The crowd set off again, this time Qiao Zhiya leading the way.
“There are mineral reactions in the west.”
Everyone went there and found a pile of high-grade Phoenix Slabs.
“There is a mineral reaction in the north.”
Everyone went again and found a pile of rare Disc Stones.
“I sense another mineral reaction 300 m north.”
Everyone carefully searched, and found a rare metal from a meteorite impact site.
The day passed in a hurry, and everyone gained a lot of various minerals. Any minerals they found would cause heated discussions and grabbing from the outside world, but no one felt happy because of it — after a busy day, they didn’t even find a suspected reptile nest, and no trace of Star Sand was seen.
Qiao Zhiya blamed himself and was frustrated. At dinnertime, he even apologized. “I’m sorry for wasting the day.”
“You’ve already helped a lot.”
Lin Zhen handed him the simple vegetable soup, and comforted him, “Don’t worry, there is still time. Star Sand is a tenth-level material, it is normal that it is hard to find. Plus, what the guide said is not trustworthy, maybe there is no Star Sand here at all. We came here to test our luck, so let’s not force a result.”
“Yes, yes, the guide might be a scammer, so don’t put pressure on yourself. We can treat this as a treasure hunt!” Chu Yan joined in. After he finished speaking, his temper flared again, and he started scolding the guide, “Bah! That guide better scram from me, or else I’ll beat his ass if we ever meet again! What kind of reptile lair? We found a bunch of beast lairs, but no reptiles! That fucking liar!!”
AD
Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by Chu Yan’s passionate rant. Then, something clicked in his mind. He stopped drinking his soup, and started to recall all the lairs they found today.
They found bird nests, various mammal lairs, there were even a lake with many fish – they found an aquatic gem here – but… there were no reptiles.
No, not only reptiles, they haven’t even seen other relatively large beast lairs. All they found were small animal lairs, and compared to the dangerous beasts below the mountain, this mountain was so quiet and safe–
Too safe.
It’s weird.
This kind of situation where there were no large alien beast inside an area, where normally there should be plenty…
This only presented one possibility: this place was the territory of a very powerful alien beast – so powerful that any other predator became prey in front of it! Plus, this also indicated that this alien beast was fiercely territorial, so it drove all other competitors out!
“Go down the mountain!” The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He hurriedly put down the soup bowl and said anxiously, “We can’t rest on the mountain at night, it will be dangerous! The guide is not lying, there are indeed reptiles on this mountain, and we didn’t find its lair… because all of this volcano is its lair!”
AD
Everyone stopped moving. They turned to look at him, dumbfounded.
A whole mountain as its lair? So… they wander around under the nose of an alien beast all day?
Lin Zhen frowned, got up without further ado, and ordered, “Pack up your things and go down the mountain now!”
The tent that had just been set up was quickly put away. They all put their quickest moving speed.
After finding a safe place at the foot of the mountain for the campsite, Qiao Zhiya elaborated on his thoughts, “I didn’t detect the existence of the alien beast’s lair at all, and I couldn’t sense the presence of this reptile monster. If my guess is correct, then its ability should be related to confounding spiritual sense – it can mislead, disguise, or even block any attempt of detecting its presence.”
When he went hunting with his parents before, he also encountered this kind of ability – it led him to fail to detect its location. At that time, the beast almost successfully took him away, and he was saved from being its meal thanks to his father.
That beast was already a high-level top-level beast, and it was on the verge of gaining sapience. Not only was it proficient in its blood-related ability, but it also had cultivated magic power. Later, his clansmen gathered together to drive the monster that was close to becoming the Beast Emperor away from their dwarven village.
Now this unknown beast had similar abilities. Its strength should be equally as enormous… His team was only a few men strong, so their prospects are worrying.
“Under normal circumstances, only high-level power can block the detection of low-level power.” Lin Zhen said with a serious expression. “Your spiritual power level is S, so if this beast can block your detection, its spiritual power is also S-level or above…”
–And the highest spiritual strength of their team is only S-level.
AD
Hearing this, Chu Yan’s expression paled, but he felt strangely happy in his heart. “With such a powerful beast guarding here, the possibility of the existence of Star Sand is almost 100%.”
