Chapter 31

The smoke cleared, and the dust settled.

Ye Hongyu hurried to Lin Mo's side.

Seeing that her young master was unharmed, save for a messy hairstyle, she finally let out a long breath of relief.

"Young Master, you're safe—that's all that matters—but… you were truly reckless this time."

Shi Tou also stepped forward, his Serious Demeanor evident:

"Young Master, I know you possess the confidence and pride of a true powerhouse, the desire to challenge your limits alone and seek breakthroughs between life and death—I understand."

"But this is a Level 40 field BOSS."

"Since you detected it immediately with your superior perception, you should've notified us first instead of coming here alone to fight it head-on."

Ye Hongyu nodded in agreement:

"Young Master, what if… Shi Tou had been half a second slower? How would we explain it to Commander Lin?"

Lin Mo stood in place, silent.

Challenge your limits alone?

Seek breakthroughs between life and death?

Fight a Level 40 field BOSS by yourself?

I didn't even fight a damn thing!

I was lying comfortably in bed, and out of nowhere, I ended up right in front of this thing.

But since I'm already here, I might as well play along and swallow this humiliation.

Lin Mo brushed the dust off his sleeves and offered a faint smile:

"It's nothing—I sensed the BOSS while lying in bed, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and unlocked a new skill. Got carried away by the urge to try it, and got pulled here."

"Luckily, Brother Shi Tou and Ye Jie arrived just in time."

Saying this, Lin Mo gave them both a slightly apologetic smile: "Sorry to worry you both. It won't happen again."

Hearing this, Ye Hongyu and Shi Tou exchanged a glance, each seeing a flicker of emotion in the other's eyes.

Their young master not only possessed an extraordinary talent, but also the fearless audacity to face a Level 40 lord at just Level 15.

More importantly, he could humbly apologize to his subordinates afterward—even promise it wouldn't happen again.

Neither arrogant nor impatient, humble as the deepest valley!

This is true general's bearing!

"Young Master…" Shi Tou's nose tingled with emotion, "you're too kind! Protecting you is our duty!"

Ye Hongyu also bowed slightly, her eyes filled with loyalty:

"You humiliate us, Young Master."

"Nonsense—we're all family…"

Lin Mo waved his hand with a smile.

But inside, he was screaming.

"Xiao Tu! Get out here right now!"

【【Earth Shield】 cowered in the far corner of the interface, trembling: M…Master, I'm sorry… waaah…】

"Sorry? You nearly got your master killed, do you realize that?!"

Lin Mo gritted his teeth:

"From now on, you follow my orders—I said no underground digging, so no underground digging. If you dare do it again, I'll let Xiao Huo roast you into a tile, you believe me?"

The moment he finished, Fireball trembled.

【【Fireball】 grinned maliciously: Hehe, happy to help!】

【【Earth Shield】 panicked, nearly losing its soul: No! Big Brother, no! Master, I'm truly sorry!】

【【Earth Shield】 swore: I'll never dig underground without permission again—I swear to obey your orders!】

"That's more like it."

Lin Mo rolled his eyes in exasperation.

His skills were all more troublesome than the last.

He could only hope the upcoming water, wood, and lightning ones would be easier to handle.

Being a mage these days was really hard.

At that moment,

A strange disturbance suddenly erupted from the ground nearby.

Two disheveled figures emerged from beneath the earth.

It was Zhao Yu and his earth-element subordinate.

"Puh—cough cough!"

Zhao Yu spat out a mouthful of dirt and sand the moment he surfaced, his face caked in grime, "Damn… why's the tunnel underground so bumpy… ugh…"

Lin Mo and the others turned to look, locking eyes with Zhao Yu and his subordinate.

Zhao Yu froze.

He saw the pile of shattered rocks behind them and immediately realized the BOSS was gone.

"Oh? If it isn't Young Master Zhao?"

Lin Mo flashed a bright smile: "Nice look—looks like that tunnel wasn't exactly a smooth ride."

Zhao Yu stared fixedly at the BOSS's remains, his eyes filled with resentment.

Damn it, his luck was truly terrible.

Why the hell did a earth-element BOSS spawn out of nowhere?

On our side we have talents of every element, it's just that the earth element can't compare to the Lin family.

Zhao Yu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fury in his heart, and said coldly:

"Hmph, Lin Mo — all level, no matching real combat ability or skill proficiency to go with it. He's nothing but a super minion."

"Having his family feed him rice right into his mouth — only you could pull off leveling like that."

Having said that, Zhao Yu didn't want to stay even one second longer.

"Let's go!"

He flung his sleeve and turned to leave with his adjutant.

The feeling Zhao Yu had at this moment was like…

He'd been working his tail off tilling the land, only for that rich second-generation heir next door who sunbathed on vacation every day to not only harvest more than him, but also goddamn steal his plot!

That was a level-40 BOSS! A massive amount of experience, just snatched away by some guy on vacation!

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting!

Watching Zhao Yu's departing back, Stone disdainfully spat "Pah."

"What a thing!"

Stone said with a face full of contempt:

"When you're outclassed in skill you call it bad luck, and blame the BOSS's element? Even if it had been a fire-type one, he still might not have been able to snatch it from our young master!"

Ye Hongyu also let out a cold laugh and withdrew her gaze:

"This young master of the Zhao family is far too narrow-minded. He'll never amount to anything big."

"Compared to our young master, he's not just a little behind."

Just at this moment,

【Fireball】 and 【Earth Shield】 started getting restless again.

【'Fireball' twitching its nonexistent nose: So fragrant, such a tempting scent! It's the scent of getting stronger!】

【'Earth Shield' also looking enraptured: Master, master, I smell it too! Such a warm aura of the great earth…】

Hm?

Both skills reacting at the same time?

Lin Mo's heart stirred.

Could there be something good?

He turned his head, his gaze falling on the pile of wreckage that was the Lava Titan's corpse.

"Brother Stone, Ye Jie, go take a look over there — looks like something good dropped."

The three of them strode over.

As the distance closed, a mingled red-and-yellow radiance appeared before their eyes.

Stone stepped forward for a look, and his whole body gave a sudden shudder.

"Holy shit?!"

"Ch… Chaos Lava Heart?!"

Ye Hongyu was no longer calm either, her expression full of disbelief. "A fine earth-and-fire dual-element item — if I'm not mistaken, this is the first one in the Dragon Nation this year, right?"

Stone swallowed hard and couldn't help exclaiming:

"Damn, this dogshit luck is way too good, isn't it?"

*Smack! *

Ye Hongyu slapped the back of Stone's head and glared: "How do you talk? Who's calling who a dog?"

Stone, clutching his head, hurriedly corrected himself: "I mean me! I'm the dog! If I had this kind of luck, I'd happily be a dog!"

Lin Mo, watching the two of them overreact like this, couldn't help growing curious too.

He stepped forward and reached out to pick up that piece of loot.

【Item: Chaos Lava Heart (Legendary)】

【Description: Contains the ultimate essence of fire and earth elements; an exceedingly rare dual-element supreme treasure.】

This was also an ability every professional in this world possessed.

Through the panel after class advancement, one could identify the information of dropped items.

Reading the description, Lin Mo asked curiously: "Brother Stone, is this thing very useful?"

Stone, hearing this, got so excited he started slapping his own thigh:

"Young Master! This is way beyond just 'useful'! This is a priceless treasure! It's used to comprehend 'Combination Skills'!"

Lin Mo was slightly taken aback.

"Combination Skills?"