Genius Chapter 71: Summer Realm

Chapter 71: Summer Realm

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

0.01%, that moment seems to pass especially long, all eyes are staring at the change of the boss’s blood level, spring breeze still has a few seconds, is not to the time of birth, the boss should not be at the end of the outrageous mechanism, right? ……

All sorts of conjectures appeared within everyone’s hearts, just then they heard the boss’s roll call.

”Hee hee hee hee, UnchainedWanderer, will you come and be my feeder?”

Everyone, “!!!”

Su Mo couldn’t help but voice out, “Brother.”

Array master’s array was released at the last minute, just at this critical moment, the group damage array he landed at the boss’s feet stacked up to the fourth layer, and the sudden burst of damage directly blew up the boss, and he was hanged by name.

Su Mo felt his heart seem to stop in that instant, and in the next second, a new challenge announcement popped up in front of his eyes.

[Congratulations to the team led by Momo for successfully clearing the Realm of Spring through the thorns, all participating members received [Level 80 Equipment Treasure Chest] x1, [Level 80 Equipment Refining Material – Flying Dragon Blood] x1, [Permanent Attribute Points 50]]

[You have entered the second level of the Mystic Realm of Departed Souls (Realm of Summer)]]

At the news of passing, cheers suddenly poured out from the team.

“Crap, passed!”

“Thank goodness, we don’t have to do it again.”

“Array master is too strong, the last wave stacked 4 layers of group damage, right?”

“That’s it? We’re too strong too, a few hours to catch up with the vanguard group’s progress.”

“This reward is also too rich, right?”

“It’s worthy of being a 7-star challenge, it instantly became elevated!”

The entire team was down to just ScarletFruit and Watermelon, who had led the group to the second stage. As the scene refreshed, everyone found themselves beside a wide lake in the forest, its clear waters revealing the lake bed, surrounded by lush vegetation.

“This is a forest lake, and now everyone is in the vicinity of the lake, all in corpse status.”

“Wait, why am I still in corpse status?”

“Huh? Is it stuck? Is the AI not responding?”

“Everyone is lying down.”

When Su Mo teleported over, his perspective was still in black and white. He glanced around and noticed Yu Zhen lying beside him. Everyone else was scattered around, with only Watermelon and ScarletFruit standing.

ScarletFruit looked at the pile of bodies, especially the situation, without even having time to be stunned. He quickly ran over and pulled Su Mo up. “What’s going on? Shouldn’t everyone be revived?”

In a typical dungeon, after clearing it and switching scenes, in most cases, all team members would be revived. Previously, this was also the case in most quest dungeons. Unexpectedly, this time there was no refresh.

After Su Mo got up and sat down to recover health, he said, “You shouldn’t have pulled me up first. Heal the healer first.”

ScarletFruit replied, “Bro, I’m showing through actions how much you mean to me.”

Su Mo was speechless.

Under the scorching sun, Su Mo noticed right after being revived that the weather in this scene was quite hot.

Holographic scenes aimed for realism, with seasonal changes, but as cultivators, ordinary weather variations had little effect on them. This was Su Mo’s first firsthand experience of the heat during a game dungeon challenge.

In this challenging dungeon, resurrection potions and revival spells couldn’t be used to assist teammates. Everyone lay on the ground, watching the cleric casting the resurrection spell for a full 10 minutes, deciding to pass the time with some idle chatter.

Bitter Melon remarked, “There’s something odd about this map. The temperature is clearly off.”

ScarletFruit said, “Yeah, it’s way too hot. I’m sweating.”

“What do you mean?” FireworksAndLanterns lay on the ground, “I don’t feel much lying down. Is the environment really that hot?”

Apple quickly responded, “I’m sensitive to heat. Let me lie down a bit more, and please let me be the last one you revive.”

While the players idled waiting for the cleric’s cooldown, Apple opened the exploration group chat. Inside, discussions were lively among the mostly advanced players. Each had their own teams tackling dungeon challenges. Since this morning, four or five teams had already broken into the second layer, and now they were discussing inside. 

ChatMasterWu: Has anyone reached the third stage?

Begonia: No, we wiped. We’re still on the second stage.

FireworksAndLanterns: Haha, I caught up to your progress. We’re also on the second stage.

ChatMasterWu: @FireworksAndLanterns, Really? Isn’t it exaggerated? Didn’t your team start this morning?

FireworksAndLanterns: We managed to clear it a couple of times, just so-so.

