Azure Flame Sparrow Tail Feather
Rank: E
Description: The power core of the E-rank race Azure Flame Sparrow. An excellent material for tailoring apprentices to craft E-rank Fire Attribute robes. Robes made from Azure Flame Sparrow Tail Feathers were exceptionally gorgeous and highly sought after by female fire mages among E-rank equipment!
Killing these Flamingo Birds had not taken much effort, but the two hundred bird corpses had fallen everywhere.
On tree branches, in the grass, on open ground... Coupled with the Flamingo Birds' small bodies, just locating them one by one had taken Xu Kun quite a bit of time.
But adhering to the principle that every grain was earned through hard work, Xu Kun diligently searched every Flamingo Bird corpse.
The drops from these level 9 monsters were pretty impressive. They were actually the main material for crafting E-rank Fire Attribute robes!
Pinching a flame-shaped feather between two fingers, Xu Kun clicked his tongue in wonder. "This little thing is quite exquisite. Once the novice trial is over, if I become a fire mage, I could consider crafting myself a set!"
With that thought, Xu Kun carefully put away the feathers.
The level 1 to 9 monster zones had already been cleared by Xu Kun, and his Mist Island trial completion had reached 54%!
Looking up, through the towering forest that served as the Flamingo Birds' nesting ground, he could vaguely make out a building shrouded in white mist through the gaps!
That was the center of Mist Island, and the destination of Xu Kun's novice trial!
And the level 10 monsters he was about to face stood before the Desolate Shrine at the final destination!
Xu Kun was absolutely certain of this!
Not only did he know that the level 10 monsters were there, he even had precise information about them without needing the Myriad Races Bestiary to identify them!
Naturally, this was because many humans throughout history had undergone the Mist Island trial. The monster races in the level 1 to 9 zones were different every time. There could be thousands of different kinds in total, and no one could say which races of monsters would appear in any given trial!
But the level 10 monsters were always the same!
That was because the level 10 monsters were a race unique to Mist Island. Unlike other races, they had not been captured from the outside world and brought into the Haotian Pagoda during the "Great Purge." They had been nurtured by Mist Island's climate!
The name of this race was: Corrosive Poison Termite Race!
After crossing the Flamingo Birds' habitat and climbing continuously upward, Xu Kun felt as if he had entered a sea of clouds!
The Desolate Shrine was both the center of the island and its highest point. Trial takers had to enter from the island's edge, delve deeper and climb ever higher, enduring countless hardships before they could see the true face of Mist Island's final destination!
Holding the Myriad Races Bestiary in his palm, Xu Kun carefully climbed upward. Before long, a rustling sound reached his ears!
When he looked up, his body jolted, and goosebumps rose all over him!
At the end of his sight stood a towering, majestic ancient building. Yet after being eroded by time, it had become utterly dilapidated. Its former grandeur had turned into nothing but broken bricks and crumbling tiles!
What made people even more uncomfortable was that, amid the broken walls and ruins, finger-thick bugs crawled back and forth. The rustling he had just heard came from these white insects scurrying around!
The Myriad Races Bestiary flashed, and words appeared on the blank page before him. These white insects roaming through the cracks of the Desolate Shrine paid no heed to Xu Kun, this uninvited guest.
Corrosive Poison Termite
Talent: F-rank Corrosive Poison (Poison Attribute +5 +5%, Poison Resistance Ignore +5 +5%)
Level: 10
Health: 400-420
Physical Defense: 30-31
Magic Defense: 30-31
Poison Attribute Attack: 110
Evasion: Unable to evade Kun's attacks
Movement Speed: 3M/S
Skills: Poison Marsh: Sprays venom within a range of 5M, creating a 1*1M area-of-effect Poison Attribute attack.
Poison Source Conversion: Restores its own health equal to 5% of the damage dealt by Poison Attribute attacks!
Description: A unique F-rank race born from Mist Island's climate. It used its long-range Poison Attribute attacks to block all who attempted to enter the shrine!
This was the final level 10 race of monsters every Mist Island trial taker had to face!
These Corrosive Poison Termites had one trait: they would not leave the area around the shrine ruins. Even if outsiders approached, as long as they did not enter their attack range, the termites could not even be bothered to give them a second glance!
But once someone approached, they would collectively spray venom, creating vast poison marshes. With their terrifying 110 Poison Attribute Attack, even Xu Kun's current health could not withstand attacks from ten Corrosive Poison Termites!
Some might think that only ranged classes could deal with this race!
Indeed, ranged classes had an advantage on the Mist Island map, but that did not mean this swarm was easy to handle!
Because once they took damage, these Corrosive Poison Termites would quickly hide within the shrine's cracks. With the destructive power available during the novice phase, it was impossible to destroy the shrine's defenses!
The Corrosive Poison Termites were the shrine's final barrier, while the shrine was also their shelter!
What was even more troublesome was that Corrosive Poison Termites possessed two skills. Once a trial taker fell into a poison marsh, not only would they suffer massive health loss, but the lost health would also be absorbed by the termites to heal themselves!
This shameless method had caused many trial takers capable of damaging them to watch helplessly as they recovered to full health!
But that was not even the most despairing part!
It had been mentioned before that in the level 1 to 10 monster zones, killing one hundred monsters of each level's race granted 6% completion. Killing all monsters across ten levels would grant 60% completion!
And to receive even the minimum F-rank evaluation, one had to enter the Desolate Shrine!
This 1% might have seemed like a freebie, but it was not!
In the earlier monster zones, to save time, one could choose to move on to the next monster zone after killing one hundred monsters and earning the completion percentage!
