"I've been waiting for this day for a long time... Xixi, why are you jumping out?"
Just as Li Fan sighed, Xixi flapped its wings and leaped out of the formation, positioning itself in the center of the platform.
Roar! Roar, roar!
Xixi turned its body and communicated with the team.
"What is Xixi saying, meow?" Dilu asked curiously.
"Violence can't solve everything. I'm going to try and communicate," Li Fan translated.
"Communicate, meow? With the Valstrax?" Dilu blinked, finding the idea rather fantastical.
Roar! Roar...
Xixi flapped its wings, its crown trembling, and continued to explain to the team. At this moment, a dark shadow from behind enveloped it.
"Xixi! Dodge quickly!" Li Fan shouted.
Xixi sensed the anomaly and turned its head to look back, its crimson-tipped wing lance thrusting directly towards it.
*Splat!*
The green carapace beneath its left wing was pierced.
Xixi looked at the Valstrax in disbelief, its claws digging into the ground as it retreated several steps before stabilizing itself.
However, the Valstrax regarded Xixi with only indifference and hostility.
"What a twisted fate, Xixi. Huihui doesn't even know you," Li Fan lamented inwardly.
*Screech!*
The wing lance was withdrawn, spraying blood. The Valstrax raised its other wing lance.
*Whoosh!* A purple figure swooped down from the air.
"Wow!"
*Clang!* Kuku's massive beak struck the wing lance, and it clamped onto the edge.
The Valstrax flared its wing lance, swinging it outwards to try and shake Kuku off.
Kuku's claws dug into the edge of the carapace, hooking on tightly. It flapped its wings to maintain balance while extending its neck towards the Valstrax's head.
"Wow! Buzz!"
Its beak opened, unleashing a piercing sonic wave.
The Valstrax was not significantly affected, but the sound was still incredibly jarring.
Seeing that it couldn't shake Kuku off, three red flames erupted from behind the wing lance. Kuku, along with the wing lance, turned sideways.
The Valstrax intended to use a vertical slam of its wing lance to knock Kuku away.
However, just as its right wing lance reached its highest point, Lei Ge, having entered its Super-Charged state, lunged towards its chest from the left.
Li Fan, who was busy sharpening Zhaozhan's blade, shouted, "Lei Ge! Now's your chance! Black Tiger Steals the Heart!"
Monsters' physical resilience and pain tolerance were beyond human comparison.
Moreover, Lei Ge could activate its Super-Charged state with the Elder Dragon Blood, giving it strong resistance to Dragonblight. Thus, even with the crimson Dragon Orb tightly encased in Dragon energy, Lei Ge had a high probability of penetrating its defenses.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Lei Ge didn't slow down or adjust its position, charging forward with the utmost speed.
Mid-air, its right claw lifted slightly, palm facing the damaged chest. As it swung backward, the Dragon-attributed lightning emanating from its constantly charging back plates rapidly enveloped its claw tip.
*Screech!*
The right wing lance, which was about to descend, suddenly rotated horizontally.
The Valstrax's claws exerted force, and its body leaped lightly.
The right wing lance, spewing Dragonblight, propelled its entire body in a rapid spin mid-air.
Lei Ge's claw missed, and it could only retract its force and land. However, as soon as its limbs touched the ground, it discovered that while spinning, the wing lance had extended, transforming into a sweeping silver giant blade.
Even more bizarrely, Kuku was also attached to it...
Lei Ge tried to retreat, but it was already too late.
*Boom!* Kuku and Lei Ge collided.
The two monsters were flung around and dragged for a full circle and a half by the sweeping wing lance before both were sent flying.
Lei Ge flipped in the air and landed, surprisingly finding that apart from some scraped scales on its shoulder from the impact, it had sustained no other injuries.
Just as it was wondering about this, a mournful roar echoed from not far away.
"Wow..."
Kuku, lying on its back, flapped its wings vigorously and kicked with its smoking claws. After considerable effort, it managed to flip over and get back on its feet.
