69: Chapter 69 Official Endorsement

What is the concept of an epic-grade secret realm?

It can be said that it is completely different from all the low-level secret realms encountered before, with a fundamental gap!

Its most core characteristic, of course, is the special rule inherent to Epic-Rank Monsters—they are completely immune to damage caused by any Class Transferee more than 3 levels above them, and even control skills from high-level experts are ineffective against them!

This is the first point, and also the most basic threshold.

Only Class Transferees within a specific level range can truly threaten these Epic-Rank Monsters.

But this is far from the most difficult part!

In secret realms of this level, every monster, regardless of size, may possess distinct special attributes and random affixes!

Imagine if there were a Minotaur-themed epic-grade secret realm. On the surface, they all look like the same Minotaur mobs.

But in reality, one might have its attack power doubled or tripled, another might have up to 80% magic immunity, and others might possess various Aura effects that can boost the attributes of all surrounding monsters by two or three times, or significantly weaken the abilities of all Class Transferees within range, and so on...

Especially the BOSS in the secret realm! Every guarding BOSS in an epic-grade secret realm carries at least several powerful special affixes.

When the effects of these affixes are stacked together, their comprehensive attributes will reach a terrifying level!

On the surface, it looks like just a level 45 epic-grade secret realm. But the actual combat attributes of the monsters within generally exceed the standard of ordinary level-100 monsters!

This is where the true difficulty of an epic-grade secret realm lies!

If it were not for top-tier Class Transferees with sufficiently powerful talents and well-crafted equipment, they would likely be killed instantly by a single touch from the mobs inside.

Even for genius Class Transferees with s-rank or even SS-Rank Talent.

If they are on a pure damage output path, they must remain highly vigilant at all times and rely on a sufficiently powerful tank class, who also possesses high talent, to firmly hold the monsters' aggro to ensure survival.

And if one's talent aptitude is not outstanding enough... even if wearing a full set of top-quality equipment, they might not even be able to damage the most ordinary mobs inside, let alone challenge those guarding BOSSes with abnormal affixes.

Of course! The probability of an epic-grade secret realm spawning itself is extremely low. Across all level ranges, only about a dozen appear in the entire Xia Kingdom each year.

However, every time an epic-grade secret realm spawns, it makes the Xia Kingdom's official authorities prepare in full force; after all, if one is not handled well, it could lead to a regional disaster!

Originally, the difficulty of this level 45 epic-grade secret realm that appeared this time was already quite high.

Sword Saint was originally considering whether, even with this mysterious genius from Zhongnan City and the five geniuses already assembled, the manpower and strength would still be somewhat insufficient?

As it turned out. This guy in front of him actually told him that he wanted to go in alone?

Is he sure he isn't joking?

"Two origin skill books, I can personally make the decision to agree to this condition."

Sword Saint's expression became incredibly grave, and he stared intently at the direction from which the voice came: "However, are you sure you really want to go in alone? Although your stealth ability is indeed outstanding, the anti-stealth level of Epic-Rank Monsters is generally extremely high, and they often master various large-scale area-of-effect attack skills. Stealth may not necessarily guarantee your safety!"

"Determined." The mature woman's voice simulated by Elabess carried an unquestionable certainty: "If you agree, tell me the specific location."

This white-haired Old Sword Saint maintained a grave expression, pondering for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

Finally, he nodded slowly: "Fine, since you insist so much... I will believe you once. However, must remember, once you find the situation is wrong, retreat immediately! Life is at stake, you must not force yourself to take risks."

Immediately after, he detailed the specific coordinates and relevant information of that level 45 epic-grade secret realm to Lin Muyang.

"Regarding the pass, I have already issued an internal notice."

"The Dungeon Resource Management Committees across the country will give you the green light. When you enter any Dungeon or secret realm later, you just need to place this specially made magic card at the entrance for identification."

"In addition..."

Sword Saint's tone became exceptionally serious, carrying a warning: "You must be careful about assassinations from overseas forces!"

"There are at least a dozen beings of my level globally. Many of them have mastered strange skills involving space, or even time series..."

"Once you detect any danger, you must seek help from the authorities immediately!"

Finally, he coughed twice, his tone softening a bit, carrying an intention to recruit: "Of course, the best choice is still to accept official protection, which can save a lot of trouble."

Lin Muyang naturally would not agree to joining the official forces.

He knew very well that within the Xia Kingdom, the relationships between major forces were intricate and complex, with undercurrents surging.

Once he chose to join one side... he would inevitably receive special "attention" or even targeting from other forces.

