The Dangerous Leader's Cave

"Inject your energy, and you will be able to sense the direction of the Tauren village." Xia Chengfeng injected a shred of energy into the token. The token lit up and displayed an arrow.

The arrow pointed behind his space bubble. He would be able to find the leader's cave if he dug in that direction.

"I'll do a divination before I set off." Xia Chengfeng took out the divination crystal ball and started a divination.

His mental energy had almost completely dissipated before there were any changes to the crystal ball. The crystal ball turned into a color like fresh blood.

"It is a space of chaos and violence. Manic shamans and violent warriors are constantly prepared to tear their enemies to shreds."

The divination crystal ball even displayed two dark figures. One of the figures was short and frail, completely unlike the typical image of a Tauren. The other figure looked extremely brutal. Judging from the length of its horns and its silhouette, it must be much more powerful than the Tauren chieftain who Xia Chengfeng had encountered previously.

Based on Xia Chengfeng's experience during the closed beta, the two figures must represent the Tauren elder and a Tauren shaman.

The Tauren elder was definitely the leader of the Tauren village. He had a thick hide, huge muscles, and immense brute strength. He was surely on the path of a berserker.

The Tauren shaman was on the path of a holy disciple. He was weak physically but immensely powerful in terms of mental energy. He also wielded strange wizard techniques, and, to some degree, he was more dangerous than the Tauren elder.

Xia Chengfeng had tried to take on a leader's cave alone in the early stages of the game during the closed beta, and it had ended with his pitiful death. Fortunately, he could challenge the cave repeatedly back then. That allowed him to obtain a good amount of experience and ultimately succeed in his attempt.

However, he only had one life now. Furthermore, he could not control the risk. Xia Chengfeng didn't dare to recklessly charge forward.

"I'll set up my nest first." Xia Chengfeng was worried that the other party would notice him digging a tunnel toward their village. The Tauren shaman had prophesizing and divination abilities. He had to ensure that he had ways to defend himself if the enemy attacked him.

He first set up some traps. Other than the underground pits he'd had in the past, Xia Chengfeng had also recently purchased a few dart traps and metal spikes. He set those up around his space bubble.

Then Xia Chengfeng also made a sufficient amount of [Hemostatic Elixirs Lv1], [Rage Elixirs Lv2], and [Corrosive Poisons Lv3]. He also repaired his equipment and restored its durability.

"Time to start digging." Xia Chengfeng prepared to dig after he'd completed his preparations.

At the same time, he instructed Xiaozi, "Xiaozi, sense for elemental power. We have to stay away from places with rich elemental power."

Places with rich elemental power were either where the treasures were or where the Tauren shaman was. Those places would either be guarded or they would be able to be detected by the Tauren shaman. Thus it would be safer for him to dig away from places like those.

ROAR! ROAR! Xiaozi signaled her understanding.

This time, they had to dig a further distance. Xia Chengfeng even changed his course multiple times during the start of the journey to avoid places with rich elemental power.

Xia Chengfeng finally saw what the leader cave looked like after he'd finished digging the tunnel.

The cave was ten times larger than the previous Tauren village he had been to. It was extremely wide and had a forest, a lake, a small field, and a small village.

Xia Chengfeng arrived by the side of a forest. There was a Tauren moving about here. He could hear the sound of chopping wood.

Xia Chengfeng scouted the area. It showed [Violent Tauren Lv6].

The ordinary Taurens in the leader cave were higher in level. They were equal in level to Xia Chengfeng and were more difficult to deal with.

He waited patiently for a moment. He climbed up a tree to observe the Tauren village after the Tauren that had been chopping wood left.

From far away, he saw several Taurens moving around in the forest. Making a rough estimate, he concluded that there were several hundred Taurens in the village. They were all monsters at around Lv6.

He could also see a tall platform at the center of the village. It was likely a sacrificial altar. There was a totem pole of the Tauren deity Minos on the altar.

At this time, the Tauren shaman, who was wearing a white fur jacket, was dancing on the altar. Beside it were a bunch of green goblins. A giant Tauren was sitting under the totem pole.

