As expected, Lu Qiuchen’s hands passed right through the gold coins.
“Cannot pick up, insufficient permission.”
‘Just as I thought.’ Lu Qiuchen felt a bit regretful, but wasn’t surprised.
After all, she was still in spirit form, so it made sense that she couldn’t interact with physical objects.
Thinking this through, she recalled the health bar hovering above the young dragon’s lingering soul.
If spirit form could attack, she definitely wanted to show the players what a truly baffling clear looked like.
Imagine just entering the dungeon and suddenly the final boss drops dead—players’ expressions would be priceless.
With a hint of mischievousness in her mind, Lu Qiuchen watched as the players nearby gathered the boss’s dropped loot and continued onward to the dungeon’s third level.
That’s more like it—go and defeat the young dragon’s lingering soul! I’ll personally deliver a grand prize to the first team to clear!
*****
The Peak Strategy Group respawned at the dungeon entrance.
“Everyone, great work! Next, let’s all head to the first level of the Dragon Tomb to level up. Securing the second kill on the first boss proves our group has strength not inferior to anyone’s! Keep pushing, and we’ll definitely clear the dungeon ahead of all other teams to claim first kill on the second boss!”
Their change in attitude was entirely because of the dungeon’s final boss: the Young Dragon’s Lingering Soul.
LV60 Young Dragon Lingering Soul [Soul]
HP: 1M/1M
At its initial state, this lingering soul appeared as a milky white orb roughly the size of a blue sphere, quietly floating in the center of the battlefield.
Once players entered its alert range, it would rapidly expand into a five-meter-long dragon-shaped black mist, forming sharp foreclaws.
This soul only had one million HP—just 400,000 more than the previous Evil Soul Aggregate—but the difficulty shot up several times.
Unlike the first boss, the Young Dragon Lingering Soul had no gentle phase above 50% HP.
From the moment it was engaged, it unleashed a storm of attacks, striking quickly and hitting with terrifying power.
A level 55 knight clad in blue-purple mixed gear, whose item level was ten above the dungeon minimum, could only endure 5-6 basic attacks under a five-level level disadvantage, even when fully buffed.
Fragile classes like priests or archers would die in just two claw strikes.
In their last attempt, the group barely saw any of the boss’s skills.
The tank at the front who was taking damage died instantly after barely scratching the boss.
This difficulty was far beyond the current players’ capability, so the Peak Strategy Group decided to level up and increase their item levels first.
At the very least, they wanted the healer to be able to keep the tank alive before challenging the boss again.
*****
Just as the Peak Strategy Group re-entered the dungeon, another team appeared in the Howling Wind Valley, all wearing happy expressions—it was Zhang Cheng’s team.
“Thanks so much, Brother Feng! It’s all because of you that we achieved this!”
Panda kept flattering Zhang Cheng nonstop along the way.
Because Zhang Cheng’s nickname was hard to say, and ‘pink rabbit’ didn’t make a good nickname, Panda called him by his old in-game nickname: Brother Feng.
“Yeah, yeah, getting third place is something I never even dared to dream of before!”
“Now the top ten on the level leaderboard is all us!”
“Beating the first boss? Brother Feng is absolutely the MVP!”
Surrounded by teammates, Zhang Cheng basked in their praise, feeling satisfied and happy.
He modestly returned a few compliments but accepted all the admiration wholeheartedly.
With the boss dead, they took third place on the leaderboard.
Not only did they get several decent pieces of equipment, but also a large amount of experience.
Everyone instantly rose to level 57, taking several spots in the top ten.
Though the gear was level 60 and above, they also found a great deal of gold.
Since the priest who joined last had a necklace that didn’t suit his attributes, Panda prioritized giving him gold to buy better equipment.
Right after exiting the dungeon, the last-joined priest requested a trade with Zhang Cheng, returning the necklace Zhang Cheng had lent him.
Panda intended to give half the equipment to Zhang Cheng, but Zhang Cheng refused.
The gear wasn’t suitable for him or his sister, so it was almost useless to him.
As for the money from selling gear, Zhang Cheng didn’t care much.
He preferred to “cash in” some goodwill with Panda now, planning to buy better equipment after defeating the second boss.
They had just reached the third level and were swiftly slaughtered by the boss, but this didn’t dampen their spirits.
Everyone was overjoyed and wanted to show off their achievements to friends rather than continue challenging the boss.
They agreed to keep leveling up together that evening before parting ways.
*****
What Zhang Cheng didn’t know was that after they logged off, a few team members quietly logged back in, gathering together to scheme.
“How’s the item you were watching? Is it still there?”
