Chapter 69 Chapter 69 "The pig wants it! The pig wants it!"...
Jiang Qing's goal was clear: to find and clear the randomly refreshed wild monsters in the arena, obtain rewards that could provide temporary buffs or special items, and accumulate advantages for the academy.
After a few short jumps, they arrived at a relatively open sea area, dotted with several smaller reefs. Based on the sporadic battlefield broadcasts received by the main island before, they inferred that strange beasts were lurking nearby.
"Search in a dispersed manner, keep your distance, and provide support at any time." Jiang Qing ordered.
Lin Wei's Blastoise dives underwater, becoming the team's eyes underwater.
Zhao Peng's Iron-Armored Bull stepped on a larger reef and looked around vigilantly.
Meng Yanlang's undead rats transformed into several imperceptible shadows, flying rapidly across the water surface to explore a more distant area.
Zhang Ke's vine monkeys used the limited reefs and sea water to set up some simple early warning devices.
Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba stood still, sending out signals of weakness.
The wild monsters' spawn locations are not fixed, but they will actively attack people. They only need a bait.
"Northeast, underwater energy reaction." Lin Wei's voice came over the team comms, speaking rapidly. "Very fast, heading towards us. It's quite large... close to the peak of the ninth level of the Mortal Rank."
"Prepare to engage." Jiang Qing cleared his throat and immediately gave the order, "Zhao Peng, prepare to withstand the impact head-on. Zhang Ke, maintain control and prepare. Meng Yanlang, look for opportunities to attack weak points."
As soon as he finished speaking, a huge column of water suddenly exploded from the sea surface on the northeast side of the crowd.
A huge monster jumped out of the water, splashing water all over the sky.
It resembles a giant octopus, but its entire body is a translucent dark blue. Its eight thick tentacles are dancing wildly, and they are covered with suction cups and spikes that flash with icy energy.
"It's the Ice Nightmare," Lin Wei explained to everyone, "It's a Level 9 Water/Ice monster. Its tentacles are extremely powerful, and it can spray ice rays and create an ice fog field. Its weakness is probably the ice core in its head."
The Ice Nightmare let out a low roar, and its two huge tentacles, like steel whips, lashed towards the Iron-clad Bull standing in the front and the Vine Monkey on the flank with a sound of breaking through the air.
"Harden the armor!" Zhao Peng roared.
The Iron-Armored Bull's body was covered in a bright ochre-yellow light, and it withstood the powerful blow head-on. However, the immense force still caused the reef beneath its feet to crack, and its body sank slightly.
The vine monkey screamed and jumped back nimbly, at the same time throwing out several vines to wrap around the tentacles, trying to slow down their speed and strength, but the cold air attached to the tentacles instantly made the vines stiff and fragile, and they broke one after another.
"Water arrows, water cannons!" Lin Wei commanded the Blastoise to attack from underwater, trying to attract the attention of the giant nightmare.
Several high-speed water bullets hit the giant nightmare's body, splashing water, but it didn't seem to cause much damage, but instead angered it.
The ice core at the core of the giant nightmare emitted a blue light, and it opened its mouth to spew out an extremely cold ice mist, which quickly spread to the surroundings. The sea surface began to freeze at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the temperature in the air dropped sharply.
"It's a domain skill, and we can't let it fully unfold." Meng Yanlang frowned. The undead rat tried to get closer, but was blocked by the oppressive cold air.
"Tianba, fold the space and send Meng Yanlang's undead rat above its head." Jiang Qing made a quick decision.
A silver light flashed in Zhu Tianba's eyes, and a small space door instantly opened under the feet of the undead rat and above the head of the giant nightmare.
The undead rat squeaked, turned into a black shadow and fell down, its sharp claws striking the ice core directly.
However, the Ice Nightmare reacted extremely quickly. One of its free tentacle suddenly raised up and accurately slapped the undead rat in the air.
"Shadow, dodge to the right." Meng Yanlang said quickly.
The undead rat twisted its body forcefully in the air, narrowly avoiding the tentacles' slap, but was forced to give up the attack and landed on a severely frozen reef nearby.
The first raid ended in failure.
Unfamiliar with the biological properties of Lanyuan, and with the differences between the exotic beasts in different regions, the true strength of the Ice Nightmare is beyond the actual cognition of the five people.
The ice field was still expanding, and the movements of the team members began to become slow due to the low temperature. A thin layer of frost even formed on the body of the Iron-Armored Bull.
Zhao Peng felt that the pressure on the Armored Bull was increasing.
"Tianba, can you try to use space tearing to directly attack the ice core?" Jiang Qing looked at Zhu Tianba.
Zhu Tianba tried to sense it and shook his head: "The energy is too strong, and its core is protected by a strong ice source. The space tear may not be effective in one strike, but will expose my position."
Jiang Qing frowned, his brain working rapidly.
