Forest Boss

Zai Zai was stunned when he saw eight more small monsters rushing out.

Although these Dark Spider were not powerful, he couldn't handle so many of them at once!

"Get back here, quick!"

It wasn't until he heard the warning from Xiao Fan behind him that Zai Zai snapped out of it and hurriedly retreated to his original position.

"Garfield Without Fat, shoot the monster in the front! Everyone else, prepare for combat!"

Xiao Fan commanded swiftly.

Seeing the monsters about to charge, Xiao Fan immediately activated his skill Gift of the Saint.

"Try to stay in place and deal damage!"

Xiao Fan reminded them, as he couldn't guarantee that moving outside this range wouldn't attract even more monsters.

-20HP

-20HP

-20HP

The damage from the Dark Spider was low, and with the 80-point shield provided by Xiao Fan's skill along with 15 points of health regeneration per second, the group could hold their ground while standing and fighting.

Actually, standing and fighting was quite satisfying; even Xiao Fan threw a few punches, though without a weapon, skills, or points invested in strength, his damage was limited.

He was mostly just there for the sense of participation.

Now that the team members were all level four, they had a level suppression advantage against the level three monsters, and their damage was a degree better than before.

After Xiao Fan's skill effect ended, those twelve spiders had also been wiped out.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although these Dark Spider had low health and low damage, the sheer number of them still put a lot of pressure on the group.

"Brother Chen, I was wrong. I shouldn't have ignored your commands and acted on my own."

Zai Zai lowered his voice and apologized quietly.

The others remained silent upon seeing this; Zai Zai had indeed been too reckless this time.

If it weren't for Brother Chen's timely reminder, he might have attracted even more monsters.

At the same time, they realized that this Secret Realm was very dangerous—much more dangerous than hunting Fierce Beast outside—and one slight mistake could cost them their lives.

1000 Core Power points were, as expected, not so easy to earn.

Seeing that Xiao Fan didn't speak, Zai Zai didn't even dare to lift his head.

"Brother Chen, I won't ever do it again."

After a long while, Xiao Fan finally spoke.

"There will not be a next time."

"Yes, yes, I will definitely follow orders from now on." Zai Zai nodded vigorously to promise.

They had only just entered the Dungeon, and Xiao Fan didn't want this incident to affect their subsequent operations, so he had to let it go for now.

"Still too weak!"

Xiao Fan shook his head.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to be missing a life-saving skill.

His mana was already approaching 5000, but his health was only 460; one slight mistake and he would fall.

In fact, when he was creating Halo of the Saint, he had considered whether he should convert his mana into health.

But at the time, he had just entered the game and felt that he would possess countless awesome skills in the future, all of which would require a mana bar to cast, so he chose mana over health.

Now, reality had dealt him a heavy blow.

To have a future, one must first survive.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fan became conflicted again: should his next skill be an offensive skill or a life-saving one?

Forget it, only children make choices.

It was useless to think about it now.

He would finish clearing this Secret Realm first.

"For the upcoming actions, whoever doesn't follow orders will leave the team once we're done."

Xiao Fan was imposing without being angry.

"Don't worry, Brother Chen, we promise to follow orders." The others also hurriedly promised.

Leave the Xiao Fan Team? Are you kidding? Even a fool knew by now that following Xiao Fan was the only way to live better in the Cloud Sea!

Had they not seen how jealous the other new Player who came with them were right now?

"Follow my footsteps closely in a moment. If I don't tell you to move, nobody moves."

Xiao Fan gave a word of instruction before starting to walk forward.

As he walked, he sensed the nearby mobs. He now needed to determine how much distance would trigger the mobs to aggro.

The other four people followed quietly behind him, weapons in hand.

With every step Xiao Fan took, he sensed the mobs in the vicinity.

Finally, as he took one step, four Dark Spiders came sprinting out of the Forest.

"Attack in place," Xiao Fan commanded.

Hearing this, the four immediately gripped their weapons, eyes locked tightly on the charging mobs.

Knowing that the Dark Spiders didn't deal much damage, they weren't afraid.

With only four of them, they could handle it completely.

Han the Person, who had put all his points into strength, could kill one in two strikes using his skill.

"How are your statuses?"

Xiao Fan asked in a low voice.

In Cloud Sea, one could only see the status bars of game creatures; Players could not see each other's status, otherwise the secret of Xiao Fan's mana bar would have been exposed long ago.

The other four didn't speak, simply nodding.

"Good, if your HP gets low, speak up; I'll activate my skill to heal you back up."

Xiao Fan gave the order and began to lure the next wave of mobs.

Gradually, Xiao Fan fully mastered the aggro range of the mobs.