“It’s still there. That thing has some strong effects, but it’s so specialized that it’s hard to sell. The old guy is stubborn about the price and won’t budge.”
One silhouette made a hand gesture.
“WC, why doesn’t he just go snatch it!”
“Tell me about it. If killing players dropped gear and items, I would’ve killed him a dozen times already to force a drop!”
“Maybe we should just buy gold! If this succeeds, the expense is nothing.”
“Let’s sell the gear we just looted and pool the money first. I haven’t started repaying my game helmet loan!”
“Damn, talking about this pisses me off. That kid is clearly a rich guy—lucky in real life, born under a lucky star, and damn, lucky in-game too. Damn!”
“I’ve disliked him for a while! And he acts all high and mighty. Without us, could he solo half the boss’s HP? He’s a hypocrite refusing half the gear with fake politeness! I spit on him!”
“Enough talk. Let’s focus on pooling the money. Once this is done, we’ll turn things around.”
The figures stopped chatting idly and got down to business.
*****
In the Eternal profession player circle, chaos had already erupted.
From guild leaders to ordinary members, everyone was pondering the same question:
Who exactly was the [No Brain] guild that suddenly appeared on the leaderboard?
Within hours of [python] guild’s live strategy video going viral, various guilds copied the tactics and quickly defeated the Dragon Tomb dungeon’s first boss.
The competition for the top ten leaderboard spots was fierce.
The wealthy team [Burial of Love Family] ranked eleventh, just 30 seconds behind the tenth place and missed out on the experience reward.
A previously unknown small guild suddenly burst into the ranks of the top guilds, sparking huge reactions, especially after it occupied all ten spots in the level rankings.
They truly made a stunning debut.
Within a short time, all information about this guild was placed on the desks of professional club analysts.
However, their conclusions were shocking.
This guild’s strength barely grazed the threshold of professional players.
Though they were top-tier among amateurs, compared to the top guilds, their strength was insufficient.
Their equipment wasn’t impressive either.
Some members’ item levels barely qualified for the dungeon.
*****
But one thing was unique: they had the level one player on the leaderboard, “Pink Rabbit.”
This player had a level 63 Bipedal Wyvern!
Zhang Cheng was unaware of other players’ shock.
He was feeling sleepy from staying up all night gaming, silenced his phone, and lay down on the bed to sleep deeply.
After a solid four hours of restful sleep, he woke refreshed.
When he checked his phone, he was stunned by 999+ game messages.
Zhang Cheng hadn’t yet realized he had become a celebrity in the game.
Skimming a few messages, he found most were inquiries about his Bipedal Wyvern or invitations to join guilds.
Only then did he understand the situation.
He sighed, knowing the thing he hated most was now happening.
After deciding to use the Bipedal Wyvern to clear the dungeon, he had prepared mentally to be harassed and watched by others.
He also knew malicious players might target him.
But when the moment actually arrived, it was still a little unsettling.
After a brief moment of confusion, he stopped caring much and checked the time for their agreed leveling session before preparing to log back in.
He ignored all purchase requests or questions about his Bipedal Wyvern.
As for guild invitations from major guilds, he rejected them all outright.
*****
Zhang Cheng had initially considered joining a large guild.
It seemed a better choice than joining a small guild.
But he ultimately gave up the idea.
This wasn’t because big guilds were full—nonsense.
Just based on the Bipedal Wyvern’s current advantage, he was confident he could join any professional guild.
The main reason was he had no intention of becoming a pro player, nor time to stay glued to the game.
Eternal’s system also prevented account boosting, so his level would gradually fall behind other pro players.
Besides, his window of advantage compared to other players was brief.
As top players reached level 60, the Bipedal Wyvern’s damage lead would quickly be neutralized.
After all, the Bipedal Wyvern was just a rare mount.
Once partnered with a player, the system weakened it.
Its combat skills were limited to dragon breath, biting, and flying kicks.
While overwhelming players now, this advantage would soon be matched by others.
Zhang Cheng knew his own skills weren’t top-tier.
Among all T-class players, he was mediocre at best.
Plus, he couldn’t train with teammates for long hours.
His chances to appear in matches would only shrink.
Also, as the game progressed, other knight players would get combat companions.
By then, his strength with the Bipedal Wyvern wouldn’t even qualify for the third or fourth team.
In short, it was better to join a small, like-minded team now.
That kind of bond would be far more stable than performance reviews in a pro guild.
He had already cooperated multiple times with Panda in another game.
Their collaboration was smooth, and Zhang Cheng trusted Panda’s character.
So his first choice was Panda’s team.
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