Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 26

Ling Xiao deliberately waited for Ying Feng to go in first, then chose the same entrance, but quickly rushed ahead of him. He was determined to compete with Ying Feng, so there was no way he was going to fall behind here.

In the pitch-black mine, there was not a hint of light. Fortunately, the eyes of the Tianxiu people were specially constructed, allowing them to see clearly even in the dark. Along the way, there were many low-level wild beasts. Unless they were aggressive, Ying Feng didn’t bother with them. Seeing this, Ling Xiao did the same, leaving them for the students behind.

The mine’s internal terrain was complex, with many forks. At every crossroad, Ling Xiao intentionally slowed down, waiting for Ying Feng to choose a path, then quickly followed. In this way, the two kept the same pace and quickly left the others far behind.

“Why do you keep following me?” After the two of them each dealt with an attacking rodent with a punch, Ying Feng finally expressed his annoyance at Ling Xiao.

“Didn’t you hear what the instructor said? Occasionally, there are A-grade creatures here. We need to cooperate as a team to deal with them,” Ling Xiao said, unaware that the baboon they killed the day before was actually an S-grade creature surpassing A-grade. The instructor didn’t reveal this to prevent them from getting cocky.

“I don’t need to team up with anyone,” Ying Feng retorted coldly. “I can handle it by myself.”

“How about a competition then? Whoever gets it first, keeps it.” Ling Xiao challenged. “To be clear, the prey belongs to the one who strikes it first. No one else can interfere.”

Ying Feng said nothing, just kept moving forward, making Ling Xiao wonder if he had even listened.

Ling Xiao didn’t care about Ying Feng’s attitude; he just didn’t want to be outdone in points. He followed closely, seizing any wild beast he could, and quickly amassed a pile of soul stones.

The deeper they went into the mine, the higher the danger level of the residing creatures. Beasts that attacked them grew more frequent and were no longer easily defeated.

Although Ying Feng didn’t verbally agree to Ling Xiao’s proposal, he abided by it. If one of them attacked, the other wouldn’t interfere. In this way, they took turns fighting, and soon, the D- through E-grade creatures disappeared, with the B- through C-grade becoming more frequent, occasionally even appearing in groups.

After defeating a swarm of killer bees, Ling Xiao looked disdainfully at the wing fragments that clung to him. “The last one was attacking you, why did you just dodge and not strike?” In the end, Ling Xiao had to finish it off.

“Because you were the first to hit it,” Ying Feng replied indifferently.

Ling Xiao: “…”

Killer bees always moved in swarms. Ling Xiao’s earlier kick had hit several. He couldn’t even remember which ones he had struck, yet Ying Feng was so meticulous. It was almost frustratingly precise.

“So if I don’t strike, you’ll just let it attack you?”

“If you don’t hit it, I’ll hit you,” Ying Feng said matter-of-factly.

A low growl echoed from a distance, reverberating through the narrow mine. Recognizing the sound, the two immediately stopped their bickering and focused. They had learned about the characteristics of various common species in their biology class, and this deep and slightly prolonged sound belonged to the A-grade reptile known as the Giant-tailed Lizard.

The two exchanged glances, neither willing to back down, and rushed towards the source of the sound. An A-grade soul stone was worth 100 points, and neither wanted to miss out.

“Same rule: whoever hits it first keeps it,” Ling Xiao said, throwing a punch at the creature in front of him.

Almost simultaneously, Ying Feng’s powerful fist connected. From left and right, their blows landed on the unfortunate lizard’s head.

The Giant-tailed Lizard, in pain, let out a fierce roar. It had just woken up from a nap and was immediately attacked. It went berserk.

A creature that was classified as an A-grade in textbooks clearly possessed remarkable strength. Its large and heavy tail had immense destructive power, and its rough skin and thick flesh highlighted its strong defense. Even after taking two solid punches from its adversaries, it was only momentarily dazed.

The Giant-tailed Lizard shook its head and, with a powerful swing of its tail, shattered a stone pillar beside it. Ling Xiao, who was standing behind it, quickly leaped into midair to avoid the impact.

