[Welcome to the Tiandi Temple]

The boss’s health was at 75%, and the wind and sand in the temple were growing stronger.  

Teammates who hadn’t yet processed Zhou Sui’s earlier statement—“I’m done healing”—were still pondering its meaning when they saw him already sticking close to the boss.

“Move it!” Rich Bro, who’d witnessed Zhou Sui’s prowess back in the wilds, quickly shifted his dairy cow forward a bit. “Careful, don’t let it drag on and enrage!”

Bubble Dragon hefted his shield and followed. “Everyone, watch your positions and keep your recovery potions ready!”

Rich Bro was the first to dart to a suitable spot, followed closely by the Daoist, another ranged class. Seeing the two ranged players spring into action, the warrior had no reason to stand idle either and immediately adjusted his position based on the tank’s placement.

Everyone got busy, completely ignoring the assassin lying on the ground. They didn’t even know what it meant to fight a boss without a healer—each of them had already placed their health potions within easy reach.  

The assassin had started off grumbling and cursing. After Zhou Sui muted his voice, he switched to spamming text in the chat, trying to clutter everyone else’s screens.

[Team Leader Bubble Dragon has muted player One Blade Shadow.]

The other players in the team were willing to cooperate. Zhou Sui could heal while still putting out that kind of damage—his skills clearly weren’t lacking.  

And in the half-minute it took them to reposition, the boss’s health dropped a solid 2% right before their eyes!

In Divine Tree, this game, there were mechanics like blocking and critical hits.  

This meant that when players struck a boss, they could hit weak points. Repeatedly hitting the same spot would increase the damage dealt to the boss. In practice, though, this was incredibly difficult to pull off. Even with Tian Wu Bastion shield tanks holding the boss’s facing, the boss’s movements had a range, and it would shift its position as the tank moved. So, most players didn’t bother chasing so-called critical hits—spending time pinpointing weak spots wasn’t as efficient as landing a few extra skills for more overall damage.

But now, the weapon case shifted multiple times: needle to scythe, scythe to pestle. The ever-changing arsenal in the healer’s hands was a dazzling blur. Every tool he wielded struck the boss with lightning-fast precision, the flurry of switches overwhelming to watch. It was as if any weapon in his hands became as light and effortless as a toy.

Most crucially, not a single move missed.  

Every skill landed precisely on the same spot on the boss’s body.

So precise!

The warrior was stunned. “He can even land critical hits like that?”

His Daoist friend on the team teased, “Why don’t you learn from him?”

The warrior thought to himself, ‘How am I supposed to learn that?!’

The Daoist frowned with concern. “Why are the boss’s skills so erratic?”  

Without a healer, they were the ones feeling uneasy.

“It’s not that the skills are erratic—it’s that judging the boss’s moves based on fixed percentages is wrong. The guides on StarNet only give rough ranges, like ‘a certain skill is more likely between 93% and 90% health.’ Those are just summaries streamers pieced together from general trends,” Rich Bro explained at this moment. “In reality, different teams deal damage at different speeds, so the skill triggers vary too. Otherwise, why would the Tiandi Temple be called a newbie’s nightmare dungeon?”

The skills seemed simple, but their variations were unpredictable.  

The best strategy was to form a brute-force team and overpower it, clearing the dungeon in as little time as possible. The fewer skills you encountered, the easier it got.  

But in practice, even though many players knew the skills, their execution was all over the place. Skilled commanders could judge the boss’s timing, while most others just blindly followed guides without understanding how to adapt.

That assassin from earlier had clearly just skimmed a guide and pretended to know it all. Players who’d actually studied the strategies wouldn’t use such a bizarre formation.  

If the main tank lost control even once, someone would die instantly, and even a healer’s revive couldn’t keep up—wasting everyone’s time.

That’s why Bubble Dragon’s initial approach had been right, and Zhou Sui knew it. He didn’t want to needlessly burden the team.

Seeing this, Rich Bro adjusted his summons’ positions to avoid troubling Zhou Sui. Once the others were settled, he spoke up, “Brother Zhou, we’re staying put over here.”

