Chapter 274: The Gatekeeper

"Speaking of which."

Hearing Lucy say this, Yun Mu suddenly thought of something: "I didn't know your identity before, Lucy, so I didn't pay much attention to it."

"Now that I think about it... aren't you Brenna's ancestor?"

"Well, I suppose so, though it's probably not quite what you're thinking." Lucy explained to her: "Before the Crimson Invasion, we of the Blood Clan were able to create kin."

"There were mainly two ways. But in essence, they were the same. One was to inject one's own essence blood into another creature's body through one's teeth, and the other was to have the other party drink one's own essence blood."

"Many of the Blood Clan would keep some bird-type kin through the second method, and at the time, for the sake of the Scarlet Court's rule, I bestowed my own essence blood upon a small group of people."

"Brenna should be a descendant of those people."

"So strictly speaking, I cannot be considered her ancestor."

"Then what about the instructor at the Bloody Training Ground?" Hearing this, Yun Mu was a bit puzzled: "People who became Blood Clan through bestowed blood shouldn't be counted as family, right?"

"Regarding what you said..."

A hint of reminiscence appeared on Lucy's face: "I had a daughter, a human orphan I adopted. Her son is that instructor at the Bloody Training Ground."

"An adopted orphan?"

"What was her name?" Yun Mu asked with great interest.

"Isabelle, her name was Isabelle!" When discussing her daughter's name, Lucy appeared very happy; it seemed that Isabelle was very dear to Lucy.

"Can you tell me more about Isabelle?" Seeing Lucy's happy expression, Yun Mu couldn't help but chat with her.

And just as the two were chatting... 【-5】 【-5】 【-5】

Three damage numbers popped up in succession above the head of the Scarlet Knight, who was afflicted with the Corrosion status.

This made his already low health even more precarious.

The 【Camping】 skill, which could only be used once per Dungeon, had already been used previously. To restore the Scarlet Knight's health bar, relying on conventional methods definitely wouldn't work, so... "Hey—"

Yun Mu arrived at the familiar Bloody Training Ground and saw the figure sitting crouched by a tree stump from far away.

"Don't reveal my identity in a moment, okay?"

Lucy whispered in Yun Mu's ear at this time.

"Eh?"

"Why?"

Hearing this, Yun Mu appeared somewhat puzzled.

"In the Boundary Echo, isn't my appearance the way I looked when I was young?"

"I was already an adult when I left the Dixia Shijie, so..."

"So that instructor doesn't know your identity at all?" Yun Mu found it somewhat unbelievable.

"Mm." Meeting her surprised gaze, Lucy nodded slowly: "Actually, the two of us aren't close at all, because when I died, that instructor was still in Isabelle's womb."

"It is only because of the effect of the Boundary Echo that I am able to see Isabelle's child."

"How should I put it... the disaster of the Crimson Invasion can be said to have been caused entirely by me, that, so..."

"So you have never told the other party your true identity?" Yun Mu raised an eyebrow, not expecting things to turn out this way.

"In short, do not reveal my identity."

"Just interact with him normally; I will go wait to the side."

Avoiding Yun Mu's gaze with shifty eyes, Lucy waved to bid her farewell.

Without giving her a chance to refuse, Lucy turned and trotted toward a corner not far away.

"Huh, what's wrong with her?"

Having just walked up to Yun Mu and about to greet the two, the instructor looked at the running Lucy with some confusion.

"It's nothing, she's just tired and needs to rest for a while." Shaking her head, Yun Mu collected her thoughts and looked at the instructor in front of her.

"Long time no see, instructor of the Bloody Training Ground."

"Ah, long time no see." After a pause, the other party added: "Actually, it hasn't been that long, has it?"

Indeed, although it was unclear how much the time flow differed between the real world and the Boundary Echo, for her, someone who had transmigrated over and hadn't even been here for a full month...

Parting with the instructor of the Bloody Training Ground was indeed something that happened not long ago.

"So, what is the matter with finding me this time?"

The instructor's eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, looked behind Yun Mu.

"Oh, quite sturdy, aren't you."

He leaned close to the Scarlet Knight and patted the other's shoulder firmly.

Come to think of it, this guy's eyes shouldn't be able to see, but the feeling he projected didn't look like a blind person's at all.

He even had the action of shifting his gaze.

"I want to strengthen him once, how many Gold Coins will it cost?" Yun Mu asked the instructor, who was circling the Scarlet Knight.

"One thousand five hundred Gold Coins, and I can help you strengthen him to level twenty-five." The instructor tapped the Scarlet Knight's armor lightly with his finger without turning his head.

