The surrounding scenery flickered slightly.

The noisy crowd disappeared.

Before their eyes was still the vast Clear Water Lake, but the color of the lake water seemed deeper and darker than what they had seen from the outside.

A faint, fishy, damp smell permeated the air.

“Gurgle... gurgle...”

The calm lake surface suddenly began to bubble eerily.

Immediately after.

“Splash!”

Ugly-looking Strange Beast crawled out of the lake water, scrambling over each other!

These Strange Beast were the size of small calves, covered in slimy, dark green scales, and riddled with disgusting pustules.

Their heads resembled catfish, but their mouths were filled with razor-sharp fangs, and their four limbs were short and stout, ending in sharp claws.

【Rotten Lake Fish LV10 (Nightmare)】

【HP: 2200 / 2200】

“Ah!”

Just their appearance was enough to make a normal person’s SAN value plummet.

Ye Xi and Jasmine, the two girls, were even more terrified, their pretty faces turning pale as they instinctively retreated two steps, almost pressing against Yasuo.

Zhou Huai frowned slightly.

It was indeed disgusting.

He controlled Yasuo, advancing instead of retreating, and charged forward first!

“Zzz-lah—!”

【Thunder Armor】 activated instantly!

Brilliant lightning erupted from his body, condensing into a majestic Thunder Armor that covered Yasuo completely!

Every flickering arc of electricity exuded a destructive aura!

At this moment, Yasuo was like a Thunder God descending from the heavens!

“Roar—!”

The Rotten Lake Fish let out piercing roars, moving their short limbs and swaying as they rushed towards Yasuo.

Foul-smelling saliva dripped continuously from their hideous mouths.

Yasuo’s eyes were cold, and he shook the Wind Breaker Longsword in his hand! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

His opening move was 【Thunderous Strike】!

Chila—!

A thick bolt of Thunder Sword Qi, carrying violent energy, instantly tore through the air and fiercely struck the Rotten Lake Fish at the very front!

“-585!”

A crimson critical hit damage number floated above the Rotten Lake Fish’s head.

Nearly six hundred damage!

“So... such high damage!”

Ye Xi covered her small mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.

This was an Strange Beast on Nightmare difficulty!

Its defense and HP far exceeded those in normal mode.

For other Level 10 professionals, dealing over a hundred damage would already be considered outstanding!

But this man in front of them dealt nearly six hundred with one sword strike!

It was too exaggerated!

Zhou Huai himself was slightly surprised.

This damage was at least fifty percent higher than he had expected.

It seemed that the power of Thunder had a significant elemental advantage against these aquatic Strange Beast!

To verify this point.

Yasuo’s figure flickered, and he charged directly into the group of Rotten Lake Fish!

The longsword in his hand danced, bringing forth streaks of fierce lightning!

“Pfft!”

“-320!”

“-317!”

“-344!”

Another Rotten Lake Fish wailed, electricity flashing across its body.

The sharp Sword Intent’s splash damage triggered, affecting several surrounding Strange Beast as well.

Even Strange Beast on Nightmare difficulty were still like chopping melons and vegetables before Yasuo.

His monster-clearing efficiency was terrifyingly high!

However, these Strange Beast were all surrounding Yasuo.

Their attack frequency was also very high.

They slammed against Yasuo’s Thunder Armor like a fierce storm.

“-28!”

“-31!”

“-25!”

A series of damage numbers floated above Yasuo’s head.

But each one was no more than forty points!

The damage reduction effect of Thunder Armor was fully demonstrated at this moment!

“Sizzle—!”

What made the Rotten Lake Fish even more despairing was that.

Every attack that landed on Thunder Armor would trigger a violent lightning backlash!

Patches of Rotten Lake Fish bodies flashed with electricity, falling into a brief state of paralysis!

“Now!”

Zhou Huai controlled Yasuo, seizing this fleeting opportunity!

【Thunderous Strike】!

Chila—!

A thick bolt of Thunder Sword Qi swept out, instantly slicing seven or eight paralyzed Rotten Lake Fish in half at the waist!

Green fluids burst forth, reeking to the heavens!

【Killed Rotten Lake Fish LV10 (Nightmare), gained experience +250!】

【Killed Rotten Lake Fish LV10 (Nightmare), gained experience +250!】

...

A series of System prompts frantically scrolled across Zhou Huai’s mind!

“Holy Light Bullet!”

Ye Xi was not idle either; her staff tapped lightly.

Holy Light Bullets, emitting soft light, whistled out, accurately hitting the Strange Beast attempting to attack Yasuo.

Although the damage was not high, only a few tens of points, it was continuous.

From time to time, she would also chant 【Light Chant】.

