Chapter 110 - 107: 35-star Spirit Beast
Chapter 110: Chapter 107: 35-star Spirit Beast
After spending some time with the trio, Feng Hao felt intellectually superior for the first time.
Over the course of half a day, he’d managed to pry a good deal of information from Qing Ning about the outside world, giving him a head start on understanding what lay beyond the Ancient Cang Realm.
When they learned that Feng Hao was an Alchemist, the Shi Brothers immediately perked up. Since they all practiced secondary professions, there was a feeling of mutual admiration. Qing Ning, the young heiress, however, found herself unable to get a word in edgewise.
"Brother Feng Hao, I heard your Bloodline Planet has many ancient Artifact Refining legacies. Is that true?" Shi Daniu seemed very interested in the Artifact Refining techniques of the Bloodline Planet.
To this, Feng Hao could only give an awkward reply, "I don’t know much about Artifact Refining. You’re asking the wrong person."
"That’s a shame. It would be great if I got the chance to visit the Bloodline Planet," Shi Daniu said, slightly disappointed.
Qing Ning walked ahead, a frustrated look on her face. It couldn’t be helped; with her powerful bloodline talent, scouting duty naturally fell to her. "Artifact Refining this, Artifact Refining that! Can’t you guys talk about something interesting?"
"My Lady, we were just worried we’d interfere with your scouting," Shi Erniu replied tactfully.
"Just shut up! I’m really annoyed right now!" Qing Ning snorted, carefully checking her surroundings for any movement. Her mood seemed to be souring, perhaps due to their inability to find any trace of a Spirit Beast.
Feng Hao just smiled silently to himself, paying her no mind as he continued to joke around with the Shi Brothers.
"Shhh! There’s a strong Spirit Beast aura up ahead. Get ready to fight!"
Qing Ning suddenly stopped, whispering to the others, "Don’t make any sudden moves. We’ll gauge the Spirit Beast’s strength before deciding whether to engage."
Feng Hao also sensed a terrifying aura. Not daring to be careless, he crept forward with the other three.
A few minutes later, an open thicket appeared before them. Unknown vines covered everything, twisting around thick trees and pulling them askew. The vines were dotted with purplish-red flowers that emitted a captivating fragrance.
"What’s going on? There’s clearly a strong life force fluctuation, so why can’t we see the Spirit Beast?" Shi Daniu asked, confused.
"My bloodline talent can’t perceive it either," Qing Ning said, her brow tightly furrowed.
The bizarre situation put everyone on edge, Feng Hao included. He activated [Black Pupils] without a moment’s hesitation, doing his best to conceal his aura while carefully scanning the area with his Crystal Eye.
The moment his gaze swept over the vines, he received a stream of terrifying Spirit Beast data:
[Unknown Plant] (Infinite Spirit Beast)
Level: 35-Star
Qi Blood: 290,500
Life Force: 421
Strength: 2,730
Defense: 2,852
Speed: 425
Vine Damage: 277
Plant Body Protection: 18
"Holy crap! Fall back, now!" Feng Hao had no time to be shocked as he hastily warned the others to retreat.
Never mind the other stats—its nearly 300,000 Qi Blood and 421 Life Force alone were far beyond what they could handle. Furthermore, even his Crystal Eye couldn’t identify this plant Spirit Beast’s name, which meant it wasn’t in its internal database.
Qing Ning and the two brothers’ expressions tightened, and they immediately began to retreat with Feng Hao without a shred of hesitation.
But it was too late. Thick vines had already surrounded them unnoticed. The instant they turned to flee, more vines surged out from the surrounding weeds and shrubs, rapidly weaving into a cage that began to close in on them frantically.
"What do we do? Maybe we should just activate our marks and run for it!" Shi Erniu cried, his face a mask of despair.
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing!" Qing Ning cursed under her breath, unwilling to give up.
