Legend of the Pinnacle of Online Games

Chapter 157 Downgrade Dungeon (7K, Please Subscribe)
It was a vine about the thickness of a thumb.

After finishing, it simply slid back along the crack in the ground.

Then another vine shot out from the ground and lashed the other side of the barrier.

Cao Renjie's barrier did not break, but Long Xiaochen looked up into the distance and exclaimed, "Damn, the demonic plants in this dungeon are incredibly accurate!"

He also saw the green light that had erupted earlier.

It's very far from here.

If the location of the green light is the current location of the demonic plant, then that's truly outrageous—locking onto the target from an extremely long distance and then launching a sneak attack.

A normal level 25 or 26 player would have already been affected.

"Based on its ability to control the residents of a city as puppets, the demonic plants in the [Demon Plant World] Asura-level dungeon have probably already enveloped the entire city. We're essentially walking around inside their embrace, so pinpointing our location is naturally quite easy," Lin Hanchuan said.

Long Xiaochen complained, "If that's really the case, then the Asura level difficulty of this dungeon is terrifyingly high!"

Long Xiaochen couldn't help but look at the pedestrians coming and going on the road in front of him. If these demonic plant puppets acted together and launched an attack on them, coupled with the vines that could be pulled out of the ground at any time, it would really be difficult.

It's like fighting countless demonic plant puppets in a city full of traps.

Hidden behind the scenes is a BOSS who can control the entire city.

"Calm down. I meant that the area they control might have reached the eighth or ninth level, not that their true strength has reached the eighth or ninth level," Lin Hanchuan emphasized. "If that were the case, that vine would have already wiped out our entire Heavenly Dao Squad."

Cao Renjie then added, "My barrier has been attacked by more than a thousand points."

Lin Hanchuan nodded and continued, "This is just a level 25 Shura-level dungeon. The upper limit is there. Even if we don't get the first clear, we won't be in any danger if we're a little careful."

The system sometimes uses dungeons to scare players.

In this situation, the first thing you need to confirm is the level of the instance you are currently entering, as the level represents the maximum level.

In Lin Hanchuan's view, the demonic plant that controls the entire city is just one of the ways the system scares players; there's a high probability that something else is wrong with that demonic plant.

It's also possible that a mutation occurred, causing the level 25 demon plant to acquire some of the abilities that only eighth- or ninth-tier demon plants possess.

Everything is still speculation.

Lin Hanchuan looked up and gazed into the distance.

The location of the green light burst from is at least 5 kilometers away from their current position. In such a densely populated city, crossing 5 kilometers in a straight line within an hour is practically impossible.

"It's a bit far, speed up! Kill anyone who gets in our way!" Lin Hanchuan looked at these demonic plant puppets that were no different from normal people, turned around and gave orders to the Heavenly Dao Squad.

Plant golems are also wild monsters.

However, Lin Hanchuan did not stay where he was and had no intention of wiping them all out.

"No problem!" Long Xiaochen was just as eager for battle as Lin Hanchuan. As soon as he heard the order, he immediately mobilized his three Pokémon to the front. "Captain, let my Pokémon clear the way!"

Lin Hanchuan nodded and said, "Okay! You do it!"

The level of the spirits summoned by Long Xiaochen using cards increases as his level increases.

Long Xiaochen is currently level 29.

The spirits he summoned were all level 29.

They're all lord-level, more than enough to deal with these demonic plant puppets.

Lin Hanchuan gave his approval.

Long Xiaochen immediately put his hands on his hips, stepped past Lin Hanchuan, and came to the front of everyone. Looking at the coming and going demonic plant puppets, his eyes held three parts mockery, four parts arrogance, two parts smugness, and one part greed.

Looking at Long Xiaochen's retreating figure, Cao Renjie couldn't help but say to Lin Hanchuan, "Boss, look at him. In a novel, he'd either be a goofball or a brainless villain."

Upon hearing the criticism, Long Xiaochen immediately turned around and said disdainfully, "Little Cao, at least your brother Long is a major character. In the book, you can only be a background character."

Cao Renjie clenched his fist.

Sometimes, you really can't argue with Long Xiaochen's magical mouth.

Long Xiaochen didn't pursue the topic further, and then asked Lin Hanchuan uncertainly, "Captain, is it really okay to go on a killing spree?"

"Kill anyone who gets in the way!" Lin Hanchuan nodded and emphasized.

"We need to get to the coordinates where the green light burst earlier within an hour as quickly as possible."

"Alright!!" Long Xiaochen's face was filled with excitement at this moment.

He's been a rich kid for so many years.

Finally, I can be arrogant for once.

