Chapter 278: Epic-Level Player (Combined) [Side Activities Chapter] (May 4500 Monthly Ticket Bonus)

Qin Chuan stared blankly at the text before him, unable to resist letting out a heavy sigh.

Turning his head again, the two girls behind him were already tear-streaked.

"Qin Chuan..." Lin Yue couldn't help but grab his hand.

"At least they're free now." Qin Chuan lightly patted the back of Lin Yue's hand, speaking softly.

After reading the inscription on the stone tablet, he finally understood why Salma hadn't cooperated with Becklend, blocking their escape from the Dreamland, merely hoping not to cause Becklend pain.

One of these lovers refused to believe their clan's failure and demise, choosing to sleep forever in the dream they wove; the other repeatedly used the clan's forbidden secret art, just to be able to stay longer beside the sleeping beloved.

For Becklend, the ten-thousand-year vigil had already made his soul incredibly heavy; his ability to maintain a normal appearance now was solely because Salma was still asleep.

Once Salma was awakened, she ceased to exist, leaving Becklend a future of unimaginable despair and endless pain.

"Mm..." Lin Yue wiped her tears, her eye sockets merely reddened, still not emerged from the painful emotion, she couldn't help but reach out to embrace Qin Chuan's arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

Zheng Xiaoyu's hand, just having dried her tears, stiffened; she suddenly felt it would have been better not to wipe them.

With her vision blurred by tears, she couldn't see the man and woman in front of her flaunting their affection!

Qin Chuan subtly lowered the side of his shoulder where Lin Yue was leaning a bit, letting her rest more comfortably, then turned his gaze to the dungeon rewards.

【Current Strategy Rewards: 【Red】 Phantom Spirit Pendant, 【Red】 Resurrection Sword, 【Red】 Title: Dreamland Awakener】

【Additional Strategy Rewards: Strategy attempts today +2】

【Claim Strategy Rewards】

It actually dropped two red items.

Qin Chuan casually clicked to claim and examine them.

【【Red】 Phantom Spirit Pendant: A pair of two pendants; when worn by different individuals, they can communicate regardless of distance, and either can instantly teleport to the other's side】

As for the ability to communicate regardless of distance, it's not particularly useful on Blue Star, but it's still very handy in dungeons or other places where communication is impossible.

As for the second teleportation function, there's no need to elaborate.

Qin Chuan gently placed one pendant on Lin Yue's neck, put the other on himself, then proceeded to examine the next item.

【【Red】 Resurrection Sword: 10% of damage dealt restores the wielder, prioritizing healing injuries; when uninjured, it restores expended strength】

This piece of equipment…

Qin Chuan's eyes instantly lit up with delight.

With this equipment, he can fight longer without worrying about strength consumption, and the use of recovery potions can be greatly reduced.

No wonder, as the Moon Spirit Clan most adept at life secret arts, their weapons carry corresponding effects.

Qin Chuan couldn't help but think of Becklend wielding the Resurrection Sword.

If an intruder of comparable strength were to face him, they'd likely be worn down to death alive—what a terrifying guy.

【【Red】 Title: Dreamland Awakener: When using illusion-type abilities, attack increases by 70%, gaining 80% resistance to illusion-type abilities】

For him, this red title can only exert half its effect.

Illusion-type abilities are a branch of psychic-type abilities, which he lacks.

However, Lin Yue and Zheng Xiaoyu both possess psychic-type spirit beasts.

This also counts as making full use of resources.

No matter how strong other red titles are, they still struggle to surpass the previously obtained Abyssal Calamity.

That title, however, requires a red piece of equipment to truly function.

Looking at the two girls beside him, Qin Chuan smiled.

"It's time to leave."

"There are still many dungeons to conquer." —

Yan Da, Dungeon Strategy Area.

As night fell, the number of students still attempting dungeon strategies visibly dropped, with only a few sporadically appearing, exchanging desired items at the equipment trade point before leaving.

A faint light flashed, and Qin Chuan and Lin Yue returned hand in hand.

"Let's stop here for today." Lin Yue squeezed Qin Chuan's palm; after a few days together, she grew increasingly fond of this affectionate little gesture, "The dorm lights will be out later."

"Okay." Qin Chuan nodded with a smile, "Let's save the remaining A-rank dungeons for tomorrow."

"We have a dark-system class tomorrow morning." Lin Yue smiled, pursing her lips, "After class, who knows—maybe today's remaining A-rank secret realms will all be cleared."

"Seems so." Qin Chuan replied dumbfounded.

The two walked hand in hand through the moonlit campus toward the dormitories.

Having successfully cleared the S-rank dungeon Migru Sleeping Plain, six days have passed.

During these six days, under the pressure of dungeons and the impetus of secret realms, global players' strength continually rose, with high-tier combat power surging.

The number of elite players reached tens of thousands, while the count of hall-of-fame players had long since broken single digits, now exceeding thirty.