Feng Hao was the only one who remained relatively calm. ’Since we can’t retreat, we’ll have to fight. I could activate my Secret Realm Mark to leave, but I refuse to go back in such a disgraceful state.’
"Daniu, Er Niu, cut through these vines with me! Qing Ning, find this thing’s main trunk!"
At Feng Hao’s command, the other three instantly abandoned any thought of escape, gritted their teeth, and fought back.
The Shi Brothers attacked from both sides with everything they had, while Qing Ning, protected by the others, desperately channeled her bloodline talent to locate the vine Spirit Beast’s main trunk.
This was where the disadvantage of being a Dark Force Mage became clear; without sufficient destructive power, he couldn’t even sever a single vine.
As the vines constricted ever tighter, Feng Hao could only coat his Dark Moon Dagger in various poisons to inflict as much damage as possible. Unfortunately, plant-type Spirit Beasts have a natural resistance to poison, and his attacks had a negligible effect.
"Daniu, Er Niu, you’re Artifact Refiners, aren’t you? Try using fire!" Feng Hao shouted, a sudden idea striking him.
Upon hearing this, the Shi Brothers’ eyes lit up. As Artifact Refiners, they had naturally learned a few Flame Secret Techniques. While the damage of these techniques was nothing compared to a dedicated Fire Secret Skill, they were superior in terms of temperature and burning power.
It turned out Feng Hao was right. The moment the Shi Brothers summoned their flames, the surrounding vines immediately loosened their grip.
The vine Spirit Beast showed no signs of giving up, however. Countless vines swayed around them like tentacles, resembling vipers waiting for the perfect moment to strike!
"This isn’t a long-term solution! Our Fire Manipulation Techniques won’t last much longer," Shi Daniu said, his expression grave.
"Take these. Hold on for as long as you can while we wait for Qing Ning to find the trunk." Feng Hao casually tossed them a few bottles of Tier Five Qi Recovery Pills. ’With my reserves,’ he thought, ’I could keep this up for ten days, even half a month, no problem.’
The Shi Brothers finally remembered Feng Hao was an Alchemist and breathed a sigh of relief. With an Alchemist around, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about consuming all their Magic Power.
"I found it! It’s between those two leaning trees."
Qing Ning’s eyes snapped open. With a sharp cry, she drew her bow to its limit and fired. The arrow streaked through the air like a ray of light, striking the vine Spirit Beast’s main trunk with perfect accuracy. The impact triggered a massive explosion, blasting away the weeds and shrubs concealing it.
With its main trunk under attack, a great mass of vines instantly shot up, brandishing themselves like fangs and claws as they closed in on the group of four.
"With the flames for cover, it won’t dare make a reckless move for now." Feng Hao gave a cold smile and motioned for the others to advance toward the main trunk.
Protected by the fire, the menacing vines before them parted, allowing them to quickly approach the main trunk.
Now, it was Feng Hao’s time to shine. Without a word, he swallowed several Qi Recovery Pills and began to relentlessly unleash [Dark Moon Slaughter] and [Moon Wheel Dance]. Although he didn’t appear to be doing much damage to the trunk’s exterior, he was actually inflicting a ton of damage to its Qi Blood.
In just a few short minutes, the vine Spirit Beast’s Qi Blood had dropped to one-third.
Qing Ning wasn’t idle either. She loosed arrow after arrow, occasionally mixing in a dazzling Arrow Technique Secret Method, and the damage she dealt was considerable.
The poor vine Spirit Beast could only thrash its tendrils wildly, watching helplessly as it was slaughtered. There was nothing it could do. The greatest weaknesses of plant-type Spirit Beasts are their immobility and their extreme fear of fire—especially high-temperature, highly combustible flames.
It could only be said that encountering Feng Hao’s party of four was this creature’s greatest misfortune.
Soon, under the relentless assault of Feng Hao and Qing Ning, the vine Spirit Beast’s Qi Blood and Life Force both hit zero. The vines that had been swaying menacingly all around them fell limply to the ground...