Regardless of what terrifying monsters lay ahead, Lu Chen decided to take down this elite first.

Lu Chen was now at level 10, not much weaker than this level 9 elite.

However, the levels of the three fools were no longer sufficient here, so Lu Chen had to handle the elite himself.

"Erzi, take on two, Sanzi and Sizi, each of you handle one, I'll take the elite. Clear the small monsters first!" Lu Chen ordered immediately, "Quick!"

The elite moved the fastest, its massive tentacles already lunging towards Lu Chen.

Two numbers floated above Lu Chen's head, -33 (white text), -20 (green text).

At the same time, a green bleeding icon appeared next to Lu Chen's character.

[Abnormal Status (Poisoned): Consumes 20 HP per second, duration 5 seconds.]

"Damn, I'm poisoned!"

With the poison effect, the elite poison spider dealt 20 damage per second.

Meanwhile, the three fools were also poisoned after being attacked, but their HP loss wasn't as severe as Lu Chen's, dropping 10 HP per second.

Additionally, Erzi was attacked by two poison spiders, but the poison effect didn't stack.

Fortunately, the physical attack of the small Forest Poison Spiders didn't seem high, only dealing single-digit damage to Erzi.

"Is this like scraping? Luckily, their physical attack isn't high. Let's kill the small one first!"

Four Gnolls swung their clubs, smashing down on one of the level 8 spiders.

-19, -34 (double critical), -26, -54. Sanzi managed to land a critical hit.

The poison spider's HP seemed lower than that of a Gnoll of the same level, with the level 8 poison spider having only 480 HP. The four's attack took out more than a quarter of its HP.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, Lu Chen and Erzi, Sanzi, and Sizi pummeled the spider relentlessly.

Once its HP hit zero, the massive body of the Forest Poison Spider curled up, and green liquid flowed from it.

[Killed Forest Poison Spider (Level 8), captured 75 Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-0 Talent Shard, 1 0-Star Quality Point.]

"Keep going!"

Bang, bang, bang, bang, the four Gnolls rhythmically swung their clubs.

[Killed Forest Poison Spider (Level 8), captured 75 Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-0 Talent Shard, 1 0-Star Quality Point.]

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[Killed Forest Poison Spider (Level 8), captured 75 Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-0 Talent Shard, 1 0-Star Quality Point, extracted 1 Pure Spiritual Qi.]

[Killed Forest Poison Spider (Level 8), captured 75 Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-0 Talent Shard, 1 0-Star Quality Point.]

Lu Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief, finally dealing with the four small monsters.

"Damn, you had fun, didn't you!"

At this point, Lu Chen's HP was down to 900, having taken hits from the elite poison spider for so long, he was quite frustrated.

"Had enough? Now it's my turn! Brothers, smash it for me!"

Bang, bang, bang, four large clubs eagerly landed on the elite poison spider.

-13, -11, -19, -90 (double critical)!

The elite poison spider's HP far exceeded that of the regular minions, but it wasn't as high as Zakas's, with 800 HP.

Quinn Zakas, after all, was a named elite, definitely stronger than this thing. Plus, Forest Poison Spiders inherently had lower HP than Gnolls, so even though it was a level higher, its HP wasn't high.

Its characteristic should be its toxic attack, draining 20 HP per second, forcing even Lu Chen to take potions midway.

The Forest Poison Spider's attack was strong, but with its limited HP, it couldn't withstand the relentless assault from Lu Chen and his squad.

Before long, a critical hit from Lu Chen prematurely ended the elite poison spider's life.

[Killed Forest Poison Spider (Elite), captured 200 Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-3 Talent Shard, 1 3-Star Quality Evolution Point, extracted 1 Pure Spiritual Qi.]

Extracting 2 points of Pure Spiritual Qi from 5 monsters, not bad.

Of course, at this stage, Pure Spiritual Qi wasn't that crucial; the key was the drop of 3-Star materials.

Though only one piece of material dropped, it meant Lu Chen had another point to farm 3-Star materials!

[Ding...] This pleasant notification made Lu Chen's hair stand on end.

An item had dropped!

[Obtained item "Poison Mist Spider Silk Bracers" (White), obtained "Tough Spider Silk" x2.]

"Spider silk seems to be a material, not much use to me. Damn, you're all elites, and you only drop one piece of equipment? So stingy." Lu Chen shook his head, looking at the elite poison spider's corpse with disappointment.

Still, it dropped something, and it was a new piece of equipment for a new slot, which excited Lu Chen as he checked the equipment.

[Poison Mist Spider Silk Bracers (White Low-Grade)]

["The material is extremely exquisite, said to be made only from the spider silk of the Forest Poison Spiders in the Poison Mist Forest."]

[Level: 6]

[Defense: 6]

[Poison Resistance: 3]

[Poison Mist Set (Two Pieces): Poison Resistance +3.]

[Poison Mist Set (Three Pieces): Poison duration reduced by 50%, Poison Resistance +5.]

Seeing the equipment stats, Lu Chen was momentarily stunned, "Hmm? A set? A white set?"

In most games, sets are very powerful and high-quality, but this "set" had rather ordinary attributes, with set bonuses only adding poison resistance.

After some thought, Lu Chen frowned, "Could it be a set specifically for the Poison Mist Forest?"

Lu Chen had now opened two equipment slots, adding to the one he originally had, making a total of three.

Weapon, vest, shoulder.

The next equipment slot required 200 Reputation. Lu Chen weighed his options and decided to exchange some Reputation to open the fourth equipment slot, as he would need it eventually.

[Defense: Physical Defense 39 (18+21)]

[Poison Resistance: 3]

Looking at his new stats, Lu Chen nodded, "6 points of physical defense is quite considerable, my physical defense is almost 40."

"Erzi, Sanzi, Sizi, rest up, recover HP and stamina."

Lu Chen sat by a tree stump, observing his surroundings.

The spiders earlier were fairly strong, but not unbeatable.

Having defeated the gatekeeper Zakas, passing through here shouldn't be a problem.

"I wonder what's ahead..." Lu Chen said, glancing at everyone's HP, which had mostly recovered in just a few seconds.

He wasn't sure how players usually recovered HP, these subtle differences were unknown to Lu Chen.

Just then, Lu Chen noticed the light in front of him dim slightly. Instinctively looking up, he was startled to his feet.

Another five Forest Poison Spiders had appeared!

Four level 8, one level 9 elite!

"Damn, more?"

They had already been forced into combat mode, drastically reducing their HP recovery speed. If their HP hadn't mostly recovered earlier, this fight might have been unwinnable.

"Erzi, Sanzi, Sizi, same strategy as before, let's do this!" Lu Chen didn't dare slack off, quickly rallying the three fools to face the challenge.

Three minutes later, the elite poison spider once again turned into experience.

This elite poison spider was even poorer, dropping only one piece of 3-Star material, not even the spider silk bracers, just 4 spider silk.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Lu Chen shook his head, not because he was disappointed with the lack of equipment drop.

There were actually two waves here, and this was just the entrance to the Poison Mist Forest! Two waves of elites already?

Luckily, they rested in between, otherwise his squad might have been wiped out here.

What about other players...

At this moment, Lu Chen gradually realized that the inscription on the stone tablet, "one in ten survives," might not be an exaggeration...

However, it seemed the ordeal wasn't over yet.

Seconds later, the third wave arrived!