There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

"Then let's do it this way." Lu Qing nodded, agreeing to Yegges's request.

In the dream game, you will often encounter special events. When you encounter such events, it is best to do them if possible, as you may be able to obtain some game items or increase the probability of clearing the dream world.

Lu Qing believes that Yegges must be a very important person, otherwise the Dream Game system would have no reason to place him in front of the old capital city gate. Perhaps the potion he developed could really succeed?

......

She and Ling rested at Yegos's place for a day, and the next morning they ventured into the streets of the old capital.

Aside from the skeletons and corpses that posed no threat whatsoever, Lu Qing unexpectedly encountered two flesh giants. These guys were reasonably strong, but they were no match for Lu Qing and were easily dealt with, providing her with a full 700 points of magic energy.

These flesh giants contained a great deal of magic energy. After experiencing the benefits, Lu Qing couldn't wait to wander the streets of the old capital every day in search of the flesh giants.

However, this was just a thought; she had other things to do in the old capital.

"Phew, that should be about enough." On the third day, Lu Qing looked at the explosives she had collected in front of her.

She had dug all these explosives out of the workshops, quarries, and still-standing city walls of the old capital. In addition to the already prepared explosives, she also made some homemade explosives herself. The only problem was that the quality could not be guaranteed.

As for her purpose in collecting so much explosives...

Lu Qing looked at the castle in the center of the old capital. Yeges said that the king and queen, who had turned into resentful souls, wandered around that castle all day, releasing mist that could turn the dead into ghosts.

Whether it's to give them a ride or to achieve a secondary objective, Lu Qing must eliminate the vengeful spirits of the King and Queen.

She even prepared three masks in advance for this purpose.

One side was of the king, one side of the queen, and the other side was half king and half queen, because she heard from Jaegers that the king and queen might just be a vengeful spirit, so just in case, she brought them along as well.

"Forehead......."

Looking at the enormous castle before her, Lu Qing recalled her knowledge about explosives.

She has the [Basic Demolition] skill, but the skill level is very low, only level one.

[Basic Demolition LV1-LV2]

"......"

Okay, now it's level two.

However, unlike the system in the game, leveling up doesn't give Lu Qing a lot of new knowledge; it just means the system has assessed that her skill level has increased.

With no other option, Lu Qing had to grit her teeth and continue setting up explosives near the castle.

Lu Qing wasn't sure if the explosives in the quarries and workshops would become duds after fifty years of erosion, but the explosives found in the military supplies stored inside the city walls were definitely still usable.

The supplies she found in those magically treated boxes were things from fifty years ago; if she hadn't been absolutely certain, she would never have guessed they were from fifty years ago.

As for her reason for planting the explosives, it's actually quite simple.

The castle's terrain is extremely complex, with a multitude of winding corridors and passageways. Inside, Lu Qing cannot perform well, while the resentful spirits with high spiritual activity can freely move among ordinary objects, making them very troublesome to deal with.

If that's the case, is there any way to prevent her from fighting the vengeful spirits inside the castle?

Of course there is, and Lu Qing came up with a very crude method.

I'm not going to fight you inside the castle, I'm going to blow the castle up!

Although the castle was, in a sense, her home and the property of the king and queen, it was useless now anyway. Rather than keeping it and causing her trouble, it would be better to just blow it up.

With that in mind, Lu Qing placed all the various explosives she had collected on some of the castle's load-bearing pillars. Although she couldn't enter the castle, her explosives were powerful enough that it wouldn't be impossible for her to blow the castle down.

Moreover, it's possible that if only a part is damaged, the vengeful spirits of the king and queen will emerge from it in a fit of rage.

Although once someone becomes a vengeful spirit, they can no longer be considered the same person they were in life, Lu Qing's behavior still made her feel that something was a little strange.

Blowing up the king and queen's castle and then luring them out for a beating—that's really...

The whole family burst into laughter at the sight of the deceased.

------------

Chapter 579: The Black Mist Giant

"boom!!"

A violent explosion rang out from the center of the old capital, accompanied by a large amount of smoke and debris. The castle, which had stood in the center of the capital of Vanhustan for countless years and had a long history, collapsed.

If this world continues, thousands of years from now, will future generations consider this a major historical loss and use it to criticize Lu Qing, the culprit who destroyed the castle?

Of course, she couldn't possibly know such a thing. At the moment the castle in the old capital collapsed, a piercing, terrifying shriek came from the depths of the castle.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

The piercing shriek almost shattered Lu Qing's eardrums. She stared intently in the direction from which the sound came, wary of the vengeful spirits that might burst forth at any moment.

However, no vengeful spirits appeared. Instead, the gray-black mist that had been permeating the old capital slowly gathered together and gradually formed a huge humanoid creature wearing gray-black steel armor, wielding a giant battle axe, with mist constantly churning beneath its armor.

Lu Qing noticed that the other person was wearing a dark gray crown on their head, which looked like the one that a king usually wore on his head.

"Could the true form of the King's resentful soul be those mists?" Lu Qing looked at the mists surrounding her and couldn't help but become wary.

With each breath she took, she inhaled this mist. If this mist was indeed the true form of the vengeful spirit, then things would be in trouble.

The giant seemed to have spotted Lu Qing at this moment. He sluggishly raised his battle axe and forcefully swept it across the street where Lu Qing was!