Black smoke billowed from its beak, and Kuku let out a defiant roar.
However, after just one roar, its arched spine collapsed, and its head drooped downwards.
Kuku had been pressed against the wing lance. Even with the Valstrax's spinning attack, it could have at most been thrown off.
But it hadn't anticipated colliding with Lei Ge, which had directly caused severe injury to its back.
After Li Fan analyzed the situation, he threw a healing sphere towards it.
Kuku saw the sphere rolling towards its feet and kicked it aside with its claws.
"Don't be stubborn, Kuku. It's too dangerous to keep fighting," Li Fan urged.
"Wow!"
"What is Kuku saying, meow?"
"He says... life is endless, and the fight never stops," Li Fan translated, deciding to give Kuku another chance.
For the Kuku of the past, survival and reproduction were primary needs.
Now, perhaps, Kuku truly sought the thrill of constantly growing stronger through combat.
Unfortunately, the skill "Brave Exertion" only reached its peak effectiveness during prolonged, continuous battles.
Suffering a severe injury right at the start, and with a maximum combat time of only ten minutes, it greatly limited Kuku.
Perhaps the Valstrax hadn't fully mastered that "Silver Wing Spin" technique either. As it landed, it nearly stumbled to the ground.
Countless Super-Charged Elder Dragon Blood emerged from Lei Ge's back, forming two spheres crackling with red and black energy.
The Valstrax hesitated as it looked at the spheres, then reversed its wing lance and aimed its nozzle forward.
Red flames surged from the nozzle, and countless red light particles erupted.
These particles, unlike the Dragon energy injected into the wing lance tip, would directly detonate into flames upon contact with anything.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*...
As the red flame particles rained down, the dense explosions engulfed nearly half of the Hekseah Stone platform in a fiery glow.
From the gray smoke, two Super-Charged Elder Dragon Blood spheres flew in erratic trajectories.
Seeing this, the Valstrax immediately began to inhale and gather energy.
Before they could reach the Valstrax, the surface of the Super-Charged Elder Dragon Blood spheres began to leak Dragon-attributed energy.
"Roar!"
Lei Ge let out a prolonged cry.
The Super-Charged Elder Dragon Blood spheres, continuously drained of Dragon-attributed energy, quickly retreated.
Some, attracted by the Dragon energy leaking from its chest, broke away from the swarm and flew towards its chest.
*Bang! Bang!*...
The red flame orbs detonated. As the Elder Dragon Blood corpses fell, they were reduced to mere black husks before even hitting the ground.
"Using Elder Dragon Blood swarms to hinder Huihui's energy absorption was indeed futile... Zhaozhan, prepare for a frontal assault!"
Li Fan, who had leaped onto Zhaozhan's back to avoid the red flame explosions, had a clear view of the situation.
"Roar!"
Zhaozhan roared in response, its tail blade, shimmering with a jade-white luster, slid from its mouth.
*Sizzle! Sizzle!*...
The dropped tail blade carved a semi-arc across the Hekseah Stone platform.
"Dilu, you covered your ears very promptly. Commendable."
"Then I'll get a pair of gloves with earplugs in the future, meow." Dilu moved its cat paw, looking at the pink paw pad in its palm.
"Ah, that's a good idea."
*Sizzle! Sizzle!*
Zhaozhan scraped its claws on the ground, lowering its head to gather strength, waiting only for the command to charge forward.
The Valstrax scanned the movements of each monster, its wing lances reversed, hovering in mid-air with Dragonblight jets.
"Zhaozhan, do you see the slightly red area on Huihui's wing lance? That's the carapace that hasn't cooled down after rapid flight. If you want to inflict substantial damage, that's where you should aim. Huihui's left wing lance is already damaged, so attack the right one," Li Fan advised.
Through actual observation during combat, Li Fan discovered that the abnormal high temperature on the Valstrax's carapace wasn't solely due to friction with the air during flight.
