69: Chapter 69 The world's art style is gradually collapsing

Just like in the past, the Shadow Mage was blocking the center of the road, surrounded by twenty-five Skeleton Warriors. The gray-white skeletons glowed with an eerie luster under the firelight, and ghostly blue soul fire flickered in their hollow eye sockets. The ground around the road had been corroded black by shadow energy, making a sizzling sound when stepped on.

But this time, the combat method was completely different from before.

For the first ten seconds of the battle, it was naturally Su Wan chanting Requiem Chant, while Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui charged forward side-by-side, heading straight for the Shadow Mage.

Once all the Skeleton Warriors on the field were purified, Su Wan began her next move.

Su Wan stepped forward and whispered a short incantation. She extended her right hand, pointing her fingertips toward the Shadow Mage's location, and a circle of invisible ripples spread outward with the Shadow Mage at the center.

"Silence"

A spherical silent zone with a diameter of seven meters instantly enveloped the Shadow Mage. All sounds within the area were completely erased; the sounds of battle, the crackling of flames, and even the sound of the wind moving all disappeared without a trace.

The Shadow Mage, covered by the Silence, suddenly found that it couldn't cast a single spell. Its mouth was moving, and its staff was waving, but no incantation could take form. The absolute blocking effect of "Silence" made it impossible to cast any spells containing verbal components within the area.

The Shadow Mage panicked. It tried to walk out of the silent area, but every step was firmly locked by the boundary of the Silence. The anchor point of that area was firmly locked onto the Shadow Mage by Su Wan's will; wherever it went, the Silence followed.

While maintaining the Silence, Su Wan moved her feet lightly to the side, ensuring the anchor point of the silent area remained within the range of her spell.

From Su Wan's perspective, the subsequent battle was like a silent film; there were only actions, with no sounds of fighting emerging.

Lin Rui's heavy sword swung out, the blade cutting through the air, yet no sound of wind-breaking could be heard; Hu Jinsi's long staff smashed down, bones shattering, yet no sound of shattering could be heard; the Shadow Mage waved its staff in despair in the silent world, trying to use the passive effects of its equipment to stall for time, but under the pincer attack of two melee classes, all of this was futile.

In situations where this type of enemy mage-type boss cannot produce a level gap (more than 10 levels apart) against Su Wan, Su Wan's "Silence" is almost 100% successful. Once a mage's spells are sealed, it is equivalent to a tiger having its teeth pulled. At this level of mage, you cannot expect him to master the metamagic feat of Silent Spell.

The three of them truly felt the leap in combat power brought about by the skill upgrades. This tricky Shadow Mage, which used to require all five people to swarm it to handle, had its combat form and method completely changed this time by just one "Silence" from Su Wan.

The difficulty of the battle was reduced to a ridiculous degree; a 12th-level Bard, using a second-circle spell, turned a 250% difficulty boss into a wooden stake.

Of course, the premise of this result was still built on Su Wan possessing "Requiem Chant." Otherwise, without "Requiem Chant," even with a silenced Shadow Mage, the twenty-five loyal skeleton minions guarding it would be enough to give someone a headache; that is not something a few people could take down in just 1 minute.

---

Regarding Su Wan's "Requiem Chant," someone else had subsequently dropped it in the Cold Plains. Less than 10 minutes after exiting the dungeon, it was snatched up for the price of 100,000 credits.

Su Wan, who heard about this later, found Liu Betti and wanted to compensate her somewhat—after all, it was something everyone had obtained together at the time. But Liu Betti did not accept it, saying that since it was distributed by the team at the time, it was Su Wan's serendipity, and there was no need to compensate anything.

"One hundred thousand credits..." Hu Jinsi sighed at the time, "If we had known it was so valuable, we would have just focused on farming the Cold Plains."

"Don't even start." Su Wan glared at him, "You were already level 10 when you knew; would there even be drops if you went in?"

---

The perspective shifts back to the current battle.

When the battle reached the point where the Shadow Mage had less than 10% of its health remaining, Hu Jinsi looked at Lin Rui and gave an inquiring look, signaling whether to stop and let Lin Rui try "Spell Reflection"?