There must be treasures around powerful beasts – this is an universal law. So, the guide didn’t lie.
But the question is… how can they obtain the Star Sand without messing with this monstrous beast?
They all fell silent.
“Let’s rest first.” Lin Zhen broke the stifling silence, and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, if it doesn’t work, we will withdraw. We can ask the Marshal to send a professional team over here. Our mission has been considered a success.”
Qiao Zhiya recovered from his contemplation. He glanced at his team members and nodded. “Well… I don’t recommend taking risks.” Compared with treasures, everyone’s safety was paramount.
“Yes, yes, yes, the big deal is to let Erge come here in person, he is SSS-level.” Chu Yan lightened his tone, enlivening the atmosphere.
Having come to the conclusion that they wouldn’t force it, everyone just felt that the pressure pushing down on them suddenly disappeared. They were exhausted, so they tidied up and prepared to rest. Lin Zhen was worried, so he assigned a few more people to watch the night in turn to ensure safety.
Qiao Zhiya didn’t sleep well that night, feeling like he was being watched by something.
In a daze, he vaguely heard a whistling sound. He immediately opened his eyes, stretched out his hand and firmly pressed the little black snake that was about to sneak away again. He pulled it back with a frown, pinched its tail, and scolded, “Xiao Hei! The mountain next to it is very dangerous, don’t run around.”
Xiao Hei didn’t expect to be caught. Its body froze for a moment, then it wrapped itself around Qiao Zhiya’s arms, pretending to be stupid. It closed his eyes, and put on an honest look. It looked like its getting ready for bed.
Qiao Zhiya was amused by its reaction. He poked its head and small body. Fearing that it would be disobedient, he simply took out another potion and stuffed it into its mouth, feeding it a lot of magic power. After that, the snake’s instinct of resting for digestion kicked in, sending it to a deep sleep.
The little black snake, whose belly was stretched round, was asleep while being curled up in Qiao Zhiya’s wrist.
–
“Ah!”
AD
At dawn, a powerful roar broke the tranquility of the forest. Qiao Zhiya quickly opened his eyes, lifted the quilt and checked— the little black snake was still here. He breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly dressed. He stuffed the sleeping snake into his pocket as he walked out of the tent. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, the sound came from the other side of the mountain.” Lin Zhen, who was guarding in front of the tent, answered. He frowned and walked up, trying to see the source from a distance.
“Why do I feel that this voice sounds familiar? It reminds me of that mercenary group we met that day.” Chu Yan came out of the tent with messy hair and ran to the two of them. He also tried to see the source of the roar.
After that commotion, the forest returned to calm, as if the roar just now was just their illusion.
“Do you want to go and have a look?” Chu Yan asked. He had a guess in his mind, “Yesterday Qiao speculated that there is no danger on this mountain, but today there is such a stern roar from the other side of the mountain. Could it be that mysterious beast in this mountain appeared already?”
Lin Zhen shook his head. He took out a miniature camera from the space button and threw it into the air. “Let’s wait a bit. Don’t rush in.”
Fifteen minutes later, a picture came from the device.
By the small lake they visited yesterday, several mechas were guarding a wounded strong man. They were surrounded by collapsed tents and camping equipment. Not far away, a large number of alien beasts were confronting them. Each looked fierce, as if they had a deep hatred for this group of people.
Chu Yan stared at the picture and commented, “Fortunately, we didn’t camp on the mountain yesterday. But Qiao, your guess seems to be a little off.”
“No,” Qiao Zhiya’s expression became more serious, his small face tensed. “Pay attention to the eyes of these alien beasts. Although their eyes are fierce, they are all out of focus, as if they are controlled by someone. “
Everyone examined the picture carefully. Sure enough, the more they looked, the more they felt that there was something wrong with the eyes of these alien beasts. Panic started to settle inside their hearts.
“So this is…” Chu Yan swallowed with difficulty.
“This mercenary group was driven away by the… king of this mountain,” Qiao Zhiya helped him finish his sentence, and continued, “My speculation was not wrong. If anything, I underestimated the beast’s strength. Not only can it block detection, but it can also mind-control other beasts. We walked around the mountain for so long yesterday, and it must have noticed us. This team of mercenaries helped us prevent disasters.”
