370: Chapter 37 If you're not going to die, then don't die!

"When will this end!"

Zhou Yan was dejectedly riding a huge stone lion, haphazardly hammering it at eighteen times the speed with the wooden mallet formed by yuanwu xielü.

Since parting ways with Bai Ling and Xuanyuan Qingyao, Zhou Yan had arrived here. There was nothing else here but a circular lawn, a stone lion about three meters tall, and an iron tower estimated to be thirty to forty meters high.

The moment Zhou Yan saw these things, he couldn't hold back. Weren't these the stone carvings used to ward off evil in classical architecture and the modern electric towers used to string power lines?

How did these two things end up together, and just happen to appear here?

However, considering that this world also has lions, though few in number and not widely distributed, and that not only the Eastern Region but also West River has technological development, it didn't seem strange to have an electric tower here. He just considered it super ancient technology.

Despite thinking this, Zhou Yan decided to climb up and take a look first.

As soon as he stepped in, the lawn, which originally looked like a small garden, suddenly transformed into a small plain. Above was a blue sky with white clouds, and behind him was an endless starry sky, the two creating a strong sense of disjunction.

A normal person might try to walk back, but Zhou Yan didn't even look, climbing directly towards the electric tower. Because he knew from the mini-map that he had changed maps, and the other party definitely wouldn't let him leave easily.

Since that was the case, he naturally had to climb the electric tower first. After all, the stone lion looked like it might suddenly turn into a Boss and jump at him; occupying a favorable position was always good.

Sure enough, just as Zhou Yan climbed halfway, the stone lion took on an elite monster template and revealed its health bar.

But by the time it finished roaring and its cutscene was over, Zhou Yan had already reached the top.

So the stone lion was dumbfounded. It saw an electric tower wrapped in branches, and a finger sticking out from where the branches had not yet closed.

"Roar!!!"

By the time the last branches closed, Zhou Yan could no longer hear the outside sounds.

What followed was continuous vibration.

Zhou Yan had tried; the soil underground could not be penetrated, so yuanwu xielü merely wrapped around the base of the electric tower. Although its defense was somewhat enhanced, if the electric tower wasn't sturdy enough, it would still collapse.

"Time is pressing, let's see if there are any clues."

His eyes lit up.

Although Divine Sense was not easy to use here, the Golden Eyes of Delusion Breaking worked very well. Before long, Zhou Yan discovered a notice above his head.

"My goodness, it's even multi-language translated."

Zhou Yan looked up, and it was still the familiar simplified Chinese. But as he climbed up, he suddenly understood its ancient, medieval, near-ancient, and modern versions.

It read:

"stone lion guards the pass, no return until death."

"The more it fights, the stronger it gets; the harder to kill."

"To die, sir, with life as your coffin."

"Life and death in one breath, then this pass is broken."

Zhou Yan read these words, one by one, aloud.

He didn't quite understand, but he could roughly grasp that without dealing with the lion, it would be difficult for him to leave.

Moreover, before he released yuanwu xielü to enter self-isolation mode, he had checked the lion's panel. Its stats weren't high, only a million health, a standard Nascent Soul-level elite monster unit.

If there was anything special, it was its very high physical and magical resistance, extremely high. Even though Zhou Yan was in the Late Nascent Soul Stage, it would likely take a very long time to injure it.

"Boom boom!"

There was another commotion outside; the lion must have exerted itself again.

"It seems staying like this won't work. I should figure out how to deal with it and resolve this quickly."

yuanwu xielü instantly disappeared, transforming into a blunt weapon against such things. Zhou Yan, wielding the great hammer, performed a flying jump slash.

The lion, seeing the branches covering the electric tower disappear, was initially surprised, but was soon staggered by Zhou Yan's jump slash.

This blow, though disorienting, didn't cause much damage. Even with Zhou Yan not holding back, it didn't lose much health. In fact, the highest damage here was true damage.

Realizing that normal damage was useless, Zhou Yan then activated the technique of dealing true damage at an accelerated rate, starting to chip away at its health with true damage.

As Zhou Yan began his attack, the lion also started to resist, constantly leaping and running across the grassland, trying to shake Zhou Yan off.

However, Zhou Yan was wearing the Giant Abyss set shoes, and it happened to be recognized as a building, sticking him firmly to it. It couldn't shake him off at all, looking utterly clueless.

