Monster Paradise

As a member of the Club as well, Virtuoso’s Primordial had actually done a thorough investigation on Lin Huang.

Not only did they know he was a sword cultivator and a psychic, they even knew of his identity as an Imperial Censor—something that people in the God Territory had no idea about.

Despite that, they still saw Lin Huang performing incredible techniques over and over again during this trip together.

No matter if it was the probing ability that he had revealed in the Disaster Abyss Land previously or the defense technique he had just performed in the foggy swamp—there were no such records of anything like it in the Club.

Initially, Virtuoso had invited Lin Huang to join the team merely for his combat abilities. Given his abilities as both a sword cultivator and a psychic, it meant that his attack power would not only be stunning, but he would also have extremely powerful long-distance attack techniques.

However, Lin Huang had demonstrated far more comprehensive abilities than Virtuoso had initially expected.

With his shield, the team was moving forward much faster than they had expected in the foggy swamp, practically without any obstacles.

Mirror’s defense and refractive abilities were just too terrifying. Virtuoso and Saber9 were even a little doubtful if a ninth-rank Heavenly God might be able to break through Lin Huang’s current defenses.

“There’s a group of Fiendish Swamp Monsters ahead. Do we go around them?” Lan Ling suddenly asked as the team moved forward.

She asked this because the Fiendish Swamp Monsters were rather unique creatures.

They could transform themselves into a part of the swamp and hide perfectly in any swamp terrain. When they were hiding, most probing techniques would not work on them, including Divine Telekinesis.

Naturally, Divine Telekinesis was not entirely useless. If one’s combat strength was a level higher than the Fiendish Swamp Monsters, the monsters could not hide from being sensed by Divine Telekinesis.

Apart from being able to conceal themselves, the Fiendish Swamp Monsters were also experts in covert killing. With their perfect camouflage, their attacks were almost entirely unpredictable.

Their covert killing skills were even more dangerous within the toxic swamp’s terrain. If their prey fell into the swamp, there was almost no chance of escaping.

In a foggy area, almost everyone would choose to circumvent monsters that they would not be able to sense.

That was why Lan Ling still asked such a question, even though they were progressing swiftly on their way without any obstacles.

Virtuoso did not answer the question upon hearing it. Instead, they and Saber9 looked at Lin Huang.

“There’s no need to go around; just continue straight ahead.” There was no change of expression on Lin Huang’s face at all.

The rest were relieved to hear this. Since Lin Huang had said that, it meant he was confident about passing through the Fiendish Swamp Monsters’ gathering area.

Soon after they moved forward, Lan Ling suddenly gave warning, “There are Fiendish Swamp Monsters hiding approximately one thousand meters ahead.”

Lin Huang released his Divine Telekinesis but found nothing.

He could not help secretly exclaiming that Lan Ling’s spell probing technique was indeed extremely useful.

Lin Huang sent out his Divine Telekinesis again after the team had advanced for several hundred meters. He thought that perhaps he would find something with his Divine Telekinesis since they were closer now. However, he still did not sense anything unusual. The swamp seemed peaceful; apart from a ground full of mud and mire, there was nothing else.

Aside from Lin Huang, Virtuoso and the rest also sent out their Divine Telekinesis and found nothing either.

If not for Lan Ling’s spell detection sensing those Fiendish Swamp Monsters, perhaps the entire team would have fallen into the Fiendish Swamp Monsters’ trap.

The group continued moving forward, but the Fiendish Swamp Monster restrained itself and did not attack.

It only attacked at last when Lin Huang and the rest flew by above it.

Over a hundred coal-black tentacles shot up from the swamp as if a volcano had erupted, ensnaring the team like a massive web, as if it wanted to capture all five of them.

If Lan Ling had not given advance warning, this ambush that came out of nowhere might really have succeeded. Although it was hard to capture Lin Huang and the others, the attack was enough to put them in an awkward situation for a while.

However, since Lan Ling had mentioned it to them earlier, they had come prepared.

The moment the Fiendish Swamp Monster attacked, Lin Huang held Mirror under everyone’s bodies.

The tentacles above that were about to ensnare everyone were blocked directly. To be precise, not only were they blocked, but the hundred-over tentacles bounced back the moment they collided with Mirror.

The Fiendish Swamp Monster that had made the covert attack clearly had not foreseen this happening. Before it could react, its hundred-over tentacles had been stabbed full of holes like a sieve. In the blink of an eye, its life force was gone.

Its disgusting green carcass floated up from the swamp, and everyone was finally able to see what the monster really looked like.

It was a soft-bodied monster, entirely green in color. It had multiple tumors of various sizes on its skin like a toad, and its entire body exuded a rotten, pungent stench that was worse than the swamp.

As for the tentacles it had extended earlier, it was not that the monster had tentacles. Instead, it had simulated them with its body.

After sensing the Fiendish Swamp Monster’s death, as well as the Rule Bending Powers and sequence powers that surged into his body, Lin Huang raised his brows, puzzled.

Although this Fiendish Swamp Monster only had the combat strength of a fourth-rank Heavenly God, the amount of Rule Bending Powers and sequence powers that he obtained from it were far higher than most monsters of the same combat strength. It was only slightly less than the Gluttons and Greeds of the same combat strength.

This was an unexpectedly pleasurable surprise for Lin Huang.

‘I wonder if this is a special case, or if all Fiendish Swamp Monsters master a great many Rule Bending Powers…’ Lin Huang had his doubts, but he knew the answer to his question would soon be revealed.

Very soon, the team encountered a second Fiendish Swamp Monster.

Lin Huang took the lead in killing it and once more plundered a great number of Rule Bending Powers again.

It was the same for the subsequent third and fourth Fiendish Swamp Monsters. Each of them provided him with a massive amount of Rule Bending Powers.

This allowed Lin Huang to be certain that Fiendish Swamp Monsters would provide a massive amount of Rule Bending Powers, and that the first one was not just a special case.

However, he could not quite understand why such a monster would have such an extraordinarily large number of Rule Bending Powers and sequence powers—far beyond the usual amount.

He continued to puzzle over this until Virtuoso unintentionally mentioned that Fiendish Swamp Monsters were actually saprophagous monsters that would clear the swamp of all debris. Their method of doing so was to swallow everything.

This made Lin Huang speculate that the Fiendish Swamp Monsters had an ability similar to Gluttons, whereby they could obtain Rule Bending Powers and sequence powers from powerhouses’ dead bodies.

However, just like Gluttons, although they obtained many Rule Bending Power and sequence power, they could not use many of them. Their overall ability was no more powerful than monsters of the same level.

Meanwhile, Lin Huang was able to take advantage of the monsters’ trait of possessing many Rule Bending Powers and sequence powers.

Lin Huang—who was initially not interested in the Fiendish Swamp Monsters—had his interest piqued considerably after confirming that such monsters could provide him with a massive amount of Rule Bending Powers.

He was now in a rather enthusiastic hunting frame of mind, having fallen into manic monster-hunting mode ever since the Gluttons and the Greeds…