Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Dai Lian nodded, also feeling somewhat envious, "Indeed impressive."

The archery skills he had learned were more powerful, but nuclear weapons couldn't be released at will. For the time being, he didn't have enough Spiritual Energy to support using this kind of decisive technique as a regular attack. Before finding the stone creature's weakness, acting rashly was likely a waste of effort.

As for his other abilities... Gun Fighting Skill was certainly cool, but its power was limited by the firearms themselves, and with the guns he currently had, it was rare to break the defense of such stone giants.

Until Kuang Xin gathered more information, all he could do was simply watch the show.

"Boom!"

Having already been gaining a slight upper hand in the grappling, with Gu Lan's punch coming in support, the stone creature's center of gravity was disrupted, and it was immediately flipped over completely.

"RUA!"

Kuang Xin, having flipped his opponent, pursued his victory. Clenched fists covered in Absolute Defense force field couldn't stop pounding down on the stone creature pinned beneath him.

Even though these volcanic stones were fused into one entity by mysterious forces, the nature of their material was only so reinforced. Under the relentless pounding of Kuang Xin's fists, stone chips flew in all directions.

...

"GA!" The three onlookers in the distance dropped their jaws in an instant, watching this scene unfold before their eyes in utter disbelief.

"Isn't this fierce?"

Only someone with triple surgery could possibly achieve this feat, which even in their entire Grey Iron City would be considered a famous strongman.

"But one can't be careless. Besides strength, the molten giant's flames are bone-eating maggots; even the slightest touch would burn one to ash. Jumping into water won't extinguish it either." Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire

...

"PFFT~"

Flames suddenly burst out from between the gaps of the stone assembly, and the fierce blast of heat made Kuang Xin, who had activated Absolute Defense, instinctively leap backward.

Absolute Defense blocked physical attacks, but it wasn't said to shield against magical attacks.

However, as someone with strength-oriented reflexes that weren't particularly excellent, and his whole being in an overexcited state during the heat of battle, he couldn't dodge in time and was still touched by the flames.

"HUHUHU~"

Watching a flame cling to his left arm, Kuang Xin instinctively tried to pat it out.

As a result, the flame, which was originally only on his left arm, was successfully transferred to his right palm as well.

The pain of the flame's scorch was not deep-seated for players, and amidst the scorching sting, there was even a kind of warm caressing sensation; Kuang Xin didn't feel pain, just curiously waved his hand and looked back at Dai Lian, his expression dopey as he said, "This fire can't be put out, right?"

[Your body is suffering from the scorching of flames, HP -1.]

[... HP -1.]

...

"AI!" Wang Wenbo sighed deeply, "Might as well amputate early..."

Yafei pinched his chin, mumbling to himself, "It seems they truly aren't locals."

The people of Grey Iron City wouldn't be unaware of the traits of the molten giants; even those with great strength who could withstand the giants didn't dare to engage in close combat continuously—the opponent's irregular flame eruptions were the greatest threat to those close-combat brutes.

"Should we go inform them to run away, instead of dying here?" Wang Wenyan suggested quietly, "The molten giant isn't something a few people can take down."

...

"Boss?"

"Wait." Yafei gestured with a wave of his hand, stopping Wang Wenyan, who wanted to run out and warn them.

In the distance, the situation had undergone a new change; the fourth person, who had been further away, had finally caught up with the three ahead during this drawn-out struggle.

Without knowing what the newly arrived figure did, the flames attached to one of the black dots abruptly vanished.

...

What kind of supernatural power was this?

...

"Yanzi?"

Having merged Spiritual Energy with medical skills, Gong Yan easily extinguished the flames and turned to Kuang Xin with a soft smile, "Don't worry, I'm here."

"Boom!"

The stone giant's fist, carrying the roar of the wind, slammed over, and without looking back, Kuang Xin reached out with one hand to block it… and then was sent flying like a solid cannonball.

As if to confirm the result of his attack, the stone giant's eyeless head also turned toward the direction Kuang Xin was flying, nodding rhythmically in time with the bouncing of Kuang Xin's body off the ground, like skipping stones on water.

The gentle hum of the Longsword had started without notice, its sharp edge tearing through countless fragments of stone, striking a strand of flowing red energy inside the stone.

Like a snake struck in its vital spot, the red energy struggled and writhed frantically, as the stone figure also began to move violently, trying to throw off the diminutive human clinging onto it.

Gu Lan's figure called out clearly, "Dai, right here!"

While entangling the stone beast, Kuang Xin had not been idle. With her deeper mastery of Spiritual Energy, she had seen more than others from the start of the fight, and with each encounter, her keen Spiritual Energy had locked onto the "fatal weakness" of the stone giant.

Clinging single-handedly to the stone surface and holding back the opponent's escape with her own Spiritual Energy and the red energy, Gu Lan gritted her teeth fiercely, her voice popping out from her throat, "Hurry... ah!"

"Got it," Dai Lian responded calmly, his hands already drawing the bow and readying an arrow.

The heat of a volcanic wave gathered at the tips of his right fingers, while ash-gray dust swirled visibly around the arrow.

...

"Lava Behemoth..."

"Stop with the behemoth..." Wang Wenyan tugged at her brother, pointing toward the figure standing with a drawn bow, and said to the boss, "It's him. He exploded a Fire Spirit Beast with a single arrow."

Although the Fire Spirit Beast's rank and strength were far inferior to that of the Lava Behemoth, the feat of killing it with one shot was unheard of.

And now, the same strike was to be displayed upon the Lava Behemoth.

Yafei's gaze sharpened slightly, the imagination in her head during the younger brother's storytelling spilling into reality at this moment.

This was a power she had never seen before; could these people really be the hope for this city?

...

Fingers released, arrow flew.

A hurricane of flame swept through, the steel arrow piercing the stone.

"Snap!"

A hole large enough for a clay pot appeared, completely through from front to back, leaving the red energy previously pinned by the Longsword nowhere to be found, causing the red lines in the stone figure's fissures to scatter instantly.

Like the vanquished Fire Spirit Beast, the now 'coreless' boulder resumed its original complexion, its constituent parts cascading to the ground, spreading around in a scatter.

"Whew~ whew~" Gu Lan, who had just landed, clutched her waist and bent over, her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. Although the fight seemed smooth and without hitch, it had been immensely draining on her.

If there was another, she doubted she could hold on.

"But seriously, I can't figure it out – why are we going toe-to-toe with it?"

"...I can't make sense of it either," said Dai Lian, putting away his bow, deliberately averting his gaze. "Weren't you the one who charged first?"

Gu Lan rolled her eyes irritably, "It was the gorilla who charged first."

"Don't we need to test the caliber of the local beasts whenever we arrive at a new place?" Kuang Xin, who had been punched away and was now lively and jumping, ran back up, "It's also a chance to check our teamwork and current combat strength~"

"Spontaneous incidents show the real strength more. We're much stronger than before," Gong Yan summarized with a smile, walking up to Gu Lan with a little bag, lifting one of her arms, "You're hurt."

"Ah~" Gu Lan looked at her blood-soaked arm, only then realizing she had been injured, "Haha~ Didn't notice."

As Gong Yan bent down to tend to the wounds on her back, facing a certain direction, she whispered so only those nearby could hear, "There are people behind us."

"Ah~" Dai Lian looked straight in that direction, replying, "I see them… they're coming over."

"… Those are the two kids we saved earlier."

"Be careful; even a lifesaving grace might not be reliable."