Lin Tianhao could only hope that he was overthinking things; otherwise, his current situation was far from optimistic. The village head was suspicious of him. He had originally thought that by letting the old drunkard go, he would gain Blacksmith Wang's trust. Even his subsequent interactions with Blacksmith Wang had led him to believe that Wang should have some faith in him. But if his encounter with the village head today was indeed part of Wang's scheme, that would be truly terrifying.
Before reaching the mine, the old drunkard suddenly appeared.
"Blood Emperor," the old drunkard called out, looking at Lin Tianhao. "I was originally waiting for you at the cliff, but the village head's sudden arrival forced me to hide."
Lin Tianhao let out a slight sigh of relief. "So, what do we do next?"
"Search for the Iceflame Ore," the old drunkard said earnestly. "There are three Iceflame Ores in the Novice Village. The first one is missing. The remaining two should be nearby."
Lin Tianhao nodded. The Iceflame Ore was known to reward a platinum-level necklace. It would be impossible for Lin Tianhao not to be tempted. However, giving up the plans he had been scheming for so long just for a platinum-level necklace was not something he wanted to do.
In the following time, Lin Tianhao and the old drunkard began to search the area. Judging by the current situation, there was a high probability that a hidden dungeon existed in the mine. However, Lin Tianhao did not remember how to open this hidden dungeon in his memory. But there must be a way. For example, he could try to find clues from the Stone Beetle King. After all, the monsters in the mine were Stone Beetles.
With this thought in mind, Lin Tianhao began to farm Stone Beetles. He could only increase his health points and not gain experience points. Lin Tianhao had already become accustomed to this. Levelling up was an easy task for him. What he wanted was to squeeze as much value as possible out of the Novice Village while also increasing his health points.
"Ding, due to your large-scale killing of Stone Beetles, you have disturbed the Stone Beetle King hidden deep in the mine. It will arrive at the battlefield in five minutes."
Lin Tianhao felt a bit of anticipation. The Iceflame Ore was probably related to the Stone Beetle King.
Five minutes later...
A huge Stone Beetle King, with a dark red shell, walked towards him.
Stone Beetle King (Black Iron): Level 8.
Health: 81520/81520.
Attack: 215.
Skills: Stonefall, Stone Shield, Terrifying Roar, Stone Cannonball, Petrified Skin.
Lin Tianhao glanced at the Stone Beetle's attributes and then began a storm of attacks. Critical hit...
-4918!!
Lin Tianhao's first arrow dealt critical damage. The damage number was outrageously high. Moreover, with the Nine-Compound Longbow's enhancement, his attack speed reached 4.63, dealing twenty thousand damage per second. The Stone Beetle King's health was just over eighty thousand, and it couldn't withstand even five seconds before being killed.
"Ding, you have killed the Stone Beetle King. Experience +859. Since you have not left the Novice Village, you cannot gain experience points."
Lin Tianhao didn't mind and immediately began to loot the corpse.
"Ding, you have obtained three pieces of equipment."
"Ding, you have obtained one skill book."
"Ding, you have obtained +1 Stone Beetle King's eyeball."
"Ding, you have obtained +1 gold coin."
Lin Tianhao raised an eyebrow. Looking at the Stone Beetle King's eyeball, he suddenly thought of a place that seemed to match this eyeball perfectly. Deep in the mine!
Lin Tianhao arrived in front of a stone wall. In the corner of the wall, there was an inconspicuous indentation. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that this indentation matched the Stone Beetle King's eyeball perfectly. Lin Tianhao placed the Stone Beetle King's eyeball into the indentation. The stone wall immediately began to rotate, eventually forming a dungeon portal.
"Ding, you have opened the hidden dungeon: The Lost Princess."
"Ding, you have opened a hidden dungeon and will be announced server-wide. Do you wish to hide your name?"
"Hide."
With the situation in the Novice Village still unstable, Lin Tianhao needed to consider the village head's thoughts.
"Server-wide announcement: Congratulations to the player with a hidden nickname for opening the hidden dungeon, The Lost Princess. +5 free attribute points. Keep up the good work, everyone."
"Server-wide announcement: Congratulations to the player with a hidden nickname for opening the hidden dungeon, The Lost Princess. +5 free attribute points. Keep up the good work, everyone."
...
Lin Tianhao raised an eyebrow and entered the portal. The dungeon options appeared before him.
"Hellish difficulty."
Without hesitation, Lin Tianhao chose the hellish difficulty once again. This difficulty was almost impossible for most ordinary players to complete.
Entering the dungeon, Lin Tianhao found himself still in the mine. The mine was dimly lit, and Lin Tianhao saw one small zombie after another appearing in front of him!
Whoa!
There were undead monsters in the Novice Village! Undead monsters usually appeared more frequently in the mid-game. If undead monsters appeared in the early game, it was usually in relatively high-level dungeons.
Small Zombie (Elite): Level 8.
Health: 10800/10800.
Attack: 95.
Skills: Charge, Tough Skin, Bite.
The attributes were not weak. Lin Tianhao did not hesitate to attack. The Tough Skin of the small zombie was nothing to Lin Tianhao. After all, his damage was true damage.
-2250!
A huge damage number appeared. This was the damage without a critical hit. It was terrifying enough. Coupled with Lin Tianhao's high output, the small zombie was killed before it could even get close.
More and more small zombies appeared, but Lin Tianhao continued to kite and kill them. As long as the damage was sufficient, these small zombies were nothing but decorations.
The first checkpoint was passed by Lin Tianhao without any pressure. The second checkpoint saw the appearance of some green-haired zombies, whose attributes had improved significantly. However, they still could not stop Lin Tianhao's advance.
The third checkpoint.
Lin Tianhao arrived here, and it was the same as the Twisted Jungle. There were four Black Iron bosses here.
Purple-Haired Zombie (Black Iron): Level 8.
Health: 158200/158200.
Attack: 512.
Skills: Charge, Tough Skin, Bite, Rotating Slaughter, Corpse Gas Emission.
Lin Tianhao frowned slightly. The Purple-Haired Zombie's health was decent, but its other attributes and skills were quite average. Just as Lin Tianhao was thinking this, the four Purple-Haired Zombies simultaneously activated Corpse Gas Emission. A large amount of corpse gas converged towards Lin Tianhao.
"Ding, you have been affected by the corpse gas. Your body is beginning to stiffen. Your movement speed and attack speed are reduced by 50%."
At the same time, damage numbers kept popping up above Lin Tianhao's head.
-299.
-299.
These damage numbers appeared very frequently, four times per second. Lin Tianhao's health was decreasing by twelve hundred points per second. Even with healing, Lin Tianhao's health was still dropping by several hundred points per second.
"Whoosh!"
Lin Tianhao struck. He was not the type to sit idly by.
"Bang!"
An arrow hit the head.
Critical hit!!
-4548.