Chapter 89

The jungle is indeed a great place to hone survival skills!

Fang Yixi nestled between two tree branches, using the dense foliage to conceal his figure. However, the squirrels that occasionally came to visit, the venomous or non-venomous flower snakes, and the fist-sized spiders all seemed particularly interested in this outsider, often coming over to interact with Fang Yixi.

Looking down at the team of Tianxia Bajie, Fang Yixi could only endure it. Previously, the Golden Right Hand had hidden in the jungle, roughly understanding the movements of the treasure-hunting group. But after not much time had passed, the crowd following behind was blocked back by the rear guard of Tianxia Bajie, and Fang Yixi had no choice but to head to the destination alone.

There are quite a few people with the same plan as me~ While stealthily moving, Fang Yixi activated his scouting and listening skills, quickly discovering the traces of other stealthers. However, due to the constant patrols, the players hiding around were found one by one, and Tianxia Bajie quickly completed the clearing of the area—except for the one person they should have invited to leave, Fang Yixi.

In front of Fang Yixi was a giant banyan tree, or rather, several banyan trees with trunks of varying thicknesses gathered together, forming a massive tree stump. The open space around the trunk was likely squeezed to one side by the strong root system. Even so, not much sunlight reached this area, as the giant tree's canopy completely blocked the sky above, leaving only speckled light spots on the ground at noon.

The people of Tianxia Bajie scattered and gathered around a natural cave at the base of the giant tree. The cave was half underground, with its entrance hidden by a natural opening in the tree trunk, standing more than two people tall.

Fang Yixi was still trying to figure out which large dinosaur built its nest in a cave when he saw the people below start to act. A player dressed as a mage approached the cave entrance, made some casting gestures, and a bright yellow light representing a fireball spell slowly formed at the mage's fingertips. With a light flick of the finger, the fireball spell shot straight into the tree cave, followed by a rumbling sound and a vibration from underground.

The mage, unable to retreat in time, was knocked off balance by the shockwave that burst out from the cave, taking two steps back and sitting directly on the ground.

After a burst of laughter, the tension caused by the first encounter with the mutated boss dissipated somewhat.

But Fang Yixi still frowned tightly. After being hit by a powerful fireball spell, the cave remained eerily silent, like an empty nest. However, Fang Yixi clearly felt a chilling presence from the dark cave, as if something was staring at him from the depths.

The discipline of Tianxia Bajie was still quite good. A few warriors stepped forward to help the mage retreat and began to form a battle formation. It had been less than three seconds since the mage cast the fireball spell.

In the next moment, a white line shot out from the depths of the dark cave, directly hitting the mage who had just stood up. Before the thieves and warriors around the mage could react, it shot back with lightning speed, with the mage now tightly bound to one end.

The screams from the cave abruptly stopped, and the players quickly sprang into action. Warriors and knights took the front, while the mages behind them began to chant spells collectively. The monster in the cave seemed to know the severe consequences of being hit by a group of spells, and a huge head slowly emerged from the cave entrance.

This monster had a massive dark green head, resembling a dragon in shape, but its thick, long tongue (which was slender for it) betrayed it—this thing was definitely not a dinosaur!

The monster let out a roar, and a thick, sticky "saliva" sprayed out, accurately landing on the heads of the spellcasters protected by the melee fighters. Although no one knew what this was, the boss's attack had no shortage of reasons, and the mages interrupted their spells, scattering to avoid it. By the time the monster crawled out of the cave, only the ranger's arrows formed an effective attack. The melee fighters who tried to pin the monster at the cave entrance were either knocked away or swallowed, failing to stop the boss's appearance.

From his vantage point, Fang Yixi had already identified the monster and couldn't help but curse inwardly. This information is too unreliable; this thing doesn't look anything like a dinosaur!

Fang Yixi could see more clearly than those on the ground. This creature looked like an enlarged version of a combination of a lizard and a crocodile, standing much taller than its smaller counterparts. Six thick, powerful legs held its white belly off the ground, about as high as a person. Its back was covered in a sickly green hard shell, and its thick tail was almost as long as its body. The constantly flicking snake-like tongue dripped saliva, which splashed on the ground, creating a trail of black smoke, clearly indicating its toxicity.

The Jungle Crocodile Lizard, or now the Mutated Jungle Crocodile Lizard. From the first glance, Fang Yixi knew that the people of Tianxia Bajie were in deep trouble—because Fang Yixi had once fought a variant of this monster, the Desert Crocodile Lizard, when he was a level 28 warrior. However, the regular type in front of him was already the limit that level 17-18 players could handle.

Fang Yixi didn't care about the fate of these people but was puzzled by how the crocodile lizard could appear in this area. The location where Fang Yixi was now was deep in the jungle, with mostly level 11-12 monsters like pythons and baboons. The crocodile lizard, however, was a level 19 elite monster!

In "Miracle," the monster level system was strict. The appearance of a super boss in a low-level area could be due to a few reasons: high-intelligence bosses like various winged dragons wandering around looking for excitement; the evolution of a new boss through competition among monsters, but with similar levels; or a boss from another area crossing over due to some reason.

The first two reasons were clearly not applicable, so the most likely scenario was that a boss from another area had wandered over. The thieves of Tianxia Bajie had definitely already stealthed into the nest, and seeing that there was nothing to gain here, Fang Yixi silently left his hiding place in the treetops and retreated to the outskirts.

Tianxia Bajie wasn't just these people; surrounding teams would surely hear the commotion and join forces to take down this boss. With their strength, they might succeed, but that wasn't Fang Yixi's concern. He had more important matters to attend to. Fang Yixi sent a coordinate to the Golden Right Hand, asking him to lead the players who aimed to kill the boss and claim the treasure here, preferably bringing the Silver Scepter players as well. The more, the merrier when it comes to fighting a boss.

It seems I won't have a chance to get the main treasure, so I'll have to try my luck at the monster's lair. The Jungle Crocodile Lizard is a creature that understands the principle of multiple dens and prefers to live in caves near water, where it has considerable combat strength. The nearest water source in this area is undoubtedly the Long Arm River.

Taking a detour, Fang Yixi quickly arrived at the south side of the clearing. On the other side of the giant banyan tree, the scene was lively, with the sounds of swords and knives clashing and colorful magic effects. While searching for clues, Fang Yixi thought with a touch of schadenfreude: Although the giant crocodile lizard doesn't have the insane magic resistance and life force of the desert crocodile lizard, it excels in its deviousness.

The saliva it spits during battle is its most lethal weapon. With the current player strength, even with healing, it's hard to withstand this disgusting toxic liquid, especially since it sprays in a group. Just thinking about it makes one shudder. Add to that its superior armor and strength, and the unknown mutation of this crocodile lizard, and it will keep the people of Tianxia Bajie busy.

Got it! Fang Yixi quickened his pace and came to a patch of grass that was flattened and leaning in all directions. The Jungle Crocodile Lizard, despite its massive body, moves swiftly and rarely knocks down trees even in such dense jungle. The grass here still smelled of rotting flesh and some kind of acid, indicating that this was the path the Jungle Crocodile Lizard had taken.