The Sun’s rune stones undoubtedly played a significant role in this.
Especially the Binding Rune; because every monster hit would have a Binding Aura appear beneath its feet, those who were bound were easy to spot at a glance.
Gu Xiaobei would step forward every now and then to give the skeletons a few whacks.
Despite being only Level 1, her wooden spatula added enough strength that she knocked them out cold with a single swing.
Li Huai, who had been fanning the flames earlier, stopped his arsonist antics. He drew his World Item, the Mist Blade—which looked much like a rapier—and charged forward, picking off the bound skeletons one by one.
Wheel of Fortune, Esmeralda, and Magician, David, provided support from the rear. One held a pair of silver engraved revolvers while the other wielded a short staff like a gunslinger. Whenever a monster managed to slip past the front line of Gu Xiaobei, Li Huai, and the High Priestess, they would finish it off with a bullet or a Magic Missile.
However, what surprised Lan Qingyou the most were the fisherman Hierophant and the vampire High Priestess.
They say a fisherman can catch anything except fish.
Lan Qingyou hadn't believed it at first, but she was thoroughly convinced after seeing the Hierophant of Blue Island cast his line and drag a floating ghost right out of the sky.
Initially, Lan Qingyou thought she was the only one who could deal with ghosts—monsters that were technically undead but also soul-type.
But to her surprise, the High Priestess could as well. Then again, it seemed perfectly reasonable that a vampire would have ways to deal with ghosts.
It was just that this woman had become her "competitor."
While Lan Qingyou was turning ghosts into Soul Crystals, this woman was gobbling them up like snacks.
To say she was vacuuming them up wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Fortunately, her efficiency wasn't as high as Lan Qingyou's.
Lan Qingyou only needed to fire off a skill to snatch the kill, whereas the High Priestess had to actually sink her teeth in to consume the soul, leaving behind nothing but gray sand.
Meanwhile, Lan Qingyou zipped through the air. Her task was to handle the ghosts drifting up from the ground, occasionally providing support by tossing Frost Potions or Explosion Potions into the mob of monsters.
Since she was the only one who could fly, she took on this role without hesitation.
It was eight against thousands, a seemingly overwhelming disadvantage.
But through the efforts of the Villa crew, after about three hours of continuous combat, monsters finally stopped surging out of the fire.
As soon as the battle ended, everyone collapsed to the ground.
Three hours of high-intensity combat was taxing even for evolvers.
After all, races like vampires, witches, Man-Demons, and Tree Elves didn't receive much of a bonus to constitution or strength.
Luckily, they had prepared plenty of items for this dungeon, so they hadn't completely exhausted their supplies in those three hours.
“Does anyone know how many monsters we killed in these few hours?”
The High Priestess asked weakly, sprawled on the ground with zero regard for her image.
“Who knows? Probably three or four thousand. I even leveled up twice,” The Sun replied. She sat cross-legged, pulled out a barrel of juice sponsored by Justice, tossed a few cups onto the ground, filled one, and downed it in a single gulp.
She was clearly exhausted as well.
“Hehe, I jumped straight to Level 8!”
Gu Xiaobei, who had explicitly stated she was here to leech experience, laughed happily.
“Wait, Boss Lan, what are you doing?”
Gu Xiaobei was about to pour a cup of juice for Lan Qingyou, but she couldn't see her. Turning her head, she saw Lan Qingyou sitting right where the battle had just taken place. Her mount, the Magic Broom, was currently... cleaning up?
While cleaning was the Magic Broom's original function, doing it in a place like this at a time like this was a bit eerie.
The others heard Gu Xiaobei and turned to look, not understanding what she was doing.
“Nothing much, just gathering some alchemy materials.”
Lan Qingyou didn't even look up. She took out a glass bottle with a funnel and began scooping up handfuls of the ash that the Magic Broom had swept into piles.
“What is that?” the Hierophant asked curiously.
“Soul Ash. It can be used to brew potions and craft magic tools. It’s what’s left after the High Priestess bites those ghosts to death.”
“...”
The others' expressions were hard to read, but the High Priestess, still slumped on the ground, was speechless.
As the one responsible for creating it, even she hadn't realized this stuff could be used as material.
If she had known it was useful, she would have collected some earlier. At the very least, she could have sold it to the witch.
Seeing that Lan Qingyou was just gathering alchemy materials, the others stopped paying much attention. Materials were like that—if you found them, you gathered them. That was an iron rule.
However, even if they stopped watching, every single person there—even the fisherman Hierophant—envied Lan Qingyou.
More accurately, they envied Lan Qingyou's Magic Eye.
Though they didn't know the full extent of its functions, it was definitely more than just identification.
Still, the ability to identify anything at any time was enough to make these researchers green with envy.
It explained why Lan Qingyou had sold a pair of identification glasses in the Villa before; she already had her awakened Magic Eye.
Identification glasses...
Although their effectiveness was tied to one's own level of knowledge, everyone present was an A-grade in their field.
Yet that item had been snatched up by Chariot. It was irritating just thinking about it.
They had tried to order similar items from Shang Chuan and even Chu Yuan, but even the Supreme Council couldn't produce them right now.
Or rather, they were so precious that no one was willing to give them up. It was the kind of situation where even Chu Yuan's “do me a favor” wouldn't work.
So, the group could only watch in envy.
Fortunately, the barriers were gone now.
Once the Magician's magic circles were perfected and fully deployed, logistics should improve significantly. They would just have to wait for the right opportunity.
Now that the battle had reached a temporary lull, everyone needed to rest and prepare for the next fight.
“By the way, High Priestess, that biting skill of yours feels a bit inefficient. Is it a unique vampire skill?” the Magician asked while they rested.
In truth, everyone was curious.
After all, it was the first time they had seen a skill used that way.
While everyone subconsciously knew that vampires would eventually resort to biting, seeing it used to kill ghosts was a first. It was quite a novelty.
“It’s nothing special. It’s just a tooth maintenance and care skill,” the High Priestess replied without reservation, briefly explaining the skill's function.
But her answer left everyone even more confused.
Wait, how did this involve dental care?
“Don’t novels and games have this? Evil cultivators who use the souls of others to nourish themselves? We vampires are similar. After all, teeth are vital organs and tools for a vampire. Naturally, we need a maintenance skill for them.”
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