20: Why is Shangguan Yunshu here in Chapter 20?

At that moment, a cold and stern voice rang out from behind, reverberating back and forth through the huge dungeon lobby:

"All rookie professionals, stay ten meters away from the dungeon exit!"

The buzzing discussions in the lobby were cut off by this single shout.

The rookie professionals who were staring at the stone tablet all frowned, showing expressions of dissatisfaction.

"Holy shit, who is this? So arrogant?"

"Yeah, what right do they have to make us back off?"

"I also think—holy shit!?"

The complaints of these rookie professionals had just begun before they were abruptly choked back in their throats.

They saw several figures rise into the air and fly over from a distance.

The person at the lead wore a dark blue Security Officer Li Xining uniform, the silver stripes on his shoulder boards gleaming coldly under the lights; followed by more than ten people behind him, some draped in guild-standard dark red cloaks, others wearing intricately crafted leather battle armor, and every single person's equipment exuded the faint glow unique to high-tier enchantments.

The professionals who had originally intended to continue complaining all fell silent.

Professionals capable of flying in the sky were at least Tier 3!

A Tier 3 professional was an existence capable of fighting an entire army single-handedly!

Placed in a place like Linglan City, they already belonged to the figures standing at the upper tier of the combat power pyramid!

And here, as many as a dozen such people had appeared simultaneously!

One could only imagine what identities these people held!

As rookie professionals, they naturally knew that whenever a welfare dungeon opened, the upper management of major institutions would observe the rookies' performance in the observation room.

However, under normal circumstances, these upper management figures would not appear inside the dungeon room.

They hadn't expected so many high-level figures to appear together now!

A trace of panic swept through the hearts of all the rookie professionals, and they hurriedly retreated, clearing the space around the dungeon exit.

The group of Linglan City scions who had previously been discussing Shen Qingci and Rebecca Parker now stared with wide eyes, their hearts filled with disbelief.

"That is… Security Officer Li Xining?" someone recognized the leading man.

"And Victor Wagner, the guild master of the Truth Fire Guild, and Wei Shen from the Skywalking Guild... Are those the high-level figures from the observation room? Why would they appear here?"

Halfway through their words, as if they suddenly understood something, they turned their heads almost simultaneously and cast their gazes toward the name at the very top of the stone tablet.

Lu Yang!

This rookie professional's performance was simply too horrifying.

These young men and women were all descendants of local professional families in Linglan City, and their understanding of the professional system far exceeded that of ordinary rookies.

They were very clear on what it meant for a rookie to solo Nightmare difficulty, let alone killing a Hero-grade boss!

This could no longer be described as merely outstanding; this was a miracle!

Only such a miracle could prompt so many high-level figures to walk out of the observation room all at once.

At that moment, a pure and cute-looking girl in the crowd with a fiercely curvaceous figure suddenly widened her eyes.

Her gaze crossed over the high-level figures in the front row, locking firmly onto a white figure in the back, her small mouth slightly agape as if she had seen a ghost.

Her voice trembled uncontrollably, taking on a hint of sharpness: "Th-th-that is... is that Your Excellency Shangguan Yunshu?!"

The few people around her froze.

They looked along the girl's gaze and saw a young woman behind the flying crowd.

The woman wore a minimalist robe as plain and white as snow, tied at her waist with a similarly snow-white sash.

Her raven-black long hair hung straight down to her waist, with no excess ornaments among the strands, and a few stray locks clung to her cold, breathtakingly gorgeous profile.

Her face was exquisitely unreal, yet between her brows there was not a single trace of unnecessary expression, resembling a pool of deep water without a ripple.

They all followed the girl's gaze once more, and subsequently saw a woman standing in the rear.

That peerless appearance left this group of scions completely dumbfounded.

Their bodies trembled slightly, and for a moment their brains went completely blank, leaving them unable to speak.

After a moment of silence, they seemed to finally snap out of it, looking at each other and seeing shock mirrored in each other's eyes.

"It really is her?! Your Excellency Shangguan Yunshu?!"

"How could she appear here?! This is Shangguan Yunshu!"

The expressions of these young men and women were completely blank at this moment.

As one of the most dazzling top Genius figures in the Blue Star Alliance, Shangguan Yunshu naturally appeared in quite a few news reports.

Her experiences were far too dazzling; not yet fifty years old, she had already achieved a Breakthrough to Tier 5, boasting terrifying battle records, a powerful Soul Talent, and a formidable class.

This made Shangguan Yunshu an idol looked up to in the hearts of almost all young people!

The influence of high-tier professionals was something no celebrity could ever compare to.

That exquisitely beautiful and cold face—almost no one would mistake it!

Yet now, on an ordinary planet like Yunmeng Star, they were actually seeing Shangguan Yunshu in person?!

Why was she here?!

It wasn't just this group of scions who noticed Shangguan Yunshu's presence.

Others in the dungeon lobby also successively noticed that white-robed figure.

At first, they widened their eyes in disbelief, followed by exchanging whispers and talking in low voices.

The lowered discussions spread out like a tide, and the name Shangguan Yunshu was passed on again and again among the crowd.

A buzzing uproar filled the entire lobby.

At that moment, Shangguan Yunshu and the others had already landed in front of the dungeon exit.

With Shangguan Yunshu at the head, the rest of the people lined up on both sides, standing quietly facing the slowly spinning dungeon vortex.

