Xia Yuan teleported into the barrier with Mo Shiyu.
A chaotic battle had already erupted inside!
The Alliance's Contract Spirit Masters and Contract Spirits were fighting a massive horde of level 50 monsters. Skills flew everywhere as the battle raged!
At the center stood a pitch-black dungeon portal, many times larger than an ordinary one.
Countless monsters were pouring out of it!
They all appeared to be dragons.
[Level 50, Wingless Abyss-Devouring Dragon!] [Level 55, Corpse-Rot Dragon!] [Level 60, Ice-Fire Two-Headed Dragon!] [Level 65, Roaring Funeral Dragon!] [...]
They flew through the sky and burrowed underground, unleashing a dizzying array of elemental breaths.
The entire ruined city had become hell.
Mo Shiyu had never seen any of these monsters in her textbooks. "They aren't in the monster records. They're a new type. Xia Yuan, be careful! Dragons are incredibly tough. They won't be easy to deal with!"
If this many dragons escaped, the consequences would be disastrous!
She could hardly imagine what would be left of Chuanbei's cities.
The Alliance's Contract Spirit Masters and Contract Spirits on the front line soon noticed the two of them.
When they saw the level 25 above Xia Yuan's head, they were dumbfounded:
"What the hell? A level 25 Contract Spirit came in here?"
"Hey! It's too dangerous here! Get out!"
"You students should be guarding the outside of the barrier!"
"What are the people outside doing? Didn't we agree that any student reinforcements had to have a level 50 Contract Spirit?"
"..."
"Too noisy!"
Xia Yuan took off his blindfold. His azure eyes glowed brightly in the night, and a blue spiral formed between his palms. "Jujutsu forward rotation, maximum output—Cursed Technique: Blue!"
He swung one arm in a circle, drawing the blue spiral's twisting force along with it.
With himself at the center, he began to trace a circle!
The powerful blue gravitational mass swept through everything in its path. It crushed and tore apart the dragons charging at him, turning them into Spirit Stones!
Everywhere Cursed Technique: Blue passed, the ground caved in deeply.
Only the small patch beneath Xia Yuan and Mo Shiyu remained untouched!
That one attack killed more than a dozen dragons!
The terrifying sight left the other Alliance members speechless. They all shut their mouths.
What was going on?!
What kind of level 25 was this?!
His combat power was absurd!
Had he used his ultimate?!
Even their level 70 and 80 Contract Spirits might not have pulled that off!
Xia Yuan had shown off successfully.
Mo Shiyu felt inexplicably thrilled too. She held her head high, feeling a little like she was throwing her weight around on his strength...
This was her SSR. Terrifyingly strong!
Then Xia Yuan relied on the absolute defense of his Limitless Technique and attacked with even less restraint.
A wild smile curled his lips. He used Cursed Technique: Blue with his left hand and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red with his right.
Whenever he spotted a high-level dragon that looked particularly troublesome, he sent a Hollow Technique: Purple its way!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Xia Yuan became a battlefield cannon, slaughtering everything in sight. Dragons famed for their defenses crumpled like paper in his hands!
The other Alliance Contract Spirit Masters and Contract Spirits watched in alarm. For a moment, they almost thought an Abyss Dungeon boss had come out to run wild...
Mo Shiyu was the one suffering. She could feel her spiritual energy being drained without pause.
With Xia Yuan, a veritable monster-crushing machine, joining the fight, the Alliance's position was no longer as dire as before.
But there were simply too many monsters. They still couldn't fully contain them.
Quite a few had begun ramming the red barrier, trying to break out.
Who knew how much time passed?
Over a hundred level 50 monsters had died at Xia Yuan's hands.
He had reached level 28!
The System Reward Bar... 13%!
Xia Yuan tore a dragon's head apart with his bare hands and kicked it away. He asked Mo Shiyu, who was hiding behind him, "How much spiritual energy do you have left?"
"Only a third," Mo Shiyu quickly replied. "But the spiritual-energy potions I brought can restore another half. So about eighty percent altogether."
She had been improving these past few days too. Each time Xia Yuan drained her spiritual energy, her total capacity rose sharply after she recovered.
Her kitten Contract Spirit had also reached level 50 and was on the verge of a breakthrough, giving her a substantial boost to her spiritual energy while reducing what she expended.
