8: Chapter 8 Moving Further In
"What do you think is the highest level this batch of kids can reach this time?"
"In my opinion, 5 levels at most. That record was set by Tang Yuyan three years ago, and she is a Legendary-class profession holder."
"Tu Xiaoxia from No. 1 High School is also a Legendary-class profession holder. It seems only she can reach level 5."
"Isn't there also a hidden profession? I heard it's called Deadly Poison Master or something. Just hearing that name is unsettling."
"Hidden professions are just rare; it doesn't necessarily mean they are powerful."
The principal with the surname Gao started being snide again.
"Sigh, you're an adult, is it really necessary to target a kid like that? The reason his hidden profession is rare is precisely because it's powerful!"
Lin Hanwen had always been protective of his own; he couldn't tolerate others speaking ill of his students in front of him.
"Oh? Does Principal Lin think that hidden profession can exceed level 5? Well then, let's wait and see."
The other principals just smiled without responding. The feud between No. 1 High School and No. 5 High School was long-standing, and no one would be foolish enough to get involved.
Isn't it better to just sit back and watch how things unfold?
Inside the beginner dungeon, Tang Mo had already expanded the range of his Poison Barrier to the maximum. It looked like a giant, dark green slime, wriggling through the dungeon.
Everywhere it passed, only piles of monster corpses remained; the scene was quite horrifying.
Tang Mo, shielded by his Poison Barrier, continued to advance toward the deepest part of the dungeon.
Three hours after entering the dungeon, Tang Mo welcomed his fourth level-up.
【Name: Tang Mo】
【Profession: Deadly Poison Master (Unique)】
【Level: 5 (0%)】
【Strength: 12】
【Agility: 13】
【Spirit: 27】
【Endurance: 18】
【Equipment: Beginner Staff】
【Skills: Venomous Arrow (Lv5), Poison Barrier (Lv5), Source Poison (Lv1), Embrace of Ten Thousand Poisons (Passive)】
【Venomous Arrow (Lv5): Fires six arrows condensed from venom forward, dealing poison-attribute damage. The specific damage depends on one's own Spirit and skill level.】
【Poison Barrier (Lv5): Creates a poisonous miasma with a diameter of 50 meters centered on oneself, dealing poison-attribute damage to enemies within it. The range, duration, and damage of the Poison Barrier depend on one's own Spirit value and skill level.】
【Source Poison (Lv1): The toxin can not only deal damage to enemies but also devour the life essence of living beings. For every life essence devoured, total poison damage increases by 1 point.】
【Embrace of Ten Thousand Poisons (Passive): Toxins can instantly heal your wounds and restore your Spirit value.】
At this point, Tang Mo's Poison Barrier could already expand to a radius of over fifty meters.
The cooldown time had also been reduced to forty-something seconds.
Although the consumption of Spirit value was somewhat high, fortunately, with the God-level Skill, Tang Mo didn't need to worry about his Spirit value becoming depleted.
As the range of the Poison Barrier grew larger, the leveling speed didn't drop much, and kill notifications kept popping up in Tang Mo's mind.
【Killed Level 7 Gale Leopard, EXP +70, Poison Damage +1】
【Killed Level 6 Earth Dragon, EXP +60, Poison Damage +1】
【Killed Level 8 Red-Refining Snake, EXP +80, Poison Damage +1】
...
As Tang Mo ventured deeper, higher-level monsters in the dungeon began to appear.
But to Tang Mo, it made no difference at all. After going through the previous slaughter and leveling up, these high-level monsters couldn't even last for a breath in Tang Mo's Poison Barrier.
Instant kill! They were all instant kills!
As he entered deeper into the dungeon, the level and number of monsters obviously increased.
For others, it might be a significant challenge, but for Tang Mo, it was the best training ground.
The more living beings Source Poison devoured, the greater the increase in poison damage.
The stronger the lethality, the faster Tang Mo gained EXP.
The only pity was that the beginner dungeon didn't drop items.
After all, it was a place specifically for training and cultivating newcomers, which was quite different from the wild.
The monsters in the dungeon were like domesticated animals; they lacked the bloodthirsty cruelty of the wild beasts in the wild, and their strength was naturally far inferior to wild beasts.
Wild beasts naturally lived in the wild, struggling and surviving, making them stronger and developing resistance in various aspects.
This was why those in the dungeon were called monsters, while those in the wild were called beasts.
Continuing further in, Tang Mo even saw the silhouette of a Level 9 Brown Bear.
Tang Mo didn't continue walking further inside; after all, these monsters were also EXP. Tang Mo decided to clear all these monsters out before moving forward.
After all, it was still early, and these monsters were perfect for increasing poison damage.
Moreover, Tang Mo discovered that after reaching level 5, the growth of his own EXP began to slow down.
Originally, at level 4, killing one Level 8 Red-Refining Snake could increase EXP by about 0.1%.
Killing 1000 would allow him to level up.
But after reaching level 5, killing one Level 8 Red-Refining Snake could only increase EXP by 0.05%.
This meant he needed to kill 2000 Red-Refining Snakes to level up.
For ordinary people, the leveling speed was slowed by a full half, and the difficulty also doubled.
Thousands of monsters were not just a test of strength, but also a test of patience and stamina.
Let alone a month, even with two more months, most people might not be able to do it.
Looking back now, the fact that Tang Yuyan managed to reach level 20 within a month back then was already considered quite impressive.
However, Tang Mo was not among that majority.
With a God-level Skill to rely on, Tang Mo wouldn't find it difficult, no matter how many there were.
As the Poison Barrier moved with him, those monsters would die in the Poison Barrier on their own; there was no need for Tang Mo to lift a finger.
There was no need to consider the issue of Spirit value, let alone the issue of stamina.
This Poison Barrier, with a radius of over fifty meters, had completely turned dark green—a dark green so intense that one couldn't see through it.
The kill notifications kept flashing; Tang Mo estimated that in another hour, he would be able to level up again.
After carefully roaming through the surrounding dungeon area, Tang Mo began to continue advancing inward.
Very soon, he arrived at the territory of the Level 9 Brown Bear.
Unlike other monsters, the Brown Bear had a very strong sense of territory. Therefore, other monsters were very rare within the Brown Bear's territory.
Moreover, the distribution of the Brown Bears was also very scattered.
Each Brown Bear would stay in its own territory; only when coming out to forage would they leave their territory.
For the first time, Tang Mo had the trouble of having to search for monsters.
Often, just as Tang Mo arrived at one Brown Bear's territory, he would have to immediately rush to the next territory.
Upon touching the Poison Barrier, the performance of those Brown Bears wasn't any better; they still died instantly upon contact.
The process of traveling consumed a large amount of Tang Mo's time, and the leveling speed slowed down as a result.
In the end, Tang Mo simply gave up on the idea of continuing to search for Brown Bear territories and chose to advance toward the deeper parts.