Su Ze had been observing the situation.
The beast horde was massive and constantly being reinforced, but most of them were Tier One aberrant beasts. There were only eight or nine Tier Two beasts.
Su Ze's team had six Cocoon Stage members, which was enough to handle the Tier Two beasts. The reason they were struggling so much was because they were being suppressed by the sheer number of Tier One beasts.
Tier One aberrant beasts were equivalent to human Pupa Stage evolvers. Right now, there were over fifty Tier One beasts, but they only had about twenty Pupa Stage evolvers, many of whom were already injured.
'To stabilize the situation, I just need to thin out the Tier One beasts,' Su Ze understood.
And as it happened, he had a trump card perfect for dealing with Tier One beasts!
Su Ze gave Liou Wenxin a faint smile and pulled a small skull from his pocket. The Head of the Wailer!
This Wondrous Object had been purchased by Zhao Yuanyi for a hefty price as a gift for Zhao Lingxiao's self-defense.
Like extracts, the price of Wondrous Objects of the same tier could vary by hundreds or even thousands of times depending on the strength of their skills and the cost to use them.
Generally, using the skill of a Wondrous Object would drain the user in some way—some consumed stamina, while others drew on evolutionary power.
As a Tier Two Wondrous Object, the Head of the Wailer possessed a spiritual attack skill that was incredibly difficult to defend against. Furthermore, its activation cost was minimal, consuming only a small amount of Spiritual Power with each use, making it arguably a top-tier Tier Two Wondrous Object.
The cost of this Tier Two Wondrous Object was so low that even a Mortal-level Life Form could bear it. That was precisely why Zhao Lingxiao, before even completing his first evolution, was able to kill the Pupa Stage Princess Zhuzhi using the Head of the Wailer.
When Liou Wenxin saw the small skull, her expression faltered. "Is that the Head of the Wailer?" she asked.
"You recognize it?" Su Ze was surprised. This wasn't the first time Liou Wenxin's extensive knowledge had astonished him.
"I've read about it in a book." Liou Wenxin gave Su Ze a deep look. "It seems your family background is even more impressive than I imagined."
"And your knowledge is deeper than I imagined."
"Go on. Be careful."
"Okay."
Su Ze then pushed through the crowd to the outer edge of the defensive circle, directly facing the beast horde.
The Hunters were surprised to see Su Ze. They couldn't figure out why this pretty boy would dare to come to the front line.
Su Ze scanned the area and located the densest concentration of Tier One beasts. He raised the skull in his hand toward the horde and let out a loud shout, drawing their attention.
Most of the beasts in front of Su Ze were drawn in by his roar. Their gazes fixed on him, and then fell upon the Head of the Wailer in his hand.
In that instant, ten Tier One aberrant beasts were hit by the Head of the Wailer's spiritual attack.
The spiritual attack from the Tier Two Wondrous Object: Head of the Wailer posed a massive threat to the Tier One beasts. Two of the beasts with weaker Spiritual Power collapsed on the spot, while the others were also heavily affected—some stood dazed, others swayed unsteadily.
"What are you staring at? Go!"
Su Ze's shout snapped the Hunters beside him out of their stupor. Several of them charged forward and, in a few swift moves, cut down the beasts affected by the spiritual attack.
With ten Tier One beasts gone in a flash, the pressure on the Hunters was greatly relieved.
The Hunters couldn't help but look at Su Ze in astonishment, only to find that the "pretty boy" from their impression was now even paler than usual.
Su Ze wasn't feeling great either. Launching a spiritual attack on ten beasts at once—while the Head of the Wailer's cost was low, multiplying it by ten was no small matter. Nearly half his Spiritual Power had been drained in an instant, making him see stars and turn pale.
Su Ze rubbed his temples, then ran to the other side of the formation. He repeated the process, using the Head of the Wailer to help the Hunters kill another eight Tier One beasts.
Now, only about thirty Tier One beasts remained. The Hunters' burden was instantly lightened. While they might not be able to defeat the horde, they now had a real hope of lasting another ten minutes.
They never would have imagined that the one to turn the tide and save the day would be Su Ze, the very person they had looked down on and disdained.
"Turns out this pretty... this young man has some skills!"
"That Wondrous Object..." Several Hunters glanced at the item in Su Ze's hand. They could clearly see that his incredible display of power was all thanks to it, and they all realized how powerful and precious the object was.
A glint of fervent greed flashed in some of their eyes.
"By the way, where's Li Gaojie?"
Someone finally noticed that Li Gaojie was gone.
Su Ze, who had the lowest commission in the team at only 10,000 a day, had performed a great service. Naturally, people's thoughts turned to Li Gaojie, whose commission was a whopping 50,000 a day. But a look around revealed no sign of him.
"Where did Li Gaojie go? Did anyone see him?"
"That guy... he didn't run off, did he?"
The Hunters murmured among themselves, feeling a sense of injustice. Li Gaojie was earning the highest commission for a Pupa Stage, yet he was nowhere to be found when danger struck.
Just then, another aberrant beast rapidly approached from the distant woods. The horde suddenly grew restless, actively parting to form a path as if welcoming a newcomer.
"Not good, another beast is coming! It's a Tier Two this time!"
"Look at the way they're making way for it! It has to be at least a Tier Two Grade A, maybe even Grade S!"
Although beasts had been continuously joining the horde before, they had all been Tier One.
Tier Two aberrant beasts usually had a strong sense of territory. The Beast King's Roar skill could only affect beasts in the immediate vicinity, so after the initial eight or nine Tier Two beasts arrived, no new ones had joined.
But now, with this high-level Tier Two beast joining the horde, the newly stabilized situation was likely to become precarious once more.
The six Cocoon Stage Hunters were already under immense pressure fighting eight or nine Tier Two beasts. Now, with an even stronger, high-level Tier Two beast arriving, they would likely be overwhelmed.
Amidst a rustling, slithering sound, the newcomer finally revealed its true form.
It was a giant salamander, its body a grayish-brown color. It was over two meters long, and its thick tail swept across the ground, kicking up piles of fallen leaves.
"The Undying Salamander!"
It was actually the Tier Two Grade S aberrant beast, the Undying Salamander!
At this, the faces of the several Cocoon Stage members turned grim. Every Tier Two Grade S aberrant beast was incredibly powerful, and the Undying Salamander was one of the most troublesome among them.
Su Ze's expression was also complicated. He hadn't expected the Beast King's Roar to summon even the Undying Salamander.
Although he'd entertained the thought of hunting an Undying Salamander before, now was not a good time. A Tier Two Grade S beast was not something he could handle, and Mrs. Yun was too tied up to help him.
The entire escort team could only defend passively now. The thought of going on the offensive to kill the Undying Salamander, with its terrifying regenerative abilities, was almost impossible.
Moreover, Su Ze himself was in terrible shape. Repeatedly using the Head of the Wailer had almost completely depleted his Spiritual Power. He could no longer use the Wondrous Object.