562: Chapter 439: The Secret to Counteracting Flying Monsters 562: Chapter 439: The Secret to Counteracting Flying Monsters The dark passageway, the crimson walls, the cold ancient tomb, and the occasional horrific howls.

Scene, atmosphere, sound effects, background story—all were present, combining to create a real sensation akin to Yellow Springs Road.

Or perhaps, in some sense, the place this path led to was even more despairing than the true Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs.

Zhang Xiaoman had been keeping an eye on the situation below throughout his journey, but within the 50-meter range of his Spirit Detection Technique, he hadn’t spotted a single shadow of an Alien Species.

He was now descending a spiral staircase and had been walking for what felt like ages, probably reaching nearly a hundred meters deep.

The endlessly descending staircase gave him the illusion that it might never have an end.

Of course, that was impossible.

Even an illusion couldn’t deceive him, for he had the ability of the Spirit Star Ring, granting him immunity to all mental attacks.

The surrounding environment finally changed after he had descended over a hundred meters, the first thing to reach his ears being the sparse sound of underground water flow.

“What a vast space!”

When Zhang Xiaoman stepped off the winding staircase, he was stunned by the expansive sight before him.

Surrounding the edge of a man-made tomb chamber was a collapsed wall, and beyond that wall, a huge space as far as the eye could see revealed itself.

“Flap, flap, flap~”

Suddenly, a flapping sound approached.

Zhang Xiaoman hadn’t even had time to survey the tomb surroundings when he saw a large swarm of monsters rapidly advancing towards him from not too far away.

“It’s those bat-like creatures!”

He reacted immediately, and the dozen or so Star Guards with him sprang into action, raising the longbows they had prepared beforehand, and released a volley towards the oncoming monsters.

“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!”

Dozens of whooshing sounds filled the air as arrows, condensed from Dark Energy, shot into the horde, piercing their bodies with precision.

Some less fortunate ones were struck directly in the head and perished instantaneously.

However, compared to the massive number of monsters, this loss seemed insignificant.

Zhang Xiaoman could only see a dense army of Flying Bats bearing down on him, causing a tightness in his chest.

There was no help for it; there were simply too many monsters— at a glance, there must have been over fifty.

This was his first time facing such a large group of Alien Species.

Fortunately, he was not alone in the battle.

Though his side only numbered a fifth of the monsters, their individual strength was far superior.

With a flick of his hand towards the ground, the Mountain and River Swords from the Sword Box on his back unsheathed themselves, tracing cold flashes through the air before landing around him and the Star Guards.

In such a team battle formation, Zhang Xiaoman didn’t hesitate to unleash his learned Sword Formation Skill to enhance the overall strength of his team.

Now, after several Upgrades, his Sword Formation Skill hadn’t yet reached the purple level, but its attributes had significantly improved.

For example, Shattering Stars, which increased physical attack, had already advanced to the Fifth Level, now covering a larger area and enhancing the attack power of allies within by 25%.

This level of enhancement had already become quite effective, especially after the range had increased, significantly boosting the effectiveness for allied units.

Now, combined with the Star Shining Saint Knight’s attribute aura, Zhang Xiaoman’s combat power surged instantly, and he even felt like he could kill a swath of enemies with a single punch.

Next, as the Star Guards released their second volley of arrows, the group of monsters had also charged to close quarters.

“Hiss!”

A Flying Bat Monster in the lead screeched as it dove towards a Star Guard, its claws outstretched on all four arms, aiming straight for the opponent’s head.

Zhang Xiaoman saw this scene, a smile flashing across his face, like a hunter who had set a trap and was waiting for the prey to show up.

The next second, as the monster got close to a certain range, its body, which had been maintaining a diving pose, suddenly seemed to lose balance.

Its wide wings became rigid to the point of being uncontrollable, flapping no more.

“Squeak!”

The panicking Flying Bat Monster let out a series of shrill screams, and then its body fell uncontrollably, impaled by several long spears from below.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoman’s smile deepened, extremely satisfied with the skill he had just used.

The bizarre situation that befell the Flying Bat Monster was thanks to the presence of a Sword Array on the field—Swallowing Sun and Moon.

Swallowing Sun and Moon, as a Blue Level skill, had been upgraded several times without any additional attributes, only an increase in range, which somewhat underperformed compared to other abilities.

However, just like Life Tai Chi’s Immunity, this skill itself possessed an irreplaceable special ability, which was the inability to fly!

Within the range of Swallowing Sun and Moon, all enemy units were unable to fly!

At this moment, a rather odd scene occurred.

A large swarm of Flying Bat Monsters roared towards Zhang Xiaoman’s side, only to fall to the ground, one after another, screaming as they reached a certain range, much like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.

Some of the unlucky ones were immediately skewered by the Star Guards’ two-meter-long spears.

The others, although not dead on impact, were dazed by the sudden fall, and a few even managed to escape the range of the sword formation.

Yet when they tried to fly back in, they fell again.

Zhang Xiaoman naturally wouldn’t waste such a golden opportunity and immediately led his Star Guards on a mopping-up operation.

In the air, these Flying Bats were incredibly fierce, but once on the ground, they became like eggplants hit by frost, their combat strength drastically reduced.

The Star Guards engaged them in melee combat, easily gaining the upper hand.

However, despite the monsters being caught off guard by the inability to fly and losing their strongest aerial combat ability,

The sheer number of them meant that Zhang Xiaoman’s side had difficulty defeating them quickly, and the battle turned into a fierce melee.

“Boom!”

Zhang Xiaoman eyed a spot where monsters were clustered and hurled a Fireball Technique in that direction.

At once, a burst of flames erupted, accompanied by a loud explosion, as the group of monsters howled in the fire.

He wasn’t able to observe the specifics of the carnage he had caused and turned around, Mountain and River Sword in hand, to face another monster attempting a sneak attack.