How Do We Play If This Boss Isn't Nerfed?-Chapter 57 - 56: School-Wide Grand Competition

Lin Ye suppressed the surge of surprise in his heart.

’Something isn’t right.’

He forced himself to calm down as a new question surfaced in his mind: If the Blue Crystals descended along with the Celestial Abyss, why had he never seen even a trace of them in the city?

If this stuff was truly a heaven-sent treasure for cultivation, why couldn’t one find even a speck of dust in the main urban areas where humans were active?

’The government couldn’t possibly have overlooked a strategic resource like this.’

’Unless...’

’They did find it, and they actively cleaned it up, sealed it off, and covered it up.’

’Then perhaps this cultivation-enhancing effect comes at a price.’

Lin Ye was not a reckless brute who would be blinded by power.

The greater the opportunity, the more terrifying the risk often hidden behind it.

Until he understood the true nature of these Blue Crystals, he didn’t dare bet his entire cultivation path on them.

After a moment of thought, Lin Ye decided not to continue cultivating.

He took one last, deep look at the area emitting an eerie blue light, then turned and resolutely melted into the darkness outside the factory.

You eat a meal one bite at a time.

You walk a path one step at a time.

He would rather continue killing monsters.

’I’ll just have to find a way to look up some information later.’

...

Five tense days slipped quietly by.

In those five days, good news kept coming.

First, there was his father’s condition.

With the full medical support of the military and the central hospital, his father had mostly recovered and had even been temporarily fitted with a Mecha prosthetic for his right leg.

He had even initiated a video call with the family in the past few days, color and a smile returning to his face.

When his mother, Li Wan, heard this news, some of the dark clouds hanging over her heart were dispelled. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Although his father couldn’t return from the front lines just yet, everything was moving in the right direction.

The heaviest gloom over their family had temporarily lifted, allowing a ray of sunlight to break through.

Second was Lin Ye’s own cultivation.

His spear skills were advancing by leaps and bounds. Under Chen Meng’s personal guidance, he quickly broke through to the Unity Realm.

But he still hadn’t met Chen Meng’s standards. In Chen Meng’s own words, his skills were still "amateurish at best."

He had only just reached the threshold. At this stage, using a spear would actually weaken his combat strength; it was far less practical than his Staff Skill, which had already entered the realm of slaughter.

Therefore, the weapon Lin Ye currently used was still a staff.

Finally, there were the secrets of the ruined city.

Over these five days, he had completely figured out the ecosystem of the third ring.

The closer he got to the core area, the more concentrated the free-roaming source energy in the air became.

At certain specific times, a brief "Source Energy Tide" phenomenon would even occur.

During those few short minutes, Lin Ye could feel pulses of source energy, like tidal waves, spreading out from the core of the ruined city.

Lin Ye guessed that in the core of this ruined city, there must be a gathering place of Blue Crystals even larger in scale and greater in number than the one at the chemical plant.

The concentration of source energy within the third ring would surge several-fold, and Lin Ye personally witnessed many of the mutated beasts within the third ring change during these Source Energy Tides.

Those that couldn’t withstand it exploded and died on the spot.

Those that could saw their strength climb to a new level.

It was precisely because of this that he discovered special individuals were beginning to appear frequently among the mutated beasts in the third ring.

Just last night, he had encountered a Level 11 mutated mantis.

The monster’s speed was unbelievably fast. Its two bladed forelimbs were like high-speed cutting machines, capable of carving deep gashes into his alloy staff.

The most terrifying part was that it also possessed the ability of Mimicry, allowing it to blend perfectly into its surroundings.

Lin Ye had to fight it for a good half an hour, kiting it multiple times by relying on [Healing out of combat], before he finally found an opportunity to land a heavy blow with a [Power Strike], ultimately achieving a hard-won victory.

These special mutated variants couldn’t be judged by their level alone.

Their combat power and intelligence were far beyond those of ordinary mutated beasts.

Of course, risk and reward went hand in hand.

The experience points he gained from killing these evolved mutated beasts were also far greater than those from other mutated beasts of the same level.

As a result, Lin Ye’s combat experience also grew steadily.

...

As his level increased, the amount of experience required to level up also grew larger and larger.

Five days of sleepless cultivation and grinding had only brought Lin Ye to LV12.

Lin Ye opened his personal panel:

[Host: Lin Ye]

[Race: Goblin (Warrior)]

[Level: LV12 (1024/6400)]

[Life Value: 2119/2119]

[Energy Value: 391/391]

[Physical Strength Value: 720/720]

[BOSS Mechanics: Healing out of combat (White), Soul Furnace (Green), Crush (Green)]

[Current Phase: P1, other phases not unlocked]

[Strength: 59.7]

[Agility: 58.2]

[Endurance: 71.3]

[Spirit: 49.5]

[Free Attribute Points: 0]

[Skill Points: 0]

[Skills: Basic Attack (LV6), Thick Skin (LV5), Staff Posture (LV6), Power Strike (LV5)]

[Power Strike (LV5): Channel all your strength for a devastating heavy attack. Can be charged for up to 2 seconds to deal 150% damage.]

He invested all the skill points he had recently acquired into [Power Strike].

He discovered that after upgrading the skill, while the damage multiplier remained unchanged, the charging time decreased with each level.

From the initial 3 seconds down to 2 seconds at LV5.

That single second, on a constantly changing battlefield, was the difference between life and death!

This kind of functional improvement was far more valuable than a simple numerical increase, making the powerful skill much more flexible in actual combat.

It was definitely a more valuable form of growth than just increasing numbers!