Chapter 58: Lin Ye sweeps the dungeon in one minute and wins the server championship.

On the night the preliminaries ended, the entire server was discussing the final bracket. Lin Ye's team ranked first with a time of 28 minutes, while Qin Wentian's team ranked eighth with 51 minutes, barely squeezing into the finals. Eight teams, a knockout format, head-to-head duels, winners advance until the champion is decided.

Qin Wentian stood in the Main City Square, staring blankly at the bracket. His opponent was the fourth-ranked team; they were strong, but not without opportunity. If he won, he might face the second-ranked team in the semi-finals. If he won again, he would face Lin Ye in the finals.

"There is still a chance," he told himself.

He opened his friend list and sent a message to the four mercenaries. "Finals tomorrow, log on early." No one replied. He sent it again; still no reply. Gritting his teeth, he transferred 500,000 gold coins to each of them. This time, someone replied. "Received. We'll be there on time tomorrow."

Qin Wentian looked at the cold replies, feeling uneasy. But this was his only hope, and he had to seize it.

At 2:00 PM the next day, the finals began on time. A massive virtual screen appeared above the Main City Square, broadcasting the live combat of the finals. Millions of players across the server flooded into the spectator system, and the number of online users broke the highest record since the server launch.

In the first round, Lin Ye faced the eighth-ranked team. The captain of that team was an Assassin with the ID "Dark Night Walker," ranked in the top 20 of the server. He stood at the dungeon entrance with his four teammates, and his expression turned grim upon seeing Lin Ye approach.

"Brother Ye, please go easy on us," Dark Night Walker said with a wry smile.

Lin Ye laughed: "Don't worry, I won't make you lose too miserably."

[System Prompt: The match has begun. Both sides, please enter the dungeon.]

Lin Ye led Su Qinghan, Fatty Wang, and Qin Wentian (referring to Qin Wentian's subordinate, a Commoner Supermarket employee) into the dungeon. The opposing five-man team entered simultaneously. Dark Night Walker had come up with a tactic—avoid a head-on collision with Lin Ye, take a detour, and try to beat him on time. But he forgot one thing: the space-time judgment dungeon only had one route; there was no way to bypass it.

For the first wave of mobs, Lin Ye raised his hand, applied 500 layers of debuff, and instantly killed them. On Dark Night Walker's side, they were still hacking away at the first monster, while Lin Ye had already run to the second wave.

Second wave, three seconds.

Third wave, two seconds.

First BOSS, five seconds.

Dark Night Walker had just finished the first wave of mobs when a system prompt popped up—[Player [Ye]'s team has cleared the dungeon, time taken: 1 minute 03 seconds.]

The dagger in Dark Night Walker's hand dropped to the ground. He looked at the timer, then at the second wave of mobs in front of him that they hadn't even finished fighting, and he was completely stunned.

"One minute? Is this something humans can do?"

His teammates were also dumbfounded. They knew Lin Ye was strong, but they didn't expect him to be this strong. Clearing the highest difficulty dungeon in one minute wasn't just a matter of skill anymore; it was dimensional reduction warfare.

[world channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": One minute? What did I just see? Brother Ye cleared it in one minute?]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": It takes me ten minutes just to clear the beginner dungeon, and Brother Ye clears the highest difficulty in one minute. The gap...]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": It's not one minute, it's one minute and three seconds. But what's the difference?]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Brother Ye is awesome! The championship is in the bag!]

When Lin Ye walked out of the dungeon, Qin Wentian's team was still fighting the first BOSS. He heard the system prompt, and the sword in his hand paused for a moment.

"One minute and three seconds..." he muttered to himself.

He thought the equipment he bought with a large sum of money could narrow the gap, but reality slapped him hard. The gap hadn't narrowed; it had widened. Because Lin Ye was also improving, and his rate of improvement was much faster than his.

"Guild Master, should we keep fighting?" the tank asked.

Qin Wentian gritted his teeth: "Fight. Finish it."

He wasn't doing it to win; he was doing it to give himself closure. Having spent over ten million in real currency, he at least had to finish the match.

Fifty-one minutes later, Qin Wentian's team finally cleared the dungeon. Ranked eighth, last place. But he didn't care anymore. He stood at the dungeon exit, looking in Lin Ye's direction, his eyes complex.

Lin Ye walked toward him and patted his shoulder: "Good fight."

Qin Wentian smiled bitterly: "Good? Last place."

