Now!

Lin Feng flashed out from the other side of the stone pillar, thrusting his long blade with all his might into the Fire Lizard's hind leg joint, which was jammed in the stone crevice.

【Attack Check: 49.5】

【Target Defense: Joint Defense 8】

【Damage Dealt: 41.5】

-42!

The blade embedded itself deeply into the joint's gap. The Fire Lizard let out a shrill howl of agony as its hind leg gave way, causing half its body to become even more tightly wedged.

Lin Feng seized the opportunity to follow up with two more strikes, dealing 41 and 42 points of damage respectively.

Shadow Snake arrived as expected. She leapt down from a stone beam above, her twin blades accurately piercing the gaps between the relatively fragile scales on the side of the Fire Lizard's neck, giving them a forceful twist!

-23! -26!

The Fire Lizard's health bar dropped visibly, leaving about 15% remaining.

It struggled frantically, but its trapped body could not exert any effective force.

Lin Feng gave it no room to breathe. Taking a step forward and slightly tilting his body, he swung his long blade in an upward diagonal slash, aiming directly for the Fire Lizard's upper palate, which was wide open in pain.

That was the skull's junction, a relatively weak point.

A flash of the blade.

【Attack Check: 49.5】

【Target Defense: Internal Mouth Defense 1】

【Damage Dealt: 48.5】

-49!

Fatal blow!

The long blade entered through the mouth, pierced the upper palate, and went straight into the brain. The Fire Lizard's struggling stopped abruptly, its massive body slumping and becoming motionless in the stone crevice.

【Killed Lv7 Fire Lizard. Damage Contribution: 80%. Gained 80 Experience Points.】

"Nicely done!" Zhao Hu's cheer rang out.

The Fire Lizard's limp corpse remained wedged in the stone crevice, dark red blood slowly trickling down the stone pillar.

Lin Feng withdrew his long blade; the blade was covered in a viscous liquid that shimmered with an eerie hue in the dim light. He panted heavily, yet his hand holding the sword remained as steady as a rock. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Two left!" Zhao Hu's voice echoed through the Stone Forest.

The tide of battle changed in an instant.

On Tie Dun's side, the flames on the surface of his shield were finally extinguished by the water Shadow Snake threw, but the wooden surface of the shield was already charred and carbonized, its edges splintering.

The leather armor on his left shoulder was burnt through, and his flesh was scorched, yet he still roared as he used his iron hammer to force back a Fire Lizard.

"Tie Dun, retreat to the back right! There's a 'Thin Strip of Sky' terrain there!" Lin Feng shouted directions.

The so-called "Thin Strip of Sky" was a narrow passage where two stone pillars almost touched, only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

Tie Dun turned and rushed toward the designated spot without hesitation. The pursuing Fire Lizard followed closely behind, but as it tried to squeeze into the gap—less than half a meter wide—its massive body immediately got stuck.

"Now!" Tie Dun flashed out from the other side, swinging his iron hammer in a wide arc to smash into the side of the Fire Lizard's trapped head.

-38!

Under the heavy blow, the Fire Lizard let out a pained hiss.

"Tie Dun, swap!" Lin Feng had already rushed close. "I'll finish it off; you go help Brother Zhao!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Tie Dun dragged his injured left shoulder out from the other side of the gap and charged toward Zhao Hu.

Lin Feng stepped into the right side of the "Thin Strip of Sky" passage. The Fire Lizard was stuck and unable to move, only able to frantically twist its head in an attempt to bite.

But Lin Feng's Agility attribute was as high as 10.5.

He sidestepped to avoid the snapping jaws, and his long blade thrust out from an incredible angle, accurately piercing the Fire Lizard's throat and twisting violently!

-47! -47! -47! -47!

The Fire Lizard's struggling stopped abruptly as its health bar emptied.

【Assisted in killing Lv7 Fire Lizard. Damage Contribution: 80%. Gained 80 Experience Points.】

Experience points reached (160/300), only 140 points away from Level 4.

There was no time to rest. Lin Feng withdrew his long blade and turned to rush toward the main battlefield.

Zhao Hu and Tie Dun were working together to deal with the largest Fire Lizard; it was over four meters long with dark gold scales, clearly the leader of this group of Fire Lizards.

Its fire breath had a larger range and higher temperature. Zhao Hu's leather armor was charred in several places, and he had burn blisters on his face.

Jian Yan fired continuously from a stone platform, his Armor-Piercing Arrows pinning themselves to the Fire Lizard Leader's spine, but the scales were too thick, and the damage was limited.

Shadow Snake moved around to harass it, but the Fire Lizard Leader's tail was as flexible as a steel whip, nearly hitting her several times.

"Its weakness is below the third scale behind its neck!" Lin Feng shouted as he charged. "We learned in class that's the connection point for the Fire Lizard's 'fire-storage sac'; the defense there is relatively weak!"

Hearing this, Zhao Hu's gaze sharpened. "Tie Dun, create an opening for me!"

"Leave it to me!" Tie Dun roared. Ignoring the injury to his left shoulder, he gripped his hammer with both hands and smashed it with all his might toward the Fire Lizard Leader's front leg joint.

