The sleeping Rock Giant Shuoluosi was suddenly struck. Though Shi Feng's attack barely scratched him, it still jolted him awake.
Anyone would be furious at being abruptly woken from a dream.
"Pathetic human, I'll crush you underfoot!" Shuoluosi roared. The entire cave trembled as he rose and strode toward Shi Feng.
Shi Feng naturally gave Shuoluosi no chance to get close. He immediately pulled out a Burst Berry and tossed it into Shuoluosi's path.
Rock Giants had always been slow, and special elites were no exception. Compared with ordinary Rock Giants, Shuoluosi was larger, hit harder, had more abilities, and moved and attacked a little faster. But after being slowed by the Burst Berry, he was still as sluggish as a turtle.
With 16 points of Agility, Shi Feng moved and attacked swiftly. He circled directly behind Shuoluosi and launched a fierce assault.
A string of damage numbers appeared above Shuoluosi's head.
-2, -2, -2, -2...
Then Shi Feng followed up with a Slash, dealing 6 damage.
Shuoluosi's defense was astonishing. Even with the damage-amplifying effect of Wind Thunder Flash and his Slash at Level 2, Shi Feng had dealt only 6 damage. At Level 1, Slash would probably have dealt just 4.
Only after Shi Feng had unleashed a flurry of attacks did Shuoluosi turn around. He lifted a foot as large as a small mountain and stomped down hard at Shi Feng.
As a reborn player, Shi Feng had fought countless battles in God's Domain. He wasn't the least bit flustered facing Shuoluosi. He shifted his footing and nimbly darted behind him, evading his sluggish attack before launching another furious flurry of strikes.
After five seconds had passed, Shuoluosi recovered 18 HP, bringing his remaining health to 886. Just like that, half a day's effort from Shi Feng had gone to waste.
Unlike ordinary monsters, elite monsters and those above them recovered 2% of their health every five seconds. Shuoluosi had 900 HP, so he regenerated 18 HP in five seconds—more than Shi Feng dealt in a single round of ordinary attacks.
Even so, Shi Feng calmly kept swinging his sword, steadily wearing down Shuoluosi's health.
If an ordinary player saw that much health and such rapid regeneration, they would probably have given up already. But Shi Feng wouldn't. His 16 Agility let him dodge attacks with ease, and his attack speed was high enough to offset Shuoluosi's regeneration. It would simply take a long time to kill him.
Constantly dodging while attacking furiously was tedious, and maintaining such a high intensity of attacks was mentally exhausting.
Time passed second by second as Shuoluosi's health continued to fall.
After fifteen seconds of attacking, the damage-amplifying effect of Wind Thunder Flash wore off. Shi Feng's damage plunged. Each sword strike dealt only 1 damage, while Slash could take off only 4 HP. Shi Feng was plunged into a difficult fight.
Five seconds later, Shuoluosi recovered another 18 HP.
In those five seconds, Shi Feng had dealt just 17 damage—not even as much as Shuoluosi had recovered.
Shi Feng furrowed his brow. Shuoluosi really was hard to kill. Without enough damage, all his effort would be for nothing.
Should he give up?
Just as Shi Feng was thinking this—
"I'll crush you!" Shuoluosi roared and stomped down hard.
The cave shook violently. Sharp stalactites came crashing from the ceiling, blanketing the entire cave.
"He even has a party-wipe skill?"
Seeing that things were going badly, Shi Feng first moved away from Shuoluosi and dodged the falling stalactites.
The stalactites came down in huge numbers and at tremendous speed. If a whole team had entered this cramped space, there would have been nowhere to dodge, and they would certainly have been wiped out. Even with Shi Feng's agility, he would have struggled to avoid them if the cave hadn't been so spacious.
After Shuoluosi finished using his skill, he looked exhausted. Shi Feng's eyes lit up, and he charged straight in.
Wind Thunder Flash!
Slash!
In an instant, he dealt a staggering -4, -5, -6, and -10 damage.
The exhausted state was a period of weakness that some minibosses entered after using a powerful skill. Their attack power fell, and their defense dropped significantly.
With Shuoluosi exhausted, Shi Feng saw a chance to kill him.
He seized the opportunity and attacked even more furiously.
-4, -4, -4...
While Shuoluosi was weakened and the damage-amplifying effect was active, every sword strike dealt 4 damage.
Shuoluosi was exhausted, and his health regeneration had dropped to 1%.
With the situation turned in his favor, Shi Feng managed to take 15% of Shuoluosi's health during a single weakened phase.
The rest of the fight came down to persistence: he had to keep attacking to offset Shuoluosi's regeneration. Wind Thunder Flash, available once every 30 seconds, gave him another burst of damage. Then he just had to wait for Shuoluosi to use his ultimate skill. That skill was terrifying against a team, but for Shi Feng, it was an opportunity.
