Chapter 218: The Enviable Magic Eye

The Sun's Rune Stones undoubtedly played a significant role in this situation.

This was especially true for the confinement runes. Since a glowing halo of restraint appeared beneath the feet of every monster struck by them, the immobilized creatures were instantly recognizable at a glance.

Gu Xiaobei would step up from time to time to bash the skeletons a few times.

Despite only being at level one, the Strength boost provided by her wooden spatula meant that a single smash was enough to silence a target permanently.

Li Huai, who had been fanning the flames at the very beginning, stopped playing around. He drew his Storm Sword, a world item that resembled a rapier, and charged forward to execute the immobilized skeletons one by one.

Esmeralda, the "Wheel of Fortune", and David, the "Magician", covered the rear. Esmeralda dual-wielded a pair of silver-engraved revolvers, while David wielded a short staff like a seasoned gunslinger. Whenever a monster managed to slip past Gu Xiaobei, Li Huai, and the High Priestess, they would quickly finish it off with a bullet or a magic missile.

However, what surprised Lan Qingyou the most were the Pope, an avid angler, and the High Priestess, a vampire.

There was a saying that anglers could fish up absolutely anything except actual fish.

Lan Qingyou hadn't believed it originally, but she was fully convinced after watching the Pope cast his rod and yank a floating ghost right out of the sky with nothing but his fishing line.

Who would have thought the High Priestess could handle them as well? Then again, it somehow made perfect sense that a vampire could deal with ethereal spirits.

It was just that this woman was practically her "competitor".

While Lan Qingyou siphoned the ghosts to condense Soul Crystals, the High Priestess simply devoured them bite by bite like they were little snacks.

Calling her consumption speed a vacuum-like inhalation would not be an exaggeration.

Fortunately, her efficiency was nowhere near Lan Qingyou's.

Lan Qingyou only had to cast a skill to steal a kill, whereas the High Priestess had to physically bite down before she could suck out the soul, turning the target into gray Sand.

Meanwhile, Lan Qingyou darted through the sky. Her task was to eliminate any ghosts floating up from the ground, occasionally tossing down a Frost Potion or an Explosion Potion to support the group against the swarming monsters.

After all, she was the only one capable of flight, making her the indisputable choice for this aerial duty.

Eight people against several thousand seemed like a massive disadvantage on paper.

But thanks to the relentless efforts of the Tarot Villa crew, after about three hours of continuous combat, no more monsters came rushing out of the flames.

Once the battle thoroughly concluded, the entire group immediately collapsed onto the ground.

Over three hours of high-intensity combat was too much to bear, even for a team composed entirely of Evolvers.

After all, whether they were vampires, Witches, the Demon Race, or Tree Elves, none of these races possessed significant innate bonuses to their physical constitution or Strength.

Luckily, they had prepared plenty of items for this dungeon run, so they didn't completely exhaust their reserves after fighting for so long.

"Does anyone know how many monsters we killed over these past few hours?"

The High Priestess asked weakly, sprawled across the dirt without a shred of elegance.

"Who knows. Probably three or four thousand. I even leveled up twice."

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, The Sun pulled out a barrel of juice sponsored by Justice along with a few cups. After tossing them onto the ground and answering, he filled a cup and downed it in one gulp.

From the looks of it, he was completely exhausted too.

"Hehe, I managed to ride your coattails all the way to level eight."

Gu Xiaobei giggled happily, having made it clear from the start that she was only here to leech experience.

"Huh? Boss Lan, what are you doing?"

Gu Xiaobei had poured a cup of juice intending to give it to Lan Qingyou, but couldn't find her anywhere nearby.

Turning her head, she realized that Lan Qingyou was sitting right where they had just been fighting, while her mount, the Magic Broom, was actually sweeping the floor?

Sure, the original function of a Magic Broom was indeed sweeping and cleaning.

But doing chores in a place like this, at a time like this, felt more than a little bizarre.

Hearing Gu Xiaobei's voice, the others also turned to look, utterly baffled by what the Witch was up to.

"Nothing much, just gathering some alchemy materials."

Lan Qingyou didn't even lift her head. She pulled out a glass bottle fitted with a funnel and began scooping up the piles of ash the Magic Broom had swept together handful by handful.

"What is that?"

The Pope asked curiously.

"Soul ash. It can be used to brew Potions and craft magic items. It's the residue left behind after the ghosts the High Priestess bit to death faded away."

"..."

It was hard to say what expressions the others were making, but the High Priestess, still sprawled on the ground, was thoroughly speechless.

As the culprit who created the ash, it had never crossed her mind that this powdery residue could be harvested as a resource.

If she had known it was useful, she would have gathered some earlier.

At the very least, selling it to this Witch would have guaranteed a decent profit.

Seeing that Lan Qingyou was merely collecting alchemy materials, the rest of the group lost interest. After all, it was an ironclad rule: if you encounter materials, you harvest them.

However, even though they stopped paying attention, every single person present—even the angling Pope—felt a pang of envy toward Lan Qingyou.

Or, more accurately, they envied Lan Qingyou's Magic Eye.

While they did not know the exact functions of her Magic Eye, they were certain its abilities went far beyond simple appraisal.

Yet, just the ability to appraise anything on the go was enough to make this group of researchers incredibly jealous.

It finally explained why Lan Qingyou had sold off a pair of Appraisal Glasses within the Villa recently. It turned out she had awakened her Magic Eye, making the glasses redundant for her.

Appraisal Glasses...

Even though the effectiveness of the glasses was directly tied to the user's primary knowledge level, who among them didn't have at least an A-rank in their respective fields?

In the end, that bastard Chariot had snatched them up, which was infuriating just to think about.

They had reached out to Shang Chuan and even Chu Yuan to place orders for more, but right now, not even the Supreme Council could supply them.

Or perhaps they were simply too precious to part with, so heavily guarded that even Chu Yuan cashing in a favor couldn't secure one.

Thus, the group could only seethe with envy.

Fortunately, the barrier was gone now.

Once David the Magician perfected his magic formations and deployed them fully, the logistics network would improve drastically. They would just have to leave it to fate when the time came.

With the battle pausing for now, what everyone needed most was to rest and prepare for the next engagement.

"Speaking of which, High Priestess, that biting skill of yours feels a bit inefficient. Is that an innate vampire skill?"

David asked during their break.

In truth, everyone was curious about it.

After all, this was the first time any of them had witnessed a skill being executed in such a bizarre manner.

Sure, they subconsciously knew that interacting with vampires meant dealing with biting eventually.

But seeing someone literally chew through incorporeal ghosts to kill them was completely unprecedented. It was quite a novelty.

"It's nothing special, just a dental care and maintenance skill."

The High Priestess didn't try to hide anything, offering a brief explanation of the skill's function.

Her answer, however, left everyone thoroughly dumbfounded.

'Wait, what does this have to do with teeth?'

"Don't you see this in novels and games all the time? Evil cultivators nourishing themselves by absorbing the souls of others. It's the same principle for us vampires. After all, fangs are an incredibly important organ and tool for our kind. It's only natural that we have a skill dedicated to their maintenance."