Chapter 8 - Spirit Snake Laoshe

The team soon arrived at another large area in the cave. This time, the size is twice as large as the area of the spider boss. Unlike before, there was a source of light from above as sunlight shone through the opening of the cave. Because there was sunlight, the ground was covered in grass, and there were also some flowers blooming. There was also a lake nearby. If this was in the real world, this place would have already become an attraction spot.

"Do a final check on your inventory. Check your spirit points and use them where necessary," Qinglong's voice sounded as he reminded his team.

Li Shenyang had already used up the points he got from killing the spider boss and because the blue weapon already gave him a 20% increase in damage, he shamelessly added more points to his speed.

The rest of the team also did their final check and once they are all ready, they finally entered the zone. They walked all the way to the centre of the area until they heard a loud crashing sound from behind them. Turning around, they saw a huge snake blocking the road from where they came from. Its body was thick, thick enough to be compared to the height of a bungalow house. So don't even mention its length.

"This… is the biggest snake I've ever seen in my life…" they heard Bai Lang speak out and Li Shenyang silently agreed in his heart.

There was a loud hissing sound coming from the snake, and its tongue shot out several times as it eyed the six players.

Seeing that it is once again a boss battle, Li Shenyang opened his mic once again. "Everyone… I want to try something. If it's alright, I request for everyone's cooperation," Li Shenyang said through his mic.

"Speak," Qinglong said, giving the rest of the team no chance to say anything else.

"Earlier, I managed to expose the wound of the spider boss. Any damage dealt on the exposed wound has 15% bonus damage. I want to try and do the same to this boss," Li Shenyang informed them.

"Sounds good. Alright, what do you need us to do?" Qinglong asked.

"Just make sure that I don't get targeted by the boss while I figure out how to expose his wounds," Li Shenyang replied.

"Got it. Everyone heard him. Once the wounds are exposed, focus your attack on that part!" Qinglong gave out his order.

"Right, I also want to try and see if I can expose more than one wound. I will leave the task of distracting the boss to you guys," Li Shenyang added.

"No problem! If this thing works, it might be easier for us to slay every dungeon! I am more than happy to help," Illusory Swan replied. The rest also voiced out their positive reply and finally, Qinglong made the first move.

This boss won't attack you if you stay passive. It will only stare at the players without moving as if trying to figure out what the player is trying to do. But because there was no other path, players can only engage with the snake. Being attacked, the snake naturally became angry and started to fight back.

The battle begins, and Li Shenyang also started to move away from the snake's line of vision. Only once he is sure that he won't be targeted by the snake did he begin to do his work. 'Earlier… I mixed a few fast combos with two slashes in between… let's replicate that,' Li Shenyang said as he quickly controlled his character. But there was no system notification about the wound exposure at all. In fact, Li Shenyang's hit didn't even seem to leave any mark on the snake's scales.

'Earlier, whenever I hit the spider boss, there was a mark left. Is it because this snake's skin is too thick? The damage I deal is not enough, is it?' Li Shenyang thought to himself. He continued to hit the same spot several times, and only after the 10th hit did he leave a small mark.

"Yang Shen! Dodge!"

Qinglong sudden warning took Li Shenyang by surprise and instinctively, he jumped backwards and even took several more backward steps. Not long after, the snake's head crashed on the place where he was before. Several cracks formed on the ground, but before Li Shenyang could even thank Qinglong for his timely warning, the snake's headshot out once more, still aiming for him.

"How did I manage to OT?!" Li Shenyang asked his team when he saw the snake is solely focusing on him while ignoring the rest.

"We don't know, ah! Clearly, our damage is higher than yours," Illusory Swan replied.

Qinglong didn't say anything but Li Shenyang could see that he is trying his best to grab the aggro from the snake. Because of the snake's relentless attack on him, Li Shenyang can only dodge while occasionally landing a hit or two on the snake's snout. While moving around, Li Shenyang finally saw that one of Qinglong's hit had left a mark on the snake's scales and the snake finally changed its target, this time, aiming for Qinglong.

"The snake changed its target based on who left a mark on his skin!" Li Shenyang informed the team.

"Mark?" came Bai Lang's question.

"Yes. If you deal enough damage on the same spot, your hit will leave a mark. I think if we can deepen that mark enough, we'll wound the snake! Everyone, focus on striking the same spot!" Li Shenyang said as he too began to attack the snake.

The snake's skin is too thick, its defence is high. They have started the battle for a while now, but the snake's health only went from 100% to 99.95%. The team worked together on leaving marks all over the snake's body. Some of the marks were shallow, some were deep. Li Shenyang decided to try his luck again and moved to the deepest mark he could find before executing his combo again. The bleeding effect didn't happen, but Li Shenyang saw that the wound is getting larger. 'One more!' Li Shenyang thought and he once again executes the combo.

[System: Spirit Snake Laoshe's wound has been exposed! Bleeding will take effect!]

"There! Qinglong, the wound's exposed now. Go and deal with it!" Li Shenyang informed Qinglong.

The other also didn't waste any time and quickly dealt a heavy attack on the exposed wound. The moment the attack hits, they saw the spider's health which went down painfully slow, finally moved from 99.57% to 96.83%.

"Great! Let's focus our attack there!" Lightning Lynx said as he too went to attack the same spot. But because of his arrival, Qinglong's vision was blocked by him thus, he didn't get to see the snake moving to attack him.

The snake's tail slammed against Qinglong and he was thrown away by the force. It was only one hit, but Qinglong's health went from 100% to 47%. Everyone could see the sheer damage the snake did and can't help but swallow their saliva nervously.

"Don't get hit, and don't block your ally's vision!" Qinglong told the rest. "Rather than everyone hitting the same place and ends up blocking your ally's vision, spread out and try to expose more wound!"

As he said this, Qinglong drank three bottles of potions and his health was quickly filled to the brim.

[System: Spirit Snake Laoshe's wound has been exposed! Bleeding will take effect!]

"I've exposed another one! Go!" Li Shenyang informed the team.

[System: Spirit Snake Laoshe's wound has been exposed! Bleeding will take effect!]

"Hahaha! I also managed to expose one!" this was Black Inferno Tiger who had always kept quiet whenever he was too focused on his battle. But this time, he couldn't contain his excitement and openly exclaim his achievement.

With several wounds exposed, Spirit Snake Laoshe's health finally drops at a steady rate.