“It’s mine!” Ling Xiao declared his ownership even in such a moment.

“It was me who hit it first,” Ying Feng retorted without yielding.

The two began to argue over who the prey belonged to. Meanwhile, the Giant-tailed Lizard launched a fierce attack on them. Dodging and sidestepping, in a blink of an eye, they moved more than ten meters away.

“Ah ha!” Ling Xiao exclaimed joyfully. “No need to argue. There’s another one here.” He then abandoned the one he was facing, rushing toward the new target. “They must be a pair. That one is yours, I don’t want it. This one is bigger; it must be the Qizhu.”

“Idiot,” Ying Feng muttered, pivoting to counterattack the pursuing Giant-tailed Lizard. Dashing from its head to its tail, he landed with a dagger in his hand. The lizard roared in pain as the dagger slid from its neck to its tailbone. Its tail slapped the ground furiously, sending shards of rock flying everywhere. One shard cut Ling Xiao’s cheek.

Ling Xiao touched his wound. “Control your beast!”

“What’d you say?” Ying Feng leaped, dagger pointing downward, and ruthlessly pierced it into the creature’s tailbone. If not for the dagger’s length, the force of the blow could have pinned the signature tail to the ground.

The Giant-tailed Lizard howled in pain. Biology lessons had taught them that every species hides its most vulnerable area beneath its most potent weapon for protection. For the lizard, it was undoubtedly near its tailbone.

Seeing Ying Feng taking the initiative, Ling Xiao didn’t hold back. With a series of smooth and elegant moves, he forced the lizard to retreat continuously.

“Flashy, but lacks substance,” Ying Feng whispered.

While Ling Xiao was intently battling his opponent, he naturally didn’t hear the comment made about him. He performed a front flip, landing perfectly on the back of the Giant-tailed Lizard. Feeling the pressure, the lizard desperately twisted its body, trying to shake him off, but Ling Xiao sat on it as if he had rooted himself securely.

He reached out and patted the creature’s hindquarters, saying, “Behave.” He then drew his dagger and precisely pierced its vital point. After a piercing shriek, the Giant-tailed Lizard struggled for a moment and gradually fell still.

Both of them each collected a dark green soul stone, within which ripples could be seen.

“So easily gained 100 points?” Ling Xiao shrugged. “Totally unchallenging, not like that baboon from yesterday.”

The sound of falling rocks and the distinct crack of the stone wall refocused their attention. Their fight had cracked a nearby wall.

“I have a feeling it’s going to collapse,” Ling Xiao remarked. To prove him right, the entire wall crumbled, revealing an astonishing scene behind.

“My God…” Ling Xiao was stunned. “I was wrong. They’re not a pair. It’s a concentration camp.”

…..

Zhu Yue was nervously holding his dagger, slowly moving deeper into the mine. He chose the same entrance as Ying Feng but quickly lost sight of him. Unlike others, his vision in the dark was limited. Any slight beastly shriek from the unknown depths sent chills down his spine.

One fork in the path followed another, and he had no clue which direction Ying Feng took. Even his classmates had dashed ahead, leaving him, the “burden”, behind.

The further he went, the more afraid he became. He knew his teammates never expected him to score points from the start. Yet, a force compelled him to keep moving forward, even if just to be a little closer to Ying Feng. On the last day of their three-day internship, what he had spent all his savings on was still safely in his pocket.

Zhu Yue, with an ulterior motive, proceeded cautiously, only to be startled into a cold sweat by a sudden rustling noise. Gathering his courage, he looked in the direction of the sound. To his alarm, two glowing eyes suddenly emerged from the darkness, focusing intently on him, the intruder, nearly causing him to drop his weapon in fright.

The beast lurking in the shadows sensed his fear. With a low growl, it lunged at him. Zhu Yue, without any thought of fighting back, turned and fled, running blindly in the dark without the energy to pay attention to where he was heading.

Fear brought out his hidden potential. After an indeterminate amount of time running, Zhu Yue looked back to find that there was no trace of the beast. He remained on guard for a long while, but there were no further sounds from the surroundings.

