Chapter 353

356. Chapter 356: Exotic Beasts

The vehicles moved along the abandoned highway, continuously penetrating deeper into the danger zone. Both sides of the road had already been encroached upon by dense trees. Nourished by abundant cosmic energy, these trees and flowers had undergone transformations, and familiar species were now unrecognizable. Entering them, the group felt as if they had arrived in a mysterious world.

The only thing with a modern touch was this mottled highway eroded by weeds.

But after driving for about eighty or ninety kilometers, this highway ended. Strange, large trees burst through the soil, growing on the road surface and destroying the path completely.

And at the end of this road, many cars were parked. Some were intact, some were scrapped, and some had been attacked by some creature and were left in tatters.

Clearly, Li Yi and the others were not the only group to have ventured deep into the danger zone.

Many practitioners in Tianning City had also explored here, but Zhao Zhao Fangji was lucky; he found his own opportunity, broke through his physical limitations, and his strength greatly increased, earning him the title of "Zhao Zhao Wudi" in this city.

"From now on, we have to walk. It's not far, only about ten-plus kilometers, but this stretch of road is very dangerous. We have already penetrated deep into the danger zone, and we could encounter any kind of extraordinary creature. If it's at the Soul Realm level, it's fine; the four of us can handle it by joining forces. If we encounter an extraordinary creature at the Spirit Power Realm level, then this trip will have been for nothing."

Zhao Zhao Fangji got out of the car, identified the path, and then pointed in the direction.

"Don't be so pessimistic, let's just move forward first."

Li Yi said: "It doesn't matter if we don't find the exotic fruit; just treat it as coming out to hone ourselves. I haven't really fought much since breaking through to the Soul Realm. Using some extraordinary creatures for practice is a good thing; it can both reduce the number of extraordinary creatures and complete the Golden Academy's hunting mission."

"Indeed, I also need to re-familiarize myself with my own strength after becoming a Soul Realm practitioner." Jiang Jiang Mingtian nodded, touching the magic sword at his waist, also wanting to take this opportunity to hone his swordsmanship.

Zhao Zhao Fangji said: "Since everyone is prepared, let's set off."

"I'll clear the path in front. The combat armor I'm wearing has high defensive power, so I'm not afraid of danger. Besides, I became a Soul Realm practitioner earlier than you all and have thoroughly adapted to my strength. You follow behind me." At this moment, Hu Fei, wearing sci-fi combat armor and holding a combat blade, stepped forward and said.

After speaking, he raised his hand and swung, cutting down a large tree to open a path, and strode forward.

Li Yi, Jiang Jiang Mingtian, and Zhao Zhao Fangji didn't stand on ceremony and immediately followed behind.

All four of them were fully armed, without the slightest carelessness.

Even though they were all Soul Realm experts, they didn't slack off on necessary preparations. Even Li Yi was wearing armor crafted from extraordinary metal and had the Needle of Fei's Eye hanging at his waist. Although he was empty-handed, his powerful Qi was ready to be unleashed.

"Li Yi, if we can't get the blood of a mythical creature, hunting a variant with mythical bloodlines by joining forces is also an option. The 'Life Cradle' thing shouldn't be wasted. That Azure Luan Eagle from before was quite good." Jiang Jiang Mingtian reminded at this moment.

"I've already let Lan Ji control the fighter to try and capture that Azure Luan Eagle. If successful, it can be used as a cultivation subject." Li Yi said: "But I'd still rather spend some money to acquire the blood of that Fei. Wouldn't it be better to raise a few Fei?"

The Fei's eye could nurture divine needles. If he could get more of them, he might be able to craft a great killing weapon with them.

Of course, this was just a concept, and whether it could come true remained to be seen.

The group continued forward.

But they hadn't gone far.

Suddenly, everyone's soul gave a warning, and a crisis appeared in the surroundings.

Everyone immediately kept quiet and then looked in one direction in unison.

On a lush, large tree not far away, a giant snake emitting a faint glow was coiled. The giant snake was somewhat peculiar, with two horns on its head and wings on its back. At this moment, the giant snake also discovered Li Yi and the others, flicking its tongue, vibrating its wings, and emitting a warning sound.

But this giant snake didn't attack, because it also smelled the danger brought by the few people.

"A Soul Realm level Feathered Snake, belonging to the extraordinary creature category. It's recorded in the Golden Academy's database. This thing is highly venomous; once bitten, it can poison a person's soul, which is very terrifying. Moreover, the Feathered Snake has huge potential and can continuously cultivate and evolve, eventually transforming into a mythical creature, the Feathered Serpent God."

Hu Fei, walking in front, revealed a look of deep wariness at this moment.

"Li Yi, should we make a move?"

Subsequently, Hu Fei asked for Li Yi's opinion.

Li Yi thought for a moment and said: "Can poison the soul? Even the Life Repair Pod can't save you. Forget it, don't fight it, go around it. If we accidentally get bitten, we'll lose someone. After all, the opponent is also at the Soul Realm and is still quite a threat to us."

