"It seems that not every Secret Realm guarantees a 100% drop of materials."
Upon seeing that the Blade Mantis had exploded neither with a "Mantis Blade" nor a "Mantis Feather", Lu Ran couldn't help but sigh.
Without those two items, the high-level resource "Blade-Shaped Grass" was naturally nowhere to be seen.
That made sense, too. If it were rich enough to possess "Blade-Shaped Grass", it wouldn't have had to resort to eating male mantises.
"This teaches us a lesson," Lu Ran said to Mr. Husky, "to choose a partner who is wealthy and strong, or else you won't even know if you get eaten clean."
"Woof?" Mr. Husky looked confused. Should I or should I not? Weren't you just saying that it would affect my sword-drawing speed?
"You have to see both sides of the issue," Lu Ran coughed and spoke: "Let's go. Next, we'll look for those Blade Mantises that have their own territory and are guarding 'Blade-Shaped Grass'."
"But don't be careless. Even though they are only Level 9, they should be considered the weakest batch since they don't even have any skills."
"Woof!"
Next, Lu Ran put on the Divine Deer Pendant and continued to delve deeper with Mr. Husky.
Lu Ran walked on the left side, and Mr. Husky on the right, both moving forward in sync.
In the Mantis Jungle Secret Realm, since all the monsters are solitary, you only need to deal with them one-on-one, which, in a sense, is simpler than dealing with social creatures.
However, this Secret Realm has a hidden mechanism: the strongest BOSS, whose whereabouts are unpredictable and has no fixed location.
Only when a certain number of ordinary Blade Mantises are killed does it have a chance to appear.
Therefore, challengers still have to face a war of attrition, first being worn down substantially.
This is undoubtedly a troublesome step for those Beast-Taming Teams that simply want to strike it rich instantly with passing materials.
But Lu Ran didn't care. His goal was to harvest as many resources as possible; his wallet wasn't yet in a state to look down upon ordinary materials.
In the process, though, Lu Ran had to figure out a way to keep Mr. Husky in good shape throughout the entire journey, or it would be painful when they happened upon the BOSS without the energy to use skills.
"It sure is nice to be a rich kid like Pluto who never runs out of crystal coins... I wonder if I can also convert my cash into crystal coins. It feels like having so much cash isn't useful..." Lu Ran started thinking about the inheritance left by his parents.
He felt that having a savings of five million would allow him to live comfortably; any more would just be spent on luxury goods, for which he had no need.
If he were to die in a Secret Realm, it would just make the bank richer, Lu Ran thought to himself. Just then, Mr. Husky suddenly wrinkled its nose and its eyes lit up.
"Woof!" It promptly signaled Lu Ran.
Smells nice, something's odd, there are resources!
"Go!" At Lu Ran's command, Mr. Husky immediately took the lead, dashing ahead, and soon, they discovered a clump of Blade-Shaped Grass not far away.
It was a small grass of green color, resembling the shape of a blade.
Lu Ran cast "Great Identification Technique".
[Name]: Blade-Shaped Grass
[Level]: Advanced
[Introduction]: An immature sample of Blade-Shaped Grass. Consuming it can enhance the cutting properties of energy. The effect is doubled when mature.
Finding Blade-Shaped Grass, Lu Ran and Mr. Husky were delighted, but matters were naturally not that straightforward. Soon after, from amongst the "swishing" of the leaves, a Blade Mantis on a tree trunk tore through the foliage and appeared.
"Ssha!" Its expression was unfriendly.
This male Blade Mantis was Level 10, with a pair of large sickles sharp beyond measure. Its weapon was bigger than the previous two, its body covered in battle scars signifying a veteran of many battles, looking rather difficult to deal with.
Upon appearing, it didn't attack immediately but waved its sickles as a warning for Lu Ran and the others to leave.
The Mantis waiting for the Blade-Shaped Grass to ripen didn't want any complications at this critical moment.
"Mr. Husky, get ready to fight." Naturally, Lu Ran wasn't going to leave like that. Wild resources belong to the strong!
"Woof!" Mr. Husky stepped forward, closing in on the adversary, determined to take possession of the Blade-Shaped Grass.
Seeing this, the Blade Mantis on the tree didn't hesitate. It swept its sickle, and a wind blade soared towards Mr. Husky, who was drawing near.
At the same time, Mr. Husky, holding a sword in his mouth, counterattacked with Sword Qi.
A white arc of Sword Qi flew towards the white wind blade, the skills disrupting the surrounding air and squeezing out the howl of the wind.
In an instant.
The Sword Qi blasted apart the wind blade and carried a Wild Wind that scattered the tree leaves.
Although Mr. Husky was one level lower, its Sword Qi was still easily overpowering, having been strengthened through the weapon.
The Blade Mantis on the tree also staggered.
It intended to take to the air to readjust its position and launch a counterattack.
But at that moment, Mr. Husky unleashed its ferocious beast sword momentum, its overwhelming aura immediately startling the Blade Mantis, causing it to falter and show a horrified gaze.
By the time it realized what was happening, another sweep of Sword Qi flew towards it, and even if it reacted to the utmost, it still had one arm chopped off by the Sword Qi, splashing green blood!
"Ssha!" It displayed a look of agony.
"Good thing there's sword momentum that acts like a control skill; otherwise, solo fighting would be much more difficult," Lu Ran muttered to himself. Seeing the state of the Blade Mantis, which was badly injured, the balance of victory had now entirely tilted to their side.
"Woof~" With a gleam in Mr. Husky's eye and taking advantage of the opponent's cries of pain, it leaped up and, garnered by the Gale, sped past like a phantom, slicing the adversary in two. As the Blade Mantis's body fell, Lu Ran and company had thoroughly dealt with the creature.
"Well done."
Lu Ran praised Mr. Husky for its flowing execution of killing the enemy.