We encountered many nocturnal creatures along the way.
Reilo continued to collect novel biological specimens. According to the records in " Night's Veil Blood Demon ", the scholars who accompanied the expedition always made some new discoveries during each Crusaders. " Night's Veil Blood Demon " was just a record of the author's observations during one of the expeditions.
Fortunately, this is only the outermost contaminated area.
Protected by the life-giving Fear Tree, Reilo encountered no danger along the way. Several more heads appeared on the branches of the Fear Tree, like hanging fruits, wailing lowly as they continued to walk deeper into the mist.
After a long while, the sky darkened.
It looked like night would fall soon, and the pale red mist around us seemed to be thickening, making visibility increasingly poor.
Quack quack quack.
The Blood Demon Flower Forest here is much taller, and countless Blood Raven howl incessantly in the depths of the mist. Reilo looks up at the increasingly dense mist around him, his expression somewhat grave.
Obviously.
The Blood Raven Blood Raven here, like those on the first level of the Magic Eye Pyramid, are accustomed to roaming in the mist.
However, the mist within the first level of the Magic Eye Pyramid is eternally bound to the high sky by the pyramid's special magnetic field, so the Blood Raven there rarely leave the clouds.
But here...
As night falls, the dark red clouds in the sky begin to descend in the form of mist, and the Blood Raven' range of activity is no longer restricted.
"Even a Sky Knight, besieged by hundreds of Blood Raven on the outermost edge of the contaminated area, could barely move. Imagine if there were thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of Blood Raven... hiss..."
A chilling and ominous atmosphere permeated the air, filling the space with oppression.
Reilo took a deep breath and looked around, searching for a place to hide after nightfall.
Sudden!
As Reilo was searching for a place to take refuge for the night, the ground beneath his feet loosened, and a huge Black Shadow suddenly emerged from the soil. Caught off guard, the hooked venomous claw pierced Reilo's ankle, and after a brief moment of intense pain, he was paralyzed by the unknown toxin.
Suddenly attacked by this unknown creature, Reilo didn't even have time to activate the <1024 Nights> Guardian Shield before being dragged to the ground by a tremendous force.
"Parasitic toxin?"
Reilo could clearly feel the weakness and limpness in his body.
The venomous pincers pierced deeply into Reilo's right foot, dragging Reilo deeper into the dark, enclosed underground space.
As Reilo activated the <1024 Nights> Guardian Shield, with the help of the flickering light from a fireball, Reilo could vaguely see countless black claws, their length unknown, constantly dragging him along.
"A multi-legged, arthropod-like creature, adept at ambushing from underground."
Reilo smelled the odor of a human corpse.
The chelicerae of multi-legged arthropods are highly venomous. Even with Reilo's resistance to venom, his body gradually began to soften and become paralyzed, and the venom eventually penetrated into his nervous system.
With a "thud," Reilo fell to the deepest part of the cave. He could vaguely see countless skeletons all around him, obviously eaten by the multi-legged arthropod that ambushed him underground, and piled up at the bottom.
Inside the <1024 Nights> Guardian Shield, Reilo looked up.
This is absolutely a nightmare for claustrophobic individuals!
A dark, enclosed underground lair.
Below were countless skeletons, some still covered in blood and flesh, emitting a foul stench.
The only exit was blocked by this black centipede-like creature, over twenty meters long and half a person's thickness. Countless blade-like black legs crawled around, green smoke billowed from its mouth beneath its sharp pincers, and a pair of dark tentacles reached out towards Reilo.
If an ordinary person encountered this situation, they would probably have gone mad with fear and screamed hysterically.
Reilo remained calm, looking at his ankle wound oozing thick black blood. He felt nothing left, and then turned his gaze to the terrifying giant worm.
"Speaking of which... this is actually a decent place to take refuge at night. This specimen is also quite valuable for research, as even its own body's antidote couldn't resist it."
The words were lighthearted, but the actual situation was far from optimistic.
