First Arrival in the Abyss (2), Divergence and Strife!

Lin Qingyan leaped off the boulder, stepping across the stones like a dragonfly skimming the water to arrive at Jiang Yuan's side.

"Average."

"If I had made a move, it wouldn't have taken nearly this long."

She said with pride.

The future Empress Qingyan never yielded to anyone.

"Yes, yes, you're amazing."

Jiang Yuan casually agreed, unable to hide a smile as he looked at his increased level and the 16 merit points on his record card.

As expected, killing monsters was the fastest way to level up!

Seeing his expression, Lin Qingyan felt annoyed and made up her mind to find an opportunity to show him her strength and give him a real shock.

"What should we do with these beast corpses?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"Throw them away. Do you want to carry them off?"

"It feels like such a waste..."

"You can take them with you," Lin Qingyan mocked, "or start a fire and eat them right now. That way, it won't be a waste."

"..."

He hadn't expected her to have such a sharp tongue.

The two continued to advance deeper, establishing rules along the way.

"When we encounter beasts, we take turns attacking. Any dropped equipment and materials belong exclusively to the one who made the kill."

"The other person must only watch from the sidelines and is not allowed to interfere or steal experience points."

This was to prevent them from coming to blows over experience.

"Speaking of which, School Beauty Lin, aren't you a healer? Do you have a way to kill beasts on your own?"

"Aren't you the same? I've never seen an ordinary assassin class deal forty thousand damage at LV2."

"It seems we both have quite a few secrets."

As they spoke, they suddenly dodged to the side in unison.

"Whoosh!"

A meter-long, sharp black spike shot out from the ground.

"Rumble."

The ground ahead suddenly shook violently, the earth and stone split open, and a two-meter-tall giant lizard crawled out, its back covered in sharp barbs.

[Abyss Monster]: Earth-Splitting Lizard.

[Grade]: Common.

[Level]: LV6.

[Skill]: Launch Barbs.

[Note]: A creature with some intelligence; it is despicable and cunning, and it loves to launch sneak attacks from underground.

"It's my turn this time."

Lin Qingyan kept her hands in her jacket pockets and stepped forward.

Watching her outstandingly beautiful back, Jiang Yuan felt a bit curious about what kind of confidence allowed her to dare enter the Abyss alone.

Lin Qingyan stood ten meters in front of the beast. Although she was only wearing casual jeans and a black hooded jacket, it could not hide her beautiful figure—long legs, a shapely bottom, and a waist that could be spanned by a pair of hands. In particular, the patch of snowy-white neck revealed against her black jacket was mesmerizing.

But the Abyss beasts didn't care if you were beautiful or ugly; in their eyes, humans were just food.

"Hiss..."

The Earth-Splitting Lizard let out a sharp sound and slammed its thick forelimbs forward. The ground shook, and a fissure rapidly spread toward Lin Qingyan.

Lin Qingyan tilted her head back, her long dark hair fluttering in the wind. The beautiful face beneath her baseball cap remained calm, her dreamy ice-blue eyes filled with a trace of indifference, majesty, and dominance.

Her cherry lips moved slightly.

"Stop."

The fissure spreading to her feet seemed to hear the will of a god and stopped instantly!

The Earth-Splitting Lizard was clearly stunned for a moment, tilting its head in confusion, unable to understand what had happened.

Jiang Yuan's eyes flickered as well.

Lin Qingyan spoke again.

"Freeze."

The temperature around the Earth-Splitting Lizard plummeted suddenly. It began to freeze from its limbs, the ice spreading until it was completely encased.

"Shatter."

Clang!

Like shattered crystal, the ice encasing the Ice-Sealed Earth-Splitting Lizard instantly fractured into countless pieces, its health bar above its head dropping to zero.

Until the moment it died, the Earth-Splitting Lizard had no idea what had happened, completely bewildered.

It feels a bit like a Spell Speaker...

