Chapter 164: A-Rank Near-Loss Dungeon: The Silent Route!

"Transformation Task One Completion: Perfect!"

"Transformation Task Evaluation: The anchor point you established in reality is astonishingly solid, even connected to a divine realm; even if you fully immerse yourself in mysticism, you will not lose yourself to mystical corruption."

"Due to your strong reality anchor point, you can withstand more violent and greater mystical corruption. The difficulty of your Transformation Task Two will be significantly reduced, and the final transformation effect will be greatly enhanced."

"You have completed Transformation Task One. Transformation Task Two has been unlocked."

"Transformation Task Two: In the dungeon world, locate a powerful mystical ritual, enter it, and allow mystical corruption to completely transform your physical body. Time limit: Within three dungeon worlds."

"Due to the high completion rate of Transformation Task One, if your body has not completed mystical transformation within three dungeon worlds, you will receive one additional opportunity: progress resets, and Transformation Task Two restarts."

"After completing Transformation Task Two, the next phase of the transformation task will be unlocked."

At the same time he received Transformation Task Two, the mystical detector in Wu Chang's personal space shattered into pieces; he took out the mystical detector and, among the broken parts, found a brooch engraved with the emblem of the Arcane Knights.

"Item: Arcane Trial Badge"

"Item Type: Time-Limited Item"

"Item Description: The Arcane Trial Badge is engraved with a miniature baptismal ritual; when placed within a mystical ritual, the Arcane Trial Badge channels the ritual's mystical corruption into the wearer's body, aiding in physical transformation."

"Note: The Arcane Trial Badge in your hand is exceptionally unique—it was once used by Grandmaster Anderson of the Arcane Knights. It is unusually durable and will only shatter after six dungeon dimensions."

Wu Chang toyed with the trial badge in his hand, carefully studying his task description.

On the surface, the perfect evaluation of Transformation Task One lowered the requirements for completing Transformation Task Two, raised its upper limit, and granted him a second chance after failure.

Undeniably, as a reward for high single-task completion, it was highly sincere; if one views the perfect completion rating as a gift from the Earthly Divine Realm to Ailin, the value-for-money is simply unmatched.

Another point that pleased him was that the Arcane Knight transformation task also had a third phase, indicating that, in terms of transformation rarity, it was at least on par with the Sword Star's Sword Sect.

He hoped the transformation he received after completing all tasks would not disappoint him.

Tang Renquan's death was not the end of the Night Song Bar incident; killing Tang Renquan was not difficult, but dealing with the circle he represented was the real trouble.

To conceal the existence of the Earthly Divine Realm, Ailin used its power to erase all traces related to its rituals; even if one tried to investigate, not a single clue could be found.

Once activated, the Earthly Divine Realm integrates into the land of Wanghai City without relying on mystical rituals; Wu Chang used Meng Yawen to silence Tang Renquan, and naturally had to clean up after her—he deliberately left the mystical ritual inside the Night Song Bar for the Bureau.

The isolated, severed node could prove Tang Renquan attacked ordinary people, yet would not lead investigators to anything further.

Combined with Meng Yawen's enforcement recorder, it proved Tang Renquan initiated the attack on her, sufficient to silence the local power brokers of Wanghai City.

Since Wu Chang wiped out the Revelation's members in Wanghai City, the city's security has improved somewhat.

The corruption dungeon in Wanming City, to coordinate with Tang Renquan's actions, prematurely exposed its core and was conquered by Bureau experts within two days.

With Director Gao and others returning to Wanghai City, the Bureau's pressure eased slightly, allowing Wu Chang to continue slacking off and prepare for the next dungeon.

At this moment, five days remained until the cooldown for entering the next dungeon.

Facing the upcoming dungeon, Wu Chang was extremely cautious.

Before entering the Midnight Cemetery dungeon, the Abyss Game had already been pushing him toward an A-rank dungeon; had it not been for the Miracle Stone and Miracle Moon both activating, his previous dungeon would have already been an A-rank.

After the Midnight Cemetery dungeon, he had improved further; this time, there was no way out.