Lin Rui understood Hu Jinsi's meaning, shook his head, accelerated his output, and split the Shadow Mage in two with one sword strike. The Shadow Mage tried to wail, but within the range of the Silence, it couldn't even let out a scream, dissipating into points of light.

After exiting the range of the Silence, Lin Rui said to Hu Jinsi: "I actually knew your thought just now. You wanted to ask me if I wanted to try the effect of "Spell Reflection"."

"But it's not necessary. We have fought this boss many times before, and you are clear on the list of spells it knows. There are almost no targeted spells; they are all status-type or area-of-effect spells. Against this type of spell, my skill has no way to reflect them, and it's easy for us to risk flipping over and getting injured instead."

"Understood." Hu Jinsi nodded, "I was just asking casually."

"Let's wait until there is a boss with suitable single-target spells," Lin Rui said.

The Shadow Mage didn't have any valuable drops: a few pieces of white-tier cloth armor, dozens of copper coins (which can be converted into credits when placed in the backpack), and an ordinary staff. The three of them picked up the coins on the ground and continued moving forward.

Because they had already meshed well during the previous stretch of the road, the three of them didn't waste any more time on the way, clearing monsters as they advanced, and soon arrived at the suspension bridge guarded by the Berserker.

That aloof Berserker was still guarding the head of the suspension bridge, a huge battle axe carried on its shoulder, its muscles knotted all over its body, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression. Below the suspension bridge was a bottomless canyon, and the sound of water flowing from the bottom of the valley could be faintly heard.

This time, Hu Jinsi didn't let Lin Rui throw Su Wan over as he had in the past, but instead took out the "Web Grappling Hook" from his backpack and showed the attributes to Su Wan.

"Are you going to fly over yourself using the grappling hook?" Hu Jinsi asked, "Or like in the past, let Lin Rui throw you over?"

Su Wan snatched the grappling hook from Hu Jinsi's hand and tucked it into her bosom: "If there is a way to be self-reliant, who would want to be treated like a shot put by you guys and thrown over every time!"

After excitedly studying how to use the grappling hook, she walked near the end point, put the wristband on her wrist, aimed at a big tree on the opposite bank, and pulled the trigger.

A translucent spider silk shot out from the hook, accurately hitting the big tree opposite. Su Wan pressed the retract button, and the spider silk began to shrink, pulling her as she flew to the opposite bank.

But the negative effect of the "Web Grappling Hook" was clearly not just talk.

Just as Su Wan was flying halfway, the sticky substance on the surface of the spider silk suddenly exuded in large quantities, and sticky liquid splashed out, then stuck to her hair.

"Ah!"

Su Wan's scream rang out in mid-air. She was swung to the opposite bank by the grappling hook, but her hair was already stuck to the spider silk and couldn't be pulled apart. That translucent spider silk wrapped around her long hair like a living thing, getting tighter the more she pulled.

"What the hell is this thing!"

Su Wan scrambled to untangle the spider silk from her hair, but the stickiness of the mucus was far beyond imagination. The harder she pulled, the tighter the spider silk wrapped, and in the end, it actually formed a sticky white "hair crown" on top of her head.

While she was cleaning the connection between the grappling hook and her hair on the side, Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui were laughing until they were out of breath.

"Don't just laugh! Come help!"

"Can't help, can't help." Hu Jinsi waved his hand, "That thing is stuck in your hair; the more you mess with it, the worse it gets. You'll have to untangle it yourself slowly."

"You guys!"

Su Wan stamped her feet in anger, but there was no other way, so she could only sit on the stone at the bridgehead and clean the spider silk from her hair little by little. That sticky substance emitted a faint fishy-sweet smell, like some kind of biological secretion, which made one feel uncomfortable all over just by smelling it.

Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui took advantage of this gap to turn to the Berserker opposite. The two used firearms and flying knives to attack the Berserker not far away from left and right. By the time Su Wan finally finished untangling her hair, the battle with the second boss, the Berserker, had been over for a while.

The Berserker's huge body fell at the head of the suspension bridge, dissipating into points of light, leaving only a few pieces of white-tier heavy armor and a huge battle axe.

A depressed Su Wan stuffed the grappling hook back into Hu Jinsi's arms and walked forward angrily.

"Return it to you! I'm never using it again!"