Xia Chengfeng activated his scouting ability.

[Wild Tauren Elder Lv8 (Leader)]: The elder of the Tauren village, the most powerful warrior in the village.

Profession: Berserker

[Manic Tauren Chieftain Lv7 (Elite)]: The shaman of the Tauren village. He can communicate with the Beast God and use wizard techniques.

Profession: Shaman

Other than them, there was also a Lv7 Tauren chieftain among the Taurens, who was also an elite monster.

"It's no wonder that the divination crystal ball turned fully red." Xia Chengfeng thought for a moment. He would most likely be killed instantly if he barged in on this group.

He observed the situation from another angle for some time and realized that this Tauren village was also exploring the crypt world.

They had dug a tunnel. The cave on the other end of this tunnel had probably been a goblin cave. Those goblins had been captured by the Taurens and would become food after they had been sacrificed to the Beast God.

At this time, Xia Chengfeng spotted another [Wild Tauren Chieftain Lv7 (Elite)].

"What should I do?" Xia Chengfeng was deliberating over a strategy. The safest idea was naturally to give up his plans to take over the cave. However, Xia Chengfeng felt indignant. Giving up on this cave meant that he was giving up on an opportunity and the rewards on the scoreboard.

"I am currently in a stealthy position. There should be a chance for me to launch a surprise attack on them." Xia Chengfeng started to come up with a battle strategy.

There were a large number of Taurens. He would have to use a lot of time, energy, and strength if he had to deal with them one by one. There was also the danger of his being spotted.

"I can only use an area of effect attack." Xia Chengfeng set his sights on the lake.

He'd noticed from his observations that the Tauren village's primary source of drinking water was the small lake.

"I'll poison the water. The [Corrosive Poison Lv3] is not easy to detect after it's diluted. Even if it doesn't poison them to death, it should cause the ordinary Taurens to lose their ability to battle and weaken the elite and leader monsters."

"Then the priority target of my assassinations will be the Tauren shaman." If everything turned out exactly the way he thought it would, the shaman should possess healing or poison-neutralizing abilities.

Also, the attacks of the shaman would be much more difficult for Xia Chengfeng to deal with than the attacks of the Tauren elder. The battle abilities of the Tauren elder might rise to Lv10 if the shaman helped him out. If that happened, Xia Chengfeng would not be able to beat him no matter what he did.

"Finally, as a safety precaution, I'll lure them over to my space bubble and supplement my attack with the traps." Xia Chengfeng was not afraid that the Taurens would not fall for his traps as long as he killed the shaman.

That was because these [Violent Taurens] were not intelligent. They were easily blinded by their fury and would stop caring about any danger when they were overcome by anger. They would often charge forward without thinking. Their profession of [Berserker] also explained that. Their intelligence would drop by 100 points when their fury bar was filled.

He immediately returned to his space bubble to brew [Corrosive Poison Lv3]. He needed an ample supply of corrosive poison to pollute the lake.

He brewed a few pots of poison with his alchemist cauldron and alchemy staff. He then waited until nightfall before beginning his operation.

"Xiaozi, you are small in size. Can you secretly pour this into the lake? Don't get discovered, understand?" Xia Chengfeng wanted Xiaozi to grab a few bottles of poison and pour them into the lake.

"Run back quickly if there is any danger!"

Xiaozi nodded obediently. She grabbed the small bottles of poison with her claws and flew low in the air.

Most of the Taurens were already sound asleep this late at night. Only a few Taurens were out patrolling the area.

Xiaozi was currently the size of a chicken. It was hard to notice her moving through the night, especially since the Taurens' night vision wasn't that great.

Xiaozi poured the first bottle of poison into the lake. The poison spread. It was colorless and odorless.

"The second bottle."

"The third bottle!" Xiaozi had transported the bottles of poison diligently. She couldn't produce poison. She could only be the transporter of the poison.

She poured bottle after bottle of poison into the lake. Xia Chengfeng decided when it was enough and called Xiaozi back. He then started to dig an underground tunnel toward where the Tauren shaman was located.