"Can't he be strengthened to Expert?" Yun Mu frowned slightly.

"The Dungeon you are currently in is only level twenty, so of course I have no way to strengthen him to Expert... However, this guy's aptitude is quite good, much stronger than that dried corpse from before."

The instructor turned to look at Yun Mu, a confident expression on his face.

"Believe me, one thousand five hundred Gold Coins is definitely worth it!"

"Then let's strengthen him and see." Yun Mu nodded.

It was only one thousand five hundred Gold Coins; she could earn it back after fighting the monsters in the Dungeon once.

This amount of money, she could still afford.

"Don't I need to confirm the type of strengthening this time?" Seeing the instructor about to take the Scarlet Knight away directly, Yun Mu asked with some curiosity.

"Not this time, isn't his positioning quite obvious?" The instructor waved his hand: "Just strengthen him along his original path."

"Oh."

Watching the Instructor and the Scarlet Knight gradually disappear from her field of vision, Yun Mu tilted her head: "What was the Scarlet Knight's role, again?"

A Warrior who can tank and deal damage? Or a tank responsible for absorbing damage? It should count as a Warrior; after all, if you talk about absorbing damage, it has no Taunt, and it has no protection. If a tank of this level wanted to join a team, they would be shunned.

【Gold Coin: 11573】

"Still have 11,000 Gold Coins left."

Opening the Game Panel, Yun Mu looked at her Gold Coin balance and thought for a moment.

"Nothing to do, let's strengthen Lucy." 【lv21→lv22】

【3200 Gold Coins】

Strengthen!

Gold Coin -3200, -3800, -4500 【You spent 11500 Gold Coins, 【Alchemist Lucy】 level increased to: lv24!】 【Current Gold Coin balance is: 73】

【【Alchemist Lucy】's Max HP +3, Attack +2, Spell Strength +5, Defense +2, Resilience +1, Speed +2.】 【Name: Lucy (Last Blood Clan Alchemist) Level: lv24 (Elite) Race: Blood Clan Bloodline 【Current status is Bloodline】

Age: 300 years old

Max HP: 55 Attack: 20 Spell Strength: 35 Defense: 12 Resilience: 7 Dodge: 24 Speed: 19 Precision Correction: 35 Critical Hit: 9%】 Ah, out of money again.

Just by clicking three times on the character upgrade panel, only 73 Gold Coins were left.

Although spending makes one excited, after the spending is over, looking at her empty wallet balance, there is still a bit of melancholy.

Of course, that is a thought that would only arise after the money in reality is spent.

Gold Coins in the game only make Yun Mu feel that this money is spent too quickly.

Moreover, strengthening Lucy's character level is a very necessary thing, so she wouldn't regret it in this regard.

The time waiting for the Instructor to return was long; Yun Mu came to Lucy's side, casually finding topics to chat with her.

The two girls sat together, talking and laughing just like that.

It wasn't until about two hours later that the Instructor returned from afar with a tall figure.

The Scarlet Knight's appearance didn't seem to have changed much; it was still covered from head to toe in heavy scarlet plate armor.

But what surprised Yun Mu slightly was that he was currently maintaining a Riding state, sitting on a warhorse clad in armor, rather than walking on the ground as usual.

"Mission accomplished, Scarlet Knight Modified is complete!" The Instructor brought the Scarlet Knight to Yun Mu and said with an excited expression.

What the hell is Scarlet Knight Modified? Was this your original character setting?

Yun Mu complained in her heart and casually opened the Scarlet Knight's panel.

【Scarlet Knight Modified lv25 (Elite) Max HP: 105 Race: Bloodline

Attack 45, Spell Strength 16, Defense 50, Resilience 8, Dodge 36, Speed 25, Precision Correction 40, Critical Hit 20% Traits: Scarlet Curse, Sword Mastery, Riding Mastery, Oath Reforging, Leader

Skills: Charge Slash, Cavalry Lance Thrust, War Stomp, Crimson Dawn, Revenge.】 "What kind of stat monster is this."

Looking at the attribute panel of the Scarlet Knight Modified, Yun Mu couldn't help but contribute a little to global warming.

Because it is her recruited Partner, she can directly view the skill effects of the Scarlet Knight within the panel.

First is the traits, which are basically no different from before, except that the previously useless 【Broken Oath】 has become 【Oath Reforging】. The following is the original text of the effect:

【The Knight reforges the faith in their heart. When HP drops to 0, HP is immediately restored to full, and they immediately act once. After each action, 30% of Max HP will be deducted.】

Got it, it's a zombie; it has a second life after death, but it will keep losing HP until it kills itself.

