Chapter 242 - 168: Altar Vine Lizard
"Where the hell is this crappy Divine Hall!"
After the discussion about the hidden passage gradually died down, the players refocused their energy on the instance itself.
Their most important objective was still to reach the "Divine Hall" within Gael’s Depression.
However, even with several thousand players pouring into the instance, no one had managed to find the Divine Hall’s location in a short amount of time.
The players were scratching their heads in frustration over this.
"I saw the Divine Hall, but the damn thing disappeared as soon as I got close! What am I supposed to do?"
"Do we need to activate some kind of mechanism?"
"What is this crap? They don’t give us any hints. How are we supposed to get in?"
𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Seriously! These devs are real pieces of work. The maps they design just keep getting more and more messed up."
"..."
Nowadays, cursing out the devs had become a daily, can’t-miss activity for players in Spirit Candle.
After all, from the players’ perspective, these maps were just getting more and more messed up.
Of course, they’d never guess that the devs they cursed out every day didn’t actually exist...
"Ehehe!"
"Bros, my bros! I found a new place! There’s an altar here, not sure if it’s related to the Divine Hall."
Just as the crowd of players was at their wits’ end,
Guagua’s sudden post captured everyone’s attention.
"Sister Guagua, my Sister Guagua, hehehe... (pervy smile)"
"Damn it, user above, wipe your drool. It’s about to land on my head."
"An altar? What kind of altar?"
"I saw that altar too! There’s a mini-boss inside that’s super hard to beat!"
"Even if this altar isn’t related to the Divine Hall, it’s definitely still important."
Although the mysterious power in Gael’s Depression constantly hindered the players’ advance,
most of them were still making slow progress with the guidance of the Spirit Candle and tips from other players.
After all, even in a game of ten-to-one odds, if you pick ten or a hundred times, you’re bound to get lucky eventually.
Of course, some perpetually unlucky players were an exception.
And at times like these, the importance of luck was on full display.
...
"Found it!"
Li Miao’s eyes lit up as the altar ahead of him shifted from blurry to clear.
Most of the players who followed the Spirit Candle had already pushed on to this point.
He was naturally no exception. After collecting the reward from the hidden passage, he had made his way here quickly.
His luck had been pretty good, too; he had only taken two wrong turns before finding the correct path.
The altar before him was a deep, ink-green, composed of moss-covered stone bricks and five thick pillars standing tall in the swamp.
In the center of the altar, a figure covered in crawling vines faced Li Miao’s direction.
Without a doubt, this was the boss guarding the altar.
Seeing this, Li Miao immediately drew his Frost Riding Spear. He controlled the Spirit Fire Sail to slowly approach the altar, all while keeping his Gaze fixed on the vine-wrapped figure.
The Spirit Fire Sail docked, and Li Miao stepped onto the altar’s stairs.
’There’s a Milestone Spirit Candle here too, right near the altar. The devs have a shred of conscience, I guess.’
At almost the exact same moment he stepped onto the altar, the vine-wrapped figure began to move.
The stone on its chest glimmered faintly, quickly linking with the Spells on the other stones. The vines began to contract, and its form rapidly shifted and reassembled.
In moments, a flash of dark green light shot past, and a four-legged, lizard-like creature of Spells with vines swaying on its body appeared before Li Miao’s eyes.
[Altar Vine Lizard], a Molten Slag Ash Tier mini-boss.
Upon seeing its information, Li Miao instantly let out a sigh of relief.
Admittedly, a Molten Slag Ash Tier monster couldn’t be called weak. It was even stronger than the vast majority of players at this stage and was not to be underestimated.
But Li Miao was clearly not among that "vast majority."
’I’m a Scorching Charcoal Tier Knight, the first player to become one since launch, and I’m wielding the Frost Riding Spear. What chance does a puny lizard have against me?’
SWOOSH!
At that thought, Li Miao brandished his Frost Riding Spear, a biting chill radiating from it.
’This puny lizard will be an easy catch!’
...
「A moment later.」
"Hiss..."
"No, something’s not right!"
"How is this lizard’s health so high?"
"Holy crap, it’s immune to crowd control!"
"Whoa, buddy, stop!"
[DEATH]
As his Wandering Soul rose, Li Miao began to doubt his own Ability.
Was the lizard too strong, or was he just too weak?
Aren’t players supposed to be the ones killing higher-Tier enemies?
How did he end up being the one getting killed by a lower-Tier enemy?
"No! Again!"
Li Miao refused to accept it. Gritting his teeth, he charged back in.
However, it wasn’t long before he was crushed once more, dying a second time.
This time, Li Miao finally noticed what was wrong.
"This thing is way too overpowered! It’s nothing like a Molten Slag Ash Tier boss."
Li Miao frowned and scanned the altar. As he looked at the pillars that were circulating with a dark green light, he suddenly realized the truth.
"The altar is giving it Power!"
Having figured out the key, Li Miao’s confidence surged.
"If I take down these pillars, I should be able to beat this thing!"
No sooner said than done, Li Miao quickly raised his Frost Riding Spear and challenged it again.
This time, he focused most of his energy on destroying the altar’s pillars.
But these pillars were incredibly sturdy. Even using a Skill and a full-power Attack with Warfire, Li Miao still had to strike one twice to shatter it.
Of course, just hitting the pillars wouldn’t have been so strenuous. The trouble was that the Altar Vine Lizard didn’t just stand by and watch. After Li Miao started attacking the pillars, its own attacks became even more ferocious.