Chương 98: War God’s : — Chapter 98 - I Have Good News and Bad News

"Flame Demon Dragon. Sub-dragon-type alien beast."

"It's a mutated variant of the Water Demon Dragon. At peak C-rank, body length around a hundred meters. This thing has sharp perception, and the scorching rock scales covering its body are extremely hard with some rebound capability."

"The toxic phosphorus flame burning on its tail symbolizes its life force. Burns year-round without stopping."

"When it goes out, that's usually when it's about to die."

"But..." Wang Xian paused.

"This alien beast is extremely cunning. It often uses this trick when injured: deliberately extinguishes the flame, sheds its scales, and plays dead to deceive enemies." The three followed beside him, listening in complete bewilderment.

"So don't judge how badly it's hurt by the tail flame."

"That'll only mislead you."

"The Flame Demon Dragon has one weakness. Three inches below its jaw is where it gathers the Malevolent Qi it inhales and exhales."

"Generally speaking, a dragon holds a pearl to transform into a true dragon. When this alien beast devours enough martial artists, it'll bite through the Malevolent Qi pearl hidden three inches below its jaw, using it to break through its limits and leap into a higher-tier dragon-form alien beast." Wang Xian glanced around at the increasingly hot underground abyss.

"In a place like this, the Flame Demon Dragon has a nearly inexhaustible supply of Malevolent Qi. The natural terrain is its greatest advantage. Plus we don't know what this place's Spirit Core is or where it's located."

"So if you want to kill this Flame Demon Dragon, the only way is to attack its weak point and force it into a weakened state."

"Otherwise, not much chance of winning."

"As for its moves." Wang Xian continued, "Three common ones. Breath-spraying lava: wide coverage, and it changes shape along with the flame lava it spews, catching people off guard. Flame Claw Gathering Sun: skilled at claw strikes. After an attack misses, it quickly condenses a Malevolent Qi ball in its claw as a secondary attack. Get hit by that and the ball detonates, instantly shattering the primal force barrier covering your body."

"The rest of its moves are ordinary. Just watch out: this alien beast also sheds its own scales and plays a self-detonation trick."

"The scales turn into countless penetrating projectiles that blanket the entire area like a barrage. Anyone hit gets injured. The only way to prevent this move is by striking its weak point, forcing it into a weakened state, and killing it in one go." The three nodded repeatedly. Every word filtered rapidly through their minds.

"If it's not this Demon Dragon, that'd be best." Wang Xian said.

"Because this kind of Demon Dragon is the most troublesome, the hardest to deal with."

"How did you determine it was a Flame Demon Dragon, senior?" Bai Xingyun asked.

"Just when we landed earlier, the moment the Malevolent Qi surged out. That was the Flame Demon Dragon's breath bursting from the bottom, stirring the Malevolent Qi cycle here and causing it to gush out. Within that Malevolent Qi was the scent of the Flame Demon Dragon's breath." So I said the smell was too strong. The three fell silent. When they'd landed earlier, they were still dizzy and disoriented... Forget analyzing what kind of alien beast it was.

Even if they knew such a beast existed, they probably couldn't have reached a conclusion that fast. Was this what a senior who'd weathered countless battlefields was like? His depth of experience truly was beyond what they could match. Still so much to learn! At that moment, the group had only advanced a few minutes. Suddenly, a faint blue arc of light flickered on all four combat suits. Wang Xian touched his suit. A tiny numerical value appeared on the chest:"30. 5%""That's the Malevolent Qi concentration..."

Xu Qian said quietly.

"This high right after entering, and the Malevolent Qi is laced with scorching flame breath. Good thing our deduction was right. We prepared this Ice Cloud Armor: it can significantly reduce the Malevolent Qi and flame breath here." Clearly, the three had done their homework before coming. They'd surveyed the surrounding area and conducted analysis, which led them to prepare appropriate equipment. As elite students from one of Dragon Nation's Five Greats, they weren't lacking in knowledge.

At the same time, their adaptability was extremely strong. In just a few minutes of walking, they'd already quickly adapted to the environment. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Wang Xian nodded to himself. Going to a good university had immense benefits.

"Wait!" Bai Xingyun raised a hand and said quietly, "Be careful. There are alien beasts ahead..." The cave descending from the stone platform was vast and deep, utterly dark without much light. Occasionally, a wisp of flame light wrapped in scorching aura flashed by.

"I can sense a stench in the faint air currents..." Bai Xingyun looked toward the darkness ahead.

"And... seems like quite a few..." Beside him, Xu Qian pulled several miniature stone spheres from a small pouch at her waist and flung them out. The spheres lit up with fluorescent light in midair, illuminating the bottomless abyss. In the darkness, hundreds of pairs of scarlet vertical pupils suddenly lit up.

"Ghost-Faced Poison Bats." Wang Xian said slowly.

"Four wings, six claws, wingspan of two meters. Judging by size, strength should be around mid D-rank, about 5, 000 life force. Some mutated ones have eight claws, life force nearing 10, 000." With a clear shout, Xu Qian stepped forward first. She drew the ancient wood greatbow from her back. The bow's surface was wooden, yet etched with circuit-like patterns. Ice-blue feathers adorned both sides, surely processed from alien beast materials. She also had a quiver on her back with only 10 specially-made arrows.

But Xu Qian didn't use them. She merely drew the bow lightly. Primal force surged from her palm, instantly gathering on the bow and forming several pale blue light arrows. Biu! The light arrows shot out. Over a dozen Ghost-Faced Poison Bats flying toward them were pierced through instantly, skewered and embedded into the stone wall above. Wang Xian nodded slightly. Fourth-realm strength, instantly killing these D-rank alien beasts.

