Chen Shu had already covered his face, his movements flowing like water, terrifyingly practiced.
"Ugh... too many toxic substances in the volcano!"
He coughed and began to explain, "Let me clarify, it's not that I'm afraid!"
"Mhm, we get it, we all get it!"
The four nodded; they understood the 'hooligan's' caution too well!
A Liang asked, "Seriously, did you provoke the Monarch?"
As long as the Monarch wasn't provoked, there wouldn't be any major issues.
"No, absolutely not!"
Chen Shu denied, but he recalled the 'living volcano' when he left...
"Whether you did or not, you should still wear your mask properly!"
The four reached a consensus. If he were recognized, they'd have to embark on another great escape!
For an ordinary beast tamer, provoking the hatred of an entire alien space was impossible even if they wanted to.
But Chen Shu was different; he had done this more than once.
"Huh? Treasure?!"
Chen Shu's expression froze, his gaze fixed on several red stones below.
"What treasure? Aren't they just some rocks?"
The other four were puzzled, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
"We told you to study properly, but you insisted on raising pigs!"
Chen Shu said, "Those are Fire Essence Stones. While not true treasures, a fingernail-sized piece can increase the yield of flame potions!"
"It's on page 35, the third line of the material textbook! Didn't you learn this in university?"
"???"
The four turned to look at him, their faces ashen, as if they had seen a ghost.
"You actually remember the page and line number?!"
"What's the big deal?"
Chen Shu waved his hand, saying, "As a hooligan, it's only natural to be proficient in material science knowledge, right?"
"You're truly amazing!"
Wang Jue gave him a thumbs-up and asked, "How much is one Fire Essence Stone?"
Chen Shu replied, "Around two million on the market!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a small grey bird was immediately thrown down by Wang Jue.
"Damn you, Xiao Wang!"
The bird looked back, completely unprepared for Wang Jue's actions, and cursed under its breath.
It plummeted downwards, preparing to secure the treasure first.
But in that instant,
the ground around the Fire Essence Stones twisted, turning into something like quicksand.
Heads began to emerge from underground, their eyes filled with indifference and ferocity.
They were meter-sized red beetles, their shells like glowing hot irons, radiating intense heat.
Wang Jue's spatial bird's eyes widened instantly, and it flapped its wings desperately, finally halting its descent.
But due to its proximity, its tail caught fire.
"Holy crap, hurry and save your grandpa!"
The spatial bird immediately changed direction and flew upwards, its eyes wide with terror.
"Awoooo!"
Er Ha poked its head out, looking down at the spatial bird with a devilish grin.
In an instant, a giant ice ball appeared and furiously hurtled towards it.
"Damn it!"
The spatial bird cried out. As soon as it saw Er Ha's smile, it knew something was amiss.
Just as the ice ball was about to strike, it inexplicably passed through the bird.
"Hm?"
The crowd blinked, surprised that the spatial bird had a new skill.
"It's Black Iron level now, it's bound to be stronger!"
Wang Jue remained calm. Without a life-saving skill, he wouldn't have let his bird go to secure treasure.
"Let's deal with them first!"
Chen Shu looked down at the dozens of fierce beasts below.
The Scarlet Flame Beetle's bloodline level was not weak, at least Black Iron two-star, and there was one mutant Silver one-star among them.
The others nodded and summoned their contracted spirits.
The Slime appeared first, its colossal body of tens of meters plummeting down!
"Squeak squeak!"
The swarm let out strange cries, their wings beating as they began to fly at low altitude, though some beetles still couldn't escape.
Boom!
The over sixty-meter-tall Slime landed on the ground. It wiggled its backside, looking immensely pleased.
The beetles below let out cries of agony, their internal organs almost being crushed.
"Holy cow!"
A Liang and the others gasped. A Black Iron two-star Scarlet Flame Beetle was crushed into a pulp.
Xie Sunan exclaimed, "Even its poop would be squeezed out, right? No wonder they call it the 'poop monster'!"
"???"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. What kind of twisted logic was that?
"Stop the nonsense! You guys handle the other beetles, I'll take care of the Silver-ranked one!"
Chen Shu had no time for banter, his gaze focused intently on the swarm below.
A Liang nodded and summoned his SS-grade Thunder Ape.
"Roar!"
Its body crackled with lightning as it charged forward at extreme speed.
"Chirp chirp!"
Snowball leaped down and landed on the Thunder Ape's shoulder.
The two contracted spirits, working together, began to fight the dozen or so Scarlet Flame Beetles.
"Chen Pi, I've marked the mutant one!"
The insect butterfly on Xie Sunan's shoulder used its skill, and a dazzling green light condensed, hovering above one of the beetles.
"Squeak squeak!"
The mutant beetle instantly became agitated.
Although it didn't understand the 'light of love', it instinctively felt rage.
"Goo goo!"
The Slime used [Dream Shatter], its defense increasing significantly.
It then used [Charge] repeatedly, crashing into the swarm ahead. Its massive body disrupted their formation once again.
"Xiao Xing, have your wood element assist A Liang in dealing with the other fierce beasts!"
Chen Shu instructed. With the formation in disarray, the Thunder Ape and Snowball could better display their strengths.
"Understood!"
Xu Xingxing nodded, primarily using wood vines for control.
"Goo goo!"
The Slime approached the mutant beetle, and a fierce roar erupted.
The mutant beetle fell into a brief daze, its body involuntarily dropping several meters.
"Squeak!"
In an instant, it recovered.
However, a strange black vine appeared on the ground and firmly entangled it.
"Squeak squeak!"
The beetle's shell turned intensely red, glowing with skill effects, and flames erupted.
Hiss!
The poisonous wood vine twisted and distorted, emitting thick black smoke.
"The Silver-ranked ones are indeed powerful!"
Chen Shu's brow furrowed. The poisonous wood binding turned black and lost its binding ability in an instant.
But just as the mutant beetle was getting hyped up,
another black vine attacked, entangling it firmly.
"???"
The mutant beetle was bewildered, not understanding how a skill could be cast twice.
It looked up and saw the Thunder Bird appear in the sky, with two dog heads beside it.
Its intelligent eyes made it feel as if its intellect was being crushed!
Boom!
In that moment, the Slime seized the opportunity and directly used [Violent Sitting Kill], pinning the beetle down tightly.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief,
Xiao Huang's expression became somewhat pained!
Xu Xingxing asked, "Chen Pi, is your Slime constipated?"
"Constipated my ass! Its backside is on fire!"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. Red light appeared beneath the Slime.
The mutant beetle was Silver-ranked, so Xiao Huang's [Invincible Squish Squish] was ineffective and couldn't seal its skills.
Chen Shu declared, "Let me show you Xiao Huang's new skill!"
The Slime closed its eyes and released a skill, a golden glow appearing.
"What a dazzling light!"
Xu Xingxing and the others couldn't help but cover their eyes, wondering if it was another divine skill.
However, as the light dissipated,
the four of them had their mouths wide open, looking utterly astonished.
On the Slime's forehead, a golden imprint had appeared, even shining with golden light, exuding immense power!
Chen Shu grinned and said, "Cool skill, right?"
"No..."
A Liang, struggling to contain his laughter, said,
"Chen Pi, I understand the logic, but why is this golden imprint... a piece of poop?! And it's even sparkling?!"