The Dragon energy that continuously generated on its surface and then detonated into red flames was the primary source of the high temperature.
The purpose of this was twofold: first, to offset the impact of the "Cute Star Sky Collision" and protect itself.
Second, to maximize the power of the "Cute Star Sky Collision" by utilizing the red flames gathered on its surface.
The drawback, however, was that the carapace, subjected to the baptism of red flames, would soften due to insufficient cooling.
"Roar..."
Zhaozhan responded with a sound that was half-comprehending.
"Charge!"
Li Fan gave the command, tightening his grip on the insect thread in front of him.
*Boom! Boom!*...
Zhaozhan moved its claws and charged at full speed.
The Valstrax folded its wings, its body straightening into a line.
As four red flames erupted backward, a blast of air exploded.
*Boom!* Zhaozhan stomped on the ground, leaping up amidst cracking Hekseah Stone fragments.
*Whoosh!* The Valstrax tilted downwards, its wing lances folded forward.
"White Emperor Sacred Sword!" Li Fan shouted.
As Zhaozhan leaped, its tail blade swung upwards and then, driven by its body's rotation, chopped straight down.
The diving Valstrax made no change in its trajectory, clearly confident in itself.
*Whoosh! Sizzle!*
As the jade-white blade neared the right wing lance, a burst of red flames erupted.
However, the Zhaozhan tail blade's strike would not be deterred by such a minor obstruction.
*Clang! Sizzle!*
Something completely unexpected happened to the Valstrax.
The tail blade, gleaming with a jade-white luster, cut into the edge of the right wing lance's carapace and continued to deepen the cut.
Jetting backward with its wings fully retracted, the Valstrax was forced to increase the intensity of its red flame jets.
*Boom! Boom!*
Under the intense red flame jets, a large amount of black smoke billowed out.
*Whoosh! Boom!*
Under the immense impact, Zhaozhan lost its balance mid-air, somersaulted once, and crashed to the ground.
The protruding tip of its left wing lance descended, piercing its own abdomen.
*Crack! Hiss!*
The abdomen, unprotected by carapace, was directly pierced. The wing lance tip plunged into the Hekseah Stone platform.
Dragon energy radiated outwards, forming several arcs of lightning on the platform.
The Valstrax did not stop there. It withdrew its left wing lance and raised its right wing lance to strike again.
*Boom!* Just as it was about to spray, the middle edge of its right wing lance exploded.
Red flames surged uncontrollably from the cracks in the wing bone that supplied the jets.
Recalling Zhaozhan's tail blade cutting into it earlier, the Valstrax could deduce the reason without thinking.
Its left wing was severely damaged, with only the innermost nozzle functioning normally.
Now, one of its right wings was also crippled, and a sense of crisis began to surge.
However, after a moment of observation, it decided to deal with Zhaozhan first.
But there was a small problem: Zhaozhan had disappeared!
The diffused Dragon energy, after a brief delay, transformed into red flame explosions, kicking up billowing black smoke.
"Cough... cough..."
Li Fan ran out of the smoke, his body covered in black dust particles.
He vaguely recalled that when the battle first began, Huihui's red flame explosions were quite environmentally friendly.
He surmised that due to the urgent need for energy, it no longer cared about the quality of the Dragon energy it generated.
Amidst the dense black smoke, the Valstrax's senses were alerted by the sound of rapid footsteps on the ground.
Lei Ge, with its right claw raised high, was flying towards it.
The Valstrax was completely unprepared and could only lower its neck to protect its chest, meeting the attack with its head.
Although this move appeared clumsy, it effectively protected the damaged area of its chest.
Seeing that "Black Tiger Steals the Heart" was impossible, Lei Ge chose to slam its claw directly onto the Valstrax's head.
*Whoosh!* The Dragon-attributed energy attached to its claw shattered, but the result was somewhat unexpected.
The overflowing Dragon-attributed energy was completely absorbed by the Valstrax.
The wing lance tip struck down again. Lei Ge, attempting to retreat, was impaled through the back and pinned to the platform.
