Grinding EXP From a Demon Hunting Ship

The dreamscape.

The corridor.

Su Ye’s expression was calm as he walked, halberd in hand. He was wrapped in a cloak of shadows to conceal his aura.

He was exploring.

After contacting the real world, Su Ye began to explore the corridors.

Whenever he encountered animated armor along the way, he annihilated it.

Even ignoring the experience points gained from killing the animated armor, Su Ye needed to explore thoroughly to find an exit and escape this dreamscape.

This animated armor was a nuisance.

BZZZ.

Within the corridor, Su Ye, shrouded in shadow, advanced with light steps.

Beneath the enveloping cloak, he was like a phantom, utterly silent.

Soon.

A sound came from the distance.

A rhythmic, heavy THUD... THUD...

"Found one," Su Ye muttered to himself. His figure flickered like a shadow as he rushed off into the distance.

Reaching a corner, Su Ye pressed against the wall, formed a hand seal for a Technique, and created a small, winged eyeball of shadow, sending it flying out to observe.

In this dreamscape, the effectiveness of his Divine Sense was severely suppressed.

In terms of usefulness, it was inferior to a simple spell, or even his own physical senses.

WHOOSH.

The shadow eyeball shared its vision with Su Ye.

Three suits of animated armor were wandering in the passageway.

’I can take them.’

[Qin, make your move.]

Su Ye took out a vambrace and inscribed a message on it with his Magical Power.

[Alright.]

A moment later.

The three suits of animated armor suddenly froze. A viscous, crimson light erupted from their bodies like a burst of smoke.

In the real world, Qin Wuyou had, as promised, launched an attack on the three suits of animated armor.

This kind of attack couldn’t kill the animated armor. Their true bodies were in the dreamscape; the suits in the real world were, in a sense, more like projections.

They could regenerate infinitely, reviving after death with a slight increase in strength.

However, this death-avoidance mechanic caused the stats of the true bodies in the dreamscape—especially their Defense Power—to be drastically reduced for a short time.

This, in turn, made it significantly easier for Su Ye to kill them.

"Without that absurdly high armor, what are you guys even... but a sack of EXP?" Su Ye smiled.

The next moment.

SHIING!

A sharp whistle tore through the air!

The Moon Blade Halberd swept out, its brilliant, silvery Moonlight illuminating the dim corridor for an instant!

Slash marks appeared on the torsos of all three suits of animated armor at almost the same time. Then, like felled trees, their severed upper bodies crashed to the ground!

[You have slain a Divine Attendant Guard. [Pastor of the Sea] EXP +3758]

[You have slain a Divine Attendant Guard. ...]

BZZZ.

Three nearly identical notifications, differing only in the amount of EXP, appeared one after another before his eyes.

"Not bad. Over ten thousand experience points in a single move."

A smile touched Su Ye’s lips. The animated armor’s mechanic was certainly disgusting, but once he figured it out, they were just a nice sack of EXP.

’There must be at least several hundred suits of animated armor in this dreamscape. If I kill them all, that’s at least three hundred thousand experience points...’

’Maybe I can raise my [Pastor of the Sea] class level by two all at once?’

With this in mind, Su Ye retracted his Moonfall Halberd and gave it a cheerful flourish.

"The hunt continues!"

...

SHLNK.

With a calm expression, Su Ye used his halberd like a spear, cleanly pinning a suit of animated armor—or rather, a Divine Attendant Guard—to the wall.

"Ice Moon·Bloom."

Su Ye whispered.

BZZZ.

An icy-silver spiritual light flickered, blooming like a flower.

The Divine Attendant Guard’s torso was encased in an Ice Seal, and then... it shattered with a BOOM!

Countless dark gray metal fragments, mixed with shattered ice crystals, rained down in a breathtakingly beautiful display.

By now, the remains of several Divine Attendant Guards were already scattered across the floor of this corridor.

WHOOSH.

A notification appeared on his status panel.

[You have slain a Divine Attendant Guard. [Pastor of the Sea] EXP +3948]

[Class: Pastor of the Sea Lv. 15 (123,244/150,000)]

’Number twenty-seven...’

Su Ye retracted his Moonfall Halberd, read the notification, and counted silently to himself.

The experience points provided by a Divine Attendant Guard were around thirty-seven hundred to thirty-nine hundred, with a maximum of four thousand.

These twenty-seven Divine Attendant Guards had given Su Ye over one hundred thousand experience points—a true EXP bonanza!

In just a short while, the experience bar for his [Pastor of the Sea Lv. 15] was already more than half full!

’A good spot.’

’I remember... there are still a dozen or so suits of animated armor. If I search carefully...’

Su Ye couldn’t help but think.

Earlier, dozens of suits of animated armor had awoken and chased after Su Ye.

Now, through his exploration, Su Ye had found most of the easier-to-locate ones, but a dozen or so were still missing.

But, by his estimation, at this time... those suits of animated armor should still be nearby, right?

If he just spent a little time finding and killing them, it would be another huge influx of experience points!

"Hmm..." Su Ye pursed his lips.

’Forget it. Greed gets you killed.’

Su Ye shook his head, abandoning the tempting idea.

This dreamscape was bizarre, and he didn’t want to stay a moment longer than necessary.

Although there didn’t seem to be any threat for now—the animated armor were just free points—who knew what would happen if he lingered too long.

’As for experience points... I can always farm them. There’s no rush.’

"First, find the exit..." Su Ye murmured to himself, looking down the corridor ahead.

This corridor began to slope downward, and at its end, a staircase was revealed.

In the dim light, the entrance to the staircase looked like the gaping, blood-soaked maw of a ferocious beast, waiting for travelers to walk willingly into its trap.

It was sinister, eerie, and made one’s hair stand on end.

’An underground entrance...’

"Tsk tsk, the architectural style of the Far South Continent’s temples really hasn’t changed much in the last few thousand years, has it?"

Su Ye muttered to himself as he sized it up.

Thanks to his early experiences spreading civilization in the Far South Continent, as well as the practical needs of colonial management, Su Ye had a certain understanding of its culture.

Yaoguang culture revered the Celestial Dao, so its architectural style favored height. It was always about ’a high tower, a hundred feet tall, where one’s hand can pluck the stars.’

But the Far South Continent was different.

’The Far South Continent is characterized by its concentrated Spiritual Qi, with Spirit Veins appearing in the form of Spiritual Springs.’

’And since Spiritual Springs are mostly located underground, various precious Spiritual Objects are also found there.’

’Therefore, a very important element of Far South culture is underground worship.’

’Even their temples often have several basement levels. The more important and central a place is, the deeper underground it will be.’

Su Ye narrowed his eyes and looked toward the staircase.

’If... this dreamscape has an "exit point," it can only be underground.’

’However, underground... it’s very likely... no, there will definitely be more dangerous monsters!’

"Well then... bring it on!"

He tightened his grip on his halberd, stepped onto the staircase, and slowly descended into the earth.

...