More importantly. If he joined the official forces, it meant he would need to obey the official dispatches and arrangements, losing a lot of freedom, which was completely unnecessary.

Lin Muyang's current "wild" state was the most convenient and fastest for development. There was no need to pay attention to the twists and turns between so many forces; finding a suitable Dungeon and going in to grind was enough.

After grinding the Dungeon, he would just turn invisible and leave, hiding his merit and fame.

Usually, just living as the ordinary student Lin Muyang, taking the girls out shopping, and researching art—isn't that wonderful?

As for the space and time series skills mentioned by the Old Sword Saint...

Lin Muyang secretly checked the list of God-Tier Aura he possessed...

【Space Interruption】!

【Time Interruption】!

The effect of these two supporting God-Tier Aura is to prohibit the effectiveness of all space and time series skills within a certain range around him!

Although Lin Muyang himself could not actively control these two high-end abilities for the time being.

But as long as he moved his mind and activated these two Aura directly, he could make any enemy attempting to play with space or time around him completely blind!

"Currently, I have no intention of joining any official forces."

Thus, Lin Muyang replied through Elabess: "In addition, regarding those two origin skill books..."

"What class do you need them for?" Sword Saint asked accordingly.

"One for the Priest class, one for the Mage class, preferably dark-attribute Mage skills." Elabess answered according to Lin Muyang's instructions.

???

Hearing this, Sword Saint's face immediately showed an expression of astonishment and disbelief.

Originally, he did intend to use this method to probe the main class of this genius.

But he never expected that the other party would ask for skill books for two completely different systems in one breath!

Priest? Dark Mage?

Two completely different classes?

Could it be that the person in front of him is a one-in-a-million dual-class genius?

In the long history of the development of the Era of Class Transfer, there have indeed been a very small number of gifted dual-classers, and more than half of them eventually rose to become giants in their own right across the world!

But even those dual-class geniuses who left their names in history, in the early stages of their development right after their class transfer, never performed as ridiculously or terrifyingly as this guy in front of him!

"90% area slow, 90% area attack reduction, super large area silence..."

"Where do these incredible abilities come from?"

Sword Saint was completely puzzled!

But he also deeply realized. The mysterious genius in front of him, his potential and importance, are likely far beyond imagination. He is likely to become one of the key figures leading the Xia Kingdom towards a new height in the future!

Of course, this genius is obviously still in the rapid development stage, and it is reasonable not to want to disclose his identity. In fact, many far-sighted geniuses now choose to do this, developing silently in private to avoid becoming a target too early.

It's just that this genius's approach is more extreme and thorough.

Directly going completely invisible, even he, a Nation-Guarding Level Expert, almost couldn't see through it...

Unfortunately, Sword Saint still thought until this moment that he had seen through the other party's whereabouts with "Sword Heart Clarity". But in fact, he only vaguely sensed the Aura of the sword on Ao Qingyan, and knew nothing about Lin Muyang's own location and status, let alone posing a substantial threat.

Even if he could really instantly kill Ao Qingyan...

She would only be temporarily beaten back to her original form and return to her original world. After waiting for one day, Lin Muyang could summon her back again, which basically equates to no loss.

"How about this, I have a detailed list of the origin skill books in the official inventory here."

"Take a look and choose two that you need." The Old Sword Saint operated his phone a few times, bringing up an encrypted official inventory interface, which clearly listed the information on various origin skill books currently in stock!

Such strategic materials that can directly improve combat power are naturally strictly controlled.

After all, mastering one more powerful Origin Skill adds one more layer of security for survival in troubled times.

Therefore, the origin skill books in the inventory are usually not stored for too long and are basically allocated reasonably soon to enhance high-end combat power.

However, Lin Muyang also saw origin skill books in the Swordsman category in the list.

"This old man is quite fair; he didn't use his authority to pull strings for his granddaughter Liu Hongyuan and get two good Swordsman skill books?" Lin Muyang was slightly surprised by this.

Of course, he also understood that the rarity and effect of the origin skill books in this inventory were mostly incomparable to that "Peerless Sword Formation" at the previous auction...

He didn't pay too much attention and began to concentrate on carefully selecting from the Priest and Dark Mage categories.

There was a Priest origin skill book in the list named 【Holy Tyrant Body】, the effect of which is to allow himself and all teammates to be immune to all control effects for a short time after release, which can be said to be a very practical life-saving skill.

It's just that the initial duration is a bit short, only 3 seconds.

The skill description notes that for every level increased, the duration increases by 0.5 seconds.

"This skill isn't durable enough... Although I could activate the 【Infinite Firepower】 Aura to shorten its cooldown and achieve more frequent releases."

