Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

He pondered that there were probably only two places where monsters above level 99 existed: Dragon City and the Molten Core Cataclysm.

However, the monsters in Dragon City are not on the regular map; they are all in dungeons with level restrictions for entry, so he cannot enter.

The Cataclysm is different. According to players who have explored the area, it has now become a paradise for fire elementals. Moreover, because the Cataclysm has opened a connection with the Fire Elemental Plane, powerful fire elementals of level 100 or even close to level 200 often wander out from the depths.

If there's one place in the "newbie village" that could pose a challenge to Liu Nian, it would probably be that place!

Although he can't enter the Fire Elemental Plane (entry is restricted to level 200), he can still farm the high-level monsters that roam around!

He still possessed the special gem that the system had rewarded him with after triggering the cataclysm:

[Level 1 Ember Flame] (Special/Growth Type)

[Description: A tiny flame, hovering in the palm of your hand, constantly flickering.]

[Effect: This flame can continuously upgrade by absorbing the essence of slain fire elementals, until it grows into a level 13 Eternal Flame Core. Current progress: 0/100]

"Let's try our luck over there. If it works out, we can stack steel for two hours and upgrade the Ember Core Flame at the same time. We can do both at the same time!" Liu Nian made his decision.

The old anvil outpost is still in that location, but the terrifying heat is now completely unbearable for the dwarves. Fortunately, the portal there is still usable.

Liu Nian was immediately teleported there. As soon as he stepped out of the teleportation array, a scorching wave of heat hit him, and the air was filled with a strong smell of sulfur and burnt substance.

Looking around, the land was a scene of devastation. The original mining landscape had been completely altered, with solidified black lava flows, fissures billowing with thick smoke, and large areas of ground burned into a glassy state.

The core area of ​​the distant mine was a deep crimson, as if the earth were on fire, with pillars of fire shooting into the sky and muffled explosions echoing from time to time.

The signs of life here are completely different. Flames are everywhere among the rocks, fire salamanders swim on the surface of the lava pools, and burning, dandelion-like fluff floats in the air... all of them are fire elementals or fire-attribute mutated creatures.

Liu Nian took a deep breath of the scorching air and, far from feeling uncomfortable, felt somewhat excited.

His magic resistance was already high, and he also gained the epic title [Boundary Breaker] when he caused the Great Cataclysm.

Effect: Permanently increases resistance to fire damage by 15%. This effect is doubled within "Scorching Rift" and its area of ​​effect.

In other words, the environment here poses no threat to Liu Nian at all!

Liu Nian opened his palm, and the [Ember Core Remnant] appeared, leaping merrily in his palm as if it were alive, seemingly pleased with the rich fire elemental environment around it.

Then he summoned Charmander and Echo Crab. Charmander appeared and cheered excitedly, swallowing a flying fire dandelion in its mouth before plunging headfirst into a lava pool and swimming around happily.

Liu Nian was secretly astonished. Even with his high magic resistance, he wouldn't dare to swim in the lava!

This little guy is amazing! Not only does he not get hurt when he goes into the lava, he even recovers health!

Liu Nian didn't have time to sigh for long, because soon, the first wave of enemies appeared.

Those were a group of "Fire Golems" of about level 120-125, made of lava and fire. This type of monster is generally bulky and slow-moving, but has amazing strength and good resistance to physical attacks.

Liu Nian quite enjoys dealing with these kinds of monsters because larger monsters tend to have higher health.

He rushed over immediately.

Liu Nian didn't rush to attack at first. He waited until the red dot on the monster's body lit up before throwing a punch!

duang~

[Heart of Steel activated, HP +210 million]

"Whoosh~" Liu Nian's spirits lifted.

This sudden growth is basically equivalent to the total health of a normal player at level 99.

Based on this data, we can extrapolate that this thing has around 7000 million health points.

Although the gains are much smaller compared to fighting the level 299 city-guarding monsters yesterday, there are still many monsters here. Even if they don't spawn constantly like in a real leveling area, there are still at least 300 monsters in this area over this long period of time.

After he slayed the monster with his Soul-Draining Strike, in addition to the fallen souls, a thin thread of fire from the [Ember Core Residue] in his palm wrapped around a small orange-red speck of light floating out from the shattered remains of the fire rock golem and absorbed it.

The progress bar jumped slightly: 0.35/100.

Liu Nian then realized that the progress bar on this thing did not refer to the number of kills, but rather to the fire essence contained in the monsters that were killed.

"It's better than nothing."

However, the levels of the Charmander and Echo Crab on the side were skyrocketing!

Moreover, the items dropped by monsters are decent. The equipment is unusable because it exceeds the current player level, but the materials are quite good, especially the various fire-attribute gems, which are very valuable.

As Liu Nian killed the monsters, he pushed deeper into the cave, knowing there were definitely even stronger monsters inside.

Sure enough, the closer they got to the elemental passage, the higher the level of the monsters they encountered became. Level 130 "Flame Walker", level 135 "Lava Crocodile", level 145 "Exploding Flame Serpent"... These monsters posed no real threat to Liu Nian at the moment, but they provided significantly more "Steel" layers and Ember Core Essence.

Liu Nian fought with increasing ferocity, his maximum health points rapidly increasing at a visible rate... 3 million... 4 million... 5 million...

The flame in his palm gradually became solid and brighter from its initial weak flame, and the temperature also increased.

Upon reaching the central part of the catastrophic region, the flames here are almost incandescent, and the monsters are generally level 150 or higher.

Charmander and Echo Crab had already reached level 99 and he put them back into his pet space.

Liu Nian thought that next time, he should bring some low-level Dragon Kingdom players, which would allow all Dragon Kingdom players to reach level 99 in no time!

Hmm, this is something we can work on in the future; it could be considered a benefit for players in China.

It's just that today isn't a good day. He's short on time, and it's his first time here, so it's kind of like pioneering a new place.

As Liu Nian was thinking this, he arrived at a churning lava lake. Suddenly, a deep and violent roar came from the lava lake, the surface of the lake surged violently, and a huge creature slowly rose up.

It was a giant over fifteen meters tall, made entirely of dark red, scorching rock and flowing golden lava, with two pale flames burning at the location of its head, like eyes.

Its surface was covered with cracks, revealing a blindingly bright lava core. A powerful fire elemental pressure surged forth, distorting the surrounding air.

[Level 199 Lava Giant BOSS (Mythical)]

[Description: A novice elemental lord born in the Fire Elemental Plane, possessing the terrifying power to manipulate magma and ignite subterranean fires.]

"Finally, someone decent has arrived!" Liu Nian was more pleased than surprised.

Elemental Lords of this caliber have extremely high health, making them perfect targets for stacking [Heart Steel]!