Mortal: I, Zhang Tie, started by joining forces with Han Li to kill a strategist.

But Zhang Tie's joy lasted only a moment before he frowned.

Because he saw a huge cave not far from the Heavenly Star Tree, with an entrance about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) long and some huge footprints on the ground around the entrance.

"Is there a demonic beast here? Judging from the lingering aura, it's definitely not a level one demonic beast. This is troublesome!"

Having finally found a spirit tree, Zhang Tie's heart sank as he discovered it was guarded by a demonic beast, possibly even a level two one.

Just as Zhang Tie was frowning in thought, he suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly, and the source was the cave.

Zhang Tie quickly hid behind a rock, concealed his presence, and observed carefully.

At the entrance of the cave, a colossal creature strode out with heavy steps. The beast was over ten feet tall and covered with a layer of gray carapace covered with inch-long spikes. It also had a thick, long horn on its head. Most striking of all was its tail, which resembled a scorpion, with the end curved into a hook and the tip gleaming with black light.

The Scorpion-tailed Beast, a level two demonic beast, is comparable to a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage!

Zhang Tie recognized the monster, and his heart raced slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

The scorpion-tailed beast has extremely strong defenses. Its carapace is impenetrable to ordinary magic weapons. When it rampages, even a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator would have to temporarily avoid its attacks. The scorpion-like stinger on its tail is so powerful that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would suffer if stung by it!

However, this beast's weaknesses are also obvious: it is large but slow, and its attack methods are limited. As long as its speed is restricted and it is not stung by its tail spikes, it is not scary.

Zhang Tie quickly assessed the situation in his mind.

He possesses two ordinary top-tier magic artifacts: the Gold Locking Ring and the Azure Wood True Shield. He also has the Azure Gang Tower, a top-tier magic artifact of the finest quality. Even if he cannot defeat a level-two demon beast, he should have little problem protecting himself.

This Celestial Star Wood is quite rare. Once obtained, it will ensure that the main material for crafting array flags will not be lacking for a long time. To be honest, Zhang Tie doesn't want to give it up.

Moreover, he also has an array!

Zhang Tie left the valley quietly without disturbing the scorpion-tailed beast.

At the mouth of the valley, Zhang Tie chose a flat spot to begin setting up. He took out more than a dozen spirit stones from his storage bag and began to inscribe array patterns on the ground according to the Trapping Array in the Initial Explanation of the Five Elements Array.

The Earth-Trapping Formation is an earth-attribute formation. Its effect is to make the ground beneath the feet of targets entering the formation soft and muddy, greatly reducing their movement speed.

The Earth-Trapping Formation is a perfect counter to large, slow-moving monsters like the Scorpion-Tailed Beast.

After an incense stick's time, the trap formation was completed. With a flash of light, it disappeared underground, waiting for Zhang Tie to inject spiritual energy to activate it.

Everything is ready.

Zhang Tie stood up, took a deep breath, and this time did not conceal his figure or aura, but swaggered into the valley.

Before they even reached the vicinity of the cave, Zhang Tie's presence had already alerted the scorpion-tailed beast. The enormous creature, which had been lying at the cave entrance, instantly raised its head, its brown eyes fixed on Zhang Tie, and let out a low roar.

Monsters have a strong sense of territory, and any act of intrusion will be regarded as a provocation!

The scorpion-tailed beast had already stood up, its beastly eyes fixed on Zhang Tie, seemingly sensing that the other party was not someone to be trifled with.

Seeing how cautious the beast was, Zhang Tie frowned slightly, flipped his right hand, and the Locking Golden Ring flew out with a whoosh, aiming straight for the Scorpion-tailed Beast's head.

The scorpion-tailed beast reacted faster than Zhang Tie had expected, suddenly lowering its head and thrusting its thick, long horn at the Locking Gold Ring.

"clang!"

The clang of metal against metal echoed through the valley. The golden lock ring was bounced back, and only a faint white mark remained on the scorpion-tailed beast's horn.

Seeing this, Zhang Tie was shocked. This big guy was really tough!

The Locking Ring is a top-tier magic weapon; the hardness of its single horn is comparable to that of a high-grade defensive magic weapon!

Enraged, the scorpion-tailed beast let out a deafening roar, pawed at the ground with its limbs, and charged directly at Zhang Tie like a tank.

Zhang Tie dared not take the hit head-on; being struck by this giant thing would definitely not be pleasant. He quickly fled towards the outside of the valley.