In the picture, the mercenary team was forced to give up their camp, their supplies, and their gains. They all ran away with their mechas, full of wounds. This group of mind-controlled beasts chased them away mercilessly.
Lin Zhen recalled the device as he looked at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya. “I suggest we return now. The enemy’s strength is unknown, so it is not appropriate to continue to explore.”
Although it frustrated them, this choice was the most sensible for this situation.
“Then we go back. We’ve left Yuan Xiu for so many days, he must have been worried,” Chu Yan put his arm on Qiao Zhiya’s shoulders. He resolutely chose to give up, even though he desperately wanted the Star Sand.
Qiao Zhiya glanced at him sideways, and gave him a nod. He looked down at his pocket, and asked hesitantly, “What about Xiao Hei?”
–After all, the snake was so small, it’s impossible for it to survive alone in such a dangerous terrain.
“Then we take it home and raise it,” Chu Yan pulled him to sit down. He watched Lin Zhen and the team members pack the tents in the camp, stretched lazily, and sighed, “Oh, this experience is really amazing. Kinda anti-climactic, though.”
Since Chu Yan said so, he took Xiao Hei back to raise it.
Qiao Zhiya lowered his head and touched the sleeping Xiao Hei. He sat down next to Chu Yan, and was infected by his lazy mood. He immediately exhaled and started to relax.
With this decision, they finally will go back. To be honest, he missed Chu Rong very much. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
“When we go back, we can ask Erge to send more powerful people over to find the Star Sand,” Chu Yan raised his hand to support his chin, and said in a low voice.
Qiao Zhiya nodded, his thoughts unconsciously drifting towards a certain someone who stayed in the Capital Planet.
The two sat side by side in a daze. The little black snake in Qiao Zhiya’s pocket seemed to have noticed something – it slowly opened his eyes, cocked his tail lazily, then suddenly straightened it up.
But it was too late–
A shadow suddenly engulfed Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, and before they could react, it silently dragged them together towards the dark underground.
The crowd set off again, this time Qiao Zhiya leading the way.
“There are mineral reactions in the west.”
Everyone went there and found a pile of high-grade Phoenix Slabs.
“There is a mineral reaction in the north.”
Everyone went again and found a pile of rare Disc Stones.
“I sense another mineral reaction 300 m north.”
Everyone carefully searched, and found a rare metal from a meteorite impact site.
The day passed in a hurry, and everyone gained a lot of various minerals. Any minerals they found would cause heated discussions and grabbing from the outside world, but no one felt happy because of it — after a busy day, they didn’t even find a suspected reptile nest, and no trace of Star Sand was seen.
Qiao Zhiya blamed himself and was frustrated. At dinnertime, he even apologized. “I’m sorry for wasting the day.”
“You’ve already helped a lot.”
Lin Zhen handed him the simple vegetable soup, and comforted him, “Don’t worry, there is still time. Star Sand is a tenth-level material, it is normal that it is hard to find. Plus, what the guide said is not trustworthy, maybe there is no Star Sand here at all. We came here to test our luck, so let’s not force a result.”
“Yes, yes, the guide might be a scammer, so don’t put pressure on yourself. We can treat this as a treasure hunt!” Chu Yan joined in. After he finished speaking, his temper flared again, and he started scolding the guide, “Bah! That guide better scram from me, or else I’ll beat his ass if we ever meet again! What kind of reptile lair? We found a bunch of beast lairs, but no reptiles! That fucking liar!!”
AD
Qiao Zhiya was taken aback by Chu Yan’s passionate rant. Then, something clicked in his mind. He stopped drinking his soup, and started to recall all the lairs they found today.
They found bird nests, various mammal lairs, there were even a lake with many fish – they found an aquatic gem here – but… there were no reptiles.
No, not only reptiles, they haven’t even seen other relatively large beast lairs. All they found were small animal lairs, and compared to the dangerous beasts below the mountain, this mountain was so quiet and safe–
Too safe.
It’s weird.
