Jiang Hao carefully examined the skeleton in front of him. It was slightly taller than him, and each bone in its skeleton was broad and thick. Unlike the skeleton rat, whose bones looked like they were about to fall apart, the skeleton's bones were perfectly smooth, without a single pit. The edges of the bones had a slight bluish glow, like a fine ceramic work of art, while also exuding an explosive sense of power.

To Jiang Hao's delight, the skeleton was holding a large, gleaming sword in its right hand.

Jiang Hao was itching to check the attributes of his new summoned creature.

Skeleton Gnoll

Faction: Necromancer Summoned Items

Level: 6

Quality: Iron-tier Elite (World-class)

life:

Physical attack: 1852

Physical defense: 278

Speed: 145

Skill: Cleave - Swings a large sword forward, dealing area damage equal to 150% of attack power to surrounding enemies.

Bite: Bites a target within melee range, dealing 110% of attack power as damage and restoring health equal to 80% of the damage dealt.

Jump twice in succession. Each time you land, you deal 80% of your attack power as damage to all targets within melee range and stun them for one second.

Charge, quickly approach a target, deal 100% damage, and stun them for two seconds.

Heavy Strike: A powerful, charged attack that deals 250% of your attack power as damage to a single enemy.

Grass!

I'm going to take on ten of them!

With such explosive attributes and skills, Jiang Hao felt his strength suddenly swell to an invincible level. The idea that no one or monster in the entire beginner village could stand against him, and that he could sweep through all the monsters in the beginner village, immediately entered his mind.

Looking to the left of the crossroads, Jiang Hao saw countless wild deer and goats grazing peacefully on a vast grassland, while the lush green mountains in the distance caught his attention.

“Monsters and spirits often lurk in the mountains. Let me go and catch one or two of them.”

So Jiang Hao straddled the back of Skeleton Wild Deer No. 3, with Skeleton Jackal King and Skeleton Turtle King leading the way, and Skeleton Wild Deer No. 1 and Skeleton Wild Deer No. 2 following on either side. The group and the skeletons marched in a grand procession into the mountains to the left of the crossroads.

"The item you listed in the auction house has been successfully auctioned for 120,000. After deducting a 10% handling fee of 12,000, the remaining 108,000 has been transferred to your linked bank card account. You can view the specific details of the transaction in [My Auctions] under [Auction House]."

Upon hearing the system notification, Jiang Hao's face lit up with joy, and he skillfully opened the auction list.

Upon seeing the transaction information, Jiang Hao felt somewhat frustrated.

The [Gnoll Leggings] only sold for 120,000, and the Ice Queen won the bid again. Given its stats, this piece of equipment is supposedly a level above the [Turtle Breastplate], which sold for a staggering 180,000, so why was the bid so low?

Jiang Hao couldn't understand the reasoning behind it, so he stopped thinking about it.

Jiang Hao closed his portable auction house and rode Skeleton Deer No. 3 along the path. Along the way, he encountered many level 9 deer and level 10 goats. Jiang Hao's goal was to find elite monsters, as only elite monsters could drop a large amount of equipment. Therefore, Jiang Hao did not actively attack these deer and goats. However, as Jiang Hao and his group passed, a few monsters that got too close would jump out and attack them, but the Skeleton Gnolls easily dealt with them. As for the beasts further away, Jiang Hao ignored them as long as they didn't attack him. The Skeleton Deer continued their journey without stopping for half an hour before they reached a mountain pass. Surprisingly, Jiang Hao's stun duration talent had increased by more than ten times.

All the equipment listed in the auction house during this period has been sold. The [Gnoll Ring], which mainly increases agility, sold for 130,000 and was purchased by an assassin named "Ghost Shadow". The [Gnoll Pendant], which guarantees a critical hit every six attacks, was purchased by an archer named "Hunter" for 200,000. What pleased Jiang Hao the most was that the [Critical Strike] skill book was purchased by the wealthy "Born to Be Rich" for a sky-high price of 300,000. A total of 672,000 was received.

It's really nice!

Jiang Hao happily reached the mountain pass, where he came to a fork in the road. Standing at the crossroads, he was surprised to see a wooden signpost. The left path pointed to the Burial Grounds, and the right path pointed to the Death Mine. It didn't matter which way he went; he was just wandering around aimlessly, as long as he encountered elite monsters. Riding on his skeletal deer, Jiang Hao followed the right path.

The mountains and fields were covered with green grass, with only a narrow path running through the middle. Jiang Hao followed the path, but surprisingly, he didn't see a single monster on the grass. Just as Jiang Hao was wondering if he had chosen the wrong path, he turned a corner and saw a dark purple vortex more than two meters high a dozen meters ahead. The vortex emanated a powerful magical energy, like a ferocious beast opening its gaping maw to devour its prey.

A copy?

Jiang Hao was overjoyed.

Before the vortex stood a massive stone tablet, radiating a grey light and inscribed with characters. Jiang Hao walked over and clearly saw the words on the tablet.

Four large red characters were written in the center of the top: Death Mine.

Below were a few lines of smaller writing: One day, a powerful tremor occurred deep within the mine, causing the mine exit to collapse. When the rescue team dug through the entrance again to rescue those inside, those outside only heard a dozen desperate and piercing screams coming from within. The rescue team never emerged again...

Good grief, it's just a dungeon, why are you making such a big deal out of it?

Jiang Hao didn't care at all. The dungeon was full of elite monsters, making it a great place for him to upgrade his talent damage and summon powerful creatures. So he walked straight towards the vortex, but just as his body was about to touch it, he was enveloped by a force, and then he and the skeleton deer he was riding appeared in front of the stone tablet as if they had teleported.

"Player level detected is below 5, does not meet the requirements to enter the Death Mine".

When the system notification sounded in his ear, Jiang Hao realized that he had been rejected by the instance.

"Level 5? I can level up in a minute."

Jiang Hao ordered the Skeleton Deer to turn around and head back along the path. There were plenty of level 10 goats outside; the Skeleton Gnolls could easily level up by killing them in a short time. Back at the fork in the road, Jiang Hao saw the wooden signpost again.

There's a level 5 dungeon on the right. Could there be another one on the left? I wonder if there's a level restriction. Regardless of whether I can enter, let's check it out first.

So he turned the deer around and followed the fork in the path on the left. After walking for a while, tall trees began to appear on both sides of the path, and on the branches, Jiang Hao saw many monkeys with tails nearly a meter long. He then cast a detection spell over them.

Tree monkey

Faction: Hostile

Level: 11

Lifespan: 1650

Physical Attack: 286

Physical defense: 39

Speed: 55

Skills: None

Jiang Hao walked past with his summoned creatures, and seeing that the tree monkeys didn't come down to attack, he ignored them and continued along the path. He then encountered a level 12 wild boar. After turning a corner, the path opened up, revealing a mountain hollow at the end, teeming with level 13 Shadow Wolves. Jiang Hao also noticed many animal skeletons on the ground in the hollow, presumably the work of these Shadow Wolves. Disappointingly, Jiang Hao didn't find any dungeon within the hollow.

"Forget it, I'll just upgrade here."

With a sigh, Jiang Hao ordered the skeleton gnolls to go up and clear out the monsters.