HealsFor25000: Over there with TrueBrother and Momo, it’s outrageous. I asked TrueBrother to team up, but he didn’t come, saying Marksman isn’t suitable for PvE. He’s just making excuses.

Begonia: @HealsFor25000, I saw a forum post digging into ReturnToSimplicity and Momo. Do they really have something going on?

ChatMasterWu: I also want to ask @HealsFor25000.

HealsFor25000: You think I didn’t ask him!!! Right after the last hunting session ended, I messaged him. He replied two days later and dodged the topic, asking me for our galaxy’s recipes.

Apple caught sight of this and glanced aside.

UnchainedWanderer was still lying on the ground, while Momo seemed to have walked away… Is something going on between these two?

Su Mo stood under the shade of a tree, surveying all the scenes around him. Perhaps not everyone had revived yet, making the entire map appear tranquil and pleasant. They were a bit far from where he was standing, but Su Mo could see a small pavilion at the center of the lake, likely where the boss was located.

He instinctively wanted to start a conversation with Yu Zhen, but heard lively discussions in the team voice chat. Hesitating for a moment, he then received a private voice message.

Su Mo muted the team voice chat and connected to Yu Zhen on a private channel. As soon as the connection was established, he said, “I was just about to look for you.”

“What’s up?” Yu Zhen asked.

“Since we’ve encountered Spring and Summer, this dungeon should have at least four stages,” Su Mo glanced around. “Let’s first analyze the boss mechanics from the first stage. The boss itself has three mechanic skills, and additionally, there’s the Spring Realm’s special mechanism of ‘Endless Regeneration’ and ‘Cyclic Renewal’ after 50%.”

CloudTraveller had previously hinted at Celestial Horizon map areas with noticeably different temperatures, such as the Northern Desert and Glacial Ravenlands. If these correspond to the four seasons, then this dungeon challenge should consist of four stages, or even more.

Yu Zhen affirmed, “The bosses here should have them too.”

Su Mo continued, “It’s inevitable. From the current situation, it seems like every scene in the map could be a key mechanism point.”

Yu Zhen asked, “Do you want to go check out the lake? Should I come with you?”

Su Mo was still pondering when Yu Zhen’s question prompted an immediate response, “Sure.” Just as he agreed, the voice of the array master came through the team voice chat.

“ScarletFruit, pull me first,” Yu Zhen said.

“Alright, coming right up.” As soon as ScarletFruit helped Yellow Peach up, he heard Yu Zhen’s call and rushed over to assist him.

Apple, who had been uncertain, suddenly saw UnchainedWanderer resurrected and immediately walked over to Momo. The two then headed towards the lake as if they had made prior arrangements.

The lake water was clear. As soon as Su Mo reached the water’s edge, he saw clearly defined structures at the bottom of the lake. There were buildings underwater? Judging by the structure’s layout, it seemed to lead directly to the small pavilion in the center.

“Let’s dive,” Yu Zhen said.

Su Mo nodded. The two of them entered the water without hesitation. At that moment, a new message appeared on their character status bars:

[Slowed Movement: Submerged in water, slow movement rule activated, movement speed reduced by 50%] [Water Adaptation: Player possesses water adaptation, but can only endure deep diving for 3 minutes. Exceeding 3 minutes will result in drowning.]

Su Mo paused slightly upon seeing this. He looked up towards the pavilion in the distance. “Can we use lightness skill here?”

“We can, but the cooldown time will be longer,” Yu Zhen replied, activating a movement speed array for both of them. “Let’s go.”

On the shore, ScarletFruit and Yellow Peach were still slowly assisting others. The revived players quickly found shade under the trees to rest. Watermelon simply placed an item under the shade, causing a small tea house to appear in front of everyone. Inside was a tea server, currently pouring tea for everyone.

“Watermelon, this item of yours is amazing,” ScarletFruit remarked.

“While roughing it outdoors, some quest items still come in handy.” Watermelon found a seat. “Come on in, take a break, and have some tea. Although the tea from this item is just ordinary, the taste is a bit lacking.”

As time approached half-past ten, the heat made everyone thirsty. After about fifteen minutes, all of them had revived and were sitting in the tea house, sipping tea and admiring the beautiful mountains, forests, and lake. For a moment, it felt more like a vacation than tackling a dungeon.

After ClearWind revived and didn’t see anyone around, he asked again, “Where’s my brother and Brother Wanderer? Why don’t I see them?”

FireworksAndLanterns replied, “Seems like they went into the lake and haven’t come out yet.”