Fighting head-on is not the solution, you have to outsmart it.
"Lin Wei, can Blastoise attack its bottom or the base of its tentacles from underwater? The defense there may be weaker." Jiang Qing said to Lin Wei who was on high ground.
"Okay, I'll try!" Lin Wei nodded and immediately communicated with Blastoise.
Blastoise dived quietly, looking for an opportunity.
"Zhang Ke, don't use vines. Try to use reefs to jam its tentacles. Zhao Peng, Iron Bull, prepare the shock wave and attack the moment its tentacles are stuck. Meng Yanlang, Undead Rats, continue to harass it and attract its attention." Jiang Qing tried to keep a clear head and command in an orderly manner.
New instructions were issued quickly.
Zhang Ke's vine monkey changed its strategy and no longer tried to entangle it. Instead, it used its strength to pry the larger reef blocks around it and accurately smashed them into the movement path of the giant nightmare tentacles.
Zhao Peng's armored bull also began to gather strength, its front hooves paddling the ground restlessly.
Meng Yanlang's undead rat turned into a black shadow again, constantly flashing around the giant nightmare's head, pretending to attack.
At this moment, the underwater Blastoise found an opportunity and fired its most powerful water cannon at the base of a tentacle that was deeply embedded in the seabed to stabilize its body.
Bang--
Water splashed at the bottom of the sea, and the tentacle trembled violently, causing the giant nightmare's body to become slightly unbalanced.
"Zhao Peng!" Jiang Qing shouted in his direction.
Zhao Peng understood and immediately began to operate: "Iron Armor, Shockwave, Maximum Power!"
The Iron Bull's long-condensed earth-type source power suddenly exploded, and the powerful shock wave spread forward in a fan shape, slamming hard into the Ice Nightmare who had lost his balance due to the damage to his tentacles.
The giant nightmare let out a painful roar, and its dancing tentacles stiffened for a moment.
"Tianba!"
Needless to say, the silver light in Zhu Tianba's eyes suddenly surged, and the space tearing that had been prepared long ago was released accurately.
This time, the target was not the tightly protected ice core, but the root joint connecting the two main tentacles that had just been exposed due to the imbalance of the body.
Swish——
A tiny but sharp black space crack passed silently.
The two huge tentacles that were dancing wildly were cut off at the root and turned into pure ice and water elements and dissipated in the air.
The Ice Nightmare suffered severe damage, and the roar it made turned into a wail. The ice field around it fluctuated violently and became extremely unstable.
Meng Yanlang's eyes lit up as he caught the gap in the attack.
"Shadow, it's your turn." Meng Yanlang raised the corners of his lips.
The undead rat was like an arrow shot from a bow. Taking advantage of the moment when the giant nightmare's defense was broken due to severe pain and loss of strength, it pounced on the ice core and injected the power of shadow madly.
Snap——
Cracks appeared on the ice core, blue light flashed rapidly, and finally it shattered with a bang.
The huge body of the Ice Nightmare suddenly stiffened, then collapsed with a loud bang, turning into blue light spots all over the sky, slowly dissipating in the air, leaving behind only a few "Extreme Ice Cores" emitting a strong cold air and a strange prop that was flickering with a faint light.
It was a horn that seemed carved from ice.
The Fifth Beastmaster Academy team successfully defeated the rank nine mortal beast "Ice Nightmare," granting them the temporary buff "Frost Blessing." For ten minutes, the effectiveness of all water and ice skills increases by 15%, and fire damage taken is reduced by 10%. They also obtained the special item "Ice Horn," a one-time item that summons a frost whirlwind, slowing enemies over a large area.
The system's prompt sounded in the competition area.
The main team also received a radio reminder at the same time. At that time, they were in a tug-of-war with the Second Academy, and the enhancement effect came just in time.
Lin Wei emerged from the water with an excited look on her face.
Jiang Qing jumped into the water, picked up the "Extreme Ice Core" and the icy horn, and handed the horn to Lin Wei: "Take this, it may be useful in a critical moment."
The main function of the Frost Horn is to summon a whirlwind. Lin Wei is the only water-attributed beastmaster present, and the Frost Horn can play a greater role in her hands.
Jiang Qing's gaze slowly shifted towards the crowd, his eyes, though tired, bright, "Clean up the battlefield and recover as quickly as possible. The buff time is only ten minutes, don't waste it."
Zhu Tianba came over and rubbed Jiang Qing's hand with his nose, as if to express satisfaction with his performance just now, and also as if urging him to leave this place where there was too much water and made him uneasy.
She paused, her eyes sweeping across the other platforms faintly visible in the distance, from where it seemed as if someone was looking over here.
Jiang Qing looked down at Zhu Tianba, smiled, and rubbed its head: "I know, I know, I'll go now!"
