Chapter 248: Exceeding the Two-ness Energy Limit

What is this value?! Has anyone cleared the new five-man dungeon? Need a guide!

Don't ask, can't you see the dungeon record is still empty? No one has cleared it yet!

What's going on? Did they add an extra zero to the new boss's stats? We fought from start to finish and he never used a single skill—just kept spamming basic attacks and wiped our whole team.

If the five-man dungeon is this hard, I can't even imagine how brutal the fifty-man version will be!

Am I the only one curious about the boss's backstory? A sealed Dragon Demon Cultivator, with his cultivation power drained—sounds pretty interesting.

What's interesting about it? The game company probably just copied some random lore. If you can't design a proper long-bodied dragon, at least give us a dragon head with a human body in the style of the Dragon King of the East Sea! Why make it look like some bio-horror monster?

Exactly! It's obvious they originally planned a different class, but since Chinese-style themes are hot right now, they slapped on a cultivation aesthetic, stuck a "Dragon" label on their old monster model, and called it a Demon Cultivator.

…

Three days had passed in-game; the forums were in chaos over the boss's absurd difficulty. Normally, three days would be enough for strategy teams to fully map out a five-man dungeon, but now, not even half the boss's HP had been whittled down.

Though everyone knew the stats were probably just a joke, the sheer intensity still broke many players. Strategy teams, who usually relied on old classes and previous-gen gear to tackle new bosses, were now unusually training their current-class characters and farming gear, just to figure out the boss's attack patterns.

Meanwhile, players' sudden obsession with practicing "internal energy" caused a drop in challenge frequency.

"Haa~ Not many people today?" Feng Xue yawned widely, grabbing a handful of snacks from Liu Liu Yunxi's tray and shoving them into his mouth. As if triggered by some signal, a white-haired, red-eyed figure suddenly flashed in:

"Are you bored? Newbie, wanna come with me to the human side? Give me a drop of blood, and I'll help you disguise yourself…"

Before Bi Gerei could finish, her words died in her throat—right before her eyes, the bio-horror-looking newbie had transformed into a sunny, handsome guy.

Except for his clothes, which didn't look like normal human attire.

"Little Bell, adjust my outfit style." Feng Xue glanced down at his white lab coat and gave the command immediately.

Little Bell, having left behind the massive faith network of her last world, now couldn't even find the internet—she looked like she was in withdrawal, weakly murmuring a reply. But no matter her mood, her AI core code still faithfully executed Feng Xue's order—in the blink of an eye, her adaptive lightweight exoskeleton had transformed into a period-appropriate adventurer's outfit.

"That's impressive! But moving around in human society requires skill—I'll guide you, veteran that I am!" Bi Gerei forced a show of confidence. Feng Xue smiled inwardly and nodded.

"Then I'm counting on you, senior."

"No trouble at all! Just one drop of blood! Only one!" Bi Gerei perked up instantly, her ruby-red eyes gleaming.

Feng Xue felt a chill run down his spine, but quickly thought of a plan. He said at once:

"I'm sorry, but I'm an energy-based lifeform—I don't have blood. Of course, when I take human form, I can simulate it… but it's just fake human blood."

As he spoke, Feng Xue's willpower surged, transforming part of his hand into the form of Monster X, then slicing open his "willpower cluster" with a sharp claw.

"How could this happen?" Bi Gerei stared in utter disappointment at the "dragon claw" that dripped not a single drop of blood—but she rallied quickly and said:

"Even if you don't have blood, a promise is a promise! Come on, senior will take you to see the human world! But you need to change your outfit—this adventurer gear is too easy to ignore. You need to look like nobility, at least like a wealthy man!"

"Oh, okay!"

…

"Big bro, this game is way too hard!" A player in his Daoist robes still looked dazed at the respawn point. Beside him, a young man dressed as a swordsman patted his shoulder.

"That's how this game is—you've got to calculate skill cooldowns, your positioning, even your body posture. It's not like old games with preset animations. At launch, top players were all real-life martial artists, but as everyone got used to the game's high-performance avatars, that gap slowly closed."

"But the Cultivator class is just so hard to play…"

The new player was about to complain further when he noticed all the other players suddenly sprinting in one direction, muttering things like "My wife's here!" or "Go see my wife!"—he froze, confused.

"Bro, what are they doing…?"

"Oh, your wife's appeared! Come on, let's go quick, or we'll miss her!" The veteran didn't waste words—he grabbed his little brother's arm and joined the crowd, hopping forward as he explained:

"The 'wife' is a hidden NPC who occasionally shows up in town. If you collect the materials she asks for, you get useful buffs. The real highlight is her model—it's just…"

"Holy shit! My wife!" Before he could finish, his little brother screamed. The veteran grinned, thinking, "You get it!"—but then he looked up and saw…

"Wait, what? Where did this pretty boy come from?"

"Damn! My cyber wife got stolen by an NPC!"

…

Watching Bi Gerei accept all kinds of materials, items, and gifts from players, then casually apply buffs or give back trinkets clearly taken from other players, Feng Xue's eye twitched slightly.

But then he thought: Isn't exploiting players just standard practice in Fourth Catastrophe novels? If NPCs can do it, why not monsters?

Still, just walking up and grabbing a player to hand out a quest would be too low-class. He thought for a moment, then had an idea.

He frowned, raised two fingers like a sword, and casually slashed through the growing circle of surrounding players.

Instantly, an invisible force erupted, pushing the players aside and clearing a straight path ahead.

Before the players could react, Feng Xue turned to Bi Gerei with a cold, aloof expression and said calmly:

"Thank you for your help. I have other matters—farewell."

Bi Gerei was a drama queen. Seeing Feng Xue understood perfectly, her eyes lit up. She immediately played along, lifting her skirt with elegant grace and performing a refined curtsey.

"You're too kind. I hope our paths cross again."

"Wah! Big bro, did you see that move? So cultivation-style!"

"Obviously! That's definitely a new Cultivator-class quest NPC! You're a Cultivator too—go ask if there's a quest!"

(End of Chapter)