An interlude ended, and they continued to explore the pitch-black cavern.
Although they could use Light to illuminate the area, given the unknown situation, it was better not to make such a conspicuous move.
No one knew what kinds of monsters lurked in Stage 30, or whether there might be another special area like the pond just now.
Using Light in total darkness would be like announcing the exact locations of any potential threats.
Of course, another reason was that it allowed Eve to stay close to his side.
Feeling the uneven breathing beside him, Lin Mo suddenly grabbed her hand.
“The terrain ahead is a bit tricky, I’m afraid you might fall…”
“Mm.”
In truth, with Eve’s strength, her balance was excellent. Even if she were tripped by sothing she might fall, but she didn’t expose Lin Mo’s rather clumsy excuse. She only nodded and replied softly.
For a long ti, Eve had been obsessed with training, always thinking about how to raise her strength and how to prove herself. She rarely even spoke to boys, let alone held hands.
When adventuring together, she often responded to teammates’ conversations with indifference. She had never had any concept of romance—until he was different.
His trendous strength and unparalleled talent were like a robber who barged straight through, forcing open Eve’s heart and making her confront this boy who was even younger than herself.
Eve’s mind replayed the things they had experienced together recently.
To be honest, she couldn’t even rember exactly when things began to change…
But unknowingly, her feelings toward Lin Mo were shifting in a strange direction.
Eve didn’t know much about such matters; she only felt that the hand holding hers now was so big and so warm.
Even though they were exploring a maze-like Secret Realm, there was none of the usual tension.
Logically there was no reason for it, but when he held her hand, there was this subtle sense of safety.
The small stretch of bumpy path ahead was indeed rough, but in just two or three minutes they had crossed it.
After that, Lin Mo didn’t let go, and Eve didn’t pull away. They kept holding hands as they walked, everything wordless between them.
Unfortunately, this atmosphere didn’t last long. Soon a monster appeared before them.
However…
It wasn’t very strong.
Or rather, this was the kind of monster that should appear in this stage.
Its level was around thirteen or fourteen.
Lin Mo handled it easily and moved on. Monster encounters beca increasingly frequent.
There were a few that reached level fifteen, but none stronger.
As expected, that giant serpent and the pond had been exceptions.
Lin Mo was noticeably relieved. If they kept encountering that kind of high-level monster repeatedly, even he would start to worry.
Although they could win the fights, the mana and qi and blood consumption would be heavy.
They didn’t know how long they would have to stay in this space. If the road ahead were as long as the desert earlier, they would have to carefully consider sustainability.
But with these monsters’ threat levels all below fifteen, they were nothing to Lin Mo.
Unexpectedly, the underground cavern’s length wasn’t as exaggerated as they had imagined.
Or maybe Lin Mo’s luck was just ridiculously good. He barreled through the labyrinth feeling his way forward and sohow always found the right path. In about half a day, they reached the end.
Throughout the process Lin Mo had been continuously using Attribute Increase. Now that skill’s proficiency was almost at the cap.
So, it was ti…
Previously Lin Mo had already raised his base Constitution to 112, and at the sa ti the skill Earth-Rending Slam was about to evolve.
Once that skill evolved, it would imdiately provide enough points to reach the requirent for a level eleven Knight.
So the Knight profession was already poised for promotion, just waiting for Attribute Increase to finish so the Priest profession would have enough skills to qualify for its own promotion.
Now only a tiny bit of proficiency remained. Killing any monster would trigger the upgrade.
And conveniently, one last monster of this stage stood before them.
Lin Mo looked calmly at his final opponent—a level 17 monster.
To be honest, this differed from the previous major stages. At Stage 10 and Stage 20, even when fighting the last monsters of a stage, none would surpass that stage’s level limits.
But in Stage 30 the difficulty had clearly started to increase.
Still, this creature was nowhere near as strong as the giant serpent Lin Mo had killed when he first entered Stage 30.
Taking care of this guy was just a matter of ti.
Lin Mo drew his sword quickly, flashed forward, and used Flash to appear in front of the monster.
The next instant, brilliant sword light streaked across, and a long, deep bloodline opened on the monster’s body, deep enough to see bone.
Lin Mo’s show of force was effective; fear flickered in the monster’s eyes.
But here it had nowhere to flee, and had to grit its teeth and counterattack.
Its speed couldn’t match Lin Mo’s. He dodged its successive blows with a relaxed expression.
Not wanting to waste ti, Lin Mo seized the opening between attacks and struck again. A slash of crimson Sword Energy, laced with raging flas, cut off nearly half the monster’s head.
He didn’t aim for a fatal spot because he wanted to reserve the monster’s proficiency for another skill.
Earth-Rending Slam!
Lin Mo leaped high, and the magic shield in his hand ca down heavily on the monster, smashing in the rest of its skull.
With a short, sharp scream, the monster stopped moving.
Lin Mo casually cast Cleansing Flow and used fire elental energy to clean the corpse. He didn’t imdiately check the many ssages that popped up; he collected the spoils and looked toward Eve walking over.
Now, an even more important matter awaited…
Lin Mo and Eve walked forward side by side.
In perfect unison, they both stretched out their hands and placed them on the purple-tinged door in front of them.
“Let’s go in.”
Lin Mo took a deep breath. As he finished speaking, he and Eve pushed the door open together.
Before them lay a room similar to the previous two major stages.
It was sowhat wider and more lavish than before.
But those details weren’t what they focused on.
Lin Mo’s gaze swept to the door at the far end of the room, searching around.