Zhou Sui naturally noticed this small adjustment. Only after his teammates stabilized did he start shifting his own position.

The warrior, closest to Zhou Sui, instinctively glanced at him and realized Zhou Sui’s positioning was offset from his own.

In standard dungeon runs, the basic formation was the tank on one side and the DPS behind the boss.  

Zhou Sui seemed to have replaced the original assassin’s position, but in reality, his positioning was on the left side of the boss, with an angular deviation from the warrior’s position, forming a right-angle positioning with the tank Bubble Dragon. 

Bubble Dragon noticed this too. As the main tank, his job wasn’t just to hold aggro—it was to keep skills from hitting his teammates. Seeing this setup, he instinctively wanted to adjust his position. But as he shifted slightly left, the healer at his side moved with him, adapting to his actions and repositioning accordingly.

“Stop moving,” Zhou Sui said, apparently noticing Bubble Dragon’s adjustment.

Bubble Dragon hesitated. “You’re like this…”

Zhou Sui cut in, “It’s coming.”

The next moment, dark patterns shifted on the boss’s body, and the matching Gust skill erupted.  

Bubble Dragon shouted to retreat, but then he saw the wind cross unfold with the boss at its center, aimed directly at him and Zhou Sui—perfectly avoiding the other players’ positions.

The warrior halted his retreat. “How come we don’t have to dodge?”

Bubble Dragon glanced at Zhou Sui in surprise, then watched as Zhou Sui dodged the skill and returned to his original spot. “You can predict Gust?”

“No need to dodge,” Zhou Sui said concisely. “It only locks onto the top two aggro targets.”

Hearing this, the others instinctively checked the team’s aggro list. Unbeknownst to them, Zhou Sui’s aggro had surpassed everyone else’s, firmly sitting just behind Bubble Dragon’s.

Zhou Sui didn’t elaborate, but through observation, he’d already figured out the boss’s patterns.

The boss’s eyes fixate on players, just like the resentful scholar mobs in Qingshan Academy. This means the boss locks onto a player to attack first before unleashing its big skills. Fan Wind only hits the main tank, and Tornado spreads in a 15-meter circle—both unavoidable skills. But the Gust cross sweeps out at fixed cross-shaped angles.

This was the skill that had dealt the most damage to their team earlier, killing the assassin twice and dropping the warrior’s health.

The rest of the team stayed silent, obediently holding their assigned positions.

From the back, Rich Bro observed the boss and understood Cycle of Eternity’s intent.  

His eyes lit up. No wonder Cycle of Eternity was watching the boss so closely while healing—when did he figure out that the boss locked onto the top two aggro targets?

Tracking aggro shifts is a tough task. Bubble Dragon was a seasoned player, so his tanking kept aggro steady. But the DPS players’ skills naturally built up aggro, causing their rankings outside the main tank to fluctuate chaotically. Few people paid attention to this detail, and even fewer bothered to control it intentionally.

If the lock-on targeted Bubble Dragon, the main tank, then players at angled side positions would be safe—no need to dodge at all.  

Bubble Dragon and Zhou Sui’s right-angle formation meant the cross-shaped Gust would only fire in fixed directions toward the two of them. For everyone else, it was a completely safe spot, cutting down on time spent repositioning!

To keep the skill direction steady, Zhou Sui had to perfectly manage his aggro—never overtaking the main tank while staying far above the rest of the team.

The boss’s health dropped below 40%!  

A powerful Tornado tore through the temple, ripping the ground apart. Cracks appeared underfoot!  

Everyone had to scramble for new footing, just as another boss skill swept in!

Ground fissures—one of the Tiandi Temple’s wipe triggers!  

Bubble Dragon hurriedly repositioned, taking a hit and forced to pop a health potion. He managed to shift to stable ground.

The surrounding floor had split into numerous fissures. For players shrunk in size, falling into one of these cracks meant wasting precious time climbing back out. The other players quickly found slightly wider patches of ground. Bubble Dragon barely stabilized, his health dipping below half, forcing him to use his shield early to block a wave of damage.

