Eastern Swamp.

As the Imperial Guards retreated.

The surrounding players gradually dispersed as well.

Although some wanted to get closer, they were all driven away by Jiang Chen's gaze.

"How's your mission going?"

Jiang Chen looked at Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao.

"Time's almost up, it's my fault..."

Tao Xiaoyao said, somewhat dejected.

"How is it your fault? Trouble came to us, should we just let ourselves be wronged?"

Qing Ying shook her head indifferently.

"Almost up, but not yet. How many more do you need?" Jiang Chen asked.

"We need fifty frog skins, and we're still short of nearly twenty, with only three or four minutes left," Tao Xiaoyao replied.

"Three or four minutes..."

Jiang Chen frowned slightly, "Do you need to return to the main city to submit the task?"

"No."

Qing Ying shook her head, then her eyes lit up, "Brother Mortal World?"

"Quick, go pull the mobs!"

Jiang Chen waved his hand.

Three or four minutes were enough to pull twenty mobs.

As for the time to kill them?

Who needs time for a one-shot kill!

"Got it!"

Qing Ying looked at Tao Xiaoyao, happily saying, "Let's go, Xiaoyao!"

"Okay!"

Tao Xiaoyao nodded, and the two quickly ran off to pull the mobs.

Soon, giant thunder frogs were being led by the two girls.

Not only that.

Under Tao Xiaoyao's control, the big yellow dog and the big gray bear were also constantly provoking nearby small mobs.

Before long, the two girls skillfully gathered a bunch of small mobs together.

Jiang Chen quickly stepped forward.

He released the Small Holy Light Apocalypse Array.

With a dazzling hexagram magic array.

The small mobs all fell to the ground.

"Quick, gather the materials!"

Qing Ying's voice rang out.

She and Tao Xiaoyao quickly started looting the giant thunder frogs' bodies.

Soon.

"Got enough!"

The two girls shouted happily.

They walked together, and Qing Ying took out a cylindrical frame from her backpack.

Tao Xiaoyao also took out a bone mallet from her backpack.

Then the two stacked the frog skins together and draped them over the frame.

Soon.

A large drum covered with blue frog skin appeared in sight.

"Fifty skins for a drum, quite the spectacle!"

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Jiang Chen couldn't help but tease.

"Hurry, Xiaoyao, time's almost up!"

Qing Ying urged excitedly.

"Okay!"

Tao Xiaoyao nodded, gripping the mallet, and struck the drum hard!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Three consecutive strikes, accompanied by the exhilarating drum sound, caused tiny blue arcs to splash on the drum skin.

At the same time, an elderly ghostly figure appeared in mid-air.

[Remnant Soul of Ancient Thunder Spirit]

"Thunder Spirit?"

Jiang Chen glanced at the ghostly elder's information, a strange look appearing on his face.

Generally, those called "Spirits" belong to the ancient spirit tribes.

For example, the Fire Spirit Tribe, Water Spirit Tribe, Wind Spirit Tribe...

According to ancient records in [Gods], the current elemental powers originated from these spirit tribes.

However, these powerful spirit tribes no longer exist for some reason.

The remaining ones in the world are just a few spirit souls.

"It looks like they got a good task!"

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up.

Of course, he wasn't envious, as such things depend on fate.

It's possible that if he were in the team, this special task wouldn't have been triggered.

So, the light in his eyes was for Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao's happiness.

"I am Gu Yuan. I didn't expect that my soon-to-disperse remnant soul would be summoned by you. It seems the Gods don't want my legacy to be lost!"

The elder with long whiskers looked at Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao, saying, "Since you two are fated with me, I'll give you a small gift. How much you can accept depends on your fortune!"

With that.

The ghostly elder formed a seal with his hands, and a blue light instantly enveloped the two.

Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao were covered with a layer of tiny blue arcs.

After a dozen seconds.

The blue arcs on the two gradually faded.

At the same time, a small "Z"-shaped blue mark appeared on their foreheads.

It looked like a tiny lightning symbol.

Soon, the mark gradually disappeared.

[You have received the incomplete legacy of Ancient Thunder Spirit Gu Yuan, adding 10% extra lightning damage to any attack!]

Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao both received the system prompt.

The two exchanged glances, smiling simultaneously.

"May you spread this seed of power far and wide!"

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, I must go meet my kin."

The elder's voice slowly drifted away as his figure vanished.

The two girls bowed slightly in the direction where the elder disappeared.

Then, they excitedly ran towards Jiang Chen.

"Brother Mortal World, we got extra lightning damage!"

"Yes, it's 10% extra damage now, and it can grow in the future!"

Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao couldn't wait to share the good news with Jiang Chen.

"Not bad!"

Jiang Chen nodded, then looked at Tao Xiaoyao, saying, "You're a summoner, check if this extra damage applies to your summoned beasts."

"Okay."

Tao Xiaoyao immediately understood Jiang Chen's meaning and called out, "Big Gray!"

The big gray bear quickly ran towards a giant thunder frog.

Then, it swung its paw and slapped down hard.

A tiny blue-green lightning arc lit up when the paw made contact with the small mob's body!

"It works!"

Tao Xiaoyao cheered.

Jiang Chen also nodded slightly.

Then.

Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao quickly finished off the giant thunder frog.

