With a flash of light, Lin Ye and his group appeared atop a barren mountain terrain filled with jagged rocks.
Everywhere here were stones of dark and gray hues, with traces of excavation visible all over the mountain. In the haze, the entire mine appeared immensely eerie, discouraging any approach.
"This is the Black Stone Mine..."
Han Dong looked into the distance, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't afraid at all.
After all, this was an Abyss Difficulty Level 5 Secret Realm, and for a newbie like him, the danger level was off the charts.
One careless moment could easily lead to a place of eternal damnation.
"How do we start?" An Xinmeng was still completely carefree as if she hadn't sensed any danger at all.
Li Fei was always quiet and only looked at Lin Ye at this moment.
Lin Ye understood, and immediately tapped his Spatial Bag, causing ten round white objects to appear on the ground.
"Baa~"
"Baa~"
The sound of sheep bleating was endless for a moment.
The scene left Han Dong utterly stunned; he could see clearly that these were definitely the Sheep Puppets used as practice targets at school!
He hadn't expected to see Sheep Puppets inside the Secret Realm.
The sight was utterly bizarre!
"What are these Sheep Puppets for?" he asked, somewhat speechless.
Are we practicing skills on puppets as soon as we enter the Secret Realm?
Isn't it a bit too late for that?!
Faced with Han Dong's confusion, Lin Ye said nothing; he raised his Magic Staff, and with a flick, a light appeared on the four teammates and the ten Sheep Puppets.
"Soul Link?"
Han Dong immediately sensed a special status on himself.
He quickly checked and revealed a joyous expression!
This status named Soul Link could actually distribute damage to his teammates!
At this moment, the ten Sheep Puppets that Lin Ye manipulated clearly played a significant role.
With these ten Sheep Puppets sharing the damage, their safety was evidently much more assured.
No wonder Lin Ye dared to lead the team to the Black Stone Mine!
"We've got this!"
Han Dong immediately felt he'd made the right gamble!
Just this status was enough to ensure they could leave Black Stone Mine alive.
"Let's go!" Lin Ye said.
Han Dong was also excited, eager to go forward. Hearing Lin Ye's words, he was the first to march ahead.
Li Fei followed closely behind.
"You're responsible for watching the sheep, don't just stand there. Activate Spiky Aura and sting the monsters a bit!" Lin Ye said to An Xinmeng.
An Xinmeng's eyes widened immediately and she said, "Aren't you afraid of attracting the monsters?"
The effect of Spiky Aura was indiscriminate and constantly dealt fixed damage within a certain surrounding range to hostile targets.
This aura was one of the few offensive means for an Aura Master, and if there were enough monsters, its effect could be considerable.
But in the novice stage, handling three monsters at the same time was already the limit for a team.
Therefore, the effect of Spiky Aura seemed quite feeble.
And it could also inadvertently attract extra monsters, so usually, this aura wasn't used.
"No worries, we can handle it!" Lin Ye said calmly and confidently.
An Xinmeng nodded, realizing that since Lin Ye had said so, she would comply.
Anyway, she was responsible for watching the sheep; hanging the aura along wouldn't hurt.
However, as her aura activated, Lin Ye's eyes suddenly widened...
This time, it was his turn to be shocked!
Because he had forgotten something very important.
That was An Xinmeng's talent!
As An Xinmeng's aura turned on, all the monsters within a hundred meters were alarmed!
Then, they immediately locked onto Forest Squad's position and rushed over!
There were at least twenty of them!
"Oh no!" Han Dong was taken aback!
The commotion was quite terrifying!
However, Li Fei remained relatively composed, as the ten Sheep Puppets were sharing the damage, and less than twenty monsters didn't really count as a big deal.
Besides the loud noise, there wasn't much else special.
"See... I told you it would attract the surrounding monsters..."
An Xinmeng was also frightened and looked remorseful, head down and fiddling with her clothing hem.
Previously, she had only been to normal difficulty levels, where there were generally only four or five monsters within a hundred meters.
But she hadn't expected the monster density to be so high under Abyss Difficulty!
Close to twenty monsters within a hundred meters, and this was still the relatively safe starting point of the Secret Realm!
If they went further in, wouldn't the density shoot up to forty or fifty within a hundred meters?
An Xinmeng couldn't help but exclaim how terrifying it was!
Lin Ye was speechless...
It wasn't An Xinmeng's fault; he was careless.
He didn't expect her talent to be related to casting range!
Obviously, a typical Aura Master would have an aura diameter of ten or so meters, nowhere near An Xinmeng's level...
Her aura range was at least a hundred meters!
Meaning that when she activated Spiky Aura, it directly attracted all the monsters within a hundred meters.
Watching the monsters hurt by the Spiky Aura rushing over, Lin Ye couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
This choice of profession was just too quirky!
This silly girl, if she had chosen to be a regular Mage, there might have been people scrambling to level up with her; Lin Ye wouldn't have needed to bring her along at all.
But An Xinmeng chose to be an Aura Master...
Although she could still become a formidable force if she transitioned to Array Master later on with this talent, the early stages would be tough; she might as well have been a regular Mage for easier transitions later.
However, An Xinmeng's participation now was just right!
Lin Ye was very fond of her talent, and if he could acquire it, he too would have an extraordinarily vast casting range in the future.
This time, regardless of anything else, getting An Xinmeng's talent was worth it all.
"Don't be scared, attack! With me here, you won't die!"
Lin Ye was extraordinarily excited, shouting loudly.
This was his greatest confidence as a Healer!
After all, with ten Sheep Puppets sharing the damage, these monsters were no threat at all.
Though initially startled by the sudden situation, Han Dong quickly regained his composure and swiftly entered a combat state.
Evidently, this guy was a battle enthusiast as well, charging into the monster group and launching a wild assault.
Li Fei was even slower than him...
The battle began, and the Sheep Puppets took on the redirected damage, bleating.
Lin Ye felt as if there was a mess of Cantonese people quarreling around him.
"When we return, we must ask the puppet shop owner to mute these sheep!"
Lin Ye muttered, as it was just too noisy.
Meanwhile, he also raised his Magic Staff, casting Healing Technique!
The Holy Light rhythmically lit up on all four of them.
Ten minutes later, the last Dogman Excavator fell, and Han Dong incredulously looked around,
The monster corpses lay scattered all over the place!
His gaze towards Lin Ye already carried absolute respect.
No need to mention the rest; just Lin Ye's healing capabilities displayed just now were enough to earn the respect of all Professionals!