Chapter 119: The Blazing Flying Lizard

“Minus 88!”
“Hiss… damn it…”

Without even looking, Lu Kuan knew there must be a big, glaring damage number hovering above his head, for this blow had struck a vital point. Though the pain simulation in the game was strictly regulated by the system, large beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

His mouth stretched wide in a grimace as he shakily pulled out a bottle of healing potion and a stamina potion, drinking them one after the other. The intense pain eased considerably.

“Phew…”

Finally, he had a moment to catch his breath. Lu Kuan lay flat on the ground, completely drained of strength, too exhausted even to move a finger.

High above him, dozens of meters in the air, the massive silhouette of the Great King Vulture circled slowly. It seemed reluctant to leave the cave where Lu Kuan was, lingering for a long while.

“Go to hell, you bastard!”

Lu Kuan flipped off the Great King Vulture and cursed with satisfaction.

This was the nest of the Flame Flying Lizard. Within a hundred-mile radius, no monster dared trespass on its territory, lest they offend the dignity of this apex boss.

Sure enough, after circling for about five minutes, the vulture finally turned south and disappeared from Lu Kuan’s sight.

“Phew…”

Only then did Lu Kuan exhale with relief. Slowly sitting up, he began to survey the surrounding terrain.

The cave floor was covered with a layer of sand and dust, sprinkled with stones of various sizes. When he had fallen earlier, he had landed on one of these stones.

Behind him was a large cave opening, more than ten meters wide and long, slanting downward. Following the sunlight streaming in from above, he could see the cave extended downward for over ten meters before leveling out horizontally.

“Just as I remembered…”

Lu Kuan stretched and checked the time, then without hesitation jumped into the deep, gaping cave that resembled the maw of some monstrous beast.

The cave was not especially dark; at intervals along its ceiling, holes of varying sizes allowed scattered sunlight to filter in, making it easy to see the path.

Inside the cave, Lu Kuan abandoned his usual cautious approach and broke into a sprint, boldly barreling ahead. Whenever the path forked, he didn’t pause but charged down one branch without hesitation.

After about two minutes of this, Lu Kuan rounded a bend and suddenly the scene before him opened up magnificently.

It was a vast underground chamber, at least 100 meters across and over 30 meters high. Bright patches of sunlight speckled the ceiling, especially one large stone aperture in the center through which sunlight poured directly to the floor, dazzlingly bright.

However, the wind outside also blew fine dust into the space, and Lu Kuan’s gaze was met with swirling particles. Streams of falling sand trickled from the ceiling, limiting visibility more than one might expect.

More than a hundred meters away, opposite him, was another dark cave entrance. Inside, it was pitch black, with no light source visible.

“This is it… passing through that cave entrance leads to the boss’s core lair. The Flame Flying Lizard’s egg is there!”

Lu Kuan muttered to himself, a flicker of excitement in his eyes. He slowed his pace and skirted along the edge of the cavern, steadily crossing the immense space.

Reaching roughly the midpoint, he glanced toward the center of the cavern, where a huge patch of light shone. It was sunlight streaming through the ceiling’s opening, cast by the blazing sun above.

The ground near the light was noticeably different from the rest—free of dust and gravel, remarkably smooth. Around it were faint but enormous footprints, indicating that gigantic creatures often lingered in this area.

Lu Kuan paid no mind and skirted past the light, approaching the cave entrance. He picked a recessed spot perfect for hiding, leaned against the stone wall facing outward, and soon vanished completely against the rock.

The cavern seemed untouched, as if nothing had happened. Only the occasional howl of wind through the ceiling gap and the faint sound of sand softly settling betrayed the passage of time.

The light in the cavern’s center slowly shifted, silently marking the passage of time.

Hidden and motionless, Lu Kuan stared intently at the system clock, counting down silently in his mind.

“One hundred fifty-seven… one hundred fifty-six…”

He clearly remembered every crucial timing point from the Flame Flying Lizard boss fight.

During the incubation period, the boss emerged from deep within the lair every hour to bask in the sunlight in this cavern, maintaining body temperature and replenishing energy for twenty minutes before returning.

He knew this so well because the Flame Flying Lizard’s flame breath was brutally lethal. Even if a thousand players attacked in the narrow cavern, the boss’s single fiery breath would wipe them all out.

Thus, in the previous life, players had to precisely time their assaults to strike while the boss was sunbathing, as only in the open cavern did they stand a chance.

Now, the moment the Flame Flying Lizard left the nest was when Lu Kuan’s real fight for survival would begin.

“Thirty…”

Suddenly, the sand and dust piled on the ground trembled faintly.

Then a second tremor, a third, followed by a series of heavy footsteps drawing closer and closer within the cavern.

“Ten…”

Lu Kuan swiftly consumed his agility potion, fire resistance potion, speed potion, and activated a haste scroll one after another, all held tightly in his hand.

As he did so, the invisibility effect of his cloak faded, revealing his figure along with the colorful glows of various buffs shimmering around him.

“System notification: You have gained the effect of the Haste Scroll…”
“You have gained basic fire resistance, Fire Resistance +20.”

Lu Kuan’s expression remained calm as he crouched slightly, preparing to run.

Seconds later, the cloak’s special effect reactivated, rendering him gradually transparent once more.

At nearly the same moment, a gigantic figure emerged beside him from the shadows—a nearly three-meter-tall giant lizard. Its body was covered in rough, bumpy, hardened skin. Aside from its enormous size and dark red scales, it resembled an ordinary lizard.

However, its form was more slender than typical lizards, more fitting to call it a “four-legged lizard,” and the pair of dark red membranous wings on its back marked its unique status.

The Flame Flying Lizard, one of the dominant rulers of the Terrifying Plains.

Given the vast difference in level between the boss and Lu Kuan, if the boss had turned around now, it would instantly spot Lu Kuan hiding by the rock wall. But Lu Kuan knew the massive beast could not detect him.

The cloak thoroughly concealed his scent, and the boss, eager to bask in the sun, would head straight to the center of the cavern.

Just as Lu Kuan predicted, the Flame Flying Lizard quickly crawled into the sunlight, lifting its head high so its entire upper body bathed in the warm glow. It shook its massive head with evident pleasure and slowly stretched its enormous wings.

At this moment, Lu Kuan’s silent countdown reached one.

Now was the time!