Chapter 32: Surrounded
Chen Ming's first day in the Spirit Beast forest passed under rather unusual circumstances.
He first assessed his surroundings and identified the general areas where Spirit Beasts were active. Relying on his tenacious vitality and abnormal appetite, he hastily chewed some wild grass and drank stream water to fill his stomach. After that, he found a cave, hid inside, and rested there while preparing for the challenges of the next day.
Zhang Peng showed no obvious reaction to Chen Ming's situation, but early the next morning, he deliberately used a beast spirit to drive a pack of Carrion Hyenas toward Chen Ming's location.
Just as Chen Ming was trying to hunt a deer like Spirit Beast for breakfast, he suddenly felt many malicious gazes converge on him. When he turned his head, he discovered that a pack of drooling Carrion Hyenas had surrounded him at some point.
"Damn, why these things?"
Feeling those intense stares, Chen Ming's body instantly tensed up.
Based on the knowledge he had learned about Spirit Beasts, the Carrion Hyena was a Spirit Beast roughly the size of a medium or large dog. Its individual strength was lower than that of the Storm Devil Wolf, the standard Intermediate Spirit Beast, and it possessed no elemental attribute abilities. Because of that, it was classified as a relatively powerful Low Spirit Beast.
However, in another sense, the threat posed by Carrion Hyenas with ten year or hundred year cultivation was not actually inferior to that of Storm Devil Wolves.
These Spirit Beasts were just as brutal and cunning as Storm Devil Wolves, and they also lived and hunted in packs.
Because of their scavenging habits, their bodies carried a large amount of bacteria and disease, making them natural breeding grounds for infection. Any scratch or bite from them was extremely difficult to treat.
And the reason this creature was called a Carrion Hyena was because it had a habit of digging into the anus, making it an expert at inflicting disgusting and severe injuries.
A group of Carrion Hyenas of the same size was weaker than a pack of Storm Devil Wolves of equal size, but the problem was that the normal size of a Carrion Hyena pack was usually larger than that of a Storm Devil Wolf pack.
Chen Ming made a rough estimate. The pack of Carrion Hyenas surrounding him numbered at least 20. Although there were only 4 or 5 hundred year Spirit Beasts among them, that number was already enough to cause a qualitative change.
Chen Ming unconsciously clenched his butt tightly, sensing the subtle movements all around him, afraid that some hidden Carrion Hyena might be staring at his rear and preparing to strike.
"1st Spirit Ability, Rotting Body!"
Chen Ming activated his 1st Spirit Ability, strengthening his body and covering himself in a sticky substance that resembled moss or tar, forming a layer of "armor" over his surface.
Feeling his defense rise, Chen Ming's mind eased a little.
However, after smelling the rotting stench emitted from Chen Ming's body under the effect of his Spirit Ability, the Carrion Hyena pack not only did not hesitate or retreat, they instead looked at Chen Ming with even greater greed.
To most animals, Chen Ming, with the Abomination Martial Soul, was like an inedible olive. Undead like, highly poisonous, and difficult to deal with, these qualities were enough to make ordinary Spirit Beasts abandon the idea of fighting him for food.
But Carrion Hyenas were different.
Not only could they eat rotten flesh, they actually enjoyed it.
If Chen Ming was an inedible olive to most Spirit Beasts, then this pack of Carrion Hyenas were connoisseurs of decay.
The more rotten and foul something was, the stronger their predatory desire became.
"Howl!"
The leading female Carrion Hyena let out a strange howl, and then part of the pack lunged straight at Chen Ming, while the others circled around him, searching for his rear opening.
Chen Ming swung an arm, trying to knock them away, but his strength was clearly not enough to deal with so many enemies at once. Several Carrion Hyenas were sent flying, only to be replaced by more that pounced on him and bit into his body with their sharp teeth.
The bite force of canine creatures was extremely strong. Even with the defensive enhancement of his Spirit Ability, Chen Ming could not completely block the biting attacks of these canine type Spirit Beasts.
The sharp fangs of the Carrion Hyenas pierced Chen Ming's skin like knives.
Then, the Carrion Hyenas that had bitten into him suddenly widened their eyes and began whimpering.
Chen Ming's subcutaneous fat existed in a gel like state, greatly resisting impact and causing any sharp object that pierced his body to become stuck near the surface. Beneath that, his blood itself was highly toxic.
Carrion Hyenas did not possess a poison attribute. However, because of their environment and diet, they naturally had strong poison resistance. Spirit Masters who hunted them often had a chance to gain defensive Spirit Abilities with resistance properties, and there was also a small chance of obtaining a poison attribute attack Spirit Ability.
But the moment Chen Ming's blood splashed into a Carrion Hyena's mouth, it was like concentrated sulfuric acid being poured onto a soft throat.
The Carrion Hyena's mouth quickly corroded and split open. Then the toxins on Chen Ming's body, mixed with his blood, surged into the Carrion Hyena's body through the torn flesh in its mouth.
Several younger Carrion Hyenas kicked frantically on the ground, already looking as though they were about to die. Chen Ming, relying on brute force and his dulled sense of pain, grabbed the heads of two Carrion Hyenas with both hands and smashed them together.
A heavy recoil burst through his arms. The heads of the two Carrion Hyenas that Chen Ming slammed together visibly caved in. Even so, they did not die instantly from the damage to their brains.
"Tough on the outside, weak on the inside. I can't rely only on passive contact poison to deal with this many Spirit Beasts..."
Like a sudden bolt of lightning, a thought flashed through Chen Ming's mind.
Without bothering about hygiene or disgust, Chen Ming immediately began his own performance.
Under the gaze of the entire Carrion Hyena pack, Chen Ming stretched out his neck and opened his mouth to an unnatural width, biting down directly on one Carrion Hyena's head. With the powerful force of his jaws, he crushed its skull and swallowed it.
Carrion Hyenas carried many diseases, had very little meat, and tasted terrible. Unless they had no other choice, even most Spirit Beasts would not eat a Carrion Hyena after killing it.
But for Chen Ming, that characteristic was merely a minor inconvenience.
With each bite, he crushed a Carrion Hyena's head and tossed its headless body to the ground. At the same time, while carefully protecting his rear, he began grabbing the convulsing Carrion Hyenas on top of him, biting off their heads one after another and swallowing the bloody mess.
Because of his Martial Soul, Chen Ming did not find the taste disgusting at all. On the contrary, he felt a refreshing sensation spread through his mouth, as though he had just eaten a peppermint candy. The foul smelling blood felt like soda, carrying a slight tingling sensation that further stimulated Chen Ming's appetite and instincts.
Bathed in blood and brains, Chen Ming could feel his condition rapidly improving. The shallow wounds on his body healed quickly, his Spirit Power began recovering at high speed, and he felt as though an endless stream of strength was surging up inside him.
When Chen Ming looked at the Carrion Hyena pack again, he no longer saw enemies.
He saw food that had delivered itself to his door.
"Roar!"
Recalling the pose of a gorilla he had seen in his previous life, Chen Ming pounded his chest with both fists and let out a fierce roar, making himself look even more intimidating.
.....
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