Reilo had no intention of wasting a precious Moon Mark here.
With a loud "bang," the attack, swift as a blur, pierced through the <1024 Nights> Guardian Shield in one strike and became lodged inside. Reno's left eye pupil suddenly lit up as the terrifying creature that had lunged at the <1024 Nights> Guardian Shield approached the unknown center and suddenly burst into a ball of muddy yellow flame.
Hiss...
It let out a sharp cry, slammed the <1024 Nights> Guardian Shield into the depths of the cave, and struggled incessantly, trying to extinguish the flames on its body.
Reilo, unable to withstand the poison in his body, slumped weakly against the depths of the cave.
He barely managed to lift the Crystal Lamp to look at the struggling monster.
"That guy!"
The dark, multi-legged arthropod did indeed resemble a giant centipede, writhing incessantly inside the cave.
The parts of the black carapace that were burned by the Gulan Sand Flame emitted a dense cracking sound, like countless pebbles rubbing against each other under a tremendous force.
Compared to ordinary flames.
The Gulan Sand Flame do not emit black smoke, but rather dust that returns matter to its original particles, like fine sand in the vast Furnace Desert, drifting into the air and then gradually falling back down.
Painful howls echoed endlessly from the depths of the cave. Reilo watched helplessly as the enormous creature was burned in two by the Gulan Sand Flame before the flames gradually died down.
A dense layer of bone meal appeared on the ground.
Reilo stretched out his palm and caught some floating powder from the air, which looked like ashes. Under the influence of gravity, it gradually fell to the ground.
"As expected of the <Starry Sky Academic> I've acquired since my first stellar evolution, although I've experimented with it many times, this is the first time I've used it in battle to reduce matter to its original powder particles."
The monster's body was severed in two.
Realizing how terrifying its prey was, the upper half of its head and body managed to escape from the cave, while the lower half of its tail struggled incessantly at the bottom of the cave.
"Uh, they escaped?"
After giving the terrifying tree above the cave a command with the agate ball, Reilo carefully examined the underground cave.
Besides countless large biological skeletons, there were also two human skeletons with some bodily tissues stuck to their bodies, clearly left behind by explorers who had recently been assigned to investigate.
"That Old Monster has really killed a lot of people!"
Countless greedy mercenaries have rushed into the mission issued by Corleon.
However, Reilo then shook his head.
"Those guys from the Balda Duchy are indeed too arrogant. I suppose the Old Monster must have already negotiated terms with them, which is why he's going to such lengths. Otherwise, even if all those guys from the Balda Duchy were to die, given the Old Monster's personality, he probably wouldn't even bat an eye, spouting such righteous nonsense to me."
It has to be said.
Over the past two weeks, Reilo has gained a deeper understanding of the Old Monster, Corleon.
Reilo stayed in the cave for almost half an hourglass.
With the help of the antidote, Reilo finally regained some consciousness. Despite the excruciating pain from the bandaged wound, Reilo's face lit up with joy. He used the remaining part of the Flame Soul Roaring Staff as a crutch.
The monster's tail inside the cave stopped struggling.
It appears to be completely dead.
However, just as Reilo approached, the more than ten-meter-long tail began to struggle once more, its hard carapace colliding with the cave bones, producing a crisp metallic clang.
"Heh heh, its vitality is truly tenacious."
Reilo's face actually showed a look of joy.
The cave is about thirty meters deep, and the entrance is less than one meter in diameter. It is covered by a layer of soft soil, leaves, and plant roots, so there is nothing unusual about it.
After Reilo floated to the ground.
The countless branches of the Fear Tree tightly bound the upper body of the giant centipede creature that had escaped.
Even broken in two, this giant centipede, as thick as half a person, was still over ten meters long and kept struggling.
On the one hand, the Fear Tree is helpless against this creature because of its hard shell; on the other hand, the creature's venom has no effect on the Fear Tree.
"Hehehehe, what a tenacious life! Since you just hurt me, you'll make amends with your own body. Speaking of which, I've done quite a bit of research on insects, but I've never had a collection as large as yours."
