18: Chapter 18: The Superior-Level Boss [Scrap Metal Devourer]! Zhang Jian is in grave danger!

Looking at the prompt, Wang Fei stood up nervously.

"Brother Jian, we should be able to get through this, right?"

Although they had successfully cleared nine waves, it hadn't been entirely smooth sailing.

If it weren't for Zhang Jian's powerful performance, he might have been forced to exit the Dungeon during the first wave.

Now facing a powerful BOSS, his heart was full of unease, and even a trace of fear.

Zhang Jian patted him on the back.

"Don't be afraid!"

When Wang Dong was outside earlier, paying to set up an early warning boundary for the Dungeon, Zhang Jian had also received a prompt appearing on the Furnace.

Although he didn't have absolute certainty about defeating the BOSS, at the very least, taking Wang Fei safely out of the Dungeon wouldn't be a problem.

The 3-minute countdown passed in the blink of an eye.

A dense, dark army slowly appeared from not far away.

Zhang Jian quickly saw the enemy's composition.

50 common monsters, including the Thugs and Sharp-toothed Rats they had encountered before.

3 leaders, all Sharp-toothed Flame Rats.

1 elite, the Night Butcher they had just killed.

And.

In the center of the group.

A giant mechanical spider pieced together from rusted steel plates and broken gears, looking extremely terrifying.

It emitted a piercing metal-on-metal screeching sound as it moved, making both of their expressions look incredibly conflicted.

[Scrap Devourer] (Excellence Grade BOSS)

Rank: Level 15

HP: 50,000

Damage: 292

Defense: 84

Skills: Acid Spit, Scrap Toss, Mechanical Bite

Zhang Jian's expression perked up.

Wang Fei's mouth hung open.

"Good grief!"

The monsters they had encountered before were either humanoid or beast-like.

This was the first time they had encountered such a mechanical creation.

Zhang Jian's eyes were calm.

Since they had already come this far, there was naturally no reason to back down.

Zhang Jian thought for a moment and gave only one instruction.

"If things don't look right, upgrade the Furnace!"

Wang Fei nodded.

After accumulating nine waves and various bonus effects, he had already amassed 870 points.

It was enough to upgrade the Furnace several levels.

This was also to prevent any monsters from slipping through if Zhang Jian charged too aggressively.

Wang Fei had no attacking ability and wouldn't be able to stop them.

If the Furnace were destroyed by monsters, the Dungeon would end immediately.

No matter how many monsters Zhang Jian killed, it would be useless.

Just as he finished speaking, his body had already charged into the monster swarm.

He had dealt with all the other monsters one by one and wasn't concerned about them.

If there was any trouble, he might need to be careful with the elite monster.

More importantly, there was this unfamiliar BOSS.

He first swung his sword tentatively.

-86!

-340!

-340!

-340!

-340!

-340!

"The target is a mechanical creation and is immune to 50% of normal damage."

"Excellence Grade skills and above ignore this rule."

As the normal damage numbers flashed, two prompts floated up.

Zhang Jian realized.

If his attacks weren't bolstered by an Excellence Grade weapon, he wouldn't be able to deal much damage at all.

Fortunately.

The true damage from the Sword Qi was still invincible, dealing significant numbers.

The BOSS let out a high-pitched command, and countless monsters swarmed around.

Zhang Jian was on guard against the Night Butcher's moves and didn't rashly start a slaughter.

Instead, he dealt with them carefully, one by one.

His primary goal was to clear out the leaders.

Until.

He had cleared out the three leaders one after another.

The Night Butcher's health was also down to less than half.

The BOSS, which had been stationary, suddenly moved.

As its giant mouth opened and closed, streaks of brownish-yellow mist emerged.

Enveloping the area around Zhang Jian.

"You have been attacked by Excellence Grade BOSS [Scrap Devourer]'s [Acid Spit]; your defense is reduced by 30% for 10 seconds."

-240!

The Night Butcher's long hook suddenly swung over.

The Sword Qi in front of Zhang Jian blocked it, and just as his expression relaxed.

Boom!

Two giant valves were tossed by the BOSS, crashing down in front of him.

