When the guild elites heard Xu Yuan's words, they immediately burst into exclamations. Although Xu Yuan had only provided a rough outline of the dungeon and shared some strategic hints, his instructions were too vague, leaving many in a state of confusion. Questions flooded their minds: What kind of water flow? What were these iron golems? Even using parts of iron block?
At this moment, every guild member looked distressed, rubbing their heads repeatedly. For the first time, they truly felt how limited their mental capacity was.
Seeing this, Ken on the side grew worried. He looked at Xu Yuan and asked,
"Does it really not matter?"
When the guild players heard Ken's question, they suddenly saw a glimmer of hope.
Ken's words implied that he would intervene—perhaps give them more time to prepare or clarify further.
Xu Yuan listened and shook his head.
"It doesn't matter. They need to go through the experience themselves."
Ken frowned, still uneasy.
"I'm not talking about the players. I mean… does it really not matter if you give them so much iron?"
At that moment, the guild elites felt a surge of frustration—like a flood of old blood rushing up their chests. They had thought Ken cared about their well-being, but now it seemed his concern was only about the iron.
"Is it because you're worried about wasting the iron…?"
"Feelings aside, how many iron ingots does it take to craft these golems?"
"I don't know, I haven't combined them. How do you even craft? Is there a recipe?"
Currently, most players' basic gear was iron sets, and they possessed iron ingots—many had already saved enough to craft their armor. To craft an iron block, nine iron ingots were required; the most expensive chestplate needed eight ingots, and some players had already gathered enough for that. Few knew how to craft the iron golems themselves, and even fewer dared to do so, since the purpose of these items was unclear.
When Ken heard the players' questions, he finally understood why Xu Yuan mentioned four blocks of iron.
He was taken aback but remained calm.
It turned out they didn't even know how many ingots were needed for a single iron block.
Ken smiled and gave a quick explanation.
"It takes nine ingots to craft one piece of iron blcok.
Four iron pieces can be combined into an iron golem, which requires 36 ingots.
And those iron golems are worth your entire iron suit—do you see how valuable iron is?"
The guild elites were stunned. They hadn't expected that a single iron block would cost nine ingots, nor that an iron puppet would require four pieces. Instantly, they understood why Ken was so concerned about the importance of iron—it wasn't just about equipment, but about resources.
What shocked them even more was that an iron gloems was already so costly. Their boss, Xu Yuan, was willing to spend such a high price to clear the dungeon and provide them with equipment. They couldn't help but wonder: just how wealthy was Xu Yuan?
This was a clear example of "smashing the dungeon with money"—a blatant display of wealth and power. The guild elites couldn't help but think that Xu Yuan's method of farming monsters was probably something only he could afford. For others, it would be prohibitively expensive—who would use so many iron ingots just to farm a dungeon?
They began to realize that Xu Yuan was testing the waters for them, throwing out "white flowers and silver" in a sense.
"Boss Steve… Are you really going to give us all these iron blocks? The value of this iron exceeds ours…"
"Boss, you might as well let Ken do it. We're safer that way. We waste these blocks if we can't even clear the dungeon…"
"Boss Steve, why don't you do it yourself? That way, you can get the first clear faster, and we won't waste your resources…"
"Boss Steve, all the gear we have was given by you… Even if you don't feel distressed, we do."
Hearing the cost of an iron gloems, the elite players' confidence wavered. They had been afraid of being overwhelmed before, but now they were even more anxious—afraid of wasting precious resources because they lacked strength.
Xu Yuan frowned and said,
"Not distressed? Why would I be? Instead of worrying about how expensive this iron is, think about how you can avoid wasting it."
"The key isn't how much money is spent, but how you implement the strategy I gave you."
The elite players were stunned at first, then slowly began to understand. Xu Yuan's words made sense. Their initial fear stemmed from the high cost of the iron golems, and they had thought it was a waste for themselves. They even doubted their own strength because of the investment.
One of the players suggested,
"Boss, give us half an hour. Let us think about your strategy, then we'll go in."
The others nodded in agreement. Seeing their willingness to reconsider, Xu Yuan smiled—finally, everyone was starting to use their brains.
At this moment, Xu Yuan looked at Ken and said,
"You go too. Try the hard mode."
Ken nodded without hesitation—he was eager to try himself, even if Xu Yuan hadn't explicitly asked. Inspired by Xu Yuan's words, Ken had already gained some insight.
Afterward, Xu Yuan crafted some stealth potions and handed a bottle to each of the elites. Although none had used such items before, once they saw the effect, they realized these potions must be valuable. Each of them brainstormed more carefully, eager to maximize their chances.
Meanwhile, Xu Yuan sat alone in his room, contemplating his future plans. His immediate goal was clear: collect fragments of the Twilight Forest drawings. The current system indicated that the full-server boss system served as a channel to obtain these fragments, but how it would evolve remained uncertain. It was expected that future boss dungeon would become more difficult, and new quests would activate only after passing all modes.
For now, Xu Yuan was certain that defeating the Ender Dragon would yield the Twilight Forest drawings. His plan was to wait until everyone in the guild cleared the easy and hard modes. Once they did, if the next stage of the dungeon opened, he would farm it first. After all, fighting the Ender Dragon was risky—more so because of the unpredictable chain reactions it might trigger.
He decided to delay the dragon's challenge until the guild had secured their first clears. If the next tier of quests didn't activate after completing the current ones, then he would go for the dragon.
Meanwhile, the guild players, mostly unfamiliar with Xu Yuan's detailed instructions, still felt inspired. They took the items Ken provided and entered their respective quests—most opting for easy mode, some daring the hard mode.
As they prepared, they tried to calm their nerves and lay out strategies based on Xu Yuan's guidance. Soon, the sky darkened.
The first wave of the corpse tide arrived. Many players experienced firsthand how tough this quest was—so little time for preparation, and some couldn't even resist the initial wave. Several were instantly overwhelmed.
Recalling Xu Yuan's relaxed demeanor when explaining the strategy, they realized how terrifying their challenge truly was. Meanwhile, Xu Yuan had already cleared a nightmare mode copy by himself, showcasing the vast difference in strength.
"Why is the gap so huge?!!"
"How the hell do you use water? I tried drowning the zombies, but they just drowned themselves instead!"
"The body is incomplete!! Boss, please give us a detailed guide!!"