With the fissures appearing, maintaining the original stable cross formation became nearly impossible… Bubble Dragon glanced toward Cycle of Eternity, and what he saw froze him in place.

The widest patch of ground had been left to Rich Bro and the other two. Bubble Dragon, as the main tank, also had a decent foothold.  

Most crucially, Zhou Sui was surrounded by four or five fissures wide enough to swallow a player—yet he stood calmly at their edges.

“Can fight.” Seeing that Zhou Sui didn’t move, Rich Bro immediately reacted, “We’re not moving!”  

From start to finish, Brother Zhou had told them not to move recklessly.

The Daoist’s scalp tingled, “Not moving will make dodging harder—”  

Before he could finish, the boss’s skills swept in again.

Cycle of Eternity shifted slightly, weaving nimbly through the cracked ground. To him, these dangerous fissures posed no challenge at all. After passing through the cracks, he quickly adjusted his position, re-establishing the perfect right-angle stance with Bubble Dragon!

Everyone stayed still. If the big shot could hold steady, why the hell would they mess around?

The team channel was filled only with the sounds of player actions and breathing.

Yet, miraculously, the entire team stabilized like this. The ranged classes and the warrior’s health were kept in check by Rich Bro’s healing cow, while Bubble Dragon occasionally glowed with the green healing light Cycle of Eternity cast. As for Cycle of Eternity himself, he didn’t lose a single drop of health. As long as Bubble Dragon held the aggro steady, he seemed able to flawlessly dodge every skill while dealing massive damage.

The Daoist and the warrior couldn’t help but swallow hard. This guy’s reflexes are insane!

The wind-type boss’s health dropped faster and faster. While attacking, everyone couldn’t help but glance at the damage output list.  

As time ticked by, Cycle of Eternity surpassed the former top DPS, “Mortal World’s Noble Grass,” climbing steadily up the damage chart.

Everyone watched in awe and trepidation as his output kept soaring. The assassin lying dead on the ground had gone silent at some point. Cycle of Eternity’s damage climbed from the teens, propelled by his steady mechanics and terrifyingly stacked high damage.

The boss’s health kept plummeting—30%, 25%, 10%…  

When the boss’s health finally hit zero, the wind-type boss on the ravaged ground stopped moving, its stone eyes going completely still.

“It’s over?”  

Everyone, barely clinging to life, stared at the full-health Cycle of Eternity, feeling a surreal daze.  

Holy crap, they actually cleared the Tiandi Temple with just one healing cow and some barely-there support, without even triggering an enrage!?

They couldn’t help but check the stats.  

[Cycle of Eternity, Damage Contribution: 40%]

The warrior, in particular, stared at the horrifying gap between his own output and Cycle of Eternity’s, unable to snap out of it. Especially since that damage number came with the Qi Ling Village faction—a reminder that this insane output was from a class famous for being a support role.

He couldn’t help but say, “Big shot, what’s the point of playing a healer with moves like that? Pick a mage or a warrior, and you’d be soaring!”

With such skill and reaction speed, even a low-attack-bonus class like Qi Ling Village could deal high damage. If he switched to a class renowned for attack power, like Tian He Mountain or Sui Xing City, the damage output could easily double!

Zhou Sui opened the stats list and said matter-of-factly, “The healer’s base damage is low, but its speed bonus is high—it suits me better.”

But isn’t the highest speed bonus on an assassin?! Bubble Dragon wanted to say something but held back. He opened the data table too and could see all of Cycle of Eternity’s damage breakdowns. Beyond the massive damage from precise hits, his basic skill damage was also remarkably high. How is this possible? Cycle of Eternity was only level 30. Aside from technical skill, the only other explanations could be the skill tree from the Divine Tree or his personal stats.

Mainly stacking attack? Speed? Or something else? Could Qi Ling Village’s panel really stack up such high attack stats? Bubble Dragon, with years of gaming experience himself, was seeing a player like this for the first time. How did he deal this kind of damage?

“Aren’t we opening the chest?” Zhou Sui asked.  

