Chapter 133: Chapter 99: Snowstorm Ape and Ice Storm Ape
In an environment like this, even if the Knife Bee Butterflies could fight, they wouldn’t be able to last for long.
To reduce the effects of such an extreme environment on a Guardian Beast, it would need to be at least at the Extraordinary Tier.
Zhong Ling could clearly sense the Blade Butterflies’ aversion to the cold environment through the emotions transmitted by her Soul Vein Mother Butterfly.
Zhong Ling couldn’t help but press her lips together and murmur.
"Young Master, we’re in the Ice Cave Secret Realm. It seems my Blade Butterflies are useless here."
Shen Xuan also summoned his Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother.
As an Order Beast, the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother possessed a Rule Authority from birth.
Even though the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother’s Tier was only Mortal Beast Tenth Level, the temperatures of more than forty degrees below zero didn’t affect it much.
However, the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother clearly preferred staying within the constant-temperature field created by the Lamp Furnace Flower.
Shen Xuan scanned his surroundings vigilantly, eager to test the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother’s true strength in battle.
He also wanted to see the gap between himself and Zhong Yi.
Shen Xuan had heard from Lin Zhuo and Wen Tao that Zhong Yi had once cleared the Horned Demon Secret Realm with one hundred percent exploration.
Even though he knew Zhong Yi was a powerful fighter, in Shen Xuan’s mind, Zhong Yi was still, first and foremost, a Healing-type Celestial Destiny Seeker.
Shen Xuan was determined to take on the responsibility of protecting Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling.
"Xiaolingdang, the main reason I brought you to explore the Ice Cave Secret Realm was so you could earn that bit of Divine Origin Value."
"The environment in the Ice Cave Secret Realm doesn’t suit your Guardian Beasts. Just stick with me and Shen Xuan."
"The main Demons in a First Level Ice Cave Secret Realm are Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes."
"If any Snowstorm Apes or Ice Storm Apes get close, then you can have your Blade Butterflies attack."
"The Demons in the Ice Cave Secret Realm usually lie in wait inside the ice caves. They won’t come up to the snowy surface on their own."
As he spoke, Zhong Yi activated his Soul Base and released Ice Glaze and Lan Po.
Seeing the ground covered in ice and snow, Lan Po immediately leaped into Zhong Yi’s arms.
It snuggled comfortably in his embrace, its swishing tail showing just how happy it was.
Ice Glaze, however, looked at Zhong Yi with pleading eyes. After getting his permission, it bolted joyfully into the ice and snow.
It reveled in the environment of over forty degrees below zero, raising its two tails, each more than three meters long, high into the air.
It tilted its head back and let out a fox’s cry that, while still a bit high-pitched, was full of majesty.
After Ice Glaze let out this cry, a cacophony of roars came from the entrance of a nearby ice cave.
Soon, several monsters nearly two meters tall and covered in long fur appeared at the cave entrance.
Much of the long fur on these monsters was matted and tangled. Their two-meter-tall bodies were slightly hunched forward, their backs stooped.
The moment these white-furred monsters appeared, Zhong Ling took out her Secret Realm Pass to scan them.
[Snowstorm Ape: A ferocious species that enjoys eating raw flesh. When creatures not of its own kind are present in its environment, it will swarm and slaughter them.
When no other creatures are present, they will resort to cannibalism to sate their hunger, clearing out the old and weak individuals in the community.
A small number of Snowstorm Apes prefer to treat the young of their community as food, repeatedly toying with them before swallowing them alive, bones and all.]
The Secret Realm Pass had an extremely detailed entry for the Snowstorm Ape, the most common Demon in the Ice Cave Secret Realm.
It even included data on the body sizes of adult male, adult female, and juvenile Snowstorm Apes.
"Young Master, these Demons called Snowstorm Apes are so ugly. I don’t think they look like apes; they’re more like strange, hairy wildmen."
"But judging from the body and strength data, adult Snowstorm Apes don’t seem as strong as adult Horned Demons."
"An adult Snowstorm Ape’s strength limit is 360 kilograms, but an adult Horned Demon can move objects weighing 400 kilograms."
Zhong Yi shook his head upon hearing this.
"It’s true that an adult Snowstorm Ape can’t match an adult Horned Demon in strength, and their fur isn’t as tough as a Horned Demon’s Scale Armor in terms of defense."
