Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 347: Entering the Secret Realm, Advancing to Knight Level 19

The ice cavern before them appeared utterly ordinary, the entrance only a few dozen meters wide and about ten meters high.

But this was merely superficial. After all, this was a Secret Realm, not some real ice cavern. Once inside, the actual internal space was astonishingly vast.

In front of the ice cavern's entrance, there were many adventurer figures. Tents were pitched here one after another, creating quite a lively scene, almost resembling a small market.

In fact, as they approached the ice cavern, they had encountered several teams of adventurers along the way.

After all, different paths lead to the same destination. Although the routes taken differed, adventurers with strength who entered this snowy mountain all aimed to explore the Secret Realm before them.

The Millennium Cold Cavern could be said to be one of the most well-known Secret Realms in the vicinity.

Many high-reward missions required entering this Secret Realm, and precious materials could often be found within.

With so many adventurers here, they naturally couldn't openly "disappear" and enter the Portable Space like before.

Such special methods were better kept hidden.

Therefore, they had to put on a surface act.Lin Mo took out an extra-large tent and began setting it up.

Flora also started a campfire, and everyone busied themselves.

Lin Mo quickly set up the tent, then took out some Magical Creature Meat of not-so-high level, asking Sherfilia to simply grill the meat.

After arranging these matters, Lin Mo sat in front of the tent, watching the sunset slowly sink. The surrounding temperature dropped even lower. Many nearby adventurers huddled by their fires, shivering uncontrollably from the cold.

Although adventurers with Warrior and Knight professions could mostly endure this climate, an adventurer team always included professions like Rangers, Assassins, or Mages. For these professions, the current temperature of around minus 40 degrees Celsius was somewhat unbearable.

Fortunately, adventurers entering the snowy mountains basically all prepared some cotton-padded clothes. And these were not ordinary cotton clothes; they were made from magical creature fur, extremely expensive, but with excellent warmth retention. So, while they still inevitably felt cold, it wasn't enough to cause problems.

Night fell, the sky gradually darkened. A biting cold wind swept snowflakes, and the howling wind sounded exceptionally clear due to the cavern ahead.

Lin Mo raised his hand to brush snow off his shoulder, his gaze falling on the meat grilling by the campfire.

In reality, he was already looking at the messages that had popped up along the way.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Although constantly using Knight skills had somewhat lowered monster-clearing efficiency, causing some delay on the road, it had also resulted in quite substantial improvements for his Knight profession skills. Several more skills had risen to Exceptional-Grade, such as [Knight's Charge] and [Heavy Trample]. Those skills originally at Exceptional-Grade had also improved to varying degrees. Even the difficult-to-practice [Heavy Shield Counter] skill had already reached Level 6, only one level away from reaching Level 7.

The improvement of [Unyielding Body] was relatively limited. After all, although there were many frontal collisions, these magical creatures' strength was still too weak for him. Their attacks could hardly cause Lin Mo any damage.

However, [Heavy-Shield Spiral], a relatively useful skill within the Knight profession, was directly trained by Lin Mo to max level, smoothly undergoing universal promotion to Epic Level!

"Skill [Heavy-Shield Spiral] Lv6 (300/300) upgraded!"

"Current skill [Heavy-Shield Spiral] Lv7 (Max)"

"Gained basic attribute point Constitution +5!"

"Has automatically evolved into new skill — Annihilation Shield!"

"Comprehended skill [Annihilation Shield]! Gained basic attribute point Constitution +5!"

[Annihilation Shield] Lv1 (0/20): Inject a small amount of Qi and Blood into the shield, transforming it into the "Annihilation Shield." The Qi and Blood on it rotate at high speed, cutting enemies it collides with. When encountering attacks, it will consume Qi and Blood to block. The shield cannot be destroyed before the Qi and Blood is exhausted!

This skill was quite interesting. In form, it was much more flexible than the previous [Heavy-Shield Spiral], and it could both attack and defend, making it a minor divine skill.

As for this skill's Evolution Route, Route 1 increased cutting damage, while Route 2 reduced the Qi and Blood required to block damage. After some consideration, Lin Mo chose Route 2, maximizing this skill's defensive capability.

