The slime charged up and leaped high into the air, slamming into Zhao Feng's iron armor with a series of dull thuds.

Five slimes surrounded and ganged up on Zhao Feng. Even though he was strong and powerful, he was unable to defend himself and could only passively defend.

Seeing Zhao Feng at a disadvantage, Zhang Shi became anxious, took out an iron arrow, and aimed again.

"This slime is resistant to sharp weapons, so don't waste your energy."

While trying to dissuade Zhang Shi, Ge Dalong waved the sapphire magic wand in his hand.

In an instant, a string of blue energy balls floated around the wand. With a powerful swing from Ge Dalong, the energy balls shot towards one of the slimes like a barrage of bullets.

Those seemingly gentle blue energy balls exploded like bombs when they landed on the slime.

"Clap clap clap!"

Three crisp popping sounds rang out as the slime exploded, splattering viscous liquid all over Zhao Feng.

"Holy crap, Lao Ge, you've been hiding something!"

With the number of slimes reduced, Zhao Feng's pressure lessened considerably. Ignoring the grime on his body, he began to deal with them.

Ge Dalong's move was clearly a finishing move, and he seemed to have been drained of all his strength, his face turning pale.

Zhang Shi saw this, patted Ge Dalong on the shoulder, and stood in front of him.

Nock the arrow and draw the bow.

The arrow flew like lightning, piercing through a slime's body, but without causing any real damage.

"Whoosh~"

Two afterimages then arrived, striking the slime and blasting its body apart.

The triple strike was quite effective. Although the slime was resistant to sharp weapons, it ultimately couldn't withstand the heavy blows of the energy arrow.

With the slime population decreasing, Zhao Feng finally had some free time.

"Go to hell!"

Zhao Feng swept his iron hammer horizontally, and a streak of black light flashed. Three slimes in front of him were hit, smashed into tree trunks, and their bodies were smashed to pieces.

"Ding, the team has killed 5 white slimes and gained 100 experience points."

"Congratulations to the survivor for reaching level 2. You have gained 1 attribute point."

"Congratulations to the team for obtaining [Medal of Courage x1: Exclusive material for the Enchanted Forest, cannot be taken out of the dungeon.]"

I collected the dropped Courage Medal and examined it. It matched the item description perfectly, but I still couldn't figure out its specific purpose.

Zhang Shi gained 200 experience points, doubling his gains. He noticed that he had already acquired 240 experience points, meeting the requirements for leveling up.

Zhang Shi considered the surrounding attributes: Strength affects damage, Agility affects speed, Constitution affects endurance, and Magic Power affects magical damage and magic power.

Since I mainly focus on physical damage right now, increasing my strength is always a good idea.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Shi added the attribute points he gained to Strength. At this moment, with the buff from the incense, Zhang Shi's attribute panel looked like this.

Name: Zhang Shi

Race: Human

Experience points: Level 2 (140/200)

Rank: Common

Strength: 11+1

Agility: 8+5

Physical condition: 6+1

Magic: 0+1

Talent: Scholar

Ability value: 8

Impressed by the powerful effects of Wu Qing's incense, Zhang Shi asked a question.

"Your incense is quite effective. Can it be mass-produced?"

Wu Qing shook her head.

"The yield of the main ingredient is very low. I have only been planting it for a short time, so the reserves of incense this time are not large."

Zhao Feng turned around excitedly, very satisfied with his performance.

"I didn't expect this slime to be so weak; it was taken care of very quickly."

"Hey Lao Ge, how come you're so weak? One move and you're all drained?"

After resting for a while, Ge Dalong finally caught his breath and gave Zhao Feng a wry smile.

"Alright, everyone, add up your attribute points. This is just the beginning; we might encounter even tougher monsters further in."

Zhang Shi walked over to Ge Dalong and inquired about his condition.

"I'm fine. I was just in a rush and used up too much magic power with my wand. I'll be fine after a while."

Wu Qing glanced at the progress bar on the panel; the progress had only increased by 1%.

"Can you really complete the progress before time runs out by just killing monsters?"

Ge Dalong also noticed the progress bar and calmly took out a parchment book from his backpack. He opened the pages, seemingly searching for something.

Zhang Shi's gaze fell on the parchment book, which he felt was somewhat similar to the hunter's notebook in his hand.

"Keep straight ahead for about 1000 meters. There is a location marked with a beast skull. I estimate that this is where elite monsters spawn. Try to kill it; you'll definitely get a lot of progress."

Everyone nodded and began exploring in the direction Ge Dalong had indicated.

Along the way, they encountered some small monsters, including slimes and some small wild beasts.

Everyone displayed their unique skills and easily defeated the enemies blocking their way, accumulating experience points and leveling up to level 3. Zhang Shi, on the other hand, was already close to level 4.

As they approached their destination, the road suddenly opened up, revealing an open space with an altar in the center. Trees surrounded the altar, protecting it from the elements.

The altar was carved from a single massive stone, appearing as if it were naturally formed. Above the altar were three smaller altars, placed at the three corners of the main altar.

Ge Dalong opened the parchment book, carefully checked it, and said, "This is it."

He then shared another message in the team channel.

[Altar of Courage: Placing a Courage Medal on the altar will initiate a ritual. During the ritual, a monster horde will be summoned. The size of the horde varies depending on the number of Courage Medals placed, with a maximum of three placed at a time. After the ritual ends, a refined-level elite monster will be summoned. Defeating it will grant the challenger a large amount of progress points.]

"So, how about we get started?"

Zhao Feng's eyes were burning with anticipation, as if he was eager to try.

Zhang Shi silently opened the system panel, intending to build some defensive facilities, but found that the construction function was disabled.

Ge Dalong had anticipated this and took out several sets of wooden fences from his backpack.

"I made this before I came, I didn't expect it to actually come in handy."

"Let's test the strength of the beast tide first. If there's danger, we'll abandon the ritual and run away."

After everyone had set up the fence and adjusted their positions, they exchanged glances, and Zhang Shi placed the Medal of Courage into the altar.

The medal disappeared as soon as it was placed on the altar, and then the altar where the medal was placed emitted a strong red light.

The entire altar began to sway slightly, and the entire forest began to stir.

"Aww!"

A raccoon, as tall as a person's calf, emerged from the woods, its eyes drawn to the red light emanating from the altar, and slowly walked towards it.

Zhao Feng's eyes were fierce as he held the iron hammer horizontally, staring intently at the raccoon.

Sensing Zhao Feng's hostility, the raccoon became ferocious, arched its body slightly, and leaped high, attempting to jump directly over the fence.

Zhang Shi noticed the raccoon cat, and had already drawn his bone bow to its fullest extent, aiming the arrow at it.

Zhao Feng swung the iron hammer in a wide arc, just about to exert his strength. An arrow had already pierced through the raccoon's head. The raccoon let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground, dead beyond any doubt.

"brush!"

A golden light flashed, and Zhang Shi killed the raccoon, successfully leveling up to level 4. He added his attribute points to Strength, and with the boost from Wu Qing's incense, his Strength attribute had reached 14 points.