Chapter 653: The Tentacle Beetle
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Soon, Lin Huang followed Zhao San's hunting team to a branch nearby. There were more than twenty hunting teams who patiently lay in wait for the monsters to come down from the branches. Lin Huang looked up at the branch and saw hideous beetles surrounding the entire branch. The combat level of the beetles were all immortal-level rank-3 and rank-4. They were around two to three meters long and were covered both black and white spots on their backs.
The only thing worth mentioning about this monster was the weapon in their mouth. The outer layer of the weapon looked like an octopus tentacle while the inner layer looked like a meat grinder lined with sharp blades. Lin Huang figured that this was one of the methods these bugs use that he had never seen in the monster encyclopedia. They would basically grab their prey with the tentacle before the prey are pulled in and ground in their mouths.
"We must be careful during the battle. Try not to touch the Tentacle Beetle's tentacles. Their tentacles can be both soft and hard. Aside from capturing prey like insects usually do, they can be used to pierce through bodies of its prey. Nobody below immortal-level rank-5 could break their tentacles. Even if anyone managed to break them, the Tentacle Beetles could regenerate new ones immediately." Zhao San reminded Lin Huang and the rest.
"The Tentacle Beetles only have two weakness. The first was the point where their head connects to their back while the second was located within their mouths. Usually, we'd only manage to attack the connecting point while others who excel in long-ranged attacks could try their hand at attacking the insides of their mouth. There was a gun master last year who managed to shoot into their mouths whenever it opened. All of them died immediately, and that particular gun master alone was more efficient than the entire team added up." Zhao San used a tone of respect every time he spoke of the gun master.
"Is the gun master still here?" Lin Huang asked. It was natural for him to be interested in other gun masters as he was a gun master who had never obtained an official license.
"He left since the very beginning and had only stayed on the 21st checkpoint for three days. The gun master left after asking around for some stuff. I heard he broke through the 30th checkpoint without stopping or he would've come back again." Zhao San smiled as he shook his head.
Lin Huang had expected this before he even asked his question. A powerful person would not stay too long on the 21st checkpoint. After a short conversation, the first Tentacle Beetle horde arrived from the branches. The hunting teams dashed toward the beetles accordingly. Since the sky had just turned dark, the Tentacle Beetles seemed to have only woken up and were moving slowly. It was the perfect time to kill them.
"The first monster horde is basically giving us points for free! Let's start killing." Zhao San stopped chatting with Lin Huang and dashed toward the monsters along with the rest. Lin Huang followed suit shortly after. The first monster horde seemed to be rather underwhelming. Although the combat level of the monsters was rather high, they were basically sheep ready for slaughter. There were less than thirty teams of over 200 people going against a horde of tens of thousands of monsters. However, the hunting teams were like tigers among the goats where all of the monsters were killed and disappeared immediately.
Zhao San's team was performing well. The six of them had managed to kill all the Tentacle Beetles they faced with one hit. Zhao San was an expert with the sword, and was at level-3 of the Sword Dao. He had trained extensively in speed, allowing him to move at breakneck speed while still maintaining the efficiency of his attacks. His attacks were accurate, and pretty much severing the heads of the beetles from their backs with just a slash. He would require explosive strength to be able to achieve such a feat if he were going up against another person as this attack of his would definitely fail if it was defended against.
Jiang Xin who was the only lady in the team was using a rather special weapon. She used a pair of short blades that were more than thirty centimeters long and two centimeters wide. Her movement seemed to match her weapon, making her look like a silent spirit when she was drowned in battle. She would stab her blades through the point that connects the beetles head and back. She lost the gentleness she had from when she was speaking to Lin Huang earlier.
The rest of the team was performing well too. The most powerful among them was the immortal-level rank-3 hunk who was holding a gigantic ax and managed to chop off the beetle's head with almost every slash. Meanwhile, Lin Huang seemed rather uninterested in killing the monsters. All he did was follow the rest from the back, killing the monsters that the other's had missed out on. He was so relaxed that he looked like a tourist who had just wandered his way into the midst of a war.
With Lin Huang's help in killing the monsters, Zhao San and the rest did not have to worry about the monsters that they missed. This allowed them to move twice as fast as they usually were. Since they did not miss many monsters, Lin Huang was only killing the stragglers with his telekinetic flying dagger. The flying dagger would pierce through the mouth of the beetle before it came out from its head. All of them were killed by their exploding heads. To Lin Huang's flying dagger, it made no difference regardless if the beetles' mouths were opened or not. Apparently, his method of killing was much crueler than the gun master they encountered a year ago.
Soon, an hour and a half had passed. The first monster horde finally ended when it was almost 9 p.m.
"The first monster horde is usually the easiest. The upcoming ones would get increasingly difficult. Each horde would usually end in an hour an a half to two hours, and we'd usually stay until the third horde before we leave halfway through." Zhao San and the rest gathered once more as Zhao San explained how they did things to Lin Huang before the second monster horde came.
"Why do we have to leave halfway through the third horde?" Lin Huang could not understand.
"The monsters in the first horde are usually not from this zone so they're basically free points. However, the monsters in the second horde are kind of hyperactive, like they've been drugged or something. The third monster horde will be rather difficult since there'll be some monsters from the 29th checkpoint." Zhao San explained.
"Are the monsters in the 29th checkpoint very powerful?" Lin Huang had no idea what kind of monsters were there on the 29th checkpoint.
"The monsters on the 29th checkpoint include the Velocious Swordfiend. They're immortal-level rank-4 but their speed is on par with monsters from immortal-level rank-6. Not only can they jump exceedingly far, they can fly as well. Their four sword arms are as powerful and sharp as a supreme relic." Zhao San explained.
"Another monster that's not in the monster encyclopedia…" Lin Huang imagined the monster's appearance in his mind after hearing the explanation.
"The monsters aren't that scary but they're quite sly when it comes to battles. They'd usually hide among the insects while waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch an attack. If we show just a slight flaw in our formation, we might actually be killed by the monsters immediately." It was clear that Zhao San had seen such monsters before as he explained in all seriousness.
As they were chatting, there were bugs chirping coming from the branches above. The second monster horde had arrived!