Gacha pull: I obtained a god-level talent.

"First completion bonus!"

Zhang Yuan's eyes lit up when he saw the first-pass reward.

The God Stone is a reward that everyone receives for clearing a dungeon for the first time, so Zhang Yuan wasn't surprised. However, the fact that the first clear reward gave him a cursed piece of equipment was a truly unexpected surprise.

With excitement, Zhang Yuan immediately checked his haul.

【Cursed Ring (Special Trinket): Spirit +500, the wearer suffers a mental curse, Agility -250, Constitution -250, no equipment level restriction.】

[Note: One of the three-piece curse set.]

"It really is a set!"

Upon seeing the effect of the Cursed Ring, Zhang Yuan equipped it without hesitation. The Crimson Sky passive was triggered, negating the negative effects of the Cursed Ring.

The Spirit attribute has reached 1490, which is already the attribute of a mage after level 30 job advancement!

"The last piece of the Cursed Set should be obtained from the hidden difficulty of this dungeon."

Zhang Yuan has already obtained two of the three cursed pieces, so there's no reason for him not to get the last one.

Moreover, he is a natural counter to this dungeon boss, allowing him to clear the dungeon without taking any damage.

After organizing his loot, Zhang Yuan left the instance and returned to reality, then challenged the instance again without hesitation.

[Please confirm your selection? Difficulty level?]

"confirm!"

Zhang Yuan was teleported into the dungeon once again and found that the dungeon environment was no different from the Nightmare difficulty.

However, before Zhang Yuan could advance, a piercing scream suddenly came from the depths of the forest, and Chi Xiao's passive ability was triggered.

It's a mental storm from the Shadow Scarecrow!

"As expected of the hidden difficulty, I was attacked by the boss's mental attack as soon as I entered. Speaking of which... is the Shadow Scarecrow's attack range really that large?"

Zhang Yuan muttered to himself as he deployed his sword formation, using his flying swords to probe the way and steadily advancing.

Although he has already completed Nightmare difficulty once, there's no guarantee that new mechanics won't appear in the hidden difficulty, so it's best to be cautious.

Soon, Zhang Yuan encountered his first giant, and he used the Eye of the Abyss on the monster without hesitation.

【Shadow Forest Giant Warrior (Enhanced Elite)】

【Level: 15】

【Strength: 2000】

[Agility: 200]

【Spirit: 60】

[Physique: 2000]

[Skills: Axe Swing, Trample]

Compared to the monsters in Nightmare difficulty, the giants in this hidden difficulty have doubled their attributes.

"This hidden difficulty is indeed dangerous. If I get hit even once, I'll probably be instantly killed."

"In any case, let's try out the new skills first."

Zhang Yuan retreated a short distance to keep his distance from the monster, and then used his newly acquired skill.

Mental storm!

A shrill whistle erupted from Zhang Yuan's necklace, instantly depleting 500 points of his mental energy, and a terrifying mental storm swept outwards.

-2610480!

A terrifying string of damage numbers appeared above the head of the giant warrior in the Shadow Forest not far away. The giant immediately bled from all seven orifices and fell straight to the ground!

[Successfully defeated the Shadow Forest Giant Warrior, experience +4000]

[Successfully defeated the Shadow Forest Giant Vanguard, experience +5000]

[Successfully killed the Shadow Mage, experience +8000]

[Obtained 10 Giant Hearts, 12 Giant Fingers, 10 Giant Bones, and 1 Shadow Crystal]

In an instant, numerous kill notifications flooded the screen, and a golden light burst forth from Zhang Yuan's body, instantly leveling him up to level 14.

"hiss--!"

Seeing his experience soar like a rocket launch, Zhang Yuan couldn't help but gasp.

The effective range of Mental Storm is actually the same as that of his sword array, and like the Sword Control skill, it benefits from critical hit and critical damage bonuses. In addition, with the talent's 10x amplification and the damage stacking of Constellation 4...

Once this skill is unleashed, no one within a 300-meter radius of the sword formation will be left alive!

For other mages, Psychic Storm might be a powerful area-of-effect attack, but its value doesn't even compare to the mages' own forbidden spells.

However, when this skill is used on Zhang Yuan, with the damage stacking of Constellation 4, this skill becomes a nuclear explosion!

Not just mental storm, any area-of-effect skill would become a strategic forbidden spell when used by Zhang Yuan!

Imagine if, in the later stages, the radius of the sword formation expands to thousands or even tens of thousands of meters. If a mental storm were to occur, the damage would increase by 10% for every additional enemy within the sword formation's range. Within the sword formation, even gods would likely be swept away by the storm!

"The only drawback of this skill is that it consumes mental energy... I currently have 1520 mental energy points, which means I can only use it three times. If I'm using this skill to level up, unless the enemy density is very high, it's not as cost-effective as using the Sword Control skill to perform more basic attacks."

Having witnessed the power and energy consumption of the Psychic Storm, Zhang Yuan decided not to continue using it in this instance and instead used his flying sword to clear the way.

Although the monsters in the hidden difficulty had significantly enhanced attributes, Zhang Yuan's ability to ignore enemy defense meant that they still couldn't withstand more than a few of his sword strikes and couldn't even get close to him.

Zhang Yuan leveled up as he went, and when he arrived near the altar deep in the Shadow Forest, he had already reached level 15.

"I never expected that the hidden difficulty of this dungeon would become my leveling paradise."

Zhang Yuan saw the scarecrow in the center of the altar and was about to use the Eye of the Abyss on it when a large number of purple bubbles suddenly appeared in the altar.

Suddenly, the scarecrow began to writhe strangely, opening its blood-red maw and unleashing a mental storm several times stronger than before!

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

The scarecrow's piercing scream unleashed a terrifying sonic wave that ripped the ground around the altar. Even with Chi Xiao's protection, Zhang Yuan was still forced back several steps by the sonic wave.

Zhang Yuan immediately used Abyss Eye on the scarecrow.

【Corrupted Abyss Scarecrow (Lord)】

【Level: 16】

【Strength: 0】

[Agility: 0]

【Spirit: 200000】

[Physique: 0]

[Skills: Mental Storm, Death Curse, Resurrection]

"20 spirit points?" Zhang Yuan's pupils constricted slightly when he saw the boss's attributes!

No matter how insane the hidden difficulty is, it shouldn't increase the boss's attributes by 20 times, right?

This level 15 dungeon would probably wipe out a level 30 elite team instantly if they weren't prepared.

"Wait a minute... the Corrupted Abyss Scarecrow, isn't that the same as the Corrupted Cyclops King from before? Have I entered Abyss Conquest Mode again?"

When Zhang Yuan noticed that the scarecrow's name had changed, his expression instantly became incredibly interesting.

Didn't they say the probability of a dungeon becoming an Abyss dungeon is less than one percent?

This was only the second day after he changed jobs, and he had only challenged two dungeons in total. As a result, both dungeons became Abyss-like.

Is this bad luck or good luck?