"Don't be like that, just practice more and it will be fine..."

"Get lost!"

The final boss, Skarn, didn't have any more accidents.

This heavy-armored warrior, like a tin can, was still summoning wave after wave of Soldiers, attempting to drown the three of them with numbers. But this time, Su Wan's new spell "Shattering Sonic Wave" showed amazing results.

When Skarn summoned the first wave of Soldiers, Su Wan raised her right hand and designated the center point where the Soldiers gathered. A deafening noise erupted, forming a spherical area with a radius of three meters with that point as the center. All the Soldiers within the area were hit head-on by the sonic wave, and damage numbers popped up above their heads simultaneously.

[-18] [-22] [-15] [-20]

A wave of Soldiers had half their health directly knocked off. The remaining low-health ones were easily finished off by Hu Jinsi's "Spinning Crane Kick," and they all dissipated into points of light in less than three seconds.

"This spell is so satisfying for clearing small mobs." Hu Jinsi couldn't help but exclaim.

Su Wan smiled: "Skarn himself is wearing metal armor, and Shattering Sonic Wave has extra damage to metal, you know."

Sure enough, when Su Wan aimed "Shattering Sonic Wave" at Skarn's main body, the damage numbers were even more impressive than usual: [-24] [-21] [-25]. The vibration of the sonic wave penetrated the heavy armor, directly shaking Skarn's internal organs and bones.

In just over half a day, the dungeon that originally required a five-person squad to attack for a whole day before the holiday was now solved by three people. The level 11 specialization path choice indeed brought huge improvements to everyone.

But the three of them were clearly not relaxed after exiting the dungeon. There were still 3 days until the official start of school, and before the second half of the semester officially began, the squad had to complete their final reinforcements.

The three helped Su Wan filter through many pieces of equipment that increased movement speed. In the end, Su Wan chose the "Swift Traveler Boots" dropped by the Deadmines, recommended by Hu Jinsi. The price was 6500 credits, emptying a small half of Su Wan's small treasury at once.

[Swift Traveler Boots]

[Type: Magic Item/Footwear]

[Wind's Blessing: Your base walking speed is increased by 0.5 meters/second.]

[Sprint: Once per day, for the next 1 minute, your walking speed is increased by an additional 0.5 meters/second.]

[Item Description: This pair of soft deerskin boots is embroidered with wind patterns and is said to be the relic of a hunter who traveled through the "Deadmines." Putting them on, your footsteps will become exceptionally light, as if there is always a breeze helping to push your pace.]

Su Wan changed into the boots on the spot and jogged a few steps in place to test the effect—her footsteps were indeed much lighter, and she could feel a breeze rising from the soles of her feet with every step, pushing her forward.

"Not bad." She nodded with satisfaction.

In fact, normal footwear drops in various dungeons can be bought for two or three thousand credits if they have attributes. For example, that iron wood staff of Hu Jinsi only cost 2000 credits.

But the key is that this type of equipment that passively increases movement speed belongs to the blockbuster among drops, and the price is two or three times that of ordinary equipment and remains high. After all, speed is life, especially in battle; running a little faster might be the difference between life and death.

On the night before school started, Hu Jinsi finally raised his level to 14 through unremitting meditation during this period.

Looking at the cruel numbers on the panel—16,000 class experience points needed for level 14 → 15, and 8,000 experience points needed for the level 14 specialization draw—he faced a total gap of 24,000 class experience points.

Hu Jinsi could only hope that the dungeons provided by the school would be powerful enough to let him farm some achievements and get some experience rewards. Otherwise, this gap could really get someone stuck for a month.

"Meditation for a day only gives a few hundred experience points," he sighed, "It's really slow without dungeons to farm."

The next day was the first day of the new semester.

The three gathered at the entrance of the residential area, wearing their school uniforms for a rare occasion, and walked to school together. Hu Jinsi couldn't remember how long it had been since he wore his school uniform (mainly because the school uniform is too expensive, and it's heartbreaking if it gets damaged in the dungeon). He had spent the entire winter vacation dealing with various monsters in the dungeons and had almost forgotten that he was still a student.

"Wearing a school uniform feels so strange." Su Wan pulled at the corner of her clothes, "Like returning to the world of ordinary people."

