Chapter 62: You Really Know How to Flatter

Swallowed by the abruptly appearing dim cavern, Zhou Fan and the other two felt their scalps tingle at the sight of the dense horde of giant bear monsters before them.

Fortunately, Cao Yu, standing right beside them, showed not a flicker of panic on his face, remaining entirely composed and at ease.

*Spirit Imperial Omnikinetic*—Cao Yu began to activate his prop to its fullest extent.

This Grade D prop, which he had rarely utilized since acquiring it, finally began to demonstrate its true power.

Simultaneously, he issued a mental command to Xiao Qi, who sat perched upon his shoulder:

*‘Kill all the monsters nearby!’*

“Hehe……”

Xiao Qi grew utterly excited, her figure instantly vanishing from where she stood. She darted through the surrounding giant bears, ruthlessly tearing them to shreds.

Supported by *Spirit Imperial Omnikinetic*, Cao Yu himself drifted into the air.

With a mere flick of his thought, a massive force instantly transformed into propulsion, launching his body like a cannonball. Propelled by the operation of the *Immortal Slaying Incantation*, he shattered one giant bear spirit after another.

Xiao Qi continuously teleported within a five-meter radius around him, every teleportation landing her directly inside the body of a giant bear, effortlessly tearing the monsters apart from the inside out.

The two of them fought like natural combat partners with flawless coordination. After a single pass through the horde, their flight path was littered solely with shattered limbs and broken fragments, leaving not a single living target behind. They had sliced a massive breach straight through the encircling pack of giant bears.

The severed limbs and broken fragments scattered into shimmering points of light that drifted upward, brightening the originally gloomy space quite a bit.

“……！？”

Zhou Fan and the others were already dumbfounded, struck speechless with shock.

What... what kind of strength was this?

Was Cao Yu really a Grade E player like them?

This gap was no longer just the difference between a genius and an ordinary person; it was vastly greater than the difference between a human and a pig!

Seeing this walking god of slaughter carve his way through the giant bear horde only to double back and return to his original spot, stopping right before them—the siblings Song Qiao and Song He instinctively took a step back.

This subtle detail was caught by Cao Yu instantly.

He tilted his head to look at the siblings:

“What are you backing away for?”

*Afraid that you’ll get too into the killing and accidentally slaughter us too……* Song Qiao quickly replied:

“Team leader, seeing so many monsters, I…… I was scared.”

“Me too,” Song He immediately chimed in.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll handle the primary damage; you two provide support,” Cao Yu said briskly. “First, let’s wipe out the bears nearby!”

*Splat*—Xiao Qi tore apart yet another giant bear, her figure then vanishing to rematerialize hovering just above Cao Yu’s head. She stepped lightly on his shoulders with bare feet, crouching down with the agility of a cat.

“Grassfish, do it again, do it again! Hehe……”

Her pitch-black pupils had somehow turned scarlet, highly conspicuous in the dim environment.

Pity that this cuteness could only be seen by Cao Yu.

“Dance Costume Rabbit Raid!”

Song Qiao summoned her long-legged rabbit, making it leap not far away to begin dancing and humming.

A considerable number of giant bears nearby were instantly drawn in, crowding toward it in succession.

Song He transformed into his zombie state, extending his sharp claws.

Zhou Fan regulated the emotions in his heart, manipulating his blood to form a crimson blade stretching three to four meters outward.

Cao Yu took flight once more.

Each of the four displayed their unique abilities, simultaneously engaging in battle against the giant bears that knew no fear.

In less than two minutes, the hundreds of giant bears surrounding them had been completely slaughtered.

No more giant bears appeared in the vicinity.

Granted a moment to catch their breath, the four of them retrieved and drank mental recovery potions one after another.

Cao Yu drank two bottles in one go—he needed to restore not only his own depletion, but Xiao Qi’s as well.

With hundreds of giant bears eliminated almost entirely by his own hands, while Zhou Fan and the other two combined hadn’t even cleared a fraction of a percent... running the *Immortal Slaying Incantation* the entire time while maintaining *Spirit Imperial Omnikinetic*, one could only imagine his stamina and mental drain.

Before he had forged the *Immortal Emanation Avatar*, he would never have chosen such an aggressive approach.

But now…… his mental power and Xiao Qi’s were both independent yet unified.

Xiao Qi acted as his "secondary mental reserve"; when his own mental energy was depleted, he could draw upon hers.

Conversely, she could draw upon his.

At the same time, both of them could employ the *Immortal Slaying Incantation*, equivalent to two Class 11 superpower-users fighting side by side.

Xiao Qi also possessed *Formless Gathering and Dispersal*, while his own physical constitution was enhanced by the Immortal path... This comprehensive combat capability could be said to have pierced clean through the difficulty limit of a Grade E instance dungeon, existing in an overflow state.

