It really was unexpected.
The biggest gain this time was actually Strong-Maned Pig.
The SSS-rank Magic Scroll Stone Skin dropped by Queen Medusa was simply a perfect match for him.
After all, in the Divine Oracle world, damage reduction can take effect up to 90%.
Although the 50% final damage reduction from Strong-Maned Pig's talent was already insanely powerful, it was still somewhat short of the perfect attribute of maximum damage reduction.
At the very least, for an ordinary person to reach the full 90% final damage reduction through the SSS-rank Magic Scroll Heavenly Defense · Eternal Stone Skin, they would need ninety scrolls.
But Strong-Maned Pig already had 50% final damage reduction, so he only needed forty scrolls to max out his damage reduction.
"I can use these ten scrolls to temporarily raise Strong-Maned Pig's damage reduction to 60%. Later, if I get another chance to obtain Stone Skin scrolls, I can increase the remaining 30% and reach maximum damage reduction."
As for Lin Mo himself.
He had Strong-Maned Pig, who could take 90% of the damage for him, which was equivalent to already having maximum damage reduction.
Of course, if Lin Mo himself maxed out his 90% damage reduction and then had Strong-Maned Pig take 90% of the damage for him, that would be even better.
It would mean that whenever Lin Mo was attacked, he would only have to take 1% of the damage.
But there was no need.
Because the cost would be too high.
With limited resources, the most important thing was still to prioritize making sure Strong-Maned Pig's tankiness was as high as possible.
Thus, using the Scroll Evolution Points he had accumulated recently, Lin Mo evolved all nine remaining SSS-rank Stone Skin scrolls into SSS-rank Heavenly Defense · Eternal Stone Skin in one go.
He fed all ten Eternal Stone Skin scrolls to Strong-Maned Pig at once.
Of course, the scrolls' effects themselves were also very good.
But judging from Strong-Maned Pig's current tankiness, he seemingly didn't need them.
After all, just now, Strong-Maned Pig had been able to withstand the attacks of the Level 80 Tier 7 BOSS Queen Medusa.
Without Strong-Maned Pig's protection, Ah Li might not even have been able to solo-kill Queen Medusa.
So he might as well just stack the permanent passive.
Thus, Strong-Maned Pig's final damage reduction instantly rose from 50% to 60%.
Lin Mo's sense of security increased by another 10%.
After all, the tankier Strong-Maned Pig was, the safer Lin Mo would be.
For a moment, Lin Mo regretted his earlier decision.
"The SSS-rank Magic Scroll Incubation Clone I got from the Yama Hall was used too early."
Because Incubation Clone was also a rare scroll with a minimum rank of SSS.
Unfortunately, when Lin Mo used Incubation Clone back then, his SSS-rank talent Soul Flame had not yet unlocked the scroll burning and evolution abilities.
Otherwise, if he had evolved Incubation Clone to SSS-rank before using it, what kind of permanent enhancement effect would he have obtained?
Could it be that the clone would be able to exist permanently?
Returning his attention to the present.
Among Queen Medusa's loot, they did not find the Snake Clan treasure Ruyi or the map fragment of the God Refining Cauldron.
Apparently, they would have to wait until they completed the secret realm quest and obtained the secret realm rewards before they could get these two items.
Thus, after dealing with the loot, Lin Mo and Ning Xi stepped over Queen Medusa's corpse and entered the Snake King Palace.
Inside the Snake King Palace, they successfully found the secret realm quest scroll.
By using the scroll, they successfully obtained the secret realm quest.
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[Saving the Injured] (Snake Clan Golden Secret Realm Snake King Island Exclusive Quest):
Difficulty: 7980
Description: As a carnivorous race on the Divine Oracle Continent, the Snake Clan is skilled at hunting from outside and preying on other races. Players, please rescue the unfortunate victims hunted by the Snake Clan on Snake King Island. Each time you rescue an unfortunate victim, you can obtain a corresponding amount of Benevolence Points based on their race and identity.
Quest Progress: 0/1000 (Benevolence Points)
Quest Time: 5 hours
Quest Reward: Unknown
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Compared to the previous few dungeon quests that were purely about killing snakes, this secret realm quest finally had something new.
Following the normal approach players would take to clear this secret realm, they would next have to carefully and nervously rescue the unfortunate victims on Snake King Island. Once they alarmed Queen Medusa, they would almost certainly face a narrow escape from death.
