Chapter 22: Star Ascension and Skill Enhancement

"Damn! Did I level up?!"

Inside the dream, Lin Yuan, currently in spectator mode, was startled, followed by a look of delight.

Gu Chen glanced over; it wasn't just Lin Yuan—Lin Qingqing, Su Ran, and Wu Ziyi had all leveled up to level 5 as well. As for Gu Chen himself, he was nearing level 8.

Lin Qingqing and Su Ran were ecstatic. They had to keep in mind that they hadn't even reached the halfway point of the dungeon yet! They had cruised to level 5 without doing anything along the way; in the past, this was something they wouldn't have even dared to imagine.

"I wonder how Li Wenhui is doing?" Lin Qingqing suddenly remembered Gu Chen's wager.

"He's definitely screwed," Lin Yuan remarked. "Li Wenhui cleared the hard-level dungeon this morning, but he's only level 4. With just a set of Rare-grade knight gear, he thinks he can pass a Hell-level dungeon?"

"It’s hard to say," Wu Ziyi analyzed from the side. "Li Wenhui doesn't just have Rare-grade gear; he’s also an A-rank talent holder. Plus, his team's class composition is much stronger than ours."

"He actually has an A-rank talent? How come I didn't know that?" Lin Yuan asked, looking surprised.

"That's normal. For commoners, many information channels are closed off," Wu Ziyi said, lifting his head slightly.

"Then how do you know? Aren't you a commoner too?"

"Me? Hmph! Even among commoners, there are differences..."

...

While they chatted, Gu Chen used a Life Recovery Potion to fully restore the Vampire Overlord’s HP. Immediately, he cast [Vampire Inheritance] again, converting five more corpses into vampire descendants: one level 6 guard, two level 7 guards, and two level 8 guards.

Why not convert more at once? Because the Vampire Overlord still needed to fight the level 13 Black-Robed Deacon and maintain at least 50% HP to deal with any unexpected emergencies.

As for the converted vampire guards, they retained the base attributes of the Fallen Guards while gaining vampiric instincts, resulting in a significant boost to their combat power. With superior senses, speed, and regenerative abilities, nearly every vampire guard could go head-to-head with one or two Fallen Guards, even while suppressed by the Gray Mist curse.

As the battle continued, the number of vampire guards grew, and the Fallen Guards began to lose ground, with only a dozen left struggling to hold their position. Meanwhile, the Vampire Overlord’s offensive became increasingly fierce. Within a few rounds, the Black-Robed Deacon’s HP dropped below 50%. In the main hall, only six Fallen Guards remained.

With twenty-five vampire guards against six, the tide had turned completely in their favor. Swords and axes fell continuously, and as the Fallen Guards' health drained, one finally collapsed to the ground.

[Killed Fallen Guard LV.9, EXP +521]
[Level Up]
[Level: LV.8 (13/4850)]
[Strength: 197]
[Agility: 196]
[Constitution: 198]
[Spirit: 199]

[Summoned Beast: Vampire Overlord LV.8 (Legendary★), Nightmare Sovereign LV.8 (Epic)]
[Talent—Current available: One Dark Bloodline]

"This feels great!" A flash of joy erupted in Gu Chen’s eyes.

After leveling up, the Vampire Overlord’s HP was fully restored. Gu Chen triggered [Vampire Inheritance] again; the Overlord’s HP plummeted as five more guard corpses rose from the ground, bloodthirsty red light gleaming in their eyes. 35 vs 5—the number of vampire guards increased once more.

Gu Chen then activated his talent to obtain a Dark Bloodline.

[You have obtained: Dark Bloodline - Primordial]
[Dark Bloodline - Primordial: Can be used to perform a Star-Up for a Primordial Dark Creature, or a Bloodline Awakening for a Royal Blood Dark Creature.]

"Star-Up!"

After careful consideration, Gu Chen fused the Dark Bloodline into the Nightmare Sovereign.

[Summoned Beast Star-Up successful]
[Nightmare Sovereign (Epic) → Nightmare Sovereign (Epic★)]
[Level: LV.8]
[HP: 11150]
[Attributes: Strength 119, Agility 126, Constitution 125, Spirit 130]
[Talent: Ineffable, Dream Come True]
[Skill I: Illusory Instant Kill (Epic)]
[Skill II: Nightmare Entanglement (Epic)]
[Skill III: Deep Dream (Epic)]
[Skill (Nightmare Entanglement) has been enhanced]
[Nightmare Entanglement: Every 10 points of Spirit allows the summoning of one Nightmare Minion. Nightmare Minions can bind a target in place for a short duration. Targets bound by multiple Nightmare Minions take multiplied damage.]

With the skill enhancement, [Nightmare Entanglement] gained a crowd-control effect, pinning targets in place. Furthermore, if a target was bound by two minions, they would take double damage. Five minions meant five times the damage; ten meant ten times. However, the damage had to originate from the Nightmare Sovereign to trigger the multiplier; otherwise, it was invalid.

"That's pretty powerful!" Gu Chen’s eyes lit up instantly. Previously, this skill only allowed minions to attach to a target without controlling them. Now that they could pin targets in place, it made a massive difference.

With a thought, black mist surged around the Nightmare Sovereign. Three black shadows flashed out and entangled the three remaining Fallen Guards. The control effect took hold, and the Fallen Guards, unable to move, were hacked to death by the nearby vampire guards. The three shadows then flew back to the Nightmare Sovereign.

[Killed Fallen Guard LV.8, EXP +235]
[Killed Fallen Guard LV.9, EXP +518]
[Killed Fallen Guard LV.8, EXP +230]
[Kill/Assist judgment effective, you have accumulated 3 stacks of Whisper of the Deceased]

Fantastic! This was exactly the effect he wanted! The cost of summoning Nightmare Minions was negligible, but it allowed the Nightmare Sovereign to accumulate stacks for the Whisper Orb while keeping the dream active—killing two birds with one stone.

"Holy crap! That's insane!" Lin Yuan couldn't help but exclaim. He wasn't just impressed by Gu Chen stacking the Whisper of the Deceased with a small maneuver; he was deeply shocked by the piles of guard corpses littering the main hall. These were equivalent to 200,000 HP worth of health packs, and they had just been utterly dismantled! At this rate, the Black-Robed Deacon would be a piece of cake.

Lin Yuan paused, suddenly realizing he might be getting a bit cocky. That was a level 13 Elite monster! Average attributes of 130 and a massive 35,000 HP. If it were him, he could hack at it with a greatsword all day and still not kill it—how could it be a "piece of cake"? He hadn't even had a drink before entering the dungeon; why did he feel so intoxicated?

By now, all the Fallen Guards had been slain; the Black-Robed Deacon could no longer deflect damage through minions. As for the Vampire Overlord, the healing potion had long since worn off, and it was locked in a grueling battle with the Deacon while suffering from the Weakness status.

Suddenly, the Vampire Overlord ceased fighting and retreated at high speed. Meanwhile, the vampire guards in the arena went berserk, charging at the Black-Robed Deacon without fear. The first to reach the Deacon was a level 9 vampire guard. Without hesitation, it detonated itself!

That's right—a suicide explosion! With a loud *boom*, it wiped out 2,000 HP from the Black-Robed Deacon. Immediately after, the second vampire guard arrived, then the third, the fourth...

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The explosions sounded like thunder, shaking the main hall to its core. The Black-Robed Deacon’s HP bar plummeted, dropping off a cliff until it hit zero within a few breaths. Beneath the blood-stained black robes, a tall figure fell heavily to the ground, finally becoming still.