Taking advantage of the ghost's departure, Xiāo Hào decided not to farm monsters alone anymore. The efficiency was too low. He planned to try farming monster groups.
In the previous two attempts at farming monsters, Xiāo Hào had a general understanding of the monster groups. The monster groups consisted of three tribes: low-level Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp, Human-Faced Spiny Fish, and Primordial Snailfish. Among them, the Primordial Snailfish was both the easiest and the most difficult to deal with.
It was easy to deal with because it didn't have strong offensive capabilities; even if a Peacock Mantis Shrimp stood still and let it attack, it couldn't break its defense. It was the most difficult to deal with due to its monstrous HP and peculiar physique. Its body was entirely composed of gel-like substance, transparent with a slight tint like pudding, and immune to physical attacks.
Even if the Peacock Mantis Shrimp chopped it into mincemeat, it would reassemble like clay, showing no signs of damage. Only the Dark Erosion from the Shadow Seahorse could damage it, but it took a considerable amount of time. What Xiāo Hào lacked most now was time.
This was why he hadn't gone after BOSS-level Primordial Snailfish. If it took half a day to wear it down, the ghost would have already breached the Coral Shell House by then. The more you fear death, the more likely you are to die.
Xiāo Hào decided to target the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp. Of the three tribes, each seemed to have at least several hundred individuals. Xiāo Hào first sent out the seahorses and then had the Peacock Mantis Shrimp attract attention, while he hid in a corner to survive.
As soon as the Peacock Mantis Shrimp appeared, a Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp about two meters long impatiently charged forward. On the first strike, its two bulging, compound eyes were severed. On the second strike, its two extended centipede-like antennae were cut off.
On the third strike, before it could even retreat, its crocodile-like body was split in two. The Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp's flesh was neatly divided in an instant, and the blood vessels at the cross-section seemed to react, continuously spurting fresh blood. The Peacock Mantis Shrimp stood motionless, its two giant Emerald Sickles held across its body as if it hadn't moved.
This was because its swing speed was too fast, and before the afterimage remained, its Emerald Sickles had returned to their original position. Xiāo Hào happily received 10 Spirit Beads. The seahorses were in a bit of an awkward situation; they could cast Dark Domain together, but as different Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp fled in different directions, the seahorses' AoE skills could only follow one of them.
Fortunately, the eight-times stacked Dark Domain had a considerable range. Even if the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp within the domain scattered, it could still wear down the HP of several Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp simultaneously. The Peacock Mantis Shrimp brutally killed the first prey, and the crimson blood spread, stimulating the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp tribe.
The whites of the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp's compound eyes became filled with veins like centipede legs, the circular maw below its head tore open, revealing bladed teeth, and residual blood vessels clung like parasites in the water. The Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp swarmed the Peacock Mantis Shrimp. Even as the Peacock Mantis Shrimp swung its Emerald Sickles, it couldn't kill them all at once.
Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp that were not attacked successfully pounced onto the Peacock Mantis Shrimp, and their sharp bladed teeth grazed the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's Jade Armor. The Jade Armor was emerald green all over, and even when bitten, it remained as good as new. More and more Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp jumped onto the Peacock Mantis Shrimp, and the area around it became like a spherical meatball.
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp didn't use any skills. Those few slashes were just its basic attacks. If it had used skills from the start, Xiāo Hào feared it would scare these monsters.
Now that the monsters around the Peacock Mantis Shrimp were dense enough, Xiāo Hào ordered it to unleash its ultimate move. The two giant Mantis Scythes swung rapidly, their absurd speed like a high-speed fan on its maximum setting. The Peacock Mantis Shrimp was like a five-star chef, its exquisite knife skills slicing all the surrounding Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp into thin slices, even leaving neat gashes on the dark red ground.
Wherever the gashes appeared, the soil and rocks turned into fine sand. And all of this happened in the blink of an eye. The slices of meat in the water were so thin they were almost transparent; Xiāo Hào's vision could even pass through the floating thin slices of meat.
One small Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp after another charged forward, but before the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's Emerald Sickles, they were like mayflies trying to shake a tree. Soon, this stretch of sea was stained red with blood. The number of Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp was too great, and their coverage was too wide.
Among their bulging compound eyes, there was always one looking towards Xiāo Hào's position. This was also why Xiāo Hào was reluctant to provoke the monster group; he could easily be focused-fired. The Peacock Mantis Shrimp's attack shattered their courage, and the Shadow Seahorses were elusive.
Xiāo Hào was their best target. As expected, the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp couldn't afford to mess with the Peacock Mantis Shrimp, and unable to find the seahorses, their aggro all shifted to Xiāo Hào. Xiāo Hào felt like he had been screwed over.
He didn't dare to hide back in the Coral Shell House. One Deep Sea Ghost had already made the Coral Shell House precarious. If hundreds more Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp joined, Xiāo Hào might as well wash his neck and wait for death.
But where could he hide? If he got too close to the Peacock Mantis Shrimp, in case of a mistake, he too would be sliced into pieces. With Shadow Shift to the Dark Domain, these monsters could also sense him.
Each Shadow Shift only lasted for a few minutes, so Xiāo Hào could only use this time to lure the monsters towards the Peacock Mantis Shrimp as much as possible. Unfortunately, although these monsters weren't very smart, they knew to avoid harm and always avoided the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's position. Thus, it evolved into...