"The commotion just now was quite loud. I'm afraid it has attracted the attention of other colleges. We have to leave here as soon as possible and look for our next target." Jiang Qing said to the four people.
The team members quickly got back into shape. Under the enhanced effect of "Frost Protection", Jiang Qing's team was extremely efficient and quickly cleared out two waves of slightly weaker level 7 and 8 marine beasts, and once again gained some points and a small amount of recovery resources.
Zhu Tianba's adaptability to water seemed to have been forced to improve a bit in actual combat, at least he no longer shivered noticeably when launching space skills.
When they once again followed a vague message and found a suspected refresh point at the intersection of several reef areas, the situation suddenly became different.
Before getting close, a heart-pounding and violent aura came from the depths of the seabed, accompanied by low and chaotic roars, as if several powerful beasts were stirring frantically below.
The sea water was no longer azure, but a dirty dark color, and was constantly surging with ominous bubbles.
"The energy down there... is chaotic and violent," Lin Wei's Blastoise was the first to relay a disturbing message. "It feels completely different from the strange beasts we encountered before."
"Be careful and approach slowly." Jiang Qing frowned and became alert.
Zhu Tianba also became a little anxious, his hooves paddling the rocks restlessly, his amber eyes fixed on the surging undercurrent, and a low "kang kang" sound came from his throat, which was no longer fear, but more like a kind of... excitement.
Jiang Qing has not discovered anything abnormal about it yet.
The five people and five beasts approached the center of the energy source cautiously.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the sea surface exploded violently.
Several black shadows shot out like cannonballs, carrying with them a disgusting stench and a violent breath.
Those are three "sawtooth sharks".
However, they are slightly different from the sawtooth sharks that Jiang Qing knows.
Their body size is nearly twice that of ordinary sharks. Their originally gray-black skin is covered with dark red twisted lines. Their eyes are as red as blood, filled with pure desire for destruction.
The fangs became even more ferocious, flashing with a sinister cold light, and the aura surging around the body was extremely unstable, sometimes surging and sometimes plummeting.
Jiang Qing suddenly turned his head to look at Zhu Tianba. The moment he saw its appearance, Jiang Qing suddenly understood.
The compass jade was not brought to the mountain. Before the competition started, it was handed over along with other medicines and props.
But the situation of the sawtooth shark has made Jiang Qing understand what the current situation is.
Unexpectedly, the beast core power was refreshed in Lanyuan's arena.
The expression on Jiang Qing's face suddenly became much calmer.
This kind of thing is familiar after the first time. With so much experience, Jiang Qing can sum up his experience.
The first two times she was in a deserted place, no one answered her calls, and she had to handle everything on her own.
But this time it was different. The live broadcast of the game was surrounded by cameras and support teams ready to rescue at any time.
Jiang Qing completely let go.
"Three Earth-grade level one Sawtooth Sharks?" Zhao Peng, standing by, gasped, "What a joke!"
"Their condition is not right, as if... they are crazy?" The information conveyed back by Meng Yanlang's undead rats was full of disgust and vigilance.
"That's right." Jiang Qing confirmed Meng Yanlang's words. The so-called mutation is three times stronger, so the Sawtooth Shark in front of him is not Earth Rank One. "Their true level should be Earth Rank Four."
"!!!" The four of them stared at the ground and took a deep breath.
There was no time to think, as the three mutated sawtooth sharks had already discovered them. Their red eyes locked onto them instantly, and they rushed towards them with a violent momentum that could tear everything apart.
The speed was much faster than the previous Ice Nightmare.
"Defend!" Jiang Qing shouted sternly.
The attacks of these three mutant sharks were completely unsystematic, with only the most primitive and frantic biting and collisions, but their strength and speed were astonishingly great.
The shockwaves from the Iron Bulls could only slow them down slightly, and the vine monkeys' restraints were almost instantly torn apart by the violent energy from their bodies.
When Blastoise's water cannon hit them, most of it was absorbed by the dark red lines, so it had little effect.
The sneak attacks of the undead rats are also difficult to work. They seem to feel no pain and will fight back more frantically even if injured.
What's more troublesome is that the violent energy emanating from them is still constantly eroding the surroundings, making people feel upset and their source of power is slightly stagnant.
"No, I can't stop them at all. Their attacks are too crazy!" Zhao Peng's armored bull was violently knocked away by a crazy shark, and cracks appeared on the hard shell.
"My vines will wither automatically when someone gets close to them." Fine beads of sweat appeared on Zhang Ke's head.
Lin Wei tried to control the Blastoise, but with little success: "There's a stronger suction force underwater that's interfering!"
Her detections hadn't been wrong yet.
Zhu Tianba continued to use space distortion to deflect fatal attacks again and again, but it was obvious that he was consuming a lot of energy and his breathing became heavy.
Jiang Qing thought rapidly in his mind, trying to find a way to break the deadlock.
