But from then on, Bai Yang and the Blood Brake Squad weren't nearly as lucky.
They no longer encountered small groups of beasts. Every group they ran into had at least three or four hundred monsters.
Bai Yang's perception was powerful, but if there were none, there were none.
It seemed the tiny beast groups had vanished completely from the Third Circle Layer.
For three whole days, the group found almost nothing.
Instead, several Intermediate War Generals were nearly surrounded and killed by beast hordes, leaving them seriously injured.
Bai Yang had to work hard to lead them out of the encirclement.
Fortunately, they had all been strengthened by Monster Cells and had astonishing regenerative abilities, so the squad hadn't lost anyone.
"This won't do. We're getting nowhere at this rate! Even if I send the Blood Brake Squad back and operate alone, I could only protect myself against beasts in such numbers. I wouldn't be able to wipe them all out."
Bai Yang began to wonder if he had come to the Third Circle Layer too soon.
He wasn't afraid of a lone Primary Lord-level monster.
But even a beast at the Advanced Beast General level became a tough nut to crack if it had more than two hundred underlings.
And here, monsters traveling alone were rare, let alone those with only a few underlings.
This gave him an even deeper appreciation of the power of a beast horde.
What would it be like when he built a War Base?
How many monsters would come to attack it?
And when that happened, he'd be on the defensive, without the advantage of being able to move!
Most of the time, he would probably be forced to take a beating!
"Master, have you forgotten about Psychokinesis?" An Zhengxin offered when he saw that Bai Yang was unhappy.
"It won't work. I've already tried it." Bai Yang had actually given it a try earlier.
"My Psychokinesis can ignore the number of weak monsters in an area and snap their necks or strike their vital points directly.
"But the weakest monsters here are probably Beginner War Generals! My Psychokinesis can't kill them in one blow when used against a whole group.
"In that respect, it's less lethal than using Spiritual Force to control flying weapons."
"So you can injure them, Master, but you can't kill them instantly?" one of the squad members suddenly interjected.
"That's right. I can only inflict minor injuries. Monsters have extremely strong vitality, so they don't even care." Bai Yang didn't mind being interrupted and answered directly.
The man was absolutely loyal to Bai Yang. If he thought something would benefit his master, he could summon the courage to offer advice.
So he cautiously added, "Master, why don't we try using poison? Many monsters aren't very strong, but their poison is terrifying.
"If we can inflict a light wound on them—even if it's just a small cut in the skin—and combine it with poison, wouldn't that..."
Bai Yang suddenly saw the light. So that was another option!
Exactly. It really could work!
Wasn't the Two-Headed Black-Line Snake from the original story exactly that kind of monster?
Delighted, he immediately asked, "What's your name?"
The slave was flattered. "My name is Yuan Jingfu!"
"Good. Yuan Jingfu, from now on you'll be the third-ranking member under me. If you have any ideas in the future, you can tell me."
Yuan Jingfu was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to thank him.
He was only an Intermediate War General, yet he now ranked behind Yang Wu and An Zhengxin!
More importantly, he had actually managed to help his master!
The idea was definitely workable. Bai Yang immediately began thinking through the details.
Why hadn't anyone in the original story done this?
Spirit Readers had no need for this method, while martial artists couldn't pull it off.
The reasoning was simple: the Two-Headed Black-Line Snake's venom was expensive and impossible to obtain casually.
Besides, the more powerful the venom, the more damage it would likely do to the spoils, making them harder to sell.
It was a losing proposition!
But Bai Yang was different. As long as he absorbed genes from monsters of that type, he could secrete the venom himself.
It might not be as effective as the original, but there was no shortage of it.
Especially since all he wanted was monster flesh. He didn't care whether it was poisonous.
And the poison he produced himself couldn't possibly kill him, could it?
That way, he could control more than a hundred flying blades.
Even a slight cut across a monster's skin would be enough to poison them all to death.
With that kind of killing efficiency, he wouldn't have to worry about most beast hordes.
The flying blades would be easy to deal with. He could use the teeth of certain monsters.
The main issue was choosing a poisonous monster. Its venom had to be potent enough to take on Advanced War Generals.
Thinking about it, wouldn't the Two-Headed Black-Line Snake be a perfect fit?
Bai Yang considered it for a moment. If the snake disappeared, Luo Feng might never encounter Li Yao's son, Li Wei, and the whole chain of events that followed might never happen.
That would disrupt the plot far too much. But Bai Yang wasn't one to hesitate.
He would look for the snake first. Perhaps he'd find an even better option along the way.
If not, he could secretly dig out some of its flesh to obtain its genes without killing it.
He carefully recalled the original story. The snake should be living near the Vanke Dream City residential complex.
Everyone took out the map and planned a route.
They deliberately went around the Carrefour supermarket where the Iron Armored Dragon lived, then quickly set off.
Heading from the Third Circle Layer toward the outskirts was naturally an easy, pleasant journey.
After facing major battles, the group felt the small monsters they encountered along the way weren't even worth the trouble of bullying.
Only Bai Yang stopped along the way when they happened upon a monster that could improve his sense of touch, absorbing some of its genes.
The group moved at great speed and soon reached the area.
The Two-Headed Black-Line Snake was originally as thick as a man's waist and about twenty meters long. Nearly parallel black stripes ran along its body.
The closer the stripes came to its head, the thicker they grew.
A creature that large shouldn't have been hard to find.
Everyone spread out to search, but after several hours, they had found nothing.
Thinking about it, the time was still early. They were a full three months ahead of the events in the original story.
"Could it not have moved into the area yet? This search area is enormous."
This was becoming a real problem.
Aside from this one, the only poisonous monster he knew of was the Black Widow Spider King. It was said to be beyond the War God level, and even it could be killed by the spider's poison.
Only the Spirit of Vegetation called Hundred Dew Grass could save it.
He took out his handheld computer and looked up the information. It really was the best poisonous monster for his purposes.
That was why it had sold for such a high price in the original story.
Without any clues, even his powerful perception and a Spirit Energy Meter couldn't help him find it.
Sharpening the axe wouldn't delay the work of chopping wood. Bai Yang thought it over and decided to keep searching.
He would have great use for this creature in the future, and he could afford to spend some time looking.
If he still couldn't find it, he would eventually offer a reward for the flesh of monsters like it.
Before you continue