But for Lin Mo and Ning Xi, from here on, they could act without any restrictions and wreak havoc across Snake King Islandm
Thus, carrying the secret realm quest, Lin Mo and Ning Xi left the Snake King Palace and began searching the enormous island for unfortunate members of other races who had fallen into the Snake Clan's hands.
———
[Meanwhile, Inferno City]
Whoosh!
White light descended.
Nether, who had returned to the city from the wilderness, seemed to have some purpose in mind as he headed straight for the tavern in the east of the city.
As soon as he arrived at the tavern entrance, he saw several young male players gathered around a sexy, cold-looking girl, drinking and chatting together.
Nether recognized the girl at a glance.
It was Ji Ningshuang.
"What fun is there in drinking in the game? Beauty, where do you live in real life? A few of us can meet up with you offline and go drinking! Let's have some fun!"
"Exactly! Having fun offline is what really matters."
"Little beauty, you're really pretty! Your skin is so fair and smooth! Do you have a boyfriend? Want big brother to introduce you to someone?"
"Why bother introducing anyone? Just pick one of us brothers. Isn't that more convenient?"
"Or don't pick at all. Why don't we all do it together? Wouldn't that be more exciting?"
"Hahahaha!"
Nether didn't disturb them. He simply stepped back outside the tavern and waited quietly.
This scene, however, happened to catch Ji Ningshuang's attention.
Seeing that Nether didn't show the slightest sign of jealousy and was instead so indifferent, Ji Ningshuang instantly lost interest.
After sending the few male players away, she came outside the tavern and glanced at Nether.
"I've discovered that you're actually a pretty boring person."
Nether got straight to the point, "Didn't you say you had two good pieces of news to tell me?"
Ji Ningshuang opened WeChat and sent Nether a screenshot from the game, "Here. The first one."
Nether opened the screenshot, and his hands suddenly trembled.
Because the Divine Oracle screenshot showed the back of a long-haired Elemental Mage girl wearing a cyan mage robe.
And even though it was only her back, Nether recognized her at a glance, "Xin'er!"
"Where is this? Where did you get this screenshot?", Nether immediately asked Ji Ningshuang.
Seeing how Nether treated everything with such indifference, yet he cared so much about this girl, Ji Ningshuang felt somewhat displeased.
But she still answered coldly, "My godfather's people found this screenshot on the forums. Someone else posted it."
"Don't worry. My godfather has already started investigating."
Staring at the girl in the screenshot, the worry in Nether's heart finally eased a little.
Memories of himself and the girl came rushing back to him.
When he was eight years old, his parents died in a car accident.
Left all alone, Nether was kindly taken in by the family of his parents' close friend.
This girl was the only daughter of his parents' close friend. She was one year younger than Nether, and her name was Chu Xinran.
The two of them had grown up together and could be called childhood sweethearts.
Chu Xinran was born into a scholarly family with relatively well-off circumstances.
In Nether's memory, she was gentle, considerate, graceful, well-educated, and treated him extremely well.
Her parents also treated Nether as their own son.
Nether was her older brother, and also… her lover.
He had protected and cared for Chu Xinran ever since they were children.
Chu Xinran had likewise cared for and looked after Nether in every possible way.
Until half a year ago, he and Chu Xinran had just finished taking their wedding photos and gotten engaged when they went to Han Country on a trip.
But not long after they arrived, Chu Xinran suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Although he reported it to the police immediately, the local police did nothing.
After his visa expired, Nether was also deported back to his home country.
All this time, Nether had tried every possible channel and method to search for his fiancée, Chu Xinran.
Then, after the Divine Oracle game launched, he heard someone say that they had seen his fiancée, Chu Xinran, in the game.
Unwilling to give up even the slightest hope, he registered the account [Nether] and entered the Divine Oracle world.
But after searching desperately for more than a month in Divine Oracle, he still found nothing.
Just when Nether was at his most desperate.
At this very moment, the game screenshot sent by Ji Ningshuang instantly gave Nether hope again, bringing his extinguished hope back to life.
"Xin'er… are you really in Divine Oracle?"
"I'll definitely find you!"
At this moment, Ji Ningshuang took several map-like fragments out of her inventory and continued, "The second piece of good news."
"The God Refining Cauldron map is already in hand."