The other players snapped out of it—they’d been so focused on Cycle of Eternity’s damage that they forgot they’d already cleared the stage and needed to open the treasure chest.

“What about this guy?” The mage pointed at the assassin who had just revived in the distance.

The group had completely forgotten there was an assassin in the party. Rich Bro glanced at the guy, who had been keeping a low profile the whole time. Even after reviving, he didn’t come closer—clearly hoping to mooch off their rewards after watching them clear the stage. As if it’d be that easy! They still remembered how harshly he’d insulted them earlier. “We haven’t opened the chest yet—kick him out.”

Hearing his teammate, Bubble Dragon promptly booted the guy. No way were they going to let someone who’d done nothing but freeload share the loot after they’d worked so hard.

“He thought he could just hide quietly—I’ve been keeping an eye on him the whole time,” Rich Bro said. “Staying silent and trying to snag rewards? No such thing as a free lunch.”

After being kicked, the assassin sent a barrage of angry private messages, probably having a meltdown. The others didn’t even bother responding—they just blocked him.

The treasure chest sat inside the Tiandi Temple, right in front of the now-motionless boss. Zhou Sui tilted his head, glancing at the still-eerie surroundings. The boss was defeated, so why were they still in this shrunken state?

The other players seemed used to it, not finding anything odd. But Zhou Sui felt an unease that grew stronger the more he looked at the other statues around them.

Zhou Sui stepped forward. As he approached the treasure chest, he heard a faint sound of wind. This anomaly made him instinctively look up at the boss stationed near the chest, but unfortunately, there was nothing unusual—it was as if the wind was just a common background noise in the dungeon. He reached out to touch the chest’s lock, and a prompt immediately popped up in front of him.

[Would you like to open the [Secret Stash of the Tiandi Temple] chest?]

The teammates beside him, eagerly awaiting the big shot’s chest-opening, fell silent the moment they saw the drops.

As soon as the chest was opened, their inventories instantly displayed some rewards. Apart from the individual clear reward chest each player received for completing the dungeon, there was nothing else.  

Where are the shared drops? How can there be a group dungeon so stingy that it doesn’t even have shared loot?!

Zhou Sui remained silent.  

Team leader Bubble Dragon was about to speak up to ease the awkwardness when—

A clear *ding* suddenly rang in their ears.  

The sound was crisp, and all the other players around heard it too.

Everyone froze. When they turned to look behind them, they noticed that the massive doors of the Tiandi Temple had somehow closed without them realizing. Beyond the dilapidated temple doors, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness punctuated by an out-of-place green glow. The three towering statues of the temple stood silently, unmoving, while the rising wind carried a chilling sense of solemnity.

In the dim backlight, patterns resembling those of the Tiankong Tree gradually emerged, and an eerie feeling crept up unbidden.  

As everyone registered this, the stone eyes of the eighteen statues inside the temple suddenly shifted downward, locking onto Zhou Sui amidst the group.

[Talent holder Cycle of Eternity has been detected to possess the Tiandi Temple figurine and has been chosen as a loyal believer.]  

[Would you like to proceed to the Tiandi Temple?]

The group was stunned. What is happening!?

Zhou Sui glanced at his inventory upon hearing this. A small figurine, long forgotten in the corner of his inventory, was now faintly glowing. Its body emitted a strange green light identical to that within the temple. Inside the inventory slot, the figurine’s eyes were no longer restrained—round and wide, staring intently at Zhou Sui.  

His pupils flickered slightly. Intelligent…?

“What the heck is this?” the warrior exclaimed in shock.  

Rich Bro seemed to realize something and looked at Cycle of Eternity, astonished. “A hidden trigger?”

When it came to the Tiandi Temple, the first thing that came to everyone’s mind was the recent uproar in the Divine Tree game. No way—could it really be this coincidental?!

“Look at the announcement, quick!!” the mage shouted, having noticed something.

[Tiandi Temple: The Divine Tree is about to fall.]

