Who said this card is outrageous?

[Shout out loud!]

Meanwhile, Zhang Che wasn't idle either. He took out a light blue card from his pocket, a fourth-tier blue card that Xu Jing had given him before, [Extreme Cold Ice Curtain].

Infuse your mental energy, and the card is activated.

In an instant, the temperature within a radius of tens of meters centered on Zhang Che plummeted below freezing. Water molecules in the air condensed into countless tiny ice crystals in a very short time, like snowflakes dancing in the air.

Then, the ice crystals began to spin and coalesce rapidly, forming visible streams of icy blue energy. These streams moved through the air as if alive, precisely targeting the harpies who hadn't dodged the [Loud Roar] and were now disoriented in mid-air.

Extremely cold ice crystals adhered to their wings and bodies and spread rapidly.

The harpies screamed in terror and desperately flapped their wings, trying to fly away. But no matter how much they struggled, their movements became slower and stiffer until ice crystals covered their entire bodies.

In just a few breaths, almost all the harpies were frozen into ice sculptures.

They remained in their final poses, the fear in their eyes forever frozen in ice.

Then it fell from the sky.

The ice sculpture crashed to the ground with a crisp cracking sound. Ice chunks scattered everywhere, and the harpy corpse inside shattered into several pieces, rolling all over the ground.

Only the harpy leader barely escaped the attack.

It sensed the danger the moment the [Loud Roar] struck, frantically flapping its wings to fly higher, barely avoiding the direct impact of the sonic wave. The [Extreme Frost Curtain] that followed closely behind was also left behind, with only the tip of its left wing grazed by ice crystals, forming a thin layer of frost.

The harpy leader was furious as she looked at her people who had suffered heavy casualties.

Although the dead harpies weren't particularly important, they were still members of its kind, and it was really embarrassing for them to be used as targets like this.

Even so, it still did not give up the idea of ​​capturing Zhang Che and taking him back to reproduce.

However, compared to initially taking everything whole and intact, its current idea is to ensure that the useful parts don't break.

Other parts, such as limbs, can be broken.

As long as I can give birth, that's all that matters!

The harpy leader let out a sharp screech, her wings flapped violently, and the entire bird shot towards Zhang Che like an arrow, its speed astonishing.

In the blink of an eye, the harpy leader had traversed hundreds of meters and arrived beside Zhang Che. Her claws extended, five sharp toenails spread, aiming at Zhang Che's limbs—

That way he won't be able to escape.

A cruel excitement flashed in the eyes of the harpy leader, as if she could already see Zhang Che being captured and taken back to her lair.

Unfortunately, its attack missed. Just as the harpy leader's claws were about to touch Zhang Che, the latter decisively raised the arm armor on his arm, and then a curtain of azure water appeared between the two.

The water curtain looked like it could be punctured at any moment, but when the harpy leader's claws pierced into it, it felt a tremendous resistance.

Water is both soft and resilient.

"Got you."

Zhang Che smiled as he looked at the slightly stunned harpy commander.

The harpy leader's pupils constricted sharply as she instinctively sensed danger.

It wanted to spread its wings and fly away from Zhang Che, but it was too late.

Chapter 166 Cleaning up the battlefield and returning to the city (Second bonus chapter)

Ahri suddenly appeared beside the harpy leader, her spatial power locking her firmly in place.

[Spiritual Assault]!

The harpy leader had been greatly weakened in the previous battle, and it was finally unable to dodge Ahri's fatal blow.

Claws pierced its chest, extinguishing the last of its life force. The harpy leader let out a mournful cry, its body stiffening in the air for a moment before falling helplessly to the ground.

It crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

It twitched twice, and then fell silent.

"Hmph, you want to steal my master?"

Ahri gave a soft snort, glared at the harpy leader who had turned into a corpse, then quickly ran to Zhang Che's side and looked him up and down. "Master, are you alright?"

"It's nothing." Zhang Che smiled and reached out to rub Ali's head. "Well done."

Ahri squinted her eyes, her nine tails swaying gently behind her, clearly enjoying the compliment.

……

As the soul of the armored corpse completely dissipated, the armor that was its original form scattered on the ground.

The once imposing armor was now dull and lifeless, its plates scattered on the ground, revealing the warrior's remains inside, which had been ravaged by undead energy.

Zhang Che watched in silence for a while, saying nothing, but quietly collected the remains, preparing to hand them over to Ji Xingchuan and the others later.

Just then, Tailmon had already cleared out most of the undead creatures in the Dead Zone. Having lost these vital sources of power, the Dead Zone's area suddenly shrank.

The gray-black area that originally covered several hundred meters in radius has now shrunk to less than twenty meters in diameter, barely covering the entrance to the rift.

However, the energy that sustains this part of the dead zone is directly released from the rift, which is far beyond what a third-tier Gatomon can handle.

It's estimated that only when it evolves into Angewomon will it be able to completely solve this problem.

Zhang Che withdrew his gaze and began cleaning up the battlefield.

Whether it's the undead creature materials scattered all over the ground or the harpy corpse, these things are all rare items, and Zhang Che naturally won't be polite.

He took out several spare containers from his magic pocket and began selecting valuable materials.

The harpy leader's corpse must be taken away. A fourth-tier extraordinary creature, it is an invaluable material, whether to sell it for money or keep it to make cards.

The armor of the undead must also be worn. Although some of the extraordinary energy inside has disappeared after the soul dissipates, the material of the armor itself is still very good. Moreover, as the core material of a fourth-order undead creature, its value is no less than that of the harpy commander.

