Chapter 147: The Trials of Xyl (Part-12)

After leaving the Ironhowl Hyena’s territory, Lin Fang made his way toward his next destination, the gentle giants of the monster world.

Remembering Li Liu’s voice from days ago, when they discussed the possible monsters he could face, Lin Fang chose to hunt down the elephant-type monsters. They were the kings of defense. Yet, they were even slower than golems and the Frost bear king he met in his system training grounds.

However, when he reached the edge of their territory, Lin Fang saw nothing but scattered boulders in the location he was sensing more than a dozen monsters.

He frowned slightly. “They’re hiding underground or something?”

Alpha’s voice then came, faint and amused in his head. “Not underground… right in front of you, kiddo.”

Lin Fang blinked. “You mean…”

Those rocks.

For a moment, he thought Alpha was joking. But when he activated his Inspect skill and glanced at one of the larger “boulders,” his interface lit up.

Stonehide Elephant

Level: 37

Tier: Commander

Grade: Epic

Element: Earth

His eyes widened. “Epic?” he muttered under his breath.

He turned slowly, scanning the rest. The smaller “rocks,” barely reaching his height, shimmered faintly too — Elite tier, levels in the twenties, all with the same grade.

Lin Fang’s heart thudded once, hard in excitement. “Epic grade monsters… each one would give me 1000 common grade spirits and tens of thousands of credits. As long as I hunt all of this herd, my debt would be cleared and I would complete the guardian quest too…”

He then observed the stone boulders.

Looks like they’ve evolved under constant threat. Probably learned to sleep in disguise to avoid night predators. He thought.

Lin Fang smiled faintly. “Regardless, their disguise is useless against my inspection.”

But then a chuckle escaped in his head, belonging to Alpha. “But their defense is tough, kiddo. They weren’t Hyenas, too, to attack you altogether. Either they will run away in panic or just blindly charge. You should restrict their movements first.”

Lin Fang fell into thought at that. “Hmm… Restricting, huh…”

From inside his consciousness, Alpha’s amused voice hummed. “You already have the perfect way to do that, kiddo.”

Lin Fang frowned slightly. “Fire Tornado? You know that takes forever to cast. I’ll be half-dead before it even forms.”

Alpha chuckled. “No. Not that. I’m talking about the Spirit core kept in your inventory.”

That made Lin Fang pause. His gaze sharpened, and then his eyes widened in realization. “The one from the Blue Anaconda?”

“Exactly that one.”

“I guess that works, but I already have a similar skill from my Mana boots.”

“Yes, but your boots’ skill only affects a ten-meter radius around, and depth is only a meter too,” Alpha reminded him dryly. “What you need now… is something that can cover the entire place and also powerful enough to suck them inside to their heads. You can trap all of them under, crush them under their own weight, and then finish them from above.”

“You really are the best, Alpha.”

Without hesitation, Lin Fang pulled out the Spirit core from his inventory. It pulsed faintly in his palm, a bit too large.

As soon as he held it, a holographic screen blinked in front of him:

*Ding!

[Spirit Core – Blue Anaconda] Consume to gain one of its skills or use Spirit Collection to extract its soul and obtain an Egg Token.

(Note: The Egg Token will be one grade lower due to spirit absorption.)

Lin Fang stared at the glowing words for a moment, then clenched his fist. “Millions of credits if I sold you… But if I sacrifice you, I could earn more money…”

He raised the core to his lips. It was quite big enough not to be swallowed at one try. However, he didn’t worry much as the orb melted as soon as it touched his tongue, transforming into energy and traveling to his stomach.

Soon, a familiar burning sensation shot through his veins, spreading down his arms and spine. His eyes flared a deep gold for a moment before dimming back to normal.

*Ding!

[Skill Acquired: Quicksand]

Effect: Transform terrain into unstable mana-sand over a wide radius. All units caught in the area suffer slowed movement and sinking pressure. Range: 300 meters to the side, 10 meters to the depth.

“Perfect,” he said softly, smirking in satisfaction.

He crouched low, fingers brushing the damp grass. Maintaining that position, he whispered under his breath, “Alright… then. Let’s end this quickly.”

Tightening his grip over his twin daggers, he activated the skill: Spectral Step.

A trail of afterimages burst across the plain; Lin Fang’s figure vanished from his ridge and reappeared over sixty meters ahead in the blink of an eye. His boots slid against the dust while his body stayed low before channeling mana into his legs again, the ground exploding behind each step as he accelerated even further to rush into their midst.

The sleeping “rocks” around him began to stir.

In an instant, heavy, guttural bellows filled the night air. The still night came alive with trumpeting roars from the elephant-type monsters.

One by one, enormous forms rose, boulders shifting into legs, dust sloughing off to reveal skin of rough gray hide and tusks sharp as spears.

Eighteen Elephant-type Beasts opened their glowing eyes in unison, turning toward the blur of light that just entered their territory.

The nearest one stomped, the tremor strong enough to rattle his ribs, but missed him.

Another one tried to give a headbutt, but Lin Fang gave a side step to evade before throwing his hands to the ground.

“Activate, Quicksand.”

[Skill Activated: Quicksand]

The transformation was immediate.

The once-firm soil began to turn soft. Within seconds, a full 300-meter radius had turned into a mana-infused sandy desert.

And every single monster was caught in it.

The elephants roared and struggled while their massive bodies sank knee-deep, then waist-deep as the desert swallowed them. The air filled with dust and panic as they trumpeted wildly, trying to push each other upward to no avail.

Meanwhile, Lin Fang made his next move, shooting upward, activating another skill.

[Skill Activated: Fly]

In seconds, he soared toward the sky while sand swirled below like a hungry vortex.

“Now, for the next step, let all of these be destroyed by the Fire Tornado…”

He was about to release the next skill, but before he did, a crack of air split behind him.

Something moved faster than he could blink.

A trunk, long and metallic gray, shot from below — snapping around his waist midair.

“Wha—!”

Before he could react, he was yanked downward violently. Gasping, Lin Fang twisted his head and froze as he spotted the monster.

The creature holding him wasn’t one of the ordinary gray elephants.

This one was smaller — sleek silver-gray skin shimmering faintly under moonlight. Its tusks gleamed like polished steel, and it had three heads, each with eyes of different colors — gold, sapphire, and crimson. Unlike the others, this wasn’t even drowning. It was floating right above the Quicksand.

Before Lin Fang could scan it, Alpha’s voice burst into his head, full of disbelief. “How did I miss this gem…? Kiddo, you are truly blessed by fortune!”

“What?” Lin Fang coughed out, struggling against the crushing grip. “What do you mean…”

Before he could finish, the silver-gray elephant’s second head raised its trunk and slammed it into the sand below.

The ground glowed golden for a heartbeat.

A wave of radiant light rippled across the battlefield, and in an instant, the quicksand froze and the entire area solidified again into hard soil.

“The hell…”

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