The scorpion-tailed beast followed closely behind, determined to smash the creature in front of it to pieces.

In just over ten breaths, Zhang Tie's figure darted out of the valley and stopped in front of the trap formation. The most crucial moment had arrived; whether or not this giant could be trapped depended on this one move.

The scorpion-tailed beast charged at Zhang Tie. This time, Zhang Tie did not dodge directly. He waved his left hand, and the azure light of the Azure Wood Shield enveloped his entire body. His right hand released the Golden Locking Ring again, aiming straight for the scorpion-tailed beast's eyes.

The scorpion-tailed beast instinctively closed its eyes as the golden lock ring slammed into its eyelids. This spot was not as hard as the unicorn horn, and the scorpion-tailed beast cried out in pain, its momentum slowing down.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Zhang Tie instantly activated the Earth-Trapping Formation!

The ground beneath their feet seemed to have become soft and muddy, and the area within a radius of twenty feet had turned into a swamp.

The scorpion-tailed beast's four hooves were all stuck, its speed plummeted, like a buffalo stuck in a mud pit, struggling to pull its hooves out, but sinking deeper and deeper.

The scorpion-tailed beast panicked and struggled desperately in the mud, but this trap was tailor-made for it by Zhang Tie, and its depth was enough to submerge the big guy. How could it get out so easily?

Zhang Tie didn't give it a chance to breathe, and a small cyan pagoda appeared in his hand.

With a wave of his hand, the Azure Gang Tower flew out of his hand, its body rapidly growing larger in the air, expanding from the size of a palm to more than ten feet tall, emitting a beam of azure light, and pressing down on the scorpion-tailed beast in the mud!

"boom!"

The Azure Gang Tower slammed into the Scorpion-tailed Beast's back, pressing its body down even further, causing its limbs to sink deeper, and even its entire head to be almost submerged.

At the same time, the Azure Tower unleashed its killing move, the power of imprisonment. A blue halo enveloped the scorpion-tailed beast's entire body, directly binding its massive form and rendering it unable to move.

Without hesitation, Zhang Tie unleashed the Locking Gold Ring and blasted it towards the crack in the carapace of the Scorpion-tailed Beast's head!

The scorpion's carapace is hard, but the gaps in the carapace are its most vulnerable spot.

After being bombarded more than ten times, the scorpion-tailed beast's head was mangled and blood gushed out.

With a final blow, the scorpion-tailed beast's body stiffened abruptly, its eyes dimmed, and it was ultimately killed by Zhang Tie!

[Slaying the level 2 monster Scorpion-tailed Beast, Karma Value +200]

Current causality value: 290

Hearing the notification, Zhang Tie finally breathed a sigh of relief. The battle hadn't lasted long, but the scorpion-tailed beast had withstood more than ten of his attacks. He hadn't held back at all.

But this trip was worth it!

Not only that Heavenly Star Wood, but also this Level 2 demon beast in front of us—it can be said that its entire body is a treasure.

The outer shell can be used to forge defensive magic weapons, and the horn is strong enough to be used as the main material for a high-grade magic weapon. With the addition of the demon beast essence blood he needs, he no longer needs to bother those level one demon beasts!

The materials from this scorpion-tailed beast alone could fetch nearly a hundred spirit stones.

However, Zhang Tie did not rush to deal with the monster's corpse. Instead, he entered the valley, cut the Heavenly Star Tree into several sections, put them into his storage bag, and then returned to the entrance of the valley.

After dispelling the formation, the scorpion-tailed beast's corpse was quickly dragged out. He took out the Mountain-Slicing Blade, made an incision in the heart area, and collected three full bottles of essence blood, enough for him to refine more than a dozen array flags.

The horn and shell were also there; it took a long time to chop them off, and I put them all into my storage bag.

As for the monster flesh, Zhang Tie only cut off a few pieces to roast and eat, leaving the rest for the other monsters!

After everything was settled, Zhang Tie had a clear understanding of his own strength.

The scorpion-tailed beast is considered mid-tier among level-two demonic beasts, and most early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't dare to provoke it. However, with his three top-tier magic artifacts and the assistance of an array, he was able to defeat it without taking any damage.

"It seems my combat strength is only average for the early Foundation Establishment stage!" Zhang Tie muttered to himself.

Patting the storage bag at his waist, Zhang Tie sped back towards the mine.