The successive skill upgrades caused Lin Mo's basic Constitution attribute to rise accordingly, directly increasing from the original 253 points to 285 points!

His Knight profession level also jumped from Level 17 to Level 19.

"Universal promotion conditions met. Profession Knight (lv17) promoted — Current profession Knight (lv18)"

"Gained profession attribute enhancement: Strength+5, Constitution+16, Agility+3!"

"Promotion conditions met. Profession Knight (lv18) promoted — Current profession Knight (lv19)"

"Gained profession attribute enhancement: Strength+6, Constitution+16, Agility+4!"

This way, the gap between his Knight profession and his other professions was now only one final level. Apart from the Knight profession, all of Lin Mo's other professions were now Level 20, perfectly balanced.

Perhaps because his current attributes were already extremely exaggerated, although this improvement was relatively significant, Lin Mo didn't seem to feel any obvious sense of becoming stronger.

Soon, the meat grilling by Sherfilia was done. Everyone ate some before returning to the tent.

The surface act was sufficient up to this point.

After entering the tent, Lin Mo directly brought everyone back into the Portable Space.

Coming from the icy, snowy wilderness outside into the warm, comfortable manor villa within the Portable Space, this stark contrast made Flora sigh with admiration once again.

"This adventuring life is just too comfortable..."

Indeed, her choice was not wrong. Previously, mustering the courage to voice her inner thoughts and following Lin Mo and the others to leave the Doria Kingdom was perhaps... no, it definitely was the most correct decision she had made in her life.

Inside the villa, the Mana Lamp emitted a soft light, illuminating the entire hall. Lena had already prepared hot meals, placed on the dining table. A rich aroma filled the air.

The small amount of grilled meat eaten earlier was, of course, far from enough. It was merely to avoid arousing suspicion from other adventurers. This current meal was the proper, serious dinner.

Everyone sat together, enjoying a sumptuous and warm dinner, then returned to their respective rooms to rest.

Lin Mo still maintained his meditation habit. After bathing, he sat on the bed and entered a meditative state.

The others were also doing their own things in their rooms. Of course, except for whoever was on night duty tonight...

Eve was currently holding a book in her hands, learning how to dress herself up.

She had never done such things before, relying purely on natural beauty to maintain that cuteness and loveliness. But now, the competition around her was extremely strong. Relying solely on talent was no longer enough to gain any advantage. She had to step up her game.

Eve's competitive nature allowed her to fully immerse herself in anything she did, with very high efficiency. So, when this golden-haired girl pushed open the door, her attire truly made Lin Mo's eyes light up.

She's this good at playing?

The night passed swiftly. Early the next morning, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, Lin Mo brought everyone back out into the tent.

Stepping out of the tent, many adventurers had already packed their things and were preparing to set off.

It had to be said, ever since their adventuring life became increasingly comfortable, they seemed to have less and less of the arduous, tenacious spirit that adventurers should possess.

Of course, Lin Mo didn't consider this a bad thing. He had no desire to be a miserable, hard-grinding workaholic.

Packing up the tent, Lin Mo also led everyone towards the entrance of the Millennium Cold Cavern.

Approaching the ice cavern entrance, a bone-chilling cold rushed over them. Looking inside from the outside, the entire entrance appeared pitch black, like a lurking giant beast opening its maw.

Lin Mo took the lead, walking towards the Secret Realm's entrance, with everyone closely following.

Speaking of which, this was Lin Mo's first time entering a Secret Realm with this kind of stable form.

Previously, the Secret Realms he entered were all hidden types or those that opened irregularly, without fixed entrances and exits.

Stable-type Secret Realms like the Millennium Cold Cavern were different. The structure inside such Secret Realms normally wouldn't change. That is to say, after a period of exploration, maps of such Secret Realms could be drawn. There was no need to worry about getting lost inside or being unable to find the exit.

Such a mature and stable Secret Realm was, for capable adventurers, simply a mountain of gold standing there, waiting for them to go inside and pick up money.

The Secret Realm's entrance was pitch black. Continuing deeper inside, after walking about a hundred meters, their vision suddenly blurred, similar to the feeling when entering other Secret Realms before.

When their sight returned, they were already in a completely different world.

