The cave was not completely dark, and after Xiao Hua's eyes adjusted to the light inside, he slowly ventured deeper into the cave, gradually gaining a general understanding of this lava-filled cavern.
The cave had a semi-circular, cocoon-like shape that wound its way downward. It was about four meters high and more than two meters wide, which was relatively spacious. However, what impressed Xiao Hua the most were the fiery red rocks on the walls of the cave. Half of these red rocks were embedded in the ordinary grayish-white walls, while the other half was exposed to the air. The parts exposed to the air emitted a noticeable dark red light, ensuring that this continuously descending lava cave was not too dark for visibility.
After stealthily advancing several dozen meters into the cave, while Xiao Hua was still pondering whether there would be any minor monsters, he saw two human-shaped rock creatures with black names that were hard to discern clearly under the dim light. These rock creatures stood more than two meters tall.
These humanoid rock creatures looked as if they were assembled from round stones. They moved slowly and inflexibly but patrolled slightly in place. Although they were not very agile, the two bulky creatures blocking the cave passage made it not so easy to sneak through even though the cave was relatively spacious.
For safety reasons, Xiao Hua observed the patrol patterns of the two monsters. Once he entered deeper, he might not have such an easy chance to observe them again.
After watching for a while, Xiao Hua roughly grasped the patrol pattern of the two monsters. To put it simply, they patrolled horizontally; in a cave over two meters wide, they only needed three steps to reach one side of the cave, then turn around and walk back. The tricky part was that their speed varied; sometimes, they could cross the distance of three steps in just two steps. Occasionally, they would suddenly dash forward, covering the distance of two steps in an instant!
However, the system did not make it too complicated. This sudden dash happened every time they completed a regular round trip, and by paying attention to the intervals between the two monsters' dashes, passing through their blockade wasn't difficult at all.
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Hua summoned his decoy to sneak past and finally got a clear look at the names of the rock creatures.
"Brown Rock Dwarf? Damn, is there any justice? At a height of two and a half meters, they're called dwarves?"
Seeing the name of the rock creature, Xiao Hua was speechless.
He cast a detection spell on the decoy, and Xiao Hua found that the level of this rock dwarf was actually as high as 55! If the monsters guarding the entrance were already level 55, how high-level would the Flame Giant BOSS be?
Just thinking about it gave Xiao Hua a sense of pressure. Such a high level, even if it wasn't a super BOSS, it would still be hard to approach!
But you can't know the true strength of a BOSS until you face it. Just like when he fought against Reiter before, hadn't he thought he couldn't defeat Reiter to the point of self-destruction?
When the decoy used the detection spell and was within three to four meters of the Brown Rock Dwarf, it revealed itself, and both Brown Rock Dwarves rushed over together. Their massive fists slammed down from mid-air! Being attacked by monsters twenty levels higher than himself, the decoy was instantly killed!
"Hmm, this might be a good method to move forward."
Seeing this, Xiao Hua had an idea.
Having encountered a situation where two monsters guarded the entrance together right at the entrance, it was likely that further into the cave, there might be three or even four monsters defending the passage together. But using a decoy to lure monsters was indeed a good method!
After waiting for the decoy skill cooldown to finish, Xiao Hua summoned the decoy and moved further inside together. Moving both himself and the decoy required extra caution and thought, but ten minutes later, Xiao Hua realized how worthwhile it was. As expected, three Brown Rock Dwarves were jointly guarding and patrolling the area ahead!
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In a normal situation, to pass through the joint defense of these three monsters, either one would need to defeat them or spend some effort and take some risks to sneak past. However, with the decoy's active sacrifice drawing the attention of the three Brown Rock Dwarves and successfully luring them away from their patrol positions, Xiao Hua easily passed through.
The deeper he went, the higher the temperature became. With each step forward, Xiao Hua felt the heat increase. The fiery red rocks on the walls seemed to glow like burning coals, almost smoking!
After walking for nearly twenty minutes along this winding underground passage, with the help of the decoy, he passed without incident.
There were monsters ahead, but the cave was now brightly lit. From a distance, Xiao Hua could see that this was a new type of monster!
