The vassal forces of Liang Ji and Peng Yue soon arrived at the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake's location and immediately formed up into battle formation.
"Draw!"
Peng Yue's Ice Soul Serpentfolk stood in the rear. At their leader's command,
"Fire!"
The next moment, a hundred thousand rune-etched ice arrows poured down like a dark cloud, blanketing the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake.
Hiss!
The Crimson Serpent Demon Snake instantly sensed something was wrong. It raised its head and hissed, red flames flashing across its crimson scales. Its tail whipped up like a massive lash, sweeping toward the incoming rain of arrows.
A clatter of shattering ice rang out as the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake's tail swept away countless rune-etched ice arrows.
But there were simply too many arrows. The Crimson Serpent Demon Snake swept away less than one percent of them. The rest struck its body, drowning it beneath their barrage.
Roar!
Its hiss turned into a roar. The thirty-some-zhang Crimson Serpent Demon Snake could not be killed by a single volley of a hundred thousand arrows.
Now riddled with arrows, the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake roared in fury and charged at the two vassal forces.
"Draw! Fire!"
"Fire!"
This time, Liang Ji's Half-Dragonfolk formed a shield wall at the front, giving Peng Yue's Ice Soul Serpentfolk even more room to fire without worry. At their leader's command, they loosed two more volleys in succession, twice engulfing the charging thirty-zhang Crimson Serpent Demon Snake.
After three volleys, the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake had suffered grievous injuries, but it had also closed in. The Ice Soul Serpentfolk had no time to fire a fourth volley.
"Flying Snake Spears! Throw!"
At that moment, the Half-Dragonfolk warrior chief, Chi the Fourteenth, gave the order.
The twenty thousand Half-Dragonfolk forming the shield wall at the front struck as one, hurling their Flying Snake Spears and once again engulfing the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake, which had charged right up to them, its body bristling with arrows.
Hiss...
This time, after suffering blow after blow, the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake could hold on no longer. It let out one last weak, despairing hiss, collapsed to the ground, and died on the spot.
"Excellent!"
In this battle, Liang Ji and Peng Yue's vassal forces had joined hands for a small taste of their strength. They had not even needed to test how sturdy the shield wall formed by the Half-Dragonfolk was.
Even so, Peng Yue still called out her praise.
Although Liang Ji's vassals had taken the front as a shield to protect her Ice Soul Serpentfolk, that did not mean they could only take a beating.
Who said an attacking shield wall wasn't still a shield wall? As long as it could wipe out the enemies coming at them and protect her vassals, it was a perfectly good meat shield.
"Liang Ji, I never expected your vassals to be so skilled at throwing spears!"
"Now I'm even more confident."
Liang Ji smiled. "I have you to thank for that."
By now, their vassals had swiftly cleared the battlefield and gathered the materials from the Crimson Serpent Demon Snake.
They had been remarkably lucky: they had even obtained a first-tier Crimson Serpent Demon Core.
"As we agreed, we'll split the materials and Demon Core we collected fifty-fifty." Peng Yue looked at Liang Ji. "Liang Ji, if you trust me, I can handle selling the materials and Demon Core. I'll pay you in Spirit Stones afterward. How does that sound?"
"Of course," Liang Ji replied with a smile.
In truth, Liang Ji could see the situation clearly. The Crimson Serpent Demon Snake they had killed had been peppered with arrows and spears. Its scales, flesh, sinews, bones, and other materials had been shot to pieces, leaving them in rather poor condition.
He could already imagine that the Void Demon Race they killed together next would likely be no better off than this Crimson Serpent Demon Snake.
If he tried to sell materials in such poor condition on the Star Net, he would probably get next to nothing for them.
But Peng Yue came from a Star Lord's family and should have connections for selling low-grade materials like these at a better price.
That way, he could earn a little more.
After clearing the battlefield, the two forces did not linger and continued onward.
There were no restrictions or rules for this Second Mock Exam. It was all about real combat: the only things that mattered were how many Void Demon Race members a Star Lord student's vassals killed in this demon lair and how they performed in battle.
If Peng Yue wanted to take first place among the ten schools, she would naturally have to kill the most Void Demon Race members—and the strongest ones.
And because she came from a Star Lord's family, she had already gathered plenty of information about the demon lair. She had even prepared a Rune Artifact specifically for locating the Void Demon Race. She knew where to go to find the greatest number of the strongest targets to hunt.
That was one thing Liang Ji did not need to worry about. His vassals only needed to follow the Ice Soul Serpentfolk's lead, form a meat shield to protect them whenever they encountered the Void Demon Race, and kill as many demons as they could.
Along the way, their vassal forces worked together to wipe out one Void Demon Snake after another. Most were ordinary first-tier Spotted Demon Snakes. The strongest was a forty-zhang Spotted Demon Snake, but the increasingly seamless teamwork between their forces killed it before it even reached the shield wall.
However, just before it died, the forty-zhang Spotted Demon Snake charged close and spat out a large cloud of venom and toxic gas.
The venom of the forty-zhang Spotted Demon Snake was undoubtedly a notch stronger than that of the thirty-zhang Spotted Demon Snake the Ice Soul Serpentfolk had killed earlier.
But this time, Liang Ji's Half-Dragonfolk stood at the front, taking the brunt of the attack. They blocked all the venom and toxic gas, keeping it from affecting the Ice Soul Serpentfolk behind them. Naturally, there was no chaos or poisoning.
As for the Half-Dragonfolk who had taken the venom and toxic gas head-on, their rune shields blocked most of it. The little that made it into their ranks could hardly hurt the Half-Dragonfolk warriors.
"So the Spotted Demon Snake really is the most common and weakest of the first-tier Void Demon Snakes."
"A forty-zhang Spotted Demon Snake is almost at the late first-tier stage. Its venom is stronger than the Half-Dragonfolk's Hegemonic Body can resist, but only by a little. A few pills are enough to deal with it."
Liang Ji couldn't help reflecting on it.
The strength of Void Demon Race members varied according to their species. Even within the same tier, there were differences in power. Likewise, the strength of a Star Lord's vassals varied according to their bloodlines. Vassals of the same tier could fight at different levels, making exact comparisons impossible.
Even so, the Star Alliance had a rough standard for comparison.
It was based on the strength of the Spirit Vein within a Star Lord's Natal Star. When the Spirit Vein reached the first tier (30%), its vassals generally had early first-tier combat strength. At first tier (60%), they could fight at the middle first-tier level. At first tier (90%), they could fight at the late first-tier level.
Of course, these comparisons only applied to their combat strength without equipment. They did not account for the Rune Artifacts, pills, combat techniques, or other methods available to a Star Lord's vassals.
For example, the Spirit Vein in Liang Ji's Natal Star had only reached first tier (12%). In truth, his Half-Dragonfolk warriors had yet to reach the early first-tier level.
What was more, the vassal warriors' strength was nearly halved inside this demon lair.
And yet, with teammates, rune equipment, pills, combat techniques, and tactics, they could still surround and kill Spotted Demon Snakes at the early first-tier level—or even the late first-tier level.
Before you continue