"Let's head back to the main city. I'll get the equipment from the blacksmith shop, then take you two to level up!"

Jiang Chen said to Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao, "The level 20 opening dungeon is now available. You need to hurry and reach level 20 so we can run the dungeon!"

The two girls were only level 18, and the opening dungeon had a level requirement of 20.

"Okay!"

Tao Xiaoyao nodded.

"Yay!"

Qing Ying also happily raised her small fist.

With that.

Jiang Chen led Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao towards Leaving Fire City.

Ten minutes later.

They arrived at the East City Gate.

Players were coming and going, just like before.

"Han Scong didn't think of blocking the city gate? Given his personality, I thought he would do something stupid like that."

Jiang Chen muttered softly, then used the teleportation array to reach the Main City Square.

He didn't know that Han Scong had already logged off and was in his studio, angrily scolding his members.

"Let's go accept the dungeon quest first."

Jiang Chen glanced at the nearby announcement board.

At the top of the board, a prominent golden quest was displayed.

[Main Quest: Dreamland Secret Realm.]

[Quest Details: The teleportation array to the Royal City is affected by the Dreamland Master and cannot be activated. Please go to the ruins of the ancient Dreamland City at the northernmost part of Snowstorm City, find the secret realm entrance, and eliminate the Dreamland Master to reopen the Royal City passage!]

[Hint 1: To encourage quest completion, the teleportation fee to Snowstorm City is temporarily waived!]

[Hint 2: Due to the high difficulty of the Dreamland Secret Realm, players must be level 20 or above to enter!]

Jiang Chen focused on the quest.

Then, a system prompt appeared.

[Main Quest: Dreamland Secret Realm triggered. Do you accept?]

"Accept!"

Jiang Chen immediately agreed.

This quest appeared in all main cities and required players to be level 20 to complete.

But it didn't stop anyone from trying to find the location early.

After all, exploring maps was quite fun.

At this moment.

In the northern part of Snowstorm City.

Snowflakes were falling heavily, and a group of forty to fifty people was walking on the creaky snow.

They arrived at a vast ruin.

Thick white snow covered the broken walls and ruins.

Only a small part of the black, broken buildings was exposed.

These people were all from a small guild called "Adventurers' Home."

"This should be the ancient Dreamland City!"

Adventurers' Home's guild leader, Ze Rui, looked at the scene in front of him and said slowly.

"It's indeed a ruin. This whole city seems to have turned into a wasteland."

A guild member responded.

"Let's go. If we find the entrance to the Dreamland Secret Realm, we'll make a big profit!"

Ze Rui's eyes were full of excitement. He looked at the people beside him and asked, "Are everyone's recordings on?"

"They've been on the whole time, Guild Leader!"

"Good, let's move out!"

With that, the group quickly headed deeper into the ruins.

They braved the wind and snow, carefully exploring the ruins.

Before long.

A strange scene unfolded.

The guild members, including the guild leader, who were at the forefront, suddenly noticed that the surrounding snow had disappeared!

What appeared before them were numerous floating buildings.

These buildings floated at varying heights.

It seemed like they were divided into several layers.

The mansion in the center was at the highest level, almost touching the clouds!

The lowest buildings were only two or three meters above the ground.

Each building had a floating staircase connecting it to the ground.

Similarly, floating staircases connected the buildings on different levels.

However, that wasn't the strangest part...

"Guild Leader, why aren't you moving?"

"What's going on? Why are the guild leader and the others standing still?"

"What's that thing on them?"

The guild members at the back noticed that the dozen or so people at the front had all stopped moving.

It was as if they had fallen asleep!

At the same time, a transparent light circle appeared around them.

It was a transparent bubble with a rainbow-like sheen, enveloping the people at the front.

Then, a member stepped forward to try and wake the guild leader.

However, as soon as he got close.

He also stopped moving.

A transparent bubble appeared around him too.

Reflecting a dreamy rainbow color.

Suddenly.

The twenty or so guild members at the back were stunned.

No matter how they shouted, they couldn't wake the people at the front.

"I'll try!"

One member's expression hardened, and he walked forward.

As expected, the same thing happened.

As soon as he entered a certain range, a transparent bubble enveloped him, and he stood still.

No one dared to go forward anymore.

They were all terrified by the strange scene!

"Hurry and log off, ask the guild leader what's going on!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

It was like waking from a dream.

Two core members immediately logged off.

Adventurers' Home was a studio-based guild, with core members working together like colleagues.

Soon, the two core members ran to the guild leader's office after logging off and removing their gaming helmets.

They saw the guild leader sitting with his eyes closed, still wearing his gaming helmet.

No matter how they called, he wouldn't wake up!

A chill ran down their spines.

Why would something in the game affect reality?

After calming down, they quickly checked the guild leader's condition.

They breathed a sigh of relief.

The guild leader's breathing was smooth, his heartbeat steady.

Even his eyes were still moving.

It was just like being in a dream.

Then, they posted the recorded video on the official forums.

Title: [Mysterious Sleep in Game, Same Strange Occurrence in Reality... What to Do?]

Within minutes.

The forums were in an uproar.

Soon.

An official announcement appeared.

[Warning: All players are advised not to go to the ruins of the ancient Dreamland City. We are investigating the matter and temporarily defining this unknown force as a super-dimensional force.]