I gain permanent defense when attacked; even gods and demons can't hurt me.

Although I read the newspaper this morning, and although my daughter told me about Lin Yuan's perversion.

But when he saw that bright red [lv20] with his own eyes, the impact still made him feel suffocated.

This kid went from level 1 to level 20 in less than a week!

This speed of upgrading can no longer be described as genius; it's simply monstrous!

Old Zhou, who was standing to the side, also put down the blueprints in his hand. His cloudy old eyes flashed with a sharp light as he looked Lin Yuan up and down.

"Good lad!"

"Your physical fitness is impressive."

Although he couldn't discern the specific numerical values, he could sense the boundless vitality within Lin Yuan's body, as well as the terrifying defensive aura.

"You're probably even tougher than a level 30 shield warrior, right?"

Lin Yuan smiled and didn't refute, humbly saying, "I was lucky, I killed a lot of monsters."

Ouyang Lingyun took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and his smile became even brighter.

"Okay! Okay!"

"Xiao Yuan, you've given us a really big surprise!"

"Level 20! This breaks the historical record of our Tianhai City!"

"You've got this year's college entrance exam in the bag! You even have a chance to be the top scorer in the province! Oh wait, I mean, the top scorer nationwide!"

His attitude towards Lin Yuan has changed from initial admiration to extreme importance now.

It even carried a hint of ingratiation.

After all, who wouldn't want to invest in a promising talent destined to become a powerhouse?

"Alright."

Old Zhou impatiently interrupted Ouyang Lingyun, staring intently at Lin Yuan.

"Young man, you wouldn't come here without a reason."

"Speak, what brings you to see me this time?"

"Is that bronze equipment set broken again?"

"Ahem, um..."

Lin Yuan scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"It's not that it's bad, it's just that I feel like this attribute is a bit outdated."

"I'm already level 20, but I'm still using bronze equipment."

"Old Zhou, although I've learned a passive skill called [Shield Durability] that allows my shield to repair itself, other equipment can't do that."

"So, you want me to upgrade your equipment?"

Old Zhou saw through Lin Yuan's intention at a glance: "To be honest, I have never seen anyone so generous as to go out of their way to upgrade bronze equipment to silver."

"Upgrading requires silver materials, and the cost of those materials, plus the money to hire a blacksmith, is almost enough to buy a whole set of silver equipment."

"So, do you want me to use my own materials to upgrade you, or are you going to prepare your own?"

Old Zhou asked a question first.

After all, Lin Yuan had run so many dungeons by himself, he must have accumulated a lot of top-quality materials.

Lin Yuan chuckled and flipped his hand over.

A huge carapace, radiating a thick, earthy yellow light and with mysterious patterns on its surface, appeared out of thin air on the table.

【Ancient Chitinous Shell (Pseudo-Gold Grade)】!

"boom!"

The moment this shell appeared, it seemed to have its own gravitational field, making the table feel heavier.

An aura of pressure belonging to a pseudo-gold-level creature instantly spread out!

"This...this is..."

Old Zhou's previously nonchalant expression vanished instantly.

He suddenly lunged onto the table, his hands trembling as he stroked the carapace, as if caressing the skin of a peerless beauty.

"An extremely rare pseudo-gold-grade material? It's only a hair's breadth away from being a true gold-grade material."

"Equipment made from this material has the same equipability level as silver-grade equipment. Good lad! You got this from the hidden dungeon quest, right?"

"That texture! That hardness! That energy fluctuation!"

"Absolutely top-notch! This is absolutely top-notch!"

"Old Zhou."

Lin Yuan pointed to the shell and then pulled out a bunch of random silver materials from his backpack.

"You see, with this main ingredient, plus these auxiliary materials..."

"Could you upgrade this Devouring Armor set for me?"

A hint of anticipation flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes.

Old Zhou laughed heartily: "With this ant king's shell as the core, and combined with your auxiliary materials, give me three days, and I'll stay up all night to make it for you!"

"At that time, even if it's only silver-grade, its attributes will absolutely crush ordinary gold-grade equipment!"

"That's the allure of a pseudo-gold-tier set!"

After saying that, Old Zhou grabbed all the materials and equipment on the table as if he were snatching a treasure, and rushed into the forging room.

Watching Old Zhou's departing figure, Lin Yuan and Ouyang Lingyun exchanged a glance and smiled.

"Xiao Yuan."

Ouyang Lingyun sighed.

"You really went all out this time."

"If this shell were auctioned off, it could be exchanged for at least two top-quality silver-grade equipment."

Lin Yuan shook his head: "What suits you best is the best."

"The special effects of the Devouring Set are very important to me, and I can't bear to change them."

Ouyang Lingyun nodded, then seemed to realize something.

"By the way, now that you've handed over all your equipment, how are you going to farm monsters for the next three days?"

Lin Yuan shrugged: "There's nothing I can do but make do for now."

"I plan to buy a silver-grade greatsword as a backup; the rest of my gear can be any bronze-grade."

"Anyway, I'm level 20 now, and the Ant Nest dungeon is only good for farming materials; the experience gain is very low for me now."

"I'll treat these three days as a vacation for myself, and also help Xia Chen and Ouyang Xue level up."

"After all, there's only one week left until the college entrance exam."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Lingyun's eyes lit up.

Should I help Xiaoxue level up?

This is fantastic news!

You should know that with Xiaoxue's current level, even if she had someone from the City Lord's Mansion to take her into a difficult dungeon to level up, she wouldn't be able to kill all the monsters within two hours.

But Lin Yuan can do it!

Moreover, he entered a hellish instance!

With Lin Yuan around, there's no need to worry about Ouyang Xue's safety.

With Lin Yuan's current strength, carrying two people through the Hell Dungeon is a piece of cake.

"Ahem, Xiao Yuan."

Ouyang Lingyun rubbed his hands together, a kind smile like that of an "old father" appearing on his face.

"Your help for Xiaoxue makes me feel a little embarrassed."

"That way, you don't need to go buy it."

"Perfect timing! I have a few pieces of equipment that I collected before in my city lord's treasury. Although they are a bit low-level, their attributes are not bad."

"I'll give it to you to use temporarily!"

Then, the butler immediately came up with a tray, on which was placed a silver-white heavy shield and a set of standard knight's armor.

Guardian's Shield (Silver)

【Knight's Glory Armor (Silver)】

"Thanks, Uncle Ouyang."

Lin Yuan accepted it without hesitation.

After leaving the city lord's mansion.

Lin Yuan glanced at the time; it was 2 PM.

"Let's go for a walk around the school."

"It's been a long time since I've seen Principal Lu."

If you could only read one urban novel in your life, it would probably be "I'm Permanently Buffed in Defense When I Get Hit, and Gods and Demons Can't Damage Me".