Sure enough, Shuoluosi used his ultimate skill every so often, and Shi Feng took another 16% of his health each time.
Time passed bit by bit.
Shi Feng used five Burst Berries, and Shuoluosi still had 32% of his health left.
After Shuoluosi used his ultimate skill once more, Shi Feng took another 16% of his health. Shuoluosi was left with only 16%.
When Shuoluosi's health fell to 15%, he began to change.
His massive body gradually shrank. His attack power and defense fell, but his attack and movement speeds increased. This change put Shi Feng at a serious disadvantage.
The Burst Berry was still slowing Shuoluosi, but his attacks were getting faster and faster. One of them almost hit Shi Feng.
Even with Shuoluosi's reduced attack power, a Level 2 Shi Feng couldn't withstand a single hit. If he got struck, it would all be over—his level would drop to 1, and his skill proficiency would plummet. That was the last thing he wanted.
"I'm going all in!" A cold light gleamed in Shi Feng's eyes as he activated Gravity Liberation, making it much easier to dodge.
He couldn't give up on a special elite with only 15% of its health remaining.
Shi Feng circled Shuoluosi, hacking at him relentlessly.
Each strike dealt 3 damage, slowly chipping away at Shuoluosi's health.
14% 10% 9% 8% 5%
Gravity Liberation was running out. It had only seven seconds left, while Shuoluosi still had 5% of his health. Once Gravity Liberation ended, Shuoluosi would surely kill him with a single blow.
Faster! Faster! Faster!
Shi Feng's eyes were bloodshot, and his sword strokes grew quicker and quicker.
Shuoluosi had only 10 HP left, but Gravity Liberation had already ended...
Shi Feng's speed plummeted. Shuoluosi gave him a humanlike sneer and swung a fist the size of a boulder down at him.
"Die!" Wind Thunder Flash's cooldown, which Shi Feng had been counting down in his head, had ended.
Wind Thunder Flash!
In a flash, Shi Feng sent three streaks of thunder through Shuoluosi's body.
-4, -5, -6.
They took Shuoluosi's last 10 HP.
With a thunderous crash, Shuoluosi crumbled into a pile of rocks.
System: You killed the special elite Shuoluosi, 4 levels above you. Experience gained increased by 400%. You received 940 experience points.
Shi Feng's experience bar surged by 27%, bringing him much closer to Level 3.
After killing Shuoluosi, Shi Feng searched through the rubble.
Special elites dropped better loot than ordinary elites. He found a piece of equipment, a skill book, and 16 copper.
"Overleveling makes for great drops. It even dropped a Bronze Great Shield—I can sell this for a fortune. If only I could farm it a few more times." Looking at the blue Cross Shield in his hand, Shi Feng could already imagine the many guilds willing to pay dearly for it.
Iron Rock Great Shield, Bronze rank. Requires 8 Strength to equip. Equipment level: 5. Defense +21, Block Rate 23%, Strength +2, Endurance +4, HP +30.
Its stats were quite impressive. Equipping it would greatly boost defense and increase HP by 110. For a Level 5 Warrior-class player, that was equivalent to an extra third of their health. They could tank a Level 5 dungeon boss with ease, and might even be able to tank a Level 8 dungeon.
The skill book was also pretty good. It taught the melee skill Parry, which required a melee weapon. It could block one frontal attack, and had a 30-second cooldown.
Parry was a highly sought-after skill for all melee classes, and an essential one for Warriors. It was in short supply on the market, but had an extremely low drop rate and was almost never sold. After all, it was a lifesaving skill that could block an attack at a critical moment and might let you survive a crisis. It was especially useful when fighting a boss: if the healer couldn't keep up, you could block an attack and give them time to heal you.
Shi Feng looked at the Parry skill book and ultimately chose to learn it. The shield and skill book together could fetch a better price, but he wasn't about to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.
After killing Shuoluosi, Shi Feng continued climbing.
The Bronze Shield was pocket change. The Mithril Treasure Chest was the real treasure.
He still had more than two-thirds of the way to the summit ahead of him. Monsters were easy to encounter at rest stops, and with only four Burst Berries left, Shi Feng had to choose his route carefully.
Half an hour later.
After pressing forward cautiously, he finally reached the mountaintop. White mist shrouded the area, limiting visibility to just 20 yards.
Along the way, Shi Feng had used four Burst Berries to kill Rock Giants. If another monster appeared, he would have no choice but to give up and leave, starting all over again.
After Shi Feng had taken a few steps—
He could just make out several blurry figures ahead.
The system immediately issued an urgent alert. The player has discovered the Lost Land and activated the hidden quest "Past Glory." All outside contact with the player has been temporarily cut off. The player cannot leave this place until the quest is complete.
"Damn, those Assassins lied." Shi Feng couldn't help cursing. Those Assassins had definitely kept some of the information to themselves.
The situation at the mountaintop was completely different from what the Assassins had reported.