He lured one wave and killed one wave; when their status was poor, he would lure three waves of mobs and then activate his skill.

The main strategy was not to waste a single bit of resources.

The party became increasingly proficient at killing mobs, and their speed grew faster and faster.

After killing who knows which wave of mobs, Xiao Fan frowned.

Previously, Wind Snow Traveler had told him the Secret Realm had a large number of mobs, but he hadn't taken it to heart at the time.

How many could there really be?

Only now did he truly understand the meaning of that word "large."

They were endless; they simply couldn't be finished.

Fortunately, Gift of the Saint provided status recovery, otherwise, fatigue alone would have been enough to make them unable to go on.

"Brother Chen, what's wrong?" Seeing Xiao Fan stop moving, Han the Person leaned in with a worried face.

"It's nothing, let's continue," Xiao Fan said in a deep voice.

Finally, after killing a few more waves of mobs, they saw the first Boss of the Secret Realm.

The dim cave was almost entirely occupied by the spider's hideous body. A pair of red eyes shone like light bulbs.

Big, it was truly big!

Name: Dark Spider (Boss)

Level: 5

HP: 700/700

This was the first level 5 Boss the party had encountered, and everyone's expression involuntarily turned solemn.

According to Wind Snow Traveler, this Boss would not move; once one went outside its attack range, its HP would instantly refill.

Commonly known as resetting the aggro.

The spider's main method of attack was its eight legs, and it would spit spider silk during the attack process. Once a Player touched the silk, they would be stuck and lose their mobility.

Fortunately, all of the spider's attacks were not targeted, and its inability to move also limited its actions.

As long as they were careful not to be stepped on by its legs and not to touch the silk, it was quite simple.

Xiao Fan told the other four people the precautions.

After hearing this, Han the Person's face turned into a bitter gourd.

Garfield Without Garfield and Swift as Wind both had points in agility, making them fast and more flexible at dodging.

Zai Zai's weapon was a long spear, which had an advantage in attack range, and besides, he had points in stamina, so he would be fine even if he took a hit or two.

Only he, although he had the highest damage, was physically fragile, lacked flexibility, and had to attack at close range.

He was afraid he wouldn't be able to dodge.

Xiao Fan had also considered this point; he told Han the Person to buy his agility attribute up to 12 points.

After reaching level 4, everyone had more or less saved some Core Power, and Han the Person bought the attribute without hesitation.

"Be careful yourselves, and I will also remind you. If there is danger, I will activate my skill."

Hearing Xiao Fan say this, the group felt much more at ease.

No one knew the brilliance of Xiao Fan's command better than them; now, whenever they fought, they coordinated with each other exactly according to the methods Xiao Fan prescribed.

"Begin."

As the four entered the attack range, the massive body of the Dark Spider stirred.

A hideous, long leg was raised high, then brought down with a fierce slam.

"Zai Zai, dodge to the left!" Xiao Fan called out urgently.

Zai Zai immediately ceased his attack and scrambled to the left. The next second, the Dark Spider's leg landed exactly where he had been standing.

Throughout the ensuing battle, Xiao Fan kept his eyes locked on the Dark Spider's movements.

Finally, when the Boss's HP dropped to fifty percent, Xiao Fan saw its tail twitch twice.

He realized instantly that the Boss was about to spit silk.

"Watch out, the Boss is going to spit silk!"

As soon as he spoke, Xiao Fan immediately activated the skill Gift of the Saint.

Sure enough, the next second, the Boss's tail spewed out countless strands of spider silk.

The other four had already stopped attacking, and seeing the white silk flying toward them, they hurriedly dodged, aided by the speed boost from the skill.

After spitting silk once, the Boss returned to its regular attack pattern.

Han the Person and the others breathed a sigh of relief and resumed their assault.

When the Boss's HP was down to the final drop, it began to spit silk again.

Han the Person and the others had been planning to wrap things up, but hearing Xiao Fan's warning, they scrambled to dodge.

This time, the Dark Spider Boss actually spat silk three times in a row; had it not been for the speed boost from the skill, they would never have been able to dodge it.

Once the silk-spitting ended, Garfield Without Fat cleared the last bit of the Dark Spider Boss's HP with a single arrow.

Its eight long legs hung limply, its massive red eyes lost their luster, and the Dark Spider Boss stopped moving entirely.

"As long as the Boss isn't dead, don't let your guard down."

"Understood."

Han the Person and the others were drenched in a cold sweat; if not for Xiao Fan's timely warning just now, they might all have been stuck by the spider silk.

"Let's go."

After the squad cleared a few more waves of mobs, they finally stepped into the territory of the second Boss.

