The Boss's Difficulty and the Gap in Strength

"Don't worry, even if you beg me from now on, I will never touch the treasure chest again."

Although the expected reward was not obtained, the effort and time spent were worthwhile, as both challenges were successfully overcome, resulting in some gains.

Upon reaching the third stage, the group entered the final hall.

In the center of the square, the chieftain of the Wolf Barbarians stood imposingly, exuding an aura of power.

"Everyone be careful, there might be a trap triggered right at the start."

"The first two trials were both extremely close, and this one will likely be no exception. Don't let your guard down!" Dragon Diagram Jinghe reminded him.

War Sky, however, was quite relaxed and joked, "Whoever is the first to fall down has to come out and admit that they are the weakest brother in the team, how about that?"

He thought to himself that if he saw the situation was not good, he could use the Rising Dragon Technique to dodge and maneuver, so that he wouldn't be the first to perish.

Stop showing off, you're the worst.

"That's right, you're the worst." The crowd said disdainfully.

Jing He cautioned, "Setbacks are inevitable on the first try; just be careful."

The group then dispersed and stood at the entrance, with Qin Xiao Youhui forward to initiate the battle.

The moment the attack struck the leader, the hall doors slammed shut, revealing a maze of traps and mechanisms, including a giant catapult, its power terrifying.

Unfortunately, War Sky's position was exactly where the catapults first locked onto after the start of the battle.

In an instant, his full health vanished in a flash of white light!

"Grass!!!"

War Sky found it hard to believe that he had perished so easily.

Everything happened so fast that he didn't even have time to react.

"Looks like you're the worst brother ever... Everyone, let's start over."

"As expected, his attempt to show off got him struck by lightning."

"Shame on you, keep pretending, Da Junfu!"

The team suffered heavy losses in their first battle. War Sky fell instantly, and then "Wandering Arrow," their main damage dealer, also fell due to triggering traps repeatedly.

The first attempt ended in failure.

"That damage was outrageous! I was at full health and I was instantly killed!"

War Sky was still unwilling to give up. "Have you memorized the location of that catapult? Next time, I'll be the first to rush up and dismantle it."

"Come on, it's clearly your reaction that was slow, little brother," Berserker said from the side. "The correct thing to do is for everyone to dodge sideways immediately after the fight starts."

"The attack was so fast that its trajectory was impossible to see; we could only predict it."

Dragon Diagram Jinghe with this assessment. "Kuangzhan is right, especially the power of the catapults; being hit by one is certain death."

"Everyone must keep moving, don't stay in one place."

"Qin Xiao, how does it feel to be carrying the leader over there?"

"Two healers are watching me, and I'm holding up my shield to defend, so I'm managing."

Qin Xiao stared intently at the massive leader before him, not daring to be distracted for a moment. "But this means I won't be able to attack at all."

"It's alright, as long as we don't suffer any casualties, our total output is sufficient," Berserker replied.

The second attempt begins.

As soon as the group entered the battlefield, they quickly dodged to the side and then focused their fire to destroy the catapult.

They then cleared out the various mechanisms, while the two Priest focused on maintaining Qin Xiao's health, which was keeping the leader at bay.

This is a game instance; you can replay it a few times.

In reality, such a good thing doesn't exist.

While resurrection is possible in reality, it requires a complete corpse.

The initial phase of clearing out the traps caused the team repeated setbacks.

Once two or more damage dealers fall, the cleanup speed will be significantly slowed down.

Damage-dealing classes are inherently weak at surviving damage and often can't withstand more than a few attacks from traps, leading to repeated wipeouts.

After numerous failures, the group gradually figured out the pattern and found several relatively safe positions.

Finally, all the traps were dismantled one by one, allowing the team to directly confront their leader and launch an offensive.

"After so many rounds, we've finally encountered the boss—wait, its health is ridiculously high!" someone exclaimed.

"Not only is it incredibly tanky, but its defense is ridiculously high too. My attacks feel like they're being weakened."

Another person asked doubtfully, "Is this really the same leader as the clan chief from the escape instance?"

"Watch out! It suddenly lunged at me!" a melee player shouted urgently. "This monster sometimes ignores aggro and attacks randomly, all melee players, be careful to dodge!"

In the heat of battle, two stone platforms, each large enough for only one person to stand on, suddenly rose up in the square.

Before anyone could figure out its purpose, the clan chief suddenly raised his arms high and slammed them hard into the ground.

A series of area-of-effect shockwaves exploded on all the players in the team!

This is an indiscriminate attack that covers the entire field.

Assassins, being such a fragile class, are instantly brought to the brink of death, while even characters with high defense can only withstand a maximum of two hits.

The team, wiped out once again, had no choice but to renegotiate their strategy.