Her archery was so skilled she wasn't even using full strength, holding back to conserve vitality. Clearly didn't want to waste time on these alien beasts. Except... The skewered poison bats instantly exploded. A large area of green poison cloud began enveloping the surroundings. The three startled. Their combat armor immediately generated form-fitting head coverings, covering their entire bodies just in case.

"The Ghost-Faced Poison Bats have already been infected by the dragon qi here..." Wang Xian spoke up.

"Killing them directly causes the dragon qi inside to detonate their poison sacs. The more you kill, the denser the poison qi becomes."

"You probably won't even make it to the dragon qi barrier mist behind them." The three frowned. At this rate, even if they killed these Ghost-Faced Poison Bats, before they even saw the Flame Demon Dragon, they'd be severely damaged.

"You must deliver a swift, lethal blow to the cochlea in their heads while they're unconscious. That's the location of the dragon qi infection. Only then will it not detonate."

"How do we kill them like that?" The three were puzzled. Wang Xian pondered for a few seconds, then took out the Blood Sound Conch he'd prepared earlier. He gently placed it in his mouth and slowly blew. An ancient melody spread out instantly at an extremely low sonic frequency. The next second, the Ghost-Faced Poison Bats that had been like a swarm of bees instantly froze, simply floating motionless in midair. The three watched in astonishment, minds momentarily filled with question marks.

"Strike!"

"Oh, right!" Xu Qian snapped back to her senses, immediately drew her bow and shouted clearly: "Stars Return to the Sea, Starfall!" Light arrows struck the air, instantly forming a sky-wide rain. Each one plummeted down like a shooting star. The Ghost-Faced Poison Bats fell rustling like leaves. The path cleared. Everything fell silent for a long moment. A flash of joy crossed the other two's eyes.

"Go!" The group immediately sped up and left the area. Not until they could no longer see a single Ghost-Faced Poison Bat did the three breathe a sigh of relief.

"It feels... too easy..." Bai Xingyun quickly looked at Wang Xian.

"Senior, what you used just now... was that the shell of an F-rank alien beast, the Blood-Sucking Sea Shell?" Coming from one of Dragon Nation's Five Greats, his eye for detail was extraordinary. He identified the material in Wang Xian's hand at a glance.

"Correct. This item is called the Blood Sound Conch. It's the shell of a common alien beast that can produce a strange sound." Wang Xian explained simply.

"Blown at a specific frequency, it generates infrasound that disrupts the sonic perception around Ghost-Faced Poison Bats, temporarily forcing them into paralysis."

"Not just Ghost-Faced Poison Bats. Quite a few bat species below D-rank will be affected." He put the item away.

"I've broadened my knowledge..." Bai Xingyun nodded. An old senior was indeed an old senior: not only widely knowledgeable, but carrying an endless wealth of things to learn from!

"Ghost-Faced Poison Bats should be a new type of alien beast, right?" Yan Zhaoxue asked quietly.

"Has senior encountered them before?"

"You could say I have." Xu Qian tugged at Yan Zhaoxue. The two didn't speak. They merely exchanged a glance. The senior not only knew their grandfather, but had also encountered such bizarre alien beasts. He probably wasn't just an ordinary senior who'd retired from the battlefield.

"Ahead should be the dragon qi poison barrier... We've already descended several hundred meters..." Wang Xian pointed at the dense, multicolored moss covering the ground ahead.

"Visibility is only a few meters. Rodent-type alien beasts will burrow out from underground: extremely troublesome."

"The Ghost-Faced Poison Bats earlier were infected right here." At this moment, the Malevolent Qi concentration displayed on their combat suits had also reached around 40%. Already very high.

"The combat suits have anti-poison mode, but visibility is low... can't see the road clearly." Wang Xian looked around and said:"Dragon qi poison barriers usually have a source. Find and remove the source, and you can significantly reduce the Malevolent Qi poison barrier. Forcing your way through will heavily damage the combat suits. You'll have to deal with the Flame Demon Dragon later: not advisable to exhaust yourselves here."

"You three stay here and don't move. I'll go and come back shortly." The three were just about to reach out and stop him. But they saw the senior already swiftly walking into the poison barrier. Not long after, they saw the senior walking back out, holding a long section of dead skin in his hand. The dead skin was covered in dense scale imprints, looking extremely dense and rather unsettling.

"I found the source of the poison barrier: it's this dragon skin. But I have good news and bad news." Wang Xian suddenly smiled.

"Which one do you want to hear first?"

"I suggest you listen to the bad one first."

"Let's hear the good one first!" Xu Qian quickly spoke up. The other two also nodded.

"The Flame Demon Dragon has shed its skin and is in a weakened state. Its strength has greatly diminished, probably only at the low D-rank level." Wang Xian pointed at the scale skin in his hand.

"This is its shed dragon skin. It's considered an excellent fourth-tier material, can even be used to craft some fifth-tier martial combat protective gear." The three exchanged glances, expressions brightening. Only low D-rank strength? Wouldn't that be easy to handle? D-rank was at most a few thousand life force points. Even with terrain advantage and Malevolent Qi boosting it, against the terrifying stats of four fourth-realm martial artists, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?

"Then... what's the bad news?" Yan Zhaoxue asked calmly.

"The bad news is, the one that shed its skin is a different one." Wang Xian said slowly.

"There might be two Flame Demon Dragons in this place." The smiles in the three's eyes instantly froze. ➤ Next: This Spear Is Called "The Arrogant Dragon Has Regrets," Read as "No Regrets!"