174: Chapter 174 Leveling Up Like Crazy: A Wake-Up Service for a Level 7 Monster

One hundred and thirty-seven Level 6 Beast Flame Demon Beetles crashed into Lin Fan.

It wasn't an attack by a few at a time; it was over a hundred of them swarming him simultaneously.

From the left, right, front, above, and below—a comprehensive, all-encompassing coverage with no blind spots.

Horn thrusts, carapace bashes, flame sprays, and claw swipes.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

It was so dense that even the sounds blurred into one continuous noise.

Lin Fan was submerged in the swarm of insects.

The system notification sound glitched out.

It wasn't broken; the refresh rate couldn't keep up with the damage calculation speed.

[Defense + 12!]

[Defense + 8!]

[Defense + 15!]

[Fire Resistance EXP + 45!]

[Fire Resistance EXP + 52!]

[Physical Resistance EXP + 38!]

[Defense + 10!]

[Defense + 11!]

Experience points skyrocketed.

The attack power of a Level 6 Beast was on an entirely different level compared to a Level 5.

More importantly, there was the quantity.

With one hundred and thirty-seven of them outputting damage simultaneously, the experience density was maxed out.

Standing in the center of the insect swarm, Lin Fan felt the attacks surging from all directions and closed his eyes.

Every carapace bash made his bones emit a faint hum.

Every puff of blue-white flame caused his skin surface to shimmer with a pale golden luster.

Every claw swipe made his muscle fibers become even denser.

Amazing.

Truly amazing.

This feeling of all-around, synchronized leveling up was ten times more comfortable than soaking in magma.

"Keep going! Don't stop!"

Lin Fan's voice, full of vigor, rang out from within the insect swarm.

The beetles were clearly confused.

They had been running rampant in the volcano for years, but they had never encountered prey that could shout "Don't stop" while being bitten by over a hundred beetles.

Thorn Armor was continuously in effect.

Every beetle that attacked Lin Fan would suffer 300% true damage reflection plus Soul Shock.

The low-tier Level 6 beetles couldn't withstand a few instances of reflected damage; cracks appeared on their carapaces, then they shattered, and then they fell to the ground.

The mid-tier Level 6 ones withstood a few more hits, but the result was the same.

Looking from the outside, it was a bizarre scene.

The beetles charged forward one after another to attack Lin Fan, only to shatter and break apart themselves, one by one.

It wasn't the person being attacked who died.

It was the attackers themselves.

What was this called?

This was called a mass suicidal massage.

In the rear, Mu Qing's expression was completely numb.

She had seen many battles.

She had never seen a battle like this.

One hundred and thirty-seven Level 6 Beasts besieging one person, while that person stood in place enjoying it, and the beasts died one by one on their own.

"What is the principle behind his damage reflection?" Mu Qing asked.

"Passive skill, Thorn Armor," Xia Wanqiu replied, flipping through her tablet to record data without looking up. "It reflects 300% of the damage received, with an added Soul Shock effect."

"300%?"

"Yes. Punch him once, and you take the damage of three punches yourself, plus a bonus mental shock."

Mu Qing processed this for three seconds.

"Doesn't that mean the stronger the person attacking him, the greater the reflected damage?"

"That's right."

"And the more people attacking him, the faster they die?"

"Also right."

"So he can win just by standing there?"

"Theoretically, yes. But he isn't satisfied with just winning; he wants experience points. So not only does he stand still, he even complains that they aren't hitting hard enough."

Mu Qing stopped talking.

She suddenly felt that her previous understanding of the word "expert" was too narrow.

The experts she had imagined were the type who were fast, hit hard, and could defeat enemies in one move.

She had never imagined that there was a style of expert who would just stand there and take hits, letting the opponent beat themselves to death.

This fighting style wasn't in any textbook because the editors of those textbooks couldn't imagine such a freak.

The scale of the insect swarm was rapidly shrinking.

Over thirty fell within five minutes.

Over seventy fell within ten minutes.

The remaining beetles finally realized something was wrong.

Their intelligence wasn't high, but their instinct to seek advantages and avoid harm was still there.

Attacking that human meant death.

Not attacking meant at least staying alive.

The choice was simple.

The insect swarm began to retreat.

The beetles on the periphery turned around and fled first, followed by those in the center.

