Chapter 271: Poison Spine Wyvern

Chapter 271: Poison Spine Wyvern

Several crimson laser beams shot down from the sky, releasing scorching heatwaves and decimating all creatures within a radius of several kilometers.

Ji Xinghuo flew in the sky, calmly observing this scene.

When the explosions subsided, he dove down. His fiery sword slashed through the air, leaving a trail of crimson as it cut down a few beasts that had barely survived the laser bombardment and were attempting to flee. Simultaneously, he raised his crystal gun and fired at a group of beasts in another direction, taking them out with precise shots.

With the last of the large saw-toothed mantises exploding into pieces, the area finally fell silent.

Ji Xinghuo activated the interface of the Myriad Star Pupils.

[Spiritual Source Energy: 58,560]



This was the accumulation of the past ten days, averaging less than 6,000 points per day, far less than the first day he attempted to gather beasts.

The reason for this decrease in efficiency was that gathering beasts had become more challenging.

After Qinghong's evolution, Ji Xinghuo noticed a drop in his beast-gathering efficiency. Even though he attracted several groups of beasts, numbering in the thousands and creating quite a ruckus, they no longer drew in reinforcements from dozens of kilometers away as they had during the first two attempts.

Some beast groups even gave up the pursuit, forcing him to turn back and attack them.

Moreover, some beasts actively avoided him.

There was definitely something amiss here!

However, Ji Xinghuo didn't give up. A smaller number of beasts only meant a decrease in efficiency; it was still far better than wandering idly in the Bloody Highlands.

He was content with the nearly 60,000 spiritual source energy he had gained in ten days.

Additionally, his Eternal Day Merit was steadily increasing and had already surpassed 1,600 points!

As Ji Xinghuo left the scorched land and continued on his journey, he pulled up the satellite map. He had already swept through all the nearby primary regions. The number of beasts on Planet Abyss was vast, but they were not infinite, and unlike in games, they didn't respawn with a simple command. Their formation took time.

The regions that had been cleared of beasts showed a significant reduction in their numbers.

During his nightly rests, Ji Xinghuo often browsed the Eternal Day Guardians' forum, where many people mentioned that the stronger the beast, the longer it took to cultivate.

And in those more dangerous regions, the number of beasts was actually fewer.

Because the beasts there were more powerful.

The Crystallite race had divided the surface of Planet Abyss into more than 500 regions, with over half being primary regions, about a third being secondary regions, and the four most dangerous sixth-level regions accounting for the remaining areas. These sixth-level regions were connected to form one contiguous area.

Some of these regions were land, while others were oceans.

The oceans of Planet Abyss were also teeming with countless plants and beasts, making them just as perilous as the land.

Some members of the Eternal Day Guardians who belonged to aquatic races chose to hunt beasts in the oceans. Since orbital laser support was difficult to receive underwater, the merit gained for battles in the oceans was multiplied by a certain factor, making it more valuable for the same effort.

From the satellite map, the distribution of regions and their danger levels was evident.

With the sixth-level regions at the center, the closer one got, the higher the danger level became. Moving outward from the center, the danger levels of the regions gradually decreased.

Almost all the primary regions were distributed along the edges.

The deeper one went, the more perilous it became.

Ji Xinghuo's gaze fell on the center, where the combined area of the four sixth-level regions spanned over a million square kilometers. They were located on a continent in the southern hemisphere of Planet Abyss, more than 6,000 kilometers away from his current position.

Even from just looking at the satellite map, a lot of information could be inferred.

Deep underground in the sixth-level regions was likely where the Crystallite race's capital, the "City of Eternal Night," was located—the very place where the stargate was situated.

For countless millennia, the plants and beasts of Planet Abyss had been relentlessly attacking the stargate, encroaching on the surface and delving deeper underground, as if they sought to enter the Star Realm.

Naturally, Ji Xinghuo had no intention of venturing into the sixth-level regions, nor did he wish to go to any region above the fourth level.

Regardless of the beast, they only yielded one point of spiritual source energy.

Hence, quantity was more important than quality.

Those dangerous high-level regions, with their sparse beast populations, held little attraction for him.

"It's about time to change locations."

Ji Xinghuo checked the satellite map. The place he was currently in was a large island in the northern hemisphere, spanning over two million square kilometers. The northern part of this island was a primary region, which he had thoroughly swept through. Heading south would lead to a secondary region.

To the east and west were also primary regions, but they were oceans.

However, he had no desire to venture into the oceans for adventure.

Although he could gain more Eternal Day Merit, it wasn't worth the risk. Without laser firepower support, the oceans were too dangerous.

"I've only covered a small part of this primary region. I'll finish cleaning it up and then move on to another region via the underground vacuum train."

Ji Xinghuo set his plan in motion.