Finally, in a corner he saw a crack.
That was the Secret Realm’s exit!
Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
If Stage 30 hadn’t had an exit, continuing deeper into the Secret Realm would have led them into areas whose monsters even he might struggle with.
Fortunately, there was an exit, and this expedition could reach a temporary end.
Clearly a path still lay ahead beyond this exit; the realm’s true endpoint had not been reached. When their strength had grown further, they could return and finish the remaining path later.
Now, this Secret Realm was no longer “unknown” to Lin Mo.
Although dangers still existed, he had a rough understanding of the place, so the risks were largely controllable.
Lin Mo shook his head, choosing not to think too far ahead.
What mattered most now was resting properly.
Yes—just like before, they would rest before leaving.
Although progress through Stage 30 had been fairly smooth, Lin Mo had still consud a lot.
They didn’t know the situation outside; they might face undead creatures or even Necromancers upon leaving. To be safe, they needed to get into the best possible condition.
Most importantly, ti flowed differently inside this Secret Realm than outside, and the difference was significant. If they rested here for a few hours, little ti would actually pass outside.
“I’m going to take a bath…”
Although Lin Mo had already cleaned her with Cleansing Flow, Eve still preferred a bath. It wasn’t just about washing; bathing helped relax body and mind.
Lin Mo nodded, not bothering with anything else for the mont.
A lot of ssages popped up on the screen…
First, the loot gathered along the path through Stage 30.
Because the monsters’ levels weren’t low, they had harvested a lot in only half a day.
The common skills Blood Moon Sky Charge, Void-Shaking Fist, and Demonic Light Piercing Kill all reached level seven.
In magic, the basic Water Orb had been upgraded by Lin Mo from max level into Great Water Orb, granting 4 points of base Mana. The new Epic-level Flash skill directly rose to level four.
“Skill Flash Lv1 (20/20) upgraded!”
“Gained base attribute Mana 5”
“Skill Flash Lv3 (80/80) upgraded!”
“Current skill Flash Lv4 (74/200)”
Together those provided another 9 base Mana.
Next was the last skill, the Knight skill Earth-Rending Slam.
This skill had already been brought close to upgrade level; after defeating the final monster it naturally maxed out.
“Skill Earth-Rending Slam Lv6 (300/300) upgraded!”
“Current skill Earth-Rending Slam Lv7 (Max)”
“Gained base attribute Constitution 5!”
“Automatically evolved into new skill—Heaven-and-Earth Collapse!”
“Learned skill Heaven-and-Earth Collapse! Gained base attribute Strength 2, Constitution 3!”
Heaven-and-Earth Collapse Lv1 (0/20): Leap toward a chosen target, creating a massive impact that shatters and depresses the surrounding ground. The qi and blood fuse into the broken earth, forming a barrier reinforced by qi and blood that traps enemies.
This skill was interesting and, for the Knight profession, quite an excellent skill.
Everyone knew Knights excelled at frontal combat. Although they might lose in a straight clash with Warriors, they held advantages over other professions—Assassins, Rangers, and weaker Mages.
But the problem with Knights was how cumberso they were.
High defense ca with slow speed and a lack of burst, making Knights easy to “kite.”
This skill changed that.
A barrier reinforced by qi and blood was difficult to break. It could briefly trap enemies; that window was enough to deal severe or even fatal damage to fragile classes like Assassins and Rangers.
For Lin Mo, though, it was mostly just an interesting skill.
It might have surprising uses at tis, but in normal circumstances, unless he was leveling, he wouldn’t use it much.
But the skill itself wasn’t the main point.
The main point was the base attribute gains it brought.
Including the maxed Earth-Rending Slam’s 5 base Constitution, the total hit exactly 8, filling the remaining gap.
Thus Lin Mo’s Knight profession finally promoted to Elite.
“Promotion conditions t. Profession Knight (lv10) promoted → Current Profession Knight (lv11)”
“Gained profession attribute amplification: Strength 6, Constitution 12, Agility 4, Spirit 2!”
Elite promotion brought substantial boosts—24 amplified attribute points in total—which was a solid improvent for Lin Mo.
But more important were the following developnts.
Attribute Increase also evolved when Lin Mo killed the last monster; three skills evolved simultaneously into a new skill.
“Skill Attribute Increase (Strength, Agility, Constitution) Lv5 (180/180) upgraded!”
“Current skill Attribute Increase Lv6 (Max)”
“Gained base attribute Mana 9 (3 3 3)!”
“Automatically evolved into new skill—Attribute Enhancent!”
“Learned skill Attribute Enhancent! Gained base attribute Mana 9 (3 3 3)!”
Not only did this grant Lin Mo a full 18 base Mana, it also t the Priest profession’s promotion requirents.
Therefore…
The Mage profession rose to level sixteen, and simultaneously the Priest profession completed consecutive promotions, jumping straight to level sixteen!
“Promotion conditions t. Profession Mage (lv15) promoted → Current Profession Mage (lv16)”
“Gained profession attribute amplification: Constitution 2, Agility 2, Spirit 6, Mana 10!”
“Promotion conditions t. Profession Priest (lv10) promoted → Current Profession Priest (lv11)”
“Promotion conditions t. Profession Priest (lv15) promoted → Current Profession Priest (lv16)”
“Gained profession attribute amplification: Constitution 2, Agility 2, Spirit 8, Mana 8!”
Holy moly!
Lin Mo watched his rapidly exploding amplified attributes and was montarily stunned.
This increase—it's about to blow up!
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