Lin Fan opened his eyes, saw the beetles scattering and fleeing, and immediately became anxious.

"Don't run! I'm not full yet!"

He activated his Taunt Aura.

The Level 4 Taunt Aura had a range of 200 meters and included a 60% strength reduction and a "weak knees" effect.

As soon as the aura opened, the beetles that had run halfway felt their legs go weak and they all collapsed to the ground.

Immediately after, their six compound eyes turned blood-red, and they turned around and charged back toward Lin Fan.

But because their strength was reduced by 60%, their attack power was greatly diminished.

"No, no," Lin Fan shook his head. "Strength is nerfed, so the experience will be less."

He turned off the Taunt Aura.

The beetles regained their senses and wanted to run again.

Lin Fan turned the Taunt Aura back on.

The beetles charged back again.

Off.

Run.

On.

Charge back.

Off.

Run.

On.

Charge back.

Lin Fan toggled it on and off four or five times, dragging the insect swarm around like a roller coaster.

Mu Qing's mouth twitched as she watched.

"Is he... walking the bugs?"

Xia Wanqiu sighed. "He's looking for the optimal solution. When the aura is on, the beetles don't run but their attack power is low. When the aura is off, the attack power is high but the beetles want to run. He's calculating which one yields higher returns."

"...He calculates returns while fighting?"

"The underlying logic of all his actions is maximizing returns."

Mu Qing swallowed hard.

"Aren't you tired when you're with him all the time?"

Xia Wanqiu thought about it. "Tired. But not bored."

Murong Yan added, "And even though he's a freak, he never lets us get hurt. He bears all the danger himself."

Mu Qing didn't say anything more.

Ahead, Lin Fan finally found the optimal solution.

He kept the Taunt Aura on to attract the swarm back, then turned off the aura the moment the swarm charged in front of him.

This way, the beetles would continue to attack him once or twice due to inertia, then come to their senses and run.

But those one or two attacks would be at full power, unaffected by the strength reduction.

He repeatedly harvested the experience from these one or two full-power attacks.

Each wave could harvest the full-power blow of about a dozen beetles, then he would let them run, pull them back with the aura, and harvest again. The efficiency was extremely high.

Half an hour later, the last mid-tier Level 6 Flame Demon Beetle shattered under the Thorn Armor effect.

One hundred and thirty-seven, all wiped out.

The ground was covered in shattered dark red carapaces and scattered beast cores.

Lin Fan squatted down to pick up the beast cores, picking them up for a long time.

"One hundred and thirty-seven Level 6 Beast cores," he counted them once. "The quality is uneven, but the quantity is large and satisfying; it's worth at least over ten million."

He glanced at the system panel.

Defense Level: LV43.

The experience bar had advanced to nearly two-thirds of the way.

"Still a bit short. The experience from low-tier and mid-tier Level 6 Beasts isn't powerful enough; I need to find high-tier Level 6 or above."

He stood up and dusted off his hands.

Mu Qing walked over, glanced at the beetle corpses covering the ground, and had a subtle expression.

"You cleared one hundred and thirty-seven Level 6 Beasts by yourself."

"Yes."

"It took half an hour."

"Efficiency is alright, I guess."

"I once led an eight-person elite team to clear this swarm; it took six hours. And we even sacrificed one person."

Lin Fan didn't say anything.

Mu Qing looked at him. "What level are you, really?"

"I don't have a level," Lin Fan spread his hands. "My cultivation system is different from yours."

"Then how hard is your Defense exactly?"

"Let's put it this way: so far, the attacks that have made me feel pain include Zhao Gang's Hundred-Fold Gravity at the National League, and that full-power palm strike from the Level 7 Martial Emperor Vice Principal Yan Zhen. Everything else is just scratching an itch."

Mu Qing's Adam's apple bobbed.

"A full-power palm strike from a Level 7 Martial Emperor?"

"Yes, that palm strike actually felt pretty good."

Mu Qing didn't say anything more.

She redefined her perception of Lin Fan.

This person wasn't Level 5, not Level 6, and not even Level 7.

He was a monster propped up by his Defense, whose level could not be measured by conventional systems.

And this monster was still getting stronger.

Every time he took a hit, he got a little stronger.

What did this mean?

It meant he had no upper limit.