Moments later, he discovered a pack of Wolf Soul Woods and fired his gun to attract their attention. He then ran in circles around them, luring more beasts to join the chase.

This situation had become quite common over the past few days.

He stopped in an open area, and like a tidal wave, the three thousand monsters rushed forward. The Spirit Sword Wristband fell from his wrist, transforming into sword lights that flew out. At the same time, he activated the four sword blades, which consumed a large amount of spiritual energy, and also released an ion storm, preparing for the onslaught. However, he could only maintain this defense for less than half a minute.

The defensive circle formed by the sword lights gradually shrank.

Just as Ji Xinghuo was about to release an ion storm, suddenly, a dazzling light flashed in the sky above.

He looked up and saw that the orbital laser cannon had opened fire, but not at his location. Instead, it was targeting an area to the south.

Huge lasers crisscrossed the sky, lasting for several seconds without stopping.

"What bad timing," Ji Xinghuo muttered.

The laser cannons that the Crystallite race had placed in low orbit often provided fire support, either to assist the Eternal Day Guardians on the ground or to engage powerful or numerous enemies. The cannons would automatically attack when they detected a significant threat.

The laser cannons had limited firepower and required time to cool down and recharge, so there was always an interval between each firing.

Ji Xinghuo wasn't sure how long that interval was.

He couldn't find the information on the forum, and the other Eternal Day Guardians couldn't give him a definite answer either. In any case, after the laser cannons fired in adjacent regions, fire support would temporarily be unavailable.

"Seems like I'm a bit unlucky today..."

"I'll handle this myself."

Ji Xinghuo decided to unleash a full-power ion storm to clear out the surrounding monsters. However, he immediately noticed something unusual.

Out of the three thousand monsters besieging him, only about half were within the killing range of the ion storm.

Most of the monsters maintained their distance from each other, spreading out in a way that was unlike their previous behavior.

"Something's wrong!"

Once could be a coincidence, but twice indicated a higher probability of a deliberate strategy.

Ji Xinghuo promptly abandoned the idea of using the ion storm, as it consumed too much stellar power and was not suitable for prolonged battles. He even retracted the sword lights surrounding him, shrinking them back into a wristband that he wore on his wrist. This way, he could conserve spiritual energy and stellar power, prolonging his ability to fight.

As soon as he retracted the sword formation, the monsters surged forward.

But just a second before they could reach him, Ji Xinghuo stomped on the ground and leaped into the air, using the momentum to accelerate his magnetic flight.

He didn't linger to fight, instead choosing to fly away.

It would be unwise to put himself in unknown danger just for a few thousand points of spiritual source energy.

There were also monsters in the sky—a group of two to three hundred Membrane Leaf Cicadas—and they immediately gave chase.

Ji Xinghuo threw a few high-explosive grenades behind him, which detonated among the cicadas, hindering their pursuit.

However, magnetic flight wasn't particularly fast, and it was limited by the magnetic field of Star Abyss. The strength of the magnetic field here was far inferior to that of the Star Realm, and even weaker than that of Earth. As he flew higher, the repulsive force of the magnetic field decreased, causing his speed to slow down. Soon, the Membrane Leaf Cicadas caught up.

Ji Xinghuo flew upside down, continuously firing his Crystal Light Gun.

The bodies of the cicadas fell one by one, but they showed no signs of giving up, relentlessly pressing forward.

Some of the cicadas even split up and accelerated to get ahead, attempting to surround him from other directions.

"Definitely something wrong here," Ji Xinghuo muttered.

He remained calm and continued shooting, taking down the cicadas that flew toward him.

He had fought this type of flying monster many times before, killing at least thousands of them. But never had they cooperated so closely as they were now.

Their level of organization had improved by more than one notch, suggesting that they were acting under some kind of command.

On the ground, the other monsters didn't disperse either.

They ran across the land, relentlessly pursuing him. Even though they couldn't attack him in the sky, they didn't give up, their behavior markedly different from what he had observed in the past few days.

As he flew, Ji Xinghuo's body spun from time to time, the Crystal Light Gun unleashing a continuous stream of high-temperature beams, killing the cicadas that approached from all directions.

The cicadas crashed into the muzzle of his gun one after another, as if they were willingly sacrificing themselves.

Although they seemed to form an impenetrable wall, not a single one managed to touch Ji Xinghuo.

In less than two minutes, the cicadas would all be eliminated.

"Hmm?"

In the midst of the battle, Ji Xinghuo noticed something at the southern horizon—ten black dots had appeared. They were spread out, with several kilometers between each dot, but they were all flying toward his position at high speed. Now, he could clearly make out their shapes.

