Yu Zhibo followed the team through the forest, feeling quite speechless. He had expected a straightforward advance, but it turned out to be a stealth operation.
Not long ago, after Wang Sen and Ling Xiaotian had swiftly killed two demonic tigers, they handed the obtained dark energy demon crystals to him. Following that, the group resumed concealing their presence and pressing forward. Throughout the entire ordeal, they had been largely spectators, only managing to kill a few CD-grade secret realm creatures while on the move, with no other significant achievements.
Several hours later, they emerged from the forest and arrived at a vast, boundless swamp. Ling Xiaotian then utilized his wind-element abilities, enveloping the group and speeding across the swamp's surface.
*Whoosh*
A long tongue shot out from the swamp, stabbing towards them like lightning. It was a B-grade demonic frog, hidden within the mire, attempting to snatch a human-shaped delicacy. Wang Sen swung his blade, severing the tongue. The demonic frog immediately thrashed in the swamp, stirring up waves of mud. Subsequently, several more tongues emerged, and Nether Serpents broke through the swamp's surface to bite, but Wang Sen dealt with them all.
Yu Zhibo was carried along, not questioning why Ling Xiaotian didn't fly higher. Having reviewed the secret realm data, he knew that this realm harbored not only ground-dwelling demonic beasts but also aerial overlords such as pterodactyls, demonic eagles, and chaos demon bats. Once targeted by them, escape would be difficult. He simply activated his Sharingan, observing the movements within the swamp.
Soon, the group traversed over ten miles of swampland, heading directly towards the mineral vein marked by the previous exploration team. Yu Zhibo blinked his crimson Sharingan and detected sixteen massive energy signatures lurking on the water's surface. Recalling the secret realm data, he quickly identified them, and his expression turned solemn.
"Captain, five thousand meters ahead, there are sixteen Black Geng Demonic Snakes camouflaged as branches on the swamp's surface."
"What?" Ling Xiaotian's charge halted abruptly, his expression shifting.
"Let's go around!" Wang Sen said gravely. "Black Geng Demonic Snakes have incredibly hard bodies, said to pierce all defenses. And there are sixteen of them. Our objective is the mineral vein; there's no need to clash with them!"
"Alright!" Ling Xiaotian, not one to be reckless, used his abilities to detour significantly before flying towards their destination. "Little Yu, keep a close watch on your surroundings. If you spot any other anomalies, report them promptly. Ye Ling, use your Void Eye to survey the distance and ensure our route is correct!"
"Understood!" Yu Zhibo replied, and Ye Ling nodded solemnly.
As they continued to fly, the group sped across the swamp. Approximately an hour later, a tall mountain peak stood amidst the forest beside the swamp, rapidly growing larger as they approached.
"Encountering the solitary peak, turn right into the forest," Ling Xiaotian murmured the information about the mineral vein's location. Upon reaching the solitary peak, he veered into the forest, and the group continued their journey, leaping through the trees.
The prolonged flight had significantly depleted Ling Xiaotian's spiritual energy. However, he still hadn't allowed Yu Zhibo to electrolyze dark energy spiritual crystals for recovery. Instead, he took out a few more high-grade spiritual recovery pills, consuming them as he moved to silently recuperate.
After traveling for some time, the group, following the descriptions in the intelligence and the drawn map, arrived at a valley. The trees in this valley were lush and verdant, nearly twice the size of those in the outer forest. The surrounding area was saturated with incredibly dense dark spiritual energy, clearly indicating the proximity of the spiritual energy mineral vein. Ling Xiaotian and the others' expressions instantly became excited.
A spiritual energy mineral vein! Not only would it be accompanied by numerous spiritual herbs, but there was also a chance to excavate a certain amount of spiritual energy metal. If they could secure the entire vein, they would return with a full bounty, making this trip to the secret realm worthwhile.