The problem is that his carrying capacity is limited. Even if he emptied the [magic pocket] that originally contained the alchemy cart, Zhang Che could only barely fit the core materials of the two fourth-tier monsters into it, and at most add a few odds and ends.

As for the remaining materials, it was clear that he couldn't take them all by himself.

Fortunately, Ji Xingchuan and the others were probably drawn over by the suddenly receding dead zone. Although the five of them were still somewhat disheveled, their mental state was significantly better than before. At least they had regained their mobility, and it seemed that they had all been healed by the Sun Mushroom.

Zhang Che quickly called them over to help clean up the mess: "Brother-in-law, you've come at the right time. Help me tidy up; there's too much stuff for me to handle by myself."

Without a word, Ji Xingchuan and the others immediately got to work. Although what they needed most right now was rest, no one would be sentimental in the face of the extraordinary materials scattered all over the ground.

Zhang Che thought for a moment and then added, "You should also get a share of these materials, since you all contributed to this battle."

Tie Hao opened his mouth, wanting to refuse, but Zhang Che had already turned around to pack other things.

The group watched the young man's retreating figure, remained silent for a while, and ultimately swallowed their words.

Although they were somewhat disheveled, they had undoubtedly contributed to the battle, which is why Zhang Che felt they deserved a share of the spoils.

Not to mention that they even let their brother-in-law leave the battlefield first in a time of crisis. Whatever the reason, Zhang Che would be grateful for their kindness.

Otherwise, those three who later died in battle would very likely have suffered the same fate as Ji Xingchuan!

As for the five people who sacrificed their lives on this battlefield, Ji Xingchuan and the others should know better than Zhang Che how to handle their affairs afterward.

……

It has to be said that as professional adventurers, Tiehao and his companions are indeed much more efficient than Zhang Che when it comes to collecting materials.

Especially for those undead creatures, collecting the materials they leave behind is second nature to these people.

The five people had a clear division of labor and worked quickly, and in no time they had recovered most of the usable materials on the battlefield.

As for the dead harpies, Ji Xingchuan and his group, apart from keeping a few relatively intact corpses to take back to Hezhou City to report the situation, ruthlessly disemboweled the rest, collecting the crystal cores, claws, feathers, and other extraordinary materials that seemed to be of value.

To be fair, although the lower-level harpies may look quite human from a distance, once you get closer, the difference between these monsters and normal people becomes very obvious—their faces are ferocious, their features are distorted, they have sharp teeth, and their bodies are covered with a layer of grayish-brown fur. In fact, Ji Xingchuan and his companions felt that they were more like monkeys.

Therefore, handling a corpse generally does not cause any discomfort.

After clearing the battlefield, Zhang Che then had Ji Xingchuan and the others move the bodies of the five fallen soldiers over.

The five bodies were carefully bound to the alchemy cart, secured with ropes, and then covered with a cloth. The people doing this did so in silence, their movements gentle, as if handling some fragile treasure.

Zhang Che took the driver's seat of the alchemy vehicle, while the others boarded their vehicles hidden some distance away.

The two dilapidated off-road vehicles were the team's original vehicles.

Although it doesn't look particularly impressive, it has undergone extraordinary modifications, making it sturdy and durable, and it can still be driven on this wilderness road.

The convoy quickly set off, heading towards Hezhou City.

Throughout the entire process, everyone tacitly avoided mentioning Zhang Che's identity, simply obeying his orders and doing whatever they were told.

Even Ji Xingchuan would only occasionally glance at Zhang Che with a complicated look, forcibly swallowing his bellyful of doubts.

Whether it's the sudden appearance of the harpy or the strange occurrence of the Dead Zone Rift, we must report the situation to the adults in the city as soon as possible.

As for other things, let's talk about them after we get back to the city...

Chapter 167 Prodigy

On the way back, the convoy of three vehicles slowly drove along the dirt road in the countryside.

Zhang Che sat at the head of the convoy in the driver's seat of the alchemy vehicle, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his gaze calmly fixed on the road ahead. In the back seat, Ahri was resting with her eyes closed, leaning back lazily, looking quite content.

The front of the vehicle still features Gatomon's exclusive seat, its golden eyes fixed intently on the road ahead, looking serious and responsible.

Two off-road vehicles followed behind the group. Ji Xingchuan and his five companions split into two groups and sat in the vehicles. The extra space was used to store the extraordinary materials they had collected. The two vehicles were packed full of empty space.

Zhang Che was quite generous. Before setting off, he distributed about half of the spoils to Tie Hao and the others, including the relatively well-preserved harpy corpses.

Since the two most valuable fourth-tier extraordinary creatures were already in his pocket, he wouldn't mind sharing more of the remaining miscellaneous items.

Doing this was also a way to save face for his brother-in-law. After all, as long as those guys weren't stupid, they wouldn't naively think that their contributions were enough to share so much of the spoils.

The only reason Zhang Che could be so generous is because of his brother-in-law.

He was going to leave Hezhou City eventually, so he figured he was doing this to create a good connection for his brother-in-law. As long as the breadwinner of the family was capable, his sister and nephew would be able to live a better life.

Thinking of this, Zhang Che glanced at the SUV behind him through the rearview mirror and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

……

In the SUV behind, Tie Hao and the others, who had already relaxed, had no intention of resting and instead began to inquire about Zhang Che's whereabouts.

Having just experienced a life-or-death battle and witnessed the overwhelming power of a mid-level transcendent being, they were now bursting with curiosity, as if a cat was scratching their bodies.

Especially the relationship between Zhang Che and Ji Xingchuan!