Aggressive?

It didn't matter anymore.

“Team leader, this is my first time doing something this exhilarating!”

Feeling her mental energy gradually recovering, Song Qiao said with a mixture of nervousness and excitement:

“An encirclement of hundreds of monsters…… even if all the players who entered this time came together…… even if they could handle it, the casualties would probably be catastrophic, right?”

“Sis, we entered through abnormal means.”

Song He analyzed and deduced:

“The correct way to enter should be after ten o'clock at night, waiting for the spirit monsters to invade the town, and finding an opportunity to enter through an opened cavern. They go out, and we come in; that way, the monsters encountered would be vastly fewer.”

“No, this *is* the normal entry method.”

Cao Yu’s words instantly drew everyone’s attention back to him.

They heard him say:

“When I had you tie those people up, my purpose wasn't to test what kind of crisis attacking the townspeople would trigger.”

“Eh…… so it wasn't?” Song He was momentarily stunned.

“Of course not!” Zhou Fan stated. “Would Brother Cao do something so reckless?”

Though he hadn't quite figured out *why* it wasn't yet.

Since Brother Cao said it wasn't, then it wasn't!

“Forgot the essence of this instance dungeon?” Cao Yu reminded them: “The town devours things that hinder the townspeople from achieving happiness. By knocking people out and tying them up to cause a commotion, our actions undoubtedly amounted to intimidating and deterring the townspeople, making them panic and feel fear…… Understand?”

“We were swallowed in as ‘negativity’!” Song He finally comprehended.

“I can follow the logic, but…… team leader, are you certain this is the normal entry method?” Song Qiao expressed her doubt, saying: “If other players entered this way, they wouldn’t even survive the giant bear encirclement, would they?”

“Clueless! Can other players be compared to Brother Cao?” Zhou Fan said with disdain: “If you want to get an ‘A+’ rating, you need real skill and you have to risk your life. That’s the difference between high-tier players and low-tier ones.”

Song Qiao：“……”

This damned bootlicker really knew how to fawn over someone!

Still…… having an expert like this lead the team was truly exhilarating!

Speaking of which, should she also go ahead and suck up to him a bit?

“Don’t limit your perspective to the Federation framework,” Cao Yu chuckled. “The evolutionary game spans untold worlds, and formidable players are countless…… Well, we can chat more about this topic when we have free time.”

He turned serious and said:

“Do any of you feel a certain directional sense guiding you?”

“Yes,” Song Qiao nodded, pointing a finger. “Over that way.”

“Me too……”

Zhou Fan and Song He also gave affirmative replies, pointing out the direction.

All three of them were pointing in the exact same direction.

“All sensing it…… It seems our lost memories are in that direction.”

Cao Yu paced a few steps, thoughtful as he said:

“Judging by the environment of this space, that side should be the inner zone, and it’s likely to house even higher-level spirit monsters. Let’s wait until our mental energy is fully recovered before heading over. Everyone, get ready for battle.”

This space shrouded in gloom could be said to be utterly devoid of directional landmarks; judging by the scenery in sight alone, it was impossible to distinguish the outer ring from the inner ring.

However…… the chill, the dampness, and an indescribable weird odor—these three traits varied in concentration across different areas of this space, and based on that, the inner and outer zones could be delineated.

Cao Yu summoned his player interface, glanced at the time, and said:

“We’ll move out in fifteen minutes…… Huh?”

He paused mid-sentence, looked at the time again, and examined it closely—the seconds were ticking away exceptionally fast!

“You guys check the time on your interfaces,” he immediately reminded them.

Zhou Fan and the other two promptly summoned their interfaces to check, their expressions instantly turning startled.

“The flow of time here is actually different from the town?” Zhou Fan said in astonishment: “At this rate…… if we stay here for half an hour, the instance dungeon will probably be over.”

“I understand! This space is most likely a player sanctuary.”

Song Qiao analyzed the intelligence, arriving at a conclusion:

“Perhaps the dangers encountered by violating the sleep rules after ten o'clock at night are far worse than we imagined! Surviving a whole night is probably exceedingly difficult. However, if one can seize the opportunity to enter here and utilize the trait that time flows slower than in the town…… by simply holding out for about half an hour, the instance dungeon will end, and the players' survival probability will undoubtedly increase significantly.”

If she had entered the instance dungeon alone without Cao Yu, she probably would have…… no, she would have *only* been able to use this method to clear it.

For a moment, Song Qiao once again appreciated just how wonderful it was to be led by an overpowered veteran.

“Brother Cao, shouldn't we hurry up then?” Zhou Fan asked in a serious tone.