Chapter 18: I'll Take You To Brush The Copy, You Don't Need To Do It

Xia Xue's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't even know about that?"

Then she suddenly smiled coyly. "So there are things the great Lin Moyu is ignorant of."

Lin Moyu remained silent, simply regarding her with a steady gaze. Was it really that amusing? He was not an encyclopedia after all - there were bound to be many topics he lacked knowledge of.

Seeming to delight in her new discovery, a smirk played across Xia Xue's lips. "If you say something nice, maybe I'll tell you the secret."

Lin Moyu turned away, closing his eyes dismissively. If she didn't wish to explain, so be it - wheedling compliments from him was an impossible task.

Seeing his indifferent reaction, Xia Xue abruptly lost interest with a huff. "What an idiot, can't even take a joke."

"They say mages are supposed to have the most flexible, fanciful minds. But you're as rigid as they come."

"I really question if you're even a true mage at all."

She let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, let me enlighten you - it's because I used a Cooldown Talisman."

Lin Moyu racked his memories but found no knowledge about any such talisman. He hadn't learned of anything like that back in school.

Catching his puzzled look, Xia Xue expounded, "The Cooldown Talisman can offset the dungeon's lockout timer, allowing you to enter repeatedly."

As she spoke, she fished out a palm-sized gemstone object and passed it to Lin Moyu. "This is it."

The talisman shimmered with an entrancing inner light, its surface etched with indecipherable mystical runes. Lin Moyu's detection technique analyzed the artifact:

[Primary Cooldown Talisman]

[Uses Remaining: 7/10]

[Description: Negates dungeon cooldown lockouts for instances below level 20.]

So such conveniences existed in this world. Lin Moyu felt quite ignorant of their existence.

"I use this talisman to continuously enter dungeons over and over. Now you understand," Xia Xue stated matter-of-factly.

If he possessed such an item, Lin Moyu could chain run dungeon after dungeon, accelerating his leveling exponentially. He murmured, "This object must be quite expensive, no?"

Xia Xue shrugged. "I don't know the exact details. My father gave it to me and instructed me to use it fully."

"But it should indeed be quite pricey. When he handed it over, Father seemed somewhat distressed by the expense."

Xia Xue's family, the Xia clan, held prestigious standing across all Jiangning Province. If even they blinked at the cost, it was obviously an exorbitant luxury item.

After some consideration, Lin Moyu abandoned any notions of acquiring a cooldown talisman for himself. The price would surely be prohibitive.

"There are still two days left, so I'll expend all 7 remaining charges to reset the lockout," Xia Xue declared, already planning ahead. "Combined with my natural cooldown periods, that means at least 9 full dungeon runs. Enough for me to guarantee reaching level 15."

She grimaced. "My poor body is going to be completely spent."

A hint of the lighthearted, slightly spoiled youth she should be peeked through, overriding the imperious noblewoman front from before. It was a welcome glimpse of her true age.

Lin Moyu considered for a moment, then offered, "I can take you through the dungeon myself and ensure you reach level 15, no need to exhaust yourself."

Xia Xue's eyes lit up as she processed the proposal's implications - by joining Lin Moyu, she could skip the grueling solo grind. Partying together would actually yield more experience than running with a full squad too.

No fatigue AND more gains? It sounded too good to be true. The only downside was that it likely still wouldn't let her surpass Lin Moyu's level...but could she even catch up going solo? She wasn't certain anymore.

After weighing the pros and cons, Xia Xue made her pragmatic decision. If she couldn't overtake him immediately, so be it - first priority was guaranteeing entry into Xiajing Academy. There would be ample opportunities to close the gap later down their fledgling career paths.

"Alright, it's a deal. You take me through the dungeons, and I'll share the cooldown talisman's charges with you," Xia Xue declared.

Lin Moyu knew she would ultimately agree - only a fool would refuse such an advantageous arrangement. This way, he too could squeeze in several extra dungeon runs, despite the reduced solo experience gains. With enough repeats, the cumulative benefit could potentially exceed running fewer but harder modes.

A mutually beneficial solution. Xia Xue stated decisively, "Then let's not waste any more time - we're entering the dungeon together."

Lin Moyu shook his head. "Two more hours until my personal cooldown ends, no need to burn your talisman's charges frivolously until then."