Zhou Yan naturally cherished this opportunity, wearing down its health bar with the least amount of consumption.

Thus, the opening scene occurred: Zhou Yan lay on the stone lion, and the stone lion ran and jumped around.

"Is it better to kill it directly, or wait a bit longer?"

"What does this poem mean?"

"Is it saying this thing can't be killed? But my true damage is pretty fast."

Although Zhou Yan also complained about the slow pace, this was dealing damage with only basic attacks, without using any magic, and even the accelerated speed consumed nothing.

If he used Spells and his Physical Body instead of true damage, not only would the consumption be significant, but the speed might not even be as fast as it was now.

This lull also gave Zhou Yan time to ponder the meaning of the poem.

Just as Zhou Yan was deep in thought, the stone lion suddenly slammed on the brakes. Zhou Yan's body floated in the air, then was pulled back by his feet, his back slamming hard against the stone.

"What's going on?"

Zhou Yan quickly sat steady, fearing that this beast might suddenly gain sentience and roll around on the ground. If that happened, he would have to start a circus act.

Although it wouldn't affect his ability to cling tightly to the opponent, it would definitely affect his output time.

Fortunately, the outcome was good.

The stone lion's sudden pause wasn't due to gaining sentience, but to discovering a new intruder. After locking onto its target, it immediately ran towards the electric tower.

Because of Zhou Yan, the stone lion was already very far from the electric tower, so much so that Zhou Yan didn't even notice the newcomer at first.

When he finally saw who it was, Zhou Yan was a bit surprised. But the stone lion's movements were not slow; it charged straight at that person like a truck.

"Shi Suiyan, get out of the way quickly!"

Zhou Yan didn't have time to say more, directly shouting at Shi Suiyan, who was looking at the notice on the electric tower.

Shi Suiyan also looked at Zhou Yan at this moment, first shocked by his thunderous sitting posture, but quickly realizing the danger, she warped onto the stone lion's back.

The stone lion, meanwhile, crashed head-on into the electric tower. However, this electric tower was harder than expected. Under Zhou Yan's meticulous eyes, it only tilted slightly, while the stone lion lost a significant amount of health.

"Indeed, it's a brainless stone."

"Great, Senior Brother, I finally found you."

"You... why are you giving this?"

Zhou Yan looked at the joyful Shi Suiyan, simply turning yuanwu xielü into a tether, connecting himself to Shi Suiyan, and at the same time handing over an identical hammer.

"Didn't the notice say it only ends when we kill it? Just hit it with a hammer, I've been hitting it for a long time."

Saying this, Zhou Yan demonstrated, hammering the stone lion at high frequency.

But at this moment, Shi Suiyan stopped Zhou Yan.

"Senior Brother, wait."

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Yan looked up at Shi Suiyan, but his movements only slowed down slightly.

"Didn't the notice say it can't be killed, and will only get stronger? Won't something bad happen if we just keep hitting it? I've been here in my premonitions, but each time I died suddenly. Clearly, this lion is very special. If we kill it, something bad might happen."

Zhou Yan frowned, but his movements still didn't stop.

He hadn't been hitting it for nothing all this time. He had thought of everything he could, and also guessed that this fellow might resurrect, after all, powerful cultivators seemed to love doing this, creating something unkillable to annoy people.

But right now, the only way out seemed to be to kill it. As for what happens with life and death later, he had no clue at all.

It was better to try killing it once to test the waters. Anyway, the opponent's strength was still within his control. Or, to be cautious, he could see if he could turn this stone lion into food when its health was low. After all,

But when Shi Suiyan said that, Zhou Yan panicked.

Shi Suiyan's Divine Ability had told him, and something that even she couldn't deduce was definitely extraordinary. Perhaps when its health was low, the Law of Consumption would also be useless against it.

Even the idea he had earlier of trying to kill it once was dispelled. The reason was the same: if it was truly special, and its combat power multiplied by more than ten times after one death, then he would truly be in trouble.

Fortunately, Shi Suiyan arrived in time. She truly lived up to her reputation as the strongest information gatherer!

However, Zhou Yan wasn't out of options yet; he still had one ultimate trump card.

Zhou Yan's expression turned fierce.

"Can't be killed, and gets stronger after dying, huh?"

"Then don't die!"