You were already crippled right at the start of the fight?

The Torch Treant's roots were connected to the Black Treants, and it was restoring its own life by absorbing theirs.

"So these Black Treants are just blood bags!"

Lin Xiao immediately understood why the Torch Treant hadn't died yet.

After finishing its recovery, the Torch Treant opened its large mouth, spitting out tree spores that landed on the ground and rapidly grew into the likeness of treants.

Only two seconds passed before a treant appeared before his eyes.

But because everything around was on fire, the newly "born" treant was immediately ignited. It let out an incomprehensible shriek and charged toward the Death Knight.

Boom—!!!

The moment they made contact, the flaming treant exploded instantly.

-3000

"Such damage!"

Lin Xiao widened his eyes.

A single ordinary treant could actually deal this much damage; if there were more of them...

Lin Xiao's thought was quickly confirmed.

As the tree spores grew rapidly, a swarm of flaming treants charged toward the Death Knight like walking fire bombs.

"As expected of a hidden dungeon, it's not so easy to clear."

Lin Xiao did not have the Death Knight retreat; instead, he initiated a charge.

Although the damage from these flaming treants' explosions was high, the Death Knight could still hold on.

Comparing health bars?

The Death Knight had over a hundred thousand HP!

This was all thanks to the previous treants.

-25469, -4000, -4531

[Successfully killed Torch Treant, Experience +2000!]

No matter how well it could recover, it was no match for the damage of the Death Knight's single strike.

[Obtained Tree Core *1, Black-Heart Tree Bark *3, Torch Treant treasure chest *1!]

[Talent 'Death Siphon' triggered, Constitution +25000...]

"Another treasure chest dropped."

Looking at the vine-green treasure chest that had appeared, Lin Xiao immediately understood the mechanism of this hidden dungeon.

Killing the special monsters here would always drop a treasure chest.

For example, that Green Plant Cat Demon, and now this Torch Treant, were considered special monsters in the hidden dungeon, belonging to the category of mini BOSS.

[Opened Torch Treant treasure chest!]

[Obtained Fire-Starting Stick.]

[Obtained Strengthening Stone *3.]

"Fire-Starting Stick?"

Lin Xiao thought of the torch held in the Torch Treant's hand.

He took it out and looked; it really was the torch used by the Torch Treant.

A fierce fire was burning on the pitch-black wooden stick.

He had actually obtained the Torch Treant's weapon.

[Fire-Starting Stick] [Applicable Level: 15] [Applicable Class: Warrior] [Quality: Rare] [Attributes: Constitution +600, Strength +200] [Effect: Fire Attribute Attack. When attacking, can trigger "Self-Immolation" effect, taking 1% current HP damage per second, Strength doubled. (Cap 2000)]

"Self-Immolation... that must be the method the Torch Treant used to self-harm just now."

"The effect is decent; it's quite useful in the early stages."

Doubling Strength directly—this ability is quite good, and it's even more so in the late stages.

It's just that this weapon has a limit, causing this piece of equipment to only be a transitional item.

For example, if Strength reaches 3000, it can only reach 5000 after doubling.

The cap is right there.

Lin Xiao put the Fire-Starting Stick away; selling it after clearing the dungeon or feeding it to a Slime were both good options.

"I wonder how many such 'stages' there will be; I'm really looking forward to it."

Lin Xiao continued deeper.

But he became much more cautious. With the experience of the previous two times, he noticed that every special "stage" had a special mechanism, and one could easily be ambushed if not careful.

For example, the Chaotic Flower at the beginning, and the treants just now.

Passing through the woods, Lin Xiao stepped onto a barren piece of land.

It was very desolate here, forming a stark contrast with the previous sea of flowers and woods.

"Chew, chew, chew..."

Sounds of tearing and swallowing reached his ears; a monster was eating not far away!

Lin Xiao quickly equipped the ghost staff and released two Scouting Ghosts to scout ahead.

Through the perspective of the Scouting Ghosts, he saw the back of a silver-gray cat demon.

It was gnawing on the flesh of an unknown creature.

Controlling the Scouting Ghosts to move closer, the silver-gray cat demon suddenly turned around.

Lin Xiao was startled, as if he had been glanced at by a man-eating demon.

But he quickly recovered and also saw the appearance of this cat demon clearly.

