Chapter 8 Level 10, Strength Surges Again
[Killed Grey Wolf (LV18, Common), Experience +35.]
[Acquired materials: Wolf Claw (White) x4, Wolf Tooth (White) x4, Wolf Pelt (White) x1, Wolf Meat (White) x5]
As the system notifications flooded the screen, the previously depleted experience pool began to steadily grow.
Thankfully, these low-level monsters were bound by aggro constraints and would not flee as long as they were not disengaged from combat.
Otherwise, after a certain number of the wolf pack were killed, the remaining seventy-five Grey Wolves would certainly have executed a strategic retreat.
After twenty minutes of intense fighting, seventy-four ordinary Grey Wolves lay dead, slain by the bolts from the Crossbow Skeletons.
[Grey Wolf King (Elite BOSS)]
[Level]: LV20
[Attributes]: Physical Damage 30, Physical Defense 15, Health 2000.
[Skills]: Bite, Claw, Charge, Command Wolf Pack
[Combat Power]: 45
At this moment, four Shield Combat Skeletons surrounded the lead wolf, securely trapping it.
Another four Shield Combat Skeletons stood in front of the lead wolf, ready to intercept any attempt it made to break free from the aggro mechanism and attack Zi Liyuan himself.
The rest of the thirteen Skeletons were all Crossbow Skeletons, still positioned in front of Zi Liyuan, enveloping him within a protective wall of ribs.
With the Grey Wolves eradicated, only the lone Grey Wolf King remained, and naturally, the proper lineup was summoned to take down the BOSS.
Unfortunately, the Berserker Skeletons' attributes were too weak; aside from using skills, their normal attacks couldn't break through the defense.
Therefore, aside from the eight Shield Combat Skeletons kept as tanks, Zi Liyuan had swapped the rest for the more fragile Crossbow Skeletons.
The Grey Wolf King, bearing three stacks of the Sunder Armor effect and having its Physical Defense reduced by 30%, took about four points of damage from each bolt fired by the Crossbow Skeletons.
A single volley from the thirteen Skeletons could strip away 52 points of health, meaning that after about forty volleys, they could grind down the BOSS.
Under Zi Liyuan's precise command, the battle between the Skeleton Army and the wolf pack ended without any alarming surprises.
[Killed Grey Wolf King (LV20, Elite BOSS), Experience +800.]
[Acquired equipment: Wolf Fang Dagger (Green) x1, Wolf King Armor (Green) x1, Wolf Pelt Boots (White) x1]
[Acquired materials: Wolf Claw (Green) x4, Wolf Tooth (Green) x4, Wolf Pelt (Green) x1, Wolf Meat (Green) x10]
After clearing the battlefield and thanks to a fling with Lady Luck, Zi Liyuan's Spatial Backpack was filled with a large pile of wolf-related materials.
"It's a pity that this Wolf King is a pure physical BOSS; it didn't drop any mage equipment, which would have saved me a lot of trouble."
With a quick glance at the equipment dropped by the Wolf King, all were max-attribute gear for their tier, but unfortunately, they were unsuitable for a Necromancer.
Just like the drops from the previous scorpion, the gear dropped was max-attribute for its tier, which meant these low-level items held significant value during the examination period.
Zi Liyuan glanced at his experience pool, which was now at LV9 (4120/10,000), yet an hour and a half had already passed.
"Keep it up and strive to return to White Crane Academy by 11 PM."
Instead of summoning any more Berserker Skeletons, he had six Shield Combat Skeletons lead the way, kept two as guards by his side, and the remaining thirteen Crossbow Skeletons formed a circular formation around Zi Liyuan, ready to focus fire on any enemies that appeared ahead.
After traversing the mountain depression where the Grey Wolf pack resided, a rolling mountain range with rugged rocks and shadows of trees emerged. The sunlight, now exceedingly dim, significantly reduced visibility in this area.
Fortunately, Skeletons, being undead creatures, did not rely on sight to track their prey but perceived nearby living beings at a soul level.
```
After entering the mountain range, the level of the monsters rose once again, reaching levels 21 to 25, and the number of elite monsters drastically increased.
The experience value from elite monsters was one third higher than that of the common ones, but their difficulty increased by several folds.
This is because every 20 levels is a significant threshold, where players at level 20 can complete a job change, which enhances their class template and unlocks their class's skill tree.
It is akin to evolving from a novice apprentice to a fully-fledged beginner professional, a qualitative leap!
Likewise, monsters adhere to the same principles as players, obtaining attribute and skill enhancements once they reach level 21.
At this point, Zi Liyuan realized that the current Skeleton Army could only barely defeat monsters below level 25.
Whether it was the Shield Combat Skeleton or the Crossbow Skeleton, without special skill enhancements, their durability and damage were definitely at the bottom of the same tier.
When they could no longer overwhelm the enemy with numbers, it also indicated that the Skeleton Army was likely to be annihilated.
And a true Undead Catastrophe would not have such limitations, after all, skeletons are just the lowest fodder of the undead.
Understanding that the Skeleton Army could only handle monsters below level 25, Zi Liyuan did not venture deeper into the mountains but started clearing areas to the left and right using the valley inhabited by Grey Wolves as a boundary.
After four hours, Zi Liyuan's figure was once again enveloped in a flash of golden light.
He took a quick glance at his attribute panel which had reached level 10, then directed the Skeleton Army back on the road.
It took five and a half hours to accumulate enough experience to level up by farming higher-level monsters, a pace that was countless times slower than leveling up in instance dungeons.
Zi Liyuan had originally planned to farm another 1,000 experience points to upgrade the Skeleton Summoning skill to level 3, but the heart-wrenching efficiency completely dispelled the idea.
By 10 PM, as soon as he returned to White Crane City, Zi Liyuan rushed into the Adventurers' Marketplace.
He quickly bought three pieces of level 10 rare blue equipment at a 20% markup from the market price, restocked a batch of level 10 potions, and hurriedly headed to the altar square of White Crane Academy.
Finally, just before 11 PM, Zi Liyuan once again passed through the altar, entering the light blue instance space.
[Player has reached level 10, daily instance activation times +1, reset and refreshed automatically at 0:00 every day.]
[Detected that the player can activate the instance once more today, please choose the required instance to enter; reset and refreshed automatically at 0:00 every day.]
Zi Liyuan did not immediately choose an instance but rather opened his attribute panel and took out the three pieces of equipment he had just purchased.
[Bone Staff (Blue)]: Physical Damage +10, Magic Damage +18, Spirit +5, Spiritual Power +5, requires Level 10.
[Ashen Deathrobe (Blue)]: Physical Defense +10, Magical Resistance +15, Spirit +5, Spiritual Power +5, requires Level 10.
[Wind Spirit Shoes (Blue)]: Movement Speed +15%, Spirit +5, Spiritual Power +5, requires Level 10.
The attributes of the level 10 blue gear increased by more than double, causing his attributes to surge once more.
[Zi Liyuan]
[Level 10]
[Attributes]: Physique 10 (+5), Spirit 11 (+5+15), Spiritual Power 10 (+5+15).
[Comprehensive Attributes]: Health 1500, Spiritual Energy 3000, Physical Damage +25, Magic Damage +49, Physical Defense +25, Magical Resistance +46
With 3000 points of Spiritual Energy, two more augments were activated for the Skeleton Summoning skill.
The third augment allows the summoning of the Vulture Skeleton, a flying skeleton unit.
The fourth augment allows the summoning of the Giant Fish Skeleton, an aquatic skeleton unit.
Since low-level instances limit the height, and there are few low-level aquatic instances, these two augment skills are temporarily useless for Zi Liyuan.
```