Zhu Tianba's abnormal reaction and the other party's unstable energy state made her realize that the key might not be these crazy sharks themselves.
"Lin Wei, where is the source of the suction?" Jiang Qing asked loudly.
"It's right below where they rushed out! The energy reaction is very chaotic, as if... there is a vortex!" Lin Wei answered quickly.
swirl?
Jiang Qing suddenly looked towards the center of the dirty and surging sea.
At this moment, perhaps because the crazy attack of the three sawtooth sharks stirred up the energy, or perhaps for some other reason, the center of the sea area suddenly collapsed.
A huge, pitch-black vortex suddenly formed!
In the vortex, dark matter as thick as ink leaked out. Those substances seemed to be wriggling with life, emitting an extremely uncomfortable coldness.
"What is that?!" Zhang Ke exclaimed instinctively when he saw this scene for the first time.
That aura made everyone and their spirit pets feel instinctively resistant and fearful.
Except Zhu Tianba.
The moment the dark vortex and dark matter appeared, Zhu Tianba's eyes suddenly lit up with an unprecedented light.
It stared at the deepest part of the whirlpool, where something seemed to be strongly attracting it and calling it.
The energy in its body even began to fluctuate uncontrollably, resonating with something deep within the vortex.
"Kang Kang! Kang Kang Kang!" Zhu Tianba excitedly rubbed his head against Jiang Qing, his hooves constantly pointing at the vortex of death, conveying an extremely clear intention.
Zhu Tianba: [The pig wants it! The pig must get it! ]
Jiang Qing patted its head, signaling it to calm down for the time being.
The vortex looks extremely dangerous, and the leaked dark energy is full of ominousness. Who knows what terrible things are underneath!
But this extreme attraction is something that Zhu Tianba cannot resist.
Zhu Tianba's desire was stronger than ever before. He even slightly resisted Jiang Qing's contractual constraints again. He stared at the vortex with red eyes and let out a low growl from his throat that was almost pleading and full of eagerness.
The energy in its body boiled violently due to this desire, and the diamond-shaped mark on its forehead burst into a dazzling light.
At the same time, the three mutated sawtooth sharks seemed to be affected by the changes in the vortex, becoming more manic and attacking more fiercely. The team was about to collapse.
"Jiang Qing! What should we do? We can't hold on any longer!" Zhao Peng shouted anxiously, and another hole was torn in the Armored Bull.
There is no time to hesitate.
Either you evacuate immediately and give up any possible opportunities, or you may not be able to escape unscathed.
Looking down at Zhu Tianba's condition, it was obvious that retreat was not within its consideration.
If the place where the vortex appeared was not filled with sea water, Zhu Tianba would have rushed up by now.
She gritted her teeth, a gleam of determination flashing in her eyes.
"Zhao Peng, Meng Yanlang, Zhang Ke, Lin Wei! Listen to my orders!" Jiang Qing's voice suddenly rose, drowning out the roars of the waves and the sharks. "Use all your strength! Give me ten seconds, at least ten seconds!"
Although they didn't know what Jiang Qing was going to do, out of trust, the four of them didn't hesitate at all.
"Iron Armor, charge violently, knock them away for me!" Zhao Peng roared, letting the Iron Armor Bull launch the strongest impact skill. He always has a quick temper.
Zhang Ke also gritted his teeth and let the vine monkey overdraw to release countless extremely tough reinforced vines, which tightly wrapped around the crazy shark.
Lin Wei also tried her best to control Blastoise to create a disruptive vortex water dragon: "Blassustine, high-pressure water tornado!"
Meng Yanlang and the Undead Rat were in the final tug of war with Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing suddenly looked at Zhu Tianba and glared at him: "Tianba, let's go! Go downstairs and get the things."
She made a decision, believing in Zhu Tianba's ability and willing to take a gamble for its opportunity this time.
"Kang——"
Zhu Tianba said nothing more, but let out an extremely passionate long roar. The power of space around him burst out with unprecedented intensity, and the silver light instantly enveloped Jiang Qing and himself completely.
Without any hesitation, it took Jiang Qing with it, transformed into a stream of light, and rushed directly towards the endless abyss.
After realizing what Jiang Qing was going to do, the four of them wanted to stop immediately, but they also knew that stopping at this moment would mean that Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba would be directly buried in the fangs of the Sawtooth Shark, and the four of them did not dare to gamble.
A strong sense of weightlessness caused by spatial teleportation and bone-chilling, corrosive dark energy hit at the same time.
Jiang Qing hugged Zhu Tianba tightly and could feel his body trembling slightly due to excitement and resistance to pressure.
There was a chaotic darkness before them, and only in the deepest part of the vortex, there was a dim light beating like a heart, attracting them.
Jiang Qing used the golden light shield to make a simple scuba diving suit, and then swam slowly towards the light spot.
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