This time, the Valstrax did not withdraw its wing lance but raised the other one.
It seemed to be ensuring that the situation of Zhaozhan suddenly disappearing would not happen again.
*Sizzle! Sizzle!*
A verdant green lightning bolt appeared from high above. The wing lance, instead of striking down, swung diagonally to meet the obstruction.
*Screech!* Xixi's "Ship-Cutting Blade," extended from its crown, collided with the wing lance.
A dazzling green light erupted!
"Roar! Roar! Roar!..."
Xixi, with its head lowered, let out continuous roars, as if questioning something.
The Valstrax maintained its indifferent expression, but the next moment, the loosening sensation at the tip of its wing lance suddenly alerted it.
The Valstrax quickly lowered its head to check. Lei Ge, which had been pinned just moments ago, had vanished, just like Zhaozhan.
However, this time there was a difference: it spotted a human running away rapidly.
Recalling the monsters that appeared together after the golden flash, the Valstrax quickly formed a hypothesis.
The "Ship-Cutting Blade," composed entirely of lightning attributes, was rapidly shrinking as Xixi's body electricity weakened.
Just as the Valstrax was about to break free from Xixi and target the human,
Li Fan, who had run far away, stopped and shouted, "Huihui! It's time to end this!"
"Wow!"
While the Valstrax was still trying to figure out what was happening, Kuku, who had been charging, rushed forward.
Despite its reluctance, the Valstrax could only lower its head to defend itself.
But before it could lower its head, a pair of powerful claws suddenly grabbed its neck from above and dragged it upwards with great force.
The Valstrax glanced upwards and saw that it was the Rathalos, which had not attacked until now.
"Wow! Wow!..."
Kuku, running at full speed, howled incessantly, showing no fear of the Dragon energy leaking from its chest.
*Crack!* The "Ship-Cutting Blade" shattered!
Without hesitation, the Valstrax thrust its wing lance forward.
As Kuku ran, it spread its wings, its wing membranes bulging backward.
Completing a rapid deceleration, it precisely avoided the tip of the wing lance that pierced the platform in front of it.
Kuku continued its charge, but the Valstrax's neck was being pulled higher and higher by the playful Rathalos, making it impossible to protect its chest with its head.
*Hoo~ Hoo~*
The Dragon energy that had been gathering in its chest suddenly began to dissipate outwards in large quantities.
"Is it going to self-detonate... Kuku! Come back quickly!"
Kuku did not heed Li Fan's command and continued to charge forward, facing the reddening, scorching Dragon energy.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*...
A series of explosive roars!
The Valstrax fell to its side in the black smoke.
Li Fan pulled out a healing sphere and ran to its rescue, shouting towards the sky, "Playful! Clear the smoke! Give Puff visibility!"
*Hoo~ Hoo~*
Playful swooped down and hovered, its wings flapping rapidly, quickly dispersing the black smoke caused by the explosion.
The Valstrax's sideways-lying body was then revealed.
Li Fan spotted Kuku lying in front of the Valstrax's chest, its body covered in still-burning red flames.
He threw a healing sphere to retrieve it, then ran quickly away, shouting, "Puff! Finish it!"
*Sizzle!* A jet of water shot out from the edge of the platform, carving a long trench on the surface of the Hekseah Stone.
After cutting a serpentine path into the ground, the water stream suddenly straightened and rose, transforming into a taut, thin line that struck directly into the Valstrax's chest cavity.
Puff, spraying the cutting stream, dug its claws firmly into the Hekseah Stone ground.
However, due to the immense force of this attack, its body still slowly shifted backward.
The Dragon energy surrounding the crimson Dragon Orb repeatedly dissipated and regenerated under the impact of the water stream.
The protective balance was quickly broken, and Li Fan saw the true form of the crimson Dragon Orb for the first time.
It was a spherical gem emitting an eerie red glow, held in place at the center of its chest by several sharp, silver horn-like protrusions.