Farming Games are All About Grinding

Seeing Xiao Lai and Xiao Dian's puzzled expressions, Han Qiwu's face turned red. After thinking for a few seconds, he explained, "It's not that I don't want to leave, but the value of the Rubies here is simply too high."

Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai: "...You're the boss, whatever you say goes."

Following the map to the location of the Flame Iron Ore, Han Qiwu returned to the place where he had fought the Metal Bigheads last time.

The situation was still the same as before. The Metal Bigheads here were bumping into each other around the Flame Iron Ore. Hungry or injured, they'd just snack on a couple chunks of Flame Iron Ore.

"Do not disturb my ores!"

Han Qiwu took out the white millet root water and poured two big gulps each into Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai, reminding them, "The creatures in these mines are called Metal Bigheads. Their bodies likely conduct electricity. In a bit, I'll lure four or five of them over. Xiao Dian, you'll be the main attacker; Xiao Lai, your job is to bind them together with slime. Then, we'll pull off a 'chain of iron' and a grand 'burning of Red Cliff'!"

Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai didn't know what "chain of iron" or "burning of Red Cliff" meant, but their thoughts were simple.

Just do as you're told.

No need to retort with, "Are you teaching me how to do my job!"

They're not reckless chickens—no interest in courting disaster every day.

Han Qiwu stepped onto his Wind and Fire Wheels, swiftly dashing toward the Flame Iron Ore. Spotting four or five Metal Bigheads on the outskirts, he immediately hurled an explosive snowball at them.

Due to the effects of the lava ore deposits, the explosive snowball's power had greatly diminished and could only be used for aggro pulling.

"Bang!"

When it came to pulling aggro, the explosive snowball still performed quite well. The shards from the explosion quickly attracted a group of Metal Bigheads.

Seeing Han Qiwu cruising on his Wind and Fire Wheels, the Metal Bigheads got furious and started charging toward him with their stubby little legs.

You dare taunt us? Short legs and all, you're flaunting your wheels just to tick us off!

"Xiao Dian, get ready!" Han Qiwu deliberately slowed his pace, drawing out five or six Metal Bigheads.

Had to slow down—the stubby-legged ones were way too slow.

After leading them into the narrow passage, Xiao Dian, enveloped in black and gold hues, flew up into the air and began charging electricity.

"Spit!"

As soon as the Metal Bigheads entered its range, Xiao Lai unceremoniously spat out a hefty blob of sticky slime, covering all six Metal Bigheads.

"Sss-sss-sss-sss"

The sound of corrosion lasted only a brief moment before fading.

Han Qiwu thought to himself, "I'll need to collaborate with Xiao Lai to find something to enhance toxicity later. Metal isn't exactly easy to corrode, but the effect does fade rather quickly."

Though the damage was minimal, Xiao Lai's slime net successfully connected the six Metal Bigheads together.

Feeling the minor injuries on their bodies, the six Metal Bigheads shrugged it off and continued charging toward Han Qiwu.

A nuisance at best—they could just munch on some ore later and be fine.

"Pathetic!"

Just then, Xiao Dian, now fully charged, released a torrent of lightning straight at the six Metal Bigheads below.

The electricity hit the Metal Bigheads and, through the conductive slime net from Xiao Lai, chained to the others as well. The collisions between them amplified the short-circuit current massively!

"Boom-boom-boom-boom!"

Arcs of yellow and blue lightning erupted from the Metal Bigheads, practically zapping their brains to takeoff levels.

"Good work, good work. Have a drink." Han Qiwu checked the timing and poured a few more gulps of white millet root water for the two.

The white millet root water was plentiful and filling, but its duration was short. He considered crafting specialized water flasks for them in the future so they could sip directly when needed.

This constant hand-feeding couldn't go on forever.

The electrical surges on the Metal Bigheads lasted for half a minute before finally subsiding.

Of course, along with the electrical currents, the Metal Bigheads themselves disappeared as well.

"Seems I lured too few—double the number next time should do." Han Qiwu calculated quietly as he went to pick up the loot.

[Flame Iron Essence]×8.

Satisfying.

Now let's see if I can use these to upgrade the pickaxe.

The essence's gotta be better than just Flame Iron Ore!

Still, if I keep fighting like this, I'm kind of wasting my fire resistance.

Might as well divide and conquer!

Lure seven or eight Bigheads for close combat—use it as an opportunity to practice with the ice baton.

Have Xiao Lai and Xiao Dian set up the poison-electric combo nets—take turns fighting and resting.

Once the strategy was set, Han Qiwu continued luring Metal Bigheads from around the Flame Iron Ore, splitting the lot in half: one batch for himself to take on, the other handed off to Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai.

After half an hour.

"Lame!"

A thoroughly exhausted Xiao Dian struggled to finish off the eight Metal Bigheads in front of it, calling weakly to Han Qiwu twice.

Out of juice.

Not a single spark left in the tank!

What a hard life!

Even when battling Electric Jellyfish, it hadn't been exploited to this degree!

Xiao Lai, sprawled out on the ground, was equally drained. Fighting at such high intensity in the molten environment had left it utterly spent.

However, it didn't complain.

During this whole half hour, the boss hadn't stopped for even a second, continually fighting wave after wave of Metal Bigheads!

Worthy of being the boss!

Naive Xiao Lai, though, couldn't have known that Han Qiwu, with his whopping 84 fire resistance, felt like he was soaking in a hot spring.

Couldn't be more comfortable.

After collecting the Metal Bigheads' loot, Han Qiwu glanced at his inventory's spoils.

[Flame Iron Essence]×43.

What a haul!

After wiping out so many waves, only about seventeen or eighteen Metal Bigheads remained near the Flame Iron Ore.

These remaining Metal Bigheads seemed to sense something was amiss—they wouldn't respond to bait anymore.

Hunkering down.

"This won't do. If I don't clear them all out, mining will definitely be annoying later." Relying on his high fire resistance, Han Qiwu walked straight into the Flame Iron Ore.

Time for the final battle!

Of course, even with such bold words, tactics were essential.

Considering they had fusion skills, Han Qiwu planned to start with a big one.

A well-aimed big move is the real deal.

A miss hardly qualifies as a "big move."

[Icewind Soar]!

Activating the skill, Han Qiwu's Phoenix Cloak fluttered without wind, its frost phoenix pattern glowing brilliant. Movement speed increased by 100%!

On top of Han Qiwu's already impressive movement speed, Icewind Soar pushed him to the cap, hitting a whopping 50 points.

And that wasn't all—this 50-point boost further empowered his flame skills via the Firewheel's effects, amplifying them by 50%.

With all these buffs combined, the fireball unleashed through his Flame Ring was now so red, it bordered on black!

"Take this!"

After fully charging the move, Han Qiwu turned on his heels and darted away.

A true man never looks back at an explosion!

With his high-speed boost, Han Qiwu managed to reach safety in no time.

Behind him, the ominously dark fireball was slow-moving but carried an aura of overwhelming threat.

The seventeen or eighteen Metal Bigheads, sensing danger, immediately tried to fuse together.

But before the fusion could be completed, the fireball had already arrived.

"Buzz-buzz-buzz"

The violent explosion temporarily deafened Han Qiwu, leaving only a persistent buzzing in his ears.

"Combo moves are the way to go!"

Incredible!