Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

Lin Mo has no shortage of food and drink, but what he lacks most is strength, and a piece of fine armor that reduces damage by 40% can greatly improve his sense of security.

The aroma of grilled fish quickly filled the air, and Lin Mo hurriedly put away the campfire.

[Campfire: 32 minutes and 11 seconds remaining.]

The campfire doesn't have much durability left either; it will consume 1 fire elemental and 1 unit of wood.

Lin Mo added some honey to his drinking water and ate it with the grilled fish.

After finishing my meal, I leaned against a rock and planned to take a short rest for half an hour. Once my life level reached level 3, I would proceed directly to the next terrain. In short: it was a safe bet.

After watching Lin Mo finish eating the grilled fish and lie down on the rock to sleep, the live stream chat started buzzing with discussion.

[Chinese netizen: Did he add honey just now? (licking lips)]

[Chinese netizens: Looks like Brother Lin is preparing to upgrade his life strength to level 3, that's really solid.]

[A netizen from the Kingdom of Rising Sun commented: "I really don't know what he has to brag about. We have several explorers above level 10 in the Kingdom of Rising Sun, and he's only level 3."]

[A netizen from China: So, what level are your level 10 explorers on the first floor of the maze? You short-sighted fools! If Brother Lin keeps going like this, he'll catch up to your high-level explorers sooner or later, and then… hehehehe!]

[A netizen from Batan: Now that you mention it, I'm really looking forward to it! One of our level 9 explorers was just killed by their people on the 17th floor yesterday. Brother Lin, you must help us get revenge!]

[A netizen from China: I just want to know when India's reverse worship of gods will come true. I bet people in South Korea are trembling with fear right now. Hahaha!]

[Chinese netizens: Breaking news, the Indian explorer killed by Brother Lin has been abandoned and has not been resurrected.]

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap?! So what are they doing entering the first level of the maze in groups? Are they just feeding the enemy kills?]

[Netizen from the Great Cold Kingdom: You know nothing! It's because our Western Alliance has definitely made a new breakthrough in understanding divine script recently. We selected newcomers to enter the labyrinth world, wanting to explore it with a higher level of divine script mastery. Killing Lin Mo was just a side effect, not the main point.]

[A Russian netizen commented: Did he kill himself twice on a whim?]

[Netizens from the Coldest Country: Get lost! I wasn't talking to you.]

[Chinese netizen: Hey? Brother Lin is awake! How long has he been asleep? He's already setting off again. That must be exhausting!]

In the scene, Lin Mo stretches and yawns: "That feels good!"

It wasn't just an improvement in health after eating and resting, but rather the successful nurturing of a power within his body. Lin Mo clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking, exuding a powerful aura.

I glanced at my personal attribute panel, and sure enough... I've leveled up!

…………

Name: Lin Mo

Life Level: 3 (2%)

Health level: 100%

Maze Levels: 1

National Fortune Points: 54 (0.54 increase)

Skill: Swordsmanship LV5 (52%)

Equipment: Ordinary steel knife

Supplies: Click to view details

Maze Points: 3

…………

The life level has increased from level 2 (96%) to level 3 (2%), which is enough to show that the diet is not bad.

While leveling up by killing monsters is certainly fast, it's best to avoid this behavior as much as possible before you have an absolute advantage in strength and sufficient resources.

What is absolute advantage? Lin Mo looked at the passage leading to the basement, where there was a level 2 Iron-Eating Giant Insect. He was holding a steel knife with level 5 swordsmanship. Level 3 against level 2, the advantage was in his hands. This was absolute advantage.

"Excellent alloy armor blueprints, I'm coming!" Lin Mo walked straight into the passage.

Damp...dim...the smell of decay hits you.

Lin Mo still held the iron pot in his hand. According to the prompt, the iron-devouring giant worm could shoot iron needles, so he had to be careful.

However, the level 3 life grants Lin Mo a significant boost in speed and reaction time, so he should be able to handle the level 2 Iron-Eating Giant Insect's attack moves.

After walking for a few minutes in the dark and narrow passage, Lin Mo saw that the passage ahead began to widen. At the end of his vision, Lin Mo saw a cave. Judging from the marks on the surrounding earthen walls, it was obviously dug out little by little by the Iron-Eating Giant Insect.

"Click...click..."

The sound of chewing hard objects came from the underground cave; it must be the Iron-Eating Giant Worm eating the soil.

That's right, this guy likes to eat iron ore, and his digestive system is like a furnace, from which he can extract nutrients.

Lin Mo slowed his pace, wanting to approach quietly first, observe the cave, and then think about how to kill it.

Suddenly… the chewing sound stopped abruptly, replaced by the sound of a huge object moving and scraping against the ground.

"It found me!?" Lin Mo thought in surprise.

This is normal, though. The other party is a level 2 dungeon creature. It has lived its entire life in the cave, and it is very clear about the temperature, sounds, and even the air flow here.

It would be illogical if the system couldn't detect a stranger entering here.

Tap tap tap tap... Lin Mo moved with lightning speed, rushing towards the underground cave.

Given that I was in a passageway that was only 2 meters wide, it would be unwise to fight a maze creature that could spit iron needles in such terrain.

The underground cave is the size of a large room, where one can utilize the advantages of a level 3 life form.

50 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters from the cave...

Lin Mo moved extremely fast, his eyes focused on the end of the passage.

