Chapter 15: The Great Lord of the Blood Clan, Master of Nightmares

[Dark Bloodline · First Generation Fusion Successful]
[Summoned Beast Advancement]
[Succubus [Fine] → Nightmare Overlord [Epic]]

Just as Gu Chen had predicted, the first-generation bloodline allows the summoned beast to advance to the epic tier. The original succubus transformed into a ghostly, eerie black shadow, wispy and ever-shifting like smoke or mist.

Within the shadow, a pair of cold eyes suddenly flashed with a chilling light, their gaze piercing through the soul and straight into the heart.

[Summoned Beast: Nightmare Overlord]
[Rank: Epic]
[Level: LV.6]
[Health Points: 4560]
[Attributes: Strength 68, Agility 76, Constitution 62, Spirit 78]
[Talent: Unspeakable [Epic]]
[Skill I: Disillusionment Instant Kill LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill II: Nightmare Affliction LV.10 [Epic]]

An epic talent paired with max-level epic skills. Gu Chen was overjoyed and immediately began the bloodline awakening without hesitation.

[Dark Bloodline · Descendant Fusion Successful]
[Summoned Beast Bloodline Awakening]
[Level: LV.6]
[Health Points: 6580]
[Attributes: Strength 79, Agility 86, Constitution 85, Spirit 90]
[Talent: Unspeakable [Epic]]
[Skill I: Disillusionment Instant Kill LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill II: Nightmare Affliction LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill III: Deep Dream LV.10 [Epic]]

After the bloodline awakening, the Nightmare Overlord’s health rose to 6580, surpassing the level 6 Fallen Guardian by over three thousand health points. Among the four core attributes, Spirit was the most outstanding. Combined with its talents and skills, it was a naturally gifted magic assassin.

[Unspeakable: The Nightmare Overlord’s form is ever-shifting, able to traverse between dreams and reality at will, granting it extraordinary damage reduction against physical attacks.]
[Disillusionment Instant Kill: Uses the dream realm to approach the target unit and launch a surprise attack, dealing massive damage.]
[Nightmare Affliction: For every 10 Spirit points, one Nightmare Servant can be summoned. Targets afflicted by these servants receive multiplied damage.]
[Deep Dream: Creates a deep dream realm in an area, inflicting high continuous damage to targets trapped within.]

The first skill is a single-target burst, the second skill doubles damage. The “target unit” in the third skill refers only to enemy units singled out by the Nightmare Overlord, not indiscriminate opponents.

Gu Chen checked and found the Nightmare Overlord could currently summon nine Nightmare Servants. If all nine were attached to a single unit, that unit would suffer ninefold damage from the Overlord’s attacks.

In terms of damage, simply combining these two skills could instantly kill a Black-robed Steward—a level 7 boss monster.

The burst damage of the Nightmare Overlord was terrifyingly powerful.

At that moment, another notification popped up.

[Summoned Beast’s Rank Upgraded from Fine to Epic, Attribute Feedback Activated, Summoner’s All Attributes +10]

Gu Chen’s heart leapt with joy, feeling a wave of refreshing energy coursing through his body, invigorating him completely. The attribute feedback from the summoned beast was equivalent to leveling up himself, an immensely satisfying experience.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Gu Chen summoned the Royal Bloodline and fused it into Dracula. Inside the summoning space, Dracula radiated a crimson bloodlight, bathed in rich scarlet hues, accented by dazzling golden glimmers.

[Dark Bloodline · Royal Blood Fusion Successful]
[Summoned Beast Advancement]
[Dracula [Epic★] → Bloodlord [Legend★]]

[Summoned Beast: Bloodlord]
[Level: LV.6]
[Health Points: 8600]
[Attributes: Strength 114, Agility 118, Constitution 116, Spirit 115]
[Rank upgraded from Epic to Legend, Attribute Feedback Activated, Summoner’s All Attributes +100]
[Talents: Vampire Instinct [Epic], Bloodshadow Fury [Epic], Frenzy Blood [Legend]]
[Skill I: Deadly Shot LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill II: Crimson Feast LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill III: Vampire Legacy LV.10 [Legend]]
[New Talent: Frenzy Blood [Legend]]
[New Skill: Vampire Legacy LV.10 [Legend]]

[Frenzy Blood: When the Bloodlord’s health falls below 30%, it triggers a rage boost, doubling all attributes for one minute.]
[Vampire Legacy: The Bloodlord can consume its own health to convert fallen units into vampire descendants.]

