Although Bai Zemin's previous attack, which transformed into a skill called Crimson Blood Judgment, had not come into direct contact with the forest floor, the temperature of the flame from the Blazing Ring propelled by the strong tornado from the Hurricane Necklace had enough power to ignite the grass several meters below.
When the heat from the flame came in contact with the gasoline and highly flammable oil spread earlier, the ground automatically began to burn. In addition, due to the wind from the hurricane, all the flames began to spread southward, slowly burning the forest and getting closer and closer to the center.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the earth rumbled as if an earthquake was shaking the world. However, it was clear to Bai Zemin and the other two men present that what caused the rumbling was not an earthquake.
Roar!
A giant elephant beetle roared with its head held high as it ran in a straight line directly toward the buildings. Its body was surrounded by yellow flames that protected it from the crimson flames; however, the creature was obviously expending a lot of Mana to keep its skill active at all times.
Following right behind the giant elephant beetle, two mutated dogs whose fur looked like an iron plate, two black-furred tigers, three green-spotted cats, five huge snakes that were even bigger than a normal python before the apocalypse, and a fat bee with a two-meter stinger were rapidly approaching carrying murderous intent with bloodshot eyes.
The blood disappeared from Chen He and Liang Peng's faces at the sight of such a monstrous lineup of evolved beasts.
"It's the end!" Liang Peng couldn't help but exclaim as he tightened his grip on his hammer and prepared to fight to the death.
Being the slowest of the three, Liang Peng knew that running away was an impossibility for him so he had no choice but to fight whether he wanted to or not.
On the other hand, Chen He was not only scared by the sight but also for Shangguan Bing Xue... Did something happen to her? Considering the number of beasts that came out of the forest, the chances of her surviving were not very high...
Soon we'll join up again. He thought as he raised his crossbow and aimed at the flying bee with eyes filled with sadness.
In the midst of all this atmosphere, only Bai Zemin had an indifferent expression.
He looked at the First Order Blazing Beetle and couldn't help but blank out for a split second, remembering his battle to the death against a creature of the same type.
"Let me see how strong I've become." He muttered under his breath and narrowed his eyes as he placed one foot on the edge of the building before lunging forward with all his might.
Bang!
The edge of the building's concrete roof tore into pieces and Bai Zemin transformed into a shadow hard to notice by the naked eye.
Still in the air and taking advantage of gravity's momentum, Bai Zemin made a complete turn and while holding on to the Xuanyuan Sword slashed downward. Without skill and without any elegant style; pure strength and speed!
Boom!
The speed of the Blazing Beetle was not particularly fast and even back then Bai Zemin managed to win precisely by making use of his superior Agility; not to mention now that he had become countless times stronger.
The First Order beast did not even understand the situation and by the time it realized what was happening it was already too late.
The Xuanyuan Sword, a treasure capable of piercing through the defenses of almost any creature below level 40, might have difficulty piercing through the Blazing Beetle's defenses in normal times; after all, it was a mostly defensive beast. However, the current Bai Zemin was capable of raising the sword's power to new heights due to his Strength.
His attack struck firmly right on top of the giant horn, causing a thunderous explosion. His eyes filled with murderous intent met the beast's disbelieving gaze for a moment before something terrifying happened.
Crack... Crack... Crack... Bang!
Small sized cracks began to appear from the point of impact before spreading throughout the horn. However, that was not all.
ROAR!
The Fiery Beetle's eyes quivered in shock and it staggered back several steps as it roared in pain. Not because of the loss of its main weapon, but because its shell was cracking as well!
Under the surprised gaze of the two men behind, cracks spread across the entire metal armor of the Blazing Beetle before bursting into pieces!
The creature roared again in pain and the yellow flames that belonged to it were extinguished as crimson flames were expelled by the shockwave of the previous attack.
Flash!
There was a sharp flash and the next instant the roars of the Blazing Beetle came to a complete stop... Right in the center of the beast's head appeared a red line from which blood began to flow slowly.
Splash!
The head split in two and blood splattered everywhere, staining the cracked ground and attracting the attention of the other First Order creatures that were using the Blazing Beetle as a front charge to escape the crimson flames setting the forest ablaze.
[You have acquired the Soul Power of the First Order Blazing Beetle level 31. Mana +24, Magic +15, Health +12, Stamina +8, Strength +5].
Standing over the now collapsed body of the Blazing Beetle, Bai Zemin's gaze was indifferent and he couldn't help but sigh.
Who would have thought that a little over a week ago he had almost been killed by a monster of the same type he had just slain so easily? Back then, Bai Zemin was on the verge of death countless times, and even though he won it was a miserable victory.
Moreover, something that surprised him was that he also received another message.
[Blood Will activated. For the next five minutes, increase your overall attack power by 1% for each enemy killed and 0.1% for each surrounding enemy alive up to a maximum of 50%. Current status: 2.3%/50%].
Too bad, he didn't have time to study things too much since he was in the middle of a battlefield.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!...
Suddenly the wind swooshed and Bai Zemin couldn't help but let his expression change slightly. Without delay he hurriedly jumped forward, barely escaping from danger.
Right at the place where he was standing before, several green orbs struck the flesh of the Blazing Beetle and under Bai Zemin's astonished gaze the flesh began to be corroded quickly.
With narrowed eyes, he saw the five snakes looking at him coldly. A strange green liquid was still coming out of their mouths and every time a drop reached the ground the earth steamed and small holes formed.
Bai Zemin identified the snakes as a dangerous target and quickly charged forward. The snakes were not idle either as they began to bombard him spitting acid-laden green orbs.
Bai Zemin did not dare to take the giant mutated snakes' attacks head-on as he was not confident that his Full Coat would be able to withstand the acid corrosion so he quickly began to move in a zigzagging motion.