9: Chapter 9: Free Experience Points

After passing through the brown bears' territory, Tang Mo arrived at a relatively expansive grassland.

There wasn't a single tree in sight.

Occasionally, one could see the shadows of low-level monsters.

Where there is an anomaly, there must be a demon; Tang Mo walked cautiously on the grassland, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings, searching for the figures of level 10 monsters.

While this place was called a grassland, it was actually more like fluffy sandy ground, filled with raised sand dunes everywhere, with only a thin layer of turf growing on top, giving one an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Just as Tang Mo's attention was entirely focused on his surroundings, a rumbling sound suddenly came from beneath his feet.

The entire ground began to tremble.

Realizing something was wrong, Tang Mo immediately sprinted away.

The next second, a cylindrical monster with a diameter of nearly ten meters and a height of a hundred zhang suddenly burst out from where Tang Mo had just been standing.

Its bare body was full of elasticity, and atop the monster's head was its massive oral cavity, which formed a complete circle, lined with sharp, jagged teeth.

【 Earth Demon Dragon 】

【 Level: 10 】

【 Description: An advanced form of the Earth Dragon, it attacks targets based on sounds emitted from the ground. 】

Information about the Earth Demon Dragon flashed through Tang Mo's mind instantly.

He suddenly realized why he hadn't seen any monsters earlier; it turned out they were hiding underground.

Although the Earth Demon Dragon was entirely covered in a layer of elastic skin, Tang Mo knew that this outer skin was precisely the organ it used for gas exchange with the outside world.

Having missed its strike, the Earth Demon Dragon completely exposed itself within Tang Mo's Poison Barrier.

Without waiting for the venom to seep into its skin, Tang Mo immediately raised his hand and fired a Venomous Arrow.

Six Venomous Arrows instantly shot into the Earth Demon Dragon's body.

Subsequently, the venom spread rapidly through its body; the Earth Demon Dragon twisted its body in pain, then collapsed heavily onto the ground, completely motionless.

The entire process lasted only three breaths of time, and the level 10 Earth Demon Dragon fell beneath Tang Mo's Poison Barrier.

【 Killed level 10 Earth Demon Dragon, EXP +100, Poison Damage +1 】

"It seems the poison damage is still not enough; for a monster with such a massive body as the Earth Demon Dragon, it's still impossible to achieve an instant-kill effect upon contact."

"Come to think of it, is it really appropriate to place this level of monster in a beginner dungeon? Do they think no one can make it this far?"

Tang Mo muttered to himself while continuing to vigilantly observe his surroundings and the ground beneath him.

According to the books, the Earth Demon Dragon should be a gregarious monster.

Now that only one has appeared, it seems the rest are still hiding underground.

The loud noise caused by the Earth Demon Dragon falling just now had completely triggered a chain reaction underground.

Upon sensing the commotion, the Earth Demon Dragons hiding underground emerged from the ground one after another.

In an instant, the previously silent, expansive grassland was suddenly filled with Earth Demon Dragons.

Seizing the opportunity, Tang Mo fired Venomous Arrows rapidly at those Earth Demon Dragons.

The highly corrosive venom easily pierced through the Earth Demon Dragons' outer skin.

Several Earth Demon Dragons fell to the ground in response, and after twisting a few times, they also became completely motionless.

【 Killed level 10 Earth Demon Dragon, EXP +100, Poison Damage +1 】

Sensing the commotion, the Earth Demon Dragons swarmed toward the bodies of the fallen Earth Demon Dragons.

Lacking vision, they couldn't distinguish whether they were of the same kind; in just an instant, the corpses of the poisoned Earth Demon Dragons were completely devoured by their peers.

Tang Mo seized the time again and fired several more Venomous Arrows.

All of them accurately hit the bodies of the Earth Demon Dragons.

Several more Earth Demon Dragons fell.

The loud noise attracted other Earth Demon Dragons once again.

Tang Mo felt that perhaps these monsters had a natural propensity for cannibalism.

However, this was not within the scope of Tang Mo's research; right now, he only wanted to kill as many of these Earth Demon Dragons as possible.

Ten minutes passed, and Tang Mo retreated from the Earth Demon Dragon territory, panting heavily.

They were just too hard to kill.

After firing Venomous Arrows continuously for ten minutes, Tang Mo was exhausted.

Although his Poison Barrier could heal his wounds and replenish his mana, it could not replenish his physical stamina.

After not knowing how many Earth Demon Dragons he had killed, Tang Mo decided to give up on staying here to continue killing them; the efficiency of killing them this way was simply too low compared to before.

It would be better to go back and kill those level 7 or 8 monsters; it would save stamina and be more efficient.

【 Killed level 10 Earth Demon Dragon, EXP +100, Poison Damage +1 】

"Hmm???"

After leaving the Earth Demon Dragon territory, the kill notifications continued.

Tang Mo was full of confusion, "What is going on?"

It turned out that the Earth Demon Dragons that had been poisoned were themselves tainted with the potent toxin.

After being devoured by other Earth Demon Dragons, the toxin was passed on to those that ate them, thus becoming a case of one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch.

Tang Mo quickly realized this point.

"Could this be considered an unexpected surprise?"

Having gained a place for free experience points for nothing, how could Tang Mo not be happy?

He walked straight toward the outskirts of the dungeon.

"Then I'll use a two-pronged approach; I imagine the speed of leveling up this time will be even faster."

Fortunately, the monsters in the beginner dungeon respawned over time.

They respawned about every ten minutes.

By the time Tang Mo returned to the area where the level 7 and 8 monsters lived, those monsters had already respawned.

Tang Mo did not stand on ceremony and immediately began a carpet-style clearing.

【 Killed level 7 Gale Leopard, EXP +70, Poison Damage +1 】

【 Killed level 10 Earth Demon Dragon, EXP +100, Poison Damage +1 】

【 Killed level 6 Earth Dragon, EXP +60, Poison Damage +1 】

In less than half an hour, Tang Mo's level successfully reached level 6.

Seeing that there was no news from the Earth Demon Dragon territory, how could that do?

How could he let go of such a treasure trove of free experience points?

Consequently, Tang Mo returned to the Earth Demon Dragon territory once again.

By the time he returned, the Earth Demon Dragons had just respawned.

Looking at the devastation everywhere, Tang Mo naturally wouldn't use himself as bait again.

He threw the corpses of the Gale Leopards he had prepared in advance toward the Earth Demon Dragon territory.

To prevent the Earth Demon Dragons from being deaf and not hearing, Tang Mo specifically threw several of them.

Rumble~ Rumble~

The familiar sound came from underground once again.

A huge Earth Demon Dragon burst out from the ground again.

Its massive oral cavity, like an abyss-like maw, directly swallowed the Gale Leopards and the corpses of its peers that had been poisoned in the previous wave, and then it died.

Then came the continued chain reaction.

Watching the constantly flashing kill notifications, Tang Mo felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

However, while collecting free experience points here, Tang Mo didn't want to let go of those slightly lower-level monsters either; after all, with a two-pronged approach, leveling up would be faster.