“Impressive!”

Gazing at the summoned beast’s attribute panel, Gu Chen felt a surge of quiet satisfaction.

A level 6 summoned beast? Almost unbelievable.

All four core attributes exceeded one hundred, far surpassing the level 7 Black-robed Steward.

As for health, although slightly lower than the Steward’s, that was mainly because the Steward was a boss with additional health bonuses.

But that didn’t matter. This Bloodlord was only level 6.

Once it reached level 7, it would completely overwhelm any level 7 boss in every aspect.

From Fine to Epic, he gained 10 points of attribute feedback; from Epic to Legend, he gained 100 points of attribute feedback.

[Level: LV.6 (53/1880)]
[Strength: 177]
[Agility: 176]
[Constitution: 178]
[Spirit: 179]
[Summoned Beasts: Bloodlord LV.6 [Legend★], Nightmare Overlord LV.6 [Epic]]

His core attributes stood around 178.

Gu Chen’s expression revealed mild surprise—he hadn’t expected that with just his own attributes, he could already suppress the Black-robed Steward.

If he had a full set of equipment, he could solo the difficult-level novice dungeon.

Speaking of equipment, Gu Chen opened his portable space again.

After defeating the Black-robed Steward, he acquired the Black Steward’s Emblem and Black Steward’s Robe, along with the Hurricane Warhammer he had just obtained from the dungeon chest—two pieces of equipment and one item.

[Black Steward’s Emblem]
[Quality: Fine]
[Effect: Blocks external surveillance; others cannot obtain the wearer’s character information.]
[Note: Effect nullifies if level gap is too large.]

——————————

[Black Steward’s Robe]
[Quality: Fine]
[Attributes: Spirit +5, Constitution +5]
[Effect: Provides the wearer with a magical shield; shield value equals the wearer’s Spirit × 10.]

“All excellent items. The emblem prevents others from spying, and the robe grants a shield capable of absorbing 1790 damage.”

“The key is that the shield’s value scales with my Spirit, which is substantial.”

Gu Chen equipped the Black Steward’s Robe, pinned the emblem to his collar, then opened the Professional Trading Platform on his phone and listed the Hurricane Warhammer for sale.

The weapon’s stats were good, with basic attribute bonuses and a defensive skill, suitable for warriors, paladins, monks, and other warhammer-proficient classes.

As for price, although not top-tier, listing it for 100,000 credits seemed reasonable for a fine-quality weapon.

Shortly after, the dormitory door was pushed open from outside. Lin Yuan entered, carrying a stack of takeout boxes.

“Old Gu, come on, come on, for lunch we’ve got eight dishes and one soup—come help us out...”

...

Afternoon.

At 1:45 PM, Gu Chen and Lin Yuan arrived at the novice dungeon’s plaza.

The plaza was still crowded with many students, most waiting to find suitable teammates.

“Anyone up for a dungeon run? I’m a monk with fine-quality gear, promise to follow orders.”
“Looking for an archer or gunner, equipped and skilled preferred.”
“Look, a summoner!”
“Huh, it’s Gu Chen! He just cleared the difficult-level dungeon this morning, why is he back again?”
“Ah? He’s the one who soloed with four actors, the big shot?”

As Gu Chen approached, countless eyes turned toward him. The crowd instinctively parted, making way.

“Summoner master, take me with you—I have a full warrior set.”
“Gu Chen, big shot, weren’t you looking for teammates earlier? Can you bring me along?”
“Chen, we’re old classmates, team up with me, okay?”

...

Gu Chen remained calm and indifferent, ignoring the flurry of greetings beside him, and walked steadily toward the dungeon entrance.

At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed from behind.

“Gu Chen, I didn’t think much of you before, but since you proved yourself in the difficult dungeon, you’re at least somewhat useful.”
“Since that’s the case, there’s one spot left on my team. Get ready and come with us into the dungeon.”