Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 341 - 16: The Third Ring Task Ends, Promotion to Seventh Grade?_2

Chapter 341: Chapter 16: The Third Ring Task Ends, Promotion to Seventh Grade?_2

Before Xia Jing could leap,

the net shot out from the bottom of the Flying Boat.

"Buzz~"

A large net, as fine as silk, descended from the sky, heading straight for Zhao Ke to envelop him.

.....

Zhao Ke only reacted when the net was about 50 meters above him.

Because his surveillance Flying Locusts in the sky, although monitoring from a height of 200 meters, were too slow for the net’s speed.

By the time his Flying Locusts were sliced to death and he received the feedback, the net had already descended to 50 meters high.

Although the Flying Locusts were not known for their defense, their carapaces were comparable to third-tier top-quality defensive armor.

They were silently sliced into a dozen thin pieces, and Zhao Ke immediately realized the kind of attack he was facing.

"It’s the Sky Net!"

"At least a fourth-order Sky Net!"

Zhao Ke didn’t have time to shout a warning; he instantly took the most advantageous action for himself—bending over.

Because the toughest treasure on him was the insect box on his back.

The rectangular insect box unfolded in an instant, forming a shield.

Zhao Ke curled up on the ground, frantically activating the mechanism on the fourth-order insect box.

At the same time, he released twelve Illusion Worms around him.

"Hiss~"

From Zhao Ke as the center, twelve streams of green smoke shot out, coalescing into Zhao Ke’s likeness within the smoke.

But the skin was covered with scales and soft fur.

The Sky Net of Great Zhou often came with a following strike from the Spirit-breaking Crossbow.

Locking onto the life force of the Five Elements Qi, Zhao Ke’s Illusion Worms could confuse the Spirit-breaking Crossbow’s attack.

"Click click click click~"

The Sky Net rubbed against the insect box, sending off sparks of fire.

Of the other ten Insect Witches, only three reacted and took the same action as Zhao Ke.

The other seven were stunned in place, and in the next moment, their bodies scattered, turning into strips of flesh.

"Split up and run!!!"

Zhao Ke finally shouted.

With the crisis of life and death imminent, Zhao Ke had no time for other thoughts, his only idea was to run!

When Insect Witches encounter the patrolling soldiers of Great Zhou, all they can do is run; there’s no point in trying to fight head-on.

Their close-combat abilities are too weak.

Moreover, in terms of weaponry, Great Zhou has always been far superior to the Southern Barbarians.

Zhao Ke was the young clan leader of the Hana Tribe, but his insect box was only at the level of a fourth-tier supreme; the other elders only possessed a fourth-order inferior piece.

However, any Great Zhou soldiers daring enough to patrol across the border would have their Flying Boats equipped with a variety of fourth-tier weaponry, and they would be large-scale Divine Weapons!

It’s quite possible that the equipment worn by the soldiers was more luxurious than that of him, the young clan leader!

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!"

The moment Zhao Ke shouted, Crossbow Arrows fell from the sky.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

The Crossbow Arrows, three meters long, had specially made golden drill heads that were hollow inside, with a wind formation inside that caused the heads to spin upon firing, to increase their armor-piercing capability.

The arrows were three-segmented; the middle and rear segments provided power and also exploded to change the direction of the arrowhead, allowing it to trace and hit the enemy.

The Spirit-breaking Crossbow represented the pinnacle of craftsmanship of Great Zhou’s Ministry of Works, and not even a small third-order crossbow arrow’s technique could be imitated by the Southern Barbarian tribes.

"Young Master!"

"Puchi!"

"Boom boom!"

The other three witches were directly nailed to the ground by the crossbow arrows, sinking three feet into the earth.

Only Zhao Ke, who had the quickest reaction in activating the insect box and used the Illusion Worms, caused the crossbow arrows to shoot around him, not hitting him directly.

But upon hitting the ground, they exploded mid-air, and the aftermath flipped Zhao Ke over.

"What! How can the Spirit-breaking Crossbow be so powerful!"

Zhao Ke was greatly shocked.

His soft armor was directly cut open by the fragments, revealing deep wounds to the bone beneath his skin.

However, inside his muscles, worms quickly crawled out, clung together, and repaired the wounds.

"It’s not a third-tier Spirit-breaking Crossbow, it’s a fourth-tier God-breaking Crossbow! Hiss!"

Zhao Ke glanced at the fragments on the ground, and his entire being fell into despair.

He couldn’t help but look up.

He saw around him five hundred figures descending from the sky, with dozens more hovering above, brewing Gang Wind and Heavenly Thunder.

