70: Capture the Demonic Brain Worm

A thousand meters outside the north gate wall, an ancient tree reaching for the sky was engulfed in raging flames, but these purplish-red flames could only burn the outermost branches and leaves, unable to penetrate the trunk.

Around the tree, multiple battles were unfolding simultaneously.

Thunder Dragonfly and Heavenly Star Bird were leading a Silver Rank flying bird on a stroll; Flowing Fire Ice Lion was circling with a Silver Level 5 lion; Poison Flame White Wolf used a kiting strategy, infuriating the weakest Silver Rank Yao Beast into roaring and screeching... None of them engaged head-on, merely dragging their opponents to buy time.

After the monster-hunting team arrived, each Demon Tamer's Beast found its own opponent, luring away one Gold and seven Silver enemies, but this made the Magic Sound Brain Worm very alert. It changed its position, hiding deep within the dense foliage of the tree and refusing to show itself.

For a moment, Xie Ning, who hadn't brought the Wind-Listening Rabbit, couldn't locate it either.

"Xie Ning, be careful yourself."

After saying this, Money Dragon took the lead, leaping over the flames and flipping through the branches, climbing higher and higher.

Xie Ning also passed through the burning flames with Little Mantis.

Crossing the burning leaves and entering the trunk, they found it cool and shady inside. Poison Flame White Wolf's flames hadn't burned into the tree, blocked by some unknown energy.

"Split up and search!" Money Dragon's voice came from above.

Xie Ning and Supersonic Mantis each chose a direction, moving swiftly upward from below.

The strange energy of Supersonic Mantis provided Xie Ning with its greatest assistance: increased speed. It didn't make one instantly much faster but reduced resistance during movement, allowing the fastest speed with minimal effort.

While rapidly ascending, they soon heard Money Dragon say, "I found it!"

Xie Ning looked up diagonally. Where Money Dragon pointed was a thick clump of leaves, with numerous slender energy tentacles extending from them, emitting signal sources.

Money Dragon took out a black metal spear and charged forward.

"Be careful!"

As Xie Ning's voice fell, the space above the leaves twisted, revealing a Gold Rank Yao Beast with four blade arms but shaped like a cockroach. It raised its four blade arms, cutting the metal spear into several pieces, then charged, knocking Money Dragon flying.

Then it turned its ugly head toward Xie Ning.

Both sides stared for two seconds. Xie Ning slowly retreated, but unfortunately, this Gold Rank Yao Beast had no intention of stopping. Its wing membranes spread, and it flew toward Xie Ning. At the critical moment, Supersonic Mantis arrived, pulling Xie Ning to dodge the attack.

This Yao Beast was an extremely rare Four-Armed Flying Cockroach, fast in speed and fierce in attack. Most crucially, it possessed a unique concealment technique. Once concealed, no one could detect it. Over the years, no one has ever discovered how they conceal themselves. They are numerous but act arrogantly, never cooperating, belonging to the category of strong solo combatants.

Because of this, although this type of Yao Beast is detested, they can never be fully exterminated, and their appearance often brings death.

This Four-Armed Flying Cockroach was clearly the Magic Sound Brain Worm's last line of defense, but currently, this defense was chasing Xie Ning.

Money Dragon grabbed, retracting the Sand Spirit into his hand, transforming it into a spear. With another sweeping strike, he killed the Silver Rank Yao Beast that had been fighting the Sand Spirit and rushed toward Xie Ning, shouting, "Come to me!"

Hearing this, Xie Ning quickly flew toward him. Supersonic Mantis dodged left and right along the way, struggling to evade the Four-Armed Flying Cockroach's movements.

No matter how fast Supersonic Mantis was, it hadn't reached the level of fighting across two major stages.

Finally passing by Money Dragon, Money Dragon swung the Sand Spirit spear, unleashing a Sandstorm Wind that pushed the Four-Armed Flying Cockroach back a few steps.

"You dare cut my spear! Quite capable, aren't you!" Money Dragon said coldly, spear in hand.

He immediately charged forward, engaging the Four-Armed Flying Cockroach in battle. The Yellow Sand Spear and four long blades clashed in a series of 'clanging' sounds, evenly matched. His Gold Rank Demon Tamer's Beast, Dragon-Tail Flying Shark, wanted to help but was entangled by another Gold Rank Yao Beast.

"That was close. I didn't expect a Four-Armed Flying Cockroach to be hiding there."

Xie Ning was still shaken. He glanced at the evenly matched battle before him and continued toward the Magic Sound Brain Worm's location.

"Hurry! Capture the Magic Sound Brain Worm alive!"

This was what Money Dragon and Xie Ning had agreed on.

Although letting Supersonic Mantis kill it would have a higher success rate, its value would be lower. If they could capture it alive for research, it would be a major weapon against beast tides in the future.

Xie Ning nodded and headed toward the tree again with Supersonic Mantis.

The Four-Armed Flying Cockroach and the other Yao Beasts noticed, roaring fiercely as they tried to break through the defenses, but none succeeded.

Soon, Xie Ning returned to the previous spot. The Magic Sound Brain Worm clearly realized something was wrong and crawled out of the pile of leaves. Its dense short legs moved quickly but still not as fast as a human.

Ignoring its wishes, Xie Ning directly took out a specially made large glass box, opened it, threw the worm inside, and closed it.

The Magic Sound Brain Worm emitted angry cries, hitting the glass with its head, but only causing slight shaking.

This was the box Money Dragon had given him, not only with good impact resistance but also capable of blocking all signals.

In other words, although the Yao Beasts outside would still follow previously received commands, that was all. When the task ended, they would flee, and those queued up to receive attack instructions would gradually retreat.

If he hadn't witnessed two beast tides firsthand, Xie Ning would have found it hard to believe that this seemingly non-threatening fat worm could be the mastermind behind it all, let alone think it had Gold Level 7 strength.

Looking at the Magic Sound Brain Worm twisting and squirming in the box, unable to escape, Xie Ning couldn't help but smile.

This was probably the most humiliating defeat for a Gold Rank Yao Beast.

"If I didn't want to give you a chance to atone for your crimes, I'd really turn you into numbers."

Xie Ning narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly, scaring the Magic Sound Brain Worm into trembling.

"Boring."

Then, Xie Ning and Supersonic Mantis descended from the tree.

Money Dragon's battle was also nearing its end. Finding a flaw in the Four-Armed Flying Cockroach, he used a Sand Dragon Bite to kill it, then assisted in eliminating the other Yao Beasts.

When everyone saw the Magic Sound Brain Worm, their reactions varied.

"What a disgusting worm..."

The first to voice everyone's thoughts wasn't Xiao Ya or Zhan Yingying, but the dark-skinned youth Ye Chong.

"Why are you looking at me? It's ugly."

Everyone couldn't help but laugh, then set off to return, heading toward the north gate.

With the Magic Sound Brain Worm captured, quelling the beast tide was only a matter of time.

Before they had gone halfway, a giant serpent suddenly emerged from the ground, knocking Money Dragon and Dragon-Tail Flying Shark flying.

"Be careful!"

As Xie Ning's voice fell, a black figure appeared, its Gold Rank Aura pressing down on everyone.

Looking at this Black-Robed Person, Xie Ning's expression was unprecedentedly grave.

This person was the Fallen Demon Tamer who had escaped from the Advanced battlefield and come to kill examinees, and Xie Ning was his primary target.