An A-rank real dungeon has an official recommended minimum level of 25; 99.9% of Wasteland Realm players will spend their time in A-rank dungeons until they leave the Wasteland Realm and enter the second layer of the Abyss.

S-rank dungeons are too rare and too difficult, so for most players, A-rank dungeons are already the peak difficulty of the Wasteland Realm.

This also means that once assigned to an A-rank dungeon, Wu Chang will likely face max-level players.

Max-level players do not merely represent twelve levels higher than him—they represent hundreds of dungeons' accumulated experience, mastery of their transformation, maximized cultivation techniques, and rich combat experience.

From Sword Star, Lei Hu, and Hearing Zhanghuo, he fully understood one thing.

High-level players may perform poorly when clearing dungeons, but in player-vs-player combat, they are never slackers—especially organizations like the Iron Armor Gang.

Ailin, responsible for stabilizing the Earthly Divine Realm, relies entirely on him; if he is to complete the dungeon while also fulfilling his transformation task, only thorough preparation will prevent disaster.

He only enjoys watching others become resentful spirits to provide him information—he never wants to become one himself.

To prepare for the impending challenge, his first step must be to strengthen himself.

After receiving the completion reward from the Midnight Cemetery dungeon, his number of Corrupted Silver Coins reached 57,750; adding the advertising slots he had rented out, this round brought him 40,000; if he sold the gemstone ring given to him by Duke Rutz, his total assets would exceed 100,000 Corrupted Silver Coins.

One hundred thousand Corrupted Silver Coins equates to a small fortune in Xia currency; if converted entirely into cash and deposited in a bank, the interest alone would let him live a life of leisure forever.

Unfortunately, he could not convert them.

Although he only had a small fortune, he could still utter that classic line: wealth for him was merely a string of numbers in his account.

Only Corrupted Silver Coins were true wealth.

His first enhancement was spending 45,000 Corrupted Silver Coins to upgrade his Spatial Magic to C-rank.

Upgrading Spatial Magic to C-rank increased the bonus of "Efficient Space Utilization" to 400%.

The "Inner World" skill gained the ability to divide regions, allowing the Inner World to be split into multiple independent spaces, completely separate from one another.

The Seven Deadly Sins Inner World in the Quiet Town was created using this spatial magic technique, dividing the island's Inner World into seven parts.

Combined with the Golden Kingdom, he could separate targets sucked into the Golden Kingdom into different zones and defeat them one by one before they could break free.

In addition to enhancing existing skills, Spatial Magic unlocked a new skill—"Long-Distance Teleportation."

"Skill Name: Long-Distance Teleportation."

"Skill Description: You have begun to grasp the essence of Spatial Magic, allowing you to teleport yourself and a portion of your teammates to any visible area, or use pre-set long-distance teleportation arrays for ultra-long-range teleportation. Skill cooldown: One hour. Maximum number of carriers and maximum teleport distance are influenced by the user's energy and willpower."

"Current maximum carriers: 10 people. Current maximum teleport distance: 10 kilometers."

Beyond Long-Distance Teleportation, similar to the Thunder Law fragments, upgrading Spatial Magic to C-rank granted him 6 Agility, 6 Endurance, 8 Energy, and 8 Willpower.

Looking at the Long-Distance Teleportation skill, Wu Chang's first thought was that he no longer needed to take a taxi from Wanghai University to the Bureau—he could even pick up nine passengers as a ride-hailing service.

If not for the long cooldown and high energy cost, using teleportation as a magical ride-hailing business could be a decent side hustle.

After Spatial Magic, it was time for the Thunder Law fragments.

Before upgrading the Thunder Law fragments, he took out the "Annotations on the Five Thunder Law Fragments" obtained from Lei Hu.

This cultivation technique was of a higher rank than the Thunder Law fragments; he had never had time to study it upon acquisition, but now was the perfect moment.

As he used the "Annotations on the Five Thunder Law Fragments," the Thunder Law fragment's operational trajectory within his body flashed with bursts of Lei Guang.

The "Annotations on the Five Thunder Law Fragments" and the Thunder Law fragments appeared to share the same origin, mutually attracting each other until they fused into a single new technique.

