Chapter 774: Eighth-Rank Royal Beast! Qinglin Giant Serpent!

May 15, 6: 3 p. .

The setting sun stained the sky like blood; dense forest groves lay dim beneath the canopy of towering trees.

Xu Jingming unfurled his Lei Long Wings and flew low through the forest.

Below, the thorned sword-grass vines extended along the soil.

The SS-rank combat technique, Heart Net, had a sensing range of roughly three kilometers.

The thorned sword-grass vines could stretch five to six kilometers, spreading out to detect danger in advance.

Besides, his flight speed through the forest was slow anyway, and he'd need to retract his Lei Long Wings once night fell.

The thorned sword-grass could easily keep pace.

"The thorned sword-grass is decent for chores—scouting, digging pits, that sort of thing."

"But its offensive power is still too weak; it's mainly useful as a plant armor..."

Xu Jingming silently pondered, then asked in his mind:

"Eva, if I want the thorned sword-grass to break through to eighth rank, how soon can it happen?"

For him now, only an eighth-rank thorned sword-grass could truly assist in battle.

"At least a year, and even just the cultivation materials alone would cost at least tens of billions of Blue Star Credits."

Eva's crisp voice echoed in his mind.

Ordinary artificial intelligences couldn't transmit thoughts via spiritual force.

But Eva was different—she was an intelligent lifeform, having developed her own spiritual force.

In all but lacking a physical body, she was no different from a normal human.

In fact, she was even smarter.

"A year? Tens of billions of Blue Star Credits?" Xu Jingming frowned.

In a year, he might have advanced far beyond his current level.

By then, whether an eighth-rank thorned sword-grass would even help him was uncertain.

And he certainly couldn't afford tens of billions of Blue Star Credits right now.

"In the Second Era, the Flower Goddess once found a kind of plant holy water on Blue Star."

It could drastically accelerate the growth of plant life, allowing a low-rank plant to reach eighth rank in just a few months.

Unfortunately, in your Third Civilization Era, such a heavenly treasure has yet to be discovered."

Eva added.

The Flower Goddess's ability to possess multiple ninth-rank plant lifeforms owed much to this holy water.

"Forget it—I'll take it one step at a time."

Xu Jingming shook his head, temporarily abandoning the idea of further cultivating the thorned sword-grass.

He could nurture it later when he had the funds.

"Ying ying~~~"

He continued flying for a while longer.

The thorned sword-grass, assigned to scout, suddenly sent a burst of spiritual energy—something powerful had been detected ahead.

"Oh?"

Xu Jingming's interest stirred.

Anything the thorned sword-grass deemed a powerful beast had to be at least seventh rank.

"There's still plenty of time—I can get back to Nixi in six hours."

"I'll take a look. If it's manageable, I'll kill it."

Shhh—

His Lei Long Wings flicked slightly; Xu Jingming turned and flew toward the direction indicated by the thorned sword-grass.

When he was still three kilometers from the target, he activated the SS-rank combat technique "Heart Net" for active sensing.

After breaking through to mid-seventh rank, Heart Net's perception had grown far stronger.

Spiritual force surged forth—in an instant, every detail within three kilometers appeared clearly in his awareness.

He instantly knew how many beasts and trees were there.

Naturally, he saw the beast the thorned sword-grass had detected.

There, in the dim forest, a colossal serpent coiled motionless.

Its body was enormous—over two meters in diameter!

Its coiled form stood as tall as three or four stories.

Only because the wilderness trees were so tall did it remain inconspicuous.

Its scales were a lush green, like grass, gleaming with a metallic hardness under the fading sun.

Most notably, unlike ordinary pythons, it had two small horns on its head.

It was less a serpent than a dragon from ancient Xia mythology.

Yet this beast had no claws—only the horns.

"This is..."

Xu Jingming's heart jolted.

Beasts came in countless varieties, with new hybrid species emerging every year.

Even he couldn't recognize them all—but this beast's features were unmistakable.

He recognized it at once.

"Royal Beast—Qinglin Giant Serpent!" Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes.

He hadn't expected to encounter a Royal Beast on his way back.

More crucially, this Qinglin Giant Serpent's aura was only at eighth rank lower tier.

"An eighth-rank lower-tier Royal Beast corresponds to an eighth-rank lower-tier Grand Master with an S-rank ability—and even stronger."

At the same rank, beasts' physical bodies crushed ability users.

Royal Beasts crushed S-rank ability awakeners alike.

But to Xu Jingming, it was nothing special.

"I could try killing it—should yield plenty of ability points."

Xu Jingming retracted his Lei Long Wings and landed, glancing at the sky.

The sun had set, but the afterglow still lingered.

"It'll be fully dark in no more than ten minutes."

Releasing lightning abilities then would be suicide.

But ten minutes was more than enough to deal with it.

Crackling—

A storm of thunder erupted around him as Xu Jingming entered the enhanced Thunderstorm State.

Hum—

The Brilliant Thunder Ring rotated slowly behind him like a divine halo, radiating a faint aura of danger.

"Three kilometers is well within casting range—I can obliterate it outright."

Xu Jingming's gaze sharpened; the Brilliant Thunder Ring behind him spun violently.

Heavenly Thunder Art!!

Boom boom boom~~~

Dull thunder rumbled from the sky.

Then—a flash of light as a golden lightning bolt, as thick as a barrel, struck down from above!

Sizzzz—

The lightning struck the Qinglin Giant Serpent precisely three kilometers away.

"Ssssshhhh—!"

The Qinglin Giant Serpent shrieked in agony, its emerald scales charred black.

In pain, it looked up, puzzled.

Lightning?

It had been struck by natural storms before—but never had any bolt caused it such pain.

Still, it paid no mind, assuming this was just an unusually strong storm.

But then—another lightning bolt slammed down with blinding speed!

It had no time to dodge; the golden lightning struck its body instantly.

Pfft—

Many of its already-charred scales cracked open, crimson blood seeping out.

Something's wrong—very wrong!

This wasn't natural lightning!

It was a human ability user!