Chapter 326: Hunting Spirit Dog

Soon after, the crimson flames and silver lightning arcs dissipated, revealing dozens of red flying daggers with dim spiritual light, clearly indicating that their spiritual essence had been damaged. "Senior Brother Zhao, Fellow Daoist Wang, this mutated demonic insect seems unaffected by my native magical artifact, and it specializes in fire and lightning spell attacks."

Xiao Tianzheng said with a frown, a hint of worry in his eyes.

The mutated Four-winged Flying Scorpion's flight speed was extremely fast; the Silver Giant Ape's speed couldn't catch up to it at all.

He flipped his hand, producing a two-foot-long green jade ruler, and tossed it forward, striking it with a spell incantation.

After the green jade ruler burst forth with dazzling green light, it blurred, splitting into two, then four, then eight, and so on.

Soon, hundreds of identical green jade rulers floated in mid-air, striking towards the mutated Four-winged Flying Scorpion.

Zhao Wuji activated the long red blade in his hand, striking it with a spell incantation, causing the red blade to erupt with blinding red light.

A clear bird cry rang out, and a giant, entirely red crow flew out from within the red light, spreading its wings and pouncing towards the mutated Four-winged Flying Scorpion.

Wang Changsheng was also not idle, pouring his spiritual power frantically into the Ice Dragon Banner. After the Ice Dragon Banner's light greatly intensified, a deafening dragon roar echoed, and the Ice Dragon Banner transformed into a massive white flood dragon, baring its fangs and claws as it lunged at the Four-winged Flying Scorpion.

The green jade rulers struck the Four-winged Flying Scorpion's back, emitting a series of metallic clanging sounds.

Wang Changfeng manipulated the Fiery Cloud Banner, releasing crimson fireballs which struck the Four-winged Flying Scorpion. However, they had little effect, as the Four-winged Flying Scorpion itself specialized in fire-attribute spells, and ordinary fire spells couldn't harm it.

Although the mutated Four-winged Flying Scorpion's divine abilities were formidable, under the assault of multiple high-grade magical artifacts and several second-tier puppet beasts, it gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Realizing the danger, thunderous roars emanated from its body, and a large expanse of silver lightning bolts shot out, striking towards the white ice dragon and the giant crow. Its thin wings on its back flapped desperately, its speed more than doubled, as it dashed straight for the exit.

Wang Changsheng was already prepared; with a raise of his hand, the Profound Yin Sand flew out, spinning rapidly and transforming into a tall black wall, blocking the exit.

The mutated Four-winged Flying Scorpion let out a strange cry from its mouth, spewing several giant fireballs which crashed into the tall black wall, as rolling flames engulfed it.

It slammed head-first into the tall black wall, emitting a muffled thud.

Seizing this opportunity, the Silver Giant Ape opened its lower jaw, spraying a thick white beam of light which struck the Four-winged Flying Scorpion in a flash.

The Four-winged Flying Scorpion's body rapidly froze, turning into an ice sculpture.

This was precisely the ice-attribute spell, 'Chilling Light Art.' Wang Changsheng had placed ice spirit stones inside the Silver Giant Ape, allowing it to unleash ice-attribute spells.

Chen Yuhan conjured a green seal, which expanded to the size of a house against the wind, and swiftly crashed down.

"Boom!"

The ground shook violently, and the mutated Four-winged Flying Scorpion was flattened into a meat patty, utterly dead.

The other Four-winged Flying Scorpion had its wings severed, making its movements less agile than before. After a fierce struggle, it was ultimately cut in half by Zhao Wuji's blade.

"We finally killed these two demonic insects. Fellow Daoist Wang, you have so many second-tier puppet beasts. Are you a puppeteer?"

Zhao Wuji put away his magical artifact and asked curiously, his tone more friendly.

"I've only learned a bit and can craft some puppet beasts. The credit for eliminating these two demonic insects belongs to everyone."

Wang Changsheng said modestly, putting away his magical artifacts and puppet beasts.

Zhao Wuji and the other two nodded discreetly, not pressing further.

