45: Chapter 45 Ao Qingyan: If it's not closed, it's open.

Lin Muyang brought three distinct maidens with him, moving rapidly through the clouds under the boost of multiple speed Auras. Before long, they arrived at a remote secret realm area about forty kilometers away from the main urban area of Zhongnan City.

The surroundings were dense and primitive jungle, with the air permeated by the faint scent of monsters and the fragrance of vegetation. In a relatively open clearing in the forest, a slowly rotating black vortex that emitted an ominous Aura floated silently in mid-air.

Beside the vortex, signs naturally condensed from energy were clearly visible:

[Dungeon Level: 22]

[Dungeon Quality: Platinum-Grade]

[Dungeon Occupancy: 0 / 4]

[Dungeon Status: Idle]

Lin Muyang carefully looked around, confirming that there were no traces of other Class Transferee squads active in this area for the time being. He no longer hesitated, nodded at the three maidens, and stepped into the black vortex first. Lilia, Elabess, and Ao Qingyan followed closely behind.

When the last person entered the Dungeon, the surface of the black vortex rippled slightly, immediately displaying an "In Progress" status, temporarily preventing other teams from entering.

...

After a brief moment of dizziness caused by the spatial transition, the scene before the four of them suddenly opened up.

A thick, inseparable smell of blood mixed with the scent of stale dust rushed towards them, making one unable to help but frown. What met their eyes was a towering, gloomy, and dilapidated ancient castle, constructed entirely of pitch-black boulders, with towering spires that seemed to want to pierce the blood-colored sky.

The sky was an eerie dark red, without a sun, only a waning moon like solidified blood emitting a faint light. They were currently standing outside the rusted, giant iron gate of this "Vampire Ancient Castle," which was engraved with patterns of bats and thorns. The open castle gate ahead was pitch black inside, like the mouth of a giant beast waiting to devour people, emitting a chilling coldness.

"I am a melee fighter and possess a block skill, so I should naturally take on the responsibility of protection." Ao Qingyan's ice-blue eyes were filled with unprecedented solemnity as she pulled out the longsword strapped to her back. The sword reflected a cold luster under the dark red moonlight. "You are the Priest, responsible for healing and support; you are the Mage, responsible for long-range suppression. I will go ahead to scout the path, you follow closely."

Her initial skill, 【Sword as Shield】, allowed her to block attacks an unlimited number of times while holding the sword, reducing damage by up to 80%. This was indeed a very powerful defensive skill, giving her the natural potential to become the team's front-line tank.

However... she clearly had not yet witnessed how vastly different their team's combat mode was compared to traditional squads under the boost of Lin Muyang's bug-like Aura system. At least at this stage, the word "defense" seemed somewhat redundant for them.

Of course, Lin Muyang did not dampen her enthusiasm. It was always a good thing for team members to maintain caution and a sense of responsibility.

"Follow me." Lin Muyang said simply, then his thoughts shifted rapidly, and several God-Tier Auras that had been planned long ago were instantly activated!

Tenfold Attack, Tenfold Defense, Tenfold Experience, Eye of Lethality!

Hum—!

An invisible force field spread out from Lin Muyang, enveloping the three maidens. Ao Qingyan immediately felt a warm and solid energy shield appear around her body, emitting a faint golden radiance, giving her an indescribable sense of security.

She was slightly stunned. Because most of her attention was currently focused on observing the potential dangers inside the ancient castle, she did not immediately check the long list of shocking buffs that had appeared in her status bar. She subconsciously attributed this shield to the Elf Priest Lilia in the team, thinking it was some kind of support spell of hers.

Taking a deep breath of the cold, blood-scented air, Ao Qingyan gripped her longsword tightly, assumed a standard defensive stance, and stepped into the deep gate of the Vampire Ancient Castle, step by step, with extreme caution.

Inside the gate was a spacious but unusually dim front hall, with only sporadic torches on the walls providing a flickering Light Source, casting twisted and swaying shadows on the ground.

"Careful! Enemies!" Ao Qingyan's eyes sharpened, and she barked.

Suddenly, two blood-red figures pounced out from the shadows on both sides of the front hall! These were two standard vampire minions. Their pale skin was streaked with blood, they wore tattered black robes, bat-like flesh wings stretched out from their backs, and sharp fangs protruded from their mouths, emitting a "hissing" sound of threat as they charged straight towards Ao Qingyan, who was walking in the front!

