Activating Life Sense, Lin Yu began sensing the life auras nearby.
In Lin Yu's perception, there was nothing nearby with a life aura stronger than that of the mutated Crimson Flame Tiger from earlier.
Flying up from the ground, Lin Yu continued searching for the boss.
Lin Yu didn't know how long he had flown. Perhaps it had been an hour, or perhaps two. All he knew was that, in all that time, he hadn't encountered a single creature with a life aura stronger than the Crimson Flame Tiger's. Under the circumstances, he could only keep looking.
Just as Lin Yu was still searching aimlessly for the boss, a patch of grayish white in the distance caught his attention.
When Lin Yu drew closer, he finally saw what it was: grayish-white stone pillars, a stone wall that had half collapsed, and piles of stones on the ground. It was the ruins of a Beast Arena.
The area around the Beast Arena was overgrown with weeds. Clearly, it had been abandoned for a long time.
"Come to think of it, could there be a boss in this place?" Looking at the ruins of the Beast Arena before him, Lin Yu could still tell how magnificent it must have been in its heyday. He was very curious whether there was a boss inside.
There was something strange about the ruins of a Beast Arena appearing out of nowhere in the wilderness. There was definitely more to the place than met the eye, and there was very likely a boss inside.
Spreading out Life Sense, Lin Yu carefully sensed what lay inside the ruins of the Beast Arena.
Nothing. There was nothing at all. Let alone a life aura comparable to an elite-level magical beast's, Lin Yu couldn't even sense an ordinary animal's life aura anywhere near the ruins of the Beast Arena.
This was highly unusual. After all, Lin Yu's Life Sense could detect even insects. The absence of animals near the ruins of the Beast Arena could be explained, but the absence of even insects was very abnormal.
This abnormality made Lin Yu think there was very likely a boss in the ruins of the Beast Arena.
"Looks like I'll have to go in to find out if there's a boss." After that remark, Lin Yu flew toward the entrance to the ruins of the Beast Arena.
The moment he entered the Beast Arena, Lin Yu immediately noticed a figure sitting in the center of the grounds, clad in a full suit of plate armor and holding a greatsword.
Looking at the figure before him, Lin Yu put himself on full alert and approached cautiously, the magic in his hand already primed and ready to unleash.
"Leave now, and I can spare your life." When Lin Yu had come within a certain distance, the figure sitting on the ground spoke.
The moment Lin Yu heard him speak, he unleashed the magic he had prepared in his hand without hesitation.
Double Magic Enhancement · Wind Blade Technique
"Clink." The moment the wind blade touched the armor, a crisp sound rang in Lin Yu's ears.
Seeing that the wind blade he had unleashed couldn't even leave a scratch on the armor, Lin Yu cried out, "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Is that your choice? Then die!" Seemingly enraged by Lin Yu's attack, the figure in full plate armor rose from the ground and turned toward him.
At that moment, the boss's name appeared at the very top of Lin Yu's field of vision, with a translucent boss health bar beneath it.
\n[BOSS · Warrior Sykes lv10] Health: 40000/40000
Watching Sykes raise his greatsword and slowly walk toward him, Lin Yu slipped one hand into his cloth bag and gripped a magic scroll.
He raised his other hand and immediately cast an Earth Sink Technique enhanced by Double Magic Enhancement.
The instant the magic activated, the ground around Sykes sank. Taking advantage of the moment Sykes lost his balance, Lin Yu cast the Swamp Technique. The ground beneath Sykes turned into a swamp, and both his feet sank into it.
"Interesting. Go on, keep showing me what you've got. Let me see all the other interesting little tricks you can use. If you please me, I might spare your life." Ignoring Sykes, who kept prattling on even as he struggled in the swamp, Lin Yu raised his hand and cast the Grease Technique. After a great pool of magically created oil covered Sykes from head to toe, Lin Yu immediately cast the Fireball Spell. A fireball struck Sykes in the swamp.
In an instant, Sykes's entire body caught fire.
"Not bad, but that's not enough. If this is all you've got, then die here!" Feeling the flames burning on his body, Sykes gave his assessment. Protected by his enchanted armor, Sykes wasn't hurt in the slightest by the flames.
As Sykes began to circulate the qi within him, crimson qi erupted from his body. The flames burning on him were instantly extinguished, and a gap was blasted straight into the swamp beneath his feet.
Taking advantage of the moment his qi blasted the swamp open, Sykes pushed off with both legs and leaped out in a single bound.
Looking at Lin Yu, who was watching him warily, Sykes stood where he was, raised a hand, and beckoned with his fingers. "Come on, show me everything you can do. Try to entertain me!"
Lin Yu remained unmoved by Sykes's provocation. By now, he understood that none of the means at his disposal, apart from the magic scroll, could break through the plate armor's defenses.
As for why, just now, the moment the magic he cast hit Sykes, Lin Yu noticed the runes on the man's plate armor light up. Seeing them glow, Lin Yu immediately thought of a type of equipment: Rune Armor.
As far as Lin Yu knew, Rune Armor was usually forged from an alloy mixed with Adamantine, Mithril, or bronze. Armor forged from such an alloy was harder than ordinary steel armor and could automatically absorb ambient mana to supply energy to the runes engraved on it.
The runes engraved on Rune Armor were not decorations, either. They could provide all sorts of effects, such as improving the armor's defenses, strengthening the wearer's physique, increasing resistance to attacks of a particular attribute, and storing a spell.
And clearly, the runic plate armor Sykes was wearing had extremely powerful defenses. The magic Lin Yu cast without using a ritual couldn't even break through it.
Looks like I'll have to find a way to destroy the armor on the boss in front of me. Otherwise, my attacks can't even break through his defenses.
What should I do? The only things I have that can break through his armor's defenses are the magic scrolls I made. But Sykes and I are dozens of meters apart right now. If I take out a magic scroll in plain sight like this, he'll definitely have time to react and dodge my attack. Once he's on guard, it'll be even harder to hit him with a magic scroll. What should I do?
Lin Yu kept a wary eye on Sykes while frantically considering his next move.