Chapter 79: Discovery, Underground Blood River

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Discovery, Underground Blood River

BOOM!

Not far away, an imposing aura suddenly erupted. The group turned their heads to look. They saw Tie Shan sitting cross-legged on a large boulder, his muscles bulging. Earthen-yellow light surged from his body, forming a translucent phantom of armor over his skin. The phantom armor felt as heavy as a mountain, giving off an indestructible vibe.

"You broke through?" Zhou Han’s eyes widened.

Tie Shan opened his eyes and grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. "I wasn’t that many days behind you. I’ve broken through, too."

"Even a few days is still slower." Zhou Han curled his lips, though a smile also graced his face.

"Congratulations!" Su Qing congratulated him with a smile.

"Now our squad has two Tier Two combatants," Xiao Mingyue also smiled. "Our overall strength has jumped up another notch."

Tie Shan stood up and stretched his body as the earthen-yellow light slowly retracted.

"Two Tier Twos." Watching this scene, Ji Zhixing revealed a trace of envy on his face. Having just drunk that bottle of Source Power Gene Potion, he felt he had taken another step closer to breaking through to Tier Two, but he was ultimately still a little short.

He thought, "No rush, though. I should be close. If not today, then tomorrow or the day after, I’ll definitely make it!"

"Has everyone rested enough? Come on, let’s go check out the depths of this valley." At this moment, Xiao Mingyue stood up. "Those two Tier Two Spiders from earlier were so huge, yet we didn’t spot them at first. There’s most likely a cave deep within this valley. Let’s go take a look."

The others nodded and stood up, having recovered sufficiently. Tie Shan took the lead with Zhou Han by his side, while Ji Zhixing, Xiao Mingyue, and Su Qing followed behind. The five of them continued deeper into the valley. The further they went, the denser the spiderwebs became, blocking their path.

"Flame Spirit Butterfly." Su Qing continuously released Flame Spirit Butterflies to burn away the webs, clearing a path for the team.

Before long, the terrain ahead began to slope downward. A massive cave entrance appeared at the base of the cliff wall. The opening was pitch-black and seemingly bottomless, resembling a gaping maw that exuded a cold, damp aura.

"There really is a cave." Tie Shan crouched at the edge of the entrance, peered inside, and frowned. "This cave is incredibly deep, and it extends downwards at a slant."

"Should we go in and check?" Su Qing asked, a bit uneasy. Such an unknown environment made her feel rather apprehensive.

"Let’s check it out. I’ll take the lead," Tie Shan said in a muffled voice. Having just broken through to Tier Two, he was brimming with energy and itching for a good fight.

"Then let’s head down and take a look," Xiao Mingyue decided. "This place is the nest of those spiders. Now that the two Tier Two Spiders have been killed, there might not be any danger left inside."

The others nodded in agreement. Tie Shan then spearheaded the advance, being the first to step into the cave. Zhou Han followed closely behind, Xiao Mingyue and Su Qing walked in the middle, and Ji Zhixing brought up the rear as usual.

The cave was so dark that they couldn’t see their own hands in front of them. Xiao Mingyue took out a lantern and held it up. As the wick ignited, it emitted a soft white light that brightly illuminated their surroundings.

"So many webs!" Not far into the cave, the group noticed spiderwebs everywhere—on the walls and directly above them. Within some of the webs, the corpses of other Blood Beasts were entangled. Some of the Blood Beasts were already shriveled up, leaving only skin and bones, while others were still faintly twitching, clearly having been caught not long ago.

Upon seeing these webs, Su Qing immediately condensed her Flame Spirit Butterflies to burn them away one by one. The burning webs emitted SIZZLING sounds, and the air was filled with a burnt, pungent smell.

"Something’s not right." After walking for a while, Zhou Han suddenly stopped and listened intently. "I think I hear water."

The group quieted down and listened carefully. Sure enough, a RUSHING sound drifted from the depths of the cave. It sounded like flowing water, and it was growing clearer.

"An underground river?" Xiao Mingyue was somewhat surprised.

"Let’s keep going and see." Tie Shan quickened his pace.

The further down the cave went, the more spacious it became. The rocks on the walls grew increasingly damp, with beads of water seeping out in some places.

After walking for a few more minutes, the path ahead suddenly opened up. A massive underground space presented itself before the group. This underground cavern was as large as half a football field. The ceiling was exceptionally high, visually estimated to be at least twenty or thirty meters tall. Most astonishing of all was a broad underground river flowing through one side of the space. The water was turbulent, letting out a RUSHING sound. The water itself was blood-red, making for a rather terrifying sight.

"A Blood River..." Looking at the crimson river, Ji Zhixing muttered in his heart, marveling at how this world truly had everything.

"Watch out!" Sharp-eyed, Zhou Han suddenly gave a low shout and pointed toward the distant river surface.

Following his finger, the group immediately saw Blood Beasts resembling crocodiles bobbing up and down in the Blood River. These Blood Beasts were massive, measuring three to four meters long with single horns on their heads. Their bodies were covered in dark red Scale Armor that blended almost perfectly with the Blood River. If one didn’t look closely, they would be completely unnoticeable.

"These Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles feel like they’re mostly Tier One Blood Beasts, but they’re much stronger than those spiders." Xiao Mingyue looked at Tie Shan. "Let’s stick to our previous method and lure one up to test the waters." Having just refined a Blood Crystal, she was brimming with enthusiasm.