Even in a game.

"Make way, don't block my way, I need to get to the city hall." Outside Cao Renjie's barrier, a middle-aged man impatiently urged Long Xiaochen.

"Kill him!" Long Xiaochen gave the order directly to the fire spirit.

The fire spirit raised its staff.

boom! !

A large fireball hurtled directly at the middle-aged man.

The fireball landed on the middle-aged man as if it had hit gasoline.

A raging fire broke out instantly.

The fire tore through his disguise; his entire body was ablaze, emitting the scent of wood and the crackling sound of burning wood.

Lin Hanchuan finally saw the other party's information through the system.

[Demon Plant Puppet]

Level: 15

Rank: Ordinary

Attack: 100-300
Blood volume: 2000
Note: The puppets created by the demonic plant using the corpses and souls of other creatures possess a certain degree of self-awareness and, under normal circumstances, look no different from normal people.

After reading the information, Lin Hanchuan's gaze fell on the demonic plant puppet.

He stood outside the barrier like a human torch, seemingly impervious to pain, his eyes, hidden behind the flames, wide open, urging Long Xiaochen on.

"Make way, don't block my way, I need to get to the city hall."

His voice and tone showed no sign of being affected by the fire, or even being aware of his own predicament.

He stood there like a broken record, repeating his words for the third time.

"Make way, don't block my way, I'm in a hurry..."

This time, before he could finish speaking, he turned into a pile of ashes, with embers still remaining inside.

The other passing demonic plant puppets seemed completely oblivious to what had just happened, turning a blind eye as they walked past and continued their noisy antics on the street.

"Sure enough, that demonic plant has a big problem!" Seeing this, Lin Hanchuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Under normal circumstances, the plant puppets created by the eighth and ninth level demonic plants possess the thinking abilities of normal people. They will immediately pay attention to the death or injury of their companions.

If attacked by hostile targets, they might even swarm in.

But at this moment, these demonic plant puppets seemed to live only in their own world, completely disregarding the life and death of their companions.

They are nothing but walking corpses with only bodies!

The lack of self-awareness as each individual plays their own role makes the city appear very lively.

"Ding! You have gained 300 experience points!"

As the system notification sounded that experience points had been credited, Long Xiaochen excitedly said to Lin Hanchuan, "Boss, I have a brilliant suggestion."

Lin Hanchuan looked at Long Xiaochen.

Long Xiaochen explained, "Since these demonic plant puppets are unmoved by our attacks, why don't we go all out!"

Having been teammates for so long, Lin Hanchuan immediately realized what Long Xiaochen wanted to do: "Have the berserk rhinoceros clear the way?"

Long Xiaochen nodded emphatically, “Let the berserk rhinoceros monsters clear the way for us and charge toward our destination! A single demonic plant puppet doesn’t give much experience, but there are a huge number of them here. There are at least a thousand demonic plant puppets on the streets in just one day. Even if we only kill one-fifth of them, it’s still a profit.”

Cao Renjie perked up as he listened.

A level 15 plant puppet would literally die if it rammed into Long Xiaochen's berserk rhinoceros monster.

The monster-killing speed is much faster than them killing them one by one.

"Do as you say!" Lin Hanchuan couldn't possibly not support a suggestion that would both gain experience and increase movement speed.

Long Xiaochen immediately summoned the berserk rhinoceros monster. Its massive body crushed two demonic plant puppets as soon as it emerged from the summoning gate.

After the two demonic plant puppets attacked by the raging rhinoceros monster died, they immediately turned into sections of tree stumps covered with emerald green branches and leaves.

The bustling street was immediately blocked by the raging rhinoceros monster, and the passing plant puppets could only squeeze through from both sides.

"Who is so inconsiderate! They put their pet in the middle of the road and didn't move it, blocking our way."

"Damn it, I'm going to die!"

"Who is so wicked?"

"You heartless wretch! How could you do something like this? I'll tell the city lord later, and he'll have your entire family slaughtered."

"The Lord of the City is back!"

The noise in the street grew louder.

Long Xiaochen, who was already standing on the Rampaging Rhino Monster, called to Lin Hanchuan and the others, "Come on up, jump directly onto the Rampaging Rhino Monster, and we'll ride it to the location of the green light bursting out."

Not long after.

Boom boom boom! !

Inside the Asura-level [Demon Plant World] dungeon, on a bustling street, an enormous, ferocious rhinoceros monster is carrying the Heavenly Dao Squad on its back as it runs wildly.

The plant puppets on the street shattered into seventeen or eighteen pieces the moment they collided with the berserk rhinoceros monster. The system message notifications of experience points being credited kept ringing in Lin Hanchuan's mind.