Jiang Yuan thought to himself as he watched the leveling-up phenomenon manifest around Lin Qingyan, judging that the class she had changed into was at least Epic-grade.

Lin Qingyan bent down and picked up a bracelet from the pile of ice shards.

"Not bad luck, it dropped a piece of equipment, though it's a pity it's only Common-grade."

She tossed it aside casually.

Jiang Yuan was stunned. "You don't want it?"

"Common equipment isn't even worth picking up for me." Lin Qingyan glanced at him sideways, speaking with haughty pride. "If you want it, you can have it."

Jiang Yuan actually bent down to pick it up and placed it into his inventory slot.

These rich people really know how to squander wealth; he knew that even a piece of Common equipment could sell for at least tens of thousands.

Only a fool would turn it down.

He looked up again.

He discovered that Lin Qingyan was no longer where she had been.

From the distance came the girl's majestic, cold voice, as if she were commanding the heavens and the earth.

"Thunder Strike."

Arcs of lightning emerged in the sky, and a bolt carrying a destructive aura crashed down with a roar.

Only then did Jiang Yuan react, shouting angrily, "It's my turn!!"

[God Speed]

In an instant, he covered a distance of several hundred meters, arriving at the zone where the lightning had struck.

Looking at the Earth-Splitting Lizard that had been charred black by the electricity, Jiang Yuan looked at Lin Qingyan and said, "School Beauty Lin, it doesn't seem very nice to just break the rules we set."

Seeing Jiang Yuan, who had arrived as if by teleportation, a flash of shock crossed Lin Qingyan's face, and her small face revealed a hint of awkwardness.

She turned her head away and said haughtily, "You already killed so many Iron-Headed Wolves earlier, so this group of Earth-Splitting Lizards should all be my prey."

"You even took my equipment; if you aren't happy with it, go kill monsters somewhere else by yourself."

Empress Qingyan never reasoned with anyone.

"So that's how it is." A gentle smile appeared on Jiang Yuan's face. "Fine, fine, fine."

Suddenly, movement erupted from a patch of ground, and iron spikes shot out.

Lin Qingyan's clear eyes flashed, and her cherry lips parted: "Thun—"

Before she could finish her sentence.

Jiang Yuan appeared instantly in the air above that area, throwing a punch downward.

Boom!

The five-meter radius of iron-hard ground caved in entirely, and the Earth-Splitting Lizard within was crushed and flattened along with it!

[Ding, you killed an Earth-Splitting Lizard, EXP +50]

"You!"

Lin Qingyan was annoyed and immediately cast her gaze elsewhere, but whenever she spotted a beast, before she could even say the words "Thunder Strike," Jiang Yuan would kill it in seconds with even greater speed.

His speed, akin to teleportation, combined with his monstrous single-target damage, turned him into a master of instant kills; no beast could survive a second punch.

After having seven or eight monsters snatched away in succession.

Lin Qingyan grew angry as well.

"Bind."

This time, the attack was not directed at a beast, but at Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan felt an invisible force like ropes binding his limbs and body, pinning him in mid-air.

Lin Qingyan looked at him coldly and said, "I've tolerated you again and again for the sake of us being classmates; don't force me to get serious."

Jiang Yuan smiled.

"Since that's the case..."

Under Lin Qingyan's surprised gaze, Jiang Yuan's entire body erupted with terrifying blood-energy fluctuations, directly shattering the invisible binding and causing him to drop from the air to the ground.

Covered in a layer of crimson ripples, the handsome youth with flowing black hair rolled his neck and flexed his fists, his pale golden pupils reflecting Lin Qingyan's figure.

"Since neither of us is willing to submit, let's just have a fight."

Lin Qingyan narrowed her eyes.

"Exactly what I wanted."

She didn't think for a moment that she would lose.

Beneath the dim sky of the Abyss, the youth and the girl stood face-to-face in the dangerous environment teeming with beasts, the tension between them palpable.