Almost simultaneously, every player on the Divine Tree continent looked up. A prophecy echoed from the sky, and faint cracks appeared on the branches of the Divine Tree, which seemed on the verge of collapse. The skies across the continent darkened, and auroras lit up the edges, evoking a sense of apocalyptic emptiness.

“What the heck is this?”  

“World progression… Holy crap, the Tiandi Temple really advances the world storyline!”  

“Damn, this world progression is kind of terrifying!”

Bold, blood-red characters ^[1] Tiandi Temple: The Divine Tree is about to fall appeared on the announcement in front of all players, followed by a cryptic sentence:  

[Talented ones, are you prepared to save the fallen temple?]

Inside the Tiandi Temple, the prompt in front of Zhou Sui began glowing with a red countdown timer. Without hesitation, he clicked confirm.  

Instantly, the prompts in front of everyone in the team changed.

[Confirmed: The team led by player Cycle of Eternity will participate in the Epic Dungeon: Tiandi Temple.]  

[Team detected: 5/6 players. Would you like to invite a friend? Countdown (15 seconds)]

“Holy crap, we can still bring someone in!” The warrior was the first to react, shouting, “Pull someone! Quick, pull someone in! Is there a healer? Hurry and grab a healer!”

Bubble Dragon: “…!”  

Where are they supposed to find a healer?! If they had a healer in their friend list, they wouldn’t have ended up relying on this big shot in the first place!

Zhou Sui opened his friend list. In the barren list, the ID of “Slack Bro” was somehow lit up.  

He sent an invite.

[Player Slack Bro (Sui Xing City) has joined the team.]

Just before the countdown ended, the six-person team was finally complete.
When Slack Bro was summoned into the dungeon, he hadn’t even processed what was happening yet. As soon as he entered and saw the eerie Tiandi Temple, he let out a loud “Whoa!” and turned his head to see a few teammates nearby, including Brother Zhou and Rich Bro.

The other teammates looked at Zhou Sui with hesitation and unease:
[Boss, I’ve never heard of Sui Xing City being able to play healer.]

Zhou Sui: [?]

Slack Bro spotted the dungeon prompt and his face changed drastically: [???]
[No way, is this an epic dungeon? Where’s the healer!]

Bubble Dragon and the others: [?]

‘We want to ask you the same thing!’

Slack Bro looked at them in confusion: [How does Sui Xing City play healer?]

The teammates who had just witnessed Zhou Sui show off crazy DPS skills were a little stunned.
If a healer can be played as DPS, then maybe DPS can be played as a healer too.

The group looked at each other and then all turned to Rich Bro, whose healing cow was still out.

Rich Bro: […] [My little cow can’t support this many people.]

Don’t settle for less out of desperation! That’s just bullying the cow!

The epic dungeon prompt continued.

Zhou Sui suddenly said: [This is a 12-player instance.]

[Server-wide limited-time event: Epic Dungeon – Tiandi Temple (12 players), challenge difficulty ★★★★★★]
[This instance is a limited-time challenge, lasting five hours. Players chosen as believers have the right to challenge it as a team. Currently matching believers server-wide.]
[Matched believer teams (88/5832)]
[Matched believer teams (150/5832)]

The numbers kept jumping higher.
The completely different dungeon mode stunned all players. Those who realized what was happening started checking their challenge eligibility, while more players exploded into heated discussions about the strange changes in the world line.

Above the Divine Tree Continent, the mainframe’s voice continued, as if a long-prepared chess move had finally been made.

Inside the Tiandi Temple, the prompt window in front of Zhou Sui and the others suddenly changed.

[Detected player team 6/6, instance challenge participant limit (6/12), immediate matching with a cooperating team initiated!]
[Please wait, a team has been matched.]
[Players Mage Alt 123 and Little Bunny 123 have joined the team!]

The strange light within the Tiandi Temple flashed and disappeared in an instant. The surrounding environment’s light and shadow flowed backward, and the blinding light caused everyone to involuntarily close their eyes.

In the next instant, the system voice from the Divine Tree World sounded in everyone’s mind:

[Loyal believers, welcome to the Tiandi Temple.]