Xia Xue wasn't so reckless with resources either, immediately grasping his reasoning. "Ah of course, let's just wait those two hours out then. I'll catch a nap - call me when your cooldown is up."

As promised, she swiftly curled up and dozed off, quickly dozing into tranquil slumber with a slight smile on her lips. To fall asleep so openly in the wilderness demonstrated her unquestioning trust that Lin Moyu's presence would ensure her safety, no matter their competitive rivalry.

Xia Xue understood him well beneath the surface, which allowed her to rest so peacefully. After instructing his skeletons to stand guard, Lin Moyu too returned to meditative repose, restoring his energies.

Two hours later, the moment Lin Moyu's cooldown ended, he roused Xia Xue. "Get up, time's up."

She blinked sleepily. "Already?"

Stretching languorously, Xia Xue inadvertently flashed her slender midriff and a hint of navel for a tantalizing moment as her shirt rode up. At 1.7 meters tall, her willowy figure was only slightly shorter than Lin Moyu's impressive 1.8m stature. Standing side-by-side, they cut a striking pair - if not for the decidedly unromantic skeletal guardians looming nearby.

The two-hour nap had rejuvenated Xia Xue's mind and banished most lingering fatigue. As party leader, Lin Moyu took point with her following as they approached the dungeon entrance together.

Xia Xue activated her cooldown talisman, its gleam momentarily enveloping her. She nodded at Lin Moyu. "Alright, let's do this."

He opened the dungeon interface and, to Xia Xue's shock, selected the nightmare difficulty setting.

Her face paled. "Did you pick the wrong one?" she spluttered in disbelief.

But before the words fully left her lips, the two had already been whisked away, disappearing into the deadly haunted mines.

The heavy, oppressive atmosphere inside the nightmare dungeon left Xia Xue breathless. Glimpsing the terrifying enhanced elite monsters patrolling behind the massive iron gate, her slender legs felt weak.

Using her detection technique revealed the monsters' intimidating combat stats at a glance. Both their attributes and appearance were completely different beasts compared to normal difficulty foes.

Xia Xue shot Lin Moyu a horrified look. "This is nightmare mode - did you choose the wrong setting?!"

He shook his head calmly. "I selected the correct difficulty."

The correct difficulty...did this madman actually intend for just the two of them to take on a nightmare-level gauntlet?

Just eyeing the monsters' formidable stats made Xia Xue's teeth chatter anxiously. "Are you insane? We'll be massacred!" she cried out.

Lin Moyu didn't respond to her panicked outburst, ignoring her obvious distress for the moment. "You'll follow behind me shortly," he stated evenly.

What? Follow where exactly?

Before Xia Xue could react further, one of the elite monstrosities had already locked its baleful gaze upon Lin Moyu, sensing easy prey. A frisson of mortal dread shot through her.

If not for the humiliation of Lin Moyu mocking her cowardice, she would have fled the instance immediately. However, a small army of skeletal warriors materialized around them with Lin Moyu's summoning. Even as he marshaled his existing forces, he created more fresh undead ranks.

In the blink of an eye, 80 skeleton soldiers filled most of the chamber space. Then, to Xia Xue's utterly bewildered horror, Lin Moyu flung open the entrance gate!

The skeletal legion marched forward like an inexorable tide, charging recklessly down the haunted mine tunnels. Lin Moyu clearly knew what he was doing, having done this before.

The enhanced elite monster guards pursued the bait skeleton vanguard, swiftly disappearing from sight down the passageways. "Follow me," Lin Moyu called out simply before giving chase himself.

Xia Xue could only gape, stunned by this unorthodox strategy. Could nightmare dungeons even be approached this way? She would never have imagined it.

"Hurry up, you don't need to be afraid!" Lin Moyu's voice echoed back from the tunnels.

Xia Xue stamped her foot indignantly. "This lady fears nothing and no one - I won't be shown up by you!"

Despite her bravado, she hurried to catch up with the fearless Lin Moyu, unwilling to fall behind.

An entire horde of monstrosities was now advancing relentlessly through the copy. Skeleton warriors led the vanguard, hordes of elite beasts nipping at their heels. And bringing up the rear were Lin Moyu and Xia Xue themselves.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Xia Xue demanded breathlessly as they ran.

