Chapter 26: Could She Truly Be a Genius?

"Li Yao, would you like some?"

Looking at what Qin Yue had pulled from her storage ring, Li Yao’s eyelid twitched.

"Is this really all you brought to run a dungeon?"

"Yep." Qin Yue took out two bags of potato chips and handed one to Li Yao. "Uncle Wu and the others usually carry me through these anyway, so I don't really have anything to do."

Li Yao was speechless. He narrowed his eyes and looked ahead.

The first village had already been cleared by his three chess pieces. As expected, a Goblin Chieftain appeared at the edge of the camp. Gazing at the massive creature in the distance, Qin Yue put down her snacks, her expression turning solemn and worried.

"Will this be troublesome?"

They were running the dungeon as a duo, which increased the difficulty by 25%. She was afraid she would be a burden to Li Yao.

"Not necessarily." Li Yao shook his head slightly. He was keeping an eye on the Goblin Chieftain only to see how strong his chess pieces had become. After all, his "Shackles" ability was still on cooldown, and he would need the chess pieces to deal with the Goblin King later.

Soon, the two sides clashed. The Goblin Chieftain was strong—even surpassing the final bosses found in Master-level difficulties—but Li Yao had clearly underestimated the combat power of his three chess pieces. Li Yao’s own equipment had undergone a major overhaul, and correspondingly, the attributes of his three pieces had seen a qualitative leap. Not to mention the Void Mantis, whose strength had reached a terrifying 1,600.

With the Predator holding the front line, the stealth abilities, and the slowing interference from the Azure Bird, the Goblin Chieftain’s health bar was whittled down to a sliver in a mere instant.

*Crunch.*

The Predator seized the opportunity and bit down—a clean, crisp snap.

[Killed Boss-level creature: Goblin Chieftain. Experience +12%]
[Void Predator has completed evolutionary consumption. Gained 8,250 Max HP.]

Two streaks of golden light flashed simultaneously.

"Level up!" Qin Yue let out a happy shriek. She had already become completely numb to the power of Li Yao’s summoned beasts; killing such a strong boss wasn't even surprising anymore.

Li Yao finally reached level 16. After level 10, every level became extremely difficult to obtain. Even though he had been at 90% of level 15 before entering the dungeon, it had taken him until this moment to take the final step. Dungeon experience was distributed based on contribution; although Qin Yue had little, she still gained some base experience. For someone who was only level 8, this was enough to push her to level 9.

Qin Yue conscientiously trotted over to the chieftain's corpse. She gathered the loot and presented it to Li Yao as if offering a treasure. "Young Master Li, please do the honors!"

Li Yao couldn't be bothered to entertain her antics. He opened the treasure chest. Qin Yue leaned in close, eager to see what kind of divinity a Nightmare-level dungeon chest held.

"Wow, a golden legend! A Gold-tier helmet!" She exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "Check it out, can you equip it?"

Li Yao took a look and shook his head. "It's Knight-class gear." He then placed the helmet into his storage ring. "Don't worry, once we finish the whole dungeon, all the gear we don't need will be handed over to your Qin family to handle."

"Young Master Li, if you put it that way, I know exactly how to behave!" Qin Yue’s eyes crinkled into crescents. She used the sleeve of her Silver-tier mage robe as a rag, busily wiping the sharp claws of the Void Mantis. "Brother Mantis, you’ve worked hard. Let me clean you up." She didn't care at all that they were covered in sticky goblin blood. "Brother Big Bug, here are some potato chips. Have a taste."

Before long, the Azure Bird flew over to Li Yao, carrying a pile of colorful equipment in its beak. Li Yao collected them into his storage ring one by one and continued to clear the remaining villages.

About an hour later, Li Yao’s level had reached 16 with 21% progress, while Qin Yue had leveled up to 11. The experience required for the two of them was on entirely different dimensions. It was worth noting that Li Yao had earned more than twice the experience Qin Yue had.

The two stepped onto the path toward the pyramid.

"The final boss is next. Stand back," Li Yao warned. The Goblin King possessed significant intelligence. If it realized it couldn't quickly deal with the three summoned beasts, it might target the two professionals instead. Li Yao wasn't worried about himself, but Qin Yue was a different story—if she took even one hit, she’d likely be meeting her great-grandmother in the afterlife.

Seeing Li Yao’s serious expression, Qin Yue nodded quickly. "Should I just stay here?" She had only come for the experience and the final clear reward. If she stayed this far back, she might miss out on the experience, but compared to that, she valued her own life more. That last "big dummy" goblin had been so fierce; she couldn't imagine how powerful the final boss would be.

"Do you want your contribution value to be even lower?" Seeing her act so cowardly, Li Yao laughed. "It's a summoning-type magic boss; its movement speed won't be very fast. If things go wrong, just run."

"Understood!" Qin Yue nodded vigorously.

Soon, countless Goblin Scouts appeared before them. Just like before, the Goblin King sat on its throne, its gaze locked firmly on the two of them. When Li Yao had first arrived here, that cold, intensely evil gaze had sent a chill down his spine. Qin Yue was now trembling so hard her legs were giving out, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

When the strong face the weak, they sometimes don't even need to strike to easily extinguish the other's vitality. The Goblin King possessed that kind of power. If Qin Yue had come here alone, she likely wouldn't have been able to muster even 10% of her strength under that pressure and would have become nothing more than food for the scouts.

However, Qin Yue was an optimist. Seeing Li Yao’s three summoned beasts slaughtering their way through the countless scouts, her fear vanished.

"Li Yao, does that boss have some kind of mechanism that prevents it from moving right now?" Qin Yue’s mind sparked, and she blurted out, "Otherwise, why don't we go beat it up now? It can't move anyway."

"Hmm?" Li Yao grew thoughtful. "That actually makes some sense."

He needed to test it. The Glacial Storm released by the Azure Bird was expanding continuously. If he didn't stop it, it would soon reach the Goblin King. The storm had a slowing effect; even if the Goblin King managed to break through its stationary mechanism, he would have enough time to grab Qin Yue and flee.

The storm spread, and a cold wind blew. Qin Yue tightened her collar, staring intently ahead. A wisp of frost fell onto the Goblin King.

[-251]

The Goblin King’s eyes turned blood-red instantly. Two magic circles appeared beneath its feet.

"Oh no!" Qin Yue exclaimed, sounding like a child who had done something wrong.

Li Yao, however, looked at the two magic circles with a strange expression. Was she actually a genius?