-280!

-280!

Zhang Jian's face changed drastically.

This thing's damage is so high!

Since upgrading Sword Qi Body Protection earlier, he had been using area-of-effect skills to clear the field and rarely took damage.

This skill hadn't been upgraded much since then.

It still only had a Sword Qi blocking effect of nearly 1,000 HP.

He had originally thought it was enough to run rampant in the Dungeon.

As it turned out.

After just these few attacks, the color of the Sword Qi had dimmed considerably.

Just as he was becoming worried.

A path suddenly opened up in the monster swarm, and the BOSS reached Zhang Jian in a few leaps.

Its giant mouth, glinting with a cold light, opened toward Zhang Jian.

He wanted to dodge, but found there was nowhere to hide.

-415!

Zhang Jian was shocked.

Through the System prompt, he knew this move was the so-called [Mechanical Bite].

But he hadn't expected this skill to ignore the effects of Sword Qi Body Protection.

It directly caused his HP to drop by a large chunk, and waves of pain shot through his body.

He hastily broke out of the encirclement and began to flee.

The BOSS didn't seem to want to pursue and remained stationary.

The other monsters, however, swarmed and charged forward.

Witnessing all this, Wang Fei was so frightened he became incoherent.

"Can... can we not win?"

"Should... should we exit?"

Zhang Jian shook his head.

It would be such a pity to exit now.

There's still a way!

He placed his hand on the Furnace.

"Exchange for skill books!"

"You have consumed 300 points to exchange for one [Flame Storm]."

Zhang Jian's vision went dark.

This was an area-of-effect skill with high attack power and a wide range; it was a masterpiece among Rare Grade skills and highly sought after by mage classes.

But now was not the time for it to appear!

Helplessly, he tried again.

"You have consumed 300 points to exchange for one [Frenzied Combo]."

Zhang Jian's body was unsteady, but he was cursing inwardly.

This skill was also quite significant; it was the most prominent single-target attack skill among physical classes.

It could be called a Rare Grade divine skill.

If placed on the market, it could even sell for a price no less than a common Excellence Grade skill.

The remaining points weren't enough for another exchange, so he had to signal for Wang Fei to do it.

The next moment, Wang Fei held a skill book with a disappointed expression.

[All-Out Resistance] (Rare)

Consumes 100 Mana for full defense, reducing the next damage taken by 50%; after activating [Resistance Form], consumes an additional 20 Mana per second, reducing damage taken during the duration by 30%.

This was also a well-known skill.

Known as the most useless support skill book.

High consumption, mediocre effect.

Wang Fei had seen this skill book on the market before and hadn't thought much of it at all.

Now that he had spent 300 points to exchange for it, his heart was practically bleeding with pain.

Zhang Jian, however, was overjoyed.

"Yes, this is exactly what I need!"

He grabbed it and absorbed it.

He charged into the monster swarm once again.

Wang Fei looked dazed.

Rejecting top-tier skills for a piece of trash.

Brother Jian must have been beaten senseless by the monsters, right?

...

When Zhang Jian was attacked again in the monster swarm.

-280!

-280!

The BOSS's damage remained unchanged.

But this time, it was absorbed by the newly appeared strands of Sword Qi, dissipating instantly.

Looking at his health bar, which hadn't budged, Zhang Jian breathed a sigh of relief.

He had bet correctly!

This was precisely the effect after he had just upgraded his trait skill.

[Sword Qi Absorption] (Rare) (+3)

During combat, automatically grants a Sword Qi Absorption effect equal to 300% of Max HP; disappears after leaving combat or death.

(Trait quantity upgrade requires: Use this trait to block 0/1000 attacks)

(Trait quality upgrade requires: 2 Excellence Grade defense-type skill books)

After reaching Rare Grade, the original Sword Qi blocking had turned into absorption.

The BOSS's skill attacks could once again be affected by the Sword Qi Body Protection effect.

However, the [Mechanical Bite] skill seemed to have a very short cooldown, occurring every now and then.

Even with an absorption limit of over 1,000 points, it would be depleted in just a few hits.

The situation was extremely critical!