Feeling utterly drained, Zhu Yue finally felt overwhelming fatigue. Panting, he slowly sat down against a wall, pondering how he could find his way out after losing his direction.

He rested for a long time, waiting for his heartbeat and breath to return to normal. Just as he was about to stand and find a way back, he was caught off guard and tripped over a stone underfoot.

As he fell, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a purple glow from a crack in the stone. If it had been a regular Tianxiu person with normal vision, they wouldn’t have noticed such a faint light. But Zhu Yue, with his flawed vision, was immediately drawn to the stark contrast.

He peered into the crevice and indeed saw something purple glowing within, but the gap was too small to identify what it was. Zhu Yue tried to wedge it open with his fingers, but to no avail. Fortunately, he hadn’t lost his dagger during his earlier escape. Using its sharp edge, he started chipping at the wall, the sound echoing throughout the cavern.

The stone wall was resilient, but the dagger of the Tianxiu people was both sharp and robust. After what felt like an eternity, Zhu Yue managed to pry out a whole piece of rock. Nearby fragments crumbled away, revealing the hidden object in full.

It was an irregularly shaped, pale purple ore, small enough to be held in one hand. Considering he was in a mine, Zhu Yue wasn’t surprised to find an ore.

The mysterious stone was tightly connected to the surrounding rock. Zhu Yue continued chiseling around it, carefully avoiding the ore itself. Extracting it intact was no easy task. By the time he was done, he was drenched in sweat.

Feeling the ore loosen, he returned his dagger to its sheath and carefully retrieved the glowing stone. Up close, one could see a pulsating glow emanating from the center of the ore, reminiscent of a heartbeat, radiating a purple light.

Should I go back and ask the instructor what this is?

Just as Zhu Yue took a step forward, the entire mine began to shake, intensifying until pebbles started rolling down the walls with a clattering sound.

An earthquake?!

That was Zhu Yue’s first thought. Then a deep, slow growl resonated from an unknown direction—an unsettling sound that made one’s skin crawl.

What’s happening? Zhu Yue had barely started to escape when the tremors knocked him off his feet. A massive rock landed heavily in front of him, scattering shards.

Not only Zhu Yue experienced the disturbances. Every individual in the mine felt varying levels of shaking. The most affected were Ling Xiao and Ying Feng, who had ventured the deepest.

After breaking an entire wall, they unexpectedly found a new world inhabited by dozens of A-grade dangerous creatures called Giant-tailed Lizards, presumably their nest. The disturbed lizards, lying on the ground, slowly waved their massive tails, glaring menacingly at the two unexpected intruders. Some emitted warning growls from deep within their throats, a sight enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.

“I suspect our instructor gravely deceived us,” Ling Xiao whispered, twirling his dagger, causing it to spin sword flowers.

“Now the fun begins.”

“Hey, if you’re scared, press the alarm. I won’t mock you,” Ling Xiao said, fully focused ahead, teasing Ying Feng. In his eyes, there was no fear, only excitement at facing a powerful adversary.

“It should be you who’s scared,” Ying Feng coldly responded, also assuming a battle stance. “Run now if you wish. I won’t mock you either.”

That was when the unexpected happened. A particularly deep sound echoed, resonating throughout the narrow mine.

“Woo…”

Not just humans, even the Giant-tailed Lizards halted their advances.

“What was that sound?” Ling Xiao’s alertness surged.

A grave expression crossed Ying Feng’s face as he looked around, trying to determine the source. Another deep rumble, and the whole mine shook again. The Giant-tailed Lizards, disturbed, all began running away from the sound’s origin with an agility one wouldn’t expect from their massive size.

“What’s going on? Why is this happening?” Ling Xiao, stupefied by the lizards’ behavior, barely finished his sentence when an immense force hit him head-on, propelling him backward into a wall, smashing his personal terminal.

After the dust settled, the powerful entity revealed itself. Ying Feng, usually calm, was taken aback when he recognized the creature.

“It can’t be!” he exclaimed.

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