"However..."

"I already possess the God-Tier Aura skill 【Dominator Aura】! Its effect is stronger than this Origin Skill, and it's a permanent domain-type Aura. Why go through the extra trouble to learn this?"

Lin Muyang shook his head and gave up on this book.

Soon, his gaze was drawn to another origin skill book of the Priest class.

【Impenetrable Fortress (Origin): A Priest-class origin skill book, a passive Aura-type skill. Once activated, it forms an Aura centered on the user, providing a 15% defense bonus to the user and all teammates within range.】

【Level Up: The percentage of the defense bonus increases accordingly. Upon reaching Level 20, the defense bonus effect doubles!】

This is an Origin Skill with a very pure effect, focused on increasing defense attributes. It's perfect for Lilia to learn!

"It provides a 15% defense increase at Level 1, and as long as it reaches Level 10, it can achieve a 150% defense increase!"

"If it reaches Level 20 and triggers the special effect, the bonus doubles, which is a full 600% defense bonus!"

"Combined with my tenfold defense Aura..."

Lin Muyang calculated quickly in his mind, unable to help but sigh with emotion.

Having a God-Tier Aura is powerful, but not yet extremely overpowered. The key is that his God-Tier Aura effect is calculated in an independent multiplication zone, allowing it to perfectly stack with other similar percentage-based bonus effects!

You must know, in this era of universal Class Transferee, the calculation formulas for various attribute values are mandatory courses in school.

Take defense, for example; its standard calculation formula is: 【Final Defense = Base Defense × (1 + Sum of all percentage defense bonuses)】

Whether it's a Priest's buff, benefits from pills or food, or affix bonuses provided by equipment... as long as it is a percentage-based defense increase, it is directly added to this "sum of bonuses."

For example, a Priest skill provides a 30% defense bonus. A certain pill provides a 20% defense bonus. Then the total defense bonus for that Class Transferee is 50% (equivalent to 1.5 times the base defense).

But Lin Muyang's 【Sacred Shield】 God-Tier Aura... its effect is to directly multiply the final defense by ten! This is truly terrifying!

The original 50% bonus, after being magnified tenfold, becomes a 500% bonus effect! From the base 1.5 times defense, it jumps directly to 15 times defense!

One can only say... in this situation, the 【Impenetrable Fortress】 skill can truly make one "Impenetrable Fortress"!

Next, Lin Muyang began to select a Dark Mage-class skill book, and soon locked onto one.

【Shadow Erosion (Origin): A Dark Mage-class origin skill book. Condenses pure dark energy and injects it into a single target for continuous erosion. Deals massive Shadow damage based on Spirit attributes per second, lasting for 10 seconds. Cooldown is 300 seconds.】

【Level Up: Increases damage per second, increases duration, and reduces cooldown. Upon reaching Level 20, the erosion effect can stack (meaning it can be cast multiple times on the same target)!】

This is a very typical continuous single-target damage skill. As it happens, Elabess and Ao Qingyan are both currently better at large-scale area-of-effect attacks, and their output efficiency is relatively weak when dealing with powerful single targets.

Lin Muyang selected this skill to make up for that shortcoming.

However, because single-target attack skills cannot quickly clear large numbers of mobs, the speed at which they gain Origin Skill experience is relatively slow.

In fact, many pure single-target attack origin skill books are not very popular on the market precisely because their leveling is too slow...

However, this is not a problem at all for Lin Muyang. Because he possesses the God-Tier Aura—【Super Splitting】!

After activating this Aura, all single-target skills will produce a splitting effect, turning them into group skills that are simultaneously released on multiple enemies within range!

"It seems that after learning 【Shadow Erosion】, I'll have to activate an additional 【Super Splitting】 Aura when farming monsters, so that this single-target skill can quickly gain experience and level up..."

Lin Muyang deeply felt that while he possessed more and more God-Tier Auras, the slots available for simultaneous activation were always limited.

If there were enough Aura slots to keep all useful God-Tier Auras permanently activated, how earth-shattering would the effect be?

Level up, must level up as soon as possible! Only by increasing his level and unlocking more Aura slots can he truly be fearless.

As Lin Muyang finished selecting the two origin skill books, Sword Saint nodded: "I will arrange for someone to retrieve the skill books as soon as possible, and they are expected to arrive in Zhongnan City tomorrow... At that time, how should I deliver them to you?"

"Just have Shen Yanshan pass them on."

After Lin Muyang finished saying this through Elabess, he took his leave of this Nation-Guarding Level Old Sword Saint.