He gave up the plan to hunt this Feathered Snake.

The others felt it made sense too.

It's better not to touch such dangerous venomous creatures.

After going around the large tree where the Feathered Snake was, the few people continued forward. The Feathered Snake was also wary of Li Yi's group and didn't take the initiative to attack. Both sides let each other go, and no conflict broke out.

After traveling a bit further.

Two sounds of rapid escape came from the forest again.

"It's a male and a female extraordinary creature, but their strength isn't strong, only at the Spirit Perception Realm. They sensed our arrival and the danger in advance and were startled away." Hu Fei said. He didn't pursue; the opponents ran too fast, and if they pursued, they could easily be led into some dangerous areas.

These extraordinary creatures aren't brainless; each one is smart as hell.

"Extraordinary creatures in the danger zone are really hard to hunt. They're either too dangerous or too alert. If this continues, we won't be able to complete the mission of hunting one hundred of them." Jiang Ming said.

Hu Fei said: "Extraordinary creatures deep in the danger zone have to fight and kill for survival every day; those that aren't tough are already dead. The ones that survive are the elite. The fierce beasts in the abandoned city area are different; they don't have much brains, lack honing, and their living environment isn't harsh, so they're easy to deal with."

"This is just like us practitioners; there's a world of difference within the same realm. For example, a Spirit Perception Realm practitioner from the Golden Academy, if placed outside, could kill Soul Realm practitioners across levels. With different environments, strength naturally differs."

"Not bad, that's the logic." Zhao Zhao Fangji nodded.

Li Yi, however, looked up at the sky at this moment.

If that's the case, the best way to hunt extraordinary creatures is to have air superiority.

But the sky deep in the danger zone is a forbidden area for aircraft. Once he releases the Thunder Fighter, the probability of being targeted is very high.

Thinking about it, he dismissed this idea.

The four people continued forward for a few more kilometers.

At this moment, the forest in front suddenly disappeared, and a large open space appeared. This open space didn't appear naturally but was intentionally cleared by some creature. There weren't even weeds nearby, and there were traces left by biological activity around.

The few of them seemed to have accidentally intruded into the nest of some creature at this moment.

They didn't have time to think.

Subsequently, their souls gave a warning again.

"Hmm?" Hu Fei gripped his combat blade, his whole body on guard.

"There's danger."

Li Yi's vertical pupils shone with divine light, his eyes rotating, trying to capture the abnormalities in the surroundings.

"Felt it."

Jiang Jiang Mingtian held his magic sword, and under the application of the Guidance Technique, energy was infused into the sword, emitting cyan sword light, sharp and incomparable.

Zhao Zhao Fangji also took a slight breath, ready for battle. He said in a deep voice: "When I passed this road before, no creatures lingered here. It must have appeared recently. The danger zone changes a lot; every month is different from the last, so every time I come here, I don't know what kind of danger I'll encounter."

However, just at this moment, a cry like that of a giant eagle rang out.

The sound had just appeared when, the next moment, a huge figure descended from the sky, whipping up a fierce gale. Sand and stones flew, and grass and trees were uprooted. Subsequently, this huge figure lunged directly at Hu Fei in front. Such an attack was swift and violent, catching people off guard.

"So fast." Hu Fei's pupils shrank abruptly. He almost instinctively slashed out with his blade, but his combat blade was blocked by a sharp claw over a meter long, covered in scales, sparking a burst of fire. Subsequently, he felt a terrifying force transmitted from his body.

Bang!

The air exploded, and the sound of a sonic boom echoed.

Hu Fei's figure flew backward, breaking countless large trees along the way, and finally sank deep into some mud.

Seeing this scene, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Are you kidding?

Hu Fei, who wore combat armor, held a combat blade, and practiced dual methods, was defeated in one blow?

The gale swept, and the crying didn't stop.

At this moment, everyone saw the appearance of this creature clearly. It was yellowish all over, its body was a full six meters tall, covered in thick scale armor. Its four feet were like eagle claws, sharp and indestructible. Its body was like a wild ox or a stallion, but it had a pair of thick wings on its back, and its head was like an eagle's, with a giant bird-like beak.

At first glance, it looked a bit like a griffin from mythology, but it was different. The few people couldn't recognize what this thing was at all.

But judging from the momentum, the opponent should be at the Soul Realm. However, the strength of this variant couldn't be judged by common sense, just like the Azure Luan Eagle from before; although it was at the Soul Realm, it could race against the Thunder Fighter.

"We've been targeted; we must kill it to continue forward."

Li Yi's vertical pupils shone with divine light, staring at this variant. He grabbed with both hands in the air, and two brilliant silver blade auras condensed into shape, then immediately slashed out, instantly striking the exotic beast.

However, the silver blade auras were shattered instantly, and the scale armor on the exotic beast didn't suffer the slightest damage.