Wearing a bone mask, its pupils glowed with an eerie red light, and its mouth was dripping with the prey's blood; it was hideous and terrifying.

Slap!

With a violent swipe of its cat tail, the Scouting Ghosts were instantly destroyed. The moment they were destroyed, Lin Xiao saw the cat demon's gaze lock onto his side.

"It's coming!"

Lin Xiao quickly equipped the Blood Magic Staff. As soon as he equipped it, he saw a gray figure rush before him.

Very fast!

Clang————

The Death Knight took the lead and blocked in front. The cat demon's attack struck the Bone-Stripping Blade, emitting a sharp, crisp clanging sound.

-8000, -500

[Killing Intent Fluctuation] damage triggered!

A blood-like red light erupted from the silver cat demon's body, and its Strength climbed instantly.

"Such fast speed!"

Lin Xiao was shocked by how fast the cat demon was.

From being discovered to being attacked, it had only been a few seconds, yet it had already rushed before him.

[Hanike (BOSS)] [Level: 15] [Quality: Rare] [Status: Flash of Brilliance] [Constitution: 3000/20000] [Strength: 4000] [Intelligence: 300] [Agility: 10000] [Magic: 280] [Spirit: 320] [Talent: Flash of Brilliance (B-Rank)] [Skills: Bite, High-Speed Claw Combo, Teleport]

"10,000... 10,000 speed?"

Lin Xiao was shocked.

This is too outrageous!

But Lin Xiao quickly noticed that Hanike had a status display.

[Flash of Brilliance: When HP drops to 20%, all attributes are doubled!]

Is this its talent passive?

When Hanike attacked just now, did it trigger its own talent?

Lin Xiao was amused.

That means what I'm seeing are its buffed attributes!

So that means it only has 3000 HP left!

Its life is already like a candle in the wind!

At this moment, Hanike was also bewildered.

Its passive talent had triggered for no reason. It hadn't done anything, just attacked the opponent once, and it was blocked, yet it was now at low health?

What is going on?

Why did I end up crippling myself when I attacked the opponent?

Hanike looked at Lin Xiao and happened to see him smiling at it; that smile made its hair stand on end.

"Ha————"

Hanike's fur stood on end, and it immediately felt unprecedented anger!

The next instant, Hanike appeared behind Lin Xiao, its sharp claws quickly unleashing a three-hit combo.

-4785, -4763, -4865

Three instances of high damage instantly emptied Lin Xiao's health bar.

[Received fatal damage, Grass Set triggered.]

"Two times remaining."

Lin Xiao was calm and composed, not panicking in the slightest.

Because at the same time Hanike attacked him, it also stepped into the range of [Killing Intent Fluctuation], and its HP decreased again.

-1000

Deals 5% of max HP as damage per second!

The moment Hanike finished its attack, the Death Knight's attack followed. The Bone-Stripping Blade, filled with killing intent, slashed toward its neck, but it was easily dodged by the opponent.

"2000 HP remaining, two attacks—I don't believe you can still use Teleport."

Looking at the cat demon not far away, Lin Xiao spoke calmly.

The opponent's speed was fast, which was indeed very troublesome.

But low HP was its biggest weakness.

Lin Xiao said calmly: "I can make countless mistakes, but you can only afford to make one."

Fortunately, Hanike had no means of recovering HP; otherwise, it would have been really hard to deal with.

"Ha————"

Hanike roared at the sky, very surprised that this weak human hadn't died!

Just as it was preparing to launch an attack, it suddenly sensed something unusual beside it.

Pfft!

A blood spike suddenly pierced over; this was formed from the Blood Demon's body.

The Blood Demon's cooldown had ended, and Lin Xiao had secretly summoned it.

But Hanike was extremely alert and dodged this sudden attack the moment the Blood Demon struck.

Just then, a pair of eyes appeared behind Hanike, locking onto it firmly.

Death Gaze!

The Death Knight's only crowd control skill.

Swoosh————

The moment it locked onto Hanike, the Death Knight initiated an attack.

-1000, -25634

Hanike's body was slammed hard into the distance, and its health bar was instantly emptied.

[Successfully killed Hanike, Experience +3000!]

[Talent "Death Siphon" triggered, Constitution +5000, Strength +1000...]

[Obtained Hanike Mask *1, hanike chest *1.]