Eighty points of strength... this was truly...
Although his level was only Lv.8, with the bonuses from [Body of God], [Shrimp in Snow], and [Glory of Lone Star City], his immense strength had reached a level ordinary level-ten players could only dream of.
Even some Elite Monsters probably had far less strength than he did...
After wiping the monster's blood from the longsword's hilt, Xuan Sheng sensed the intense malice of some hidden presence through this Treasure Chest Monster...
Just think about it. If he had not used the Eye of God to scout ahead, and had reached a dead end with insufficient information, only to accidentally discover a secret door and open it to find a treasure chest waiting there, would anyone really consider whether the chest before them was actually a monster?
With the Treasure Chest Monster's high Attack Power, players who did not focus on Constitution probably could not withstand even four or five hits. Caught by surprise, they might well lose their lives through a single moment of carelessness.
And even if a player paid a huge price and desperately killed the Treasure Chest Monster, all they would get in the end was a tongue... Perhaps they might get something else if they were lucky? But in any case, there would be no treasure chest at all.
This dungeon was truly overflowing with malice...
If not for the sake of achieving one hundred percent exploration, Xuan Sheng really would not have wanted to come all this way just for a tongue...
"Then, the next branch..."
Returning to the entrance, he turned into the cave on the right. Unlike the area where the Treasure Chest Monster had been, this place was littered with broken stones, while a thick stone wall stood directly ahead, looking utterly immovable.
[There is a stone key hidden here. It can be used to open the hidden door at the end of the dungeon... In this case, it is this one!]
Among the numerous oddly shaped fragments, an inconspicuous little gray stone lay blandly hidden in the pile. Under normal circumstances, there was no way to find it.
[Stone: The most common kind of stone. It is not useful.]
This was the useless information provided by the system, but with the Eye of God, he could identify its true purpose at a glance.
[It perfectly matches the final secret door and can be used to unlock the final hidden boss.]
"If there weren't some kind of strategy guide or information... who would be bored enough to carry every single one of these stones to the end and test them one by one?"
After tossing the special pebble into his inventory, the youth finally had a chance to officially begin the dungeon after exploring both sides...
When he reached the cave entrance in the middle, the faint stench of decay in the air grew stronger and stronger the moment he stepped inside...
[-1] [-1] [Warning: You are currently inside the Magic Qi Cave. You will suffer the corrosion of magic qi every second and continuously lose Life.] [Please complete the quest and leave this place as soon as possible]
"What exactly are these things..."
After muttering a couple of words, Xuan Sheng quickened his pace. He truly could not stand the smell, and he headed toward the next target with his sword in hand...
[Black Bat (Lv.10): Hp 900/900 Attack: 70 Defense: 10] [These creatures are predators of the darkness. They are extremely fast, so be very careful.] [Hidden Information: If you have a gentle natural light source such as fluorite, it should not awaken the sleeping bats.]
Xuan Sheng merely raised his head slightly before receiving the information from the Eye of God.
In the darkness, quite a few Black Bats hung upside down sparsely across the cave ceiling. Their bodies were astonishingly large; even curled up, they were nearly half the size of an adult. Their eyes were closed, and they seemed to be resting.
Although Xuan Sheng could see them clearly, that was entirely because of his eyes!
In such a dark environment, hardly anyone would pay attention to the ceiling. If Xuan Sheng had been carrying a torch, the flickering flames would probably have awakened these enormous bats naturally...
After learning the general information about them, the two or three scattered bats could no longer pose any threat to Xuan Sheng... He came to a slight stop, then took the initiative to swing his longsword and slash at the bats nearby overhead!
[-135!]
"Eek!"
An ear-piercing shriek rang out, and four or five Black Bats in the cave woke up simultaneously.
They opened their scarlet eyes and lunged straight at the human on the ground!
[Perfect Block!] [Perfect Block!] [-42]
Although he had entered bullet time the moment the enemies launched their attacks, there were too many bats, and one slipped through. Dodging the shield of his block from a tricky angle, it took advantage of the chaos to leave a gash on Xuan Sheng's arm.
However, before the tiny wound even had time to seep blood, it was erased by a streak of gray radiance...
[Belphegor's Approval] activated!
[+68!]
After coming to a stop, he recovered ten percent of his Life and mana every second. Standing amid the swarm of bats, Xuan Sheng became an unfallen God of War. Most of the bats' attacks were blocked, while the few that dealt damage were quickly restored by his passive ability's healing...
The Little Bats, however, were not nearly as durable.
"Get down here!"
When the assault briefly subsided, Li Xunsheng seized the opportunity and slammed his shield down on a flying bat. The tremendous force even robbed it of its ability to fly temporarily, leaving it flapping its wings clumsily on the ground.
Stepping forward, he pinned down the bat's wing with one foot. Having completely suppressed his opponent, the youth moved with extreme brutality. His sword rose and fell, stabbing the Refined Longsword into the bat's mouth.
[Execution! -220!]
The flying bats quickly closed in, but a glance from Xuan Sheng brought them into his field of vision.
All the bats' movements slowed in an instant... With ease, Li Xunsheng raised his shield, then once again thrust the longsword in his right hand into the bat beneath his foot...
[Execution! -219!]
The foolish monsters had no concept whatsoever of retreating.
They surged forward one after another, only to be knocked to the ground by Xuan Sheng and stabbed to death with his sword...
[LvUP!]
He had not even kept track of how many he had killed. By the time Li Xunsheng recovered from the prolonged battle, bat corpses were already piled up beneath his feet.
He had come through the passageway, killing as he went to ensure a perfect completion rate. From the southern heavenly gate... cough, from the cave entrance all the way to the end of the cave, he had killed every last bat.
After passing through the passage filled with bats, the youth found a huge stone door standing before him.
Bats were poor creatures. Aside from a small amount of Copper Coins and experience, they had dropped nothing. However, this stone door did not need to be opened with a key...
Three circles of different sizes were nested together on the stone door, and they could be rotated.
Clearly, this was a puzzle.
The door could be opened by rotating the three rings into different positions and fitting them together according to some kind of pattern.
But sadly, the various pictographic designs of flowers, birds, and fish on the three circles had no connection whatsoever. There was no clue for solving the puzzle!
[The player has advanced into the depths of the cave. The corrosion of magic qi is growing increasingly intense.] [-2] [-2] [+68!]
The passive ability that refused to be ignored appeared again, instantly replenishing the small amount of Life that the magic qi had managed to drain.
"A combination lock... Let me take a look..."
The youth stopped before the stone door at his leisure. He even had enough time to use the system's built-in photo-recording function to take two pictures...
Before you continue