"Ding! You have gained 300 experience points!"

"Ding! You have gained 300 experience points!"

"Ding! You have gained 500 experience points!"

……

Charging forward, the berserk rhinoceros monster killed mostly ordinary-level plant golems, with a few elites as well, but no lords at the moment.

Although each one can only bring Lin Hanchuan a few hundred experience points, the sheer number of them makes up for it; quantity leads to quality.

As he neared the end, Lin Hanchuan finally received the long-awaited upgrade notification sound.

"Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully reached level 26, triggering the Berserker Archmage class trait: base attributes +3, free attributes +6, and intelligence +1!"

All free attributes are allocated to Intelligence to maintain the advantage of spell damage.

As for Long Xiaochen and the others, it's too early for them to level up.

Going from level 29 to 30 requires a lot of experience points. Based on the current experience distribution method within the team, it's estimated that they'll need to run two dungeons to reach the maximum level.

"Ding! You have gained 300 experience points!"

Hearing the system notification that experience points had been credited, Lin Hanchuan looked back and saw that the street where the berserk rhinoceros monster had run was now a mess.

A broken tree stump, lush green branches.

Everywhere.

Those are the remains left behind after the demonic plant puppets died.

Boom boom boom! !

The raging rhinoceros monster was still charging forward.

The oncoming plant puppets were like walking scarecrows; they fell apart the moment they touched the berserk rhinoceros monster.

Just at this time.

The noisy street fell silent again without warning. The demonic plant puppets on the road ahead suddenly turned their heads in unison, staring intently at Lin Hanchuan and his companions.

"This kind of scene is happening again!"

Seeing the tender leaves sprouting again from the mouths of those demonic plant puppets, Long Xiaochen immediately turned to Lin Hanchuan, "Boss? We've killed so many demonic plant puppets, that one is bound to make a move. What's next?"

dong dong dong! !

Throughout the city, only the roar of the rampaging rhinoceros echoed.

"Keep your rampaging rhinoceros charging!"

Lin Hanchuan gazed at the distant sky, where the green light reappeared in the same spot, growing ever more intense.

And that familiar, insane voice.

"Nourishment, all of you become my nourishment!"

"Die! They all must die!"

……

The previous demonic plant puppet began to repeat.

"Die! They all must die!"

The second demonic plant puppet repeated, "Die! They all must die!"

More and more demonic plant puppets are being replicated.

……

In the end, only one voice could be heard over the entire city.

"Die! They all must die!"

next moment.

The previously unyielding plant puppets began to surge towards Lin Hanchuan and his companions from the ground, from high-rise windows, from rooftops, and from all directions.

Its body began to transform into moving tree stumps, and the branches and leaves growing from it grew wildly and abundantly. In just a few seconds, layers of low green forests formed around the raging rhinoceros monster.

The tree stumps supporting the green forest are still getting thicker.

When the berserk rhinoceros charged into the green forest, it clearly began to struggle and could no longer smash everything around it as easily as before.

The environment where Lin Hanchuan and the others were located also darkened, as if they had suddenly traveled from noon to evening.

The stone slabs on the ground were cracking continuously, and green vines shot out from below, lashing out at the raging rhinoceros monster.

Bang bang bang bang! ! !

The moment the vines touched the raging rhinoceros monster, countless tiny tendrils immediately extended from both sides, like the tentacles of the vines, coiling around the rhinoceros monster's body and trying to take root into its flesh.

More and more vines appeared, gradually climbing all over the body of the raging rhinoceros monster, trying to completely wrap it up like a rice dumpling.

At this moment, the raging rhinoceros monster's movement was greatly hampered.

Lin Hanchuan immediately unleashed his Fire Domain skill, creating a sea of ​​fire beneath the feet of the berserk rhinoceros monster, with flames licking at the vines.

In the blink of an eye, he burned it to ashes, and while helping the raging rhinoceros monster break free of its restraints, Lin Hanchuan continuously released large fireballs in all directions.

Boom boom boom! !

Fireballs rained down on the tree stumps formed by the demonic plant puppets.

The tree stump, along with its lush branches and leaves, turned to ashes in an instant.

Long Xiaochen immediately instructed the fire spirit to repeat what Lin Hanchuan had done, releasing large fireballs at the approaching tree stumps.

Looking at the raging sea of ​​fire all around.

Lin Hanchuan immediately said to Long Xiaochen.

"The clearing is almost done. We don't need to worry about the plant golems on both sides and behind. Let your fire spirit focus on clearing out the tree stumps that the plant golems have turned into and are blocking our way!"

