When Xiao Hua turned to switch places with the decoy, he was surprised to find that the decoy was not as beaten down as he expected but rather was acting much more agile than usual. This was not simply due to the increase in attributes; clearly, the decoy's intelligence had also increased significantly along with the boost in stats. Xiao Hua observed that the decoy often managed to dodge completely. It was only hit twice despite the rock golem losing most of its HP, which was quite unexpected!
Seeing this, Xiao Hua was even happier. Since he stopped using magic bombs to level up and had been criticizing the decoy's AI, this discovery was a ray of light. It indicated that the decoy's intelligence improved with the increase in attributes.
He quickly helped the decoy finish off the rock golem with very little HP left, switched places with the decoy, and picked up a piece of green equipment and a Blackstone coin that had dropped. Although he wasn't penniless, he was only slightly richer than the average player. Poison was a significant expense, and without being frugal, he feared that his remaining 700,000 gold coins would soon be depleted, leaving him broke again.
Xiao Hua had already collected enough Blackstone coins earlier that morning, but he unexpectedly picked up another one! Was there no restriction on picking up Blackstone coins during the black mist weather?
After a brief surprise, Xiao Hua was delighted. This was a great opportunity to collect Blackstone coins!
Moreover, after killing a dozen rock golems, Xiao Hua discovered that during the black mist weather, the drop rate of Blackstone coins from berserk monsters was extraordinarily high, with almost one Blackstone coin dropping every two monsters. The drop rate of equipment was also high; although mostly white equipment, he got four pieces, including a green piece, from just over a dozen monsters.
This was an extremely rare event. Usually, Xiao Hua would only get a dozen pieces of equipment after grinding all day, and green equipment was rarely seen.
Since his inventory was relatively empty, he picked everything up.
Soon, he cleared all the monsters on one side of the canyon.
Without wasting time, he turned around and joined the decoy in dealing with the monsters coming from the other side.
Experience points soared rapidly. In recent days, Xiao Hua had been grinding hard, gaining around 13% experience daily. But in just over ten minutes, he gained 0.5%! A quick calculation showed that he could gain about 2.5% experience per hour, meaning he could potentially gain 30% experience overnight if nothing unexpected happened.
However, soon an unexpected situation arose. After an hour of grinding monsters in the canyon, Xiao Hua realized that his supply of poison would not last until six o'clock the next morning. At best, it would only last until midnight.
Usually, he carried enough poison for almost 28 hours of grinding, but he had used some earlier and couldn't restock from an NPC vendor after returning to town. So, this became a problem.
Even if he had enough poison, Xiao Hua doubted he could grind continuously until six o'clock the next morning. Once Level 60-70 monsters appeared, it would become very challenging.
An hour later, the monsters in the canyon changed from rock golems to a new type called "Shell Mermaids," which were Level 40 creatures entirely formed from seawater. They wielded pale bone spears, similar in size to ordinary players, and carried colorful shells on their backs. The canyon was just wide enough for two Shell Mermaids to pass through, but fortunately, with the decoy's help, they could handle one each without being surrounded.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Despite being Level 40 monsters, the Shell Mermaids had lower HP, defense, and attack stats than the rock golems and lacked any particularly strong skills, making them easy and safe to kill.
Half an hour later, the Shell Mermaids disappeared, replaced by Level 45 "Toxic Lizards," which were entirely black. They weren't very large and could pass through the canyon two at a time. Their attacks inflicted toxin damage. Before berserking, the toxin damage might have been lower, but now, the decoy took a consistent -50 green toxin damage lasting 20 seconds whenever it was hit.
This posed a headache for Xiao Hua since the decoy couldn't dodge all attacks. With steady toxin damage and Toxic Lizard attacks, the decoy couldn't last more than three minutes.
Not long after killing four Toxic Lizards, the decoy finally succumbed to the toxin damage.
This was bad!
Xiao Hua felt frustrated. While he could handle two Toxic Lizards alone, it took him five to six seconds to kill one, leaving him unable to prevent the others from surrounding him. The Toxic Lizards were highly agile with moderate attack power but incredibly fast speeds. Being surrounded meant facing attacks from at least five Toxic Lizards, which was not ideal in such a narrow place.
However, his worries soon dissipated. Although the Toxic Lizards weren't large, their bodies stretched to nearly four meters long. In the narrow canyon, they couldn't turn around after passing Xiao Hua. They were stuck in the canyon, unable to advance or retreat, creating a humorous scene.
Monsters continued to drop Blackstone coins and equipment, and Xiao Hua's backpack soon filled up. He could only pick up green equipment and above, while the system prevented him from picking up more than 150 Blackstone coins.
Time flew by quickly. Two more hours passed, and Level 50 monsters began to appear. Xiao Hua was now facing a Level 50 creature called a "Fishman."
The Fishman had a unique appearance, resembling a large fish with black and white stripes, but it walked upright with hands and feet, wielding an iron short sword. This was the third sea creature Xiao Hua encountered, indicating that beyond Blackmist City lay a sea. These sea creatures had lower overall stats than land monsters, making them easier to defeat.
Experience points soared, which was great, but Xiao Hua was concerned about the dwindling supply of poison in his backpack. The poison was depleting faster than expected, and he feared it would run out in another hour.
Xiao Hua's main method of output was poison, though he occasionally encountered monsters with lower physical defense. After grinding so many monsters, he realized that the monsters' defense in the black mist weather had risen more than threefold. Otherwise, his quadrupled attack power should have done more damage.
His backpack soon contained only half an hour's worth of poison. After some consideration, he decided to save it for emergencies instead of using it to kill monsters.
Without toxin damage, dealing with Fishmen was still manageable. Fishmen had weak physical defense, and Xiao Hua's regular attacks could deal over 200 HP, killing one in just over ten seconds.
Another half-hour passed, and the low-defense Fishmen were about to end. As Xiao Hua wondered what kind of monsters would come next, he suddenly felt the ground shake beneath his feet!
What's going on?
Unsteady on his feet, Xiao Hua was hit twice by the Fishman, but he was more concerned about the cause of the earthquake-like sensation.
The system soon provided the answer!
In the swirling black mist, a giant sea turtle, four to five meters tall and tank-sized, appeared above him. The turtle climbed up from the low rocks, crushing the monsters and rocks beneath it, seemingly unstoppable.
"Damn! How are we supposed to live with this!"
Xiao Hua looked up at the enormous turtle, shocked. In Snowdrift City, he had only seen monsters knock down a couple of trees, but this giant turtle could flatten the low rocks. Xiao Hua had never imagined such a thing could happen!
The turtle's head alone was nearly the size of the canyon. Its attacks left Xiao Hua nowhere to hide, let alone its massive body. Forced to retreat, he fled out of the canyon.
Xiao Hua was now within the giant turtle's hate range. As he retreated, the giant turtle pursued him relentlessly. Despite its massive size and cumbersome form, the turtle was surprisingly fast, even on the uneven low rocks. Xiao Hua's high speed was insufficient to outrun the turtle.
"What the hell, is this still considered a slow-moving turtle?"
As the giant turtle chased and trampled the low rocks, Xiao Hua felt the ground shaking beneath him. He was initially in stealth mode, but the constant tremors revealed him.
With stealth broken, Xiao Hua's speed decreased significantly. Looking back at the relentless giant turtle, Xiao Hua could only sigh and continue running desperately!