"We were ordinary people to begin with." Lin Rui said, "Just ordinary people who can run dungeons."

The first thing about the start of school was definitely the boring opening ceremony. All the teachers and students of the school stood on the playground, listening to the speeches of various leaders: the principal's encouragement, the vice principal's requirements, the grade director's warnings... Then came the speeches of student representatives and teacher representatives who could only represent themselves; the content was nothing more than that set of "study hard and make progress every day."

Anyway, for Hu Jinsi, he had no idea what was said at the opening ceremony. After all, he started meditating with his eyes closed as soon as he stood in place.

Although the efficiency of meditating while standing wasn't as high as sitting in a quiet room, it was far better than standing for a whole hour and enduring mental torture. Besides, sometimes he felt the goblin was right: "Time is money, my friend."

After the opening ceremony, everyone returned to their classroom. Under the class monitor's direction, some moved new textbooks while others cleaned up. By the time everything was finished, the morning was nearly over, and it was clear no teacher would be coming to give them a lecture during the time before lunch.

At this moment, Grade 2 Class 1 had turned into a miniature trade fair and tea party.

Students with life professions, categorized by their trades, were displaying the new equipment and items they had crafted over the break in front of themselves, waiting for the wealthy "bosses" in the class to "bestow their favor."

The blacksmithing students displayed newly forged swords and armor, the tailoring students laid out robes and cloth armor, and the alchemy students filled their tables with various potions and vials. The entire classroom was permeated with the atmosphere of a commercial bazaar.

Students with nothing to do gathered together to gossip, exchanging news from the break: who made a fool of themselves while running a dungeon, whose gear rolled top-tier stats, which squad set a new record in such-and-such dungeon—all sorts of trivial but endlessly entertaining topics.

Hu Jinsi and his group were immediately pulled into a corner of the classroom by the Gunpowder Squad. The Pear Garden Squad was also pulled over; it was clear that these nine people were the only ones left in the class who were still in fixed squads.

Hu Jinsi's prediction from the end of the last semester had indeed come true. This semester, Sun Yao simply didn't team up with Yi Chun, Zhen Kai, and the others; instead, she crossed class lines to form a squad that didn't lack money with several other wealthy teammates. They relied entirely on buying gear and throwing money at potions; for them, credits were never an issue.

Hu Jinsi looked at Su Wan and gave her an "I told you so" look. Su Wan glared back, not taking the bait of Hu Jinsi's provocation.

The Gunpowder Squad had called everyone together, clearly because they had some news to discuss.

The Mechanic Chen Yu spoke up directly: "It's said that the dungeons opened to us this semester aren't the three we were sent to at the end of last semester. In other words, Burning Village, Demon Cat Forest, and Ragefire Chasm are not within the range of choices this time."

Upon hearing this news, the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad and the Pear Garden Squad were clearly mentally prepared.

They had also realized that it was unlikely for the school to put all the students together with civilian personnel in dungeons; the management difficulty and risks were too high, and if something happened at the dungeon entrance, no one would be able to explain it.

Furthermore, those civilian professionals didn't really want so many students at the entrance; after all, having students there meant having teachers watching, which was inconvenient for everyone.

As the leader of the Pear Garden Squad, Wang Jingshan spoke up directly: "Chen Yu, do you have more specific information on your end?"

"I also have a relative working in the relevant department, and they mentioned it to me briefly," Chen Yu said. "They said the dungeon we first entered, Blood Moor, had already dissipated before the end of last semester. Cold Plains is also currently in a state of impending dissipation—though, of course, the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad deserves some credit for that."

As Chen Yu said this, he didn't forget to glance at the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad.

Su Wan asked suspiciously: "What does that have to do with our squad?"

Chen Yu said quietly: "Have you forgotten the price of that [Requiem Chant] you're using now? Because of this single skill of yours, you can't imagine how many students from out of town came to Cold Plains to farm this dungeon over the break. It's said that nearly 100 people triggered their forced teleportation talismans alone. You could say your squad indirectly made a huge contribution to Wei City's GDP during the Spring Festival."

Hearing this news, Hu Jinsi sighed: "That's terrifying... It's a pity that by the time we found out, our levels had already reached 10, so we couldn't enter that dungeon anymore."

