Chapter 202 - Scorching Lamia
Within the brightly lit Flame God’s Cave, Shi Feng advanced further into the cave relentlessly.
The Lava Hound he previously killed had raised his Skill Proficiencies by quite a bit. However, that was it. In contrast, the EXP the Level 25 Lava Hound gave was much less.
However, this was not strange.
After all, the monsters within the Flame God’s Cave had both high Attack Power and HP but gave out very little EXP. Under normal circumstances, average players would not grind here at all. However, it was a different story once players had the Flaming Sun Scripture. With it, they could easily deal with the monsters in the Flame God’s Cave. Moreover, the monsters here dropped Flame Crystals.
Flame Crystals were the main materials used for crafting Basic Fire Resistance Potions.
By the time the majority of players reached levels between 20 to 30, they would discover that most Party and Team Dungeons required a high Fire Resistance. Otherwise, they would have no way of raiding these Dungeons. The Level 25 large-scale Team Dungeon, the Flame Nest, for example; without Basic Fire Resistance Potions, players would have absolutely no way of conquering it. Yet, this Team Dungeon had loads of good equipment and items in it. Moreover, out of all the Level 25 Dungeons, the Flame Nest gave out the most Guild Reputation. Most importantly, there was a very small chance for players to obtain a Guild Mine Certificate and Guild Medicine Garden Certificate from the Dungeon.
These were both items that could allow a Guild to develop itself further.
Normally, only Guilds with their own Guild Residence would be considered true Guilds. Meanwhile, players could establish certain constructs within the Guild Residence to further aid in the Guild’s development. Among these facilities, two of the most important constructs were the Medicine Garden and Mine. These two constructs could provide the Guild with a fixed amount of herbs and ore on a daily basis, and it could greatly reduce the Guild’s burden. It could also allow Potionmakers and Forgers to have sufficient resources to increase their Lifestyle Skill Proficiencies.
Hence, as long as it was a Guild that possessed their own Guild Residence, they would unhesitatingly raid the Flame Nest regardless of the price they had to pay to obtain these two certificates.
As such, plenty of Guilds had tried to raid the Flame Nest when their players reached between 20 and 30 Levels, causing the Basic Fire Resistance Potion to become a high-demand product.
Even until now, Shi Feng had remembered that the Basic Fire Resistance Potions at that time had sold for 50 Silver Coins per bottle. Meanwhile, a single Flame Crystal sold for 15 Silver Coins. Thus, even at the cost of three to four Gold Coins, players would willingly purchase the Flaming Sun Scripture. After all, they could easily obtain 25 to 30 Flame Crystals by grinding the Flame God’s Cave for two hours.
In the Flame God’s Cave, a Common ranked Lava Hound had a 3% chance of dropping a Flame Crystal, three times higher than the drop rate of fire-type monsters outside. Meanwhile, the Level 25 Elite monsters in the Flame God’s Cave had a 100% chance to drop one Flame Crystal and a 10% chance to drop two Flame Crystals. Of course, these monsters would also drop equipment.
As for Level 25 Special Elites, they had a 100% chance of dropping two Flame Crystals, a 20% chance to drop four Flame Crystals, and a 10% chance to drop five to seven Flame Crystals.
Level 25 Chieftain Bosses were even more rewarding. They had a 100% chance to drop 10 Flame Crystals, a 30% chance to drop 13 pieces of Flame Crystals, and 20% chance to drop 20 to 25 Flame Crystals. Players could easily earn up to 2 Gold Coins by killing a single Chieftain Boss. Not to mention, these Bosses also dropped equipment and tools.
Shi Feng continuously killed lone Level 25 Lava Hounds as he advanced further into the depths of the Flame God’s Cave. Even when he met two Lava Hounds at the same time, he still easily dealt with them. Only, more time was necessary.
The Flame Breath of the Lava Hounds could be easily dodged. Players only needed to take note of the Lava Hound’s throat. When its throat glowed and gave off the color of fire, it was about to spit out flames. However, the damage of this move was only a small matter to Shi Feng; it dealt about only -100 damage in total to Shi Feng.
As for the Lava Hound’s other skill, Flame Explosion, it could cause extremely high flame damage to all enemies within an 8-yard radius.
Without 120 points in Fire Resistance and 90% damage reduction to fire-type attacks, MTs of the same level would instantly lose three-fourths of their HP to this single attack. However, the Lava Hound’s actions were obvious before it would cast this skill. It would raise its claws high, then slam them on the ground, creating an explosion of flames. However, the skill’s effective range was wide, making it extremely hard to avoid. It was practically a sure-hit skill.
