Perfect Clear! Epic Equipment! Pale Flame Armor Piercing!

"Azure Flame Flowing Fire? The name is quite cool, though I wonder if the actual effect lives up to it."

Chen Ming watched the azure flame floating in his hand, his expression shifting slightly.

Only now, observing the strange flame closely at such proximity, did he notice some clues.

The blue tail-flame of the Azure Flame Flowing Fire was incredibly scorching, burning fiercely.

Yet the pale-colored flame at its core was the exact opposite, appearing to have no temperature at all.

Chen Ming could even feel a trace of chill against his palm.

Just then, the scenery of the ravine began to shift.

[Congratulations! You have completed the 'Cloud Hidden Ravine' dungeon!]

[1. Treasure Hunt: Harvested 10 or more energy-attribute materials!]

[Progress: 18/10]

[2. Challenge: Successfully killed 5 or more Treasure-Guarding Exotic Beasts!]

[Progress: 6/5]

[Time Taken: 5 hours!]

[Rating: Perfect!]

[Dungeon Points +20!]

"The dungeon is cleared."

A perfect rating—just as expected!

He had already pushed himself to the limit; it would be unreasonable if he hadn't achieved a perfect rating.

"20 dungeon points? That's unexpected."

Dungeon points were, in fact, the points for the Grand Exam.

After the seventh day, the dungeon rankings would open, and the rankings would be determined based on the points of the class-holders.

20 dungeon points were already equivalent to clearing a large-scale dungeon three or four times.

Other class-holders were still struggling bitterly to reach level 5 at this time.

Chen Ming already had dungeon point data.

['Cloud Hidden Ravine' dungeon, perfect rating clear reward:]

[EXP +500! Tier 1 Epic-grade mental equipment!]

"Hiss... Epic-grade?"

Chen Ming's eyes lit up.

He hadn't expected such rare equipment to be rewarded!

If one wanted to purchase mental equipment from a guild, the prices were always much higher.

Moreover, Epic-grade mental equipment was virtually impossible to find.

[Dust Heart Ring]: Tier 1 Epic-grade mental equipment!

Just as he prepared to inspect it, his aura suddenly changed.

[Congratulations! Level has increased to level 6! (1200 EXP required for next level)]

Chen Ming had only been a hundred or two EXP away from level 6 to begin with.

The 500 EXP from the dungeon reward allowed him to successfully reach level 6.

"This Dust Heart Ring even comes with a 100-point mental power bonus!"

Chen Ming checked the attributes of the Dust Heart Ring and was immediately shocked.

This was equivalent to having already socketed 10 Spirit Rune Stones.

Thinking of this, Chen Ming took out the Spirit Rune Stones he had obtained from killing the Flame Spirit from his mental space and applied them to the Dust Heart Ring.

[Mental Power +110!]

"Not bad, not bad."

This attribute bonus was already comparable to leveling up.

And this was far from the limit.

A Tier 1 Epic-grade piece of equipment could be socketed with a total of 30 rune stones!

It was just that Spirit Rune Stones were somewhat difficult to obtain.

He would ask some guilds if they provided them once he returned.

Chen Ming equipped the Dust Heart Ring.

He glanced at his current attributes.

[Class]: Shield Guard

[Level]: 6

[Strength]: 80

[Constitution]: 3500/4550 (20%)

[Recovery]: 435 (19%)

[Agility]: 79

[Mental Power]: 820 (20%)

[Skills]:

[C-Rank-Hardened (lv.9)]

[SSS-Rank Defense (Max Level)]

"This wild dungeon run was so worth it."

Chen Ming was in a fantastic mood.

This was the benefit of wild dungeons; if luck was on your side, the harvest would be immense.

Of course, greater rewards always came with greater risks.

One might even encounter terrifying dungeons from which there was no return.

After settling his equipment, Chen Ming turned his attention back to the Azure Flame Flowing Fire in his hand.

"There's no way this won't even make a splash this time."

This item was visibly much stronger than the Mind Crystal.

Without hesitation, Chen Ming began to absorb it.

He used his mental power to envelop the entire cluster of flames, drawing out the pure elemental energy within.

Compared to the rapid absorption of the Mind Crystal, the Azure Flame Flowing Fire was significantly slower.

At the bottom of the valley.

Chen Ming sat on the ground, the pale flame floating before his brow, emitting a faint, eerie luster.

As time slowly passed, the flame could be seen growing smaller and smaller.

It wasn't until it gradually dissipated that Chen Ming slowly opened his eyes.

[Mental Power +10]

"It really isn't in the same league."

He had absorbed two Mind Crystals without gaining a single point of mental power, which had truly disappointed him.

Yet this tiny wisp of flame had granted him +10 immediately!

The gap was obvious.

Although, looking at the numbers alone, it was merely the equivalent of a Spirit Rune Stone's bonus.

But the significance of the two was entirely different.

The greatest utility of rare resources was the awakening of skills.

Furthermore, after absorbing the Azure Flame Flowing Fire, Chen Ming could finally feel some progress.

If absorbing elemental energy to awaken a skill was like storing water in a Water Pool, he at least had a layer of water at the bottom now.

"Hm, what is this?"

Suddenly, Chen Ming felt something strange.

He looked down at his hands, his expression stunned.

A faint flash of fire flickered past.

The next second, a spark appeared abruptly at his fingertips.

The pale flame swayed, its tip trailing with a blue tail.

It was the very Azure Flame that Chen Ming had just absorbed!

"This..."

Chen Ming's mouth hung slightly open, words failing him.

[Armor Piercing: Attacks are imbued with Azure Flame, Armor Piercing +20%!]

Staring at the information before him, it took Chen Ming a full half-minute to process it.

To be honest, he was truly shocked.

Absorbing a rare resource had actually provided him with an effect similar to a skill!

Chen Ming had heard of such things before.

However, those were only rumors regarding exceptionally powerful resources worthy of being called treasures.

Absorbing these resources allows a class-changer to "prematurely" grasp a portion of the abilities they are destined to awaken.

In other words.

After Chen Ming absorbed the Azure Flame Flowing Fire, the mental skill he would eventually awaken would be related to "Armor Piercing" capabilities.

And now, he had "prematurely" mastered a portion of that power.

"Is this thing actually this strong?"

Had it already reached the level of a legendary treasure resource?

Looking at the effects of the Azure Flame Flowing Fire, Chen Ming couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

This counted as an extra surprise, an unexpected gain.

When he fought across levels, what was he lacking the most?

First was his means of attack.

Second was the fact that the high defense of exotic beasts meant the damage he dealt wasn't very impressive.

But now, 20% Armor Piercing!

This was even more useful than a 20% increase in attack power.

Chen Ming couldn't help but start to feel a sense of anticipation.

Just how strong would the mental skill he awakened later turn out to be?