Just as everyone was paralyzed by the overwhelming aura of pure death, despair slowly creeping into their hearts...
A calm voice, tinged with curiosity, shattered the deathly silence of the church.
"Huh, so it actually works?"
Lin Qingyue stretched her limbs with casual ease, completely unaffected.
The terrifying pressure that had instantly drained a top-tier Shield Warrior like Wang Lei and left even a Paladin like Lin Xiyue unable to lift her arms had no effect on her whatsoever.
She could feel a gentle power continuously radiating from the passive skill within her—[Miss Pink Elf's Blessing]—warding off all the cold, evil necrotic energy from the outside.
Looks like this blessing, despite its rather obsessive aesthetic, is quite reliable in a pinch, Lin Qingyue thought, giving a mental thumbs-up to a certain Pink Elf.
Her gaze then pierced through the stagnant air, locking onto the Necromancer in the stone coffin.
As she took a step forward, then another, approaching the coffin, an extreme revulsion welled up from the depths of her soul.
It wasn't fear.
It was a physiological discomfort akin to a "life-purity" obsession—the natural correction of chaos by order.
More than that, it was the ultimate repulsion of someone blessed by Miss Pink Elf against the very embodiment of "evil" and "chaos" before her.
To put it in her most direct terms—
"So disgusting..."
Lin Qingyue calmly analyzed the situation.
Everyone else was incapacitated; only she could move.
And the blessing she carried was clearly the natural enemy of her opponent.
A perfectly logical deduction instantly formed in her mind: If the passive effect is this potent, what about the active skill?
Without a moment's hesitation, she raised the ridiculously girly pink staff in her hand.
Time for a test.
The thought was clear and resolute.
A tiny, warm pink light ignited at the tip of her staff—the Priest's most basic skill, Healing Spell.
Yet, the instant that pink glow appeared, the eyelids of the slumbering Necromancer in the stone coffin twitched violently!
"Sis! Don't!"
Lin Xiyue squeezed out a broken syllable from her throat with the last ounce of her strength. She sensed a terrifying energy brewing—one powerful enough to destroy the entire dungeon!
Too late.
The small pink light at the tip of Lin Qingyue's staff drifted lazily forward.
Its target was the Necromancer Farina's pale and devastatingly beautiful cheek.
Sss—!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a barely audible dissolving sound, like a red-hot branding iron plunged into a handful of void-black mist.
That insignificant speck of pink light, upon touching the Necromancer's body, became the final judgment that shattered the entire system of death!
Farina's body writhed and twisted like boiling ink.
She snapped her eyes open!
Her eyes held no pupils, only two endless, ink-green vortexes.
At this moment, those vortexes swirled with nothing but utter shock, absurdity, and disbelief!
She opened her mouth, as if to unleash a silent, world-rending scream.
But the next second—
Vwoom!
A pillar of pure white light erupted from the stone coffin, soaring toward the heavens.
The pillar emitted no heat, yet it instantly detonated, transforming into a purifying torrent that swept across the entire dungeon!
It wasn't light.
It was the pure concept of "Purification" itself—the absolute law that cleansed all "impurity" and "error," now manifested as a tidal wave!
Zhao Shihao, Wang Lei, Jiang Xue, Mo Chen...
The consciousness of every examinee within the dungeon was instantly engulfed by the pure white light and forcibly ejected.
-
Linjiang City Exam Site, Preparation Zone.
Zhao Shihao's three-person squad staggered out of the teleportation circle, their eyes glazed over and faces blank with confusion.
"How... did we get out?" Zhao Shihao scanned his surroundings. This was definitely the exam site.
[Ding! Calculating contribution for the dungeon 'Shadow of Calamity'...]
[Your team has earned 5,000 points.]
The notification tone from his wristband only deepened his bewilderment.
-
Jiangning City Exam Site, Preparation Zone.
Wang Lei and his teammates materialized beside a bench in the rest area, startling the other examinees nearby.
"Captain? Weren't we...?" The Priest teammate wore a classic "Who am I? Where am I?" expression.
Wang Lei ignored his teammate's question, his gaze fixed on the notification that had popped up on his wristband—their squad had earned 4,500 points.
-
Jiangcheng City Exam Site, Preparation Zone.
Mo Chen leaned against a wall for support as Jiang Xue appeared beside him. They stared at each other, both seeing the same question in the other's eyes: What just happened?
Mo Chen's mind was filled with only two images: the pillar of white light that had pierced the heavens and Lin Qingyue's pink, almost comically weak "Healing Spell."
The notification on his wristband announcing the 4,300 points they'd earned felt scorching hot against his skin.
-
Simultaneously, an announcement echoed across all exam sites:
[Notice: The hidden dungeon 'Shadow of Calamity' has been cleared. The dungeon is now permanently closed. All examinees who participated in the dungeon exploration have received their point rewards.]
-
Inside the church.
Empty.
Utterly empty.
The magnificent church, which just a moment ago had been filled with a suffocating aura of death, was now so clean it seemed as if it had been washed with Holy Water a billion times. Even the air carried the fresh scent of a clear sky after rain.
The blinding white light slowly faded, and Lin Qingyue blinked, her eyes struggling to adjust.
The silence around her was terrifying.
Zhao Shihao, Wang Lei, Mo Chen... all the teammates who had been fighting alongside them just moments ago were gone.
Only she and her sister, Lin Xiyue, remained in the entire church, staring at each other in wide-eyed disbelief.
Her gaze finally settled on the ornate stone coffin.
The coffin, too, was empty.
The Necromancer—impossibly beautiful and terrifying in equal measure—had vanished.
Not even a speck of dust remained.
[Congratulations, Examinees Lin Qingyue and Lin Xiyue, for perfectly clearing the dungeon 'Shadow of Calamity' and completing the final purification.]
[Your team has earned 16,000 points.]
A series of notifications chimed from the Lin sisters' bracelets.
Simultaneously, a system notification echoed in Lin Qingyue's mind:
[Ding! Host has completed the unprecedented achievement: Examinee's Dungeon Purification. Distributing reward...]
[Reward: "Purified Miniature Church" x1 (Special Spatial Item. Can be placed in Class Storage Space. Cannot store living creatures.)]
Lin Qingyue lowered her staff, her gaze shifting from the stone coffin—cleaner than a freshly washed basin—to the ornate pink staff in her hand. Her expression shifted to one of dawning realization after a moment of study.
"So that's it," she murmured. "This wasn't about elemental advantage at all. It was an aesthetic beatdown!"
"Miss Pink Elf... truly terrifying!"
"With this 'Purified Miniature Church,' carrying supplies into dungeons will be much more convenient."
Lin Xiyue's mouth hung open in an "O."
She glanced at the stone coffin, cleaner than a factory-new product, then back at her sister's enlightened expression. She felt as if an invisible hand had seized her worldview, crumpled it into a ball, and then smoothed it out again.
She recalled the world-destroying pillar of purifying light, then looked at her sister's pure, innocent eyes.
She felt like her brain couldn't keep up.
Meanwhile, after the initial thrill, a chill crept up Lin Qingyue's spine.
She stared at her right hand, her expression stiffening.
Just now... did I really have a brain fart and casually toss a Healing Spell at a hidden BOSS whose level I couldn't even read?
What if... what if that hadn't been a purification, but a super-buff that fully healed the BOSS and gave it a Berserk status?
A cold dread, even more chilling than the deathly pressure from before, shot from the base of her spine straight to the top of her skull.
Her back felt... cold.
Sometimes, my hands really are faster than my brain.
Next time, I absolutely can't be so reckless.
...Probably.