"Let's go."
Xuezhu and the others had already begun to split up, and they naturally had to ensure the safety of their mission.
Fan Li and Wu Yin, two small teams had already rushed to both ends. Li Chonglou and the other two handed over command to Wu Di.
The three of them patrolled from bottom to top first.
Their shoes stepped on the soft grass. The geology here was very different from the barren land before. It felt soft underfoot, like stepping on cotton.
But strangely, despite such soft soil, all the plants that grew, apart from the weeds, were incredibly tough!
The leaves that grew from the small branches were like stone flakes, scratching their clothes from time to time.
In the end, they had to use their internal energy to protect their bodies to avoid this awkward situation.
However, this also increased their energy consumption.
Just then, a spiritual energy fluctuation occurred to their right. The three of them drew their swords simultaneously. The next second, a bee larger than a yellow dog flew out from the weeds.
It had a bloated body, a basketball-sized head topped with two crimson compound eyes, and a tail thicker than a person's body dragging behind it.
Its body was grayish-green, but the most striking feature was the cold glint on its tail.
It was a beast at the peak of the sixth tier.
At this moment, the three of them were at the foot of a large mountain. About a hundred meters further ahead was flat ground with a clear view.
But the area they were currently in was still overgrown with weeds, and many plants had grown to over two meters tall, completely blocking their line of sight.
Wu Di immediately shouted, "Hold your positions and attack with sword energy."
In this terrain, once they ran around chaotically, they wouldn't know what they would encounter next. The best method was to stand still or find some cover to eliminate any worries.
However, since they had reached the foot of the mountain, even if there were trees around, they were only as thick as an arm and could not provide any cover.
The three of them could only huddle together and launch sword energy towards the swarming bees.
Although they had only learned for one night, or rather, for only a few hours, all three had already mastered the application of sword energy.
The only factor now was the depth of their internal energy.
These magnified bees seemed to have sacrificed speed. Before they could fully approach the three, they were steadily hit by the sword energy.
One hit the head, one hit the wings, and the last one landed on the thinnest part of its body, where the body connected to the tail.
The first two swords only managed to leave deep marks on the bee, and it seemed like they hadn't injured its core.
But the last sword directly split its body in two.
Wu Di and Liu Tianzhi instinctively turned their gaze to Li Chonglou.
"Well done, Brother Li."
Li Chonglou frowned slightly, "There are more behind."
As soon as he spoke, dozens of enlarged bees suddenly appeared, their red eyes gleaming, charging towards them with a buzzing sound.
The black-glowing stingers made all three's scalps tingle.
Damn it, one or two was fine, but what were they supposed to do with over a dozen coming at them at once!
Although Li Chonglou had sensed more presences, he hadn't expected there to be so many.
"Retreat!"
The three of them turned and fled.
Fortunately, the bees' speed was not fast to begin with, and this magnification only became their biggest disadvantage. After a few minutes, the three successfully escaped the pursuit.
However, they then stumbled into the territory of a swarm of beetles.
These were black beetles with a prominent snout in the front, also magnified dozens of times, and their size was equivalent to that of a large hunting dog.
Their attack method was to ram with their snouts. What the three found troublesome was that their sword energy had no effect on their bodies.
A full-power strike only left a white mark on them.
"Use internal attacks!"
Li Chonglou immediately grasped the beetles' weakness. As he spoke, he put away his long sword and punched towards the nearest beetle.
The moment they made contact, a strong force was returned, but Li Chonglou used internal force, an energy even more ferocious than this force, which drilled directly into the beetle's body.
The thick armor on its surface was useless. The next second, the entire beetle was embedded in the mud, clearly appearing half-dead.
Effective!
The expressions of the other two immediately lit up. They followed Li Chonglou's example, put away their long swords, and returned to their original specialties.
Similarly, within a short while, all ten-odd beetles were lying dead on the spot.
The three of them could finally catch their breath.
"Damn, it seems this mission is really a bit crazy."
In less than half an hour, they had already encountered two waves of beast attacks.
They hadn't even walked a tenth of the way, and just the initial clearing would keep them busy!
However, the key was internal energy.
This was the underground world. They only dared to secretly absorb a little of the surrounding spiritual energy. It was impossible to replenish it directly.
This made internal energy consumption a significant problem.
Although all three had prepared plenty of pills to replenish internal energy, given the current situation, it seemed clearly insufficient!
Liu Tianzhi, who had spoken, was referring to precisely this point.
Wu Di was also looking troubled.
This didn't even account for anyone causing trouble. Given the current situation, the first step alone had stalled them.
Just then, Li Chonglou suddenly spoke.
"I don't think it's that serious. Perhaps we're just too nervous."
The two looked surprised.
Li Chonglou squatted beside a beetle corpse and placed his hand on it.
"Although the beasts here are not low in cultivation, they rarely possess intelligence, and their attack methods are singular with obvious weaknesses. As long as we are careful, there shouldn't be a big problem."
His words awakened them. The two then realized that it was indeed as Li Chonglou said. It was their over-nervousness that had caused them to consume too much energy earlier.
Just like the first wave of bees they encountered, as long as each sword strike landed on their connecting parts, one sword energy could kill one bee. With three people separated, it wouldn't consume much internal energy.
"We were too nervous."
Wu Di nodded, his confidence rekindled.
Adjusting their心态, they continued forward.
The first thing to deal with was naturally the swarm of bee-like beasts. Just as Li Chonglou had said, once their心态 changed, by using a kiting strategy, it took less than three minutes to turn nearly twenty peak sixth-tier bee-like beasts into corpses.
"It seems it's not that difficult."
Liu Tianzhi said with a smile.
Li Chonglou remained silent, his mind focused on the other suicide squads mentioned by the mountain ghost from beginning to end.
Before leaving the forest, the three encountered another wave of flying insects. With their previous experience, Liu Tianzhi immediately discovered the weakness of this swarm, which was larger in number but weaker in strength.
It took only about five minutes to successfully reach the flat ground.
The wider field of vision was definitely a good thing for them, allowing them to react or evade more calmly.