Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Corpse after corpse was hurled into the air.
Explosions echoed incessantly.
Morintis detonated every single body.
Truly destroying the evidence and eliminating the bodies.
After completing this task, Morintis entered the dungeon.
Only then did the scattered practitioners who had protested earlier dare to approach.
When the corpses exploded, the terrifying energy had felt like knives scraping against their skin.
"Good heavens...they're all dead."
"Not a single one left, truly."
"Not just no survivors, there aren't even bodies left."
"Obliterating all traces.
Truly a man of few words and ruthless action."
"This means a serious feud with the Dynasty Guild now."
"The Dynasty Guild won't let this slide."
"What should we do?"
Wang Yi suddenly stepped forward.
"Everyone, given the Dynasty Guild's nature, they will absolutely not let this rest."
"If they catch us, whether we talk or not, our fate will be death."
"I have a suggestion.
We should all disperse now."
"Leave Westsea City, get far away from the Dynasty Guild's sphere of influence."
"After all, there's more than one place to level up.
The Dynasty Guild isn't omnipotent; they might not find us."
His proposal was immediately accepted by everyone.
Just as he said, the Dynasty Guild was not known for its reasonableness.
If caught, whether they talked or not, their fate would be similarly grim.
Wang Yi cupped his hands in a farewell salute.
"I'll take my leave first.
May we meet again if fate allows."
"Farewell!
May we meet again!"
Spurred by his words, everyone quickly dispersed.
In the blink of an eye, the dungeon entrance was deserted.
The bonfires died out.
Only the slowly rotating black vortex of the Xihai Mine Dungeon entrance remained, emitting a faint whirring sound.
Moonlight once again reigned over the area.
Half an hour later, several figures were teleported out of the dungeon.
A trace of disappointment was evident on Julian's face.
This dungeon run had still failed to yield the Goblin King's Crystal Core.
He would have to wait 12 hours for his next attempt.
But he still had chances.
With the entrance exam still days away, he could enter at least four more times.
"Huh?
Why is no one here?"
"Where did Jacob and the others go?"
"And where did all those scattered practitioners disappear to?"
"Something seems wrong."
"Jacob is gone.
All the practitioners are gone too.
What on earth happened?"
The few people who had accompanied Julian into the dungeon began to panic.
They were only level 17, far less experienced than Jacob and his team.
Now they could only look to Julian as their anchor, given his status as the Young Guild Master of the Dynasty Guild.
But Julian was also bewildered, his face a mask of confusion.
After pondering for a long while, he finally spoke.
"Fire a signal flare.
If Jacob is nearby and sees it, he's bound to respond."
A signal flare shot into the sky, exploding into a brilliant ball of light visible for miles around.
They waited until the flare completely died out, but there was no response, indicating Jacob and his team were likely not in the area.
Julian realized that something must have happened to Jacob and the others while he was in the dungeon.
Otherwise, they would never have left.
Could Jacob have been killed?
Given the strength of Jacob's team, they were the dominant force in this region.
He didn't even entertain that thought.
Even if they had been killed, there should be traces.
But there was nothing before them.
"It's not just Jacob who's missing.
Everyone else is gone too."
"Something definitely happened here.
There might be danger."
"Let's leave first.
We can go back and try to contact Jacob."
The atmosphere was too eerie.
Julian decided it was best to leave immediately.
Meanwhile, inside the dungeon, Morintis advanced relentlessly with his 64 Skeleton Warriors.
His strategy was identical to the last run, and experience points soared.
This run was even more efficient.
In just one hour, Morintis reached the dungeon's depths.
All 64 Skeleton Warriors swarmed the Goblin King, unleashing a furious barrage of attacks.
The sound of clashing metal filled the air.
Drawing on his previous experience, Morintis used Soul Flame to interrupt the Goblin King every time it tried to activate a skill.
Soul Flame was nearly instantaneous, slightly faster than the Goblin King's skill activation.
In merely thirty seconds, the mighty boss of the Nightmare-difficulty dungeon fell, defeated in utter frustration.
[Killed Goblin King.Experience +40000]
[Obtained Bronze-tier weapon: Goblin King's Spellbook.]
[Obtained Low-grade Monster Crystal Core.]
As expected, the Goblin King's Crystal Core did not drop this time, replaced by a Low-grade Monster Crystal Core.
The Goblin King's Crystal Core, dropping only once every 100 days, truly highlighted its rarity.
Morintis thought that when he reached Xiajing Academy, he might find an Alchemist to craft the Goblin King's Crystal Core into a Goblin King Ring.
Such a boss accessory would be extremely useful for any class, at any level.
Morintis checked the attributes of the Goblin King's Spellbook.
[Goblin King's Spellbook: Bronze-tier.Spirit +10, Constitution +10.Increases power of Mage-type skills by 3%.Usable after level 12.]
Looking at the attributes, while not perfectly suited for him, it was serviceable.
Carrying a book seemed somewhat interesting, too.
The 3% boost to Mage-type skill power was somewhat useful for Soul Flame and Corpse Explosion, but it had no effect on his Skeleton Warriors.
Skeleton Warriors didn't seem to belong to the Mage-type, yet they were summoned via a Mage skill.
The glow of his level-up hadn't fully faded.
Morintis had reached level 13 the moment he killed the Goblin King.
"The experience requirement is starting to increase."
"Probably won't reach level 14 in the next dungeon run."
"Will need about 3 more runs to reach level 15."
"Time-wise, I can probably run it 5 more times at most.
Might just reach level 16."
"Slightly worse than expected.
But level 16 should be sufficient for the Xiajing Academy entrance exam."
Morintis exited the dungeon.
Outside, it was deathly quiet, abnormally still.
"Everyone's gone?"
Morintis pondered for a moment and largely understood the sequence of events.
Leaving was probably the best choice those scattered practitioners could have made.
After a glance around, he didn't linger either.
He quickly melted into the darkness and vanished.