The Miasmic Heart of Shadowy Woods, shrouded in noxious vapors all year round, combined with dense forests, caused the entire region to be dim and dismal, severely obstructing visibility.
[Ding, you have reached the Miasmic Heart of Shadowy Woods. Affected by the miasma of the woods, Health Points are decreasing by 1 point every second!]
Under normal circumstances, an ordinary player at level 10, supported by equipment, would have a health pool of about 200 points.
With a loss of 1 health point per second, an ordinary player could only remain within the Miasmic Heart of Shadowy Woods for about three minutes.
This meant that ordinary players entering the Miasmic Heart of Shadowy Woods must prepare enough health potions to ensure sustainability and not meet an untimely demise like a frog boiled in warm water.
However, things were different for Guan Ren. Among the three initial talents he possessed in the game was [Block], which automatically negated 20 points of any damage, making the miasma's life-draining effect inconsequential for him.
Guan Ren charged headfirst into the Miasmic Heart of Shadowy Woods, aiming straight for the region marked on the map where the Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers congregated.
Shortly after, the dense forest became slightly sparse, and the trees grew taller and straighter.
Shuffling noises…
In the area ahead, thick with miasma, a group of sturdy-rooted Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers, two meters in size, roamed aimlessly. Their gaping maws revealed uneven, sharp fangs gleaming sinisterly in the distance.
Drip-drop.
Viscous saliva fell to the ground, corroding the turf and releasing a puff of green smoke that merged into the surrounding miasma.
[Ding, you have entered the dense region of the Man-Eating Flowers. The concentration of miasma has increased, and your Health Points decrease by 3 points every second!]
For an ordinary player under these conditions, even without the attacks of the man-eating flowers, just the miasma alone could only be borne for a minute without supplies.
But for Guan Ren, a mere 3 points of damage per second due to miasma was hardly a concern.
Snap.
Guan Ren accidentally stepped on a twig. In the silence of the dense woods, it distinctly echoed.
"Roar!"
Sure enough, the rustling attracted not too far off; three Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers, their roar following a startled scream, bared their maws and lunged at Guan Ren!
[Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flower: A man-eating flower infected by the miasma of catastrophe, ferocious by nature. Level: 10, Health: 480, Attack: 50, Defense: 30, Skills: Rend, Bloodsuck.]
Seeing the attributes of the Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers, Guan Ren smirked.
His offensive and defensive attributes were now well over 200 points, making these Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers no match for him.
Wielding the Black Iron longsword, Guan Ren, with refined expertise, closed the gap and raised his hands, unleashing blurred sword shadows.
Fourteen strikes in a second, and in less than half a second, all three Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers met their demise.
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From the three Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers, he looted three Silver Coins, a bottle of ordinary-grade healing potion, and a pair of ordinary-quality greaves, promptly collecting them and strutted forward to the gathering area of the Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers.
With swift execution like cutting through the chaos, fourteen strikes per second.
Combined with a ten-fold increase in his movement speed, his monster-killing efficiency was unprecedentedly fast!
In less than ten minutes, he had slain over three hundred Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers in the vicinity!
In total, five Gold Coins, a set of ordinary-grade healing potions (one hundred bottles), and ten pieces of ordinary-quality equipment.
Guan Ren picked everything up, and his backpack was on the verge of overflowing once again.
Twenty slots in the backpack proved insufficient.
It seemed that he must hurry to spend money to upgrade and expand the capacity of his backpack. Otherwise, given his killing speed and luck, his bag's space would soon be overwhelmed!
It's worth mentioning that, with over three hundred Man-Eating Flowers slain and with the aid of the Ultimate Acceleration System, Guan Ren's strength, agility, and stamina attributes each increased by 5 points, resulting in a slight boost in his power.
Moving on, Guan Ren traversed the miasma-wreathed zone. Ahead in the distance, a valley enshrouded in a thick miasmic atmosphere came into view, with the pungent scent of blood spreading around, nauseatingly potent.
[Ding, you have entered the den of the Bloodbloom Monarch, affected by the bloody miasma, your Health Points decrease by 5 points every second!]
Roar!!!
As he entered the valley, a deafening roar erupted suddenly. Focusing his gaze, he saw under the thick blood-stench of the valley, a gargantuan Man-Eating Flower, the size of a two-story building, charging toward Guan Ren’s direction!
[Bloodbloom Monarch (Black Iron-level Boss): A man-eating flower monarch severely affected by the miasma of catastrophe. Health: 24000, Attack: 100, Defense: 60, Skills: Bloodthirsty Rend, Bloodsuck, Thorns Pierce, Bloody Miasma.]
Black Iron-level Boss?
Guan Ren inwardly praised. Field bosses, when vanquished, would drop equipment of their corresponding levels. To him, the Bloodbloom Monarch ahead was not a headache but a Black Iron-quality equipment ready for the taking!
How many items would it drop?
Guan Ren was filled with anticipation.
Compared to the ordinary Bloodthirsty Man-Eating Flowers, the Bloodbloom Monarch's health was fifty times greater, and its attack and defense attributes had doubled, not to mention several more powerful skills.
But to Guan Ren, these attributes were hardly intimidating!
Let the battle commence!
A single sword strike dealt over two hundred damage points!
Combined with Guan Ren's incredibly high attack speed and chain-hit talent, his damage output rapidly increased over time!
"Roar!!!"
The Bloodbloom Monarch, beaten back with each strike, could not hold back a furious roar, unleashing its skills.
A vast swath of bloody aura burst forth from the Bloodbloom Monarch’s mouth, enveloping the entire valley, obscuring the view, and shrouding itself in the blood mist.
[Ding, affected by the Bloody Miasma skill, Health Points are reduced by 50 points every second for 10 seconds!]
As the system notification sounded, Guan Ren finally saw a 30 point damage number appear above his head.
It was a wide-range skill that covered the entire valley.
Affected by the [Bloody Miasma], Guan Ren's movements were slightly slowed compared to before.
"If a group of ordinary players encountered this skill, they would probably get wiped out, wouldn't they?" Guan Ren thought, as he considered the 50 points per second life drain. Without solid equipment or sufficient supplies, no one could withstand it for 10 seconds!
However, with nearly 2000 health points, such an attack was negligible for him.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, sharp winds cut through the blood mist, assailing him from all directions.
Like blades, thorns conducted indiscriminate piercing attacks throughout the valley!
[Thorns Pierce: Summons thorns for a triple piercing attack, dealing 100%, 150%, and 200% true physical damage respectively to targets within range.]
-80! -130! -180!
Three numbers floated up, and nearly 400 points were deducted from Guan Ren's health pool!
"Interesting," Guan Ren muttered, his gaze turning sharp as he became more focussed. Listening intently, he quickly located the Bloodbloom Monarch and struck precisely.
Swoosh!
With a thrust of his sword, the Bloodbloom Monarch was critically hit, its skill forcefully interrupted.
The blood mist slowly dissipated, exposing the Bloodbloom Monarch once again before Guan Ren.
Seizing the moment, Guan Ren’s Black Iron longsword, like a ferocious gale, swept forth, overwhelming the Bloodbloom Monarch step by step and finally vanquishing it.
Boom!
The Boss exploded, spewing loot all over the ground, and at the same time, a pleasant system notification rang in Guan Ren's ears.
[Ding, congratulations to the player for the first kill of a field Black Iron-level Boss, awarded 5 free attribute points and 2000 Reputation!]