Chapter 225 - 160: Daylight Bubble? Flashbang
Even though they had defeated the Hosted Bone and Blood Giant Statue, there was still clearly another unexplored area ahead.
Tasolomo, the forbidden land of the Wind Erosion Tribe.
"We’re about ready. Let’s go."
After Li Miao and Shore bought some Special Items they might need at the Spirit Candle and finished their preparations, Li Miao took out the Candle Bone Whistle.
After summoning their Candlefire Spirit Steeds, they galloped off to the east of the Wind Erosion Tribe’s territory.
The players hadn’t rested during the day, and some had already figured out the direction to Tasolomo by following various clues and limited texts within the Wind Erosion Tribe’s area.
So, the two of them didn’t have to run around like headless chickens.
CLIPPITY-CLOP...
The two Candlefire Spirit Steeds rode side-by-side as the surrounding scenery flew past them. Not even the roots of the Corpse Bone Trees could slow them down.
The death of the Hosted Bone and Blood Giant Statue hadn’t caused any change to the instance’s environment.
However, the closer they got to Tasolomo, the fewer Corpse Bone Trees they saw. Eventually, the trees disappeared completely, leaving only a barren desert and some withered grass.
The two of them chatted idly along the way.
Their conversation drifted between topics from the real world and the game.
"Is this... uh... flashbang really that good?"
Aboard his Candlefire Spirit Steed, Shore curiously examined the white orb in his hand.
"You’ll know once you try it."
Hearing this, Li Miao chuckled. Without another word, he pulled out a Daylight Bubble, activated it with Warfire, and tossed it at him.
VMMMM—
Before Shore could react, his vision turned completely white.
Then came the sound of his horse neighing and the pain of hitting the ground.
"Damn it! Li Miao, you bastard!"
Shore scrambled up from the ground, grimacing and rubbing his butt as he cursed.
As he spoke, he was about to pull out a Daylight Bubble to get the kid back.
But Li Miao suddenly stopped.
Shore couldn’t help but look ahead, temporarily forgetting his thoughts of revenge.
"A Meteorite Crater?"
After climbing a small hill in the desert, Li Miao dismounted and stared at the massive crater below.
"It’s pretty big."
Shore tsked in amazement.
The area around the crater was dotted with buildings clearly left by the Wind Erosion Tribe, probably built for sacrificial rites or as patrol outposts.
But now, with no living members of the Wind Erosion Tribe left on this floating island, there was naturally no one on patrol.
Furthermore, perhaps due to the intense heat from the meteorite’s impact or some unknown Power, many parts of the crater were crystalline.
But they weren’t sparkling; instead, they appeared somewhat dim.
A grayish fog seemed to shroud the crater, obscuring the view of what lay below.
Li Miao stroked his chin, then tossed a Pathfinding Stone down into it.
But he never saw the signal from the Stone Shattering, only hearing a faint sound.
And the farther he threw it, the fainter the sound became, until it was completely inaudible.
However, in areas where the fog was thinner, the Pathfinding Stone still managed to give off a response.
Overall, the crater was indeed bowl-shaped.
"The entrance is over there."
After looking around for a bit, Li Miao spotted a conspicuous gap.
With the help of their Candlefire Spirit Steeds, the two quickly reached the entrance. There was indeed a winding, circular path leading down into the crater.
But the path was narrow and had no guardrails. One wrong step and they’d probably have to start over.
The guidance of a Milestone Spirit Candle also appeared here.
After touching the flame, they started heading down, one behind the other.
"Tsk, not even a single monster guarding the gate. This place feels a little empty."
Shore glanced around, noticing that not only was the visibility poor due to the gray fog, but it was also slightly chilly.
"Then why don’t you go look in the middle?"
Li Miao shot him a look.
Shore rolled his eyes at that.
Before long, the two saw a tunnel that had clearly been excavated. At its entrance, a huge, flat, shiny black ore was embedded in the crater’s edge, completely blocking the path.
Li Miao went up and knocked on it, finding it to be extremely hard. He then poked it with his Frost Riding Spear, but it didn’t leave the slightest mark.
This ore was too hard.
This must have been why the Wind Erosion Tribe had dug around it.
"It’s pitch-black in there. I should probably turn on a light."
The tunnel ahead wasn’t short, so Li Miao muttered to himself and prepared to activate a Candlefire for illumination.
