Chapter 710 - 433: Superpower ‘Defense Enhancement’

Chapter 710: Chapter 433: Superpower ‘Defense Enhancement’

The afternoon hours felt especially languid.

Under the sun, the flora of the wilderness swayed in the wind. Aside from the rustling of leaves and the incessant drone of cicadas, the only other sounds came from the birds, hopping on branches and occasionally letting out a few chirps.

After lunch, Lin Li packed up his things and resumed his culling of the Flame Rats.

He worked for nearly two hours. At 2:15 PM, Lin Li glanced back at the path he had taken, which was now dotted with smoking burrows.

In the two hours since lunch, he hadn’t bothered to keep count of how many Flame Rats he’d exterminated.

However, a quick glance at the smoking burrows spread out before him suggested there were at least one hundred and fifty of them.

If each burrow held at least six Flame Rats, that meant Lin Li had eliminated at least a thousand of them in just under two hours of work.

’I’ve killed over a thousand Flame Rats by myself. That’s a decent contribution. I’ll leave the rest to the others.’ Lin Li tore his gaze from the smoking burrows, turning to look out into the distance.

He had participated in the Flame Rat extermination as part of his civic duty as a resident of Rongcheng. Now that he’d done his part, it was time to attend to his own affairs.

’It’s strange, though. Didn’t the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild warn everyone that Tier Two Mutant Beasts were wandering around the lake?’

’They told us to watch out for ambushes from hidden Tier Two Mutant Beasts while culling the Flame Rats. How is it that I’ve been at it for hours and haven’t seen a single one?’

Slightly puzzled, Lin Li began heading deeper into the wilderness. After leaving the lakeshore and walking straight for seven or eight minutes, covering about half a kilometer, a sudden clamor erupted from ahead and to his right.

"Hmm?"

Lin Li strained to listen, but the sounds were too distant to make out clearly. He started walking in their direction.

...

In the overgrown wilderness, before a small copse of trees, five Exotic Beast Hunters stood in a panicked standoff with a massive Mutant Beast.

The beast was at least fifteen meters long with a triangular head and a relatively slender neck. The top of its head was covered in fine scales, while the scales on its back were light green, the outermost of which had a thin white line running down the middle. A terrifying, rattling sound issued from its mouth.

"HISS..."

The Mutant Beast that had cornered the five Exotic Beast Hunters was a colossal Bamboo-Leaf Green Snake, and it emanated the Spiritual Energy waves of a Second Order Middle Stage creature.

The team’s leader was a tall, square-jawed Exotic Beast Hunter with a tragically receding hairline and a cultivation level at the Second Order Middle Stage. The other four Hunters consisted of three at the Second Order Initial Stage and one at the Tier One Peak.

Theoretically, a team with their combined strength shouldn’t have been forced into such a desperate corner by a single Second Order Middle Stage Mutant Beast.

Yet the current situation had the Exotic Beast Hunter team completely suppressed by the Mutant Beast, unable to retaliate. It looked as if they were on the verge of being wiped out.

"Old Wang, the antidote! Quick!" the Hunter with the tragically receding hairline yelled to his teammate.

A closer look revealed that his face was slightly swollen, and the hand gripping his Spiritual Longsword was trembling faintly.

The poisoned Hunter with the receding hairline knew his condition was deteriorating rapidly; the venom’s effects were getting much worse.

If he delayed for even a few more minutes, he would completely lose his ability to fight. He had to inject the antidote immediately.

Hearing his teammate’s shout, the middle-aged Exotic Beast Hunter with salt-and-pepper hair quickly rummaged through his backpack, pulled out an antidote, tore open the packaging, and held it out.

The Hunter with the receding hairline took the antidote from his teammate, swiftly jabbed it into his arm, and injected the fluid into his system.

"Hooo..."

After using the antidote, he let out a long breath, and the trembling in his hands eased considerably.

"HISS..." The Bamboo-Leaf Green Snake flicked its tongue repeatedly, letting out a skin-crawling hiss. Under the sun, its light-green scales reflected a chilling glint.

Once the Hunter with the receding hairline had used the antidote, the snake no longer stared motionlessly at its prey. It lunged, launching its attack.

"It’s coming! Everyone, be careful!" the Hunter with the receding hairline—still not fully recovered—shouted a warning to his team. "Spread out! Don’t cluster together!"

"Right!" the middle-aged Hunter with salt-and-pepper hair and the others replied in unison, then scattered.

"HISS..."

The Bamboo-Leaf Green Snake shrieked, its massive jaws gaping to reveal its venomous fangs as it lunged at the Hunter with the receding hairline.

"Hah!" Facing the Mutant Beast’s attack, the poisoned Hunter—still not fully recovered—immediately sidestepped to evade.

After narrowly dodging the beast’s ferocious attack, he let out a great roar and swung his Spiritual Longsword, cleaving down hard on its body.

"CLANG."

The Spiritual Longsword, glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light, struck the Bamboo-Leaf Green Snake’s body, but it produced a metallic clang. Orange-red sparks flew from the point of impact.

"How is that possible?!!" The middle-aged Hunter with the salt-and-pepper hair and the others stared in shock, seeing the Mutant Beast completely unharmed by the Spiritual Longsword’s attack.