If Xia Yuan had fought this recklessly before, she would have collapsed long ago.
Xia Yuan looked toward the portal at the center. "We could fight like this forever. The Abyss Dungeon boss is inside that portal, right? If we kill it, will the smaller monsters die too? Has anyone gone in to clear it?"
Mo Shiyu nodded. "The Alliance has probably sent a raid team into the dungeon. We just need to hold our ground here."
Xia Yuan raised a hand and crushed another dragon with Cursed Technique Reversal: Red. "But they still haven't cleared it after all this time. They must have run into trouble..."
The moment Mo Shiyu heard that, she knew what he was thinking.
She gave him an odd look. "You want to go into the dungeon, don't you..."
Xia Yuan considered it. "Clearing the Abyss Dungeon boss should earn me a huge chunk of experience!"
In his earlier dungeon runs, Xia Yuan had discovered that defeating a dungeon boss not only granted a great deal of experience but also advanced the System Reward Bar more than anything else!
Mo Shiyu immediately waved her hands frantically. "No, no! Abyss Dungeon bosses are almost always max level, with massive health and attack power. There's no way we can beat one with our current strength!"
A huge mass of ice slammed into Xia Yuan's face. His Limitless Technique blocked it, shattering it into fragments. "Aren't there other Alliance Contract Spirits in there? They can handle the damage."
Mo Shiyu blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
Xia Yuan explained with a grin, "Didn't you want to see Domain Expansion? Mine is actually a crowd-control ultimate. It might help them."
Mo Shiyu was startled. "You've dealt all that terrifying damage, and now you're telling me you're actually a crowd-control Contract Spirit?"
Xia Yuan smiled. In a sense, his strongest move, Domain Expansion, really was about control.
But its damage wasn't low either.
"Great, then it's settled. Let's go in!"
Before Mo Shiyu could react, Xia Yuan grabbed her and charged toward the Abyss Dungeon portal.
On the way, the Alliance members were startled to see that absurd level 28 charging at the portal again:
"Is he insane? He's going to challenge the Abyss Dungeon too!"
"The raid team's already inside. Won't he just get in their way?"
"Are academy students all this fearless these days?!"
"I remember a news report saying Chuanda Spirit Contractor Academy got a new SSR recently. It must be him. Nothing else would explain that ridiculous combat power!"
"But even an SSR can't take on an Abyss Dungeon at level 28!"
"Does he think an Abyss Dungeon is some ordinary leveling run? He's got guts!"
"..."
Mo Shiyu looked utterly resigned.
She felt like a power bank, stuck to Xia Yuan and constantly recharging him without any say in the matter...
Still, she knew that despite how arrogant Xia Yuan looked, he understood his limits.
Since he said his ultimate could control the battlefield, there was no harm in going in to take a look...
If they could help the Alliance's raid team clear the Abyss Dungeon sooner, they would gain a generous share of experience and end this disaster earlier.
Carrying Mo Shiyu, Xia Yuan unleashed his full firepower. He killed the dragons lunging at them and plunged into the portal.
Their surroundings changed in an instant.
A barren desert came into view.
Yellow sand stretched in every direction beneath the blazing sun!
Xia Yuan floated in midair with Mo Shiyu, keeping them out of the monsters' reach for the moment.
As far as they could see, a dark tide of dragons surged toward them, all trying to escape the dungeon.
The sounds of fierce fighting came from farther away!
They looked up and saw an enormous black dragon standing in the desert.
It stood hundreds of meters tall and resembled a tyrannosaur from ancient times!
Obsidian-like scales covered its body. Three crimson eyes lined its head, radiating an evil light!
Its limbs were powerful, and its claws were sharp as blades!
Every time it opened its gaping maw, a terrifying blast of energy erupted!
[Level 100, Shadow of Nidhogg, Star-Abyss Extinction (Phase Two—World-Ending Tyrant Form)]
The Contract Spirits in the Alliance's raid team were locked in battle with it, swarming around it like flies and attacking nonstop!
It was the first time Mo Shiyu had seen a boss with such an overwhelming presence. Her pretty face went pale.
Xia Yuan raised a hand and gazed up at it in amazement. "That's a full-on kaiju. Where's Ultraman?"
"Who's Ultraman?" Mo Shiyu asked, puzzled.
Xia Yuan said, "Light!"
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