"Being able to persist and finish it is good," Lin Ye laughed. "Many people don't even have the courage to finish."

Qin Wentian was silent for a few seconds, then asked: "Brother Ye, why are you so strong?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment and said: "It's not that I'm strong; it's that my teammates are strong. Qinghan's shield, Fatty's lucky constitution, and—" He glanced at the Qin Wentian (subordinate) behind him, "—their trust. Without them, I am nothing."

Qin Wentian was stunned. He had never thought about this question. He used to think he was the number one on the server because he had money, equipment, and skill. But now he knew he was wrong. He could be the Heavenly Temple Guild Master because he had brothers like Po Jun, Ling Tian, Kuang Zhan, and Ying Ren. He lost to Lin Ye not because Lin Ye was strong, but because he had lost his brothers.

"I understand," he said in a low voice.

Lin Ye patted his shoulder and turned away.

In the second round of the finals, Lin Ye faced the second-ranked team. The captain of that team was a Mage with the ID "Cang Qiong," ranked in the top ten of the server. He brought four teammates, all equipped with Epic sets and Legendary-grade weapons. In terms of paper strength, they were more than a notch stronger than Lin Ye's team.

But paper strength was useless.

Lin Ye raised his hand, 500 layers of debuff, first wave of mobs killed instantly. Second wave, three seconds. Third wave, two seconds. First BOSS, five seconds. The despair that Dark Night Walker encountered, Cang Qiong also encountered.

"Damn, how do you fight this?" There was wailing in Cang Qiong's team channel.

Cang Qiong gritted his teeth and thought of a tactic: "Stall for time. Isn't he fast? We'll fight slowly and drag the time out. No matter how strong his Talent is, there must be a limit, right?"

But he forgot one thing: Lin Ye's Talent had no limits. No upper limit on layers, no upper limit on effects, and the priority was higher than the dungeon mechanism. Stall for time? Lin Ye clears in one minute; even if you drag it to ten minutes, you still lose.

Five minutes later, Cang Qiong's team finally reached the first BOSS. And on Lin Ye's side, he had already cleared the dungeon.

[System Prompt: Player [Ye]'s team has cleared the dungeon, time taken: 1 minute 02 seconds. Advancing to the finals.]

Cang Qiong looked at this prompt, and the staff in his hand dropped to the ground. "One second of improvement? He was one minute and three seconds in the preliminaries, and now one minute and two seconds. This person isn't human; he's a machine."

His teammates also collapsed. The five of them had spent millions of gold coins on equipment, only to find they couldn't even see Lin Ye's taillights.

[world channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": One minute and two seconds! Brother Ye is even faster!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": At this rate of improvement, will he break into one minute next time?]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": Whether he breaks one minute or not isn't important; what's important is that Brother Ye is already invincible.]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Champion! Champion! Champion!]

In the final, Lin Ye faced the third-ranked team. This team's strength wasn't as good as the second, but their captain was someone with ideas. His ID was "Strategist," a support class, ranked in the top 50 of the server. He had studied Lin Ye's playstyle for many days and discovered a pattern—although Lin Ye's Talent was strong, it required him to personally cast the debuff. If he could prevent Lin Ye from attacking, or unable to lock onto a target, there would be a chance.

He designed a tactic: four teammates would do their best to hold Lin Ye back, while he used crowd control skills to interrupt Lin Ye's Talent activation. But he forgot one thing: Lin Ye's Talent didn't need casting time, didn't need to raise a hand, and could be released in a single thought.

The match started, and Strategist's four teammates rushed up, trying to surround Lin Ye. Strategist stood in the distance, ready with his crowd control skills. Lin Ye didn't even look at them, raised his hand, and applied 500 layers of debuff. First wave of mobs killed instantly. Strategist's crowd control skill hadn't even been released, and Lin Ye had already run to the second wave.

"Too fast!" Strategist panicked and chased after him, wanting to use his skill. But Lin Ye's speed was much faster than his, and he couldn't catch up.

Second wave, three seconds. Third wave, two seconds. First BOSS, five seconds. Just as Strategist ran to the location of the second wave of mobs, Lin Ye had already finished the first BOSS.

"This... how do you fight this?" Strategist collapsed on the ground, giving up.

[System Prompt: Player [Ye]'s team has cleared the dungeon, time taken: 1 minute 01 seconds. Won the championship!]

The golden server-wide announcement flashed three times. Players across the server celebrated collectively.