Mo Ming also chimed in at this point: "Who's to say it isn't? 100,000 credits! If you get this one skill, it's equivalent to saying you don't need to spend your own money on any equipment until at least level 15. If you spent 100,000 credits on a single piece of gear, that gear might last you all the way to level 30."

"Just think about how lucky you were back then. My squad accompanied me on so many runs; we spent most of our time before the end of the semester farming that dungeon, and yet we never saw it once."

"I can't get the score for Requiem Chant to drop on my end, so I can only practice by following the score Su Wan posted online. But from last semester all the way through the break, I've been practicing and still have nothing to show for it. I estimate that at this rate, it might be the end of this semester before I can convert this score into my own skill. It's just too cruel."

Lin Rui quickly stopped the conversation, which was already veering off-topic, and interrupted: "Let's just ask Chen Yu directly. Are you saying the new dungeon is still in the same series as the previous Blood Moor and Cold Plains?"

"My relative told me that the new dungeon descended right during the holidays," Chen Yu said. "The map for this dungeon is said to be even larger than the previous Cold Plains, and there are even teleportation magic circles inside, allowing you to teleport between various teleportation points."

"Of course, it seems you have to go and unlock the teleportation points one by one yourself. Anyway, the information my relative gave me is that if you're interested, you should stock up on energy stones to activate the teleportation circles, and also prepare some good transportation."

Hearing this news, only three names flashed through Hu Jinsi's mind—The Countess, The Smith, Andariel.

Rogue Encampment, Blood Moor, Cold Plains... wouldn't the next ones be Black Marsh, Tamoe Highland, Monastery Gate, Outer Cloister, Jail, Inner Cloister, The Cathedral, and finally, Andariel in the Catacombs?

The size and complexity of this dungeon far exceeded all previous ones.

"Is this the only one?" Lin Rui continued to ask.

"This is the only one I know of," Chen Yu said. "Others might have descended earlier, but they haven't been opened to the public, so there's no information on them here. In any case, we'll definitely know the relevant information when we have class this afternoon."

"I pulled everyone over beforehand just to let you buy what you need while you're interested. After all, transportation has a long delivery cycle; buying it half a day earlier makes it easier to prepare."

Hu Jinsi was a bit confused at this moment and asked: "What's so hard about buying a bicycle? Can't you just go out to a store and buy one?"

Chen Yu glanced at Hu Jinsi: "I've already said it; this dungeon is said to be several times larger than Cold Plains. You aren't seriously considering riding a bicycle to get around in such a huge dungeon, are you? You should at least consider buying a motorized vehicle."

"In your squad, it doesn't matter for you and Lin Rui, as you're both classes with good stamina. But do you think if Su Wan followed you on a bicycle for two hours, she'd still have the stamina to fight?"

After Chen Yu's reminder, Hu Jinsi clearly realized he had misjudged the size of the dungeon map. He quickly thanked Chen Yu immediately.

Chen Yu waved his hand dismissively: "No need to thank me; our information is shared with each other anyway. Besides, you guys provided us with plenty of information last semester. Telling you in advance is just to let you prepare early. After all, fixed squads like ours are different from temporarily formed teams; we definitely have to prepare transportation in advance."

"With our current backpack size, a motorized vehicle clearly won't fit into a personal backpack. In other words, you not only have to consider whether to buy a vehicle, but after buying it, you also need to prepare a special container to store the transportation. That's why I told you to prepare early."

Hu Jinsi asked curiously at this moment: "Then what kind of transportation have you prepared?"

Chen Yu said: "The transportation we've prepared is something you might not be able to use, and even a Soldier class like Lin Rui wouldn't be able to use it."

When Chen Yu said this, it only piqued the interest of the Pear Garden Squad and the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad even more. After some pestering, plus the fact that Chen Yu himself was inclined to show off—after all, what boy at this age doesn't like to feel smug under the envious gazes of others?—

Chen Yu quietly made his vehicle information public to the group.

The moment they saw the vehicle information, their mouths opened wide; while saying they could fit a fist might be an exaggeration, fitting a few eggs inside would be more than enough.

