Straight to Nightmare?

At this moment, Su Mu and Ye Qingxue walked side by side on the wasteland.

Night was fading, and a dark red line appeared at the edge of the gray-black sky—the unique "dawn" after the Source Calamity.

The wind blew from the west, carrying withered grass clippings and a faint smell of rust.

Ye Qingxue walked half a step to the left of Su Mu, her white light armor still stained with a few drops of dark green goblin blood.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised her hand, and an ice-blue card popped out of her card box, turning into a stream of light at her fingertips and landing ten meters in front of the two of them.

The Snow Queen has appeared.

She was colder than Su Mu had imagined...

The woman was tall and slender, her entire body composed of translucent ice crystals, with pale blue skin from which a faint, cold light could be seen flowing within.

She wore a crown made of interwoven icicles, and her long hair flowed like a frozen waterfall, each strand shimmering with a cold, eerie blue light.

Her long dress was made of layers upon layers of ice crystal scales, the hem trailing on the ground. Wherever she passed, withered grass was instantly covered in frost, and the soil froze into fine cracks.

She stood there, and the air around her seemed to distort.

His breath turned into white mist, and a thin layer of ice formed on the ground beneath his feet at a visible speed. Several Goblin Skirmisher wandering in the distance had just caught a whiff of his presence and hadn't even had time to turn and run away when a silent icicle pierced their skulls.

The Snow Queen didn't even raise her hand.

Ye Qingxue walked ahead, glancing at the Snow Queen every now and then. A slight smile played on her lips, her pride impossible to hide.

Su Mu saw it all, but said nothing.

He originally planned to summon the White Bone Spirit to fight monsters.

The White Bone Spirit's group attacks are highly efficient, saving a lot of time in clearing out the scouts along the way. But after glancing at Ye Qingxue's appearance, he suppressed the thought.

Never mind, I won't bother her.

The two continued walking.

The Snow Queen roamed a hundred meters ahead, Goblin Skirmisher, Goblin Warriors, and the occasional scattered skeleton soldier into ice sculptures, which then shattered into ice crystals scattered all over the ground.

Her monster-clearing speed is extremely fast. Although her fire curtain doesn't have the wide range of the White Bone Spirit's fire curtain, her ice attribute has a very strong crowd control effect, and monsters are often frozen before they can even react.

Su Mu tried to speak, "How is Li Ming? Did you see him at school yesterday?"

Ye Qingxue tilted her head, seemingly surprised that he would ask this. She thought for a moment, then said calmly, "Li Ming was recommended for military academy."

Su Mu paused for a moment.

"Recommended admission?"

"Hmm." Ye Qingxue nodded. "A local military academy in Rongcheng. His father was a retired logistics soldier in the military, so he should have connections. Plus, he has an A-level technological civilization theme and Biochemical Mothership core card; the military academy has high hopes for his development path."

Su Mu was silent for two seconds, then smiled.

"Good."

That kid Li Ming kept saying, "Brother Mu, I'll take you under my wing," but he ended up getting snatched up by the military academy first.

However, Su Mu was genuinely happy for him.

In the military system, A-level technological civilization is the most sought-after, and being recommended to a military academy means having all the resources, training channels, and promotion paths secured.

Li Ming's personality, going to military school would be a much safer path than working in the field.

"What are you laughing at?" Ye Qingxue glanced at him.

"It's nothing." Su Mu shook his head. "I'm happy for him."

The two walked for a while longer. The Snow Queen cleared out the third wave of scouts ahead, and the surroundings became quiet for a moment.

Ye Qingxue suddenly asked, "How did your level increase so quickly?"

Su Mu didn't hide anything. "I'm farming the Land of Buried Bones."

Ye Qingxue raised an eyebrow slightly. "The Land of Buried Bones? A level 15 nest, the experience is indeed higher Goblin Camp. But it takes too long to clear one round, and you can't do it many times by yourself."

Her mind raced with thoughts.

In her mind, Su Mu must have been farming Normal Lair.

After all, given his core cards and level, he might be able to barely manage the Hard Lair, and the Nightmare Lair are unrealistic. While the experience from the Normal Lair isn't much, they're safer, and by repeatedly using items that clear cooldowns, he can level up.

As for the price of clearing the cooling item... she hadn't thought about that.

In her subconscious, she had already overlooked Su Mu's family background at this point.

Su Mu smiled but offered no explanation.

Ye Qingxue did not press the matter further.

The two continued walking.

About five hours later, the greyish-white hills of the Land of Buried Bones came into view at the edge of the horizon.

It was already past ten in the morning, the sky was overcast, and there was no sun.

On the open ground outside the entrance to the Land of Buried Bones, the crowd had changed since yesterday. Dozens of tents were scattered around, campfires burned with eerie blue flames, and several small teams were organizing their equipment.

"Have you heard? Yesterday, a student, in his early teens, stayed in the Nightmare Lair for over twenty minutes."

"Really? Level 10+ can take on Nightmare Lair? That's impossible."

"I don't know, but some people are saying it. They say it's from Rongcheng No. 1 High School, and the core card is supposedly F-level."

"F-rank? That's even more impossible. You're just bragging."

Who knows? I didn't see it with my own eyes anyway.

The chatter was sporadic, but it wasn't as lively as it had been yesterday.

When Su Mu and Ye Qingxue reached the entrance, only a few gazes swept over them. The aura of the Appraisal touched him briefly before being silently blocked by the Shadow Concealment Badge.

"I can't figure it out; that man's information is blocked."

"The woman can see Ye Qingxue, level 12, core card SSS-level Snow Queen."

"What about the other one?"

"I don't know, I can't see the level. Maybe it's a badge."

"Whatever, it's not that F-rank guy from yesterday. He's probably already gone."

Su Mu ignored the stares. He walked to the light screen and brought up the control panel.

[Trial Nest: Land of Buried Bones]

[Difficulty Options: Normal/Hard/Nightmare/Hell]

[Currently available challenges: Normal/Hard/Nightmare/Hell]

Hell has been unlocked.

He glanced at it, but didn't choose.

Ye Qingxue's current level is level twelve.

You can't get in.

He needs Ye Qingxue's cooldown removal item; he can't farm it alone.

He chose the nightmare directly.

Ye Qingxue stood behind him and paused slightly when she saw his choice.

Nightmare?

She thought Su Mu would face difficulties.

After all, while the experience gained from Hard Lair may not be as great as that from nightmares, it's more reliable.

Moreover, she herself was only level twelve. Although her core card was SSS-level, she knew the strength of the monsters in Nightmare Lair.

But Su Mu has already made his choice.

She hesitated for a moment, then did not object.

Since Su Mu made this choice, he must have his reasons. Besides, she wasn't entirely without options. She was confident that she could at least reach the tenth wave of the Nightmare Lair.

"Let's go," Su Mu said.

The two walked side by side into the light curtain.