Opening the Sky Net, firing concentrated God-breaking Crossbow shots, and so many Martial Artists and Mages... What does it mean when there’s nowhere to go above and no escape below?

"I, Zhao Ke, what virtue or ability do I have..."

Even a randomly picked Martial Artist had an aura no weaker than his.

Zhao Ke felt hopeless in an instant.

"Damn it, all these Barbarians were shot dead by Mr. Wang’s people, leaving only this piece of trash?"

"Surrender, tell Mr. Wang not to waste money next time."

"Five hundred brothers, all for nothing in this jump!"

"..."

Listening to the noisy voices around him, Zhao Ke realized what he needed to do.

He was about to commit suicide immediately.

No one can stop an Insect Witch from committing suicide.

Unless—

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Eighteen silver needles pierced Zhao Ke’s body.

In an instant, all the Lifebound Worms inside Zhao Ke were sealed, especially the Heart Worm, which had already opened its mouthparts ready to puncture its master’s heart, but was accurately nailed to death by the silver needles.

"You... Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles!"

Zhao Ke lay on the ground, his body twitching, as the spell worms inside him lost control.

"Eh? Quite knowledgeable." Yuan Yang walked over in surprise, "This Southern Barbarian actually knows about the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles, looks like we caught a big fish."

Zhao Xing also followed and examined Zhao Ke from head to toe, "Though his cultivation is average, his identity must not be low, let’s search him first."

Xia Jing waved his hand, and three men who practiced the Xuanwu Secret Skill rushed over and stripped Zhao Ke clean.

"What’s the story?"

"Must be the leader of a small tribe, or perhaps the leader’s son."

The others took out the Earth Mirror to search for relevant clues.

Zhao Xing looked at the patterns on Zhao Ke’s face and chest, then compared them to his skin and clothing.

Immediately he said, "Feather symbols, indicating that he must be under the rule of the Golden Feather Royal Court. Three silver moons chase, suggesting that his tribe is directly governed by a ’Silver Moon Lord.’ Three silver moons represent the leader’s rank and a symbol of power; Silver Moon Lords are usually Earth Witches."

"As for his own tribe, it should be called the Hana Tribe."

Xia Jing saw Zhao Ke’s reaction and knew that Zhao Xing was right.

But he was puzzled, "How come I didn’t find it, where are you seeing this from?"

Zhao Xing smiled, "The history of that tribe isn’t long, probably just three or four hundred years, so the Great Zhou Military doesn’t bother to update the information on such a small tribe. There are records of the Hana Tribe in the annals of fifteen counties in the Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion, so it’s normal you didn’t know."

"Do you really sleep only two hours a day?" Wang Ji looked at the top of Zhao Xing’s head, "No wonder you have time to read so much stuff, but how come you don’t lose hair?"

Zhao Xing dismissed it with a smile and turned to look for someone.

"Chen Fang, where is Chen Fang?"

"Here!" Chen Fang ran over excitedly.

"You’ve learned the Southern Barbarians’ common language best, he’s in your charge," Zhao Xing pointed at Zhao Ke, "but don’t kill him. The Hana Tribe may not be a big fish, but it’s still midsize... Oops, sorry, Brother Xia, I misspoke."

"No worries." Xia Jing covered his mouth and nose, his throat bobbing, "I’m getting somewhat used to it..."

"Understood." Chen Fang said, "We’re to find out the location of this kid’s tribe, right?"

"Right." Zhao Xing nodded.

There’s one downside to fighting the Southern Barbarians, apart from a small number of established foreign nations, the rest of the tribes have almost no fixed territory and roam everywhere in the Southern Desolate.

Due to the unpredictable weather, the vast majority of the Barbarians do not have a ’Witch’ capable of controlling the weather, and they must keep changing locations.

This causes the Military Realm to be unable to provide accurate maps to them, and they can only rely on finding people to kill.

"Leave it to me." Chen Fang patted his chest confidently.

"No, just leave the translation to you," Zhao Xing said, "Interrogation should be left to Zhang Yi and the Military Doctor."

"Don’t let him die before we get everything out of him, the brothers’ upcoming missions all depend on him."

"Got it!" Chen Fang picked up Zhao Ke and carried him onto the Flying Boat.

On the way back, Zhao Xing also received a message from the Military Realm.

"The third ring of the mission is complete, huh? Temporary Secondary Seventh Rank has been changed to official Secondary Seventh Rank, I can get promoted?" Zhao Xing looked at the message in the Earth Mirror with some surprise.