28: Chapter 28: The Rankings of the Heavens Shake Up, the Dungeon Opens!

[Ding! Heavens Announcement: Lord Lin Chen, Dawn Territory has promoted to LV4, ranking 77th on the Heavens Newbie Territory Ranking!]

[Ding! Received Heavens reward: All Territory attributes +10%, Food x10000, Wood x10000, Mysterious Dungeon Ticket x1!]

Two consecutive announcements exploded in the ears of all players.

Lin Chen stood on the steps of the Lord's Mansion, his fingertips lightly tapping the system panel.

The ranking was still jumping, skyrocketing all the way from 99 to 77, and still climbing.

The players exploded instantly.

"Damn! 77th place! This is too fierce!"

"Our Lord has completely overturned the Heavens newbie zone!"

The First Person to Lie Flat came over, carrying an axe.

"Lord Big Shot, what is this Mysterious Dungeon Ticket? Can it drop good stuff?"

The Quintessential Contrarian chimed in from the side.

"I hope it's not a cursed dungeon; I don't want to lose levels right after leveling up."

Lin Chen scanned his inventory.

[Mysterious Dungeon Ticket (Bronze Grade)]

Usage conditions: Territory LV4 or above, Lord LV18 or above

Effect: Opens solo/team dungeon — Ancient Beast Nest

Remarks: Contains a large number of beast herds; clearing it guarantees the drop of Epic grade equipment fragments.

He raised his hand and crushed the dungeon ticket.

[Ding! Mysterious Dungeon · Ancient Beast Nest has been opened, coordinates (388, -201), duration 1 hour!]

[Ding! Detected that the Lord's team meets the conditions; can bring 20 players to enter!]

Lin Chen looked up and gave the order.

"Pick the 20 highest-level players to enter the dungeon with me."

"The rest stay to guard the territory, reinforce defenses, and collect resources."

"Yes!"

The players immediately scrambled for the spots.

"Pick me, pick me! I'm a LV13 melee! I can tank and deal damage!"

"I'm a LV12 archer! I never miss!"

Three minutes later, 20 elite players had assembled.

Lin Chen mounted his Epic warhorse, blazing wind chaser, its four hooves burning with flames.

"Let's go."

As he spoke, the team galloped toward the dungeon coordinates.

In less than ten minutes, they arrived at a pitch-black valley.

A blood-colored gate hovered at the entrance of the valley, with a ferocious beast head carved on it.

[Ancient Beast Nest (LV15 - LV20 Dungeon)]

Recommended number of people: 20 - 30 people

Recommended level: LV15 or above

The players looked at the gate and couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

"This dungeon looks scary; the monsters inside must not be easy to deal with."

"What are you afraid of when following the Lord? The Lord dispatches enemies with a single slash!"

Lin Chen was the first to push the door and enter.

[Ding! Entered the Ancient Beast Nest dungeon!]

[Dungeon First Wave: Ancient Wolf Dog x 30, LV16 Black Iron Elite]

Boom!

Thirty black wolves, half the height of a human, rushed over, their fangs gleaming with cold light.

"Archers, ready!"

Lin Chen gave the order.

The eight archers in the back row immediately drew their bows and fired.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The rain of arrows pierced into the wolf pack, with constant squelching sounds.

[Ding! Player killed Ancient Wolf Dog x 5, received 500 EXP!]

[Ding! Your level progress has increased!]

The Ancient Wolf Dogs were extremely fast, breaking through the arrow rain and rushing to the front.

The melee players immediately raised their shields to block.

Clang, clang, clang!

The sound of impact was deafening.

One player was pounced on by a wolf dog, and his HP dropped by a large chunk.

"Damn! These dogs bite way too hard!"

"My shield is about to break, Lord, save us!"

Lin Chen's eyes turned cold.

He raised his hand and unleashed [Sky-Rending Slash].

The golden sword energy swept out, instantly splitting five wolf dogs.

-3900!

A critical hit number floated up.

Seeing this, Lin Chen twisted his wrist again, and [Sweep] directly cleared the wolf pack in front.

[Ding! You killed Ancient Wolf Dog x 12, received 1200 EXP!]

[Ding! Team killed the first wave of monsters, reward: Black Iron Fragment x 100, Gold Coin x 500!]

Golden light fell on the players.

"I leveled up! LV14!"

"Awesome! Dungeon EXP is ten times higher than outside!"

The team continued to go deeper.

The dungeon passage was narrow, and the walls on both sides were covered with claw marks.