The Poison Spine Wyvern was one of the most well-known monsters on Star Abyss, at least of the Super Beast level, and there were even powerful individuals among them that reached the level of a Calamity! According to the distribution of monsters, Poison Spine Wyverns would only appear in fourth-level regions and above, and they wouldn't be encountered in lower-level areas.

But now, they had appeared in a primary region.

Soon, Ji Xinghuo could make out the details of the Poison Spine Wyverns. The 'dragon' in their name had nothing to do with true dragons, and they were completely different from the flying dragons of the Star Realm. In essence, they were still plant-based monsters; only their outward appearance resembled that of a dragon.

Poison Spine Wyverns had broad wings, rough bark-like skin, and were covered in sharp, wooden spines from head to tail, giving them a ferocious appearance.

Soon, the Poison Spine Wyverns flew into the range of electromagnetic sensing.

"Two of them are Natural Disaster-level!"

Ji Xinghuo's face turned solemn as the two largest Poison Spine Wyverns had a wingspan of over twenty-five meters, and from a distance, they looked like true dragons.

However, what shocked him the most was that each Poison Spine Wyvern had a humanoid monster riding on its back.

Because of their small size, most were only about one and a half meters tall, hidden among the dense spines, so he hadn't noticed them before.

But they couldn't hide from electromagnetic sensing.

These monsters had a human-like form with two hands and two feet, a stout body, and no neck. There was a large lump of flesh on their chest that seemed to be their head, with greenish skin and countless bumps all over their bodies, giving them an extremely ugly appearance.

"Fungal Giants!"

Ji Xinghuo recognized them; this type of monster also existed in the Star Realm and was called Giant, but they weren't intelligent beings and were completely different from the Giants of other branches.

Fungal Giants possessed tremendous strength and had exaggerated regenerative abilities and stamina.

One of his friends, Chi Zhonglin, had fused with a variant of the Fungal Giant, so he was no stranger to them.

Riding on the two Natural Disaster-level Poison Spine Wyverns were two Fungal Giants of the same level, while the other eight were of the Super Beast level.

Ten Poison Spine Wyverns and ten Fungal Giants.

"They're coming right for me."

Ji Xinghuo looked up at the sky. The laser cannons had stopped bombing, but he didn't know when they would be able to provide fire support again. By the time they could fire again, the Poison Spine Wyverns would already be too close, and the laser cannons would have to consider his safety and refrain from shooting.

"I can only rely on myself."

"I can't escape; the Poison Spine Wyverns are too fast, and they'll catch up no matter how I fly."

"Then it's head-on combat!"

Ji Xinghuo wasn't the least bit flustered. Obviously, whoever was controlling these Poison Spine Wyverns had misjudged his strength.

The Membrane Leaf Cicadas were still relentlessly charging at him, and he had to deal with them first.

He lifted his hand and gently tapped.

Zzzz!

An electric current howled as lightning burst from Ji Xinghuo's fingertips, and he released a Thunderclap Hand. In mid-air, it split into more than a dozen lightning bolts that rained down on over a hundred Membrane Leaf Cicadas. The lightning then jumped from one cicada to the next closest one, spreading out in a chain reaction.

A loud crackling sound filled the air as, in the blink of an eye, the remaining hundred or so Membrane Leaf Cicadas were struck by lightning and fell to the ground, crying out in agony.

Ji Xinghuo's mind relaxed.

This was the limit of what he could do while in a super-frequency thinking state, controlling the Thunderclap Hand to split and jump.

By eliminating hundreds of Membrane Leaf Cicadas in one go, he had conserved a lot of stellar power.

The surrounding sky was instantly cleared.

As for the monsters on the ground, Ji Xinghuo didn't bother with them and turned his attention to the approaching Poison Spine Wyverns. They loomed larger in his field of vision, now within a kilometer of his position. The three Poison Spine Wyverns at the front slowed down, while the ones on either side accelerated, forming a semicircular encirclement.

At such close range, the auras of the Poison Spine Wyverns and the Fungal Giants assailed his senses.

However, Ji Xinghuo remained unaffected.

He raised his Crystal Light Gun and took aim at one of the Poison Spine Wyverns, firing a beam of light. Although the wyvern tried to dodge, it was still hit.

A layer of green mist appeared on its rough skin, and the beam of light penetrated, leaving only a charred pit that wasn't deep enough to be fatal.

"The distance is too far, and the damage isn't enough."

Ji Xinghuo fired continuously, and beams of light struck the Poison Spine Wyvern, causing wood shavings and toxic liquid to fly, but they couldn't kill it.

He decisively switched weapons, drawing a steel spear from his back and holding it in his hand. The Magnetism Spirit Nucleus released stellar power, and electricity flowed along his arm to the spear. In an instant, it transformed into an electromagnetic spear, emitting radiant light. With a flash in his eyes, he threw the spear with all his might at the nearest Poison Spine Wyvern.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end