Poison truly was a formidable ability. Lei Potian's strength was exceedingly clear to everyone present, yet a tiny poison bee had taken his life. Although Niu Geng's strength was the weakest, his understanding of poison meant his usefulness could not be said to be lower than anyone else's.
Facing the Poison Moth, the expressions of Lu Yuling and the others were very grim. Not only was it a Two-Star Monster Beast, but it also possessed the poison attribute. In terms of threat level, such a monster beast was far more terrifying than the Two-Star Demon Bear they had encountered previously, and because it possessed a certain degree of spiritual intelligence, it was even harder to deal with.
Monster beasts were powerful, but after all, they were just wild beasts. Wisdom was always the ultimate weapon for dealing with them. As long as wisdom was properly applied, slaying enemies of a higher tier was not entirely impossible. Just like Zhuge Xiang dealing with the demon bear earlier, the battle plan had succeeded brilliantly. However, when a monster beast also possessed spiritual intelligence, so-called stratagems became much more difficult.
A person's combat power was influenced by many elements: cultivation realm, skill techniques, artifacts, resourcefulness, luck, timing and terrain...
Undeniably, wisdom was a very important link in dealing with monster beasts, but this Two-Star Demonic Moth not only possessed terrifying poison attribute abilities, it also had the ability to fly. Building on this, it inherently possessed a certain degree of intelligence. One could say the threat posed by this demonic moth was completely incomparable to that of the previous demon bear.
Can we escape? Staring at the demonic moth dancing in the air, Hua Nongying gripped the hilt of her short blade so tightly that cold sweat oozed from her palm. She spoke in a low voice, completely omitting whether they could slay the moth; she only asked if they could escape.
Zhuge Xiang's expression was equally grim as he remained silent. Dealing with this Two-Star Demonic Moth, Zhuge Xiang himself had no confidence. Looking at the equipment on his body, there was not the slightest possibility of victory.
The blood-sucking effect of the Blood Refinement Saber? A Two-Star Monster Beast was enough to instantly kill him; what use could a blood-sucking effect have? The Frost Headband? A demonic moth capable of flight clearly would not be slow; even with a 20% reduction, the effect was likely minimal. The most crucial thing was that as the moth fluttered its powdery wings, poison mist filled the air—who would dare approach it? Yet if they did not get close and relied solely on ranged attacks?
Could Ling Wufeng's Flying Dagger and his own Hundred Refinements Bow slay this moth? There was no need to dwell on that; it was completely impossible. If he had to name the only helpful thing, it was that single Detoxification Pill. It could remove poisoned states below the Two-Star level, seemingly granting him temporary immunity to this moth's poison. Yet even without the poison, it was still a Two-Star Monster Beast after all.
Whoosh...
Seeing that Zhuge Xiang and the others had finished their infighting and watched the good show, the demonic moth had no intention of letting them think for much longer. Its colorful, powdery wings vibrated, and its elephant-sized body charged directly toward Zhuge Xiang and the others.
Watching the charging demonic moth, everyone reflexively retreated. The poison mist lingering all over its body didn't even leave anyone with the courage to approach it. Just how overbearing was the poison of a Two-Star Monster Beast? They had no interest in trying it out.
Drawing the bow like a full moon, blood-red Qi energy surfaced on his body as horrifying, ferocious ghost faces materialized and transformed. At that moment, Zhuge Xiang drew the Hundred Refinements Bow and directly activated the Bloodthirsty Technique. Although he didn't know any archery, the secret chamber was only so small, and the demonic moth's size was so enormous that anyone who wasn't blind could hit it.
Swish...
An arrow shot forth. A scarlet arrow-ray with blood-red ghost faces entwined around it possessed an attack range of one hundred meters, imbuing it with tremendous kinetic energy. Combined with the effect of ignoring 30 points of defense and Zhuge Xiang's Bloodthirsty Technique bonus, this arrow carried a startling momentum.
Seeing Zhuge Xiang use a bow and arrow for the first time, Lu Yuling and the others all looked at him with some surprise. Following Zhuge Xiang's attack, Ling Wufeng's reaction was also very swift. True to being a genius who could stand out among one hundred thousand disciples, with a flick of his hand and matching Zhuge Xiang's arrow-ray, a flying dagger similarly darted out, heading straight for the demonic moth's compound eyes.
Regarding anything aimed at its eyes, any living creature would reflexively feel a great sense of threat. The moth waved its powdery wings to block in front of itself, directly intercepting Ling Wufeng's flying dagger. Yet how could this thin layer of powdery wings withstand Zhuge Xiang's arrow-ray?
It was true that the physical body of a Two-Star Monster Beast was very strong, but how could a moth's physique compare to the thick-skinned and fleshy demon bear? It was inherently lacking by a huge margin in terms of physical defense, not to mention that a moth's wings were merely a thin layer of powder.
Zhuge Xiang's arrow-ray not only received a 50% attack power bonus from the Bloodthirsty Technique, but the Hundred Refinements Bow itself was a Two-Star Artifact with an attack power as high as 30 points. Coupled with the special effect of ignoring 30 points of the target's defense, Zhuge Xiang's arrow attack—despite lacking a skill—was still enough to rival a cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Realm Fifth Layer.
The scarlet arrow-ray directly pierced the demonic moth's powdery wings and struck its body. However, although it caused the moth to shriek, a glance showed that the injury was not heavy. The arrow had only penetrated as far as its sharp arrowhead. For a demonic moth comparable in size to an elephant, these were merely faint injuries.
