10: Shadow Mantis

Activate "Divine Eye".

A giant eighty-centimeter mantis was perched on a tree.

Its two forty-centimeter-long scythe-like forelimbs were covered in bloodstains.

Its triangular head and two eyes were filled with bloodlust and slaughter.

【Shadow Mantis】

【Rank】Level 38

【Health】11985/18000

【Mana】6598/17000

【Strength】1560

【Agility】1420

【Physique】780

【Spirit】650

【Talent】Demonic Qi Contamination 3, Invisibility

【Skills】Bloodthirsty Slash, Flying Dragon Slash, Flash Slash, Swift Claw, Frenzied Bite

"Are its skills really that flashy?"

"It's also lost nearly 1/3 of its health and more than half its mana. Could someone else be around?"

Xu Le expanded his Mind Link to its maximum range. Within a radius of over 1,200 meters, he found no other creatures.

"In that case."

"This mob is mine!"

He commanded the Little Yellow Chicken to fly into the air and spit a white fireball at the Shadow Mantis's position.

The Shadow Mantis quickly leaped behind another tree, using the trunk to completely shield its body.

However, its red health bar could not be hidden from the Divine Eye.

Controlling the Little Yellow Chicken through the Mind Link again, he had it fly to the other side of the tree.

Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens.

Five Phoenix Clones appeared.

This time he didn't use "Meteor Fire Rain"; the mantis was too fast, and using it would just be a waste of mana.

Flame Shockwave!

Six fireballs flew toward it.

The Little Black Snake also crawled over to join the fray.

Swish!

The Shadow Mantis rotated the countless small eyes within its compound eyes, locking its gaze onto the original body of the Little Yellow Chicken.

Suddenly, it leaped up.

Flying Dragon Slash!

The Little Yellow Chicken's vision went dark for a moment as it saw the Flame Shield surrounding it flicker and shatter instantly.

The shield, capable of absorbing 5,200 damage, was sliced through directly by the two green scythes.

Not only that, but two large gashes were cut into its body, and its health plummeted to the bottom, leaving only a sliver of life.

Flame Shockwave!

The Little Yellow Chicken was furious.

It had spat out fireballs without dealing a single point of damage, and it had almost been killed in one shot.

Throw the Fire Phoenixes!

This time, it spat out three fireballs in succession, forming a triangular pattern to seal off the mantis's dodge paths.

At the same time, it didn't forget to command its Clones to spit fireballs, covering the mantis's location with fire.

Flash Slash!

The mantis was incredibly fast; with a kick of its two long green legs, its entire figure vanished from where it stood.

The Little Yellow Chicken's pupils constricted, and it hurriedly flew away, not forgetting to cast another "Flame Shield" on itself.

The red glowing egg-shaped shield had just appeared when it was shattered by the emerald scythes.

The mantis appeared directly behind the Little Yellow Chicken; its new strike was still aimed at it.

Snap!

The moment the glowing egg vanished, the emerald scythes had already slashed into the Little Yellow Chicken's body.

"It's over!"

"I'm getting first-blooded."

The Little Yellow Chicken closed its eyes in despair, only to find a flash of green light even faster than the scythes—Life Recovery!

Its health, which had been at the bottom, was instantly filled, and an emerald light barrier appeared at the same time.

This was the overflow healing shield from Xu Le's "Life Recovery" spell.

After fully restoring the Little Yellow Chicken's approximately 1,300 health points, over 2,000 points of shield remained.

The result was that it was torn apart like thin paper.

The Little Yellow Chicken spread its wings to fly, but the Shadow Mantis stuck to it, continuously swinging its forelimbs, killing it in less than half a second.

A fiery red egg fell from the sky.

The Phoenix Nirvana skill activated automatically.

For one minute, it could not move or use skills, just like a real egg.

The mantis's compound eyes were full of bloodlust, madness, and disdain.

As it fell along with the egg, its scythe-like forelimbs continuously slashed at the Phoenix egg.

Fortunately, the egg's double defenses were enhanced 100 times; otherwise, it would have turned into a puddle of egg liquid before hitting the ground.

Xu Le was furious!

In less than two seconds, the Little Yellow Chicken had been hacked into an egg.

This grudge had to be avenged.

