Chapter 154: Chapter 110: Poisonous Bubble Crisps
Zhong Yi gave Shen Xuan a meaningful look and patted his shoulder.
"Shen Xuan, a head-on fight isn’t what your Purple Erosion excels at."
"As a Poison Attribute Order Beast, Purple Erosion’s combat style isn’t actually that different from other Poison Attribute Guardian Beasts."
"In your mind, what kind of combat style do Poison Attribute Guardian Beasts excel at?"
Zhong Yi’s question stumped Shen Xuan. He hadn’t received much of an education at Starlight Academy yet.
He knew very little about Guardian Beasts, combat, and other related knowledge.
But in the Greenfield Tavern in Zhuanyun Lane, Shen Xuan had dealt with his fair share of poisonous snakes and vermin.
For the slaves in Zhuanyun Lane, being bitten by poisonous creatures was a common occurrence.
Because they performed such heavy physical labor every day, they often didn’t even notice when they were bitten.
One night, before going to sleep, Shen Xuan noticed his ankle had swollen.
Although his ankle neither hurt nor itched, his entire left leg had swollen and turned black.
Even with his body covered in purplish-black marks, the swelling and discoloration of his left leg were still incredibly obvious.
The slaves branded with a Slave Mark at the Greenfield Tavern all had a clearly marked price.
Hiring a Healer to treat a poisoned wound would cost far more than Shen Xuan’s own price.
After finding out Shen Xuan had been poisoned, the Steward of the Greenfield Tavern simply excused him from his work.
He fed Shen Xuan a few cheap Antitoxic Pills but provided no other treatment.
Shen Xuan drifted in and out of consciousness for four or five days, ultimately surviving only by the sheer strength of his own immune system.
If not for that, he would have died from the poison back then.
"Sir, the combat style Poison Attribute Guardian Beasts excel at... it should be sneak attacks."
Zhong Yi smiled and nodded.
"Correct. For an ordinary Poison Attribute Guardian Beast, a sneak attack is indeed the best method of combat."
"But for your Order Beast, the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother, its poison is so potent that a successful sneak attack is tantamount to an assassination."
"All we have to do is infect a few Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes with the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother’s toxin without alerting the Prince Snow Ape. Then, we just wait for them to die and for the Poison Chain to spread."
"The Poison Chain alone won’t be enough to kill the Prince Snow Ape, but it should be more than enough to kill those Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes."
"We have the Lamp Furnace Flower to protect us from the extreme cold, so we have all the time in the world to wait for the Poison Chain to work its way through the Snowstorm Ape pack."
Shen Xuan’s eyes lit up. As a rookie exploring a Secret Realm for the first time, Zhong Yi’s words opened up a whole new way of thinking for him.
Zhong Ling, however, asked from the side, a little confused.
"Sir, we’ve tested Shen Xuan’s Order Beast before. Even if it extends all its silk tendrils in one direction, its maximum range for a sting is only about one hundred fifty meters."
"If Shen Xuan’s Order Beast tries to sting the Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes surrounding the boss creature out in the open, the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother will become a sitting duck. And if we try to provide support, we’ll expose ourselves too."
"I..."
As she said this, Zhong Ling seemed to realize something, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Sir, while the low temperatures outside aren’t suitable for the Blade Butterflies to fight or even survive long-term, they can still fly for about ten minutes without issue."
"Two of my Blade Butterflies have the Exclusive Trait ’Double Shattering.’ When they use the Skill ’Unsheathing,’ they break into more individual units."
"What if we coat the Shattered Blade Butterflies with the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother’s venom and use them for long-range poison delivery?"
"They could perform a suicide charge to strike the Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes clustered around the boss creature."
"The Prince Snow Ape would never discover our presence."
"Territorial Demons like the Prince Snow Ape generally won’t leave their domain without a clearly identified enemy."
Having looked up information on the Prince Snow Ape with her Secret Realm Pass, Zhong Ling had also started to come up with a plan.
Just a moment ago, Zhong Ling had used one of her Blade Butterflies to confirm that the boss creature of this Secret Realm was, in fact, the Prince Snow Ape.
Although the Blade Butterfly hadn’t been able to see the Prince Snow Ape in person...
...it had a habit of marking the edges of its territory with its droppings.
The Blade Butterfly had spotted the Prince Snow Ape’s signature reddish-black, dry, pellet-like droppings.
In the Ice Cave Secret Realm, only the Prince Snow Ape could digest swallowed bones so completely.
Shen Xuan had been shaking his head from the moment Zhong Ling proposed the idea, though he didn’t interrupt her.
Now that she was finished, Shen Xuan stated firmly,
"Purple Erosion can actively suppress the Rule Authority within its venom. However, if a Mortal Beast Tier Blade Butterfly is coated in that venom..."
"...even with the Rule Authority suppressed, its wings will rot away from the Erosion in less than a minute."
"The metallic phosphorus powder on a Blade Butterfly’s wings can’t withstand Purple Erosion’s venom."
As Zhong Yi listened to Zhong Ling and Shen Xuan’s discussion, the smile on his face widened.
The two of them had not only improved their combat skills, but their strategic thinking had progressed as well.
Especially when exploring a Secret Realm, strategic thinking can sometimes be far more important than tactical skill.
In fact, Shen Xuan and Zhong Ling’s ideas were perfectly in line with Zhong Yi’s own strategy.
Zhong Yi also intended to use the Blade Butterflies for a suicide charge, but not to have them wound the Snowstorm Apes and Ice Storm Apes, letting the Ten Thousand Corrosive Poison Mother’s venom seep into the cuts.
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