Chapter Eighty-Three: Breaking Records Again, Entering the Next Dungeon

The dark serpent let out a miserable scream, exposing its most vulnerable underbelly. From that moment, its fate was sealed. The raven warriors surged forward and unleashed their skills.

Skill: Arrow of Feathers!

Each black feather transformed into a sharp arrow, raining down upon the serpent’s exposed belly. In an instant, jets of fresh blood spurted like fountains. This time, Yang Feng slew the dark serpent with far greater ease than before. He began by casting Fireball, leaving the creature stunned and bewildered, then commanded the raven warriors to launch a full assault. In less than ten minutes, the dark serpent was dead.

[Dark Serpent slain. Experience points +200,000]
[Obtained bronze-grade equipment: a piece of serpent hide.]
[Obtained one dark serpent demon core.]
[Dark Serpent Hide: Bronze-grade equipment. Speed +50. Usable after level 15.]

At that moment, the bells of the dungeon hall rang out again. Those who had just left the hall hurried back.

“What on earth is happening?”
“Did someone break the dungeon record again?”
“Is it Dark Swamp again? The record’s been raised even higher!”
“My god, this record is unbelievable!”
“Can someone tell me if I’m seeing things?”
“How could there possibly be such a record?”

The latest clearance record was thirty minutes. The previous record, which had stood for years, was sixty minutes—and that was achieved by a perfectly balanced team of six. Yet Yang Feng, on his own, had set a new record that a full party could scarcely imagine surpassing. Breaking the previous record was no easy feat; otherwise, it wouldn’t have lasted for years.

“Damn! With a record like this, no one will beat it in the next ten years!”
“Ten years? I say a hundred years won’t be enough!”
“This guy leaves no room for anyone else!”

“Do you think he’ll go for other dungeons and set new records?”
“I can’t figure it out. The final boss of the Dark Forest dungeon is a dark serpent with terrifying defenses. How did he kill it?”
“That serpent’s defenses are insane. Normal attacks are useless; only magic works.”
“He’s a Cursesmith. Using magic attacks is par for the course.”
“But his completion time is just too fast. I’ve done the Dark Swamp dungeon before, and it took me over an hour just to deal with the serpent.”
“I really don’t know how Yang Feng managed to kill it in so little time. He’s incredible!”

At that moment, Yang Feng’s entire body glowed with a white light. Having slain the serpent, he finally leveled up to twenty. It had been less than a month since his job change. From level zero, he had climbed to level twenty at a pace that was simply astonishing.

With every level, his stats rose, and now the raven warriors’ stats had reached six thousand. After running the dungeon twice, Yang Feng had come to understand their shortcomings. Though the raven warriors had powerful attacks, their methods were too limited. Against monsters with high defense, their effectiveness dropped sharply. Fireball could compensate for this, but its efficiency against boss monsters was lacking—and it consumed a great deal of mental energy besides.

“Surely a Cursesmith can summon more than just raven warriors?” he mused. “I’d better keep leveling up. Once I’m stronger, I can buy skill books and see if I can acquire new skills.”

Before leveling up, Yang Feng didn’t plan to use any skill books. He still had some basic ones, but the success rate for learning new skills was not high. It was better to wait until his level increased, then use them all at once.

His class was unusual; unlike others, he had no alternative methods to acquire skills. For him, skill books were the only way. He didn’t even know how many skills he could eventually master. Being the first—and only—Cursesmith, there was no one else to consult.

For now, his only option was to use as many skill books as possible and strive to learn every available skill. Basic books weren’t expensive—about one hundred thousand Summer Coins each. Intermediate books, however, cost a million.

“For now, I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.”

Yang Feng reappeared at the dungeon’s exit and was immediately surrounded. This time, however, the crowd wasn’t as noisy as before.

“Classmate, could you tell us how you killed the dark serpent?”
“How did you clear the dungeon so quickly? Do you have any secrets?”

Many sought his guidance on slaying the serpent and clearing the dungeon fast. Yang Feng answered calmly, “Just flip the serpent over and attack its belly.”

Flip the serpent over?

At these words, the crowd was instantly enlightened.

“My god, why didn’t I think of that before?”
“The scales on that serpent are tough, but the flesh on its belly is soft!”
“Exactly, just flip it over.”
“You’re a genius!”
“How did you come up with that?”

Amidst their exclamations, Yang Feng moved on to another dungeon.

Level 20 Dungeon: Viper’s Lair
Entry requirements: Level 18 to 23.
Only those between levels 18 and 23 could enter.

There were only two dungeons below level twenty: Dark Swamp and Viper’s Lair. Dark Swamp was the level 18 dungeon, with the lowest entry requirement—level 15 to 20. Viper’s Lair, the level 20 dungeon, required participants to be between levels 18 and 23.

The strict level requirements made it clear that Qingbei University took restrictions seriously, both to foster students’ growth and to prevent accidental deaths. The more experienced the students, the more the limits would be relaxed.

“Hard mode. Enter dungeon!”

Yang Feng spent twenty points and entered the instance.