Watermelon looked around, “Where’s the boss of this place? Haven’t seen it.”

Just then, Momo’s voice came through the voice channel, “The boss is in the pavilion on the lake. Looks like we’ll be fighting in the water this time.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was slightly stunned and immediately headed over to see what was happening in the water.

As soon as they entered the water, they saw two figures, sparking excitement. When they reached the pavilion in the middle of the lake, they finally laid eyes on the boss of the Summer Realm.

The pavilion in the middle of the lake was tiny, only accommodating a few people standing inside.

Inside the pavilion, there appeared a young girl wrapped in fish scales, leaning on the railing and resting. Her slightly elongated fish tail half rested on the ground, with the remaining part trailing into the water. She had closed eyes and a remarkably beautiful appearance.

• Lakeheart Mermaid.

The Mermaid is a high-priority target, requiring players to initiate combat to engage her.

However, in this scene, it was clear that there weren’t designated positions for all players, indicating that possibly only the main tank could stand on the pavilion, while others had to stay in the water.

“She’s pretty.”

“Are we going to have a water battle in this place?”

“Moving slowly in the water makes it hard to dodge attacks.”

“Looking at the boss’s health bar, it seems like only half of the Spring Realm’s son?”

Before entering the pavilion, Su Mo and Yu Zhen had submerged to inspect the situation, but found that access to the building was restricted and were immediately transported back to the lakeshore, forcing them to regroup. Based on the current situation, there were three important points to note:

What is the purpose of the underwater building?

What attacks will players face while in the water?

How far is the boss’s range of action?

“How should we do this?” FireworksAndLanterns asked, “Should we just go straight in?”

Su Mo glanced at the time; he had half an hour left. “Let’s first try to pull the distance, Watermelon.”

Watermelon, always willing to take on tasks, stepped forward. “Head to the shore, right?”

“Yes, keep your light-footed technique ready,” Su Mo said. “The rest of you, return to the shore and don’t engage in combat.”

Just as Su Mo finished speaking, they saw Watermelon just reaching the vicinity of the pavilion in the middle of the lake.

Watermelon looked up. “Huh? Oh, wait, should I swim back then?”

Everyone was speechless.

Yu Zhen remained silent for a moment. “I’ll boost your movement speed with an array.”

Watermelon simply turned around and swam back. “Alright, thanks for running back and forth for me,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Yu Zhen replied.

Several minutes passed in waiting, and finally, everyone had reached the shore. Watermelon, almost dried up on the pavilion, asked, “Are we all here?”

“Yep, we’re here,” Watermelon replied.

As Watermelon glanced at the mermaid, he accidentally tripped over her tail while shifting positions. “Damn, does she move her tail even while sleeping?”

Before he could finish speaking, the tail gently moved again, and the mermaid opened her eyes. Her deep blue pupils carried a chilling indifference. At the same time, two new rules immediately appeared before everyone’s eyes:

Special Mechanism of Summer Realm Activated:[ScorchingSun] [Scalding] Special Mechanism of Summer Realm Activated: [Scorching Sun] [Scalding] Special Mechanism of Summer Realm Activated: [Scorching Sun] [Scalding]

“Everyone, step back,” Su Mo said with a slight pause. How did the special mechanism activate so quickly?

At that moment, two new statuses appeared on everyone, followed by the immediate disabling of an equipment piece.

Scorching Sun: Under the scorching sun, you choose to remove clothing due to the heat. (After entering combat, every 6 minutes, a piece of body equipment will be disabled.)  

Scalding: Players affected by scalding effect will lose 1% of their health per second. 

Everyone reacted with confusion, “Huh??”

“What the heck, we lose gear and take damage?!”

Everyone in the team started checking their equipment, realizing it was being randomly disabled—some lost clothes, others lost hats, leaving their spots empty.

For a moment, there were people with disheveled hair and undressed.

Watermelon shouted in dismay, “Damn it, my shoes are gone!!”

“Help, this boss’s attack range is too far!!”

“I’m half health!! Heal me, heal me!”

Su Mo quickly reacted and glanced towards the lake. He saw Watermelon under the effects of Scorching Sun and Scalding, his fastest shoes disabled and now suffering from burning. “Yellow Peach, go save him. Everyone else, don’t move.”

The boss’s gentle yet eerie voice echoed in everyone’s ears.

“Is it you? Disturbing my slumber.”

Yellow Peach hurriedly entered the water. At that moment, a massive wave suddenly engulfed Watermelon from the lake’s surface, and soon after, he completely disappeared from sight.