What about the remaining skills?

Charge Slash is an upgraded version of Scarlet Slash, with a base precision of 145, +50% damage correction, and an additional 25% spell bonus.

Besides that, the skill range increased from 3 to 6, almost doubling, and it has a forward 1 effect.

Is this the difference between having a horse and not having a horse!? As for Cavalry Lance Thrust, it is a combination of Charge and Thrust, range 8, 130 precision, +85% damage correction, 10 points of armor penetration, +8% critical hit, forward 1.

What a perverted skill.

Perhaps the Game Panel also knows this skill is overpowered, so it can only be used when the Scarlet Knight is in the 4th or 3rd position of the team.

A Knight's charge needs to open up distance to accelerate, which is very reasonable.

As for War Stomp, it is a 3-unit damage skill with an attack range of only 2; the damage correction is not high, but it has a 135% Stun probability, which should be very suitable for dealing with groups of monsters.

Crimson Dawn can only be used when the Scarlet Knight is a zombie—no, wait, in the state of Oath Reforging.

The effect is similar to Self-Destruct, capable of immediately dealing damage to all enemy units and applying a wide-range Corrosion dot effect.

As for Revenge?

The effect is that when the Scarlet Knight is attacked by an enemy, it will immediately apply the 【Crimson Mark】 effect to them.

And when the Scarlet Knight attacks an enemy with 【Crimson Mark】, the damage correction is increased by an additional 15%, critical hit +5%, and it restores HP equal to 10% of the damage dealt to itself.

The skill effect is very powerful, but the prerequisite is that it must be attacked by an enemy.

Overall, Yun Mu is quite satisfied with the strength of the Scarlet Knight Modified.

These 1,500 Gold Coins are more than worth the price; it's a huge bargain, okay!

Regarding Yun Mu's confusion, the Instructor's answer was.

"The Gold Coins required to strengthen all monsters are the same, but depending on their potential, the effects after strengthening will also be different."

"This monster of yours, among the people and Monsters I know, its potential is probably in the lower-middle range, the highest tier of that category."

"Ah?" After hearing the Instructor's words, Yun Mu appeared very surprised: "This is actually only lower-middle?"

If this is lower-middle, she doesn't even dare to imagine how strong the truly powerful ones are.

"Don't misunderstand, the Scarlet Knight is already at an upper-middle level among humans, it's just that many Monsters have innate attributes that are much stronger than humans."

"This is also something that can't be helped."

The Instructor said, turning to walk into the distance; he waved his hand: "Ah, I'm exhausted after training."

"I'm going to prepare to rest; as for you two, go do whatever you need to do."

"... Does a Bloodline count as a human?" After the Instructor of the Bloody Training Ground left, Yun Mu looked thoughtfully at the Scarlet Knight beside her.

It should count as some kind of special bloodline, I suppose; in many novels, the protagonist always has the power of some ancient divine beast inside them, though that sort of thing hasn't been popular for a long time.

"Let's continue forward!"

Yun Mu adjusted the Scarlet Knight's position to number 4, swapped the Goblin Brave's position to number 1, then kept Lucy's position unchanged, while she herself went to the number 2 position.

"This should do!"

Nodding with satisfaction, Yun Mu and Lucy left the Bloody Training Ground.

After passing through a path that resembled a spatial tunnel, they returned once again to the Dungeon 【Painting Spirit】, inside that gloomy corridor.

At the same time, in front of a massive, pitch-black stone Gate, a humanoid creature draped in a tattered black cloak, wearing a full set of form-fitting metal armor underneath, and carrying a square greatsword nearly two meters long on its shoulder, slowly stood up from the ground.

【Shouling Quyu lv25 (Elite)】

【You have encountered the enemy 【Gatekeeper lv25 (Elite)】】

Max HP: 95 Race: Painting Spirit

Attack 60, Spell Strength 20, Defense 35, Tenacity 8, Dodge 85, Speed 25, Precision Correction 50, Critical Hit 20% Traits: Sword Mastery, Extreme Evasion (Dodge success rate significantly increased; when an enemy attack is successfully dodged, the damage modifier of the next attack is +25%, Critical Hit +5%), Potential Energy (Each time an attack hits an enemy, it stacks one layer of Potential Energy, up to a maximum of three layers, with each layer increasing Attack by 5 points), Leader skills: Charged Counterattack, Soaring Dragon Sword, Ruthless Barrage, Flame Enchantment, Cruel Pursuit】 (End of chapter)