"You can actually dodge the ground slam attack. Just jump at the exact moment it raises its paw," someone shared. "I tried it a few times, and if you time it right, you can avoid the ground impact."

"Easier said than done. Every time I jump, I run right into it the moment it hits me, and I get knocked down after being hit three times in a row."

"Then we'll just have to practice our rhythm more," Priest Seaside Wave reminded them. "Our healers can't cast spells while jumping, and the team receives almost no healing during the ground slam, only a very small amount of continuous healing."

"Therefore, no one—especially Qin Xiao —should be allowed to fall victim to this attack repeatedly."

Qin Xiao, being the closest, was indeed better able to observe the leader's movements. "Understood, I'll watch for its skill animation to dodge."

After several attempts, most team members gradually mastered the timing of their jumps. Except for a few who still made mistakes, they were generally able to avoid being hit by the ground throughout the entire jump.

Just when everyone thought this skill had been mastered, Qin Xiao Youhui realized that the damage he was taking had increased dramatically.

An attack that would normally take away half of his health is now bringing him to the brink of death, suddenly increasing the healing pressure on the two Priest.

He quickly checked his own condition but found nothing unusual.

He then turned to observe the leader and discovered that the other party had unknowingly accumulated multiple layers of enhancement effects, greatly increasing his attack power.

"Retreat first! The leader is in bad shape, the damage is too high and we can't hold on much longer!" he shouted urgently.

The two Priest on the Seaside Wave also felt the strain. "Yes, the treatment simply can't keep up. What's going on?"

"It appeared after the BOSS slammed the ground," Qin Xiao Youhui pointed out the change during a brief rest. "The leader now has a buff effect."

"Could slamming the ground strengthen it?" one team member speculated.

"Eight layers of gain," Dragon Diagram Jinghe said after calculating. "Ten ground slams, and the gain stacks eight times? Wait, where did the number eight come from...?"

He suddenly realized something. "How many times did each of you take that ground-slamming move just now?"

"Two times."

"Two times."

"Three times."

"One time."

"That makes exactly eight times! Could that be the reason? Brother War Sky, how come you got it three times?"

"Damn it, don't call me 'little brother,' cough... I tried my best to dodge, I was really watching the moves carefully."

"If I could get three more hits while being serious, I'd be done for."

"A squishy class will fall after two hits, but if you tank one more hit, you'll get a stack of buffs."

"War Sky stupid."

"Stupid War Sky!"

"Little brother Cai War Sky..."

Just then, Seaside Wave brought up the stone platform that had appeared earlier. "That stone platform that pops up every time it hits the ground... something about it always feels off. Could it be useful?"

Dragon Diagram Jinghe immediately suggested, "Let the ranged archers try standing there next time. Even if they die, the Priest can revive them, so it won't affect the overall team."

When the ground-slam skill came again, the Wandering Arrow hurriedly leaped onto the stone platform. Because he was a little slow, he was still hit, but he was surprised to find that he was unharmed!

Everyone immediately White Stone!

"Everyone, get up on the stage!"

"The stage is so small, how can it accommodate so many people!"

"Come on, let me carry you up!"

"Ah?"

War Sky didn't care about saving face anymore. To avoid being hit again, he jumped onto the back of the arrow. But the stone platform beneath his feet suddenly disappeared!

Both were knocked down by the ground slam skill.

"... Looks like I can't carry him on my back. How about I try holding him?"

"Try it out? It's obvious they don't allow two people to stand there. Are you trying to take advantage of me?"

"... Look at yourself! You ugly bastard, who would want to take advantage of you?"

Dragon Diagram Jinghe breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that there's a way to reduce the difficulty."

"Let the two Priest go up to the two stone platforms; they can provide timely assistance should anyone get injured."

Berserker, however, had a different opinion. "Someone like War Sky is better off lying down than living... At full health, he could probably hit ten times in a row."

"Let's just let him sit on the stage."

"What did you say?! Who do you think you are! That was just an accident because I wasn't familiar with the mechanics. You'll see this time!"

War Sky suddenly felt that his prestige as the chairman had been completely tarnished. It was just one mistake; would he really have to make another one?

This has indeed proven to be true.

After hitting the target three times in a row, War Sky was unanimously pushed onto the stone throne by the crowd.

This position seems to belong to him alone.

Thus, the two stone platforms were occupied by War Sky and the Priest Seaside Wave, respectively.

"War Sky, how did you get through the Training Tower with that kind of movement technique? You couldn't have even defeated your own mirror image, could you?" someone said disdainfully.

Since the difficulty of the Training Tower was increased, many players have given up on the rewards.

While experience is valuable, spending too much time on it is not worthwhile.

But for advanced players, this is not a problem.

