Swoosh! Dracula's figure flickered, instantly vanishing from his position to evade the colossal black blade plummeting from above. The next instant, he reappeared like a phantom directly before the Level 4 Guard. Raising an arm, he aimed the cold muzzle squarely at the guard's faceplate and pulled the trigger.

BANG! The gunshot echoed as the bullet struck the guard squarely in the head. While it didn't obliterate the skull entirely, the impact instantly depleted nearly a third of the guard's health bar. Since it wasn't a killing blow, the skill reset didn't trigger, and [Fatal Shot] went on cooldown. However, the sheer force of the headshot triggered a stun effect. The Level 4 Guard stumbled, propping itself up with its longsword, its eyes vacant as it completely lost the ability to fight back.

How could Dracula possibly miss such a prime opportunity? A layer of crimson light bloomed across his form as blood-red energy erupted from within him, swirling like a vortex as it surged towards the stunned Level 4 Guard.

[Crimson Feast: Detonates the blood within the target, dealing massive explosive damage. If the target's HP is below 50%, inflicts additional bonus damage equal to 30% of Dracula's maximum HP.]

BOOM! The Level 4 Guard's massive frame shuddered violently as a thick mist of blood erupted from its armor. It staggered back, its health bar plummeting instantly to roughly one-quarter full. Immediately following, another pulse of crimson light flared on the guard's body. [If target HP is below 50%, inflict additional damage equal to 30% of Dracula's maximum HP.]

The condition was met! Bonus damage triggered! CRUNCH! The Level 4 Guard simply exploded where it stood, showering the ground with fragments of black armor and gore.

[Killed Sunken Guard LV.4, EXP +75] [Level: LV.2 (193/200)]

A huge chunk of experience! Just one more Level 1 guard would be enough to level up again. Gu Chen was ecstatic. He'd anticipated that the early levels in the dungeon would go quickly, but he hadn't imagined it would be this fast. At this rate, he should easily hit Level 5 by the time they cleared the dungeon, allowing him to contract a second summoned creature.

"Two skills! He killed the Level 4 Guard in just two skills!" "That's insane!" Lin Qingqing's eyes were wide with disbelief, as if she were dreaming. "So this is an Epic-tier summon... it's so damn broken!" Lin Yuan slapped his thigh and jumped up from his seat on the flowerbed. "Two skills dealing almost three thousand damage! If that's not broken, I don't know what is!"

"That kind of terrifying damage... even Li Wenhui from the honors class couldn't manage that, could he?" Wu Ziyi muttered, his expression conflicted.

"Drop the 'could he?' " Lin Yuan said smugly. "Didn't you see Old Gu's last hit was total overkill?"

"Li Wenhui is a Retribution Knight, focused on burst and sustained damage," Lin Qingqing chimed in, shaking her head. "Forget Level 2; even at Level 4, there's no way he could dish out almost three thousand damage in two skills."

Gu Chen listened to their discussion without comment. Based purely on the skill damage numbers, [Fatal Shot] followed by the initial burst of [Crimson Feast] should only have depleted about three-quarters of the Level 4 Guard's HP. There was still a significant gap to killing it outright with just those two hits. The instant kill was possible only because Dracula, after his Bloodline Awakening, already possessed a staggering 3200 HP—an amount that dwarfed nearly any other Level 2 creature or player. Currently, 30% of Dracula's maximum health amounted to nearly 1000 points, enough to constitute enormous bonus damage from [Crimson Feast]'s secondary effect. That bonus damage was what secured the instant kill on the Level 4 Guard. An ordinary Level 2 summon might only have around 700 HP. Even if it triggered the bonus damage effect (scaled to its own much lower health pool), it would likely only leave the Level 4 Guard heavily wounded, far from an instant kill. So, the spectacular kill just now was primarily due to the sheer stats of the Epic-tier summon.