Fortunately, Shi Feng’s Fire Resistance was extremely high, and he would, at most, receive around -100 damage from the Lava Hound’s Flame Explosion. Shi Feng had over 1,800 HP, so this damage was not significant.
Another hour or so passed by, and Shi Feng finally arrived at the core area of the Flame God’s Cave. On his way here, Shi Feng had killed many Lava Hounds, and due to the Luck +3 provided by the Shadow’s Blessing he wore, he obtained a bountiful number of Flame Crystals. He could get one Flame Crystal for every half a dozen or so Lava Hounds he killed.
Throughout his journey, Shi Feng had killed over 40 Lava Hounds, and obtained a total of eight Flame Crystals. His experience had also risen to 37% of Level 14; his leveling speed could already be described as flying. His skills, Chop, Thundering Flash, and Thunder Flame Explosion, also rose to Level 7, Level 5, and Level 3 respectively. If including the upgrade provided by the Abyssal Blade, these skills would be Level 10, Level 8, and Level 6 respectively. These improvements had pushed Shi Feng’s damage output to a whole new level once more. Unfortunately, the Lava Hounds Shi Feng killed did not drop any equipment; the same went for the Forging Designs that Shi Feng most desired.
The core area Shi Feng had reached was a large, empty lava field; molten lava flowed throughout the surroundings. At the highest point of the empty field sat plenty of bright crystals reflecting the glow of the lava into the surroundings, illuminating the spacious and empty field. The cooled accumulation of lava formed the land here. This place was more like a swamp than a durable stone road, and players would find it very hard to transverse across this lava field. A single misstep would instantly lead to players fall into a pit of molten lava. If players did not possess a definite control over their own bodies, they would find themselves at a serious disadvantage when battling here.
Meanwhile, on the empty land a short distance away, Shi Feng discovered plenty of Level 25 Elite Flame Naga silently guarding. Occasionally, he could also spot a few Level 25 Special Elite Flame Naga Warriors. Compared to the Lava Hound, these monsters possessed much more intelligence. Aside from attacking with flames, they could also deal a substantial amount of physical damage. These monsters also had exceptionally fast reactions, especially the Flame Naga Warriors. These warriors wore armor and wielded a shield in one of their hands. They were practically Shield Warriors, and players would find them extremely difficult to deal with.
[Flame Naga] (Elite Rank)
Level 25
HP 20,000/20,000
[Flame Naga Warrior] (Special Elite)
Level 25
HP 50,000/50,000
Soon after, Shi Feng lifted his head and shifted his gaze towards the distant central region of this lava field.
Due to the long distance, Shi Feng had to squint and focus his eyes for quite some time. Only after activating his Extraordinary Vision could he discover a beautiful figure laying atop a stone altar.
That was a Lamia. Unlike her Naga brethren, who possessed the heads and faces of a snake, although the lower half of this Lamia body was a snake’s tail, her upper body was that of a human’s. This Lamia possessed beauty that even women would envy. Her eyes were like red gemstones, giving off a dazzling glow. Her lustrous and seductive black hair was tied into twin ponytails. Exposed to the light of the flames, her delicate white skin shone like supple white jade.
The most attractive parts of this Lamia were her elegant temperament and her exotic beauty. The bright silken blouse she wore was especially eye-catching, as it served to accentuate her delicate body and ample breasts further. Just a glance at this Lamia would easily captivate any intruder.
It was truly hard to imagine that this delicate and beautiful Lamia was the Scorching Lamia Cela, the Level 25 High Lord ranked Boss of the Flame God’s Cave.
“Sure enough, the benefits of pioneering a new land are plentiful; I have already found a High Lord rank on this first trip.”
In Shi Feng’s previous life, most of the Bosses Shi Feng had met were Chieftain rank, and only rarely could he meet a Lord ranked Boss. Only with superb luck could one find a Lord ranked Boss.
Shi Feng’s eyes shone as he gazed at Scorching Lamia Cela’s attractive appearance; his breathing became slightly hurried. He also grew excited, a never-before-seen resplendent smile appearing on his calm face.
Of course, Shi Feng wasn’t captivated by Cela’s beauty, but the bountiful wealth that a High Lord ranked Boss represented. Not to mention, Cela was the High Lord of the Flame God’s Cave. If he could kill her, he wondered just how much EXP and high-level items and equipment he could obtain.
If Blackie and the others knew Shi Feng’s current thoughts and appearance, they would definitely curse Shi Feng for being inhuman. Not sparing even a weak and delicate Lamia, Shi Feng was practically a beast...