A golden crown, a golden sword, and purple robes—all of these symbolized the former achievements of this mage.
Firing fireballs to expel intruders and summoning minions to protect himself, these spells were effortless for him.
The Great Mage, the Lich, governed the boundary domains of the Twilight Swamp, the Dark Forest, and the Snowy Forest.
Even though their bodies had long since turned into bleached bones.
These Great Mages were not very talkative, and their tempers were quite foul.
Mark understood this clearly now.
"Why did he suddenly turn into three?!"
Attacking without a word, he split into three in the blink of an eye.
The strength of this mage was far beyond what Mark had anticipated.
Worried about Jett and wanting to end the battle quickly, he directly pulled out his golden sword and rushed in front of one of the Liches.
Bang!
The golden sword swung and collided with a golden shield, sending sparks flying.
Mark was certain he had indeed hit the boss, but the result was jaw-dropping.
The Lich didn't lose any health!
'Could it be... he can create clones!'
Observing carefully, he noticed that two of the three Liches were dimmer; they were clones.
Adjusting his angle, Mark dodged a magic orb and launched an attack at the main body.
Bang!
The golden sword struck the golden shield again, and still, it dealt no damage.
He switched to his bow and arrow, but it was the same; Mark was completely stunned.
He hurriedly retreated down the nearby path, sealing it with blocks to prevent the Lich from chasing him.
Below, he could see the dying Jett eating food to recover his status.
Feeling relieved, Mark rushed over.
"How are you? Are you alright!"
"Oh my God, lord, why was there a hole in those damn stairs? I almost died!"
The good news was that Jett was alive and the team was still whole.
The bad news was that his leg was broken and needed time to recover.
The even worse news was that Mark discovered he couldn't deal any damage to the Lich at all.
Long-range didn't work, and melee was even worse.
This boss simply couldn't be fought!
He had thought that being unable to find the boss in the Twilight Forest was the ultimate torment.
Mark never imagined he would encounter something even more torturous than not finding the boss.
"If we can't do it, others definitely can't either!"
"Let's take a breather first..."
"
The Black House.
The golden-haired elder had a face full of worry, staring intently at the screen.
"Why can't he hit the boss? Where is the Intelligence Department? Have you figured out the crafting recipe for the magic map I told you to research yet?!"
Ever since Mark entered the Twilight Forest, the Freedom Nation had ramped up its research.
Unlike the impoverished Nine Provinces, they had a vast family business and plenty of signboards to provide hints.
However, this was also predicated on the information being valuable.
No matter how much money they had, they weren't stupid enough to waste items for nothing.
The Intelligence Director hurried over, sweating profusely from anxiety.
"Sir, we are already researching as hard as we can. It's not just us."
"Experts from every country in the world are trying to crack the crafting recipe for the map in Galen Yu's hands, but progress is extremely slow."
"We've speculated that the materials might include fireflies, Twilight logs, berries, leather, feathers, and so on. Our progress is already far ahead!"
They were indeed more efficient than the Samurai Nation; based on frame-by-frame analysis, they had deduced some of the map's raw materials.
This did not satisfy the golden-haired elder.
"What I want is a monopoly, to be far ahead in first place! What use is just being ahead of the others?"
"Being ahead of the Nine Provinces and surpassing Galen Yu is the most important thing!"
"Our hero is in trouble right now. Tell me as quickly as possible: how do we break that shield and kill the boss!"
As the footage played, the Intelligence Director wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Seeing this scene, he speculated it might be related to a certain mechanism—that a specific action must be performed to break the shield.
When he shared his thought, the golden-haired elder's face darkened further.
"Do you take me for a fool? What exactly needs to be done?"
"Forgive me, sir, I don't know. It's estimated to take three days to crack..."
"
"Three days? By then, Mark's body will be cold! Get out!"
Not daring to face the angry golden-haired elder, the Intelligence Director hurried out.
It wasn't ignorance; they were already the top team in the world. For the Samurai Nation or the Indus Kingdom...
It would take at least five days, or even longer, to crack.
Three days was already very efficient.
Knowing what the golden-haired elder was worried about, the secretary beside him offered comfort.
"Sir, Mark and the others don't understand, and others won't either. Everyone is encountering this monster for the first time; everyone's progress will be stuck here!"
As she spoke, the secretary adjusted the screen to the Nine Provinces' perspective.
Galen Yu had taken the first kill and crafted a map, putting him among those with the fastest progress.
"Even the fastest, the Nine Provinces, haven't they just reached the Lich Tower and are now stuck?"
"The Twilight Forest is a brand new world; it's more complex and content-rich than the Nether!"
"To some extent, its construction is even more complete than previous civilizations. Everyone needs time to adap--"
"
The secretary's voice grew quieter and quieter.
Following Galen Yu's perspective, the golden-haired elder had originally calmed down and wanted to take a sip of tea.
The moment it touched his lips, he spat it out.
"Everyone needs to adapt? Adapt my foot!"
"The Lich's shield... it was broken just like that?!"
0000
"Without Elytra, traveling across the map is too much trouble."
Following the map, Galen Yu found a nearby Lich Tower.
It didn't look far on the map, but in reality, it was like the mountain is in sight, but the horse dies from exhaustion.
He had to clear out zombies and confirm his position, taking quite a bit of time before he reached the base of the tower.
The sky was beginning to brighten, and the Crisis Zombies indeed didn't burn away or disappear.
It was just that the tide and quantity were slightly less than at night, making it easier for players to move.
As usual, he dug into the high tower, where rows of books were laid out.
Galen Yu's eyes lit up.
'If I remember correctly, there really are a lot of books!'
Books didn't have a wide range of uses, but they were crucial.
Enchanting!
Crafting an enchanting table requires books, and upgrading it requires books; this quantity requires a lot of them.
And every veteran player knows the effect of enchanting.
Equipment with full enchantments and equipment without them are two completely different things!
It can significantly boost attributes.
He unceremoniously collected them into his backpack.
"Books? Are these things useful?"
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone collect them; they're mostly used for decoration!"
"Some crafting recipes are obtained from books, but I believe there are definitely none in this tower!"
"Heh, do some useless work and enjoy the last moments of your life!"
"Let's guess: will Galen Yu fall to his death from the stairs, or will the boss break his spirit until he commits suicide?"
"This monster simply isn't meant for normal people to fight!"
Having seen Mark's struggle, the viewers from the Freedom Nation spoke with mockery.
The shield seemed immune to all damage; they couldn't imagine how to break it.
With the Lich's mechanics, Galen Yu had also been stuck here for a long time during his novice days.
'The past is the past, the present is the present.'
Finding the right direction, he didn't enter directly from inside the tower.
Spawners and zombies were everywhere, along with broken stairs; it was too much of a waste of time.
He directly carved out a space on the outside of the tower and built up with blocks.
No monsters, no interference from skeletons, no accidents—he entered the Lich's room without any obstacles.
He sealed the stairs to prevent monsters below from ambushing him, then turned and switched to his Netherite sword and shield.
"Lich? Are you ready to challenge me?"
>
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