"Seriously? You’re playing a Knight and you’re this much of a coward? Can you even handle it? If not, you should go watch cartoons for toddlers."
Shore was clearly still holding a grudge over Li Miao’s earlier sneak attack and took every opportunity to mock him.
"Then be my guest," Li Miao said, annoyed.
"Fine by me," Shore huffed, striding forward. "It’s just a short path. Look at you, so scared."
Li Miao raised an eyebrow and flattened himself against the wall to let him pass.
Shore took two steps in, then two steps back out.
"I’m in! Now I’m out again!"
"How ’bout that? Huh? Huh?"
Li Miao was speechless at his gloating.
But his pupils contracted a moment later, his gaze fixed on something behind Shore.
’Holy shit, is that a monster?’
Seeing his expression, Shore’s heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran down his spine.
He took off running, darting behind Li Miao in a flash, and was smart enough not to look back.
"Miaozi, hold them off! I’m casting a spell—"
Before he could finish, he saw Li Miao grinning from ear to ear, unable to contain his laughter.
Realization dawned on Shore. His face darkened, and he slammed a fist into Li Miao’s side. "Are you fucking crazy?" he roared.
Li Miao wasn’t angry; it just made him laugh harder.
After they were done horsing around, the two continued forward. The tunnel was indeed unremarkable—there were no monsters, not even a speck of dust.
Still, Li Miao activated an illuminating Candlefire, just in case.
After walking a bit further, they came to a section of the path that had clearly collapsed.
It was a long stretch, too; they couldn’t even see the end of it.
It seemed the only way past was to inch along with their backs to the wall.
"How are we supposed to get through this?" Shore frowned, peering down. "Don’t tell me we’re supposed to just jump?"
Hearing this, Li Miao once again tossed a Pathfinding Stone without a word. After a moment, he heard an echo, but saw no feedback signal.
Jumping was clearly not an option.
"So annoying," Shore complained. "When are they going to add a flight function?"
"In your dreams," Li Miao rolled his eyes. "This is a combat game. You think they’re just going to let you fly past everything so easily?"
"Let’s go."
After the brief exchange, they turned sideways and began to inch forward with their backs pressed against the wall.
"Fuck, this is so fucking scary."
Staring into the bottomless fog below, Shore’s heart began to pound.
Just looking down made his legs tremble involuntarily.
Seeing him like this, Li Miao couldn’t help but laugh. "You’re afraid of heights?"
"Afraid my ass!"
Shore said stubbornly after taking a deep breath.
"I was just thinking about how we should deal with it if a monster showed up right now."
"I’m strategizing, you get it?"
Just as he spoke, Li Miao suddenly looked back, his pupils shrinking.
Seeing his expression, Shore scoffed. "Stop pretending. You think I’m going to fall for the same trick twice?"
THWIP!
Before he could finish his sentence, a blade-like shard of crystal shot past his face and embedded itself in the rock wall, less than an inch from his head.
Shore’s pupils contracted. He traced it back to its source and saw several monsters hovering in the air, wreathed in yellow earth and crystal.
[Spiral Crystal]
Although it was only a Residual Ash Tier monster, its timing was terrible.
Both of them were inching along with their backs to the cliff face, their fronts completely exposed to the monster. They were about as vulnerable as you could be, second only to taking a dump.
"It’s fine, it’s just one monster! Keep moving, keep moving!" Shore urged Li Miao, snapping back to his senses.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
THWACK!
The very next moment, a whole swarm of Spiral Crystals emerged one after another from the fog, launching Crystal Blades as they came.
The two of them, inching along the wall.
The monsters, throwing Crystal Blades.
It was a lot like a carnival dart game.
Except they were the balloons.
Dodge by Rolling?
You’d have to be clinically brain-dead to come up with that idea.
"You and your fucking jinxing mouth!"
Li Miao roared, whipping out his Law Knight’s Shield and holding it in front of him.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
In an instant, a storm of Flying Blades hammered against the Law Knight’s Shield, ringing out one after another.
Li Miao the Knight had a Shield.
But Shore the Mage was out of luck.
"Fuck! Give me a Shield! Quick!"
"I only have one!"
"Then block for me! You’re a fucking Knight, are you afraid of a little damage?"
"Bullshit! I’m a total glass cannon, I can’t take it!"
"You motherf— AHHH!"