Chapter 168 - 167: Six-winged Dragonfly

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Six-winged Dragonfly

Led by the Treasure-Seeking Bumblebee, Han Ning and dozens of Six-winged Dragonflies skimmed over the turbulent water, arriving at the flooded col to the southwest. This was a flooded area, but it was still within the boundaries of the mountain range.

A damp, putrid mist drifted above the water, emitting a nauseatingly sweet and fishy stench. Densely packed Energy light spots dotted the underwater area; most of them appeared as a dull earthy yellow or a muddy grayish-green.

Near a fissure in the mountain at the bottom of the water, several purple spots of light radiating pure Dark Energy were scattered about. This must be where the ore vein was located.

Near the mountain side, hundreds of bloated grayish-green things were floating. Looking closely, they were giant toads over a meter long, their backs covered in disgusting warts. They rested lazily on the water’s surface, emitting dull GURGLES from their throats as their sticky venom glands bulged slightly.

"BUZZ!" The Treasure-Seeking Bumblebee chirped urgently beside Han Ning, pointing its front limbs downward.

Han Ning suddenly understood why the Six-winged Dragonflies, which had the size advantage, had been driven away. Toads... were considered the natural enemies of insects.

"CROAK!"

The toad group below simultaneously spotted the dragonfly swarm in the air. A slightly larger Dark Gold toad Leader, nearly two meters in size, let out a CROAK. All the toads on the water sank beneath the surface with a SPLASH.

Immediately after, hundreds of muddy-colored venom streams shot toward the low-flying dragonfly swarm in unison, accompanied by a pungent, fishy wind.

The Six-winged Dragonfly swarm reacted quite quickly. Their wings flapped incessantly, narrowly avoiding most of the venomous arrows. However, a few couldn’t dodge in time. The toxic water splashed onto their wings and carapaces, causing them to let out pained hisses as HISSING white smoke rose from where the venom touched them.

"SCREECH!"

At this moment, an ear-piercing shriek exploded, sending ripples across the water below from the sheer force of the soundwaves. The ordinary toads’ movements simultaneously froze as they fell into momentary chaos.

The Dark Gold toad Leader shook its head, staring intently at the diving Han Ning, and let out a very nervous low growl.

Han Ning’s diving momentum was extremely fast, highly compressed cyan air currents gathering along the edges of his broad wings. His speed surged once more, and like a bolt of lightning tearing through the rain, he lunged straight at the toad Leader.

"CROAK!"

The toad Leader sensed a fatal threat. It didn’t try to take the hit head-on; instead, its fat body violently sank toward the bottom as its four limbs paddled, stirring up a large amount of sludge. Drawn by an invisible force, the sludge formed a rapidly spinning, thick, and viscous mud shield in front of it.

Han Ning’s sharp claws fiercely struck the mud shield. A massive viscous force transferred to his claws, causing his speed to plummet. At the same time, a heavy pressure enveloped his entire body, trying to drag him down to the bottom of the water.

Han Ning snorted coldly, the Power of Stars surging within his body. Flickering starlight flowed beneath his feathers, forcefully neutralizing part of the restraint. He flapped his wings, erupting a storm of air currents, and dense water vines silently shot out to entangle the toad.

"BOOM!"

The highly condensed cyan air currents continuously sliced into the spinning mud shield. The viscous mud shield burst apart on impact. But behind the shield, the vines Han Ning had fired hit nothing but empty space.

The giant toad’s body was as slippery as if it had been coated in oil. With a slick slide, it deftly avoided most of the vines, its figure disappearing deeper underwater.

"Trying to run?"

Under the Star Horizon, the toad Leader’s underwater stealth trajectory was clearly visible. Han Ning folded his wings and dove into the murky water in hot pursuit.

The moment he entered the water, starlight flowed around his body, forming a thin protective membrane that isolated him from most of the sewage’s erosion. The underwater visibility was extremely poor, but it didn’t have much impact on Han Ning, who had activated his Star Horizon.

Feeling Han Ning’s threat, the toad Leader panicked and drilled deeper into the ore vein fissure. However, Han Ning was faster. Starlight flowing on his sharp beak, he aimed straight for the vital spot on its back.

At the juncture of life and death, the toad Leader suddenly turned around and puffed up its giant vocal sac. A thick, almost tangible dark green pillar of venom, mixed with its accumulated Energy, sprayed out.

Han Ning was already prepared for this. Facing the incoming highly toxic water pillar, he crossed and folded his wings in front of him. The Star Dust light flowing on his wing bones instantly flared up, forming a sparkling, curved Starlight Shield.

"HISS!"

The highly toxic water pillar crashed against the Starlight Shield, filling the water with white smoke. Taking advantage of the moment the shield blocked the attack, Han Ning pecked his beak forward.

"SQUELCH!"

As his beak pecked down, a flash of deep, brilliant golden firelight flashed by, spreading onto the giant Lai Gao Bao’s body first. The Starfire penetrated the toad’s skin membrane, sinking straight into its body. The Power of Stars contained within erupted inside its organs.

"CROAK!"

The toad Leader’s body trembled. Its Dark Gold eyes lost their luster as its body sank to the bottom of the water. An earthy yellow Energy Light Group dissipated out and was absorbed by Han Ning.

[Druid growth progress +367. Current Level 10, 423/20000]

"Not bad strength; to think it could actually struggle against me for a round," Han Ning mused aloud. He had originally thought that after breaking through to Level 10, he would be able to instantly kill this Lai Gao Bao. He hadn’t expected to have to unleash Starfire. Then again, the power of this Starfire was pretty good, instantly killing the Lai Gao Bao in one hit.

With their Leader dead, the remaining toad swarm lost their backbone. Intimidated by Han Ning’s powerful aura, they immediately fell into chaos, scattering and fleeing in all directions, no longer daring to stand in his way.

Han Ning flapped his wings, and countless brilliant golden streams of fiery light shot out. Any toad that caught even a spark of the fire immediately shuddered all over, went stiff, and sank to the bottom. In the blink of an eye, out of the hundreds of toads, at least eighty or ninety died. The rest were surrounded by the dragonfly swarm and killed off for the most part.

Seeing Han Ning resolve the most troublesome enemy so cleanly and efficiently, the Six-winged Dragonfly swarm immediately let out excited and reverent hisses.

"HISS!" The dragonfly Leader flew over, looking at Han Ning with burning compound eyes, then gazing urgently at the underwater ore vein.

"Start. Dig out those ores," Han Ning commanded with a thought.

Receiving permission, the Six-winged Dragonfly swarm immediately hissed joyfully. They hovered above the water’s surface, their compound eyes flashing with faint purple light as if searching for the exact location of the ore vein. After locking onto their target, the Six-winged Dragonflies dove down one by one, sinking to the bottom of the water.

They stabbed their sharp front limbs into the crevices of the rock wall and vibrated them frantically. Under the vibration of their specially structured limbs, the hard rocks actually fell apart like soft dirt. The crushed stone and silt were washed away by the water current. Soon, pieces of ore of varying sizes, shimmering with a faint purple halo, were carried out by their middle limbs or mouthparts.

Their efficiency was extremely high, and they had a clear division of labor. Some were responsible for locating and digging, while others were tasked with transporting the excavated ores to a protruding rock on the water’s surface. A small pile of Dark Ores soon accumulated on the rock.

"Transport these ores back to our cave camp," Han Ning ordered the Six-winged Dragonfly Leader, leading the way in front.

"SCREECH!"

The Six-winged Dragonfly Leader immediately directed its tribe. Dozens of Six-winged Dragonflies picked up or grabbed the scattered purple ores one after another, following behind in a grand procession.