As long as someone attacked him, he could grow infinitely.

This realization made Mu Qing's back feel slightly cold.

"What's next?" Mu Qing pulled back her thoughts.

"Next, we go look for Level 7s," Lin Fan stretched his neck, which made a few cracking sounds.

"Flame Prison Flood Dragon, Thunder Flame Giant Python, Lava Demon Ape—any of them will do."

"Are you sure? A Level 7 Beast is not the same concept as a Level 6."

"I know, that's why I'm excited."

Mu Qing took out a map and drew three circles in the deep area of the middle zone.

"The territories of the three Level 7 Beasts are distributed in these three areas. The closest to us is the Lava Demon Ape, about six kilometers away. The Flame Prison Flood Dragon is eight kilometers to the northeast, and the Thunder Flame Giant Python is ten kilometers due south, closest to the core area."

"Let's go to the closest one first, the Lava Demon Ape."

"Fine. But let's make it clear: once we are within the territory of a Level 7 Beast, those two must stay outside the safety distance," Mu Qing pointed to Xia Wanqiu and Murong Yan. "The shockwaves from a Level 7 Beast can kill any Awakened below Level 5."

"No problem, they won't participate in the battle."

Lin Fan agreed readily for once.

He had seen the power of a Level 7 Beast; he still had vivid memories of that battle with the Abyss Bone King.

In a battle of that level, Xia Wanqiu and Murong Yan really couldn't withstand the shockwaves.

"Let's go."

The four of them continued to go deeper.

The temperature was still rising.

Two thousand three hundred.

Two thousand five hundred.

Two thousand eight hundred.

The effect of the heat-insulating cloaks was getting worse and worse.

Xia Wanqiu had to consume talent energy to continuously add protective shields for herself and Murong Yan.

Mu Qing also began to use her own spiritual power to form a protective layer on her skin surface.

Only Lin Fan, shirtless, became more energetic as he walked.

"Almost three thousand degrees," he glanced at the thermometer on his wrist. "Awesome, it's like a sauna room, enhanced version."

No one wanted to pay attention to him.

They walked for about another forty minutes.

An open lava plain appeared ahead.

In the center of the plain stood a huge pile of black rocks, piled into the shape of a small hill.

A huge figure was lying on the hill.

It was twenty meters tall, covered in rough, dark red fur.

Its limbs were thick, and its palms were as big as door panels.

The skin on its back had cracked into several fissures, with lava bubbling from the gaps.

It had two curved black horns on its head, and scorching hot breath constantly sprayed from its mouth.

Mid-tier Level 7.

Lava Demon Ape.

It was sleeping.

Mu Qing lowered her voice. "That's it."

Lin Fan looked at the behemoth, the excitement on his face almost overflowing.

"Good heavens, twenty meters tall, even more robust than the Abyss Bone King."

"Its attack style is mainly power-based," Mu Qing quickly introduced. "The power of its punches is probably over the hundred-thousand-ton level, and its skin surface is covered with a flowing layer of lava, which causes high-temperature burns upon contact. If a Level 5 Martial King gets hit by one punch, they will be shattered on the spot."

"Hundred thousand tons, not bad."

"You guys retreat to a position one kilometer back and wait," Lin Fan turned his head and gave an "OK" gesture to Xia Wanqiu and Murong Yan. "I'll handle this one myself."

Xia Wanqiu nodded. "Stay safe."

Murong Yan snorted. "Call us when you're done, don't come out naked again."

"I'll try."

Mu Qing hesitated for a moment. "I'll observe from a position three hundred meters behind you. If the situation isn't right, I'll send a signal to notify you to retreat."

"Fine, but there's a high probability that there won't be that opportunity."

Lin Fan twisted his neck and flexed his fingers.

Then he took that big loudspeaker out of his space ring.

Mu Qing, "What are you taking the loudspeaker for?"

"Calling for wake-up service."

Lin Fan aimed at the direction of the Lava Demon Ape, took a deep breath, and pressed the play button.

A deafening sound came from the big loudspeaker. "Ding, ding, ding! Wake up! Your takeout has arrived!"

The sound echoed across the entire lava plain, spreading for several kilometers.

The Lava Demon Ape's eyelids moved.

Then, two giant blood-red eyes suddenly opened.

The entire cavern shook.