This kind of situation where there were no large alien beast inside an area, where normally there should be plenty…
This only presented one possibility: this place was the territory of a very powerful alien beast – so powerful that any other predator became prey in front of it! Plus, this also indicated that this alien beast was fiercely territorial, so it drove all other competitors out!
“Go down the mountain!” The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He hurriedly put down the soup bowl and said anxiously, “We can’t rest on the mountain at night, it will be dangerous! The guide is not lying, there are indeed reptiles on this mountain, and we didn’t find its lair… because all of this volcano is its lair!”
AD
Everyone stopped moving. They turned to look at him, dumbfounded.
A whole mountain as its lair? So… they wander around under the nose of an alien beast all day?
Lin Zhen frowned, got up without further ado, and ordered, “Pack up your things and go down the mountain now!”
The tent that had just been set up was quickly put away. They all put their quickest moving speed.
After finding a safe place at the foot of the mountain for the campsite, Qiao Zhiya elaborated on his thoughts, “I didn’t detect the existence of the alien beast’s lair at all, and I couldn’t sense the presence of this reptile monster. If my guess is correct, then its ability should be related to confounding spiritual sense – it can mislead, disguise, or even block any attempt of detecting its presence.”
When he went hunting with his parents before, he also encountered this kind of ability – it led him to fail to detect its location. At that time, the beast almost successfully took him away, and he was saved from being its meal thanks to his father.
That beast was already a high-level top-level beast, and it was on the verge of gaining sapience. Not only was it proficient in its blood-related ability, but it also had cultivated magic power. Later, his clansmen gathered together to drive the monster that was close to becoming the Beast Emperor away from their dwarven village.
Now this unknown beast had similar abilities. Its strength should be equally as enormous… His team was only a few men strong, so their prospects are worrying.
“Under normal circumstances, only high-level power can block the detection of low-level power.” Lin Zhen said with a serious expression. “Your spiritual power level is S, so if this beast can block your detection, its spiritual power is also S-level or above…”
–And the highest spiritual strength of their team is only S-level.
AD
Hearing this, Chu Yan’s expression paled, but he felt strangely happy in his heart. “With such a powerful beast guarding here, the possibility of the existence of Star Sand is almost 100%.”
There must be treasures around powerful beasts – this is an universal law. So, the guide didn’t lie.
But the question is… how can they obtain the Star Sand without messing with this monstrous beast?
They all fell silent.
“Let’s rest first.” Lin Zhen broke the stifling silence, and patted Qiao Zhiya on the shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, if it doesn’t work, we will withdraw. We can ask the Marshal to send a professional team over here. Our mission has been considered a success.”
Qiao Zhiya recovered from his contemplation. He glanced at his team members and nodded. “Well… I don’t recommend taking risks.” Compared with treasures, everyone’s safety was paramount.
“Yes, yes, yes, the big deal is to let Erge come here in person, he is SSS-level.” Chu Yan lightened his tone, enlivening the atmosphere.
Having come to the conclusion that they wouldn’t force it, everyone just felt that the pressure pushing down on them suddenly disappeared. They were exhausted, so they tidied up and prepared to rest. Lin Zhen was worried, so he assigned a few more people to watch the night in turn to ensure safety.
Qiao Zhiya didn’t sleep well that night, feeling like he was being watched by something.
In a daze, he vaguely heard a whistling sound. He immediately opened his eyes, stretched out his hand and firmly pressed the little black snake that was about to sneak away again. He pulled it back with a frown, pinched its tail, and scolded, “Xiao Hei! The mountain next to it is very dangerous, don’t run around.”
Xiao Hei didn’t expect to be caught. Its body froze for a moment, then it wrapped itself around Qiao Zhiya’s arms, pretending to be stupid. It closed his eyes, and put on an honest look. It looked like its getting ready for bed.
Qiao Zhiya was amused by its reaction. He poked its head and small body. Fearing that it would be disobedient, he simply took out another potion and stuffed it into its mouth, feeding it a lot of magic power. After that, the snake’s instinct of resting for digestion kicked in, sending it to a deep sleep.
The little black snake, whose belly was stretched round, was asleep while being curled up in Qiao Zhiya’s wrist.
–
“Ah!”