As expected of a Two-Star Monster Beast. Even for a moth born with low defensive capabilities, its physical body is as hard as iron. Looking at the weak effect caused by his arrow, although Zhuge Xiang cursed inwardly, he found it within reason.
For his arrow to pierce the moth's powdery wings and strike its body with these results was clearly still thanks to the Hundred Refinements Bow's inherent attack power and the effect of ignoring 30 points of defense. Otherwise, whether it could pierce those powdery wings at all was anyone's guess.
It shrieked wildly. Its own attack hadn't even been launched yet it was injured first, something the demonic moth found unacceptable. It had actually been injured by a group of humans who hadn't even reached the level of One-Star Mid-Grade monster beasts. Although these were only painless injuries, it was utterly unacceptable to the moth. Having just sparked its intelligence and possessing its own unique thoughts, this demonic moth also had the pride belonging to a Two-Star Monster Beast.
Drawing on his experience dealing with the demon bear, seeing the moth open its mouth to scream, Ling Wufeng reacted swiftly. With both hands waving continuously, four flying daggers shot out, heading straight for the demonic moth's soft oral cavity. Seeing the flying daggers instantly arrive at the moth's mouth with no way for it to dodge, Ling Wufeng felt a secret surge of joy. Did it succeed?
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
However, was a Two-Star Monster Beast so easily slain? Especially one that had already sparked its spiritual intelligence? Seeing the four flying daggers about to pierce into the soft oral cavity and kill it, a multitude of white silk threads actually sprayed directly out from the demonic moth's mouth, batting Ling Wufeng's flying daggers right back out.
Damn it, toxic silk threads. I forgot that moths transform from cocoons; I never expected it to still retain the ability to spit silk. Watching Ling Wufeng's four flying daggers return empty-handed, everyone felt a helpless ache in their hearts.
To run—if there was any way to run, everyone would have run long ago. But now, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to. This demonic moth, suffused with poisonous Qi all over its body and capable of spitting toxic silk threads, left people too afraid to approach. At this moment, everyone felt distressed, not knowing what to do. Fighting was out of the question, and running was impossible.
Everyone kept retreating, yet it felt as though there was no way out. Lu Yuling manipulated the Mechanical Puppet to rush forward and entangle it. Although the mechanical puppet wasn't afraid of the poison mist, in an instant, it was directly bitten to pieces by the demonic moth's teeth. Its powdery wings vibrated as its massive body fiercely slammed toward the crowd.
Explosive Steps!!!
With a crisp cry, at the critical moment, Zhuge Xiang moved like a ghost, blocking in front of the demonic moth. The Blade of Blockade appeared in his hands once more; he could only rely on the once-per-day blocking effect now.
Zhuge Xiang!!! Seeing Zhuge Xiang actually disregard life and death to block in front of the demonic moth, everyone's expressions changed drastically. A full-force collision from a Two-Star Monster Beast meant certain death with no hope of survival. Even if he didn't die, wouldn't that poisoned state be overbearing?
Since the Blade of Blockade could block a full-force strike from the Refining Essence to Qi Stage, it naturally could also perfectly block things like the poison attribute. Compared to the demonic moth, Zhuge Xiang's body was extremely tiny, yet the demonic moth's high-speed charging body was stopped out of thin air by Zhuge Xiang's Blade of Blockade.
The demonic moth, which had previously worn a ferocious and murderous glint as it prepared to kill Zhuge Xiang with a single slam, now wore an expression of human-like astonishment within its compound eyes. Clearly, it did not understand why the seemingly weak human before it could block its full-force collision.
Right now! Taking advantage of that exact moment, Zhuge Xiang flicked his hand, and a black point of light shot out, accurately and unerringly shooting straight into the demonic moth's mouth.
Falling backwards and landing on the ground, Zhuge Xiang gripped the Blood Refinement Saber and charged toward the demonic moth once more. At the same time, he shouted loudly, "Don't just stand there in a daze, attack quickly! Opportunities like this are rare!"
Attack? Seeing Zhuge Xiang charge forward with utter disregard for his life, Hua Nongying and the others paused slightly. With poison Qi permeating the moth's body, how could anyone approach it for close combat?
Yet very soon, Hua Nongying and the others understood why Zhuge Xiang had said that. They saw that the demonic moth, which had previously been suspended mid-air, was now crying out in miserable agony. Its body actually began to twist and turn as it plummeted downward.
"What was that thing he shot into the demonic moth's mouth just now?" Only Lu Yuling, currently in the realm of the Mind's Eye, had caught sight of the black shadow Zhuge Xiang shot into the demonic moth's mouth beforehand, yet even she hadn't seen clearly what it actually was, as it had been shot in at close range and the black dot merely flashed out of existence.
"Ding, Detoxification Pill effect triggered. Demonic Moth poison attribute attack temporarily removed, duration 1 minute. All attributes decreased by 40%, duration 1 minute."
Heh heh, it really worked... Hearing the systematic, mechanical prompt ring in his mind, Zhuge Xiang smiled inwardly.
Since the Detoxification Pill could remove poisoned states below the Two-Star level, what would happen if it were thrown directly into the demonic moth's belly? This thought flashed through Zhuge Xiang's mind, and he immediately put it into action. He hadn't expected that the medicinal effect of the Detoxification Pill reacting with the demonic moth's poison would truly yield an unexpected harvest.
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