Almost every demon and monster in the Nine Provinces World had devoted considerable effort to the art of taking a beating.
Some could turn their bodies insubstantial, making ordinary physical attacks nearly useless. Some healed so quickly that they might recover faster than their enemies could hurt them. Others were wrapped in thick, tough hide that blunted almost any attack... But the most common approach among monsters was simple: be hard.
Scales, shells, tough skin, layers of chitin—or even plates of rock or Jin worn over the body. Countless demons and monsters had spared no effort to make themselves harder.
To them, being impervious to blades and spears was standard. Withstanding a Backstab from a Bed Crossbow was hardly rare, either. Along the Golden City Defense Line at the edge of the Northlands, there had even been a terrifying beast whose flesh a True Essence Crystal Crossbow could not pierce.
The True Essence Crystal Crossbow was an improvement upon the Sun-Shooting Heavy Crossbow. So heavy it could scarcely be moved, this colossal weapon loosed a bolt like a stream of fire. It could bring down a mountain or collapse a city wall; among a crowd, it left hundreds of yards of mangled flesh. Even an underground shelter said to withstand the shockwaves of a True Person Grandmaster's battle could be pierced with a single bolt, which would also shatter the iron dummy placed inside for testing.
The official who designed and built it was said to have ambitiously named the weapon the "God-Slaying Crossbow," meaning it could kill even a Demon God. Immortals and Buddhas were deathless, of course, and were another matter.
Ironically, in its very first battle, the "God-Slaying Crossbow" encountered an enemy it could not pierce.
That beast was later named the "King of the Wilderness," meaning