Lin Xu was unaware of the situation outside the ruins. If he had known, he would most likely have just mocked Wang En's predicament and then cooperated with Xiao Yu and the others to surround and kill Wang En.
Right now, however, he is fully focused on navigating the deeper levels of the ruins, slaying various monsters along the way.
To Lin Xu's relief, although some of the monsters in these ruins looked like demons, they were clearly not the creatures from the demon stories of his previous life.
This somewhat alleviated his worries, lest this world have any connection to the religious stories of his past life.
In fact, he encountered many monsters in this downward ruin, which should all be the Shadow Generation monsters that Phantom mentioned.
These monsters are similar in style to the Phantom, being a patchwork of various creatures.
For example, there are strange people with sheep heads and fish bodies, and small lizards with wings on their backs.
They come in all shapes and sizes, and their abilities are quite strange and unusual.
Only a few monsters have humanoid forms, but they also possess organs or body parts from other creatures to varying degrees.
Generally, these humanoid monsters are slightly stronger, but they are not beyond Lin Xu's strength.
The Phantom was hiding somewhere at this moment. Lin Xu had not seen the woman since he started the challenge, but he could always hear the Phantom's voice, hearing her introduce him to the origins and characteristics of various monsters.
Lin Xu felt no gratitude for Phantom's warning; instead, he became even more wary.
Because the Phantom's hints and guidance were more or less suggestive, seemingly enticing him to use all his trump cards and abilities.
The strength of this goat-woman demon is unknown, but ever since Lin Xu encountered the mental attack from the goat head at the entrance, he has become more vigilant about the goat-like creatures in this ruin.
And he did indeed discover that no other goats appeared when he was navigating through these ruins and caves.
It was as if the only goat in the entire Black Goat Cave was that female demon.
This is not a good sign.
Judging from the strength of the goat's head at the entrance of the ruins, the goat monster in these ruins is definitely not simple.
If Phantom is truly the only goat present, then this woman's strength must be quite terrifying, otherwise she wouldn't seem so special.
With this in mind, Lin Xu became much more cautious when using his abilities. Apart from the Shuofeng Sword Technique and the boomerang, he basically did not use any other abilities in combat.
Fortunately, the monsters in the first eight levels of the ruins were not strong. With his overwhelming physical strength and equipment, almost none of these monsters could withstand a second attack, and they were all quickly killed by Lin Xu.
Lin Xu quickly charged down the ruins, fighting his way to the ninth floor.
Once you reach this level, there are no more monsters in the cave.
Lin Xu arrived at a mysterious pillar of light in the center of the cave, where a blue flame suddenly ignited again.
The phantom appeared silently behind the flames:
"Adventurer, your strength is indeed formidable. Is it really possible for humans to possess such terrifying power even in their early stages?"
Lin Xu smiled faintly:
"Shouldn't Lady Phantom be able to tell whether I'm a novice island owner or not?"
The Phantom's expression was slightly unnatural.
She could indeed discern Lin Xu's island lord period. Because she had merged with the rules of the ruins, she could see that the monsters the ruins released targeting Lin Xu were all beginner-level monsters.
If Lin Xu were the island lord in any other period, the monsters in the ruins wouldn't be so weak.
But the more she did this, the more terrified she became.
If Lin Xu is really a newcomer, then how terrifying must the outside world be?
He was just an ordinary little man who was the island owner, but his physical abilities were almost comparable to hers in her full form. Moreover, his methods and weapons were not weak either, and he could even make her feel a slight threat.
How could an island lord with such strength be just a newbie in the early stages of his career?
The Phantom increasingly felt that the outside world was too powerful to be real, and that something was wrong.
But she couldn't find any flaws in Lin Xu, so she continued to probe:
"Judging from the challenges you faced, you are indeed a newcomer. But you also noticed that the monsters in the ruins posed no threat to you at all."
Lin Xu:
"Isn't this great? I can get the rewards more easily."
But that wouldn't show your true abilities!
The Phantom cried out inwardly, but wore a radiant smile on his face:
"How about I use my relic privileges to help you increase the difficulty of the relic? That way, the rewards you get when you clear the relic will be significantly different."
Lin Xu's eyes flashed:
"Does a Ruins Guide have this kind of authority?"
The Phantom couldn't help but reveal that arrogant expression again:
“Ordinary facilitators certainly can’t do this, but I’m different!”
Lin Xu's suspicions about Phantom deepened.
This woman is indeed extraordinary.
The guides appear to be solitary beings, but in reality, they are usually humanoid phantoms created by the rules of the ruins.
This creature is essentially an embodiment of the rules of the ruins. It has some independent will and personality, but rarely possesses true humanity, and almost never modifies the rules of the ruins.
This conclusion, drawn from years of aristocratic research on historical sites, has been adopted and taught in all classrooms; it is common knowledge in this era.
However, the woman in front of them violated this principle and actually wanted to change the rules of the ruins.
This is not something a typical facilitator would do.
Given the current situation, one possibility is that the woman's suggestion falls under the hidden rules of the ruins. When Lin Xu becomes powerful enough, the ruins will influence the guide, allowing her to offer Lin Xu a choice.
But the other possibility is more frightening.
That is, the woman in front of me is not simply a rule of the ruins, but an individual with an independent will.
She made this choice most likely to increase the pressure on the ruins and test Lin Xu's strength.
No matter how Lin Xu looked at the woman in front of him, he didn't think she was a purely rule-based organism. On the contrary, she was clearly an existence with independent consciousness.
But perhaps this woman's generation lacked such common sense, so she thought Lin Xu couldn't see through her flaws, which is why she's now making this claim that exposes herself.
Lin Xu squinted at the phantom.
Because he wanted to avoid being mind-read, he only did these thoughts superficially, and then pushed the conclusions into his subconscious.
However, this ability to act through the subconscious is not a panacea.
Lin Xu is now forcibly suppressing too many thoughts into his subconscious, which is starting to affect his normal actions and judgment.
Therefore, he is now struggling to think things through and is faced with only two choices.
One option is to reject the Phantom and confront the woman directly, but that would most likely lead to a direct confrontation with her.
Another option is to play along and see what the woman is up to.
Anyway, this woman couldn't possibly guess Lin Xu's true trump card. He felt that during the novice period, no challenge would truly threaten him.
With that in mind, Lin Xu decisively chose the second option.
Even if this woman increased the difficulty of the ruins to explore his trump cards, an increase in the ruins' rewards was inevitable.
If he is strong enough, he can ignore these traps and obtain the highest reward.
He was also curious about what this woman ultimately wanted to do after probing his hand.
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