The buff is permanent, and you start the game with a fountain of water.

"Ding! Your level has increased to 29. All attributes +2, free attributes +10, health +200, mana +20."

With the fall of a silver-level demonic ape, Huan Cheng's level successfully increased to 29.

Huan Cheng set the experience to be split 50/50, and the little fox also leveled up to level 20, learned several powerful skills, and its attributes increased significantly.

He is now deep in Hidden Dragon Valley. Further ahead is the core area, which was also the core area where Qing Ao and others clashed with the demons.

After hesitating for a moment, Huan Cheng did not step in directly, but instead began hunting on the edge of the core area.

The environment here is like two different worlds from the valley entrance. The concentration of demonic energy has increased dramatically, the vegetation has withered, and it is desolate and barren. Ordinary wild monsters have completely disappeared, and only some broken and incomplete corpses of wild monsters can be seen.

There weren't as many monsters anymore; the groups of monsters like the demon wolves and demon bulls we encountered at the beginning were all gone.

The number of monsters has decreased, but their quality has increased dramatically. The monsters encountered are at least bronze-level, and silver-level monsters are also common.

What puzzled Huan Cheng was that after wandering around for so long, apart from the little fox's mother, he hadn't encountered a single gold-level BOSS.

This is not normal.

Even without the demonic mutation, a level 30 map like Hidden Dragon Valley should have several gold-level bosses guarding it.

Huan Cheng suspected that the high-level bosses might all be concentrated in the core area.

If the guess is correct, then we need to be careful. Given the sinister nature of demonic energy, Huan Cheng wouldn't be surprised at all if the core area harbored a Dark Gold-level BOSS.

The mission requires completion within seven days. Considering travel time and monster hunting, only three days have passed, so there is still plenty of time left.

Huan Cheng playfully touched the little fox's soft nose and chuckled, "Ah Li, let's go into the core area after we reach level 30, okay?"

"Okay, okay!"

Ah Li's cheerful voice echoed in her mind. This little thing might not even understand what Huan Cheng meant, but what her master brother said was always excellent, and the little fox never objected.

"Let's go level up! Our goal is to reach level 30 in one day!"

Silver-level bosses are no match for us to begin with, let alone now that we have a little fox as a partner.

Upon encountering them, the first move is Abyssal Judgment, followed by Intimidation and Provocation, then the Bloodthirsty Dragon Sword, and finally the little fox's ice magic.

Under normal circumstances, a silver-level monster cannot last more than five minutes against this master-servant duo.

The only thing that bothered Huan Cheng was that there were too few monsters here.

Often, even after riding the Fiery Cloud Steed for an hour or two, you might not see a single demon.

The experience required to level up from level 29 to level 30 is 414 million, which would require about ten Silver-level bosses.

Huan Cheng was very glad that Qingxi had given him a Fire Cloud Steed before he set off; otherwise, he would have broken his legs running around like this in search of monsters.

Corroded by demonic energy, the scenery here is monotonous and desolate, like a mental attack, making people tired and bored.

The little fox, on the other hand, was always full of energy, constantly making "biubiubiu" sounds, and laughter never stopped.

After more than a day of running around, and with Huoyun Steed practically foaming at the mouth, Huan Cheng finally gathered enough experience points.

"Ding! Your level has increased to 30. All attributes +2, free attributes +10, health +200, mana +20."

As the system notification sounded, Huan Cheng felt a warm current surge from his lower abdomen, instantly spreading throughout his body and reaching every limb and bone.

Immersed in this energy, the fatigue from long hours of monster hunting vanished, and Huan Cheng felt refreshed and sharp-eyed, as if all his senses were much more acute than before.

Huan Cheng clenched his fist, his face beaming with joy.

Putting aside the changes in attributes, there is a clear difference between level 30 and level 20 in terms of mental strength alone.

Open the system panel.

Name: Chengfeng

Level: 30 (Experience: 16345/10017080)

Occupation: Lord of the Abyss

Talent: Eternal Imprint (1/2, already inscribed with [Endless Rebirth])

Health: 35850 → 41150

Mana: 2330 → 2800

Physical attack: 5008 → 5916

Spell Power: 685 → 910

Physical defense: 2192 → 2590

Spell Defense: 1626 → 1916

Combat attributes (including equipment bonuses): Strength: 708, Constitution: 512, Agility: 447, Intelligence: 182, Spirit: 192

Skills: Insight, Heavy Strike, Wind Slash, Breath of Darkness, Abyssal Power, Abyssal Body, Abyssal Breath, Abyssal Guardian, Abyssal Judgment, Frost Armor...

Equipment: Bloodthirsty Dragon Sword, Azure Sun Set, Ring of Greed...

Special Status: Heavenly Sin

"It's true that every 10 levels is a hurdle; level 30 and level 29 are completely different states!"

Seeing the surge in all attributes, Huan Cheng couldn't help but laugh.

In his unequipped state, his five attributes totaled 1279 points at level 29. After leveling up to 30, the career growth coefficient was recalculated, and the sum of the five attributes jumped directly to 1701, an increase of more than 30% out of thin air.

Including equipment, the total five-dimensional attributes have exceeded two thousand points!

Thinking about the career growth coefficient of Lord of the Abyss 2.0, and how the increase would become more and more obvious in the later stages, Huan Cheng's smile became even brighter.

"Chirp—chirp chirp—"

The little fox didn't know what Huan Cheng was laughing at, but she was happy because he was laughing. She chirped happily and did somersaults on his shoulders.

He comforted the little fox, took a thorough inventory of the equipment, and finally fixed his gaze on the Qingyang Battle Armor.

As his level increased, this level 20 silver set gradually became outdated and was on the verge of being phased out.

He had several level 30 silver items in his ring, including a gold-grade armor contributed by the Golden Earth Dragon Crocodile.

However, these are all individual pieces, lacking the set bonus of the Qingyang Armor, which has delayed Huan Cheng's decision to change his gear.

"Shouldn't the Qingyang City armory have even higher-level gold sets?"

While pondering this question, Huan Cheng looked at the Merit section on the attribute panel, where the number displayed was 723.

Qingxi had already mentioned that you can earn merit points for killing monsters.

However, not all monsters will contribute merit.

According to Huan Cheng's observation, merit points are only awarded for killing monsters of bronze rank or higher. The amount of merit points awarded varies depending on the rank and level of the monster.

Having never been to the Merit Shop, he didn't understand what 700 merit points meant.

However, considering that a silver-level BOSS only gives a few dozen merit points, Huan Cheng felt that this thing should be quite valuable.

After completing this round of tasks, try to exchange for a gold-tier set in the merit shop.

Having set himself a small goal, Huan Cheng looked toward the core area of ​​Hidden Dragon Valley.

After the upgrade, Huan Cheng's confidence soared. He patted Ah Li's smooth little head and said, "Let's go see what kind of monsters and demons are hiding here!"

"Chirp chirp!!"

The little guy, like a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger, knew nothing of fear. He excitedly wagged his large, fan-like tail, his icy blue eyes filled with elation.

This time he didn't ride a horse. His confidence wasn't arrogance; facing a potential Gold-level or even Dark Gold-level BOSS, Huan Cheng had to go all out.

Holding the Bloodthirsty Demon Dragon Sword and activating the Abyss Breath, Huan Cheng cautiously scanned his surroundings before sauntering into the core area of ​​Hidden Dragon Valley.