In the darkness, the black water snake's ambush failed, and it instantly coiled into a circle, flicking its tongue as it cautiously watched Li Mingyou.
Snakes are inherently cautious creatures; if their first strike fails, they won't recklessly pursue.
But Li Mingyou didn't indulge it. He raised his sword and thrust it towards the snake's head.
By using a thrust rather than a slash, he maximized the use of his long sword's length. With each thrust, he immediately withdrew, leaving the black water snake unable to counterattack or even touch Li Mingyou, who was left poking one bloody hole after another.
Finally, it grew anxious, hissed loudly, opened its mouth wide, and sprayed venom.
However, Li Mingyou had anticipated this and dodged in advance. The venom sprayed on the wall, emitting a teeth-grinding "hissing" sound as it visibly corroded the rock. This demonstrated the potency of the venom.
But as the saying goes, if you can't hit your target, it means nothing. Li Mingyou was well aware of all the black water snake's attack methods. Before it even moved, he could predict what it would do. From the start, this was never a fair fight.
After spraying its venom fruitlessly, the snake appeared even weaker. Soon, Li Mingyou seized the opportunity and stabbed it right in the vital spot!
-87 damage points!
This critical hit dealt significant damage.
The black water snake's health bar dropped to zero, and it fell silent instantly.
Throughout the entire battle, it hadn't even touched Li Mingyou once!
[Killed a level 4 vicious beast, Venomfang Snake, gaining 15 experience points!]
[Congratulations on obtaining an Iron Chest!]
"Oh? A loot drop!"
Li Mingyou's eyes lit up. The probability of these low-level monsters dropping chests is very low, roughly only 1%, so landing one was quite lucky.
He collected the snake's corpse and picked up the chest.
[Iron Chest: 90% chance of opening an iron-grade item, 10% chance of opening a bronze-grade item.]
Eagerly, Li Mingyou opened the chest.
[Congratulations on obtaining the Iron-grade equipment—Black Snake Bracer!]
Li Mingyou picked up the bracer and checked its properties.
[Black Snake Bracer]
Level: 3
Rarity: Iron-grade
Attribute: Strength +5
"Not bad at all."
Unfortunately, this item required level 3 to equip, and Li Mingyou was currently only level 2 (23/50), so he couldn't wear it yet.
Li Mingyou stored the Black Snake Bracer in his inventory and then walked to the end of the cavern. By the faint light, he found an old wooden box covered in dust.
Holding the wooden box outside the cave, Li Mingyou opened it to find a crumpled green book inside.
[Found skill: Basic Swordsmanship Guide. Would you like to learn it?]
"Yes!"
The next moment, enlightenment filled his mind as numerous sword techniques were rapidly mastered, as if a flood of knowledge poured into him.
[Basic Swordsmanship Guide]: Bronze-level skill. Learning this grants basic swordsmanship techniques and increases attack speed by 10% when using sword-type weapons.
This passive skill wasn't very useful in the Infinite Dungeon game, and its hiding place was quite obscure. It took Li Mingyou playing through several playthroughs before he stumbled upon it accidentally.
But in the real world's dungeons, it was incredibly valuable.
Li Mingyou didn't know any sword techniques and had been hacking and slashing randomly during previous battles. After learning this skill, he finally had some method to his sword swings, significantly boosting his actual combat power.
Alright, now it's time to focus on leveling up...
The monsters in the level 3 area should be Shade Cats, Sharp Beak Birds, and Fire Fang Pigs, if he remembered correctly.
Each type of monster had its own characteristics. Among them, the Sharp Beak Birds were particularly troublesome because they liked to dive-bomb from mid-air and fly away if their attack failed. Without skills in the early stages, there wasn't much one could do but wait for an opportunity to counterattack during their assault.
Shade Cats were fast and sometimes lived in groups, making them difficult to deal with. On the other hand, Fire Fang Pigs were straightforward, charging head-on with strong but dumb attacks, which made them dangerous for beginners but undoubtedly the best source of experience for Li Mingyou.
Therefore, Li Mingyou's primary targets naturally became the Fire Fang Pigs.
Upon reaching the level 3 monster area, where the distribution of monsters was denser than that of levels 1 and 2, Li Mingyou didn't need to spend much time searching to find his prey.
The average attributes of level 3 monsters were over thirty points, while Li Mingyou's current attributes had already reached 45. In the world of Infinite Dungeons, where higher attributes generally meant a decisive advantage in combat, coupled with his newly acquired basic swordsmanship, adding the 5 attack power bonus from his weapon brought his attack power to a terrifying 75 points!
Such attack power could deal nearly sixty points of damage to a level 3 monster, and if he hit a vital spot, the damage would exceed one hundred points. Only three or four hits were needed to kill a level 3 beast!
However, since he had already reached level 3, Li Mingyou's goals naturally extended beyond level 3 monsters.
After a brief rest to recover his strength and roasting some Fire Fang Pork to eat, Li Mingyou set off deeper into the forest.
It was about two in the afternoon, so there was still plenty of time...
His destination was the Dense Forest Area!
Unlike the outer areas populated by Swift Hares, Ice Fang Dogs, and Shade Cats, the monsters in the Dense Forest Area were undoubtedly much stronger.
Monsters like Blazing Tigers, Hurricane Wolves, and Rock Armor Lions roamed there; just hearing their names conveyed the difference.
Moreover, entering the Dense Forest Area might also lead to encounters with ranked monsters.
The concept of monster rankings is similar to that of equipment grades, essentially indicating the hierarchy of monsters. For example, the boss in a starter village is a Bronze-tier BOSS.
The monsters Li Mingyou had encountered so far were unranked, or in other words, normal monsters. However, in the Dense Forest Area, he might encounter Iron-grade monsters, which are essentially elite monsters.
Elite monsters generally have higher attributes than normal ones, and the most troublesome aspect is that their health and mana values are double those of ordinary monsters!
While normal monsters have health and mana equal to ten times their constitution, elite monsters have twenty times!
However, while the difficulty increased, it also meant that the rewards for defeating elite monsters were much greater than those for ordinary ones.
And barring any surprises, entering the Dense Forest Area would likely result in another surge in Li Mingyou's attributes.....