After leaving the blacksmith shop, Li Xiuman did not go looking for the red dragon immediately.
Of course, he couldn't just head straight to the volcano like this; he naturally needed to make proper preparations.
Since Li Xiuman was a skeleton, he naturally didn't need to prepare food or anything of the sort.
However, possessing the two skills Golem and Storage, Li Xiuman had developed a new combat method.
And that was prefabricating golems.
By making a sufficient number of golems ahead of time and storing them in his storage space, he could summon them directly during battle.
These prefabricated golems didn't need to be rushed, resulting in much higher Quality and strength.
However, the current size of his storage space was only about the size of a room, so he couldn't store too many golems.
Still, as his Storage skill leveled up, he might eventually be able to carry an entire army of golems with him wherever he went.
When that time came, no matter how strong his opponent was, he would just overwhelm them with a righteous gang-up.
As for his upcoming battle, it would take place on a volcano against a red dragon.
Therefore, Li Xiuman planned to create a batch of water-attribute golems.
Because of this...
“I need to gather a batch of water-attribute magic ores and metals.”
Fortunately, this was a city of blacksmiths.
They might lack other things, but they were never short on ores and metals.
Before long, Li Xiuman successfully found the materials he wanted in a shop.
It was none other than Iron River City's signature mineral, Iron River Sand.
Since the mine was right here in Iron River City, its price was much lower compared to other magical materials.
Shedding figurative tears, Li Xiuman spent one hundred and twenty gold coins to buy a ton.
Yes, a whole ton.
Selling magical materials at such dirt-cheap prices—this truly was a city of blacksmiths.
At least, that was what Li Xiuman had thought. He had assumed a ton would be a lot, but when they brought it out, he found it was only one large crate.
Looking at it now, it seemed incredibly expensive.
Hey, hey, are you sure you didn't shortchange me on the weight?
Afterward, to avoid drawing attention, Li Xiuman had the clerk deliver the materials to his inn.
That night, Li Xiuman put the Iron River Sand into his storage space and used rocks, magic stones, and Iron River Sand to synthesize a large number of water-attribute golems.
Among them were six Heavy Armor Golems, nine Water Mage Golems, ten Swordsman Golems, and eight wolf-form golems.
This was because most of Li Xiuman's advanced golem expertise had been learned from the remains of that Ore Beast Wolf.
Therefore, the strongest monster golem Li Xiuman could currently forge was the wolf-form golem.
By the next morning, Li Xiuman, having prepared all his golems, left Iron River City and followed the map toward the volcano.
Since the volcano wasn't too far from Iron River City, and White Bear City lay between it and Bone Dragon Valley, Li Xiuman didn't act as cautiously as he had in White Bear City.
He simply sneaked into a carriage belonging to a mining expedition heading to the volcano and hitched a ride all the way there.
Then, along the way, he created a few golems, dressed them in his clothes, and had them disperse.
The speed of the carriage convoy naturally couldn't compare to Li Xiuman traveling alone.
Thus, they did not arrive at the volcano until nightfall.
Li Xiuman found an opportunity to slip away from the mining team and headed up the volcano on his own.
Meanwhile, the mining expedition stayed at the base of the volcano to mine.
After all, the higher one went on this volcano, the more dangerous it became. A mining team of average strength would naturally stick to the bottom of the mountain.
The pitch-black rocks were filled with cracks, and steep cliffs rose everywhere, making it difficult to find a foothold.
Some cracks even spewed bubbling magma and dark smoke mixed with various toxic gases.
But to Li Xiuman, this kind of black smoke naturally posed no threat at all.
He didn't have lungs.
Li Xiuman spread his Bone Wings and dashed up the volcano, half-running and half-flying, flying when he encountered impassable areas and walking where he could.
Just like that, he reached the volcanic crater.
The crater was by no means small, about the size of several football fields. Peering down from the rim, one could see the boiling magma at the bottom, surrounded by rugged, steep rocks.
“Golem Creation.”
Li Xiuman casually picked up a nearby rock, made a Golem bird, and tossed it into the crater.
The Golem bird flew with difficulty, but it didn't take long to find Li Xiuman's destination.
A massive cavern located at the very bottom of the crater.
It was almost submerged in the magma.
The cave entrance lay open, as if there were no intention of hiding it at all.
Shortly after, the Golem bird flew back, relaying the information to Li Xiuman.
“Found you.”
“But how am I going to lure you out?”
Legendary creatures possessed intelligence that was in no way inferior to humans; some could even speak.
Although this red dragon was not yet fully grown and couldn't be considered a proper legendary creature, its intelligence was still vastly superior to that of ordinary magical beasts.
If he wanted to lure it out, he had to be willing to lay down a juicy bait.
After some thought, Li Xiuman took out several Tier 2 magic stones. He had collected these from Level 20+ monsters in the White Bear City dungeon.
Because this batch of magic stones was of exceptionally high Quality, he had been reluctant to sell them, thinking they would come in handy later.
Surely this many magic stones would be enough to draw out that red dragon.
However, an immature red dragon's intellect was still not to be underestimated. Therefore, he had to put on a bit of a theatrical show.
“Golem Creation.”
Using materials on hand, Li Xiuman crafted two golems.
He put extra effort into one of them, imbuing it with [Flight Lv. 3], [Fire Resistance Lv. 3], [Hard Rock Lv. 2], [Resilience Lv. 2], [Self-Healing Lv. 2], [Swiftness Lv. 1], [Flame Devour Lv. 1], and [Close Combat Lv. 1].
To make it carry so many skills, Li Xiuman had put in a great deal of effort.
Afterward, he stuffed all the magic stones into a pouch and handed it to this golem.
“Go. Put on a good show for me.”
After giving the order, Li Xiuman found a place to hide and watched the crater closely.
The two golems flew into the crater, one in front of the other.
“Hand over the magic stones, and I might still spare your life!”
The golem in the back shouted at the one in front, then hurled a Fireball at it.
The golem in front hurriedly flapped its wings to dodge, but it was still struck by the Fireball, plunging toward the bottom of the crater.
At the very last second, it narrowly managed to redirect itself and landed right at...
...the entrance of the red dragon's cave.
Brilliant red magic stones spilled all over the ground from its pouch, radiating an enticing luster.
“You forced my hand! I didn't want to use this!”
The fallen golem shouted, pulling out a completely unremarkable-looking stone from its body.
It looked exactly like a broken pebble one would pick up off the ground.
“This is—this is the Heaven-Earth Mystic Secret Life-Ending Soul-Shattering Lifeless Destiny-Breaking Rock of Chaos!”
“How... how could you possibly have that?!”
The chasing golem shouted in terror, immediately turning around and fleeing out of the crater as fast as its wings could carry it.
Although the red dragon probably didn't understand what that was, it certainly sounded incredibly menacing.
“Hmph, trying to run now? Too late.”
“Under my Heaven-Earth Mystic Secret Life-Ending Soul-Shattering Lifeless Destiny-Breaking Rock of Chaos, there is no way you can survive!”
He forcefully crushed the unremarkable, pebble-like stone in his hand.
A blinding light burst forth from the shattered stone.
“Ahhh!!!”
Amidst the bloodcurdling screams, the pursuing golem suddenly froze mid-air, its body lighting up with the same brilliant glow as the Heaven-Earth Mystic Secret Life-Ending Soul-Shattering Lifeless Destiny-Breaking Rock of Chaos.
“No, no, no!”
Screaming in agony, its stiffened body fell helplessly into the boiling magma, vanishing without a trace.
Rate on N.U.