But when facing the final Corrosive Poison Termites, as long as all two hundred had not been killed, the remaining termites would continue holding this final line of defense and refuse to let anyone enter the shrine!
Throughout human history, it was not as though no one had reached this final stage on the Mist Island map. Yet many had failed the trial with a sigh at the shrine gates because they could not kill all two hundred Corrosive Poison Termites within the seven-day trial period!
Within the metal bracelet, several solutions were given for this final level 10 monster zone.
First: Ranged classes could use their superior range, maintain proper distance, and slowly whittle down every Corrosive Poison Termite—provided they had enough time!
Second: Those with high agility and high movement speed could adopt guerrilla tactics, avoid the Corrosive Poison Termites' poison marshes, and kill the termites. Of course, if time was short, such people could also choose to abandon the kills and rush directly into the shrine!
Third: Those with high stamina and high health could use the dumbest method—tank the damage, kill a certain number, retreat to recover to full health, then advance again.
Xu Kun had long since read these guides, but their final conclusion was this: unless one met one of several conditions—ranged, high agility, high stamina, naturally high poison resistance, or poison resistance equipment—it was only possible to pass the Corrosive Poison Termites' barrier.
But for melee, high-attack trial takers, the chance of passing the Corrosive Poison Termites' barrier was: 5%!
Even that final probability was calculated from all melee trial takers in human history who had reached this last stage. It showed just how despairing it was!
Unfortunately, Xu Kun was currently a melee trial taker!
As a melee fighter, Xu Kun was not particularly worried about the race known as the "final barrier of the Mist Island Shrine"—the Corrosive Poison Termites!
With a Wildfire Scorches the Plains crashing down, the termites scattered in every direction, trying to flee into the cracks to evade the attack. Yet quite a few were too slow and were roasted into dried bugs!
Ding, you killed 6 Corrosive Poison Termites and gained 1.8% experience. Current experience pool: Level 8, 7.6%!
"Tut, tut. Killing monsters two levels above me only gives 0.3% experience per monster. Even if I kill every Corrosive Poison Termite, I still won't reach level 9!"
That was only because Xu Kun had previously killed a Minotaur Chieftain, causing his experience pool to rise by an entire level!
But according to the records in the guide, assuming there was no boss, trial takers on the Mist Island map needed to kill all level 1 to 10 monsters, then enter the shrine and kill the two Shrine Guardians to reach level 10 exactly!
The final two elite monsters supposedly gave the most experience!
Without that, one could only be forcibly raised to level 10 by completing the trial and obtaining its rewards. Otherwise, they could not change classes!
After using Wildfire Scorches the Plains, Xu Kun stopped moving. He did not use Explosive Fireball to pick them off, nor did he approach within the Corrosive Poison Termites' attack range.
He was waiting!
Waiting for the three-minute cooldown on Wrath of the Fire Dragon!
What guides? What 5% success rate for melee trial takers? Before the Flame Spirit Sword's innate special effect, all of that was garbage!
Xu Kun did not want to waste effort on thankless work either. He was confident he could handle the shrine's two elite monsters without Wrath of the Fire Dragon, and as for the final boss, he would not need to rely on Wrath of the Fire Dragon there either!
Wrath of the Fire Dragon: So my purpose is just clearing trash mobs?
The space was silent. Above him hung the white mist that had remained gathered all year round, the very reason humans had named this place "Mist Island"!
Xu Kun stared wide-eyed at the busy Corrosive Poison Termites in the distance, having no idea what they were doing.
Several Corrosive Poison Termites had just died, yet the rest completely ignored Xu Kun, the bug-killing culprit. Once the fire rain subsided, they continued scurrying back and forth on their own!
Amid that atmosphere, Xu Kun finally heard the notification that Wrath of the Fire Dragon's cooldown had ended!
Without hesitation, he swung his sword. The original three-meter Fire Line was nothing more than a tiny Fire Seed before the enormous Fire Dragon that surged forth!
Wrath of the Fire Dragon lived up to expectations. Not only did it ravage the Corrosive Poison Termite Race, it also brought down more than half of the shrine's already crumbling walls!
With a thunderous crash, the walls finally gave way and collapsed, burying countless termite corpses!
Before Wrath of the Fire Dragon, this final barrier had its entire home overturned!
Ding, you killed 194 Corrosive Poison Termites and gained 58.2% experience. Current experience pool: Level 8, 65.8%! Ding, your novice trial completion +6%. Current: 60%! Ding, congratulations on killing 100 Corrosive Poison Termites of an F-rank race. The Myriad Races Bestiary has taken effect. Congratulations, you obtained the F-rank skill Poison Source Conversion!
Poison Source Conversion
Rank: F-rank Passive Skill
Effect: Restores health equal to 5% of the damage dealt by Poison Attribute attacks
Xu Kun frowned. After clearing ten monster zones in a row, the skills given by the other nine races could all be said to have their uses!
Only this skill from the final level 10 monsters was utterly useless to Xu Kun, who currently had 0 Poison Attribute Attack!
And the Corrosive Poison Termite swarm had been wiped out by the wasteful skill Wrath of the Fire Dragon. Those bug corpses reduced to ash probably could not provide anything at all!
"Ugh, what a losing deal!"
His experience was insufficient to level up, the skill he received was useless, and he did not even get the chance to loot corpses, his favorite thing!
"Fine, I'll just consider it pest control!" Xu Kun smiled and stepped onto a fallen chunk of rubble, preparing to enter the Desolate Shrine and complete the final two steps!
However, when only a short distance remained between him and the shrine, a chill suddenly swept through his entire body. The feeling of being watched by some terrifying existence was like ten thousand insects crawling all over him!
His instincts told him that if he took one more step, he would die!
Ding, you...
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