"But when Snowstorm Apes attack, they can use the Ice Element to cover their fists in a layer of hard ice."
"It’s like a human wearing finger tigers in a fistfight, which can greatly make up for the difference in strength."
"Furthermore, Snowstorm Apes are communal creatures. A small community has at least eighty individuals, and a large one can have over three hundred."
"In terms of community size, they also outnumber Horned Demon Swarms."
"The Snowstorm Ape’s evolved form, the Ice Storm Ape, can skillfully use the Ice Element to form various weapons in its hands."
"They can also throw these weapons for ranged attacks. Even a small Snowstorm Ape Community will have one or two Ice Storm Apes."
Hearing Zhong Yi’s explanation, Zhong Ling swallowed nervously, her confidence taking a hit.
Seeing Zhong Ling’s confidence waver, Zhong Yi quickly added.
"Xiaolingdang, the Ice Cave Secret Realm is an open-type Secret Realm."
"In the Ice Cave Secret Realm, Adventurers cooperate and work together, just like in the Horned Demon Secret Realm."
"The real reason it’s hard to get the exploration rate for the Ice Cave Secret Realm over sixty percent is that when fighting inside, you have to use Ice Attribute Guardian Beasts as much as possible to avoid causing the caves to collapse."
"But the fur of both Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes has strong Ice Elemental Resistance."
"This makes it difficult for Ice Attribute Guardian Beasts to kill Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes."
"When these two types of Demons are uninjured, they will carefully evade attacks."
"But once they’re hurt, they’ll launch a ferocious counterattack without any regard for their own safety. In that respect, they’re a lot like ape-type Guardian Beasts."
Hearing Zhong Yi, Shen Xuan glanced guiltily at the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother floating beside him.
"Young Master, can the three of us really take on such a powerful Snowstorm Ape community?"
"Look, those Snowstorm Apes have already left the ice cave and are charging toward us."
At his words, Zhong Yi glanced at the charging Snowstorm Apes, his eyes firm and serious, and said with absolute certainty.
"With Hong Ji here, we can handle them!"
"Hong Ji, you’re up!"
"Shen Xuan, there aren’t many Snowstorm Apes right now. Wait until we’re inside the ice cave and facing the whole Snowstorm Ape Community before you send in the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother."
"Otherwise, with so few targets, the Poison Chain won’t be able to spread effectively."
As soon as Zhong Yi finished speaking, Hong Ji shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
Dozens of ornate Bone Blades rapidly materialized between Hong Ji’s arms.
As Hong Ji weaved and dodged with elegant agility, every single Bone Sword found its mark, plunging precisely into the back of a Snowstorm Ape’s head.
The thirty or forty Snowstorm Apes that had charged out were just enough to use up all the Bone Swords Hong Ji had created.
In less than half a minute, Hong Ji landed gracefully, leaving behind thirty or forty Snowstorm Ape corpses that couldn’t be any deader.
Having devoured a large number of whole Demons, Hong Ji had become extremely familiar with their anatomy.
Among the vast amount of Demon Material Hong Ji had devoured in the past few days, there had been Snowstorm Ape material.
Because she understood the Snowstorm Ape’s body so well, Hong Ji could pinpoint the central junction of its brain’s neural network.
She could pierce their skulls with a sharp Bone Sword at incredible speed, stabbing into that central neural point.
Without even needing to twist the Bone Sword, she could kill a Snowstorm Ape instantly.
The crimson blood splattering across the snow looked like clusters of winter plums—eerie and beautiful.
The moment the Snowstorm Apes died, the Soul-Controlling Flower had already begun to extract their Life and Soul Energy.
After the Soul-Controlling Flower finished absorbing the Life and Soul Energy, Hong Ji skillfully transformed her legs.
They turned into two tentacles covered in sharp teeth, which began devouring the forty-odd Snowstorm Ape corpses on the ground.
Each time one of the seven-to-eight-meter-long tentacles coiled around a Snowstorm Ape’s body, the sharp teeth along it would chew rapidly.
The coiled body of the Snowstorm Ape would be devoured in an instant, melting away like an ice cube dropped into magma.
In the past, it would have taken Hong Ji at least ten-odd minutes to consume these Snowstorm Ape bodies.
But now, in less than five minutes, she had devoured every last one of them.
