Molten Purgatory’s Prerequisite

As Lin Shenyue listened to Xu Linglong recount her past, time slipped away unnoticed. It wasn’t until Ye Jue came online and sent them a message that she realized hours had already passed in their conversation.

Since everyone had reached Level 15, Ye Jue intended to officially tackle the Level 15 dungeon today. This dungeon wasn’t merely a boost in monster attributes; it also introduced various side quests. Completing these would offer crucial assistance when confronting the boss.

Ye Jue, with his extensive knowledge, already understood the intricacies of the upcoming dungeon’s side quests.

The Level 15 dungeon was named Molten Purgatory. As its name suggested, most of the monsters within were fire-attributed. Fire-attribute mages would find their damage severely reduced in this place, though their high fire resistance would also make them considerably safer.

The dungeon entrance was located in a military camp beside a barren mountain range east of Vermilion Bird City. This camp had been established specifically to monitor anomalies in the desolate mountains.

Recently, the camp’s general had stumbled upon unusual phenomena in the mountains. Upon investigation, he discovered that a dormant volcano beneath the range was showing signs of eruption, seemingly spurred on by unknown molten creatures.

Due to frequent recent skirmishes and a lack of reinforcements, they couldn’t spare the resources to quell these creatures. Their full efforts were dedicated to suppressing the volcanic unrest, which served as the dungeon’s origin.

When Lin Shenyue and the other three followed Ye Jue to this remote, desolate area, she genuinely hadn’t expected to find the entrance to a Level 15 dungeon there.

Xu Linglong, being a novice, was unaware of the difficulty in locating dungeon entrances. Lin Shenyue chose not to elaborate, while Divine Wind was accustomed to Ye Jue’s comprehensive knowledge.

Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze, the only newcomer to the team, held his questions back upon seeing that the others remained silent. Thus, an issue Ye Jue had agonized over for a long time passed by with surprising ease.

This left Ye Jue feeling quite speechless. He had spent two days racking his brain for a plausible excuse to find this dungeon, knowing Lin Shenyue, who understood him well, likely harbored suspicions.

Yet, her silence confirmed she wasn’t one to gossip. Divine Wind, having leveled with him since the novice village, would also have guessed some things, but Ye Jue presumed he’d attribute it to a powerful faction backing him, rather than suspecting Ye Jue himself.

With two newcomers, there was always a risk of exposure. He hadn’t anticipated that no one would question anything, leaving Ye Jue, who had painstakingly crafted a good excuse, feeling a pang of wasted effort.

Unaware of Ye Jue’s vexation, Lin Shenyue was currently distributing combat consumables among the group. Although Ye Jue was the leader, he habitually left such matters unattended.

Divine Wind and Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze were lone wolves with rather laid-back personalities, naturally not taking responsibility for such tasks. Xu Linglong, on the other hand, was clearly a young lady of privilege.

While Lin Shenyue herself came from a similar background, in her previous life, she had largely fended for herself, giving her at least some experience in managing resources. However, this was her first time undertaking such a task, so some initial allocations were inevitably imperfect, prompting Ye Jue to offer timely suggestions.

Xu Linglong watched from the side, a frown creasing her brow, but ultimately remained silent. She saw no discontent in Lin Shenyue’s eyes; in fact, Lin Shenyue seemed quite content performing these chores.

‘Honestly, to make Yue’er do such menial tasks,’ Xu Linglong murmured to herself. Yet, seeing Lin Shenyue’s enjoyment, she decided against voicing any objections.

As soon as the combat consumables were distributed, Ye Jue initiated a conversation with the camp general.

“General, you seem deeply troubled. Is there anything we can do to assist you?” Ye Jue respectfully inquired.

The camp general glanced at him. After sensing that Ye Jue’s strength barely met his requirements, he sighed. “To be frank, we are bogged down here by some molten creatures, but for various reasons, we cannot directly intervene. We hope you can venture forth and investigate.”

[Ding! Do you accept the quest ‘Investigate Molten Purgatory’?]

“Yes.”

Undoubtedly, this quest was the prerequisite for the Level 15 dungeon, and everyone needed to complete it. However, unlike the Level 5 novice village dungeon’s prerequisite quest, which often had a high chance of triggering a story event, the Level 15 dungeon did not feature such a narrative.

This was because the characters who typically influenced such quest changes were not currently in the city, and lesser characters couldn’t impact quests of this magnitude.

Compared to their previous venture, Ye Jue still offered little explanation this time. However, he distributed fire resistance potions to everyone, which piqued Lin Shenyue’s curiosity.

While Ye Jue usually logged in with her, it was possible he sometimes handled his own affairs before meeting her. Thus, her curiosity remained, and she had no intention of asking about the potions’ source.

Upon seeing the fire resistance potions in their hands, Divine Wind and Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze immediately understood their immense value at this stage, realizing they could significantly impact their dungeon run.

[Fire Attribute Resistance Enhancement Potion (Intermediate Potion): Upon use, Fire Attribute Resistance +20 (Fire attribute damage reduced by 20%) for 30 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

Neither Divine Wind nor Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze had seen such potions on the market. Perhaps a guild had discovered them and kept them hidden. However, when Ye Jue casually produced fifty bottles, distributing ten to each person, they realized he must have a stable supply.

Otherwise, he would never waste so many on a mere prerequisite dungeon. Lin Shenyue, however, didn’t concern herself with such details. Furthermore, while she had some understanding of potions, her concept of money was weak, and she didn’t grasp the true value of these elixirs, so she calmly accepted them.

Once everyone was prepared, Ye Jue initiated the prerequisite dungeon.