CHAPTER 746: CHAPTER 540: BLACK SHINING STONE DEMON (TWO IN ONE) PART 2

"It worked!"

From behind, Xun You’s face lit up with joy, and the shield he had been maintaining slowly dissipated.

"Be careful! He’s not dead yet!"

Yang Yangyang shouted loudly.

At that moment, although the monster had lost its head, its body did not fall to the ground and die quickly like the other Stone Statue Demons, but instead remained vigorously alive, swinging its arm towards Hu Peng.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound followed, and Hu Peng, caught off guard, was slammed into the ground.

Fortunately, his Holy Shield Skill was still engaged, blocking every attack from the monster.

"Damn it! Even with its head chopped off, it’s not dead; this guy is Third-level!"

Yang Yangyang exclaimed angrily.

Before killing a monster and absorbing Contribution Points, it was difficult to accurately determine the Level of a monster through Dark Energy Fluctuations, especially before the Third-level.

The Dark Energy Fluctuations at this stage are not significantly different, unless one uses an upgraded Spirit Detection Technique to observe; otherwise, it’s difficult to clearly distinguish them in actual combat.

However, there are different methods to discern different categories of monsters.

The most obvious criterion for Demon Species is that if they can still move freely after their head has been chopped off, then they are definitely above Third-level.

This was also concluded by the Awakeners of the Star Alliance based on their multiple real battle experiences.

To kill a Third-level or higher Demon Species, merely chopping off the head is not enough; its "form" must be dispersed completely to kill it.

At this moment, the headless Stone Statue Demon was hysterically pounding Hu Peng, who was sunk into the ground.

With each punch, a dull booming sound was emitted, shaking the ground with it.

"Cheng Huang!"

Behind him, Yang Yangyang and Xun You watched the scene anxiously, taking steps ready to rush over and help.

They wanted to use long-range skills to interrupt the monster, but such actions were very likely to accidentally hurt their teammate.

And penetrative attacks like the Violent Spirit Technique, which are largely ineffective against Demon Species, required close-quarters combat.

"Don’t come over!"

In the midst of it, Hu Peng suddenly shouted, stopping the two from approaching.

His Holy Shield was still active; though the monster relentlessly attacked him, even cracking the ground, it hadn’t actually harmed him at all.

On the contrary, the shield around Hu Peng began to flash wildly, intensifying in brightness with every punch from the Stone Statue Demon.

Eventually, the glow emanating from Hu Peng was much more blinding than at the start.

Now, not only ordinary people but even the constitution-enhanced Yang Yangyang and Xun You could barely keep their eyes open.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

The shield was frantically absorbing the demon’s attacks, and soon, it even began to buzz, its glow turning purple.

Hu Peng knew that this indicated his Holy Shield had reached its limit and was about to burst.

"Boom!!!"

The next second, a tremendous explosion resounded.

The Stone Statue Demon, which was still punching, suddenly felt an unmatched force exploding beneath it.

The force spread rapidly through its body, almost instantly, tearing apart its consciousness like a decayed stalk snapped off.

To outsiders, it seemed as if the shield around Hu Peng suddenly erupted, emitting a burst of brilliance like the sun, instantly engulfing the monster.

A fierce wind blew outward from them, and even survivors dozens of meters away could clearly feel it, showing the terrifying power of that moment.

A ring of churned up, indented ground surrounded Hu Peng; the scene looked as though it had been bombarded by artillery fire, with only his figure still standing in the middle, the monster now completely vanished without a trace.

Neither Yang Yangyang nor Xun You had ever witnessed the burst of a Holy Shield before. Although they had heard about it, they had never had the chance to see its power firsthand, which was why they had been so worried just now.

"This, such terrifying power..."

Xun You looked around the scene, and about twenty meters away from Hu Peng, he found the corpse of the Stone Statue Demon.

Its body was stuck in a wall, its limbs twisted together, no longer recognizable in its original form.

For a third-level Demon Monster, being beaten to this extent meant it had practically disintegrated.

Unless it was a higher-level Alien Species, it might need to be truly taken apart to be killed, but clearly, this Stone Statue Demon was not one of those.

"Huff huff huff~"

Hu Peng, panting heavily, looked at the distant corpse; his Holy Shield had fulfilled its purpose and completely dissipated.

Everyone was left speechless, some survivors even shedding tears, cheering for the monster’s demise.

Nearby, Yang Yangyang, seeing this scene, felt shocked and somewhat bewildered.

Having known earlier about Hu Peng’s Holy Shield Skill, he wondered why he had even bothered firing the Light Gun at the beginning; he should have just let Hu Peng take the hits.

Thinking about the power unleashed by that Skill, Yang Yangyang felt a wave of envy; he should have switched to that Skill too.

However, he then thought back to Hu Peng taking hits, how pitifully he was pounded by the monster.

If that meant he had to endure such beatings every time before killing a monster, he believed he might as well stick with the Light Gun.

Thus, with everyone’s combined efforts, the massive Stone Statue Demon blocking the road was successfully dealt with.

With Hu Peng using the Eye of the Starry Sky Ability to absorb it, Zhang Xiaoman also received a prompt from the System.

"Ding, Black Shining Stone Demon essence absorbed, points increased by 78."

"Huh?"

He hurriedly pulled up the System panel to check and found, surprisingly, that it was Hu Peng who had killed a third-level monster, an unexpectedly impressive feat.

After all, being a third-level Alien Species, only a handful of people in the entire Star Alliance could kill them; surprisingly, Hu Peng and his group had now succeeded in such a challenge.

At that moment, under Zhang Xiaoman’s direction, the Dawn also turned the camera to the site of the battle, allowing him to see the nine survivors there.

"Hmm... it seems Yang Yangyang and the others are carrying out a rescue plan; I should pay attention..."

Zhang Xiaoman said, immediately instructing Star Order to maintain a split screen in front of him, lest the people below, who were conducting the rescue, encounter any danger.

"This Dimension Rift is bigger than the one at Sheep Village; its diameter is at least twelve meters..."

He turned his gaze back to the distant purple rift, where monsters were still surging out ceaselessly, showing no sign of stopping.

In the short time he watched, Zhang Xiaoman had already seen over 100 monsters run out, including one or two Black Shining Stone Demons.

"No, if this continues, more and more monsters will appear, and I’ll never have the chance to close the rift."

He frowned, pondering in his mind what strategy to use to resolve the current predicament.

The Little Golden Man’s Ability was the first to come to mind.

Zhang Xiaoman felt that if he were to use the Little Golden Man, being Invincible and Immune Control should enable him to forcibly close the Dimension Rift.

However, as much as this idea was good, it was rather idealistic.

Time, for one thing, was against him.

The last time, at Sheep Village underground, closing a seven- to eight-meter long Dimension Rift had taken two minutes.

And that was after he had enhanced the Eye of the Starry Sky Ability to double the absorption rate.

The time required for this even larger rift would likely be even more.

If he were halfway through the absorption and the Little Golden Man expired, and monsters swarmed him, he would only get forcibly interrupted and have to fight back.

Hence, Zhang Xiaoman felt he urgently needed an assistant who could help him while he was using the Eye of the Starry Sky, preventing the Alien Species from interrupting him.

However, there seemed to be no one in the organization who could help him at the moment.

And to assist, one would also need to possess the ability to fly.

Within the entire Star Alliance, except for himself, the Star Lord, it seemed that only its developer could control Dark Energy Shock to such an extent.