Chapter 167: Hunting Time
Above the Third Continent.
Holding his hand-drawn rudimentary map, Song Qi flew swiftly forward until he arrived at a volcanic crater.
Monsters at Level 90 and above generally possess a certain degree of human-form transformation skills. Additionally, while they might not necessarily master the laws of the universe, they all possess the ability to alter their surrounding environment.
To be more precise, monsters above Level 80 can use the energy within their bodies to reshape their habitats to suit their living preferences.
For instance, the Black-Gold Divine Oxen he had encountered previously loved soaking in swamps. Consequently, large swaths of swamps would form within the regions they inhabited!
Another example would be monsters that favored the cold; they would create a massive ice cavern.
Moreover, these monsters' environmental modifications were usually extremely crude and heavy-handed, making them look completely out of place with the surrounding terrain.
Therefore, he had long since marked those obviously anomalous regions on his map.
Such as this one.
The surrounding area consisted entirely of forests and grasslands, yet right in the middle, a massive, active volcano protruded abruptly.
Clearly, a monster with a penchant for fire and heat lived here.
Song Qi stowed the map back into his system space and plummeted straight down toward the crater.
Plop!
A vast amount of magma splashed outward.
"A bit hot, but not too bad."
With the Emperor Xin template activated, Song Qi swam leisurely through the molten lava.
To him at this moment, temperatures of several thousand degrees were no different than warm bathwater.
"Who goes there?!"
A deep, faintly angry voice echoed from the depths.
Immediately afterward, a giant, crimson-scaled lizard awakened from its slumber and surged up from below.
"Oh?"
"It actually shows up on its own."
"That saves me quite a bit of effort."
"Let me check..."
"Its stat panel is visible, which means it's just a little lizard that hasn't mastered the laws."
With that, Song Qi slowly reached out a large hand to grab it.
"Such an insolent little pest! Not only did you trespass into my territory, but you dare utter such wild nonsense. See how I—"
The red-skinned lizard raised its head...
Yet, the instant its eyes locked with Song Qi's, its heartbeat seemed to skip a beat!
!!!
A surging, overwhelming sense of crisis flooded into its brain!
Its scalp tightened instantly.
"Run!"
Without a second of hesitation, it wisely followed its instincts, whirled around, and swam frantically toward the depths below.
It could sense that the being before it harbored a higher-level power that vastly exceeded everything it possessed!
However, how could Song Qi possibly let it escape?
"Don't run, little lizard."
Song Qi grinned savagely as he gave chase.
The Emperor Xin [Henei] skill instantly activated!
The lizard monster, which had been fleeing blindly a second ago, suddenly turned blindingly furious, wheeling around to slaughter Song Qi at all costs.
However...
Bang!
Song Qi lashed out with a single slap.
The massive lizard, which had been hurtling forward with its jaws unhinged, had its head violently knocked sideways.
Several giant fangs flew through the air, and the blood spewing from the corner of its mouth intermingled instantly with the boiling magma.
Right now, his level was 67.
Emperor Xin had likewise advanced to Level 67!
His baseline physique and strength attributes already soared past 13,000 points!
Just judging by his stat panel, he was already a match for most high-tier monsters!
Not to mention, [Soul Link] was a law-tier skill!
Although it contained only a sliver of the world's origin power and the skills acquired after emulating Emperor Xin could only be considered pseudo-law-tier, against monsters of this caliber that had not yet grasped the laws, it was entirely a dimensionality-reduction strike!
The red-skinned lizard was completely dazed by the slap, and the terror that had just been overridden by rage flooded back into its heart.
"Wait!"
"You and I have no grievance or enmity, why must you—"
Before it could finish, Song Qi unleashed a full-powered uppercut...
"Hadouken!"
Boom!!!
A strength attribute exceeding ten thousand erupted!
A massive volume of magma was dragged along in its wake, and the entire active volcano was savagely torn apart right down the middle!
The lizard monster felt an excruciating pain in its lower jaw, and its entire face distorted grotesquely.
Yet it didn't end there.
Next, it felt its neck being hoisted into the air.
A horrifying, brutal force was pulling outward in opposite directions.
Before it could even beg for mercy...
Rip!
With a sound akin to tearing fabric, the giant red lizard's head and body were torn cleanly in half.
Following that, Song Qi hurled the head viciously onto the ground and brought his foot down with all his might!
Bang!
The entire head was stomped to pieces, exploding into countless fragments.
Dead beyond all doubt.
[Experience Points +12.1 billion!]
[Main Quest: Slay ten wild monsters of at least Level 90 or above. (5/10)]
Song Qi descended, picking up a dagger wreathed in roaring flames from amid the pool of blood.
"Four billion base experience points, plus a legendary-grade dagger."
"As expected, Level 90 monsters are still a bit lacking. Not only is the experience yield a huge cut lower, but unlike law-tier monsters, they don't steadily drop epic-grade equipment."
Song Qi shook his head and tucked the dagger away.
"Still, the main quest has advanced a step further. Killing five more Level 90 monsters will complete it."
"Now, as for the next one..."
He pulled out the map and scanned it for a moment.
"Let's head over here. I recall this place being shrouded in a thick layer of purple poisonous clouds."
"It should be some high-tier monster adept at poison; the Emperor Xin template happens to completely counter it."
"Besides, it's not far. If I pick up the pace, I can even save a triple-experience card."
With that, Song Qi switched to the Ying Zheng template and vanished on the spot with a spatial teleport.
Half an hour later...
At the center of the toxic clouds...
Whoosh!
A massive venomous insect, several meters tall with a stomach brimming with yellow liquid, burst out of the poison clouds with an expression of utter horror!
As it fled, it continuously shrieked for mercy.
"Screee!!!"
"Spare my life, screee!"
A Level 90 monster already possessed intelligence, so it was keenly aware that it was no match for the small creature before it, nor could it outrun him.
Yet the next moment...
Swish!
Space rippled, and Song Qi suddenly materialized right in its path.
By the time it wanted to turn back, it was already too late!
Its massive momentum carried it gliding forward several meters, crashing straight into Song Qi's fist.
Plop!
The venomous insect's head burst open instantly.
Its blood was startlingly bright yellow, and its toxicity was so terrifying that the surrounding air hissed and sizzled upon contact.
Yet when it splashed onto Song Qi, it seemed to lose all its properties entirely, failing to trigger even the slightest reaction.
[Experience Points +9 billion!]
Ding!
A pair of frost-gleaming, poison-coated talps materialized in mid-air.
Song Qi grabbed them without even looking and jammed them directly into his inventory.
A Summoner certainly had no use for claw weapons, so there was no need to even verify their quality.
He tapped open his stat panel and took a glance.
"Four more needed for the main quest."
"The triple-experience card has 40 minutes remaining."
"Also, it's getting late."
Song Qi glanced up at the sky; the sun was now reduced to barely a sliver.
Through a whole day of slaughter, dusk had unknowingly arrived.
"Sleep?"
"No, I might as well keep going..."
"Better skip resting for the next few days and finish this quest as quickly as possible."
Pondering for a moment, he retrieved the map to scout for his next target.
Going without sleep for a few days meant nothing; with his current mental attribute stat, it had zero impact.
For some reason, ever since morning, an inexplicable sense of urgency had been lingering in his heart.
He had a persistent feeling that some entity had locked its gaze upon him, and there was simply no way to escape it.