Their ability to stand out is not only due to their equipment and experience, but also to their skillful operation and keen grasp of techniques.

At least the members of this team don't have this problem—but this statement is clearly sarcastic at the moment.

"Hey, Imperial City Yu Tian, are you laughing at me too? I really didn't mean to! I jumped ten times in one go, so my rhythm got a bit off!"

"Alright, stop fooling around."

"This time, as long as we keep the gain within two levels, it will be considered a success."

"If we could avoid stacking any layers, that would be perfect!"

Despite the absence of two people, there were still eight people present, and occasional mistakes and infections were inevitable.

With Qin Xiao's defense, he could withstand two layers of the state.

This once again demonstrates the advantage of high-combat-power teams in terms of margin for error in dungeons.

If your combat strength is insufficient, it is extremely difficult to avoid making any mistakes, especially in a team of ten or more people.

Fortunately, everyone present was a skilled player, and they quickly adapted to the skill rhythm.

This isn't the real world; if it were, they would have been wiped out long ago.

"Great! No one got infected this time! Keep it up!"

On their second attempt, they finally achieved a flawless performance – not counting the two players on stage, of course.

"Everyone, seize the opportunity to unleash your full power and reduce their health to 30%!"

Just as victory seemed within reach, everyone was suddenly paralyzed and forcibly pulled into a story scene.

The Wolf Barbarians child from before reappeared; it turned out to be the chieftain's son.

Seeing his father about to die at the hands of the adventurer, he leaped forward and used his small body to block the fatal blow.

The clan chief held his son's gradually cooling body in his arms, tears streaming down his face.

A burning rage instantly coursed through his limbs and bones. He threw his head back and let out a heart-wrenching howl. A layer of scarlet blood mist suddenly exploded around him, and his aura suddenly surged to Berserk State.

The forced cutscene finally ended, and when everyone regained control, the enemy before them not only had its health fully restored, but its body had also swelled up, with a chilling crimson aura emanating from its surface.

"Why do I feel like... we're the villains now?"

"Hitting the other person's child is definitely not a good thing to do."

"To be honest, we don't have any deep-seated hatred with the Wolf Barbarian Clan, so killing their son is going too far."

"Don't forget there's also the 'Wolf Barbarian Escape' instance clue."

"Now I finally understand why the chieftain was so cold after we rescued him from his cage—it turns out we were the ones in the wrong."

These people are, after all, players. They haven't been in the environment of the local native humans, so they naturally don't know that the hatred between the two races is deeply rooted and cannot be explained by good or evil.

It's similar to how ancient Homo sapiens wiped out other human species.

This is a struggle for survival; wolves eat sheep. There is no such thing as good or evil.

"So, are we still going to fight or not?"

"What nonsense are you talking about! We've come this far; sentimentality aside, we still have to take action."

"Superior!"

Qin Xiao was once again the first to charge forward.

The clan leader, his entire body crimson, unleashed a powerful punch, reducing the enemy's health bar to a mere sliver.

The two Priest frantically cast healing spells, but the boss's attacks in its Berserk State were too ferocious, and the healing was simply not enough to keep up with its collapsing health.

"We can't handle this! You're losing health too fast! Qin Xiao, activate your damage reduction abilities and remember to use healing potions!" The two Priest were the first to cry out in alarm.

Qin Xiao had already activated all his defensive skills.

"This won't work. We've already reached our current limit; we've completely given up on output."

"The leader's injuries were outrageous."

Not only are the main tanks under immense pressure, but the melee fighters are also in danger.

Previously, when they were hit by the aftershocks of the skill, they could retreat and wait for healing. Now, the Priest is barely able to protect himself, and even a slight touch could kill him on the spot.

"The death of my son really changes things; my anger has completely exploded."

The Grim Death Scythe, lay on the ground, now in spectator mode.

"Hold on! We finally got to the Frenzy phase, let's observe their skills a bit more!"

Dragon Diagram Jinghe, also an assassin, stayed close to the leader, knowing that any mistake could turn him into one of the corpses on the ground.

However, even with the utmost caution, it was difficult to withstand the leader's sudden and relentless offensive.

After Frenzy, the clan leader charged faster and faster, and the first to suffer were the arrows from the archers in the distance, followed by Dragon Diagram Jinghe and Xuanyuan Yi, who also fell to the ground one after another.

With only six people remaining, clearing the level was no longer an option, but the group still wanted to extract more information about the clan leader's skill mechanics to gather data for future strategies.

When the leader's life force dropped to half, it suddenly howled to the sky, and two sluggish summons appeared from the void, dragging their eerily slow steps toward the Shore Wave.

Shore Wave was Teleportation to the center of the arena after being marked, unable to move, with all its skills disabled, and could only watch helplessly as the monster approached step by step.