Skills with no cooldown? I become the Undead Scourge! - Chapter 23

Yu Qingcang nodded in satisfaction.

He said, “My teacher once told me something: the best way to cherish something is to realize you could lose it at any moment. The same goes for Lu Ran. Though he’s Chinese, as an individual, he has the right not to serve the nation.

“I believe if Lu Ran’s abilities were exposed, aside from attracting waves of assassins, every country would try to recruit him at any cost,” Ye Hongyi added.

“Exactly. That’s my point,” Yu Qingcang agreed. “And we all understand the saying, ‘Tall trees catch much wind.’ Lu Ran knows it too, yet he willingly took the risk to reveal himself to us. We can’t let this young man down.”

After a pause, he continued, “I’ll submit a report to higher authorities to grant Lu Ran unrestricted access to the national equipment vault. He can take whatever gear he needs without approval. Additionally, he’ll be assigned the highest resource priority.”

This stunned everyone.

With unrestricted access to the vault, Lu Ran wouldn’t need to grind specific dungeons for certain gear. He could focus entirely on leveling up!

Liu Xinxin nodded. “We all recognize Lu Ran’s significance—not just for our country, but in the entire history of global Awakened. No one has ever possessed such a terrifying ability. A month from now, once he’s grown, whether in national wars or large-scale raids, Lu Ran will lead us to the pinnacle of the world!”

Qin Lie and Xu Jie stayed silent, listening as the four guild leaders—usually figures of immense authority—lavished praise on Lu Ran, even sounding a bit hyperbolic. It was a rare sight.

But it also reassured them. At least these leaders didn’t take Lu Ran’s sacrifice for granted.

Yu Qingcang then said, “As the leader of the Celestial Alliance, I have too many official duties to personally guide him. I’ll have to leave that to the three of you. However, the level gap between you and Lu Ran is too large, so we’ll need Platinum Party Contracts to minimize the experience penalty. Otherwise, leveling efficiency will suffer.”

Ye Hongyi immediately responded, “The Red Leaf Trading House will supply the Platinum Contracts daily.”

Ye Hongyi wasn’t just the leader of the Scarlet Pavilion—she also headed the Red Leaf Trading House, the largest private merchant guild in China outside the system-generated Auction House. Calling her the wealthiest Awakened in the nation wouldn’t be an exaggeration!

Yu Qingcang smiled and continued, “There’s also the matter of Lu Ran’s guild affiliation. In a month, the Celestial Alliance will formally invite him to join. While Awakened can belong to multiple guilds, major guilds have always prohibited dual membership. But for Lu Ran… I wonder if the three of you would be willing to make an exception?”

“We agree!” the three guild leaders answered almost in unison.

If Yu Qingcang was willing to share Lu Ran rather than monopolize him, they were more than happy!

“Good. A month from now, the Celestial Alliance will take the lead, and all four guilds will extend invitations to Lu Ran. He’s earned that honor,” Yu Qingcang declared boldly.

But Lei Tai suddenly interjected, “It makes sense for the other three guilds to invite him, but the Scarlet Pavilion is a women-only guild. That rule’s never been broken in all these years.”

Everyone turned to Ye Hongyi.

Since the Ye family took over the Scarlet Pavilion, no male Awakened had ever been admitted—it was the guild’s most ironclad rule.

Yet Ye Hongyi simply shrugged. “Rules are dead; people are alive. I’m not foolish enough to pass up Lu Ran for the sake of tradition.”

Finally, they settled on the five-member party: Lei Tai, Ye Hongyi, Liu Xinxin, Lu Ran, and Qin Wuyao!

As one of the few privy to Lu Ran’s secret, Qin Wuyao was also granted this rare opportunity.

Yu Qingcang, as the leader of the Celestial Alliance and a high-ranking official, was too swamped with duties to personally guide Lu Ran.

Fortunately, the other three guild leaders were nearly perfect for the task.

Lei Tai, as an Earth Knight, stood unmatched even among hidden tank classes. With his level, status, abilities, and gear, he was arguably China’s top tank.

Ye Hongyi’s Inferno Archmage was essentially the pinnacle of fire-based DPS, serving as the party’s primary damage dealer.

Liu Xinxin’s role was straightforward: stick close to Lu Ran. As a High Priestess of the Elves, her formidable healing and protective skills would prevent any accidents from befalling him.

The remaining slot went to Qin Wuyao.

The reasoning? Having a girl his age around would make dungeon runs less tedious for Lu Ran.

Qin Wuyao had become the designated conversationalist!

Three guild leaders power-leveling him, plus a pretty companion to chat with—this treatment was utterly unparalleled!

Qin Lie couldn’t stop grinning. Not only was Lu Ran being nurtured, but Qin Wuyao would also skyrocket in levels. It was an absolute win!

Afterward, the four guild leaders, along with Qin Lie, Xu Jie, and Qin Wuyao, added Lu Ran to their contacts.

From then on, Lu Ran could request their assistance anytime.

And so, the leveling journey began!

Due to level restrictions, Lu Ran could only enter the Level 10 dungeon: Death Mine.

To avoid drawing too much attention, the three guild leaders donned cloaks to hide their identities as they accompanied Lu Ran and Qin Wuyao to the dungeon hall. Otherwise, their presence alone would make Lu Ran a national—or even international—sensation within a day.

“Lu Ran, you’ll be the party leader to start the dungeon,” Liu Xinxin said, staying close to him.

Despite her seemingly shy demeanor, someone who led the Mirrorbloom Guild couldn’t possibly be dull-witted.

“Got it. What difficulty?” Lu Ran pulled up the dungeon list, selected Death Mine, and glanced at the options.

“Abyss—the highest difficulty. More monsters, more experience,” Liu Xinxin answered without hesitation.

Lu Ran inwardly chided himself for the oversight.

With three guild leaders carrying him, what else would they pick but the hardest mode?

While higher difficulties meant enemies had exponentially greater HP, defense, attack, and speed, even the Abyss tier was trivial to these veterans.

Qin Wuyao stood obediently beside Lu Ran, eagerly awaiting the dungeon’s start.

A flash of white light later, the five vanished from the teleportation array.

Before Lu Ran could even process the scene change, Liu Xinxin’s voice rang in his ears:

“Death Mine (Abyss) has four zones. There are 480 ordinary goblins of five types, three elite goblins in the first three zones, two goblin brothers in the fourth, and the final boss—a composite of four Explosive Goblins. Total: 489 enemies.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Hongyi stepped forward and traded Lu Ran a metallic-hued parchment scroll.

“Use this contract scroll as the party leader to reduce the experience penalty,” she said. “Then we begin.”