-33!

The Fire Lizard recoiled in pain, its attention drawn to Tie Dun, and it turned to spit out a column of blazing fire. Tie Dun raised his shield to withstand it, but the charred surface finally couldn't take it and cracked with a "snap!"

But this momentary opening was enough for Zhao Hu.

He lunged forward like a leopard, his long blade turning into a flash of cold light as it stabbed directly into the spot Lin Feng had mentioned—below the third scale behind the neck!

【Attack Check: Zhao Hu's Total Attack Power 60】

【Target Defense: fire-storage sac connection defense 5】

【Damage Dealt: 55】

-55!

The long blade pierced deep! Dark red liquid mixed with sparks sprayed out from the wound!

The Fire Lizard Leader let out a deafening howl of agony. Its entire body twisted frantically, its fire breath completely out of control as flames shot wildly in all directions.

"Fall back!" Zhao Hu withdrew his blade and retreated quickly.

However, a figure charged in from the side, a long blade plunging straight into the depths of the wound!

-42! -41! -40! -39!

A series of damage numbers jumped frantically.

The Fire Lizard Leader's struggles grew weaker and weaker until it finally crashed to the ground, its massive body kicking up a cloud of dust.

【Participated in killing Lv8 Fire Lizard Leader. Damage Contribution: 50%. Gained 75 Experience Points.】

The battle was over.

The Stone Forest was permeated with the smell of char, blood, and sulfur.

Tie Dun slumped to the ground, panting heavily, the burn on his left shoulder looking gruesome.

Jian Yan slid down from the stone platform, his arms trembling slightly; after continuous high-intensity shooting, his stamina was near its limit.

Shadow Snake leaned against a stone pillar, wiping the blood from her short blades, her breathing ragged.

Only then did Uncle Wu run out from his hiding place. Without even putting down his medicine basket, he rushed to Tie Dun's side. "Don't move! I'll treat those burns first!"

He quickly took out some ointment to apply and then bandages to wrap the wound. Tie Dun winced in pain but didn't make a sound.

After tending to Tie Dun, Uncle Wu came over to Lin Feng, looking at him with a complex expression. "Kid, those moves of yours just now... were not simple."

He was referring to the tactical awareness, precise judgment, and decisiveness at critical moments that Lin Feng had displayed during the battle.

This wasn't something that could be achieved through attributes alone.

At that moment, Tie ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Dun propped himself up and limped over to Lin Feng.

The burly man stared at Lin Feng for several seconds before suddenly bending down and giving a deep, ninety-degree bow.

"Brother Lin Feng, if it weren't for you just now, I, Tie Dun, would be a charred corpse by now." His voice choked up slightly. "You saved my life. If you ever need anything in the future, just say the word, and I, Tie Dun, will never refuse!"

Lin Feng quickly supported him. "Brother Tie Dun, you're overstating it. We're teammates; it's only right."

Shadow Snake also walked over. Although she didn't speak, she nodded to Lin Feng, which was a very high form of recognition from someone as cold as her.

Zhao Hu watched this scene, filled with emotion.

A few days ago, Lin Feng was just a newcomer he had to rescue from a river.

And now, he was already the indispensable tactical core of the team.

In the recent battle, from suggesting the use of terrain to directing everyone's positioning, to the rescue and finishing blows at critical moments, Lin Feng had demonstrated far more than the combat power a "Level 5" should have.

That sharp insight into the battle, that precise grasp of his teammates' abilities, that calm decisiveness in the face of life and death...

He looked around at the team members. "Keep what happened today to yourselves. Lin Feng's strength must not be known by others in the camp, especially the Boss's group."

Everyone solemnly agreed.

"Collect the loot." Zhao Hu looked at the corpses of the three Fire Lizards. "energy crystals, scales, claws, teeth, and fire-storage sacs—all are good items.

Especially the leader's fire-storage sac; if it can be extracted intact, it will be worth a fortune."

Everyone began processing the corpses, while Uncle Wu continued to provide more detailed treatment for the wounded.

While helping, Lin Feng checked his status.

After killing the three Fire Lizards, he had gained a total of 235 experience points. His experience was now at (235/300), only 65 points away from Level 4.

At this rate, if he could find more suitable prey deep in the Stone Forest, he might be able to level up today.

And more importantly—

His gaze swept over the depths of the surrounding Stone Forest.

Level 7 and Level 8 monsters had already appeared here. What about the ruins of Qingshi County further in?

Would there be even higher-level monsters? Or perhaps... traces of the Great Qin Elite Soldiers?

The Eye of Probability still had twenty-five days until it refreshed.

If he could find a suitable target to kill here...

"How's the map coming along?" Zhao Hu asked Uncle Wu.

Uncle Wu spread out the parchment, which already had a rough outline of the area's terrain, marking the Fire Lizard sighting spots, narrow passages, and hiding places.

"It's not detailed enough." Zhao Hu frowned. "The Boss wants a map that can serve as a strategic reference. We must go deeper."

"Rest for an hour, then we move on. Target—the ruins of Qingshi County."