Lin Moyu left the dungeon and then entered it again. In the few moments he spent in the Dungeon Hall, he caught the attention of the people paying attention.
“Godly General Lin hasn’t left!”
“He’s been in the dungeon for over a day without clearing it. What could he be doing?”
“I bet he was doing skill grinding. Since his class awakening, maybe he’s been grinding his skills in there.”
“But isn’t that what the Skill Grinding Center is for?”
“Maybe Godly General Lin's skills are special and need to be grinded in the dungeons.”
Speculation buzzed as Lin Moyu began his first dungeon run after his second class awakening.
The plain stretched endlessly before him. Choosing a direction was necessary but tricky, with high chances of heading the wrong way. For Lin Moyu, though, this was no problem.
He deployed his twenty undead legions, sending 12,000 skeletons racing in different directions. The dungeon map in his mind rapidly took shape, with unexplored areas being meticulously scouted.
In moments, the skeletons had covered 10 kilometers, then 15, then 20, and finally reached the dungeon's edge. The plain, a circular expanse with a radius of about 25 kilometers, was fully mapped.
The plain housed only one type of monster: the Wind Faerie. These creatures appeared in small groups of three or four, scattered across the plain, totaling over a thousand. Occasionally, a lone Wind Faerie would appear here and there.
Although there were a thousand monsters, they were sparse, spread across the circular plain with a 25-kilometer radius. For an ordinary party of six, clearing them all would be nearly impossible. Only Lin Moyu's undead troops could achieve it.
The skeletons scoured the plain, eventually locating the passage to the next stage at its far edge. By then, every Wind Faerie had been eliminated. The four Wind Faeries guarding the passage fell, leaving no monsters remaining on the plain.
At that moment, a slight tremor shook the dungeon.
Lin Moyu smiled, "It upgraded."
He realized that the Whirlwind Plains dungeon's upgrade mechanism differed from that of the Fire God's and Water God's dungeons. To activate the upgrade here, the key wasn’t kill speed but total monster elimination. Clearing every creature on the plain triggered the upgrade.
By this point, he had been inside the dungeon for over an hour. The students waiting outside looked disheartened.
“Seems Godly General Lin didn’t manage to trigger the upgrade this time either.”
“See? Even Godly General Lin has his limits.”
“He’s powerful, but he’s just had his second class awakening. His actual strength can’t match that of the other godly generals.”
“Maybe that whole day he spent in there before was just him trying to figure out how to upgrade it.”
Some were quick to criticize Lin Moyu, concealing jealousy in their words. But others defended him.
“Upgrading a dungeon isn’t simple; who can say they truly understand the mechanics involved?”
“I've been to that plain. The map is enormous—it’s tough to kill enough monsters in a short period of time.”
“Exactly! If you think you can do it better, why don’t you go in?”
Both sides stood their ground, each presenting their case.
Suddenly, the dungeon vortex began to spin intensely, whipping up powerful winds that howled through the Dungeon Hall and spilled outside, drawing everyone’s attention. The doubters, who had assumed Lin Moyu had failed, stared in disbelief—the dungeon had upgraded.
Lin Moyu had truly done it.
Supporters of Lin Moyu grinned in delight, while those envious of him grimaced and quietly left the scene.
The passage leading from the edge of the plain was a channel of wind, brimming with the wind element. Lin Moyu stepped onto it, feeling as if he were walking on cotton, a sensation both surreal and exhilarating. His undead troops had been recalled, and the wind carried him forward, away from the ground.
The vast plain shrank below him until it vanished completely. A new plain materialized before him, smaller in diameter—only about five kilometers across—but floating in midair. Beneath it, a colossal whirlwind spun, generating an immense force that supported the entire plain.
Lin Moyu marveled at the spectacle. The sheer energy required to suspend an entire landscape was unfathomable, almost miraculous. At last, he understood the true meaning of Whirlwind Plains.
