Chapter 34: Why Can the Cooldown Be Ignored?

"How many levels have you reached?"

Hearing the familiar voice, she opened her eyes and saw Xia Xue.

There was a trace of dust on Xia Xue's delicate face, and the elemental energy was surging around her body. Obviously, she had just been in a battle as she had just come out of the dungeon.

She stared at Lin Moyu with an air of defiance.

Lin Moyu said calmly, "Level 14."

"What!" Xia Xue let out a strange cry. "How could you level up so fast?"

She teamed up with others and consecutively cleared the normal-difficulty West Sea Mine dungeon twice, rising from level 10 to level 11. Two consecutive dungeon runs had completely exhausted her.

Even if Lin Moyu could solo the dungeon, it was impossible for him to level up this fast. Xia Xue couldn't possibly imagine that Lin Moyu had been running the nightmare-difficulty dungeon.

Lin Moyu didn't continue to answer Xia Xue.

Believe it or not, as you like.

Knowing Lin Moyu as she did, Xia Xue knew that he wouldn't lie. Since he said he was level 14, then he must be.

The defiance in Xia Xue's eyes grew stronger and stronger.

The higher the level, the slower the leveling process. On the first day of the novice dungeon, she was level 5 while Lin Moyu was level 7, a difference of two levels. Logically, the gap should have narrowed by now. Why was she still only level 11 while Lin Moyu had reached level 14, widening the gap instead?

Xia Xue snorted. "I won't give up." With that, she turned around and left.

Lin Moyu looked at her, not knowing what to say.

Over the past few years, he had always been ahead of Xia Xue. Before their professions were unlocked, he had always been first in all subjects while Xia Xue was always second. After unlocking their professions, his level had risen steadily, leaving Xia Xue behind again.

Lin Moyu also understood that Xia Xue had always been defiant and wanted to compete with him. This had been the case both before and after unlocking their professions. However, he had never given her a chance.

Suddenly, he saw Xia Xue enter the dungeon with several people.

"Strange. Didn't she just come out? How could she enter so quickly again? Are there no cooldowns for the dungeon?"

Lin Moyu witnessed something incredible. He had tried it himself; whether it was the normal or nightmare difficulty, there were cooldowns for the dungeons, and they were shared. After he cleared the nightmare-difficulty dungeon, he couldn't enter the normal-difficulty one within 12 hours.

But how could Xia Xue enter so quickly again? Lin Moyu was certain that Xia Xue had just come out of the dungeon not long ago. The battle energy on her body was still present and hadn't completely dissipated. Moreover, there was the aura of the Goblin King. That couldn't be faked.

While meditating, Lin Moyu let the skeletal warrior observe.

Two hours later, Xia Xue's figure reappeared at the entrance of the dungeon. She had cleared the dungeon once.

After coming out of the dungeon, Xia Xue still turned her head to look at Lin Moyu. From her expression, Lin Moyu could see exhaustion. It was the kind caused by continuous combat.

Then, in just over ten minutes, Xia Xue found another team and entered the dungeon again. Lin Moyu noticed that she seemed to have used an item before entering the dungeon as there was a faint glow around her at that time.

Lin Moyu guessed that it was this item that allowed Xia Xue to ignore the dungeon cooldown.

"If I get the chance, I can ask her," Lin Moyu thought to himself as he returned to his meditative state. His mental power gradually recovered.

As his level increased, the mental power attribute became more prominent. Now, his base mental power had reached 700, far exceeding other attributes. This was also a characteristic of the mage class; extremely high mental power came at the cost of extremely poor other attributes, lacking balance.

Each profession had its own characteristics, and Lin Moyu chose to accept them.

A few hours later, slightly heavy footsteps sounded beside him. Xia Xue sat down beside Lin Moyu, exhausted. Even without the restriction of cooldowns, she couldn't continuously clear dungeons. Her body couldn't take it.

"I'm so tired," Xia Xue collapsed onto the ground without any dignity. She wasn't afraid of the skeletal warrior beside Lin Moyu at all. After all, Lin Moyu was her classmate; there was nothing to be afraid or worried about.

After resting for a while and catching her breath, Xia Xue regained some spirit. "I'm already level 12. I'll catch up with you soon."

Level 12. If she teamed up to clear normal dungeons, it would take at least three to four runs to gain a level. It would be difficult to catch up with him.

Lin Moyu looked at the exhausted Xia Xue. "Aren't you tired?"

Xia Xue snorted. "Tired? Of course I am. I don't even want to move a finger right now."

"Why?" Lin Moyu asked.

Xia Xue looked annoyed. "Why? You still have the nerve to ask me why. You've been ahead of me for so many years. I must surpass you."

"Just for this?" Lin Moyu didn't expect Xia Xue to harbor such deep resentment. He should have gone easy on her during an exam and let her get first place.

Xia Xue looked at the sky. "Of course, it's not just that. I want to get into Xiajing Academy, and you want to get into Xiajing Academy too, so you should understand."

To get into Xiajing Academy, one needed at least level 14. For safety, level 15 was better, and for utmost security, level 16. There were just over two days left. Lin Moyu thought Xia Xue would at most reach level 14 and it would be difficult to reach level 15.

Unless...

Lin Moyu said in a low voice, "You should try running the nightmare-difficulty dungeons. You can level up faster that way."

"Are you joking? Where can I find an elite team so easily? Those elite teams require level 16 or 17 professionals. I'm only level 12. No one will take me," Xia Xue rolled her eyes at Lin Moyu, as if to say, "Do you even understand?"

Looking at the elite teams recruiting at the dungeon entrance, besides requirements for level and profession, there were also requirements for equipment. Unless you were a healer support, the requirements could be appropriately lowered. For output professions like Xia Xue's, the requirements were actually the highest.

Seeing Lin Moyu silent, Xia Xue continued, "That's why I'll just keep clearing normal-difficulty dungeons. Level 14 should be no problem, and with some effort, maybe even level 15."

Listening to her words, Lin Moyu finally asked, "Why can you ignore the cooldown?"