Instead of the expected gloom, before them lay a sea of flowers so vibrant it was eerie.

A massive flower bloomed in the center, its petals a nearly transparent, glowing deep blue, casting a dreamlike, illusory light over the Boss cavern.

The giant flower trembled slightly, and its information appeared.

Name: Forget-Me-Not Orchid (Boss)
Level: 5
HP: 720/720

"It's so beautiful!" Garfield Without Fat said, looking intoxicated.

"I've never seen such a pretty sight," Zai Zai said, his eyes wide with wonder.

"I really want to stay here forever," Swift as Wind said, eyes closed and face full of enjoyment.

Xiao Fan had been observing the Boss in front of him, but upon hearing Swift as Wind's words, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Turning his head, he realized that all four of his teammates looked completely relaxed, showing none of the vigilance one should have when facing a Boss.

"This is bad, this Boss can mesmerize Players."

When they first entered the cavern, Xiao Fan had noticed a floral scent permeating the air that induced mental relaxation.

At the time, he hadn't thought much of it; the cave was full of flowers, so a floral scent was normal. Wind Snow Traveler hadn't told him that the second Boss had hallucinogenic properties.

Thinking about it now, when Wind Snow Traveler and his group came to this Secret Realm, they were already level 10 Players; the mental illusions of a level 5 Boss wouldn't have affected them at all.

"I wasn't affected, which must be related to my high spirit attribute."

Xiao Fan's current spirit attribute was as high as 19 points, far exceeding that of a level 4 Player, which was why he remained unaffected by the Boss's illusions.

"It seems I can't rely entirely on the experience Wind Snow Traveler shared with me."

Entering the Secret Realm at level 4 versus level 10 was a completely different experience.

"Everyone, snap out of it!" Xiao Fan's voice grew suddenly louder.

But Han the Person and the others didn't react, remaining immersed in the floral scent.

Xiao Fan's expression darkened; this hallucinogenic effect was even more powerful than he had imagined.

"It looks like the upcoming battle is going to be difficult."

With no other choice, Xiao Fan had no option but to activate the skill Gift of the Saint.

With the debuff-cleansing effect of the skill, Han the Person and the others immediately regained their senses.

"What's going on?"

Swift as Wind looked bewildered. After entering the cave, he had smelled a floral scent that made him feel incredibly relaxed, followed by sinking into it, and then... then there was no then.

"Ah, Brother Chen, are we going in?"

After Zai Zai regained his senses and saw Xiao Fan activate a skill, he immediately prepared for an attack.

Xiao Fan kept a grim face and explained, "The floral scent emitted by the Boss has a hallucinogenic effect. You were all entranced just now. I called out to you, but there was no response, so I had to use a skill to wake you up."

"What?"

The four of them were shocked.

The Boss could actually bewilder Players?

What kind of mechanic was this!

Before entering the Secret Realm, the four of them had only encountered Fierce Beasts. Although those Fierce Beasts varied in level, their attack patterns were all simple and brutal.

The fact that the first Boss could spit silk was already shocking enough, but this second Boss could actually bewilder them without them even noticing—it was terrifying!

Cold sweat broke out on their backs. Looking at the giant flower in the center of the cave, it lacked a ferocious form, yet it brought an even more heart-palpitating sense of oppression. The expressions of the four involuntarily turned grave as they gripped their weapons tightly.

"Brother Chen, what should we do now?"

Garfield Without Fat's face turned beet red. Ever since Xiao Fan told him the surrounding floral scent had hallucinogenic properties, he had been holding his breath, not daring to inhale.

They could dodge conventional attacks, but there was simply no way to dodge this mental assault.

Although Xiao Fan's skill could clear status effects, the skill had a CD, didn't it?

In this situation, Xiao Fan truly had no better solution.

When it came down to it, their levels were just too low, and they had too few skills!

In the end, Garfield Without Fat sacrificed his jacket, tearing off a piece of fabric for everyone to use as a mask, which could filter out a portion of the floral scent.

Following Xiao Fan's suggestion, they also bought attribute points to raise their Spirit to 10.

"We must finish this Boss quickly."

The five of them cautiously approached the center.

The Forget-Me-Not Orchid Boss did not initiate combat; it would only retaliate once a Player attacked it.

"Zai Zai, pull the Boss."

As soon as Xiao Fan finished speaking, Zai Zai stepped forward and thrust his spear into the flower stem.

-15HP

A number floated up above the Forget-Me-Not Orchid Boss.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Under the circumstances of level suppression, being able to deal this much damage meant that the Boss's own characteristics resulted in low dual resistances.