It was only by chance that these two monsters did not press their advantage and pursue Fang Senyan, otherwise, Fang Senyan would surely have been in grave danger. He gasped, enduring the shockwave effect. He then saw the two statues completely ignoring the damage inflicted upon them by others, heading straight for Nu with vicious intent. Fang Senyan immediately realized that the statues must have sensed something critical on Nu—most likely that goatskin map—which explained their stubborn persistence in the attack.

However, among those present, everyone possessed far richer combat experience than Fang Senyan. Upon seeing that the Metal Mentor’s fireball, though leaving the two soldier statues battered and scorched, failed to divert their attention, they keenly sensed something was amiss. Dekko, the most agile, swiftly pulled Nu away. At this moment, Fang Senyan charged forward again to intercept, finally buying them just enough time.

The Metal Mentor had no time to cast a full spell. He abruptly stopped, chanting for a moment, and then crouched and spun. Only then did Fang Senyan understand why he was called the Metal Mentor. The metallic-textured garment on his body suddenly disintegrated into countless butterfly-like shards that shot outwards, flashing with cold light in the air, whistling and colliding, truly resembling a violent vortex of steel sweeping across the space!

More bizarrely, this furious steel vortex swept upward towards the rock ceiling. Amidst flying debris, with a loud crash, several bell-shaped stalactites were sheared loose. These hanging stones, suspended for an unknown duration, were brought down with a deafening roar, plummeting towards the ground below with formidable momentum.

Judging by the trajectory of these falling stalactites, they should have completely missed the two statue soldiers. If the statues had instantly halted their forward lunge, the Metal Mentor’s barrage of metallic blades would undoubtedly have been in vain. Yet, the two statues completely disregarded the massive threat above them, continuing their charge, as if deliberately positioning themselves to be crushed by the falling stones.

With a resounding CRASH, the two soldier statues were struck simultaneously by the massive rocks, tumbling to the ground in disarray, clear cracks appearing on their surfaces. When they struggled back to their feet, their movements were visibly unsteady; clearly, this impact had affected them. However, the subsequent falling rubble was quickly smashed aside by their swinging swords and shields, and they continued their relentless advance.

Having no other choice, Nu managed to sit up, glancing at the Metal Mentor, who nodded in response. A fierce roar instantly echoed through the air! The heavily armored Greatsword Dragon, Steelhorn, reappeared in the space. Although its injuries had barely healed, it was undeniable that this massive beast from the savage depths, Steelhorn, was unquestionably the best instrument to deal with these troublesome figures!

Under Steelhorn's frenzied assault, in a mere thirty seconds, the two powerful statue soldiers disintegrated into strange white stone fragments scattered across the ground. Their weapons instantly darkened, rusted, and finally dissolved into dust that blew away! Even more tragically, these two figures dropped nothing—absolutely nothing! This meant that their desperate struggle yielded zero rewards. It also meant that the meter-long gash across Steelhorn’s abdomen, nearly exposing its viscera, and the loss of one eye, were all suffered in vain.

Nu coughed violently, and blood was even visible seeping between his fingers. He then looked up and stated calmly:

“Regrettably, Steelhorn may not be able to assist us again for quite some time.”

The Metal Mentor nodded, but his cold, icy eyes fixed upon Fang Senyan. Fang Senyan took a deep breath, nodded, and took the initiative:

“Fine, I’ll scout ahead, but I don’t know the way.”

Fang Senyan’s compliance was born of necessity; Phil’s wolf, which could have served as cannon fodder, had long since perished. If he refused now, he would instantly be positioned against the rest of the team. He was confident that with his Stamina level at 31, even if there were traps, he wouldn't die first. Furthermore, if his hidden abilities were exposed, he could easily flee in this labyrinthine environment—no one on the team could catch him. Even if they did catch up, given the Metal Mentor's current exhausted and injured state, could he withstand several direct hits from Fang Senyan’s innate power?

Thus, the team formation shifted: Fang Senyan led the way, Dekko covered Nu walking behind, Phil was third, and the Metal Mentor anchored the rear. The group encountered several more statue soldiers along the way, but this time, they appeared one by one, significantly reducing the difficulty. The Metal Mentor and Dekko could focus their firepower on the legs initially, slowly wearing them down.