"Alright!" Tie Shan agreed, picked up a rock from the ground, aimed at the nearest Single-Horned Blood Crocodile, and hurled it with full force.

SMACK!

The rock accurately struck the Single-Horned Blood Crocodile’s head with a crisp CRACK. Disturbed from its rest, the Single-Horned Blood Crocodile snapped its eyes open and let out a low growl. It turned its head, its blood-red eyes locking onto the people on the shore, brimming with brutality. Several nearby Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles were also alerted. They opened their eyes and looked toward the shore.

ROAR!

The first Single-Horned Blood Crocodile charged onto the shore, its four thick legs churning rapidly. Kicking up a spray of sand and mud, it lunged straight toward the group. The Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles behind it followed closely, charging up together.

"Six of them!" Xiao Mingyue counted, her expression unchanging.

"I’ve got this!" Tie Shan bellowed and strode forward instead of retreating. Wielding his giant shield, he met the leading Single-Horned Blood Crocodile head-on and viciously smashed his shield down.

THUD!

The shield slammed into the Single-Horned Blood Crocodile’s head with a dull, heavy boom. The beast’s skull was instantly shattered, sending blood splattering in all directions. Its body abruptly stiffened before crashing heavily to the ground. Its limbs twitched a few times, and then it stopped moving entirely.

A one-hit kill!

After breaking through to Tier Two, Tie Shan’s strength was vastly superior to what it had been before.

On the other side, Zhou Han also made his move. In a flash, he appeared beside a Single-Horned Blood Crocodile. With a swing of his long saber, a cold gleam sliced through the air.

SLASH!

The blade’s light cleaved into the Single-Horned Blood Crocodile’s neck, directly decapitating it as blood gushed out wildly. Two Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles were killed in an instant.

Seeing their companions slain, the remaining Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles didn’t back down. Instead, they pounced even more furiously. Tie Shan and Zhou Han stood at the forefront, one with a shield and the other with a saber, intercepting all the charging beasts.

In just a short amount of time, all six Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles were slain by the pair. Ji Zhixing and the other two didn’t even need to lift a finger.

"Not bad." Zhou Han flicked the blood off his saber. "Although these Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles are stronger than those spiders, with our current strength, they’re still very easy to deal with. Especially since Tie Shan and I have both broken through to Tier Two. Killing them is as easy as chopping melons and vegetables."

"ROAR!" However, just as his voice faded, a terrifying roar suddenly echoed from the depths of the Underground Blood River. The sound was deep and resonant, carrying a heart-palpitating coercion. It reverberated throughout the spacious underground cavern, shaking everyone’s eardrums until they ached.

Accompanied by this roar, the Blood River boiled. On the river’s surface, Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles began to emerge from the water one after another.

One, two, ten, twenty...

A dense swarm of Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles floated on the water’s surface, their blood-red eyes all locked onto the group on the shore, surging with killing intent.

"This is bad!" Everyone’s expressions drastically changed.

"So many!" Su Qing gasped, subconsciously taking half a step back.

Ji Zhixing’s heart also shuddered. Looking out, there were at least fifty or sixty Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles on the river, and the number was still increasing. Even more terrifying was that at the very rear of the pack, three oversized blood crocodiles—half a size larger than the ordinary ones—were slowly rising from the water. These three blood crocodiles were over five meters long. The Scale Armor on their bodies was much thicker, and their single horns were stouter and longer.

"Tier Two Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles!" Zhou Han’s pupils shrank. "And there are three of them!"

"Retreat!" Xiao Mingyue made a prompt decision, shouting in a low voice. "Retreat toward the Spider Cave! These Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles are much stronger than the Blood-colored Spiders. With so many of them attacking at once, we’re no match for them!"

Without any hesitation, the group immediately turned and ran. Behind them, the Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles had already rushed onto the shore. Their four legs churned wildly as they gave chase at breakneck speeds.

"Faster!"

The group sprinted frantically, fleeing back up the cave. A THUNDERING sound of footsteps echoed behind them. It was the noise of dozens of Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles stampeding simultaneously, shaking the cave walls to their core. Xiao Mingyue cast Surrounding Wind, buffing everyone in the group, which barely allowed them to outpace the Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles.

After running for a while, a narrow passageway appeared ahead. The passage was about six or seven meters wide, flanked by solid rock on both sides.

"This is far enough. We can try to bottleneck them here!" Xiao Mingyue was struck with an idea. She spun around and threw out four or five Flame Spirit Birds behind her. The Flame Spirit Birds exploded, causing the pursuing Single-Horned Blood Crocodiles to falter for a moment.

Tie Shan immediately turned around, raised his shield, and blocked the center of the passage. Zhou Han stood by his side, his long saber held horizontally in front of him. Ji Zhixing also turned around. Taking out his Tide Listening Rod, he stood on Tie Shan’s other side. Xiao Mingyue and Su Qing stood at the very back, condensing flames and ready to provide ranged support at a moment’s notice.

"Here they come!" Tie Shan shouted.

From the smoke and dust, a Single-Horned Blood Crocodile burst forward, opening its gaping, bloody maw as it lunged at him.

SMACK!

Tie Shan smashed his shield into its head, sending it flying backwards. It crashed into the cave wall behind with a heavy thud. But just as that Single-Horned Blood Crocodile fell, two more rushed out from behind it. Zhou Han sliced one in half with a single stroke of his saber, while the other was blocked by Tie Shan’s shield.

"Kill!" Ji Zhixing also made his move.