They hadn't walked fifty meters when the ground shook.

[Ding! Second Wave: Ancient Stone-Armored Bear x 5, LV18 Bronze Elite!]

Five two-meter-tall giant bears crashed through the walls, their bodies covered in stone skin, and one slap could shatter rock.

[Stone-Armored Bear]

Defense: 200

Skills: Stone Armor Defense, Heavy Strike

The players' faces turned pale.

"This BOSS is too tanky! How do we fight with 200 defense?"

"I only deal 20 damage per slash, it's like scratching the bear!"

The Stone-Armored Bear roared and slapped at the players.

A melee player was slapped away and fell to the ground on the spot.

[Player 'Muscle Man No. 1' has been killed!]

Lin Chen rode his horse and rushed forward.

The dawnbreaker longsword burst with golden light.

"Everyone retreat, I'll break the armor."

He jumped off his horse and stepped on the ground, rushing straight at the strongest bear.

The longsword stabbed at the bear's eye weakness.

Squelch!

-5200!

Critical strike!

The Stone-Armored Bear howled and collapsed to the ground.

[Ding! You killed Bronze Elite Stone-Armored Bear!]

[Ding! Received: Bronze Armor Fragment x 20, Bear Gallbladder x 5, 2000 EXP!]

The remaining four bears counterattacked frantically.

Lin Chen activated the divine skill [Ten Thousand Arrows Firing Simultaneously].

Golden arrows filled the sky, descending and covering the entire field densely.

Whoosh—!

The arrows pierced through the stone armor and deep into the flesh.

-2800! -2800! -2800!

The four Stone-Armored Bears were instantly shot into sieves and fell down together.

[Ding! Team killed the second wave of elites!]

[Ding! Reward: Bronze Treasure Chest x 3, 3000 EXP!]

The players exploded instantly.

"This divine skill is too perverted! Who can withstand this area damage!"

"Lord Big Shot is the GOAT! I want to call you the number one in the Heavens!"

Lin Chen opened the three bronze treasure chests.

[Ding! Received: Bronze War Boots x 1, Skill Book [Charge] x 1, Territory Upgrade Stone x 3!]

He threw the war boots and the skill book to the frontline players.

"Take it, improve your combat power."

The players who received the equipment were trembling with excitement.

"Thank you, Lord! I will be your meat shield from now on!"

"Swear to follow Lord!"

The team continued to go deeper and arrived at the central hall of the dungeon.

In the center of the hall, a three-zhang-tall giant tiger was lying down.

Its body was burning with blue flames, and its ID above its head was: Ancient Flame Tiger (LV20 Bronze BOSS)

[Ancient Flame Tiger]

Grade: Bronze Top-tier

Skills: Flame Tiger Roar, Flame Breath, Earth-Rending Claw

Remarks: Final dungeon BOSS, killing it guarantees the drop of Epic equipment

The Flame Tiger opened its eyes, and a roar made everyone's ears ache.

"Roar—!"

The terrifying pressure rushed toward them, and the players retreated one after another, their legs shaking.

"This pressure... is even scarier than the alien Lord just now!"

"It's over, it's over, I feel like I'm going to die here!"

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed.

"Archers, output from a distance; melee, flank and contain."

"I'll tank the damage in the front."

As he spoke, the Flame Tiger sprayed a breath of flame.

The raging fire swept across the front.

Lin Chen swung his sword to split the flames and rode his horse straight at the BOSS's face.

"Sky-Rending Slash!"

Clang!

The longsword slashed on the Flame Tiger's head, leaving only a white mark.

-1800!

The defense was ridiculously high.

The Flame Tiger was furious and slapped at Lin Chen with one claw.

Lin Chen dodged sideways, and the sharp claws smashed into the ground, exploding into a large pit.

Seeing this, Lin Chen backhanded his sword and stabbed at the tiger's nose.

Squelch!

-4600! Weakness critical hit!

The Flame Tiger roared frantically in pain.

The flames around its body surged, and it entered a berserk state.

All attributes increased by 30%!

"Everyone be careful! The BOSS is berserk!"

The players gritted their teeth and attacked fiercely.

Arrows shot at the BOSS, making clinking sounds.

Melee attacks on its legs only dealt dozens of points of damage.

Another player was hit by the flames and fell to the ground directly.

"I'm tired of running to revive, can this BOSS give some face!"

"The damage is too high! We can't tank it at all!"

Lin Chen did not panic.

