Gu Yu had instantly killed a boss. Gangcun Kuzi had witnessed it with his own eyes.
He knew when he couldn't win and needed to run, and he had a goal in mind.
But now?
He darted between treetops, running around like a headless chicken.
He had no idea where to go next!
At long last, he came across a special area: a structure standing high in the air, made entirely of ice.
Through the ice, he could clearly see the Aurora Blocks inside, dazzlingly beautiful.
The sudden appearance of this place convinced Gangcun Kuzi that it contained a boss and resources.
But as he approached, a bone-chilling cold washed over him.
It was as if an invisible wall blocked his way. He couldn't get through at all!
With no other choice, Gangcun Kuzi turned his attention to another place: a courtyard.
"If the scales can be made into a chestplate, they should be usable for other things too. Let's kill the Naga!"
Gangcun Kuzi wasn't the only one facing the same problem.
In Hans Nation, the contestant Hiller was a short, thin man.
He had a striking little mustache beneath his nose. He had once taken part in a PvP civilization and knew quite a bit about combat.
When he heard the news of the first kill, he thought briefly and figured out the key issue.
"Twilight... It's different from the normal world. Maybe there's no daytime there?"
Without daylight, zombies wouldn't burn. He could take advantage of that information gap.
This was the best chance to get ahead of everyone else!
Suddenly realizing this, Hiller slapped his thigh.
"I almost let these sudden Zombie Hordes throw me off!"
After finding a hidden area, he got several diamonds from a chest.
He jumped into the Twilight Forest and found a Naga Courtyard nearby.
The Naga wasn't difficult. With a shield and iron armor, he could beat it as long as he was careful and got used to fighting it.
He already had some combat experience, so he quickly killed the Naga and crafted a pair of pants.
Standing on the courtyard wall, he found himself pondering the same question as Gangcun Kuzi.
Where should he go next?
"If only I had a map!"
There was no need for maps in the blocks, but now that he needed one, he had no idea how to make it.
All Hiller could do was roam around, hoping to get lucky.
No one in the blocks gave a tiny map a second thought.
But in the Twilight Forest, it made an enormous difference.
The size of that gap made the Jiuzhou viewers laugh.
"There are really people who don't even know how to make a map?"
"Great God Gu Yu already has one and is looking for the second boss~"
"Maybe he'll speedrun the Twilight Forest today and advance to the Small Block!"
"With such a great head start, who's still progressing worse than an empty island?"
"So we're in first place? Look at how impressive everyone usually seems. Now they can't even beat an empty island?"
"I'm not targeting anyone in particular. I'm saying that everyone here is trash!"
Watching the Bullet Comments, viewers from the other nations were frustrated, but they had no way to argue back.
With so many advantages, their contestants really had scored worse than Gu Yu's empty-island start!
But they all knew their own contestants had done their best. Telling themselves it was all down to luck was just an empty comfort.
That gap in ability was despairing!
"Oh my god, Mark, look what I found!"
From the Free Nation's perspective, the two contestants entered the Twilight Forest once again.
The Block World wouldn't set up a completely unwinnable situation. Every dangerous place concealed a slim chance of survival. The question was whether anyone could find it.
When the two from Free Nation spotted an opportunity, they returned without hesitation to fight for progress.
It was true that they didn't have a map and didn't know where they were going.
But after spending most of the night running around and taking down three Naga—
"This tower doesn't have a barrier. We can go inside?!"
Looking at the scene before him, Mark was thrilled.
After killing the first Naga and replacing his golden armor with a Naga Scale chestplate, fighting this boss became much easier.
The three Naga had dropped thirty scales, just enough to craft two sets of Naga gear.
They'd replaced their golden armor and had brand-new gear.
Even the Zombie Horde had become much easier to deal with. The two of them could run around on the ground without worry!
"If nothing unexpected happens, this is where the second boss we have to challenge is!"
With a building this conspicuous, there had to be a boss inside.
They'd searched for so long and had finally found one!
The viewers from Free Nation, who had been holding back their frustration for ages, finally found an outlet.
"A map? We don't need one!"
"I really don't know what those Jiuzhou monkeys are bragging about. It's just a map!"
"We can find the next boss without a map!"
"And Mark's got excellent gear made from Naga Scales. It's incredibly powerful!"
"The Zombie Horde can't even hurt them. Their gear is better than Gu Yu's alloy armor!"
"You can have the first kill. We'll take the first-clear reward!"
The viewers from Free Nation had been jealous all night after seeing Gu Yu with a map.
Now they finally had a chance to talk back!
They opened the rankings and saw:
[Current Block Total Score: 11 (Micro Block)]
[Player Rank: 2]
Free Nation was in second place, with a score that had reached double digits.
"If we can get our score up to ten, we can get it to a hundred. It's only a matter of time before first place is ours again!"
Full of confidence, Mark examined the tower.
There was no entrance. It seemed the only way in was to mine the blocks.
He casually dug into one corner, revealing rows upon rows of bookshelves inside.
"So many books!"
If they needed books, this tower was probably the best place to find them.
After glancing around, Mark turned his attention elsewhere.
They were warriors, not scholars. There was no need to waste time on that stuff.
At most, they could open the chests hidden in the bookshelves and take the few potions inside.
The tower had three floors. When they left the room, they could see a passage leading to the second floor.
It went straight up, with all kinds of paintings depicting skulls hanging along the walls.
The second floor was much more dangerous than the first.
Monster Spawners were everywhere, along with all kinds of zombies and skeletons emerging from them.
The skeletons were powerful, but Mark was no longer wearing golden armor.
The Naga Scale chestplate filled him with confidence!
They used bows to clear out the weaker monsters. One of them drew their attention while the other took the chance to destroy the Monster Spawners.
Before long, they spotted glass on the highest platform.
"Look at those monsters. They can't hurt us at all!"
"Everyone watching back home must be cheering and shouting for us!"
Gesturing at the air, Jett struck what he thought was a handsome pose.
The viewers from Free Nation erupted in excitement.
"Jett! You're my hero!"
"Our strength has transformed. Zombies are no match for us!"
"So what if they're skeletons? We have bows too!"
"Look at those poor Jiuzhou monkeys. They don't even have a way to attack from a distance!"
"Come fight us if you've got the guts! We can kill Gu Yu from a distance with our bows!"
"Wait, Jett, what's wrong?"
He was so busy showing off that he hadn't paid any attention to the ground beneath his feet.
The higher they climbed, the more dilapidated the path became. One moment of carelessness, and he fell right through a gap.
"This boss is called the Lich. Jett, get ready, we..."
The moment the boss appeared, Mark turned around and froze.
His teammate had been right there. How had he disappeared?
"The path was broken. Did he fall down?!"
The stairs were pretty high. If Jett had fallen, he might have died from the impact!
Mark's heart tightened. He didn't have time to check on Jett.
A Magic Orb shot from the Lich's hand. Mark turned back to dodge it, then stared in shock with his eyes wide open.
One boss had turned into three.
He was surrounded by Liches!
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