"Technique Name: Thunder Art Remnant Scroll"

"Technique Grade: C"

"The Thunder Art Remnant Scroll can be upgraded by paying Decayed Silver Coins, or by absorbing lightning-attribute spiritual items. This technique can be raised to Grade A at most." "Upgrading the technique to Grade B requires 50,000 Decayed Silver Coins."

Wu Chang had originally assumed that when the two techniques fused, the higher-positioned Five Thunder Art Remnant Commentary would serve as the foundation. He hadn't expected that the Five Thunder Art Remnant Commentary would instead merge into the Thunder Art Remnant Scroll, completing it into the Thunder Art Remnant Volume.

After the techniques fused, the upper limit of the Thunder Art Remnant Volume also rose to Grade A, but the Decayed Silver Coins consumed to upgrade the technique were not as expensive as those for the space-type magic — one could say it was more for the same price.

Money only counts as money when it's spent. Wu Chang looked at the balance of 52,750 in his account, thought it over, and couldn't think of anything else urgent to upgrade. So he gritted his teeth and pushed the Thunder Art Remnant Volume up to Grade B.

When the Thunder Art Remnant Volume upgraded to Grade B, he felt the energy within his body become violent, running through him beyond his control.

Wherever the energy traveled, a wave of scorching heat arose. As he sensed the path the heat followed, in a daze he actually entered a state of inner vision and truly saw his meridians.

What he saw was not the flesh or blood vessels of human tissue, but rather a special field of vision like the one he entered when using the Soul-Purifying Banner.

Under inner vision, the different regions and meridian segments within his body displayed different colors, and these colors seemed to correspond to the Five Elements.

These different regions would continuously generate stationary energy that wandered within his body. The energy belonging to the Thunder Art Remnant Volume would absorb this stationary energy as it circulated, using it to replenish and strengthen itself.

The technique's circulation route followed the order of the Five Elements generating one another — Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood — passing in turn through the invisible organs and meridians within his body.

!

Each link generates the next, an endless cycle of birth.

With every complete circulation, he could feel the energy within his body grow stronger by a fraction. Wherever the Thunder Art passed, it simultaneously stimulated the growth of organs throughout his body, causing his flesh to strengthen along with it.

Although the Thunder Art Remnant Volume going from C to B brought no direct attribute boost, he could feel that the Thunder Art had undergone a qualitative change.

Previously, when he used the Thunder Art, it was no different from an ordinary skill — the Thunder Art had a fixed upper limit, and how much power it exerted depended solely on his panel attributes. Even at full strength, there would not be a single bit of extra boost.

But now it was different. The Thunder Art within his body had truly become a technique that could improve itself through cultivation, and it was also much more responsive when employed.

For example, the Palm Thunder from the previous Thunder Art Remnant Scroll had a fixed upper limit of power; it could only adjust its strength within that fixed cap.

But now, he could concentrate all his energy into a single great Palm Thunder strike, giving a small skill the instantaneous burst of a ultimate move.

This was the difference between using a skill and truly mastering it.

Beyond the above changes, the upgraded Thunder Art Remnant Volume also added a new passive skill.

"Skill: Evil-Breaking"

"Skill Description: All Thunder Arts you perform will carry the power of Evil-Breaking, dealing extra damage to yin-evil attribute targets. The damage depends on the user's inspiration and will."

The description of the Evil-Breaking skill was quite ordinary, and since Thunder Art already inherently countered evil spirits, this passive seemed somewhat redundant.

But Wu Chang, who had seen the Ronin's Grudge, knew that Evil-Breaking's strength far exceeded what its description suggested.

In the Midnight Graveyard instance, the living corpses affected by the Blood Moon's power possessed near-immortal abilities. The tree monster Wu Chang had encountered earlier, even after being struck by the Thunder Art ultimate move Thousand Thunder Summons, had not died completely — it had to be purified with the Soul-Purifying Banner to be truly killed.

Yet in the Ronin's Grudge, facing the living corpses within the Blood Moon, Lei Hu didn't even need to use a skill — just releasing a flash of electricity was enough to easily annihilate them.