The sharp battle axe overturned houses on the street, and the terrifying force generated a gale that almost blew the bricks off the ground. The giant's seemingly sluggish movements were merely an illusion caused by his enormous size.

Without a doubt, this terrifying blow would have severely injured Lu Qing, even though she was wearing a lot of game items!

Super Jump

Dark spiritual energy surged beneath her feet as Lu Qing leaped swiftly from the ground, dodging the attack of the black mist giant. Then, she quickly ran her hand across the blade of the Altaïr Sword, infusing it with dark red spiritual energy.

【Elf Blade】

[Charging Up for a Strike]

"Shh!"

She made a sword-wielding motion in mid-air, and the black and red spiritual energy surged, instantly slashing at the black mist giant's breastplate, leaving a faint scratch.

"Such high defense..." Lu Qing thought, looking at the faint scratches on the black mist giant's breastplate.

The weapons she uses mostly rely on their sharpness to inflict slashing or stabbing damage. These weapons are very powerful, but they inevitably become somewhat ineffective when facing enemies of enormous size.

She wasn't yet strong enough to cleave a massive enemy in two with a single sword strike. Even when using a charged attack in conjunction with the Elf Blade to unleash a massive slash, the damage was far less than at close range.

The farther away the spiritual energy blades are, the less concentrated they become, and naturally, the less powerful they will be. After this dream world ends, should she try to find some weapons that are easier to deal with large enemies?

There wasn't much time to think about the problem. After the black mist giant missed its target with a sweeping attack, it suddenly raised its battle axe and slashed down at Lu Qing, who was leaping in the air.

Before learning the [Aerial Jump] skill, Lu Qing would definitely have had to find other ways to avoid this attack or withstand it head-on. However, after learning the [Aerial Jump] skill, she only needed to push off in mid-air to easily dodge the attack.

"boom!!"

The massive battle axe crashed to the ground, instantly creating a huge crack in the street of the old capital. The resentful soul, now devoid of its senses, was not surprised that Lu Qing, who was leaping through the air, had dodged its attack. It let out a low shout and raised its battle axe again, striking Lu Qing in mid-air.

This attack involves swinging the side of the battle axe like a warhammer. Its attack area is enormous, and combined with its extremely high speed, it is very difficult to dodge even by jumping in the air.

"call!"

The whistling air swept past her feet as Lu Qing narrowly dodged the sweeping attack. However, the black mist giant seemed to have been waiting for this moment. Taking advantage of the instant Lu Qing dodged the battle axe, it stomped its right foot on the ground and roared loudly at Lu Qing.

The massive sound waves and air currents instantly slammed Lu Qing from the air to the ground. The black mist giant leaped up, and its sharp battle axe fell vertically, smashing into Lu Qing's body.

"!!"

Seeing the steel battle axe falling rapidly from the sky, Lu Qing's eyes widened suddenly, and she scrambled to her side.

"boom!!"

The massive battle axe crashed to the ground, sending a barrage of rubble flying in all directions. Some of the rubble struck Lu Qing's back like bullets, while another struck the inside of her right knee, causing her to buckle and kneel on the ground.

At that moment, the black mist giant slammed its battle axe down, and a pale purple light emanated from the black mist giant and pressed down.

"boom!!"

The ground suddenly caved in, and Lu Qing felt a tremendous force pressing down on her, instantly pinning her to the ground.

"Cough..."

The sound of bones cracking rang out, and Lu Qing suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

I was careless. Unlike the vengeful spirits I'd encountered before, this black mist giant was far too powerful... and most importantly, I didn't know its fighting style; I was constantly battling an unknown enemy...

"But there's still a chance..."

Lu Qing stared wide-eyed, her bloodshot eyes fixed on the black mist giant as it raised its battle axe and brought it down on her, who was being crushed by gravity magic.

[Escape into the shadows!]

The item effect of Silver-Gray Evening Breeze is that walking in the shadows will accumulate shadow value. When the shadow value reaches 100, you can disappear into the shadows.

Lu Qing's figure vanished from the ground in an instant, dodging the attack of the black mist giant. She quickly ran to the interior of a nearby building and, trembling, used her medical knowledge to put the broken bones back together.

[Emergency Response!]

This is a Nightmare series skill that can restore injuries in a short time by consuming a large amount of stamina.

A fierce gust of air howled, indicating that the black mist giant had discovered her location. Lu Qing quickly jumped out of the window. The next moment, the huge battle axe shattered the house. The black mist giant raised the battle axe high, and a pale purple light flashed by.

"We can't let him unleash gravity magic!" Lu Qing thought to herself, and immediately opened her mouth and roared.

[The Dragon's Roar!]

"Roar!!"

The enormous dragon roar repelled the black mist giant, and it was at this moment that Lu Qing unleashed her long-charged skill...

[Charged Flames + Charged Strike!]

"boom!!!"

------------

Chapter 580: Oath-Talisman

A massive burst of spiritual energy erupted from Lu Qing, instantly shattering the ground beneath the black mist giant and Lu Qing. With a deafening crash, the black mist giant fell backward onto the ground.

Earlier, when the Black Mist Giants swung their battle axes, Lu Qing had already noticed that there seemed to be another space beneath the ground beneath their feet. She had perceived this using the powerful hearing granted by her [Listener] skill.

As for what this space actually was... during her fall, Lu Qing glanced around and it seemed to be... a train station.