The Little Black Snake's eyes were also blood-red as it used the "Deterrence" skill on the Shadow Mantis.

The Shadow Mantis used a "Flying Dragon Slash" to jump behind the Little Black Snake, dodging the "Deterrence" while crossing its two scythe forelimbs and slashing down fiercely.

A spray of blood flew out; even with the Little Black Snake's 80% damage reduction, its health dropped by nearly 1/3.

-1186.

A casual skill strike had actually dealt nearly 6,000 points of damage.

The Life Recovery skill needed 120 seconds to cool down; only 3 seconds had passed, and it was still far off.

Xu Le charged forward, wielding the demon slaying blade.

The bloodlust in the Shadow Mantis's eyes grew stronger. It was about to continue its attack on the Little Black Snake when it felt a gust of wind approaching and hurriedly dodged.

Golden Dragon Ascends to Heaven!

The Little Black Snake's tail whipped through empty air. A fierce glint flashed in its eyes as it prepared to use the "Elephant Swallowing" skill, but the Shadow Mantis smirked mockingly and appeared next to Xu Le in a single leap.

Bloodthirsty Slash!

The blood color on the two scythe forelimbs deepened, and a layer of bloody light emerged as it slashed directly into Xu Le's body.

-1.

Simultaneously, a green number, +1, appeared over its own head.

What the hell???

The Shadow Mantis was stunned.

The fatal blow it had planned for so long had turned into a +1. Although Bloodthirsty Slash focused on life-steal and had lower attack power, it should still have dealt nearly 4,000 damage.

What was this forced damage of 1?

Was this a joke?

Xu Le felt like his chest had been bitten by a mosquito; a 20cm long gash was sliced into his clothes.

He swung his blade back at the dazed Shadow Mantis.

Although the Shadow Mantis was dazed, its killing instinct remained; it snapped back to its senses while instantly retreating.

This was a losing battle.

It prepared to flee directly.

Despair Strangulation!

The Little Black Snake turned into a black arrow and flew behind the mantis, transforming into a soft rope that bound it tightly.

Just die!

The Little Black Snake twisted its body in anger, using all its strength to squeeze.

The Shadow Mantis raised its forelimbs, only to find the blade sections were tied down firmly, making it impossible to attack.

Its entire body was coiled round after round by the five-meter-long giant python, leaving it unable to break free.

Xu Le rushed over, raising his blade and stabbing into the gaps.

-989.

-985.

-956... Because he had no offensive skills, Xu Le stabbed seven or eight times in a row, and not a single strike broke 1,000 damage.

Seeing the struggling of the strangled demon monster grow weaker, the Little Black Snake finally breathed a sigh of relief, its face flushed from the effort.

With just that moment of relaxation, the Shadow Mantis gave a sudden leap, its body jumping out of the Little Black Snake's restraint.

"Elephant Swallowing!"

Without any hesitation, the Little Black Snake bit down directly.

The Shadow Mantis, having just escaped, went through a burst of movement then went limp; before it could flee, it was swallowed directly into the stomach.

Xu Le was startled and asked about the Little Black Snake's condition through the Mind Link. The Little Black Snake was about to say it was fine, but its health bar dropped a chunk, and its whole body began rolling around in pain.

"Spit it out!"

The Little Black Snake shook its head and continued to struggle.

If it spat out the Shadow Mantis, it would surely never be able to catch it again.

Xu Le watched the green and red numbers constantly popping up over the Little Black Snake's head.

+520.

-289.

-295.

+520... Under the Elephant Swallowing talent, the Little Black Snake could recover 510 health points per second. (The other 10 points were from the Life Wood Core recovery).

The other two red damage numbers were from the Shadow Mantis, which was still alive and attacking frantically.

Being inside the Little Black Snake's stomach, it couldn't use skills in the cramped space; even normal attacks were difficult.

Under the Little Black Snake's 80% damage reduction, it could only deal nearly 600 damage per second.

Xu Le stared at the Little Black Snake's health, ready to force it to spit the creature out at any moment.

6 seconds later.

【Experience Points +216980】

The Shadow Mantis was dead!

A white light rose above the heads of the man, the snake, and the egg; they had leveled up.

The Little Black Snake opened its mouth and spat out a skill book.