Chapter 277 - 166: Escaping with the Help of the Stone Claw Eagle? Another Setback! The Fortress Defense Line is Triggered

Chapter 277: Chapter 166: Escaping with the Help of the Stone Claw Eagle? Another Setback! The Fortress Defense Line is Triggered

BOOM—

High above the abyss, a Stone Claw Eagle with a thirty-meter wingspan soared a hundred meters above the ground.

With each flap of its wings, it brushed against the surrounding rock cliffs, instantly causing countless stones to break loose as if in a landslide.

The Stone Claw Eagle’s condition was not as majestic as before; right now, it could only be described as listless.

Its black and gray feathers had long lost their luster. In many places, the feathers had even fallen out, exposing bloody flesh.

Its pair of stone claws looked as if they had been repeatedly hacked at by blades and axes, leaving them mangled and incomplete.

Even the Stone Claw Eagle’s head was covered in dense scars, as if from the lashes of a long whip and the slashes of a sharp blade.

Without a doubt, this was all the work of the Bloodthirsty Vine King.

During its days trapped in the subterranean abyss, the Bloodthirsty Vine King had constantly confronted it, attempting to parasitize it and drain its Extraordinary Energy to advance to an S-Class Extraordinary Creature.

But the Stone Claw Eagle was also an A+ Class existence. It had been grievously injured in its previous battle with the Blood-tooth Python, and the Bloodthirsty Vine King had exploited this weakness to drag it underground. Even so, it was by no means a creature that could be easily parasitized.

It relied on its natural advantage against plants and its species’ innate talent for consuming rock to heal. Because of this, despite being covered in wounds, it had managed to hold its own against the Bloodthirsty Vine King for dozens of days.

But the scales of victory were still slowly tipping in the Bloodthirsty Vine King’s favor...

The Stone Claw Eagle had never stopped calling for its mate, but the Primitive Jungle was simply too vast. Even at the extreme speed of an avian Extraordinary Creature, it would take several days to fly from the outer edge to the core region.

Its mate had yet to receive its signal, leaving the Stone Claw Eagle trapped underground for a long time.

Although the Stone Claw Eagle’s intelligence was inferior to the Bloodthirsty Vine King’s, a creature that had grown to this level was by no means unintelligent.

Seeing no hope of survival, it could only eke out a miserable existence in the cavern, believing that in a few days, it would be completely parasitized and become nutrients for the Bloodthirsty Vine King.

It wasn’t until Chen Chong appeared that it was given a glimmer of hope.

「Ten minutes earlier...」

RUMBLE—

Vine after vine attacked wildly from the darkness. Chen Chong, relying on his Rock Body Transformation, managed to withstand no fewer than ten strikes.

Even though the sharp, lethal force was blocked, the impact from the immense power still penetrated his body, making half of it go slightly numb.

His expression was incredibly grim.

’Fighting the Bloodthirsty Vine King on its own turf really wasn’t a smart move.’

On top of that, the underground was pitch-black. The limited range of the Lighting Stone’s glow made it impossible to react in time to the vines’ cunning and bizarre angles of attack.

’If this keeps up, even with the protection of Rock Body Transformation, I’ll probably be trapped and killed down here.’

Just then, several more vines shot out from the depths, each one over half a meter thick.

The bodies of the vines were covered in menacing, sharp barbs that would make one’s skin crawl.

Chen Chong’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t help but wonder, ’Has the Bloodthirsty Vine King recognized me? Is that why it’s attacking so frantically?’

In just a few short minutes, the initial five vines that had been drawn to him had swelled in number to no fewer than twenty.

And that wasn’t even counting the seven or eight he had already severed.

All told, nearly thirty vines were trying to encircle and kill him.

The assault was so dense that the attacking vines collided with one another, their barbs tearing into other vines...

It was as if the Bloodthirsty Vine King was willing to pay any price to kill him, even if it meant injuring itself in the process.

’If the Bloodthirsty Vine King is trying to strangle me so desperately, does that mean it’s ignoring the Stone Claw Eagle in the cavern?’

After all, when Chen Chong had scouted earlier using the invisibility barrier from his Green Crystal Bracelet, he had seen things very clearly.

Although the Bloodthirsty Vine King had innumerable offshoots, the vast majority were as slender as an arm, as if they hadn’t fully matured.

The giant vines before him—half a meter to nearly a meter thick—numbered only about fifty in total.

The ones roaming the air and ground were almost all smaller offshoots.

All of the giant vines had been surrounding the Stone Claw Eagle’s hiding place.

They were keeping it firmly trapped, wearing it down in a continuous standoff as they attempted to parasitize it.

’In other words, most of the Bloodthirsty Vine King’s power and vines are tied up with the Stone Claw Eagle, so the combat strength it can spare is already limited.’

’Otherwise, the initial ambush wouldn’t have been just a few vines; it would have likely sent everything it had...’

But now, just to kill him, it had deployed nearly thirty giant vines at once.

Even if only half of those were the thickest, meter-wide vines, it still meant that nearly a third of the force containing the Stone Claw Eagle had been diverted.

’If it mobilizes any more, the Stone Claw Eagle will definitely notice and seize the chance to break out.’

’After all, it’s not an idiot. Trapped underground for so long, it would never let such a rare opportunity slip by...’

Chen Chong felt his rapidly draining Spiritual Power and stamina, and his face suddenly darkened.

His own position was almost completely sealed off. Although he couldn’t see where Xu Jun’s group was, he could hear periodic rumbles, which clearly meant Qi Zhen was fighting desperately.

He knew full well the strength of Qi Zhen, Wang Biao, and the others.

If they were outside, four or five giant vines would be no match for them.

But in this underground environment, they were extremely limited. He at least had a Lighting Stone to see by, but they had no light at all and were likely fighting purely on instinct.

If this war of attrition continued, it wouldn’t be long before Qi Zhen and the others were in serious trouble...

"Damn it!"

Slicing through an oncoming vine, Chen Chong’s face was ashen.

’Since the Bloodthirsty Vine King is using the darkness of the abyss to trap and kill us all, I’ll just have to be more ruthless than it is!’

’Conventional tactics will only lead us to a dead end. I have to take a huge risk, make an unexpected move, to have any chance of survival.’