Of the two dead high-grade second-tier Four-winged Flying Scorpions, one was flattened into a patty, its hard shell unsuitable for refining artifacts, but its pincers and tail stingers could still be used for artifact refining.

Wang Changsheng and Wang Changfeng obtained one high-grade second-tier demonic core and the spirits of the two Four-winged Flying Scorpions, while all other loot went to Zhao Wuji and his two companions.

Wang Changsheng had contributed significantly, so it was natural for them to receive more valuable items. This "more effort, more reward" distribution satisfied both Wang Changsheng and Wang Changfeng.

He kept the spirits of the two Four-winged Flying Scorpions and gave the demonic core to Wang Changfeng.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, do you know of any other high-grade second-tier demonic beasts? Let's continue! As long as we don't encounter group-dwelling demonic beasts, we're sure to find something."

Wang Changfeng said excitedly.

Zhao Wuji shook his head and said, "I don't know. I was just lucky to encounter a high-grade second-tier demonic insect."

"Then how did you usually find demonic beasts when you hunted them?"

Xiao Tianzheng smiled and patted his spirit beast pouch, from which a ten-foot-long green giant dog flew out.

The giant dog had some gray patterns on its back, thick fur, and a sturdy, well-fed physique. Its mouth was open, and it panted continuously.

"Junior Brother Chen had tamed a Fiery Cloud Fox, which had an extremely keen sense of smell. However, after Junior Brother Chen's death, the Fiery Cloud Fox was returned to his relatives. The Spirit Hunting Hound's sense of smell is relatively sensitive, and many in our sect raise these hounds to search for spiritual herbs. Where there are spiritual herbs, there are often demonic beasts."

As Xiao Tianzheng spoke, he took out a large piece of beast meat and fed it to the green giant dog.

After eating the beast meat, the green giant dog stuck out its scarlet tongue and licked Xiao Tianzheng's palm.

After leaving the cave, a white cloud carried them slowly down to the ground.

The green giant dog sniffed the air a few times, then swiftly darted forward. Wang Changsheng and the other four quickly followed.

Five days later, they appeared in a dense green bamboo forest, where the Spirit Hunting Hound ran swiftly.

Not long after, the Spirit Hunting Hound suddenly stopped, barking frantically.

A dozen zhang ahead, beneath a patch of green bamboo, lay two palm-sized spiritual ganoderma mushrooms.

The ganoderma mushrooms were entirely verdant and translucent, emitting a faint, unusual fragrance.

"Azure Jade Ganoderma. Judging by their size, they're probably close to two hundred years old."

Xiao Tianzheng's face showed delight as he said with a smile.

A whooshing sound suddenly echoed, and hundreds of green wind blades abruptly descended from the sky, heading straight for the Spirit Hunting Hound.

The Spirit Hunting Hound reacted quickly, leaping on all fours and springing aside to dodge.

With a muffled thud, the ground where it had stood suddenly showed dozens of grooves of varying lengths.

As soon as the Spirit Hunting Hound landed, a green shadow suddenly burst out from the nearby weeds, biting its head like lightning. The green shadow was unmistakably a green python with a waist as thick as a bucket.

The Spirit Hunting Hound struggled violently, letting out a series of miserable yelps.

Its struggle was futile, and in less than three breaths, it collapsed to the ground. Its blood was brownish, clearly indicating that the green python was venomous.

The Spirit Hunting Hound died too quickly; Xiao Tianzheng had no time to intervene and save it.

A dozen emerald green giant cicadas flew down from above the bamboo forest, each one a second-tier demonic insect. The green giant cicadas had shriveled, slender tails resembling fish tails. The green python was over ten zhang long, a high-grade second-tier demonic beast.

"Azure Fish Cicadas and Green Patterned Pythons. No wonder no one has been able to collect these two Azure Jade Ganoderma mushrooms. Azure Fish Cicadas like to eat other demonic insects, and the unique fragrance of the Azure Jade Ganoderma attracts other demonic insects for the Azure Fish Cicadas to prey on. Green Patterned Pythons, on the other hand, enjoy eating Azure Jade Ganoderma. They have a symbiotic relationship."