[Echo Raider]

[Type: Land Vehicle / Transformable Motorcycle]

[Speed: 65 km/h (Max)]

[Crew: 1 Pilot + 2 Passengers (Open sidecar, no protection)]

[Berserk Propulsion: This motorcycle's engine is over-boosted, possessing extremely high straight-line speed. When not traveling in a straight line (such as turning or weaving through a jungle), the pilot must reduce speed to a reasonable level, otherwise, it will cause the vehicle to flip and the rider to be thrown out.]

[Defective Transformation: The pilot can activate the remaining transformation protocol, causing the vehicle to disassemble and wrap around the pilot's legs, changing into a wearable form. Effect: In wearable form, the pilot's movement speed increases by 0.8 m/s. Additionally, when in wearable form, the pilot gains an additional 2 points of Armor.]

[Mechanic Lock: This vehicle's control system is extremely tricky; only those who understand mechanical principles can handle it. If the pilot does not possess a class like Mechanic or other related expertise, they cannot smoothly control this vehicle and cannot activate the "Defective Transformation" ability.]

[Overheat Engine Failure: This vehicle is extremely unstable. Every time the pilot uses it continuously for 1 hour, it requires manual cooling or 20 minutes of passive cooling; otherwise, there is a risk of engine failure.]

[Item Description: The prototype of this vehicle is said to come from an "Extraterrestrial Transformable Motorcycle." Now it is dilapidated, its silver armor peeling away, revealing rusted gears and wiring. Although it has lost its anti-gravity flight capability, this pile of scrap metal has been forcibly welded with a high-speed mining engine. It can race across land at an astonishing speed, and the body can fold and transform, turning into a crude mechanical exoskeleton that wraps around the pilot's lower limbs, providing limited protection and mobility.]

After seeing this vehicle, the String Master Mo Ming said to Chen Yu: "Isn't this a bit too exaggerated? Are you sure this vehicle is for us students to use now? Even without counting the storage container, you couldn't get it for less than a 5-digit price, right?"

Chen Yu waved his hand, pretending not to care: "Indeed, before I repaired it after buying it, I spent 130,000 credits. Of course, this amount of credits was paid by our squad together. This 130,000 credits was also only because the usage conditions for this vehicle are too harsh. Only a very few Mechanics and other variant driver classes can use it, so I still consider this price a huge bargain."

"Don't just look at how exaggerated the stats above are; this thing doesn't have any weapons equipped at all. And as you can tell from the description, the prototype of this motorcycle was originally capable of sea, land, and air flight. Now, after modifications, it can only run on the road, so it's a bankrupt version."

Although Hu Jinsi wasn't entirely sure about the specific origin of this transformable motorcycle, his intuition and the vehicle's item description clearly brought his memories to a certain super-old cartoon: Robotech.

That kind of transformable fighter jet, motorcycle, exoskeleton armor... In the world before he transmigrated, those were the childhood memories of the 80s generation. And that classic song—Do You Remember Love.

Hu Jinsi even started to doubt: if worlds like this had already become fragments and were integrated into Water Blue Star as dungeons, it was hard to imagine just how strong the high-tier transcendents or legends of Water Blue Star could be.

Whether it was tearing apart either side of the battle, tearing apart transformable Skull fighter jets, or tearing apart those tens-of-meters-tall Zentradi mechas, Hu Jinsi felt this was already comparable to tearing apart a Gundam. These high-tier transcendents or legends were already stronger than Dongfang Bubai back in the day.

It's just that, why is the art style of this world getting increasingly skewed?

Hu Jinsi found it hard to imagine that he, a Monk, would also have to go and tear apart Gundams or duel Apostles in the future. That kind of life was not what he wanted.

"...Whatever, I'll just take it one step at a time," he thought silently to himself.

But his gaze couldn't help but glance at Chen Yu's [Echo Raider] again. That vehicle that could run at 65 km/h and also transform into an exoskeleton—to say he wasn't envious would be a lie.

"Should we get one too?" Lin Rui leaned in and asked in a low voice.

"130,000 credits," Hu Jinsi said. "Are you paying?"

"...Never mind that I asked."

The three of them looked at each other, and they all read the same meaning in each other's eyes: This semester's dungeons would likely be even crazier than they had imagined.