That epic-level secret realm is Level 45, so in order not to waste the rich experience provided by the secret realm, Lin Muyang decided to raise his own level to 42 before challenging it.

Now that he had official endorsement and a national pass, he could freely enter and exit any Dungeon.

He only needed to place that special magic card at the entrance of the Dungeon for identification before entering, and others would naturally understand that this was a person of national importance executing a mission inside and would not come to disturb him.

Thus, he directly set his next target—Tianhai City!

In fact, he had originally planned to go to Tianhai City in the afternoon to farm Dungeons, but now it had become even more legitimate and unobstructed.

The reason why Tianhai City could become one of the three core cities of the Xia Kingdom... the fundamental reason was that the Dungeon and secret realm resources in its surrounding area were simply too rich!

Compared to ordinary cities like Zhongnan City and Qinghe City, the number of Dungeons and secret realms that refreshed around Tianhai City every day was at least ten times greater!

Of course, correspondingly, the population base of Class Transferees in Tianhai City also far exceeded that of those small cities.

In Tianhai City, the major established forces had long ago divided up the territory and resources; to run Dungeons, one usually had to choose to join a certain force.

Those with outstanding talent could naturally be allocated more Dungeon resources. But those with mediocre talent basically only had the opportunity to tag along when a team was short of people, and one can imagine how slow their leveling speed was.

Of course, even in the fiercely competitive Tianhai City, truly top-tier geniuses would not be deliberately suppressed.

Major forces would protect the core geniuses under their command very well, and various high-difficulty, high-reward Dungeons/secret realms were prioritized for these geniuses to challenge.

In such an environment... Lin Muyang held the official highest-level pass and had priority access to all Dungeons. Most importantly, his terrifying Dungeon-farming efficiency was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine!

It is foreseeable that the Class Transferees in Tianhai City at the same level range as him would likely face the awkward situation of having "no Dungeons to farm" for some time in the future.

Meanwhile, in the southwest of the Xia Kingdom, more than two thousand kilometers away from Zhongnan City... Huangque City.

This was a border city slightly larger than Zhongnan City, originally unremarkable in the country. But not long ago, a Level 45 epic-level secret realm refreshed in the wild secret realm area outside Huangque City!

A clueless Class Transferee team, having never seen the terror of an epic-level secret realm, rashly led a team inside... As a result, out of a full 13-person team, only three people luckily escaped alive, and each was wounded and still felt lingering fear.

After the Xia Kingdom authorities noticed this newly appeared epic-level secret realm, they immediately activated an emergency plan and carried out mobilization and searches across the country.

To this day, the authorities have found a total of four top-tier geniuses with s-rank talent and one with SS-Rank Talent, and have gathered them all in Huangque City, preparing to deal with the secret realm crisis!

At this moment, in a conference room of a luxury hotel arranged by the authorities in Huangque City, these five geniuses, in whom high hopes were placed, were gathered together. However, a message they had just received from the higher-ups left everyone somewhat stunned and puzzled.

"What's going on? They summoned us from so far away, and now they are saying they want to arrange for others to try and clear that epic-level Dungeon first?"

"I highly doubt that the authorities can find so many geniuses who are at the same level as us and meet the level requirements in such a short time? Can they really assemble a full 13-person team?"

"13 people? Don't joke around! I just asked my dad for inside information, and he said that a small city near Tianhai City has produced an incredible genius. The intention from above this time is to let that genius go in and solo it."

"What? Solo? Is your information reliable?"

"Could my dad's news channels inside the military be fake? According to common sense, the authorities couldn't make such an absurd decision. It is highly likely that that genius truly possesses the terrifying strength to solo it?"

"Bullshit! Absolutely impossible! That's an epic-level secret realm! What kind of international joke is this!"

The five geniuses gathered together, discussing spiritedly, their faces full of disbelief.

Among them, a youth in his early twenties, wearing silver ear studs and having a slightly unruly temperament, showed a half-smiling expression on his face and said in a relaxed tone: "Doesn't matter, it's fine if someone is willing to go scout the path first. If someone can really clear it solo, then that's their ability, and I'll be convinced."

Although he said it like that, anyone with a discerning eye could see. This SS-Rank Talent sharpshooter named Wang Jie did not believe from the bottom of his heart that anyone in this world could solo an epic-level team secret realm!

Even a widely recognized SS-Rank Talent genius like him would not dare to boast that he could solo a Diamond-level team secret realm. Now, someone is actually saying they want to solo an epic-level secret realm, which is several orders of magnitude higher in difficulty? If this isn't a fantasy, what is?!