Chapter 53: The Second Legendary Summoned Beast
Inside the main prison, the Beast-Corpse Chieftain had been reduced to a pile of dark red debris scattered across the ground. All the summoned beast-corpses perished within the deep dreamscape, leaving behind nothing more than powdered remnants.
[You have killed Beast-Corpse Chieftain - Elite LV.16. EXP +5,725]
[Loot acquired: Dwarf King's Ring LV.16 [Rare]]
[Loot acquired: Mithril Armor LV.16 [Rare]]
[Loot acquired: Strengthening Stone x10 [Rare]]
[Level Up]
[Level: LV.13 (1,369/43,200)]
[Strength: 347]
[Agility: 346]
[Constitution: 348]
[Spirit: 529]
[Summoned Beasts: Bloodline Monarch LV.13 [Legendary ★], Nightmare Dominator LV.13 [Epic ★], Skeleton Golem LV.13 [Epic ★]]
[Talent - A Dark Bloodline is currently available for acquisition]
He had reached level 11 in the wilderness, advanced to level 12 after wiping out the first wave of alien races in the Bone-Burial Dungeon, and now, having cleared an entire layer of the dungeon, he leaped straight to level 13.
The Abyss truly offered high rewards accompanied by high risks.
"Let's rest and recuperate here for a moment."
Gu Chen turned and spoke to Lin Yuan and the others, deciding not to push deeper just yet.
Moving further ahead would lead to the second floor. With every deeper layer entered in the Bone-Burial Dungeon, the difficulty escalated dramatically.
Given that this was currently a Nightmare-grade Abyss, Gu Chen intended to strengthen his summoned beasts first.
Activate Talent.
[You have obtained: Dark Bloodline - Royal Blood]
Royal Bloodline!
A burst of ecstatic joy flashed in Gu Chen's eyes. It had finally appeared!
The previous two level-ups had only yielded Descendant Bloodlines, which was why he had refrained from fusing them into his summoned beasts. Now, acquiring the Royal Bloodline meant that he would gain yet another Legendary-grade summoned beast.
After careful consideration, Gu Chen decided to advance the Skeleton Golem to the Legendary grade.
For no other reason than the fact that the comprehensive debuff effect was simply too enticing.
If advanced to the Legendary grade, it was unimaginable how powerful of a suppression effect the Skeleton Golem would inflict upon his enemies.
As for the two Descendant Bloodlines, he would bestow them upon the Nightmare Dominator, granting it two bloodline awakenings.
[Bloodline Awakening Successful]
[Bloodline Awakening Successful]
[Nightmare Dominator [Epic ★]]
[Level: LV.13]
[HP: 21,300]
[Attributes: Strength 179, Agility 186, Constitution 185, Spirit 190]
[Skill [Annihilation Instant Kill] has been enhanced]
[Annihilation Instant Kill: Uses the dreamscape to approach the target unit and launch a surprise attack. Each time a target is killed, the damage of the next skill increases by 1%]
[Note: If the summoned beast dies, the damage bonus resets to zero]
[Skill [Deep Dreamscape] has been enhanced]
[Deep Dreamscape: Constructs a deep dreamscape within an area, dealing massive sustained damage to targets trapped inside. For every target that dies, all targets within the deep dreamscape suffer a 1-second stun]
A health pool of 21,300—although not as high as certain Elites and Bosses—was already exceptionally rare.
This was because Elites and Bosses possessed health multipliers, and very few regular entities could rival them in terms of sheer HP.
Following the awakening, aside from the increases in health and the four primary attributes, the skills [Annihilation Instant Kill] and [Deep Dreamscape] were also enhanced.
Using [Annihilation Instant Kill] to eliminate a target increased the damage of the next skill by 1%. As long as it did not die, the damage bonus could stack indefinitely.
"What a pity. If [Deep Dreamscape] was the one enhanced so that every kill increased skill damage by 1%, the Nightmare Dominator would have achieved a terrifying boost."