Reilo limped over.
Hiss!
It seemed to know the danger to Reilo, and kept howling at Reilo.
Reilo remained unmoved, stroking the hard black carapace as if admiring a work of art, tapping it lightly to produce a metallic "clanging" sound.
His right hand stroked the venomous claws of the strange insect, which kept clamping down, a warning to Reilo.
Reilo was not angry; instead, he smiled gently.
Sudden.
With a loud "bang," Reilo, who had been smiling calmly just moments before, suddenly had his petrified black fist slam into the guy's body.
"Behave yourself!!"
With a deep roar, Reilo finally revealed his true nature.
Already weakened, the worm nearly fainted after being struck by Reilo's blow.
Extending his index finger, Reilo gently touched the tip of the venomous claw, tasted the venom on his fingertip with his tongue, nodded in satisfaction, and once again displayed his harmless and gentle smile.
Gently stroking the pincers on the strange insect's head, as tenderly as caressing a lover.
"Don't worry, don't fret about your hard shell. Once you're on the Dissection Table, there's no creature a scholar can't dissect. Hehehe, as a scholar from a poor background, I've adapted to all sorts of harsh experimental environments. This place is quite suitable as your Dissection Table, isn't it?"
Reilo skillfully took out his toolbox and glanced at the sky.
"It's getting dark soon, so we need to hurry. It might hurt a lot in the next bit, so please bear with it."
Excited laughter echoed deep within.
The strange insects entangled by the Fear Tree let out mournful howls.
"I told you to bear with it! Does it hurt a lot? How about this? Hmm, you're screaming even more pitifully, does that mean it hurts even more? How about this... Oh dear, don't be angry, since you hurt me earlier anyway, consider it an apology. Let me try this..."
At first, the strange insects roared and Reilo in all sorts of ferocious ways.
After a while, only trembling, terrified wails could be heard.
In the end, fear and despair completely destroyed its will to resist. The monstrous insect seemed to have resigned itself to its fate, allowing Reilo to conduct various experiments on its body and record the data.
"Hehehehehe, your venom is enough to rank in the top three of all the poisons I've collected, and it's so huge. Maybe I should learn from Academician Corleon and cut off your claws and legs, leaving only your basic digestive system to use as a venom-producing factory?"
After more than ten days of contact, Reilo naturally asked the Old Monster about the Ancient Dragons.
The Old Monster didn't hide anything either.
When the Old Monster learned that a terrifying creature had flown in from the vast ocean, wreaking havoc in a small principality and roaring to collect its treasures, he, driven by his fervent passion for collecting biological specimens, rushed to the scene immediately.
But it turned out to be an Ancient Dragons.
Claimed to be the most perfect creature in the evolutionary history of the Star Curtain World!
The sealing process needs no further explanation.
Instead of finding the treasure, the dragon treasure itself became a prized possession of scholars.
During the subsequent specimen processing, some disagreements arose among the staff of the Corleon Biological Specimen Research Institute.
Everyone planned to handle the specimens using traditional methods, but the Old Monster Corleon had a bizarre idea: he cut off the dragon's wings, eyes, mouth, and everything else that could possibly be used for defense, turning it into a human pig, raising it like an animal, to provide the Grand Duchy with a continuous supply of Dragon's Blood —the raw material for the body-tempering agents of the various fortresses and military commands!
"Sigh, it's a pity we can't go back to the academy now, otherwise, I wonder how many Elite Rank points we could have earned. It's just a shame."
Reilo learned the Old Monster's habits, constantly muttering to himself during the dissection.
"Speaking of which, perhaps I should give you a name. What would be a good name? How about Nightfall Centipede No. 1? Hehe, forgive me for lacking the art of a bard. Speaking of which, Nine-Eyed Poison Centipede Loki is still thinking about my Ashes Dagger. Since he's called Nine-Eyed Poison Centipede, perhaps he'll be quite interested in you too?"