Ao Qingyan's muscles tensed instantly, her longsword held horizontally in front of her, her feet planted in a solid stance, already prepared to meet the impact and perform a perfect block.

However—

"Dark Lightning Chain."

Just at this moment, standing in the back, the Succubus Maiden Elabess, who had always appeared elegant and composed, casually raised her 【Moon-Crying Staff】 embedded with a purple gemstone and softly recited the name of the skill in a pleasant yet flat tone.

Zzz—!

A ferocious chain of energy crackling with black lightning instantly shot out from the tip of the staff like a living viper, accurately hitting the vampire minion in the front!

68599 (Critical Hit)!

68951 (Critical Hit)!

Two huge, blindingly scarlet damage numbers exploded from the heads of the two vampire minions almost simultaneously!

Those two Platinum-Grade mobs, which looked fierce and menacing, didn't even manage to let out a wail. Their forward momentum stopped abruptly, their bodies trembled violently in the raging shadow energy, and then, like withered grass being ignited, they instantly turned into two piles of flying ash and dissipated into the air!

One-shot!

A complete and total one-shot!

Ao Qingyan remained in her ready-to-block defensive stance, frozen in place. Her ice-blue eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.

This... was it over?

According to the basic common sense instilled in her by the rules when she was summoned to this world, Platinum-grade monsters, even the most ordinary mobs, possessed extremely formidable combat power, enough to make a Class Transferee squad of the same level prepare rigorously and require coordination to kill them safely.

But the scene unfolding before her eyes completely overturned her perception!

"Could it be... that the prompt information I received when I was summoned was fake? Or is the definition of 'Platinum-Grade' in this world different from ours?" Ao Qingyan began to seriously doubt the beginner's guide she had received.

However, something that shocked her even more, and even made her feel somewhat numb, happened immediately after.

The moment the two vampire minions were one-shot and turned into experience energy, a massive amount of pure energy, unimaginable in scale, surged into her body like a breached flood through some mysterious link!

Under the infusion of this massive amount of experience, she clearly felt that her strength, speed, and mental power were growing rapidly!

Her level skyrocketed from Level 1 to Level 9 in an instant, as if taking a rocket! She leveled up 8 times in a row!

Under normal circumstances, a Level 1 Class Transferee entering a Level 22 Dungeon would not be able to gain experience due to the large level gap. But as Lin Muyang's summon, Ao Qingyan's experience acquisition rules were completely different. She shared the experience points Lin Muyang gained, and because her own level was far lower than the Dungeon monsters, she also enjoyed a very high "level catch-up" bonus. This allowed newly summoned partners to reach an unbelievable level of speed in the early stages.

"Just killing two mobs... and I went from Level 1 to Level 9? My attribute points increased by so much?" Ao Qingyan subconsciously opened her attribute panel, looking at the skyrocketing values, feeling her brain go blank.

She had worked hard at meditation and cultivation all night, relying on her SSS-Rank Talent 【Dragon Bloodline】 and the relatively abundant spiritual energy of Blue Star, and had only managed to increase her total attributes from about 200 points to about 240 points.

But now, just by killing two mobs and leveling up 8 times, her total attributes had directly increased by 80 points! Soaring from about 240 points to about 320 points!

"In this world called Blue Star... is getting stronger really such a simple and direct matter?" For the first time, Ao Qingyan felt a huge shake in her perception of the past.

Only then, having slightly recovered from the huge shock, did she finally focus her attention on the status bar that she had been ignoring, which was flashing with abnormal light.

When she saw the long list of buff icons and specific descriptions in the status bar clearly...

【Attack Aura】: Attack power increased by 1000%

【Sacred Barrier】: Defense increased by 1000%

【Experience Surge】: Experience points gained increased by 1000%

【Eye of Lethality】: Attacks are guaranteed to hit weaknesses and cause 300% additional critical damage.

Ao Qingyan's beautiful, eternally frozen pupils contracted violently at this moment.

She looked up, looking at the human Summoner youth, who looked calm as if he had just done a trivial thing, with eyes as if looking at a monster.

"These... these effects..."

She felt her throat go dry, and her cold voice carried a hint of imperceptible trembling.

"This Summoner... is he the illegitimate son of the Creator? Or is he simply the rules of this world themselves?"