The appearance of the monster was similar to the previous Brown Rock Dwarves, but the stones that made up its body were clearly different, no longer brown but similar to the fiery red rocks on the cave walls.
Faced with this new monster, Xiao Hua didn't dare act rashly. He knew that if discovered, he would surely be killed instantly.
Observing for a while, the patrol pattern of the monsters hadn't changed, but why were there only two monsters jointly guarding and patrolling now when there were previously three?
Feeling curious, Xiao Hua cautiously sent the decoy over to try sneaking past directly.
-10!
"Damn! This monster has a burn damage effect!"
As soon as the decoy approached the Red Rock Dwarf, still a meter away, it suffered burn damage!
"Red Rock Dwarf! Level 60! Has a burn damage effect within one meter! No wonder there are only two guarding together!"
After the decoy was exposed, Xiao Hua used the detection skill and found that the level of the small monster had risen to 60, and the one-meter burn damage aura made him feel uneasy! For ordinary people, trying to sneak past was a fantasy. Under the joint patrol of two monsters, there was only half a meter gap for sneaking through! Without being burned and exposed, it was impossible! Even with the decoy, one had to be careful to coordinate and keep a certain distance. If careless like before, he would suffer the same fate as the decoy.
With monsters that possessed such an aura damage effect, even with the decoy skill, Xiao Hua lost confidence in whether he could infiltrate all the way to the end. If there were three Red Rock Dwarves jointly guarding, he wouldn't know if he could proceed smoothly.
"Damn!"
Thinking about this, Xiao Hua saw three Red Rock Dwarves ahead!
The method to pass through three monsters jointly guarding was the same as passing through two, except the danger increased several times with the additional monster!
"Lord, please bless this pure lamb and let me pass the BOSS's trial! Amen!"
Xiao Hua sincerely prayed to the unknown deity, then began letting the decoy lure the monsters.
"Even if I die, I hope I don't!"
Seizing the moment when the three rock dwarves were closest to the left wall, Xiao Hua made the decoy use a skill casually. The heads of the three red monsters turned simultaneously, and they rushed towards the decoy. Watching the three red and fiery rock dwarves, Xiao Hua didn't know if he could pass through. After all, his eyes weren't microscopes, nor did he have the ability to measure accurately down to the centimeter, so he really didn't know what the outcome would be.
Run!
Seeing the three Red Rock Dwarves charging diagonally towards him, Xiao Hua gritted his teeth, leaned sideways, and almost hugging the right wall, dashed forward!
"Hehe! I'm too awesome!"
Successfully dodging the three Red Rock Dwarves, Xiao Hua couldn't help feeling proud of himself! Although it was a bit cheating, it was something few people could achieve!
Dodging once didn't mean he was safe. There was a series of three monsters jointly guarding ahead, but having gained experience the first time, Xiao Hua found that as long as he lured the three monsters when they were closest to the left wall, he could sneak past relatively easily!
Xiao Hua knew he was lucky to find that precise point on the first try. If one of the three monsters had been out of position, he probably would have been sent back to the city.
Would there be four Red Dwarves jointly guarding further ahead?
After passing through dozens of spots guarded by three Red Rock Dwarves, Xiao Hua mischievously wondered! If there were four Red Rock Dwarves, he would definitely have to surrender!
But the system wasn't that malicious. After passing through another spot guarded by three monsters, Xiao Hua moved forward a considerable distance without encountering any more monsters.
Perhaps it's getting close to the BOSS's spawn location!
Noticing this unusual phenomenon and sensing the rapidly rising temperature and the increasingly red walls around him, Xiao Hua immediately had this feeling!
Sure enough, after advancing another twenty meters or so, the originally four-meter-high cave suddenly opened up into a vast space, becoming a huge red cavern with a height of twenty meters and a width of forty to fifty meters!
Looking ahead, it seemed like a giant furnace. The rocks on the surrounding walls were all blood-red, and waves of heat came rushing towards him. At the far end of this giant furnace stood a stone giant more than ten meters tall, burning fiercely.