After quickly checking the area and confirming no equipment or items had dropped from the guards, Gu Chen led the party deeper into the Temple Ruins. Crossing the plaza, they entered an inner courtyard. Dracula took the lead. Raising a pistol, he dispatched a wandering guard in the courtyard with lightning speed.

[Killed Sunken Guard LV.1, EXP +8] [Level Up!] [Level: LV.3 (1/386)] [Strength: 37] [Agility: 36] [Constitution: 38] [Spirit: 39] [Summon: Dracula LV.3 [Epic]] [Talent—You can now obtain one Dark Bloodline.]

Seeing this notification, a spark of excitement flashed in Gu Chen's eyes. They were currently in the passage between the plaza and the inner courtyard with no immediate threats. He immediately activated his talent again, and the familiar crimson light manifested before him.

[You have obtained: Dark Bloodline · Progenitor] [Dark Bloodline · Progenitor: Can transform ordinary creatures into Dark Creatures. Can also allow Progenitor Dark Creatures to fuse with a bloodline, undergoing a Star-Up.]

A Star-Up for a summon was akin to a minor evolution. Without hesitation, Gu Chen initiated the fusion.

[Bloodline Fusion Successful!] [Summon Star-Up!] [Dracula [Epic] -> Dracula [Epic ★]]

[Level: LV.3 (Matches Summoner Level)] [HP: 4200] [Attributes: Strength 58, Agility 62, Constitution 60, Spirit 59] [Talents: Blood Progeny Instinct [Epic], Wrath of the Blood Shadow [Epic]] [Skill I: Fatal Shot LV.10 [Epic]] [Skill II: Crimson Feast LV.10 [Epic]] [Talent [Blood Progeny Instinct] has been enhanced!] [Blood Progeny Instinct: Blood empowers the progeny with enhanced physique and recovery capabilities. Each time Dracula kills a target, he permanently gains 10 maximum HP.]

Epic One-Star! All attributes boosted by a massive +20, and his HP soared past the four thousand mark! Most importantly, the Star-Up had enhanced his [Blood Progeny Instinct] talent. Gaining 10 permanent max HP per kill! The sheer power implied by the description alone was staggering.

Excitement blazed in Gu Chen's eyes. He was only Level 3. By Level 10, how monstrous would Dracula's health pool become? Level 30? Level 50? Furthermore, the bonus damage from [Crimson Feast] scaled directly with Dracula's maximum HP. In other words, the more HP Dracula gained, the higher the bonus damage from that skill would become. Synergy! It was frighteningly powerful! One could easily imagine this skill continuously strengthening alongside Dracula's growth, potentially without limit. Once his health pool reached truly astronomical heights, perhaps even instantly killing bosses wouldn't be out of the question.

After the Star-Up, Dracula's base strength increased to the point where even his normal shots could instantly kill Level 1 Guards. Using [Fatal Shot], he could now instantly eliminate Level 2 Guards as well. Against Level 3 Guards, it was time for the 'Mozambique Drill'—two shots to the chest, one to the head. Even deities would likely shake their heads at the sheer lethality. As for Level 4 Guards, they hadn't encountered any more since the one in the plaza.

They steamrolled through the inner courtyard, clearing monsters at an absurdly fast pace. Level 1 Guards yielded roughly 8 EXP, Level 2 gave 16 EXP, Level 3 provided 35 EXP, and Level 4 awarded 72 EXP. These were average values; the actual experience gained per kill fluctuated slightly but stayed close to these numbers.

Clearing their way from the inner courtyard to the end of a long cloister took roughly an hour. The main reason it took so long was the tedious navigation, the stop-and-go nature of clearing winding paths, and waiting for guards to respawn. Without those delays, they likely could have finished this section in half the time.

Now, the party stood before the entrance to the main hall of the temple ruins. "Finally, time for the boss," Gu Chen muttered. His expression solemn, Gu Chen pushed open the two heavy doors and stepped into the main hall.