AD
At dawn, a powerful roar broke the tranquility of the forest. Qiao Zhiya quickly opened his eyes, lifted the quilt and checked— the little black snake was still here. He breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly dressed. He stuffed the sleeping snake into his pocket as he walked out of the tent. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, the sound came from the other side of the mountain.” Lin Zhen, who was guarding in front of the tent, answered. He frowned and walked up, trying to see the source from a distance.
“Why do I feel that this voice sounds familiar? It reminds me of that mercenary group we met that day.” Chu Yan came out of the tent with messy hair and ran to the two of them. He also tried to see the source of the roar.
After that commotion, the forest returned to calm, as if the roar just now was just their illusion.
“Do you want to go and have a look?” Chu Yan asked. He had a guess in his mind, “Yesterday Qiao speculated that there is no danger on this mountain, but today there is such a stern roar from the other side of the mountain. Could it be that mysterious beast in this mountain appeared already?”
Lin Zhen shook his head. He took out a miniature camera from the space button and threw it into the air. “Let’s wait a bit. Don’t rush in.”
Fifteen minutes later, a picture came from the device.
By the small lake they visited yesterday, several mechas were guarding a wounded strong man. They were surrounded by collapsed tents and camping equipment. Not far away, a large number of alien beasts were confronting them. Each looked fierce, as if they had a deep hatred for this group of people.
Chu Yan stared at the picture and commented, “Fortunately, we didn’t camp on the mountain yesterday. But Qiao, your guess seems to be a little off.”
“No,” Qiao Zhiya’s expression became more serious, his small face tensed. “Pay attention to the eyes of these alien beasts. Although their eyes are fierce, they are all out of focus, as if they are controlled by someone. “
Everyone examined the picture carefully. Sure enough, the more they looked, the more they felt that there was something wrong with the eyes of these alien beasts. Panic started to settle inside their hearts.
“So this is…” Chu Yan swallowed with difficulty.
“This mercenary group was driven away by the… king of this mountain,” Qiao Zhiya helped him finish his sentence, and continued, “My speculation was not wrong. If anything, I underestimated the beast’s strength. Not only can it block detection, but it can also mind-control other beasts. We walked around the mountain for so long yesterday, and it must have noticed us. This team of mercenaries helped us prevent disasters.”
In the picture, the mercenary team was forced to give up their camp, their supplies, and their gains. They all ran away with their mechas, full of wounds. This group of mind-controlled beasts chased them away mercilessly.
Lin Zhen recalled the device as he looked at Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya. “I suggest we return now. The enemy’s strength is unknown, so it is not appropriate to continue to explore.”
Although it frustrated them, this choice was the most sensible for this situation.
“Then we go back. We’ve left Yuan Xiu for so many days, he must have been worried,” Chu Yan put his arm on Qiao Zhiya’s shoulders. He resolutely chose to give up, even though he desperately wanted the Star Sand.
Qiao Zhiya glanced at him sideways, and gave him a nod. He looked down at his pocket, and asked hesitantly, “What about Xiao Hei?”
–After all, the snake was so small, it’s impossible for it to survive alone in such a dangerous terrain.
“Then we take it home and raise it,” Chu Yan pulled him to sit down. He watched Lin Zhen and the team members pack the tents in the camp, stretched lazily, and sighed, “Oh, this experience is really amazing. Kinda anti-climactic, though.”
Since Chu Yan said so, he took Xiao Hei back to raise it.
Qiao Zhiya lowered his head and touched the sleeping Xiao Hei. He sat down next to Chu Yan, and was infected by his lazy mood. He immediately exhaled and started to relax.
With this decision, they finally will go back. To be honest, he missed Chu Rong very much. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
“When we go back, we can ask Erge to send more powerful people over to find the Star Sand,” Chu Yan raised his hand to support his chin, and said in a low voice.
Qiao Zhiya nodded, his thoughts unconsciously drifting towards a certain someone who stayed in the Capital Planet.
The two sat side by side in a daze. The little black snake in Qiao Zhiya’s pocket seemed to have noticed something – it slowly opened his eyes, cocked his tail lazily, then suddenly straightened it up.
But it was too late–
A shadow suddenly engulfed Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya, and before they could react, it silently dragged them together towards the dark underground.