Warm Holy Light scattered down, keeping Yasuo’s HP at a healthy level.

Seeing this, Zhou Huai secretly praised her.

“As expected of an A-rank profession, 【Holy Light Chanter】.”

“She can deal damage and heal, very well-rounded!”

In contrast, Jasmine on the other side seemed a bit lazy.

The Reconnaissance Spirit Eagle she summoned had no attack capabilities whatsoever.

She could only bitterly hold a novice shortbow and shoot at the thick-skinned Rotten Lake Fish.

“Swish swish swish...”

“-1!”

“-2!”

“-1!”

The damage numbers were ridiculously low, not even counting as scratching.

Zhou Huai shook his head, sighing helplessly.

“Jasmine, stop shooting.”

“Try to use your Spirit Eagle to lure all the Rotten Lake Fish from other areas around here.”

Jasmine’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

That’s right!

She quickly controlled the Spirit Eagle to fly towards another small wave of Rotten Lake Fish lurking by the distant lake shore.

The Spirit Eagle circled above the Strange Beast, provoking them.

Soon, those previously idle Rotten Lake Fish were ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) successfully enraged and swayed as they rushed towards Yasuo’s position!

“It worked!” Jasmine exclaimed in surprise.

Now, she had also found her place!

Yasuo was the main tank and main damage dealer, standing at the very front, dishing out insane damage.

Ye Xi was responsible for healing and ranged finishing blows.

Jasmine, meanwhile, controlled the Spirit Eagle, constantly pulling monsters from every corner of the dungeon.

For a time, this seemingly absurd three-person team actually achieved a near-perfect coordination!

Their experience points soared like a rocket!

“Oh!” Ye Xi suddenly let out a surprised gasp, “I... I leveled up! I reached Level 7!”

Her pretty face was full of disbelief.

How long had they been in the dungeon?

Probably not even half an hour!

She actually leveled up once!

This leveling speed was even faster than flying!

Zhou Huai, while controlling Yasuo to swing his sword and kill, was chugging Advanced Magic Recovery Potions into his mouth as if they were free.

Only he knew.

The reason Yasuo could stand so firm amidst the monster horde was entirely due to the powerful effect of 【Thunder Armor】.

But this skill was also a mana guzzler!

It continuously consumed 10 mana per second!

With Yasuo’s current mana cap, even at full mana, he couldn’t last more than two minutes!

Fortunately, there were plenty of Advanced mana potions plundered from Young Master Mo’s unfortunate ring from the Bloody Guild.

A full hundred bottles!

For a short period, it could completely withstand such exaggerated consumption!

Seeing that the situation on the field had completely stabilized.

Zhou Huai then handed over Yasuo’s control to the Smart Core AI.

Then, with a shift of consciousness, he instantly switched to Ouyezi, who was far away at the Forging Guild.

...

Inside the top-tier forging room of the Forging Guild.

Ouyezi slowly opened his eyes; on the workbench in front of him, dozens of rings, emitting various colors of light, were densely arranged.

A full forty-two rings!

Every single one had reached Rare quality!

Unfortunately, not a single Epic-grade one had appeared yet.

Zhou Huai was not discouraged; forging was not something that could be rushed.

He controlled Ouyezi to end this long forging session, preparing to “clock out.”

“Creak—”

The door of the forging room was pushed open.

Assistant Lin Wei walked in, carrying a cup of hot tea, ready to check on this tireless Forging Master.

However.

When she saw the dazzling array of Rare rings on the workbench, almost piled into a small mountain.

She was struck by lightning, instantly frozen in place!

The teacup in her hand fell to the ground with a “clatter,” shattering into pieces!

“This... this...”

Lin Wei’s beautiful eyes widened, and she desperately covered her mouth with her slender hand, barely stopping herself from screaming out loud!

Her voice trembled, filled with intense disbelief.

“Great Master Ouyezi... you actually forged so many rings today!”

One must know that the previous highest record for equipment forged in a single day at the Forging Guild was only twelve pieces.

And those were all rings, but most of those twelve pieces were of common quality.

But what about now?

A full forty-two rings!

More than several times the previous record.

Moreover, every single one was of Rare quality!

Lin Wei carefully checked them over.

Several of the rings had excellent bonus attributes.

Lin Wei’s breathing became rapid!

She roughly estimated in her mind.

Even the most common one-star Rare quality rings could easily sell for ten thousand great xia currency!

The high-star ones with good attributes would be in short supply even at twenty or thirty thousand each!

This pile of rings...

Would probably sell for at least six hundred thousand great xia currency!

After deducting the Materials cost.

The net profit would be at least five hundred thousand!

Many Forging Masters might not earn five hundred thousand in a whole year.

Yet this Ouyezi only needed one night.