Currently, the only function of the plant golem is to transform into a three-meter-tall, leafy tree stump to block the way and slow down the rampaging rhinoceros monster.

Fortunately, they're all level 15!
Neither Lin Hanchuan's fireball nor anything else.

It was still the Fire Sprite's big fireball.

They can all be easily turned to ashes.

"What about those vines that keep sprouting from the ground?" Long Xiaochen asked hurriedly.

“Leave it to me!” Lin Hanchuan replied.

"Okay!" Long Xiaochen replied loudly. He immediately instructed the fire spirit to focus on the roadblocks ahead and use large fireballs to clear away the tall and dense tree stumps blocking the path of the raging rhinoceros monster.

While assisting the fire spirit in clearing the area, Lin Hanchuan also kept throwing large fireballs around the berserk rhinoceros monster. Together with the fire spirit, he could release fourteen or fifteen large fireballs per second, enough to keep a sea of ​​fire constantly around the berserk rhinoceros monster.

If you dare to pull out the vine, it will immediately turn to ash.

Thus, the rampaging rhinoceros, as if carrying a giant ring of fire, galloped wildly through the city.

The plant puppets that surged out from all directions behind them, under the command of the plant, chased after the berserk rhinoceros monster like zombies, stepping on the ashes left by their companions.

If this were a normal team, they would probably have been wiped out by this sheer numbers, but this was the Heavenly Dao Squad.

The methods employed by the demonic plants were unable to effectively hinder them.

They rushed out of the street.

They rushed out of two streets.

They rushed out of three streets.

……

"Ding! You have gained 300 experience points!"

"Ding! You have gained 300 experience points!"

……

After running for nearly forty minutes amidst a continuous stream of system notifications, Lin Hanchuan finally leveled up again.

"Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully reached level 27, triggering the Berserker Archmage class trait: base attributes +3, free attributes +6, and intelligence +1!"

With all his free attributes focused on intelligence, Lin Hanchuan looked up at the approaching green light burst point; in another ten minutes or so, they would arrive.

"Damn it, Captain, look ahead!" Long Xiaochen suddenly exclaimed, pointing straight ahead.

At the end of the street, a green light curtain appeared out of nowhere. When the raging rhinoceros monster charged into it, it felt like it had hit cotton. Its body slumped in softly and was then violently bounced back.

The system notification sound rang in the minds of the players in the Heavenly Path Squad.

"Ding! Please note that to pass through the green barrier ahead and enter the core area, you need to complete the first stage of the Asura-level [Demon Plant World] dungeon quest—[Survival]!"

"What the heck?" Long Xiaochen was a little confused. "A level 25 dungeon, and they're already dividing it into zones?"

Some instances are divided into zones.

Players typically start from the edge of the area and move towards the center.

Barriers exist between areas, and players need to complete tasks in the previous area to gain the right to enter the next area.

But these are all high-level dungeons, at least level 80 and above, where area divisions exist. This is only a level 25 dungeon, yet they're already dividing it into areas.

"First, there were demonic plants that seemed to be out of place for the dungeon level, and now there's this area division thing. It's really bizarre."

Despite his dissatisfaction, Long Xiaochen was already being pursued by the demonic plant puppets behind him. A huge, dark horde, like a black tide, surged in from the other end of the street.

"Die! They all must die!"

The plant puppets were repeating what they had said before.

Some of the lord-level demonic plant puppets emerged, and upon seeing Lin Hanchuan and his companions with nowhere to go, they instantly turned into tree stumps with human faces.

As soon as he opened his mouth.

It was like shooting out wooden splinters from its mouth.

Like a dense swarm of bees flying in.

Despite the attacks, the entire Heavenly Dao Squad remained calm. Cao Renjie calmly reinforced the defense, letting the wooden spikes pound against the barrier.

Long Xiaochen had the three elves stand inside the barrier and launch an attack on the demonic plant puppets outside.

The others didn't take any further action.

"Boss, this dungeon is really weird!" Cao Renjie patted the soft green barrier and said to Lin Hanchuan, "I feel like it's a downgraded dungeon."

Upon hearing the words "downgraded dungeon," Long Xiaochen's expression immediately turned serious.

Lin Hanchuan nodded in agreement, "That's what I think too!"

Downgraded dungeons do not mean that high-level dungeons are reduced to low-level dungeons.

Instead, it refers to low-level dungeons that possess some characteristics of high-level dungeons.

Currently, the [Demon Plant World] dungeon meets three characteristics: the BOSS seems to have the characteristics of a high-level wild monster, the dungeon has regional divisions, and there are such a large number of unrestricted wild monsters.