[world channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": Champion! Brother Ye is the champion!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": One minute and one second! Almost broke into one minute!]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": Brother Ye, can you break into one minute next time? We are waiting to see!]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Brother Ye is awesome! space-time judgment is yours!]

When Lin Ye walked out of the dungeon, a system prompt popped up—

[System Prompt: Congratulations on winning the Cross-Server Speedrun Championship! The SSS-grade artifact [space-time judgment] has been sent to your backpack.]

Lin Ye opened his backpack, and a long sword shimmering with iridescent light lay quietly there. Complex runes were carved on the blade, and a blue gem was embedded in the hilt, emitting fluctuations of space-time distortion.

[space-time judgment] (SSS-grade · Unique Artifact)

Level Requirement: None

Attack Power: 500-600

Attributes: All Attributes +100, Critical Hit Rate +30%, Attack Speed +50%

Special Effect 1 [Ignore Defense]: Attacks ignore all defense attributes of the target, dealing true damage.

Special Effect 2 [Space-Time Imprisonment]: Attacks have a 30% chance to imprison the target, rendering them unable to move or release skills for 3 seconds.

Special Effect 3 [Space-Time Resonance]: Resonates with the Talent [Perpetual Energy Level Decay], increasing debuff effect by 50% and extending duration by 100%.

Lin Ye looked at the last effect, and his eyes lit up. Resonating with his Talent? Debuff effect increased by 50%, duration extended by 100%? This artifact was practically tailor-made for him.

Su Qinghan leaned over to take a look and gasped: "These attributes are too absurd. All Attributes +100, Critical Hit Rate +30%, Attack Speed +50%. And it resonates with your Talent. Ye, you're about to be invincible."

Lin Ye laughed: "Not about to be invincible; I already am."

He equipped the space-time judgment, and a beam of iridescent light erupted from him, illuminating the entire Main City Square. Players across the server looked at that light, all stunned.

[world channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": Damn! Is that the light effect of space-time judgment? So cool!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": Brother Ye has equipped the artifact! This aura is like a god!]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": Brother Ye, can you let us see the attributes? Begging for a screenshot!]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Brother Ye, you are the strongest on the server! No one else!]

Lin Ye stood in the center of the square, holding the space-time judgment, with a wicked smile on his lips. Su Qinghan stood on his left, Fatty Wang stood on his right, and Qin Wentian (subordinate) stood behind him. The four of them were like an army.

Qin Wentian (former guild master) stood at the edge of the square, watching that iridescent light, his eyes complex. He had spent ten million in real currency, bought a full set of god-tier gear, hired four experts, yet he didn't even make it to the finals. Lin Ye cleared it in one minute and one second and got the space-time judgment. This was the gap. It wasn't a gap in equipment; it was a gap in people.

He turned and left, disappearing into the crowd.

Lin Ye watched his back but didn't call him. Some people needed to figure things out for themselves.

Su Qinghan walked up and stood beside him: "Why didn't you call him?"

Lin Ye shook his head: "He needs time. When he figures it out, he will naturally come back."

"Do you think he can figure it out?"

Lin Ye nodded: "Yes. Because he has already started."

Su Qinghan looked at him and smiled. This man said wicked things, but his heart was softer than anyone's.

That evening, the Commoner Supermarket held a victory banquet. Fatty Wang bought a pile of virtual food and set it on the table. Su Qinghan opened a bottle of virtual champagne, and Qin Wentian (subordinate) was responsible for pouring the drinks. The four of them sat by the window on the third floor, watching the lights of the Main City in the distance, drinking wine and chatting.

"Brother, what's the next step?" Fatty Wang asked.

Lin Ye took a sip of wine, a wicked smile curling his lips: "Cross-Server Tournament."

"Goryeo War God Temple?"

"Right. They've been clamoring on the cross-server channel for so long; it's time to clean them up."

Su Qinghan put down her wine glass and said seriously: "The Cross-Server Tournament is different from dungeon speedrunning. The opponents are people, not monsters. And Goryeo War God Temple is the number one guild on the Korean Server; they are very strong."

Lin Ye laughed: "Strong is good. If they weren't strong, I wouldn't even bother fighting them."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the distant lights of the Main City. The night was deep, and the starlight was dim. But in the deepest part of the night, a faint purple light could be seen—that was the entrance to the Cross-Server Tournament, and also a new battlefield.

"Goryeo War God Temple, wait for me. I'm coming."