All around were thick layers of ice, but it wasn't dark before them. Instead, it was very bright. Solid ice of various shapes emitted a faint blue light, creating a kind of eerie, beautiful feeling.

Lin Mo tried touching the surrounding ice layers and found this ice extremely hard. Even with his strength, damaging it wouldn't be easy. And after breaking the outer ice layers, the deeper solid ice couldn't be budged by him at all.

Looking ahead, the entire Secret Realm seemed to be composed of this hard ice. It was essentially an incredibly huge ice cavern.

No wonder it was called the Millennium Cold Cavern.

The temperature here was roughly the same as at the outside entrance, but the difference was the absence of howling wind and snow. So, in terms of perceived temperature, it actually felt a bit warmer.

The road underfoot was very flat and smooth, making it relatively easy for Mages or Knights with poorer balance to slip and fall.

Professions like Assassins, Rangers, and Warriors, with their higher Agility attributes, had strong balance and didn't have this concern.

The ones in their team who needed looking after were only Finnie and Flora.

One Mage, one Priest, both now carefully taking steps.

Walking like this was simply too slow. Helpless, Lin Mo could only wrap one arm around Finnie's waist, pulling her into his embrace.

Seeing this, Flora opened her mouth as if wanting to say something. Lin Mo obviously noticed this too, but he didn't initiate speaking. Instead, he looked at Instructor Flora with a slightly teasing gaze.

Back when his strength was weak, Flora had "teased" him plenty. Now it was his turn to get some "revenge."

Flora bit her lip. Suddenly, hardening her heart, she made a decision. She took two steps forward, actively linked arms with Lin Mo, even pressing her entire body against him.

That cotton-like, enveloping sensation made Lin Mo's expression freeze momentarily.

Either don't do it, or do it thoroughly. That was quite in line with Flora's style...

Of course, he was now considered an experienced player in matters of the heart, so he naturally accepted it calmly.

Regarding information about the Millennium Cold Cavern, Lin Mo had reviewed it many times before.

The magical creatures within this Secret Realm were, overall, certainly much stronger than those on the outside snowy mountain.

But that was overall. It didn't mean every magical creature inside this Secret Realm was stronger than the strongest ones outside. If that were the case, the danger coefficient of this Secret Realm would be too high. Even Transcendent Level adventurers wouldn't dare enter rashly.

In fact, when first entering the Secret Realm, the magical creatures in the outermost layers were generally only around Level 10.

That was roughly approaching Elite or just reaching Elite level. For a relatively standard Silver Level adventurer team, they basically posed no threat.

Not to mention a team like Lin Mo's, nominally Silver Level but with combat power that could already rival many Gold-level adventurer teams.

The ecosystem within the Millennium Cold Cavern was unexpectedly rich. So, less than a kilometer after entering the Secret Realm, Lin Mo keenly sensed the presence of magical creatures.

He raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop. His gaze swept towards an ice crevice on the left. Several magical creatures, bodies covered in ice armor and of small size, were staring intently at them, their eyes flashing with greedy light — Ice Claw Mice, a type of fast-moving magical creature skilled in ambush.

Just as Lin Mo discovered them, these guys were also poised, ready to launch a surprise attack.

Lin Mo's figure moved. The next moment, he appeared before an Ice Claw Mouse, kicking it to death.

[Knight's Kick] proficiency +80.

Threat level was indeed Level 10.

Such magical creatures posed absolutely no threat to their team.

Therefore, Lin Mo slightly increased his speed, continuing forward.

Several C-rank missions from the outside snowy mountain had already been completed along the way. Within this Millennium Cold Cavern, there were still 3 B-rank and one A-rank clearing missions to do, plus one final A-rank exploration mission.

But the targets of these missions were all higher-level magical creatures. They needed to go deeper into the Secret Realm to encounter them.

During the subsequent journey, they encountered many Secret Realm magical creatures along the way. The levels gradually increased: from Level 11 Ice-Pattern Spiders, to Level 12 Cold-Mist Worms, Level 13 Ice-Bone Bats...

Lin Mo still persisted tirelessly in grinding his Knight profession proficiency, planning to first raise his Knight profession to Level 20.