Using the same Thunder Art, the gap between him and Lei Hu lay precisely in the passive "Evil-Breaking."

Nearly one hundred thousand Decayed Silver Coins had, in the blink of an eye, dwindled to 2,750. Wu Chang looked at his account balance and felt suddenly hollow inside.

That was a hundred thousand Decayed Silver Coins — a hundred million Summer Coins!

If the protagonist of Hello Mr. Billionaire were an Abyss player, a billion wouldn't just be spent in a month — even multiplied by ten, he could blow through it all in a single day.

Wu Chang slapped himself across the face a few times, forcing himself to sober up, muttering inwardly: don't convert, don't convert.

To avoid thinking about the lost small goal, he redirected his attention to preparing for the next instance.

Previously, entering instances had always been too hasty, and limited by his low authority, it had been hard to learn about the current high-difficulty instances before entering them.

But now it was different. As an Explorer of the Administration Bureau, he already had the right to view intelligence that wasn't of high value.

His goal was clear: first go through all the Grade A instances on the verge of losing control in Summer Country and the surrounding regions.

If he happened upon one, it would reduce the difficulty of gathering intelligence and let him integrate into the instance faster.

You ask what to do if he doesn't happen upon a Grade A instance on the verge of losing control?

An ordinary Grade A instance that wasn't on the verge of losing control — wasn't that just a reward instance? What intelligence would it need to gather in advance?

Five days passed in a flash, and soon the day arrived for him to enter the instance.

Before entering the instance, he took out the Mortal Poison from his portable storage space.

In the Midnight Graveyard instance, he had fed the Miracle Tree's erosion core to Hearing Zhanghuo to absorb, gaining 3 energy points. Passing the Grade B instance added another energy point.

The Mortal Poison's accumulated energy had now reached 9/10. At this moment, the eye embedded in the Mortal Poison slightly opened a slit, as if it could awaken at any moment.

Regardless of whether this instance was Grade B or Grade A, or whether it had lost control, he would be able to activate the Evil God's Eye.

"Item Skill: Mortal Poison"

"Skill Description: Clearing an instance or absorbing an erosion core accumulates energy. When the energy slot is full, Mortal Poison can be activated, using the Eye of Leiman as a medium to draw upon the origin power of the Evil God Leiman."

Drawing upon Leiman's origin power — he didn't know what form the extracted thing would take.

If he were to stand in front of the believers of the Tranquil Sect, holding their boss's eye, and brazenly draw upon Leiman's origin power, he wondered what expressions that group of Evil God believers would make.

Thinking about it was a little exciting.

Wu Chang told Eileen not to worry, to stay home and wait for him. Even if she encountered an erosion instance outside, she should not intervene out of compassion. He would be back very soon.

When the countdown to entering the instance finished, he entered the Crimson Courtyard.

Originally he had planned to go to the Red Wave Space to match for an instance this time, but in the afternoon when he went to the Administration Bureau, he heard that Xiang Jianxing was also queuing for an instance tonight. To avoid clashing with him, he chose to match for an instance in the public area this time.

"Matching instance for player. Player Level 18. Instance difficulty match probability: Grade F: 1%; Grade E: 5%; Grade D: 24%; Grade C: 50%; Grade B: 20%; Grade A: 0.1%."

Although he had gone up three levels, the difficulty distribution for matching instances was not much different from before.

For other players, they would most likely be matched to a Grade C instance, with a small chance of Grade B. Even a Grade B instance would be a lower-difficulty projection instance.

But for him, without the influence of the Miracle Stone, the Abyss Game dropped all pretense — the difficulty wheel spun once and stopped directly on A.

"Match complete!"

"Successfully entered 'Wasteland — Plane 75236'."

"Instance Name: Silent Voyage."

"Instance Type: Multiplayer Versus Instance."

"Instance Mode: Versus Mode. Damage dealt between players is reduced by 20%."

"Instance Difficulty: a."

"The official recommended minimum level for exploring this instance is 25. players should proceed with caution."

"Instance Status: On the verge of losing control!"

(End of this chapter)