[Health: 19%]

[Mana: 11%]

Wuxia forced himself onto one knee as dark flame gathered inside the Wolf King’s mouth. The blast swallowed the corridor in black fire, burning through his skin behind his raised sword.

When the flame faded, the gate behind the beast pulsed again, and a thin crack appeared across the unstable surface.

If the city guards failed to detect it, the Wolf King would reach the public district before any defense line formed.

The Wolf King vanished from his sight with speed that should not have belonged to something so large.

A claw descended above him, crushing the ground where he had been lying moments earlier as he rolled aside and drove his sword through its paw.

The beast howled before biting down, but Wuxia threw himself under its jaw and slashed upward with both hands.

Blood burst from the Wolf King’s neck, yet the creature forced its head down and smashed him into the ground through pure weight.

His bones cracked beneath the impact, and his vision darkened for a moment.

[Health: 8%]

The remaining monsters rushed in, but he forced his body up and carved through the nearest three before they reached his throat.

The Wolf King staggered back with one eye narrowed, irritated but not afraid, and Wuxia finally understood he could not win normally.

The Wolf King gathered flame again, and the next blast smashed him straight into the cavern wall. His sword slipped from his hand and struck the ground beside him.

[Health: 3%]

The Wolf King crossed the distance in one leap and pinned him beneath its paw. Wuxia felt his ribs cave under the pressure, and a broken sound escaped his throat before he could stop it.

[Health: 1%]

The beast lowered its head, molten saliva falling onto the stone near his face. Wuxia’s fingers twitched toward his fallen sword, but his arm barely obeyed him.

His gaze shifted toward Zhao Ren’s corpse, then toward the unstable gate behind the Wolf King.

Sorry. I can only end it this way.

Shen Wuxia forced his broken arm to move, grabbed the sword beside him, and turned the blade toward his own chest.

Without hesitation, he plunged the sword into his own heart.

[Health: 0%]

For a single breath, the heat, claws, and burning corridor fell silent around him and a burning pain ran through his body and soul as if adamant on tearing him apart.

Then a red aura erupted from his body and wrapped around his ruined frame like blood-colored fire.

[Talent: Maniac]

[Hidden Function Activated.]

[Condition Met: Health has reached 0%.]

[Death-Locked State has begun.]

[Duration: 60 seconds.]

[All attributes increased by 500%.]

[Warning: Absolute death will occur once duration ends.]

Maniac had always been considered a strange B-rank talent because its condition made the effect almost impossible to use.

No sane player would willingly fall to zero health for one final minute, especially when the end result could not be reversed.

But Shen Wuxia had no retreat left, and sixty seconds was enough. The Wolf King pressed its paw down harder, but Wuxia closed his hand around its leg and tore the beast off balance.

[Time Remaining: 58 seconds.]

Shen Wuxia moved through the surrounding monsters in a red blur, cutting them apart before they could turn.

The Wolf King lunged again, but Wuxia slipped beneath its claw and drove his sword into its wounded foreleg.

He dragged the blade upward until bone cracked, then took the tail strike head-on and stood before the dust settled.

[Time Remaining: 38 seconds.]

The Wolf King backed toward the gate, its molten cracks brightening with unstable heat. Shen Wuxia’s eyes turned colder. "You want to leave now?"

His body disappeared from where he stood and appeared before the Wolf King as his sword drove into its chest.

The beast clamped its jaws onto his shoulder and tore through muscle and bone, but Wuxia pulled himself closer instead of retreating.

[Time Remaining: 24 seconds.]

The remaining subordinates rushed in from behind, yet a red sword force swept across the cavern and dropped them across the stone.

The Wolf King opened its mouth for one final blast, but Shen Wuxia stepped forward before the attack could form.

His sword cut through the beast’s jaw, pierced into its skull, and twisted until the Wolf King staggered.

[Time Remaining: 10 seconds.]

Shen Wuxia pulled the sword free, then plunged it into the center of the Wolf King’s chest with both hands.

[Time Remaining: 5 seconds.]

The Wolf King slammed both claws down, tearing through his back and shoulder, but Wuxia only tightened his grip.

With the last strength of his burning body, he dragged the blade upward through its heart and split the monster core apart.

The Wolf King’s body collapsed against the dungeon floor, and the molten light inside its cracks faded.

[Time Remaining: 0 seconds.]

The red aura around Shen Wuxia disappeared and all the strength holding his broken body together vanished with it, and he fell beside the Wolf King’s corpse, staring at the burning ceiling.

The unstable dungeon gate behind the beast dimmed, and the crack across its surface closed with a faint pulse.

Shen Wuxia’s eyes moved toward Zhao Ren’s corpse one last time, but his vision had already begun to darken.

Just then, a cold voice rang inside his mind.

[All conditions have been met.]

[Hidden Instance has been cleared.]

[Rewards are being distributed.]

[The host has learned the meaning of death.]

[Soul Monarch Talent is awakening.]

Another set of words slowly appeared before his darkening vision.

[The truth of your death remains buried.]

[The peak you once chased remains beyond reach.]

[Do you wish to return, uncover the truth, and climb beyond death itself?]

[YES] [NO]