The wind carried him to the floating plain’s surface. The moment he landed, a fierce whirlwind hurtled toward him, striking with a powerful impact. The sharp gusts cut like blades, though his Bone Armor shimmered in response, deflecting the force with a series of clanging sounds.
Ignoring the whirlwind, Lin Moyu stepped forward and surveyed the scene. The plain was blanketed with whirlwinds, clustered densely across the landscape.
"There are no monsters?"
Lin Moyu squinted, scrutinizing the whirlwind battering against him, and realized that it was, in fact, the enemy. He quickly cast the Detection spell.
[Whirlwind Spren (hell rank elite monster)]
[Skill: Whirlwind Strike]
[Traits: Wind Elemental Immunity, Physical Immunity.]
As the dungeon upgraded, the monsters within grew stronger. The level 44 hell rank elite monsters now had total attributes of 140,000, including a physique of 50,000, with immunity to wind elemental and physical damage—rendering the Skeletal Berserk Warriors ineffective.
The Skeletal Marksmen’s attacks were significantly weakened. Fortunately, the Skeletal Great Mages remained useful. Since these pure elemental monsters left no corpses, Corpse Explosion was unusable. Drawing on his experience, Lin Moyu knew he had to eliminate the Whirlwind Spren one by one.
With a thought, Lin Moyu summoned his undead forces. 4,000 Skeletal Great Mages began clearing the monsters. Boosted by the Lich Generals’ buffs, just a few Elemental Explosions were enough to defeat a Whirlwind Spren.
The group advanced swiftly as Lin Moyu pressed forward. In the undead army’s wake, the Whirlwind Spren were quickly eliminated. In the distance, beyond the hundreds of Whirlwind Spren, Lin Moyu saw a palace floating in midair, connected by a suspended pathway formed from stone platforms.
The undead army surged forward, quickly reaching the pathway. The skeletons swiftly leaped onto the stone platforms, advancing toward the palace.
Following his second class awakening, Lin Moyu’s agility attribute had soared. Though still lower than that of the Skeletal Berserk Warriors and Skeletal Marksmen, it far surpassed that of the Skeletal Great Mages. He leapt forward, moving nimbly between the stone platforms toward the palace.
As he landed on the platform outside the palace, a massive hand lunged toward him. The hand, several times larger than Lin Moyu himself, churned with fierce, blade-like winds from its palm. Lin Moyu didn’t dodge; instead, several Skeletal Berserk Warriors appeared beside him, each wielding a large axe, charging fearlessly against the wind.
Along with resounding crashes, their axes—glowing with a fierce scarlet light—collided with the giant hand. Screams echoed as the hand, now bleeding heavily, retreated.
Before the palace stood a towering, tiger-shaped monster nearly 10 meters tall, its fur bristling and tail raised skyward, baring sharp fangs. A fierce wind swirled around it, so densely infused with the wind element that it glowed with a greenish hue, slicing through the air like a living weapon.
[Whirlwind Tiger (hell rank elite leader)]
[Skill: Whirlwind Claw, Gale Critical Strike]
[Traits: Wind Elemental Immunity, 50% Physical Damage Reduction, Enhanced Health, Enhanced Speed]
After a quick glance at its attributes, Lin Moyu dismissed the creature from his mind. Its attributes weren’t even on par with a lord rank boss—hardly worth his concern.
The Whirlwind Tiger struck first, lunging at Lin Moyu with astounding speed. Enhanced by the Speed Enhancement trait and the wind element, its agility was pushed to the limit, leaving a blurred trail in its wake. Its speed exceeded Lin Moyu’s vision, making it difficult to pinpoint.
But Lin Moyu didn’t need to pinpoint its location. With a resonant hum, a red light ignited.
Skill: Deterioration Curse!
The curse’s 5,000-meter range easily covered the palace and extended across the entire floating plain. The Whirlwind Tiger slowed immediately, moving as though in slow motion. Atop its head, a blood-red sword materialized, a chain hanging from its hilt—marking the fusion of the two curses.
In the next instant, the Skeletal Great Mages and Skeletal Marksmen launched their assault simultaneously.