He channeled all his power, and the dawnbreaker longsword bloomed with brilliant golden light.

"Ten Thousand Arrows Firing Simultaneously, maximum power!"

The arrows in the sky condensed into a golden beam of light and smashed hard onto the Flame Tiger.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Continuous explosions resounded through the hall.

-8800! -8800! -8800!

Three critical hit numbers exploded.

The flames on the Flame Tiger's body were extinguished, its body was covered in arrow holes, and it fell to the ground with a bang.

[Ding! You killed the final BOSS · Ancient Flame Tiger!]

[Ding! Received 20000 EXP!]

[Ding! Your level has increased to LV19! All attributes +20!]

[Ding! Received: Epic grade equipment · flame tiger battle armor x 1, Epic fragment x 50, Ancient Core x 1, Heavens Points x 1000!]

Golden light soared into the sky, and the aura around Lin Chen surged.

The Epic grade armor automatically flew into his backpack.

The players exploded instantly.

"Epic equipment! It really dropped an Epic!"

"Lord is invincible! This dungeon has been completely cleared!"

Lin Chen checked the attributes of the flame tiger battle armor.

[flame tiger battle armor (Epic Grade)]

Defense: 350

Strength +50, Stamina +60

Special Effect 1: Fire Resistance +80%

Special Effect 2: When attacked, 5% chance to trigger Flame Tiger Protection, immune to one fatal damage.

Top-grade defensive gear!

He put on the armor directly.

The fiery red armor covered his whole body, and his aura surged.

The terrifying pressure spread out again, and the players bowed their heads in awe one after another.

[Ding! Dungeon clearance rating: SSS grade!]

[Ding! Heavens Announcement: Lord Lin Chen, first to clear the Bronze-grade Ancient Beast Nest dungeon, obtained title: Ancient Conqueror!]

[Ding! Heavens Newbie Territory Ranking increased: 52nd place!]

The entire Heavens trembled again.

Countless players looked at the announcement and were completely dumbfounded.

"This Lin Chen again? Did he use a cheat!"

"First SSS clearance? What kind of monster Lord is this!"

Inside the dungeon, the players cheered around Lin Chen.

"Following the Lord, Epic drops in three days!"

"Who would dare to provoke our Dawn Territory in the Heavens from now on!"

Lin Chen said lightly.

"Pack up the loot, return to the territory."

Everyone picked up the equipment fragments and gold coins all over the ground, grinning from ear to ear.

The First Person to Lie Flat was holding a pile of materials.

"Got rich, got rich! This dungeon wave made us super rich!"

The Quintessential Contrarian patted his chest.

"I'll run as many dungeons as there are in the future, I'll follow the Lord to the end!"

Half an hour later, the team returned to Dawn Territory.

The players who stayed behind saw the Epic armor on Lin Chen and all widened their eyes.

"Epic equipment! Lord is wearing Epic!"

"Has our territory become this strong?"

Lin Chen stood in front of the Lord's Mansion and opened the territory panel.

[Dawn Territory]

Level: LV4 (0 / 50000)

Population: 120 / 1000

Resources: Food 38000, Wood 42000, Stone 35000, Black Rock Ore 2400

Buildings: Lord's Mansion LV4, Barracks LV4, Blacksmith Shop LV4, arrow tower LV4, Warehouse LV1, Tavern LV1

He ordered.

"Blacksmith shop, forge Bronze equipment at full capacity, Tavern, start recruiting special NPCs."

"Warehouse, reserve resources, prepare for the level 5 territory."

"Yes!"

The players acted immediately, and the territory was bustling with activity.

Lin Chen looked at the clouds in the distance of the Heavens.

The Heavens rankings are just the beginning.

To gain a foothold in the Heavens, he must become stronger faster, take more resources, and crush all opponents.

Just then, the system sounded a rapid prompt again.

[Ding! Detected three surrounding territory alliances, assembling a 300-person legion, marching toward Dawn Territory!]

[Ding! Alliance leaders: LV18 Lord · Iron Axe, LV17 Lord · Cold Wind, LV17 Lord · Shadow Moon]

[Ding! Target: Seize Epic equipment, trample Dawn Territory!]

Lin Chen's eyes turned cold, and a sneer curled up at the corner of his mouth.

Experience delivered to the door, why not take it.

He gripped his dawnbreaker longsword, and the Epic battle armor flashed with red light.

"Everyone prepare for battle."

"Anyone who dares to invade my territory, leave them all here."