Hall-of-fame players already possessed the ability to tackle A-rank dungeons, and in multi-person teams, the risk was further reduced to a controllable range.

The daily increase in refreshed dungeon numbers never ceased; currently, about ten thousand new dungeons appear each day, of which over a hundred are A-rank.

The emergence of these hall-of-fame players greatly alleviated the strategy pressure on Qin Chuan and the Special Affairs Group.

Now Qin Chuan only needs to ensure the clearance of S-rank dungeons; A-rank dungeons are purely used to farm Time Stop.

Merely six days later, his Time Stop had risen from a pitiful single-digit amount to over forty seconds again.

Had it not been for the consumption of Time Stop when conquering S-rank secret realms in the Dream World, the amount could have been even greater.

Over these six days, Qin Chuan and Lin Yue's assault on secret realms likewise never ceased.

Qin Chuan initially used personal points to accelerate his spirit beasts' rank breakthroughs, aiming to quickly gain the ability to clear A-rank dungeons without consuming Time Stop.

Thus, after Shui Hua and Ice Cream successively broke through, he stopped spending personal points on resource exchange and instead invested them in higher-yield personal skill tree upgrades.

Consequently, Silver Horn and Little Black's breakthrough rates slowed accordingly, matching the pace of Lin Yue's contract spirit beast.

Three days prior, Silver Horn and Little Red simultaneously reached Epic rank.

And now…

"After we clear today's secret realm, Xiao Hei and Xiao Zi will be able to break through." Lin Yue took Qin Chuan's hand and spoke softly, "Once Xiao Hei breaks through, you will advance to Mythic Stage."

"Yeah." Qin Chuan smiled, his eyes showing a hint of anticipation.

Advancing to Mythic Stage as a player is a huge boost.

If he could upgrade all four Spirit Beasts to Mythic Stage Lv50, his extraordinary value would instantly jump from the current 34w to 100w.

100w is the strength of the peak of the Legendary Stage.

This means that even without using Spirit Descent, he can walk through S‑level dungeons. When Spirit Descent is activated, plus the Time Stop, even a Mythic Stage at peak condition could be matched wrist‑to‑wrist.

"I'm almost there too." Lin Yue smiled eagerly, "If I don't have to share the Mythic Stage breakthrough resources with you, I only need a day and a half to let Xiao Bai complete its breakthrough."

"By then, I'll catch up to you!"

"Awesome!"

Qin Chuan laughed and gave a compliment, and Lin Yue, feeling pleased, rested her head on his shoulder.

The two chatted and laughed, soon arriving at the bottom of the girls' dormitory building.

"Right." Before parting, Lin Yue suddenly remembered something, "The guild's total points were already 98.3w yesterday; tonight they'll break the million mark."

"I hadn't really noticed that." Qin Chuan showed a surprised expression.

During this period, Luoyue Guild's recruitment sped up considerably; Xiao Pang and Du Yu joined the guild one after another, and among the players constantly coming for trials, there were qualified applicants each day.

By now, Luoyue Guild is officially full.

With so many members joining, Luoyue Guild's overall strength has increased considerably; they formed three full‑strength secret‑realm strike teams, each able to earn a substantial amount of guild points daily.

The strike team that Evelyn is in already has three Hall‑of‑Fame players—Evelyn, Leonhart, and Hongye—giving it the strength to clear A‑level secret realms.

The other two teams are also capable of clearing B‑level secret realms of full difficulty.

Besides Qin Chuan and Lin Yue, the remaining five players are either guild logistics or reserve strike‑team members, each with their own duties.

The progress of the guild's exclusive strikes has also sped up greatly; the grand formation of the group battle chart is now close to lighting up its second node.

Note that the further the battle chart progresses, the strike points needed for an upgrade almost double each time.

Lin Yue mentioned the million points because that is the requirement for the guild to level up to Lv3.

Lv2 already brought the battle chart and exclusive strikes as features; now the entire Luoyue Guild is anticipating what new features Lv3 will bring.

"In that case, it's a double blessing." Qin Chuan reached out and pulled the smiling girl before him closer, "See you later."

"Mm!" Lin Yue hugged Qin Chuan, then after a moment let go, jogged to the stairwell, and only then turned to wave at Qin Chuan.

Watching Lin Yue go upstairs, Qin Chuan returned to the dormitory, chatted a few words with his roommate, and soon fell asleep.

Once his consciousness cleared again, he found himself in the Dream World.

Exchanging a smile with Lin Yue, Qin Chuan looked around and his gaze fell on a Spirit Beast standing nearby, with jet‑black short fur, bipedal stance, a huge hollow in its chest where black flames flickered, and its claws sheathed in massive bone spurs.

The evolved Silver Horn had the same mask and hollow eyes as before.