If normal players were to team up to enter this dungeon, but the Heavenly Path Squad acted like this, they would have been wiped out long ago.

It was only because the Heavenly Dao Squad was strong enough that they were able to get here so easily.

Downgraded dungeons are rare.

The Night Owl Squad has only entered two downgraded dungeons in all the time they've been in Zone 1.

"The difficulty of clearing the downgraded dungeon is greater than that of other dungeons of the same level. Not only do we need to be strong enough, but we also need to find the right way to clear it."

Lin Hanchuan continued, "However, in return, upon completion, you will receive rewards that surpass the dungeon level!"

"For example, rare items, special props, etc."

The rewards for a dungeon correspond to its difficulty.

These are the rules of the game.

Unchanging through the ages.

Clearing a downgraded dungeon for the first time will mean that players will have the opportunity to obtain items from higher-level dungeons.

This is the main reason why downgraded dungeons are popular among top players.

After all, the rewards outweigh the costs.

Who doesn't like it.

"If the [Demon Plant World] dungeon is indeed a downgraded dungeon, then we'll make a fortune if we can get the first clear this time!" Long Xiaochen's eyes lit up.

At this moment, his mind was already filled with rare items, special props, rare scrolls, guild creation tokens...

The list was filled with item names that wouldn't appear in a normal instance.

"Captain, should we go straight to kill the BOSS, or follow the system's mission pace and slowly achieve the first clear?" Long Xiaoyue asked at this moment.

"Follow the system's rhythm!" Lin Hanchuan thought for a moment and replied.

Killing the boss directly will certainly allow you to get the first clear.

But it will undoubtedly affect the final completion rate.

However, if we take it step by step, although it will be slower, we can ensure that the final completion rate will not be low.

If you don't want to enter the [Demon Plant World] dungeon again, you should choose the second option, prioritize increasing your completion rate, and ensure you get the unique reward in the dungeon.

After the matter was agreed upon.

Lin Hanchuan and the others finally turned their attention to the demonic plant puppets outside the barrier. There were still about ten minutes left before the [Survival] mission was completed.

Lin Hanchuan took his staff, created an infinite barrier for himself, and charged straight in.

Boom boom boom! !

……

When a towering pile of ashes had already formed on the street ahead, the system notification sound suddenly rang out.

"Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully completed the first stage of the Asura-level [Demon Plant World] dungeon survival mission - [Survival]! Completion level: SSS!"

All members of the Heavenly Path Squad received it.

"Congratulations on receiving the first stage reward: 5 experience points, 4 gold coins, a level 25 gold +10 spatial ring, and a core area access token!"

This is a reward that everyone receives.

It was so rich in content that Long Xiaochen and the others couldn't help but look at each other when they heard the system notification.

"It's almost certain, the [Demon Plant World] is a downgraded dungeon!" Long Xiaochen said in a deep voice, holding a gold-grade spatial ring.

The rewards for the first phase are exceptionally generous.

The whole team received a total of 20 experience points, 16 gold coins, and four level 25 gold +10 space rings that are currently unavailable on the market.

In other dungeons, this reward is usually given as part of the final reward, and it's not even this generous.

[Core Area Access Token]: Holding this token allows entry into the core area of ​​the Asura-level [Demon Plant World] dungeon.

Looking at the information on the token in his hand, even Lin Hanchuan took a deep breath and then said, "Let's play it safe this time and try to get the best reward possible."

Long Xiaochen and the others immediately nodded, their gazes all turning to the world behind the green barrier at the same time. It was deserted, with many houses in a collapsed state, like a desolate world.

It stands in stark contrast to the bustling streets outside.

And that green light, at this very moment, was blooming in that world, as if gushing up from underground, eventually forming a green river of light in the sky.

The rewards for those outside the region are already this good.

There's still room for something to go wrong inside.

This time, Lin Hanchuan doesn't need to make any arrangements.

The entire Heavenly Path Squad, riding the berserk rhinoceros monster, pierced through the green light curtain and entered the core area of ​​the [Demon Plant World].

At the end of the street, the newly arrived demonic plant puppets on the light screen kept shouting at Lin Hanchuan and his group.

"Die! They all must die!!"

However, after Lin Hanchuan and the others disappeared from sight...

Those demonic plant puppets actually transformed back into normal human appearances, turned around and left, and the city area outside returned to the bustling atmosphere it had been when Lin Hanchuan and his group first arrived.

If it weren't for the ashes scattered everywhere on the ground...

It was as if none of what had just happened had occurred.

(End of this chapter)