The Red-eyed Goat Monster lay motionless on the mountain road, its fur charred, blood flowing.
The Demon hunters didn't approach easily. Yu Chengyi glanced at the monster, then at Mo Shan, giving him an inquiring look.
Mo Shan frowned slightly, shaking his head gently, indicating that the monster was feigning death.
So everyone spread out, surrounding the monster, patiently waiting.
Different monsters feigned death in different ways, so the Demon hunters' response varied accordingly.
For monsters like the Red-eyed Goat Monster, it was risky to approach after it feigned death.
Anyone who approached first would face its final resistance, which could be extremely dangerous. Those unlucky enough might end up buried in the monster's belly.
Approaching together was also risky as they could be affected by its demonic power.
Late-stage first-rank monsters not only had vigorous blood and formidable demonic power but also possessed talents enhanced by demonic power, making them even more challenging.
If they were injured by its demonic power, it would be troublesome.
The Demon hunters lacked long-range attack methods. Although they had bows and arrows, their power was weak. Using the spiritual stones on the formations to deal with monsters was also quite ineffective.
Therefore, for safety's sake, the Demon hunters did not act rashly.
The goat monster lay motionless on the ground, and the Demon hunters remained vigilant, patiently waiting.
As the dying monster's blood flowed slowly, its breath weakened bit by bit. With a little patience, the monster would eventually collapse.
Mo Hua also hid behind a rock, watching. The demonic power of the monster fluctuated slowly in his spiritual awareness.
It seemed like the monster was gathering demonic power as if it were still alive, but it also seemed like the demonic power was gradually dissipating as if the monster were already dead.
Mo Hua couldn't tell whether the monster was alive or dead.
"It seems my experience is not enough. Even if my spiritual awareness can detect the flow of demonic power, I still can't determine whether the monster is alive or dead."
His father, Mo Shan, didn't even need spiritual awareness. With just a glance, he could tell that the monster was feigning death, relying on his experience, which was also a kind of ability of cultivators.
Mo Hua thought to himself.
The monster was still pretending to be dead, and the Demon hunters were still waiting, but Mo Hua was already getting impatient.
They didn't have long-range attack methods, but Mo Hua did.
So Mo Hua started to gather his qi and cast Fireball Spell.
With a flick of his mind, spiritual energy gathered between his fingers, forming into a Fireball Spell, which whistled out and flew towards the feigned-dead goat monster.
The Demon hunters were startled, but seeing that it was Mo Hua casting the spell, they felt relieved.
The Fireball Spell exploded on the goat monster, but the monster remained motionless.
"It's clearly a sheep, yet it still wants to play dead?" Mo Hua muttered in amazement. Then, he aimed again and cast another Fireball Spell, hitting the goat monster once more.
The goat monster couldn't bear it anymore. It roared and stood up, its eyes red with ferocity, glaring at Mo Hua.
Yu Chengyi's voice was cold. "Kill!"
The Demon hunters rushed forward with their weapons, slashing at the goat monster.
The already weakened Red-eyed Goat Monster couldn't hold on any longer. Its eyes were bloodshot, its demonic power surged to its peak, and its whole body was filled with vigorous blood.
Seeing this, Yu Chengyi immediately commanded, "Scatter!"
The Demon hunters were already prepared and quickly retreated.
As the Demon hunters withdrew, a burst of blood mist erupted from the Red-eyed Goat Monster's body.
Mo Hua had heard from Mo Shan that when the Red-eyed Goat Monster was dying or in a crisis, it would use demonic power to trigger its innate talent, releasing a blood mist.
If a Demon hunter were caught in the blood mist, their eyes would be tainted with blood, their vision obscured, and their mind affected by the blood mist.
In such a situation, without the help of companions, they would almost certainly die.
"So, this is the blood mist..."
Mo Hua was amazed. Late-stage first-rank monsters were indeed more dangerous than he had thought.
Fortunately, although the blood mist was tricky, it didn't last long and quickly dissipated.
And the Red-eyed Goat Monster, exhausted of demonic power, truly became a lamb awaiting slaughter.
The Demon hunters quickly killed the Red-eyed Goat Monster, and as it collapsed to the ground once again, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Mo Hua scanned the goat monster again with his spiritual awareness.
He found that the truly dead goat monster had a slower and more sluggish flow of demonic power, and its color was gradually fading.
Mo Hua remembered this difference in the future to distinguish whether a monster was feigning death.
However, he was not very familiar with late-stage first-rank monsters, so just to be sure, he confirmed with his father:
"Is it really dead?"
Mo Shan glanced at the monster again and nodded. "Yes, it's dead."
Mo Hua then ran out from behind the rock, approached the goat monster, and pointed near its heart:
"Dad, help me make an incision here."
Mo Shan made a cut about half a finger long, and demonic blood flowed from the incision.
Mo Hua quickly took out a jade bottle to collect the blood and used Blood Absorption Technique to draw blood from the monster's other meridians.
After collecting the blood, the Demon hunters skinned and deboned the monster, and once everything was packed up, they returned to their camp.
There were always unknown dangers in the inner mountains, but it was much safer to stay in the camp.
The camp in the inner mountains was similar to the one in the outer mountains but more spacious and secluded, with better formations on the stone gate.
However, to Mo Hua's eyes, these formations seemed rather crude.
They looked awkward to him, so using the newly collected monster blood, he reconfigured the spiritual ink and personally drew a set of first-rank earth and stone formations. This made it much more pleasing to the eye.
After eating a bit, everyone rested in the camp for a while.
Yu Chengyi held the compass with the fire formation drawn on it, looking left and right, unable to help but exclaim, "This thing is great!"
It had considerable power and could be used multiple times, and it was drawn with a first-rank formation.
A first-rank formation...
From now on, they Demon hunters could use first-rank formations to hunt monsters.
This was something unheard of before.
Even a few years ago, he wouldn't have dared to imagine it.
Yu Chengyi felt a bit emotional, then asked, "How many times can this be used?"
Mo Hua, chewing on meat, thought for a moment and replied, "Seven or eight times."
"This formation medium is not too good. It's mixed with refined iron, so it's a bit more durable. After using it seven or eight times, it won't be able to withstand the explosive spiritual power of the fire formation anymore," Mo Hua added.
"And then it's useless?" Yu Chengyi sounded a bit regretful.
"It can be recycled. Ask Master Chen to melt it down and then reforge it," Mo Hua suggested.
This was the advantage of having a craftsman. Sometimes, you could refine things according to your own ideas.
"That's good."
Yu Chengyi nodded. Holding the compass with the fire formation on it, he liked it more and more.
With this thing in the future, their monster hunting would be much easier. Most importantly, it reduced risks and casualties.
It wasn't easy for Demon hunters to want to live a good life.
Who wouldn't want to enter the mountains steadily and return safely?
"It's just that this compass looks a bit ugly..." Yu Chengyi spoke honestly.
Although he liked its functionality, it did look a bit ugly...
Mo Hua scratched his head. There was nothing he could do; it was hastily made.
In theory, most spiritual tools would have corresponding formations, and most formations would have corresponding standard spiritual tools.
For example, sword formations would be drawn on sword tools, knife formations on knife tools, and so on.
But Mo Hua couldn't find a corresponding spiritual tool for the fire formation. When he asked Master Chen, even he didn't know. So they had to make do with a makeshift iron compass as the formation medium based on his sundial compass.
Although it looked a bit ugly, Yu Chengyi still cherished the compass with the fire formation on it dearly.
(End of the Chapter)