Returning to the excellent live grass land again, the lights inside were all extinguished due to the tremors of the mine, but the live grass growing on the ground emitted a green light, illuminating the surroundings in a verdant hue.
Moving further inside, it became increasingly dark.
There seemed to be no trace of live grass inside.
Furthermore, Li Chonglou did not sense the aura of any ferocious beasts.
This made him secretly pleased.
“Could it be that there is indeed another passage?”
Continuing to walk deeper, he soon found himself plunged into darkness.
For cultivators, night vision was a fundamental skill. Although there were variations, Li Chonglou could perceive everything around him regardless of the presence or absence of light.
However, he was unsure if this was a benefit brought by his latent abilities or an inherent talent of those at his cultivation stage, as his true strength had already reached the third stage beyond the initial realm, the seventh level.
“Strange, why is there still no trace of ferocious beasts?”
According to Tian Yi’s account, this area was likely the lair of ferocious beasts. Even if he speculated it might be a passage to the underground world, anything guarding a stone door should, by all logical reasoning, be located not far from their lair.
Yet, he had already ventured nearly a thousand meters deep without reaching an end, nor had he found any sign of ferocious beasts.
After walking another three hundred meters or so, at a corner, Li Chonglou spotted the entrance to a cave.
Yes, he encountered another entrance within the mountain cave.
But in Li Chonglou’s view, this was more likely an exit from another place.
After pondering for a moment, Li Chonglou resolutely entered.
Soon, light appeared within his vision, and that familiar sensation followed.
It was a dim mountain valley. Although the light was still not very sufficient, it was significantly better than the pitch-black passage.
Stepping on withered leaves, Li Chonglou looked at the towering trees that blocked the light from above and understood.
At the same time, a hint of excitement arose within him.
“This place indeed connects to the underground world!”
“Roar!”
A familiar beast roar echoed, and three auras suddenly appeared within Li Chonglou’s perception.
Without time to think, he rolled on the ground.
*Screech!*
Thick soil was suddenly marked with three scratches several inches deep, still lingering with a dense aura of spiritual energy!
These were attacks accompanied by dark spiritual energy!
Li Chonglou was greatly alarmed. After steadying himself, he turned to look and saw three ferocious beasts, virtually identical to each other, baring their fangs at him.
The same build, the same appearance, and their blood-red eyes were also identical!
“Is this your lair?”
Li Chonglou suddenly laughed.
In his embrace, besides the soul bottle he always carried, there was also the merit stone capable of collecting remnant souls.
Initially, he thought these ferocious beasts were kept here by some powerful figure, perhaps pets deliberately left to guard the entrance. But now, it seemed they were merely strange beasts that happened to live nearby.
However, just as Li Chonglou was about to strike, he suddenly remembered something.
Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, having these three creatures guarding this place was even better, wasn't it?
While he was lost in thought, the three strange beasts simultaneously seized the opportunity and launched another attack.
Their speed was several times faster than when they were inside!
Li Chonglou was startled and could only resort to the most awkward yet most effective move—rolling—to evade.
“This isn’t right, this one is clearly the same as the previous one!”
Among the three strange beasts, one harbored a far more intense hostility towards him than the other two. The mark Li Chonglou had left on its foreclaw earlier was still clearly visible.
This was clearly the same strange beast!
But why was there such a huge difference in strength?
Li Chonglou was somewhat astonished.
If the ferocious beast in the underground mine only possessed strength below the realm, the current beast was a genuine peak of the fourth level! And it was even showing signs of breaking through to the fifth level!
In an instant, Li Chonglou thought of the unique nature of the underground mine.
“Could it be that they are also restricted in some way?”
Li Chonglou’s expression turned pensive. As the three strange beasts lunged again with anger and unwillingness, he suddenly flashed and retreated back into the cave entrance.
The three strange beasts followed him to the outside of the cave entrance.
“Roar!”
They roared and continuously struck the outer rock face with their sharp claws, as if threatening him to come out.
They really didn’t dare to come in?
Li Chonglou was no longer surprised by the intelligence of these unknown beasts, which resembled a mix of tigers and leopards. While they might not be as intelligent as Xiaobai, they were far superior to most strange beasts that only possessed animalistic instincts.
He stroked his chin.
“Didn’t I encounter that black snake last time?”
Li Chonglou suddenly recalled the black snake he had casually saved. At that time, a person named Captain Qing, from Hei Zi’s side, had wanted to surround and kill it, but in the end, he had collected them all into his merit stone, becoming part of the remnant souls.
He had seen a similar look in the eyes of that black snake.
Such strange beasts were quite rare, even in the underground world.
With this thought, Li Chonglou made up his mind.
“I’ll leave this place to you. Please guard it well for me.”
Li Chonglou grinned, and his figure flickered as he darted past the three strange beasts.
His speed, at the fifth realm, was no match for them. By the time the three strange beasts reacted, Li Chonglou had already vanished.
*Roar!*
Unwilling roars filled the valley.
There seemed to be only these three strange beasts here. Li Chonglou climbed over a nearby hill and encountered no more strange beasts.
“Xiao Li, why don’t we replenish our energy here first?”
Old An suddenly spoke.
Li Chonglou shook his head. “There isn’t enough time. I need to get familiar with the surroundings first.”
“Alright, then.”
Indeed, time was short. Besides today, he only had one day and one night left to complete the tasks in the mission manual. Otherwise, Li Chonglou would have liked to take this opportunity to help Old Lin and the others replenish their energy.
Suddenly, a powerful aura appeared within his perception.
At this moment, Li Chonglou had reached another hilltop. Initially, he had thought the towering trees were blocking the light from above, but after climbing up, he realized it was nighttime in the underground world, and the ores that had been emitting bright light had all dimmed.
Looking up, it resembled the starry sky outside.
The scenery was actually quite pleasing, had it not been for this suddenly appearing aura.
“Xiao Li, it seems we’ve been targeted.”
With his soul merged, Old An could also sense the changes outside and cautioned him with heightened vigilance.
As soon as he finished speaking, a massive creature suddenly descended from the sky.
*Boom!*
Its enormous body shook the ground. Li Chonglou’s eyes narrowed.
It was a strange beast, resembling an enlarged bullfrog, covered all over with chilling, densely packed protrusions that looked rather disgusting!