Lin Moyu's reply was succinct: "Grind some experience."

Such a glib response rendered Xia Xue temporarily speechless at his audacity.

Dashing through the winding tunnels, they soon reached the main mine shaft where the dreaded Minewolf King's lair awaited. The nightmare version was visibly over a full circle larger than its normal difficulty counterpart.

Even without scanning, Xia Xue could sense its overwhelming aura of menacing power. This foe would be nigh unstoppable.

Yet the skeletal warriors simply ran straight at the boss, making no attempt to fight. The Minewolf King furiously attacked the undying ranks, but they continued their relentless forward charge unimpeded.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" Xia Xue was stunned by the skeletons' unnatural discipline and endurance, but also perplexed by their odd behavior.

"Hurry up," was Lin Moyu's only command as he drove them onward.

Once all the pursuing monster hordes had caught up, clumped together in the confined space, several skeleton warriors suddenly activated their skills in unison. They instantly slew an elite foe, hurling its corpse skyward.

Lin Moyu raised his hand, and the body detonated in an apocalyptic explosion!

The thunderous airblast made Xia Xue's ears ring, the terrifying force of the detonation nearly bowling her over. Yet her experience points skyrocketed, a dizzying tsunami of combat notifications and loot popups swarming her vision.

Almost immediately, she had gained over 30% raw experience from that single corpse explosion alone.

Xia Xue could only gape in utter disbelief. Who ran dungeons like this madcap strategy? What ungodly tactics were these?

Boom! Boom! More deafening explosions rippled out in rapid succession.

The Minewolf King itself, which had seemed such an imposing, nigh-unbeatable threat mere moments ago, toppled over with a pitiful death howl.

"It...died? Just like that?" Xia Xue muttered in a daze.

She vividly recalled their previous grueling showdown against this boss on normal mode as a full party. They had arrayed cautious tactics, coordinating roles and skills meticulously over 20 intense minutes before finally downing the beast.

Now Lin Moyu had just casually one-shot it in the arch-nightmare version as if it were nothing.

A surreal numbness crept up from Xia Xue's feet all the way to her skull. Her entire body trembled with something akin to an electric shock of sheer disbelief.

This...this was how one handled a dungeon? It was more like visiting one's own backyard garden! No...no, this was no ordinary mode they were blazing through, but a full nightmare gauntlet.

For the exact same boss, the difficulty delta between normal and nightmare was supposed to be utterly prohibitive. Yet in front of the nonchalant Lin Moyu, it posed less threat than a rabid mutt.

As the stupefying realization sank in, Xia Xue's core premise of what defined an "elite" player was essentially shattered. Lin Moyu didn't even seem to register her stunned reaction, simply gesturing onward. "Let's go."

The skeletal host had already pressed deeper into the mines toward the final depths where the Goblin King awaited. Jolted from her daze, Xia Xue quickly gave chase after Lin Moyu.

"You've been...solo clearing nightmare level dungeons?" she finally found her voice to utter the unthinkable question.

Even if she hadn't just witnessed it firsthand, she would never have believed such a ludicrous claim. Not for any player, ever in recorded history, let alone one of their middling teen levels.

Lin Moyu's tone remained casual. "Yeah."

"Since...since level 10?" Xia Xue pressed hesitantly, hardly daring to hope.

"That's right."

The succinct confirmation hit her like a physical blow. Suddenly, everything made sense - the inexplicable rate of Lin Moyu's leveling, the sheer gap rapidly widening between their respective progression paces.

While she had barely escaped the novice starter zones, Lin Moyu had likely already been soloing lethal nightmare dungeons like this forsaken hellhole. Unbound by any cooldown timers, he could have easily reached level 20 or beyond already at his accelerated pace.

The efficiency was mind-boggling. From entering the instance until now, barely ten minutes had elapsed before reaching the final boss chamber. Meanwhile on normal difficulty, it took Xia Xue's teams over an hour of grueling attrition to grind this far.

Up ahead, the grotesquely gigantic Goblin King battle gave off waves of sheer oppressive dread. Then the skeletal warriors herded the monstrous tempest of elites and wolves charging behind them straight into the jaws of death.

A dozen more thunderclaps of detonation later, an eerie silence descended over the abyssal caverns once more. An outer glow of leveling up shimmered around Lin Moyu.