Just then, a giant worm, more than 4 meters long and about the thickness of a bucket, appeared at the end of the passage. It was completely black, even reflecting a ghostly light, and its skin seemed to be made of metal.

Its round head was covered with dozens of rows of sharp teeth that looked terrifying. Its small, beastly eyes were fixed on Lin Mo, and it was hissing as it spoke.

"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."

When the two were 15 meters apart, the Iron-Eating Giant Insect spat out one black iron needle after another from its mouth, with very short intervals between each spit.

The first one was slashed away by Lin Mo's steel knife, the second one was blocked by the iron pot, and the third one was dodged by Lin Mo's forward roll. Just as he landed, the fourth and fifth ones came one after another.

Lin Mo stomped his left foot on the left wall, and using the rebound force and his own physical strength, he suddenly took a big step forward to the right, while throwing the steel knife in his hand with all his might.

At this moment, the two sides are only 4 meters apart.

Just as the giant iron-devouring worm was about to spew out more iron needles from its massive maw, a whooshing sound came from the air, and a cold glint flashed—it was a steel blade hurtling towards them.

"Pfft..."

The steel knife had already been inserted into the mouth of the iron-devouring giant worm, penetrating to a depth of about 20 centimeters inside its oral cavity.

The Iron-Eating Giant Worm lost 25% of its health bar instantly, and it continued to drop. This strike hit a vital spot and was quite powerful.

However, because this creature eats iron all year round, its skin is actually made of metal. And since the knife was thrown, its power was not maximized, so it failed to completely penetrate the body.

Just as it was in great pain and hadn't even reacted, Lin Mo, who had already approached, swung his arm and punched the end of the knife hilt with all his might.

"Pfft..."

The steel blade pierced straight through the body and embedded itself in the earthen wall behind the Iron-Eating Giant Insect.

Its health bar dropped to 98% instantly, and after wriggling twice, the Iron-Eating Giant Worm collapsed.

"A level 3 powerhouse, terrifying indeed!" Lin Mo exclaimed inwardly. He had originally planned to rush into the cave and fight it, but it was defeated in an instant?

Lin Mo was overjoyed and rushed into the underground cave to find the blueprints he had been dreaming of. These were of excellent quality!

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap? Dead?]

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap, is this supposed to be cool?! Just now, Brother Lin threw a steel knife and then immediately followed up with a punch that slammed the knife into the worm's body. This whole combo took less than a second, right? So powerful!]

[A netizen from Russia commented: So far, no explorer has demonstrated such terrifying combat power on the first level of the maze.]

[A Pakistani netizen commented: It's not just about combat power, but also about strategic choices. Master Lin always comes up with the optimal solution; he's simply invincible.]

[A netizen from the Free Nation: A bunch of sycophants from China, how laughable.]

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap, blueprints! Blueprints! Look, everyone! The livestream shows Brother Lin got new blueprints, and they're for armor! Woohoo, let's take off!]

In the scene, Lin Mo clears away a large pile of debris, revealing a blueprint.

"This guy actually used blueprints as a tablecloth." Lin Mo couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

A barrage of notifications followed, all good news, leaving Lin Mo unsure which one to be happy about first.

[Congratulations on defeating the level 2 dungeon creature, the Iron-Eating Giant Insect. You have obtained 2 Beast Cores and a certain amount of Life Essence. Your Life Level has been increased to level 3 (22%).]

Your swordsmanship gains a 1% progress increase during combat. Current swordsmanship level: LV5 (53%)

嗯？生命等级2级的时候，击杀2级迷宫生物获得30%的生命精元进度，如今自己3级了，击杀2级迷宫生物获得了20%生命精元进度。

This doesn't mean the experience points have decreased; rather, it means that after reaching level 3, you need more experience points, making the increase seem smaller.

Use both beast cores directly to upgrade your swordsmanship level and maximize your combat power. Skill level is too important. Just look how cool that slash was!

[You have successfully increased your swordsmanship level to LV6 (1%) using 2 beast cores.]

Holy crap? Level 6? Awesome, awesome!

Lin Mo pulled the steel knife from the earthen wall and casually swung it a few times in the cave.

Silky smooth, fluid, and powerful, even leaving lingering traces of the blade.

The simultaneous improvement in both his vitality and swordsmanship, combined with these two factors, makes every casual strike Lin Mo delivers now appear incredibly powerful.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the blueprint for "Excellent Alloy Armor". Would you like to learn it?]

"Let's start studying right away," Lin Mo said impatiently.

[You have successfully completed the learning process and mastered the crafting techniques for "Superior Alloy Armor".]

Lin Mo quickly checked what materials were needed to make the high-quality alloy armor.

[Fine Alloy Armor: Armor with 40% damage reduction. It will wear down during combat, but you've mastered the skill to repair it, though it will require some materials. Crafting Fine Alloy Armor requires: 10 units of Refined Iron, 5 Fire Elementals, 1 unit of Copper, and 2 units of Wood.]

Since it's an alloy armor, it's understandable that it needs copper, but why does it also need wood?

After reading the detailed introduction, Lin Mo learned that the production of alloys requires controlling the proportion of carbon in the metal, and wood serves this purpose.

I'm currently short 1 unit of copper, and I don't have enough fire element either, but I do have enough refined iron. This cave behind me can extract 10 units.

It's time to head to the trading market.