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp chased and hacked at these monsters, while the monsters chased and hacked at Xiāo Hào. Although the seahorses consistently cast Dark Domain, Xiāo Hào always felt they were just going through the motions, providing background support. He knew it would turn out this way!
As his Shadow Shift time was about to run out, Xiāo Hào simply climbed onto the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's carapace and ordered it not to attack towards its back, only to attack forward. For the rear, it was to use its Scale-Heard Tentacles to attack the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp. If the tentacles made a mistake, at least he wouldn't be killed, and he would still have a chance to use a blood agent.
The crimson tentacles either strangled, pierced, or flattened the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp, with pinpoint accuracy, missing Xiāo Hào's body by a hair's breadth, as if proving its control technique. But Xiāo Hào watched with a thumping heart. If its technique were truly good, it wouldn't have been bound by his own Scale-Heard Tentacles back then!
Xiāo Hào, sitting on its back, was like a statue. He dared not move. Completely dared not move.
He was afraid that if Xiāo Hào moved randomly, the tentacles might accidentally stab him. Eight seahorses cast Dark Domain with Xiāo Hào at the center. With their eightfold HP drain rate, if they stayed in the Dark Domain for one minute, the small monster Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp would be worn down.
Xiāo Hào used the Replay Gloves and cast Jade Armor. Once the armor was on, Xiāo Hào felt much safer. There were too many Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp; there were always stragglers that slipped through the gaps between the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's tentacles, biting towards Xiāo Hào.
Fortunately, the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp's teeth couldn't bite through the Jade Armor. Xiāo Hào was unharmed, but at the cost of accelerated stamina loss. The seahorses had to reveal themselves, swinging their black and gold tails with barbs at the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp next to Xiāo Hào.
The seahorses' tails also had four-ringed bone rings, and the force of their strikes was even greater than the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp's centipede-like antennae. This Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp that was biting at Xiāo Hào was struck by the seahorses, its sturdy crocodile-like body instantly suffering multiple comminuted fractures, slumping down like a fat sea snake. In a short while, Xiāo Hào received its death notification.
The eight seahorses were like the eight directions of a Bagua formation, surrounding Xiāo Hào and acting as his personal guards. They were only half a meter long, appearing smaller than these Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp with an average length of two meters, but their level was a solid 5, several levels higher than the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp, and they were rare monsters. Therefore, even based on physical attributes alone, the seahorses were not inferior to the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp.
More and more Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp died, and the smell of blood intensified, further stimulating this group of Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp. The eyes of the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp turned blood red, their reason gradually lost, and they surged forward like a tide. More and more stragglers appeared.
The Peacock Mantis Shrimp had the Immortal Physique passive skill, so it was fine, but the seahorses were getting more and more strained. Xiāo Hào led the seahorses through Shadow Shift to directly below the Peacock Mantis Shrimp. When the Peacock Mantis Shrimp unleashed its ultimate move, the meat slices rained down like willow catkins, creating a strangely beautiful scene.
Crimson dye splattered everywhere, bloody brains were like blooming white lotuses, frantic crimson eyes seemed to tell of despair, and broken bladed teeth showed utter stillness. Time seemed to slow down in this red seabed as dark red fine sand swirled, and the Emerald Sickles were like fleeting emerald light; where the light flashed, blood lotuses bloomed. Unfortunately, these million-dollar special effects couldn't last long.
Alright, to put it plainly, Xiāo Hào's stamina was almost depleted, and the Peacock Mantis Shrimp had to stop wielding its two proud Emerald Sickles. Xiāo Hào collapsed onto the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's carapace, his pale face looking as if he hadn't slept all night, with a look of utter resignation. Just as the Peacock Mantis Shrimp cleared the surrounding monsters, the Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp surged forward again.
Xiāo Hào, slumped on the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's back, was like a powerless sage, watching them approach with wide eyes. But was Xiāo Hào truly a sage who had seen through life and death? No.
He wasn't. Xiāo Hào had simply calculated the timing. After all, the Shadow Seahorses' Dark Domain and erosion were constantly ongoing.
The range of the eight-times stacked Dark Domain was much wider than the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's close-range ultimate. How could these monsters, who had lost their minds, sense their decaying bodies? The Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp within the Dark Domain had eyes as red as black, their paddle-like fins withered like the wrinkled skin of an old man, their grayish-white bellies looked like a pig's skin covered in dust, and even their centipede-like antennae made cracking sounds, as if about to fall apart.
Before these Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp could even pounce on Xiāo Hào, they had already become corpses. Their vitality eroded away, their heavy bodies fell like rocks with dull thuds, and several mounds of corpses appeared around them. The remaining Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp were scattered in twos and threes.
The deaths of so many companions finally awakened the deep fear within them. The Prehistoric Mantis Shrimp scattered and fled, while some, in their panic, ran directly into Xiāo Hào and were perfectly handled by the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's masterful knife skills. Xiāo Hào lay exhausted on the Peacock Mantis Shrimp's back, and the dark seabed returned to silence.
Carrying the limp Xiāo Hào, the Peacock Mantis Shrimp didn't forget to use its Scale-Heard Tentacles to support Xiāo Hào's sides, preventing him from accidentally falling. In this solitary seabed, its red diamond-jointed limbs pierced the ground, and the Peacock Mantis Shrimp took steady steps. The eight seahorses were distributed around, forming a moving regular octagon centered on Xiāo Hào.