After all, [Deep Dreamscape] was an area-of-effect damage skill capable of wiping out large numbers in a short span of time, unlike [Annihilation Instant Kill], which required picking off targets one by one.
Comparatively, the enhancement to [Deep Dreamscape] was relatively minor: every death of a target within the dreamscape would inflict a 1-second stun on the remaining targets.
Though only lasting a second, if used properly, it would undoubtedly strip all units trapped in the dreamscape of their ability to resist.
Still, it was not bad. At the very least, it could prevent powerful alien races from breaking through the dreamscape to a large extent.
Next, Gu Chen bestowed the Royal Bloodline upon the Skeleton Golem.
[Advancement Successful]
[Skeleton Golem [Epic ★] → Skeleton Golem [Legendary ★]]
[Level: LV.13]
[HP: 26,700]
[Attributes: Strength 231, Agility 226, Constitution 243, Spirit 244]
[Summoner's aptitude upgraded from Epic to Legendary. Received attribute feedback: Summoner's all attributes +100]
[Summoned beast's talents and skills comprehensively enhanced]
[Unstoppable [Legendary]: When the Skeleton Golem is in a stationary state, its defense increases by 1% per second, and its regeneration increases by 1% per second. Targets within a 10-meter radius of the Skeleton Golem suffer a 50% increase in negative effects received]
[Utter Exhaustion LV.20 [Legendary]: Inflicts an exhausted state on nearby targets, reducing all their attributes by 50% and increasing damage taken by 100%. Un-immunizable]
[Black Death Plague LV.20 [Legendary]: Infects a target with a plague, reducing healing received by 90%. The plague is contagious; the more targets infected, the greater the continuous health loss. Un-immunizable]
[Forbidden Domain of Demise LV.20 [Legendary]: The Skeleton Golem designates a forbidden domain centered around itself. Targets within the domain suffer a tenfold increase in damage taken and a tenfold increase in all resource costs]
Legendary-grade talents, alongside fully maxed-out Legendary-grade skills!
The look of excitement on Gu Chen's face could no longer be contained.
First was the talent enhancement. When the Skeleton Golem remained stationary, its defense and regeneration increased by 1% per second. This meant sacrificing the Skeleton Golem's mobility to push its status to its absolute peak.
However, the Skeleton Golem could not afford to halt its movement alongside the party, nor could it attract all alien races directly to its current location.
Under normal circumstances, Gu Chen would have had no way to maximize the utilization of this talent.
Yet, let us not forget: after killing Wang Chongshan and his entourage, Gu Chen had learned the displacement-swap skill from a primary skill scroll.
It not only allowed him to swap positions with his summoned units, but also permitted position-swaps between summoned units themselves.
This way, the Skeleton Golem could remain stationed somewhere to stack its status, and once combat erupted, he merely needed to swap its position with a bloodline descendant actively engaged in battle.
Furthermore, targets within 10 meters of the Skeleton Golem would have their received negative effects amplified by 50%, rendering the advantages of the position-swap even more pronounced.
Displacement-swap was merely an Excellent-grade skill, but paired with a Legendary-grade summoned beast, the combat prowess it unleashed was terrifyingly formidable.
As for the other three skills, they had each received varying degrees of enhancement.
[Utter Exhaustion] gained a 50% damage bonus.
[Black Death Plague] acquired contagion properties, eliminating the need for the Skeleton Golem to cast it individually; the more targets infected, the higher the sustained damage.
[Forbidden Domain of Demise] underwent the most drastic change. Previously, it only doubled costs tenfold; now, it added a tenfold increase in damage as well. Consequently, targets caught within the skill's area essentially had no path to survival.
"Done."
Looking at the three summoned beasts surrounding him, Gu Chen felt a surge of soaring ambition in his heart.
"Alright, let's continue pushing toward the second floor of the dungeon. To secure the record-breaking reward, we must accelerate our progress from here on."
With that said, Gu Chen commanded the bloodline descendants to clear the path ahead, while Lin Yuan and the others nodded and quickly followed behind.
In a Nightmare-grade Abyss, breaking records meant only one thing: a speedrun.