Online Game: Crazy Skeleton-Chapter 1165 - 1084 Difficulties

"If only I had ten more minutes."

As for Su Ran, he reluctantly cast a glance at the pit beneath his feet. Noticing the rumbling sounds growing louder and nearly breaking through the sand, he finally resisted the urge to continue digging. Activating the Treading on Air Technique immediately, he took a few steps through the air and promptly arrived beside Xue Wuqing.

"How did it go? What did you get?"

Curiously looking at Su Ran, particularly at the novice hoe he was carrying, Xue Wuqing couldn’t help but tease, "They all say your hoe is a divine tool. They sent me to admire it. Overturning Water, you won’t be so cruel as to refuse this small request, will you?"

"Uh, don’t listen to their nonsense; this is just a novice hoe. It just has the ’indestructible’ attribute. You can look if you want, just don’t be disappointed."

Su Ran glanced at the area below, noticing the Blood Sand trembling violently, yet no monster had appeared. He then squeezed out some time to send the attributes of the novice hoe to Xue Wuqing.

[Novice Hoe]

Minimum attack +1

Increased mining chance by 3%.

Cannot be dropped, cannot be damaged.

Note: This is a hoe used to teach mining to novices. freewёbnoνel.com

"This...this is just a novice hoe, right?"

Upon seeing the attributes of the hoe, Xue Wuqing’s face showed surprise, followed by deep disappointment, "Just because it has the ’cannot be dropped’ and ’cannot be damaged’ properties, you treat it like a treasure? Overturning Water, what should I say about you?"

Su Ran sighed helplessly, not saying much.

He couldn’t possibly tell Xue Wuqing the truth, that besides the novice hoe, he couldn’t equip any other hoe. He wouldn’t believe such a reason himself, let alone Xue Wuqing...

"Overturning Water, this hoe only has a mere 3% chance to increase mining success. I’ve seen hoes that increase the chance by 10%. There’s such a big difference, how can you remain indifferent to this?"

Xue Wuqing was still earnestly persuading Su Ran, hoping he would take it seriously.

Just as Su Ran couldn’t think of an explanation, the ground suddenly cracked open, and several Sand Puppets burrowed out.

These Sand Puppets were similar in size and shape to Su Ran’s own, the only difference being these creatures were blood red with a black line drawn across their chests, highlighting their domineering and rough nature, clearly not easy to deal with.

"Haha, the monsters are finally spawning, it wasn’t easy!"

"Yeah, if they hadn’t spawned, our big swords would be rusting by now!"

"Guild Leader, quickly give the orders, those Sand Puppets are rushing over!"

The crowd was excitedly rubbing their hands together, eager to rush to the front line and engage in a wild battle with the Sand Puppets!

"Shield fighters, get in position and hold the line as much as possible. Warrior teams, assist the shield fighters to reduce their pressure. Mage teams, full power output. Healers, make sure teammates’ health is maintained and try to avoid casualties!"

Cream Fresh chose the most stable strategy. All his followers then swarmed forward, entering a fierce fight with the Sand Puppets.

"Boom! Boom!"

Countless magical bolts exploded but failed to stop the Sand Puppets’ advance. In no time, they had already collided with the shield fighters, whose grimaces revealed the intense power of the Sand Puppets’ attacks.

"No good, these sand monsters are too tough, we can’t hold them off!"

"Guild leader, come up with something quick, we can’t hold on much longer, we’ll lose our defense line if it gets any later!"

Shield-wielders recognized the gravity of the situation, for their line of defense was the lifeline of the team, and if they were wiped out, the entire team’s annihilation wouldn’t be far off.

But the crux of the matter was that each of these sand monsters was as powerful as a BOSS, stopping these aberrations was beyond them!

"This time, we’re in danger."

Worry flickered in the healer’s eyes as she grasped the perilous plight of the team, unable to conceive a strategy to turn the tide, well aware that all their efforts would be futile against overwhelming force.

Although the monsters on the third level could respawn infinitely, at least they had less health and weaker defenses, making them easier to combat than what they were facing now. These sand monsters were like tanks, with strong attacks, high defenses, and massive health pools. Who could possibly contend with them...

"Overturning Water, what should we do next?"

Since the sand monsters lacked the ability to fly, Xue Wuqing and Su Ran were relatively safe. However, seeing the one-sided situation, Wu Qing felt at a loss and turned to Su Ran, hoping he had an answer.

"These sand monsters haven’t lost much health at all, indicating this isn’t the breakthrough point to clear the stage. Clashing head-on with them is not a wise move."

Su Ran didn’t rush to act but kept monitoring the battlefield below. He noticed that even with numerous mages causing ranged damage, not a single sand monster had been killed, not even critically wounded, which clearly wasn’t normal!

"As for where the breakthrough for this stage lies, now that’s a tough question..."

"Overturning Water, could it possibly be underneath that Blood Crystal Sand?"

Wu Qing looked down at the dark chasm below and shared her speculation, "The sand monsters are burrowing out from it. Could there be a treasure that counters them within the crack?"

"Overturning Water!"

Before Su Ran could respond, the nearby healer called out in urgency, "Try using your poison; maybe they’re afraid of toxins!"

"Okay."

Su Ran nodded. The healer’s guess was a possibility. After all, they had only managed to clear the third layer by luck with poison attacks. He decided to test if the poison had any effect; if it proved ineffective, he would send his avatar, the Dark Bone Lion, to probe the fissure.

Just now, after the Dark Bone Lion proved to be of no use, Su Ran had it move to a corner, escaping the monsters’ enmity lock-on and surviving, which conveniently provided Su Ran with a means for further exploration.

"Swoosh!"

A bone spike was summoned by Su Ran, shooting rapidly towards the group of sand monsters. When the spike hit its target, a cloud of poison erupted, and six sand monsters got afflicted, turning a dark green color.

As it turned out, the healer’s guess was wrong. The poison had no effect on the sand monsters. Instead, their attack frequency increased considerably, filling the players’ hearts with an additional thread of despair.

"Not good!"

In that critical moment, the shield-wielding players finally couldn’t hold out any longer. They were slaughtered by the sand monsters, and a breach opened in their ranks, giving the sand monsters a chance to break through and target the mages who had drawn their aggro.

"Warriors, step up! Mages, spread out, keep dealing damage; shields, fill the gaps!"

The healer showed no sign of panic, her mind clear as she directed the team to change formation, and at the same time, bolstered their ranks with more shield-bearers in hopes of stalling the sand monsters.

While everyone was preoccupied with fighting the sand monsters, none noticed the Dark Bone Lion stealthily approach the Blood Sand fissure and leap down into it.