Chapter 261 - 160: Underground Palace? The Bloodthirsty Vine’s Sneak Attack! Falling into the Abyss

Chapter 261: Chapter 160: Underground Palace? The Bloodthirsty Vine’s Sneak Attack! Falling into the Abyss

A lone light moved slowly through the deep, pitch-black cave, illuminating the surroundings.

And the source of this light was none other than Chen Chong.

Xu Jun, who was following behind him, quipped:

"Good thing you had the foresight to bring this Lighting Stone, Brother Chong. If you hadn’t, we’d be running around in this pitch-black cave like headless flies."

Chen Chong didn’t answer. He just kept walking forward, his eyes intently scanning their surroundings.

He didn’t share Xu Jun’s relaxed attitude.

’This was the Bloodthirsty Vine’s cave, after all.’

’If he wasn’t mistaken, the vines he’d seen outside the cave earlier weren’t offshoots from a splintered part of the plant, but the main body of the Bloodthirsty Vine King itself.’

After all, both the size of the vines and the sense of danger from his beast intuition far surpassed any of the other offshoots he had encountered.

Chen Chong didn’t dare let his guard down for even a moment when facing this highly intelligent Extraordinary Creature, whose power was on the verge of reaching S-Class—far surpassing that of the Unihorn Catfish and the Blood-tooth Python.

Not to mention, a Stone Claw Eagle was also present in the depths of this very cave.

Even in a weakened state, it was still an A+ Class Extraordinary Creature.

Two of the Primitive Jungle’s top-tier Extraordinary Creatures were hiding here. Barging in like this was nothing short of a gamble.

But it was a gamble he had to take.

If he just let it be, it would be a disaster for the school, regardless of the outcome—whether the Bloodthirsty Vine King devoured the Stone Claw Eagle and successfully advanced to S-Class, or the Stone Claw Eagle managed to summon its mate.

That was why he had to enter the cave today. Even if he couldn’t eliminate the two Extraordinary Creatures, he had to at least gather more intelligence on them, rather than remaining completely in the dark...

Guided by the light of the Lighting Stone, the four of them and the dog ventured deeper into the cave.

Chen Chong took the lead with Xu Jun close by his side. Wang Biao and Qi Zhen brought up the rear, guarding against any potential dangers from behind.

As for the Tiger Striped Dog, it stayed about ten meters ahead of Chen Chong, close enough to scout for its master without getting too far separated.

The cave was quite spacious, maintaining a consistent width and height of about ten meters from the entrance onward.

The ground was dry and covered in rubble, while the walls and ceiling were made of grayish-black rock.

It was much larger than the Blood-tooth Python’s cavern.

The four of them and the dog walked for what felt like an age. At first, they were able to remain vigilant, but as time dragged on, their patience began to wear thin...

Chen Chong’s brow was furrowed. There had been no sign of his beast intuition being triggered.

If he hadn’t seen the Bloodthirsty Vine at the entrance on his last visit, he might have mistaken this for an ordinary cave.

But that was clearly impossible...

Locked in a stalemate, neither the weakened Stone Claw Eagle nor the Bloodthirsty Vine King—which was watching covetously, eager to parasitize it—could possibly leave the cave.

Besides, there were no signs at the entrance that a massive creature had come or gone.

But this was exactly what gave Chen Chong a growing sense of unease.

Given that neither of the two Extraordinary Creatures had left, the fact that his beast intuition remained silent could only mean one thing: the cave was enormous, and they were located deep inside!

’Deeper than I could have ever imagined!’

This also meant the journey was bound to be difficult, and there could be many more unexpected turns...

"Ah Jun, do you smell anything?"

"No changes, Brother Chong. Since we entered the cave, I’ve only been able to pick up two very faint scents. They haven’t changed much at all."

Chen Chong’s expression grew even more grim.

Xu Jun had been using his scent-tracking ability the entire time.

With his sense of smell magnified hundreds of times, he could easily detect scents that were imperceptible to ordinary people.

One was a strange, foul stench like wet chicken feathers, and the other was a very faint, yet fragrant, plant-like aroma.

Without a doubt, the former belonged to the Stone Claw Eagle, while the latter, as expected, came from the Bloodthirsty Vine King.

They estimated they had been walking for at least half an hour since entering.

Other than the feeling that the path was sloping downward, leading them deeper underground, there had been absolutely no other changes.

The two scents had also maintained the same concentration, proving that the two Extraordinary Creatures were in the deepest part of the cave and hadn’t come any closer to the entrance.

It also meant their location was much deeper than the group’s current position.

Back in the Blood-tooth Python’s cavern, Xu Jun’s scent tracking had been able to clearly follow the trail from the python’s corpse to the exit—a journey that had taken over an hour.

’But now, there’s still nothing. Could it be...’

’Is this cave really that long?’

’Is it many times larger than the python’s cavern, forming an interior space like some kind of subterranean palace?’

’If that’s the case, who knows how long it would take to get close enough to the two Extraordinary Creatures to assess their situation...’

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Chong made a swift decision and said:

"Neither my beast intuition nor the scent tracking has picked up anything. That proves there’s still a huge distance between us and them. If we keep moving at this slow pace, we might not even get close by nightfall."

"We’re going to run. We’ll scout out this cave system at top speed. Ah Jun, you need to keep your scent tracking active the whole time. I’ll focus on my beast intuition. The moment either of us detects anything unusual, we slow down immediately."

"Wang Biao, Qi Zhen, you two watch our surroundings and our rear. Stay alert for any potential dangers inside this cave..."

Xu Jun, Wang Biao, and Qi Zhen all nodded in unison.

"You got it, Brother Chong!"

"I’ll do whatever you say, sir!"