Invulnerable to All Poisons, Immune to All Negative Effects!

To kill a level 2 Exotic Beast normally, one would need at least eighteen or nineteen of them to reach level 3.

Chen Ming continued to venture deeper into the Exotic Beast Forest.

[Killed Spirit Stone Monkey (lv.3), EXP +25!]

[Obtained: Spirit Stone Monkey-Beast Core (lv.3)]

The further he went, the greater the number of Exotic Beasts became.

For others, this was a perilous land fraught with danger.

However, for Chen Ming, it was a never-ending source of experience!

[Killed Tri-Horned Lizard (lv.3), EXP +27!]

[Obtained: Tri-Horned Lizard-Beast Core (lv.3)]

[Killed Earth Rat (lv.3), EXP +26!]

[Obtained: Earth Rat-Beast Core (lv.3)]

[Obtained: Strength Rune Stone*1]

In a small hollow, Chen Ming finished his recent battle.

Looking at the rune stone that had dropped before him, he nodded in satisfaction.

"The Exotic Beasts in the forest seem to have a higher drop rate for rune stones?"

Chen Ming muttered to himself.

He didn't dwell on it, applying the newly acquired Strength Rune Stone to his Common Long Blade.

[Strength Rune Stone used successfully!]

[Common Long Blade: Strength +6!]

[Strength: 26!]

He glanced at his class panel.

[Level]: 2 (90 EXP needed to reach level 3)

[Strength]: 26

[Constitution]: 711/1200 (20%)

[Recovery]: 112 (12%)

[Agility]: 20

[Mental Power]: 238 (19%)

"Still 90 short; I need to kill four more."

The Constitution consumption from killing a level 3 Exotic Beast was about the same as when he fought level 2 Exotic Beasts at level 1.

This was Chen Ming's greatest advantage.

No matter what Exotic Beast he faced, the damage cap he received was always 1!

The further he progressed, the more powerful this ability became.

His Constitution cap would continue to rise as he leveled up, but the consumption required to kill Exotic Beasts at each stage remained almost unchanged.

For instance, if he were to reach level 10 or 20 in the future, with his Constitution reaching tens of thousands.

By then, when dealing with Exotic Beasts of even higher levels, a single battle would still only drain a limited amount of Constitution.

And if one were to factor in the automatic recovery effect of the passive ability Battle-Hardened.

Perhaps at some stage in the future, Chen Ming could truly achieve the feat of facing all enemies without taking any damage!

"A C-rank Battle-Hardened, in my hands, performs no worse than an S-rank skill."

Absolute Defense + Battle-Hardened.

It was like a legendary steed meeting its master.

"Hiss--"

Just then, a chilling hissing sound reached his ears.

Chen Ming felt as if he were being watched by something cold and sinister, and he frowned.

He tried to identify the source of the sound, when suddenly, he felt a chill wash over his head.

His body instinctively sounded a warning.

Without a moment's hesitation, he quickly dodged to the side.

The next second, a twisted black shadow flashed down from the tree canopy above, right where he had been standing.

A figure intertwined with green appeared before his eyes.

It was a two-meter-tall Green Snake with a wide lower body and two heads on its upper torso.

[Two-Headed Rattlesnake]

[Level: lv.4]

[Ability: Cross Poison Fang]

[Description: Prefers to hide in the shadows to ambush enemies; attacks carry poison damage.]

The two snake heads, one left and one right, fixed their pale yellow slit pupils on Chen Ming.

Its entire body was covered in cyan scales that glinted with a cold light, and the flicking of its tongues emitted an icy aura.

"A level 4 exotic beast with poison damage."

Chen Ming raised his hand to look at his arm, where there was a tiny wound.

[-1!]

He did not yet know how the effect of Absolute Defense would hold up against continuous damage like poison.

Regarding poison effects, the long-standing consensus had always been that "no matter how high the defense, it cannot block poison damage."

This was because poison damage did not break through defenses via physical impact, but rather by infiltrating and eroding the body from within.

Therefore, classes like Shield Guard that specialized in damage mitigation feared poison and other such negative status attacks the most.

However, Chen Ming felt that Absolute Defense, as a max-level SSS-rank skill, should provide defensive functions that went beyond just the surface.

He decided to take this opportunity to test it.

While Chen Ming was focused on his wound, the Two-Headed Rattlesnake was in no rush to attack.

Its combat style relied primarily on ambushes and poison; it rarely initiated a frontal assault.

Besides, it had already used Cross Poison Fang just moments ago, and the toxin should have already permeated this human's body.

It only needed to wait.

Man and beast fell into a strange standoff in this dark, low-lying area.

It was deathly quiet.

About a minute later, Chen Ming lowered his arm.

His guess had been correct.

There were no signs of the poison spreading from the wound on his arm.

Under the effect of automatic recovery, it had already completely healed.

During that time, no secondary damage had occurred.

The Cross Poison Fang launched by this Two-Headed Rattlesnake could only be counted as a simple bite.

Toxin?

Sorry, he was immune.

From this, Chen Ming deduced that he might possess another hidden ability.

Immunity to all negative effects!

High defense still fears poison?

Sorry, but if the defense of every single hair on my body is so high that your toxins cannot even break through, doesn't that effectively make me immune to all poisons?

"Very good."

Having discovered his hidden ability, Chen Ming was in high spirits, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Even the Two-Headed Rattlesnake opposite him looked a bit more pleasing to the eye.

However, it still had to be killed...

[-15!]

Chen Ming launched an attack against the Two-Headed Rattlesnake.

He went straight for it, blade in hand.

"Fighting two levels above my own, the damage is a bit low."

Seeing that his damage was only 15, Chen Ming's heart stirred slightly.

But it didn't matter.

Level 2 fighting level 4.

The advantage is mine!

[-1!]

[-15!]

The Two-Headed Rattlesnake's attacks were somewhat sluggish.

Every time it launched an assault, it needed to release its toxins, which required a certain buffer time; after all, its venom was not infinite.

After each attack, the Two-Headed Rattlesnake would observe its opponent's condition.

Under normal circumstances, it would only take a few Cross Poison Fang strikes before an opponent could no longer withstand the stacking poison damage.

However, today it had encountered its greatest nemesis.

By the end of the fight, the Two-Headed Rattlesnake's venom had been completely exhausted.

By the time it realized something was wrong, it had already been beaten to the point of total collapse by Chen Ming.

A venomous snake that has lost its venom sees its combat effectiveness plummet.

It could only passively endure the beating.

In this battle, Chen Ming's physique even increased instead of decreasing.

[-30!][-30!]

[Killed Two-Headed Rattlesnake (lv.4), EXP +46!]

[Obtained: Two-Headed Rattlesnake-Beast Core (lv.4)]

[Obtained: Dungeon Rune Stone *1]

"Dungeon Rune Stone?"

Chen Ming's eyes lit up instantly.

To think he could actually obtain this thing?

This was truly a good item.