After winding through the labyrinth for nearly three hours, they reached an extremely broad precipice. This sheer cliff towered thousands of feet high; even looking up, they couldn't see the summit. The rock face was a dull grey-green, exuding a palpable sense of hardness and death. Faintly visible on the cliff were raised, crisscrossing tubular structures, resembling petrified veins jutting out after being frozen for millennia.

"Upon seeing this sheer cliff, both the faces of the Metal Mentor and Nu revealed indescribable joy. They immediately commanded: 'Everyone split up and search. One group follows the cliff face to the left, one group to the right. Notify me immediately if anything unusual is discovered.'"

When dividing into groups, the Metal Mentor and Nu each joined one group, clearly intended as a measure of surveillance to prevent anyone from discovering vital information first and leaving the others behind. While searching along the cliff face, that strange sensation in Fang Senyan’s mind resurfaced repeatedly, growing stronger each time. However, he also discovered a large quantity of white bones here. According to Nu’s expert assessment, the remains were a mixture of Goblins, Humans, Pixies, and other races, indicating that some tragic event had transpired here long ago.

Half an hour later, a message came from the Metal Mentor’s group. They rushed over, and upon reuniting, they saw a door carved from stone appearing in the mountain face. What was astonishing was that the area surrounding the door was actually carved with various decorations typical of a bar, and the stone door itself even featured meticulously detailed wood graining and a handle, making it startlingly realistic, like the back entrance to an ordinary tavern. Looking at the setting, one almost expected a charming female hostess to appear momentarily and invite them inside.

Above the door were several completely unintelligible characters. Phil quietly informed Fang Senyan that this script resembled Hebrew, a mixture derived from Lizard script and Dwarvish. Its meaning was:

Ice-Stone Tavern—Passage to Wonder and Death.

"'We’ve... arrived, we’ve arrived!!!'" the Metal Mentor exclaimed with a trace of fanaticism.

He turned around, waving his hands, roaring in a completely hysterical manner: "One hundred meters more—all we have to do is open this damned door, and then walk another hundred meters! My dream will be realized! I will prove to those fools, those arrogant and conceited fools, that in this damned space, anything is possible! I believe it, yes, I firmly believe it, I will succeed!!!!"

The Metal Mentor’s frantic shouting echoed across the barren expanse. Fang Senyan noticed that his eyeballs were visibly bloodshot and red from excitement! After a long moment, the intensity subsided, and he returned to his usual cold, sharp demeanor.

Then, the Metal Mentor turned back and addressed Fang Senyan in a commanding tone: "Go open the door, now!"

His voice now carried an icy severity that brooked no argument. Hearing the Metal Mentor’s command, Fang Senyan took a deep breath, bent down under the pretense of tying his shoelaces, patted the spikes on his boot surface to boost his Stamina to 31 points, glanced back, observed the complex look of excitement, fervor, anticipation, and caution in the Metal Mentor's eyes, and then reached out to grasp the stone door’s handle.

The stone bar handle was quite elaborate, even engraved with three lively lizard stripes—in that era, all drinkers superstitiously believed that mixing lizard juice with strong liquor was a miraculous aphrodisiac. Upon contact, Fang Senyan found the stone cold but smooth. Thanks to the artisan’s exquisite skill, the handle was engraved with dense, interwoven, thread-like textures, lending it a certain wood-like comfort.

The stone door was heavy. Fang Senyan exerted force and pulled it open. Unexpectedly, his senses issued no warning, suggesting that at least while performing the action of pulling the door, he was likely not in immediate danger.

In that fleeting moment, Fang Senyan’s mind was sharper than ever, and he immediately drew several conclusions:

First: It must be extremely dangerous inside, so much so that even the simple act of opening the door was delegated to someone else by the Metal Mentor.

Second: The Metal Mentor seemed remarkably knowledgeable about the interior—he even knew that reaching his dream was only a hundred meters beyond the door—yet he didn't know if opening the door was safe. This implied one thing: the Metal Mentor likely possessed only a superficial understanding of what lay within—much like everyone knows a bank has a vault, but few know the exact security measures between the entrance and the vault itself.

Third: Given the current situation, if there were dangers inside, he would most likely be the one sent in to scout. This situation needed to change!