Chapter 88: Entering the Viper’s Lair Again to Improve Efficiency

Hiss! Upon hearing these words, Lu Qingshan couldn't help but take in a sharp breath. Entering the Super Divine Academy was not something that surprised him. Although the students there were all prodigies, not every one of them would ultimately become top-tier powerhouses. But if one could catch the eye of the headmaster of the Super Divine Academy, that was an entirely different matter.

“Hahaha...” Li Liushui burst out laughing. “So? Are you all shocked? When I first heard the news, I was just as startled!”

Lu Qingshan asked, “Do you know why Ning Qingcheng managed to attract such attention?”

Li Liushui shook his head. “I have no idea, but if the headmaster noticed her, she must be extraordinary! You know how high the headmaster’s standards are—would he take interest in just anyone?”

“Perhaps in the future, our Daxia will produce two more superpowerhouses!” he added.

Zhou Hexuan, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke, “One will become a superpower, and the other—an eccentric genius.”

Yang Feng rarely interacted with others or spoke much, giving him an odd, reclusive air.

...

By the next morning, Yang Feng’s mental energy had fully recovered. He summoned five crow warriors, bringing his total to one hundred and twenty. After washing up, he used a teleportation talisman and left his dormitory for the instance hall.

Outside the instance hall, the scene was as lively as ever. Students set up stalls or searched for teams, giving the place the atmosphere of a bustling marketplace. Among the crowd were both ordinary university students and many from the various academies. Regardless of their background, all were students of Qingbei University.

Yet, at this moment, a subtle sense of rivalry simmered between the two groups. The ordinary students of Qingbei University had generally entered through the national college entrance examination. The academy students, however, presented a more complicated picture. Some were groomed internally by their academies, often blessed with privileged backgrounds, exceptional bloodlines, and access to ample resources from a young age. At the same age, their levels far surpassed those of ordinary students. While others were sitting for the college entrance exam, these academy students were often already at level twenty or above.

This naturally fostered a sense of superiority in some, and a few looked down upon the ordinary students. For instance, Xiao Tiance even looked down upon someone like Yang Feng, the national exam’s top scorer.

Throughout Qingbei University’s history, the top scorers from the national or provincial exams were, upon first entering, indeed no match for the academy students. They started late, their levels and professional knowledge lagged behind, and even their weapons and gear were inferior—the only thing comparable was their chosen professions.

However, as years passed and ordinary students advanced in level and knowledge, the situation would gradually change. Some would eventually join the academies and become academy students themselves. Those who failed to excel would remain ordinary students.

The reason Qingbei University established its various academies was precisely to distinguish between genius students and everyone else. Yang Feng figured this out after only a few days on campus, but he didn’t care; it didn’t affect his leveling up. Besides, he never intended to team up with anyone; he preferred clearing instances solo.

He entered the instance hall and went straight to the entrance of the Viper Cavern. The cooldown had expired, so he didn’t need to spend points to clear it. Without hesitation, Yang Feng selected Hard Mode and entered the instance. With a wave of his hand, the crow warriors appeared.

It was a familiar setting: the same passageways, the same venomous snakes.

“The map hasn’t changed at all—just as it was last time. It seems this instance has a fixed layout!” he mused. “If that’s the case, I can clear it quickly—about thirty minutes, I think.”

Yang Feng calculated silently, having a rough sense of timing. But this time, instead of rushing through, he chose to reassign his route. He skipped the distant caves and focused on those nearby, using his crow warriors to lure all the venomous snakes from those chambers.

In this way, he could not only gain a large amount of experience points but also save most of his time, achieving maximum efficiency. By his estimation, he could clear the instance in half the time—at most forty minutes—while still earning about eighty percent of the usual experience. This method would greatly increase his monster-killing speed.

It was an idea he’d come up with the previous night, and he was confident in its effectiveness.

Following his crow warriors, Yang Feng rampaged through the instance. From time to time, the crows would bring back swarms of ordinary vipers. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions echoed continuously, the entire Viper Cavern shaking as his experience points soared.

By the time he was halfway through, his experience bar had already hit seventy percent—all within his expectations.

Yang Feng’s mental energy was nearly eighty percent depleted, so he quickly quaffed a potion to restore it. Once he’d recovered fully, he refrained from summoning more crow warriors, saving his strength for the final battle with the Viper King.

During yesterday’s run, the Viper King’s venom and toxins had damaged his crows. Today, he would not allow the same mistake. Now that his crow warriors had leveled up, their combat power had increased significantly. Coupled with his fireball spell, he was unstoppable.

Thirty minutes later, Yang Feng had reached the end of the instance. The crow warriors swiftly cleared the vipers at the cave entrance, revealing the path ahead. All that remained was to traverse it and reach the Viper King’s lair.

Instead of entering immediately, Yang Feng slipped into a nearby cave. The air was thick with hissing—not only from the crows, but also from the multitude of vipers slithering about. More than a dozen crow warriors flew in, followed by thousands of vipers.

The swarm surged toward the cave, advancing on the Viper King’s lair.

“In this way, I can herd all these ordinary vipers into the Viper King’s den,” Yang Feng thought. “If it works, I can just use fireball to wipe out both the common vipers and the Viper King at once.”

It was a clever plan, but reality proved harsh. The ordinary vipers, cowed by the Viper King’s aura, dared not approach. They all stopped at the entrance and refused to go any further.

Seeing this, Yang Feng realized his plan had failed—at least, it wouldn’t work in the Viper Cavern instance.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He tossed several fireballs, each explosion shaking the cave, clearing out all the vipers at the entrance.