Within a ten-meter radius around the exit, not a single rookie professional lingered anymore.

All the rookie professionals' attention shifted from the rankings on the stone tablet to that plain white figure.

While Lu Yang's achievement was certainly shocking, Shangguan Yunshu herself appearing here carried an amount of information far more explosive than any ranking.

Shangguan Yunshu's expression remained as calm as ever, paying no heed to the scorching gazes behind her.

She had experienced such attention-grabbing occasions far too many times and was long accustomed to it.

She stood there quietly like a beautiful statue carved from ice and snow, her gaze falling indifferently upon the dungeon exit.

Advisor Jiang Lan and Ian Montague, along with the others, stood by her side, likewise waiting without a word.

At that moment, the vortex at the dungeon exit suddenly flashed with light, and several figures tumbled out from inside.

Those were a few ordinary rookie professionals.

The expressions on their faces still carried the lingering pain of having just died out of the dungeon. Just as they were about to speak, they suddenly felt the air grow quiet, and the atmosphere seemed somewhat wrong.

The few of them raised their heads blankly, only to see a circle of well-equipped, extraordinary-Aura men and women standing around the dungeon exit, all looking at them expressionlessly.

And more than ten meters behind these people, a dense crowd of rookie professionals were stretching their necks to look over.

This caused the members of this ordinary dungeon team to involuntarily swallow a mouthful of saliva, their faces written full of panic.

Seeing this, Advisor Jiang Lan smiled slightly and said in a gentle tone: "Students, congratulations on finishing the dungeon. For now, please leave the dungeon exit area."

Only then did these rookie professionals snap out of their daze, hurriedly bowing as they walked outward with quick, shuffling steps, not even daring to turn their heads back.

Because it was still the morning of the first day the free dungeon opened.

Coupled with Lu Yang soloing Nightmare difficulty, plus the news spreading of Shen Qingci and Rebecca Parker duo-running Nightmare difficulty.

Most rookie professionals chose not to go in for the time being, staying outside to watch the spectacle.

Anyway, the free dungeon would remain open for several days, so they weren't particularly in a rush.

With such a rare commotion to watch, how could they resist not looking?

Watching the excitement was human nature!

Therefore, not many professionals entered the dungeon during this period.

Several minutes passed, and no new professionals came out from the vortex.

Just when everyone thought they would have to wait a little longer, the light on the vortex lit up once more.

This time, two people came out.

A black-haired girl with a high ponytail, and a blonde girl holding a sword and shield.

They were precisely Shen Qingci and Rebecca Parker.

At this moment, both of their complexions were somewhat pale, and a trace of distortion caused by pain still lingered on their exquisite faces.

Shen Qingci's silver-based, blue-bordered mage robe was stained with a few grey smudges, and the light at the tip of the azure staff in her hand had also dimmed somewhat.

There were quite a few deep scratches on the surface of Rebecca Parker's golden full body armor, and the armor surface that usually emitted a faint golden glow was now covered with a layer of grayish dust.

Seeing Shen Qingci and Rebecca Parker, the numerous rookie professionals finally shifted their attention away from Shangguan Yunshu.

They immediately looked at the stone tablet.

In second and third place were Shen Qingci and Rebecca Parker.

Their achievements were likewise outstanding, featuring multiple chieftain-grade monster kill records and a massive amount of elite-grade monster kill records.

After all, what they entered was also Nightmare difficulty, where the lowest were elite-grade monsters.

However, the two of them did not have a record of killing a Hero-grade boss.

Clearly, they had not successfully cleared Kezhi.

Shen Qingci recalled Kezhi's black branches dancing all over the sky, and her body shuddered involuntarily.

"So painful!"

So this was what it felt like to be pierced by ten thousand arrows...

She had truly experienced it firsthand.

As for Rebecca Parker, she was rather hot-tempered. Her expression was somewhat unsightly; while she said nothing out loud, she was already cursing up a storm in her heart.

"Damn it... It hurt this old lady to death! Why can't this dungeon be run a few more times!? Otherwise, once this old lady's Rank gets a bit higher, I'll chop that damn tree down and burn it as firewood!"

After landing, the two steadied their footing and quickly sensed that something was amiss around them.

Within ten meters of the dungeon exit stood an entire row of upper management figures.

Advisor Jiang Lan, Ian Montague, Security Officer Li Xining, Wei Shen...

They were not unfamiliar with any of those faces.

After all, they were descendants of professional families in Linglan City, and they had seen these big shots plenty of times in various settings.

With an almost subconscious reaction, the two immediately straightened their postures, their expressions also turning serious.

Then, their gazes were involuntarily drawn toward the plain white figure right in the center.

Shen Qingci blinked, a trace of bewilderment rising within those pure, pretty eyes.

Both of them came from professional families, so they naturally recognized the upper-level figures surrounding the dungeon exit.

Rebecca, standing beside her, was similarly stunned, her mouth slightly agape as if she wanted to say something but forgot how to articulate it.

Shangguan Yunshu?!

That top powerhouse of the Blue Star Alliance, the idol of countless people in the younger generation, had actually appeared right before their eyes?

The two looked at each other and saw a forehead full of question marks in each other's eyes.

Were they dreaming?

Were they actually still inside the dungeon, and hadn't finished the raid yet?