【Spirit Beast Species: Pitch‑Black Hunter】

【Spirit Beast Attribute: Dark】

【Spirit Beast Level: Mythic Stage Lv40】（0/100000）【Player level reaching Mythic Stage enables upgrade】

【Spirit Beast Trait: Chaotic Darkness】

【Spirit Beast Species Value: 100000】

【Spirit Beast Affection: 100%】

【Spirit Beast Skills: Moon·Darkflame (Passive), Moon·Shadow‑Erosion Body (Active), Moon·Shadow Escape (Active), Moon·Devouring Shadow Poison (Active), Moon·Silent Dark Moment (Active), Moon·Threefold Extinction (Active), Moon·Swallowing Light Death Claw】

【Equipment Affixes:】

【Nightmare (Moon Halo Lv10): Attribute Might increased 140%】

【Blood Night (Moon Halo Lv10): Each time damage is taken, gain 5% HP; each time damage is dealt, gain 5% ATK】

【Current Affix Usage/Cooldown: 15 minutes/5 minutes】

【Extra Affix: 【Gloom Scorch: Damage reduction increased 60%, for each 1% damage reduction gain an extra 1% damage increase, unaffected by the damage reduction cap】】

【Spirit Beast Introduction: Dark‑attribute Spirit Beast Pitch‑Black Hunter, evolved from the Nightmare Beast, the power of the void and emptiness makes it an emotionless, dread‑inspiring hunter.】

As Qin Chuan casually tapped, the details of Silver Horn's trait were revealed.

【Chaotic Darkness: Each attack has a 50% chance to trigger a combo, immediately launching another attack in the same way; ineffective during skill cooldown, and combos can trigger further combos.】

Looking at this trait, Qin Chuan couldn't help but smile a bit more.

After evolution, Silver Horn's greatest strength lies in the combination of combos and skills.

【Moon·Darkflame: Passive skill, can switch to Darkflame form at any time, gaining 20% damage reduction.】

【Moon·Shadow‑Erosion Body: Active skill, using massive shadow power to erode the target's shadow, dealing true damage that ignores defense and applying the 【Armor Break】 effect and a Death Mark; the target's next hit will receive an extra 50% damage.】

【Armor Break: Reduces target's defense by 50% for 2 seconds.】

【Moon·Shadow Escape: Active skill, opens a shadow space within shadows; while inside, one can conceal presence and gain 50% damage reduction, and can jump between different shadows.】

【Moon·Devouring Shadow Poison: Active skill, condenses mutated shadow power; any target that touches it takes true damage equal to 1% of its max HP per second and has its defense reduced by 5%.】

【Moon·Silent Dark Moment: Active skill, centers on the user to temporarily create a dark area around them, granting 60% damage reduction for 5 seconds.】

【Moon·Threefold Extinction: Active skill, the first, second, and third uses on the same target deal true damage equal to 25% of the target's current HP, 66% of its lost HP, and 90% of its max HP respectively; cooldown 60 seconds.】

【Moon·Swallowing Light Death Claw: Active skill, slashes with claws, dealing true damage equal to 1% of the target's max HP; the skill has a 40% chance to trigger a combo, each combo increases the true damage by an additional 1% of max HP compared to the previous hit, and combo chances can stack.】

Darkflame, Shadow Escape, and Silent Dark Moment all boost damage reduction; with Silver Horn possessing the Gloom Scorch affix, this setup brings out its advantages to the fullest.

Shadow‑Erosion Body adds a Death Mark, making the target's next hit take 50% more damage; the skill benefits most from the single‑hit highest‑damage ice cream.

Devouring Shadow Poison adds no extra effect, but the HP and defense reduction per second have increased greatly, reaching a point where they can be clearly quantified.

Threefold Extinction strengthened the damage of the first and second hits: the first hit changed from dealing 25% of lost HP to 25% of current HP, turning it from an execution skill into a damage‑over‑time skill; the second hit raised the execution threshold from the original 20% of max HP to 40%.

Given that the third hit rarely has room to be used, this is a Mythic‑stage level strengthening.

As for after breaking through the epic stage, Silver Horn's newly acquired skill is Swallowing Light Fatal Claw.

Its single-hit damage is only 1% of max HP as true damage, but after combining traits it has a 90% combo rate, with each combo adding 1% of max HP as true damage.

In this way, the skill's base damage is quite considerable.

If Life Prayer is added…

The game ends directly.

Closing the panel, gathering his thoughts, Qin Chuan and Yue Li quickly set out and swiftly completed a subjugation of a nearby A-rank 5-star secret realm.

At the moment they exited the secret realm, lines of text appeared before their eyes.

【Congratulations, the total score of the player's guild has reached 100w, level increased to Lv3!】

【The guild member limit has been increased to 24 people!】

【Guild teleport unlocked!】——

This is the final installment of the peripheral activities; at the end of May, please vote for monthly tickets (end of chapter).