Chapter 240: Petrification Toxin
A blood-colored serpent shadow, almost tangible in form, extended a hundred meters. Like a python hunting, it coiled around the giant worm that resembled an earthworm. Its cold-glinting fangs pierced into the rubber-like skin to prevent its prey from breaking free.
Just as the blood-colored serpent shadow was about to strangle it, the giant worm’s body rapidly secreted a thick, viscous liquid. Like a loach, it slipped free from the restraints of the blood-colored serpent shadow.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming’s eyes flickered with slight surprise. He had not expected that this insect-type Ferocious Beast would escape his Phantom Snake Hands in such a manner.
Before he could continue his attack, the giant worm raised its spiral-shaped mouthpart and, with a hiss, sprayed out an earthy-yellow liquid.
The unknown liquid covered dozens of meters in an instant, pouring down like a torrential downpour that was nearly impossible to evade.
Having missed the opportunity to continue attacking, Zhou Ming could only control the blood-colored serpent shadows to intertwine with one another, forming an umbrella-like canopy to block the liquid.
When the earthy-yellow liquid came into contact with the blood-colored serpent shadows, the corrosion Zhou Ming had anticipated did not occur. Instead, the serpent shadows seemed to undergo petrification, turning into gray stone.
Moreover, the petrification spread along the bodies of the serpent shadows toward Zhou Ming himself.
Faced with such a bizarre method of attack, Zhou Ming immediately severed his connection with the blood-colored serpent shadows and retreated from the spot with Su Mei at his side.
“My lord, this seems to be a mutated earth-attribute spell.”
Su Mei, who had been holding the line nearby, immediately offered her analysis.
“That’s normal. The innate spells of Ferocious Beasts naturally form according to their own conditions. But to be able to petrify serpent shadows formed from bloodline power… it seems this Ferocious Beast is worth studying.”
“You step back first. I can better test this unfamiliar Ferocious Beast’s abilities.”
Upon discovering the giant worm’s special ability, Zhou Ming’s eyes lit up with interest, and a trace of curiosity rose in his heart.
“Yes.”
Su Mei had complete confidence in her lord’s strength. The Sword-tailed Lizard beneath her flicked its tail, and her figure quickly appeared a hundred meters away.
In the distance, when the giant worm realized its attack had failed to take down Zhou Ming, its massive body charged forward like a dump truck.
“Perfect. Let’s test your defensive capability.”
The Phantasmal Spirit Sword appeared in his hand, while fine, semi-transparent snake scales surfaced across his body in case the opponent had other special attacks.
Zhou Ming then transformed into several afterimages and, at a speed difficult for the naked eye to detect, arrived at the giant worm’s left side. The Phantasmal Spirit Sword thrust forward like a steel spike.
In the next moment, a rubber-like resilience was transmitted through the blade, and the sword even showed faint signs of slipping.
On the surface of the giant worm’s earthy-yellow body, a sheen like reflected grease flickered.
With its attack blocked, the giant worm’s head immediately lunged toward Zhou Ming. Within the mouthpart that occupied its entire head, circles of fangs were arranged in a spiral.
If Zhou Ming were bitten, his body would be ground into minced flesh in an instant.
A blood-colored serpent shadow appeared in his left hand and wrapped around a protruding rock in the distance. In an instant, his body was pulled away by the contracting serpent shadow.
“Boom…”
The spot where Zhou Ming had just stood shattered into pieces, and the ground erupted with a piercing roar.
Seeing its prey escape once more, the giant worm seemed enraged by Zhou Ming. Its ring-segmented body began to writhe.
From its movements, it was clear it was about to spray the petrifying liquid again. Zhou Ming immediately activated his exclusive spell.
“Blood Descendant Secret Technique · Snake Tide Poison Miasma.”
One-meter-long black serpent shadows surged forth like a tide, instantly transforming into a torrent that rushed toward the giant worm.
When the petrifying liquid collided with the black serpent tide, a large number of serpent shadows turned into gray stone and fell to the ground. However, under Zhou Ming’s control, part of the black serpent tide successfully avoided the petrifying liquid.
As the black serpent shadows revealed their lethal fangs and pierced into the giant worm’s skin, the toxins contained within them rapidly injected into its body.
“Screech…”
The giant worm emitted a sharp shriek, like fingernails scraping across a blackboard, making it unbearably grating.
Yet as the shriek subsided, the giant worm began to wither. Its massive body collapsed limply onto the ground.
“Looks like the Hemolytic Venom works quite well.”
Watching the giant worm’s vitality gradually fade, Zhou Ming felt satisfied with the Hemolytic Venom he had formulated.
The Hemolytic Venom originated from the Blood Beast of the Crimson Apostle. It possessed terrifying flesh-dissolving properties, so he had incorporated it into his own snake venom.
Under Zhou Ming’s gaze, the spiral mouthpart—like a meat grinder—continuously oozed dark-red viscous liquid, as if the tissues inside its body had already dissolved.
“My lord’s methods are truly formidable. I didn’t expect such a troublesome Ferocious Beast to be killed so easily by you.”
Su Mei, who had been watching from afar, approached and praised him once the battle ended.
“When did you learn to flatter?”
Zhou Ming teased in response.
Su Mei froze, then lowered her head without a word, silently thinking to herself.
“I’d better not praise my lord in the future.”
Zhou Ming was unaware of her thoughts. After a simple tease, he walked slowly toward the giant worm’s corpse.
This time, however, he did not approach too closely. Instead, he used Phantom Snake Hands to wrap around the hilt of the Phantasmal Spirit Sword and sliced open the rubber-like body of the giant worm from a distance.
Without energy particle reinforcement, its body was at most as tough as durable rubber—insufficient to block the blade of the Phantasmal Spirit Sword.
As the sword cut through its skin, all kinds of foul liquids gushed out.
Standing behind Zhou Ming, Su Mei noticed that her lord seemed to have anticipated the scene. Just as she was about to ask, she immediately shut her mouth again.
“Worm-type creatures—aside from their tough outer skin—are mostly just internal organs and fluids.”
Zhou Ming seemed to notice Su Mei’s hesitation and explained.
He then withdrew the Phantasmal Spirit Sword. Over a dozen blood-colored serpent shadows emerged from his right hand, resembling mechanical arms as they began rummaging through the giant worm’s body.
After a short while, Zhou Ming obtained not only a piece of tough worm hide but also a gray pouch the size of a head.
Under the erosion of the Hemolytic Venom, the pouch containing the petrifying liquid had surprisingly remained undamaged.
Zhou Ming used a blood-colored serpent shadow to grip the pouch. Fine, semi-transparent snake scales surfaced on his right index finger as he prepared to touch the petrifying liquid.
“My lord…”
A trace of concern appeared on Su Mei’s face.
“It’s fine. A dead thing can’t threaten me.”
After reassuring her briefly, Zhou Ming touched the petrifying liquid with his index finger.
In an instant, his finger visibly darkened to gray, and the petrification began spreading toward his palm.
In the next moment, the surface of his finger suddenly wriggled. A layer of material, like shed snake skin, peeled off and fell away.
“So it’s a special kind of toxin?”
Through direct contact, Zhou Ming discovered that the petrifying liquid was similar to a unique toxin. However, when reinforced with earth-element energy particles by the giant worm, the power of the petrification toxin would be further enhanced.