"Such hard scale armor." Li Yi's tentative strike confirmed some of the opponent's characteristics.

That yellow scale armor wasn't just for show but possessed astonishing defensive power.

And this exotic beast, now in a frenzy, saw that Li Yi dared to attack it. With a flap of its wings, its massive body arrived in an instant. It was hard to imagine that such a size could have such terrifying speed.

Li Yi was shocked.

Although he had already unlocked his body's shackles and dodged at the fastest speed, he was still grazed by that sharp claw.

Just one lunge, and the protective Qi on his body was easily torn open. At the same time, the armor crafted from extraordinary metal sparked with large amounts of fire, and a deep scratch appeared on the armor. Fortunately, the extraordinary armor blocked this blow; otherwise, Li Yi's chest would have been ripped open, and his heart might have been dug out.

The exotic beast's seemingly simple attack seemed to contain the principles of combat, like a martial artist who had been immersed in martial arts for many years, tempered through thousands of trials.

"This beast..." Li Yi looked at the scratch on his chest, feeling his heart pounding.

With this kind of strength, it's only at the Soul Realm?

I'm afraid it's some kind of mythical species.

"Sword Levels the Four Seas."

At this moment, Jiang Jiang Mingtian seized the opportunity and killed his way out. He roared, all his body's shackles opened, his power exploded to the limit, and at the same time, his tendons, bones, and skin merged into one. His power twisted into a single force, and he slashed with his sword. It was stunningly beautiful, and the magic sword in his hand was one from the Dharma-Ending cultivation world.

At this moment, infused with cosmic energy, the magic sword shone brilliantly, with sword light spitting out nearly half a zhang.

However, this almost certain-hit sword was dodged.

The exotic beast's body shifted a few meters to the side in an unreasonable way. Several illusory afterimages even appeared in the surroundings. Although the distance shifted out of thin air wasn't far, it avoided Jiang Jiang Mingtian's strike.

"What?" Jiang Jiang Mingtian's sword missed, and he was shocked.

It can dodge this too?

Are you cheating, you beast?

However, the exotic beast responded with a swift peck, like a hen pecking at rice. The seemingly simple and plain attack made Jiang Jiang Mingtian break out in a cold sweat instantly, while his soul warned crazily.

The attack was too fast to dodge.

Jiang Jiang Mingtian finally instinctively tilted his head, trying to avoid the fatal vital point.

The giant beak fell and then quickly retracted.

The extraordinary metal armor on Jiang Jiang Mingtian's shoulder instantly dented. He let out a painful cry, his entire shoulder blade and spine were shattered, and the powerful force sent him flying backward. He rolled several times on the ground, ate a mouthful of mud, and only then managed to stop.

Fortunately, he survived.

If his head had been hit just now, it would have been absolutely over.

"Zhao Zhao Fangji, attack with me. I'll kill this beast."

Li Yi couldn't care about the safety of the other two at this moment. He had just adjusted himself when he let out a long whistle, his Qi exploded, and he flew rapidly, heading straight for the exotic beast.

"Alright."

Zhao Zhao Fangji gritted his teeth and roared, his whole body interwoven with silver radiance, all his body's shackles opened, and he charged at the exotic beast like a heavenly soldier wearing silver armor.

With an exotic beast of such terrifying strength, if they didn't kill it, none of them would survive today.

The exotic beast let out a sharp cry. It didn't intend to run away but flapped its wings to meet the two, clearly viewing Li Yi and the others as prey and intending to capture and kill them.

As the thick wings flapped, small tornadoes rose from the ground. Sand and stones flew, and the trees hit were uprooted and then churned into fragments in the gale.

Such an attack wasn't enough to be fatal, but once hit, one would be immobilized and left to be slaughtered.

Li Yi and Zhao Zhao Fangji reacted and didn't dare to charge head-on. Instead, they dodged left and right rapidly, trying to use their flexible figures to bypass its frontal attacks and find an opportunity for close combat.

The two Soul Realm practitioners moved extremely fast when their power exploded to the full.

Those tornadoes rising from thin air didn't sweep them in but were successfully avoided.

"There's only one chance. My Needle of Fei's Eye must have a miraculous effect. This beast can fly; once startled, I'm afraid it will escape with one flap of its wings. If we're held a grudge against, we won't be able to continue forward and will have to return home." Li Yi's vertical pupils moved slightly at this moment.

The only thing he could rely on now was the sharpness of the Needle of Fei's Eye.

Other means were useless; even if Li Yi had a cracked short stick in his hand that could make it fall asleep, he would never find a suitable opportunity for close combat.

Zhao Zhao Fangji also knew that Li Yi was hiding a divine light on his body, sharp to the extreme, which could easily sever bodies. He had suffered a great loss before, so he also wanted to create an opportunity for Li Yi to kill with one blow; otherwise, if they continued to fight like this, all of them would be finished.