"Why don't I sense the demonic lion's aura?" As they drew closer to the mineral vein, Ling Xiaotian's expression grew increasingly puzzled, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
"Should we leave? I have a bad feeling," Wang Sen, having experienced countless life-or-death crises, possessed the keenest intuition for danger. Although he didn't sense any powerful auras nearby, he still asked.
"We've come this far; let's go take a look!" Ling Xiaotian hesitated for a moment before decisively stating. With the widespread adoption of sensor stones and Yu Zhibo having previously identified many awakened seeds, Ning City's demand for spirit stones would only increase. If they could bring back the spiritual energy mineral vein, Ning City would experience rapid development. Although the spiritual energy mineral vein within the secret realm had been corrupted by dark spiritual energy and transformed into dark energy spirit stones, they could be purified by sunlight or cleansed by lightning techniques, becoming clear and easily absorbable. For transcendent beings, they were crucial cultivation resources.
"Then let's go!" Wang Sen did not object. Although he sensed danger, it wasn't as intense as encountering an A-grade expert. He then looked at Yu Zhibo, Zhao Xueyan, and Ye Ling, all C-grades, and asked, "Should we have them retreat for now?"
Ling Xiaotian hesitated for a moment before replying, "With their strength, without our aura to deter them, gathering together would be even more dangerous. Let's act together." Wang Sen nodded.
Thus, the group proceeded towards the mineral vein's location and soon arrived at a cave. The cave was dark and deep, extending for an unknown distance, filled with dense dark spiritual energy, clearly indicating the spiritual energy mineral vein was inside. Yu Zhibo peered inside with his Sharingan, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Under the gaze of his Sharingan, he could see two colossal chaos demon bats coiled within. One was at the peak of B-grade, similar to the demonic tiger they had encountered not long ago. The other was far more terrifying; its energy surpassed that of a peak B-grade, and it contained a mysterious energy within its body. As he watched, the eyes of the two bats hanging from the cave ceiling slowly opened, revealing a pair of crimson, chaotic eyes filled with endless malevolence. A terrifying aura spread out simultaneously.
At this moment, the expressions of Wang Sen, Ling Xiaotian, Zhao Tianru, Han Chen, and the others all changed drastically.
"It's a Secret Realm King Beast!" Wang Sen's face turned utterly grim. Secret Realm King Beasts referred to demonic beasts within a secret realm that possessed a small amount of A-grade origin power but were suppressed by the realm, preventing them from advancing. They had also initially mastered laws, making them significantly stronger than peak B-grade demonic beasts.
Ling Xiaotian had expected the inhabitants of the mineral vein to be powerful, but he hadn't anticipated a Secret Realm King Beast. This made him deeply regret his decision to explore.
"Move!" Ling Xiaotian roared, using his abilities to envelop everyone and shooting towards the opposite direction of the cave entrance.
*Screech*
The two chaos demon bats let out a shriek like fingernails on a chalkboard, their combined sound becoming incredibly grating. The sound seemed to possess sentience, drilling into people's minds. Ling Xiaotian and Wang Sen, bearing the brunt of it, released their mental power to block the sound, preventing Zhao Xueyan and Ye Ling, who were only C-grade, from dying on the spot.
The next moment, the two demon bats suddenly surged towards the group. The King Beast demon bat had a wingspan of eight meters, a terrifyingly ferocious head, and fangs half a meter long. The other was smaller, with a wingspan of only five meters.
"You guys, hurry and escape!" Ling Xiaotian roared, drawing his sword and engaging the King Beast demon bat. However, he was struck by its wing, the terrifying force sending him flying back dozens of meters. Wang Sen's expression was solemn as he unleashed a brilliant blade energy, which was blocked by an energy shockwave released by the King Beast demon bat. The shockwave then lunged towards him.
"What I'm good at is actually strength!" Wang Sen roared, holding his blade in his right hand and punching the approaching King Beast demon bat with his left. He was quickly injured by the origin power carried within the demon bat's attack, forcing him to step back, grunt, and spit a trickle of blood. Ling Xiaotian surged forward again, cooperating with Wang Sen to battle the King Beast demon bat.
Meanwhile, Zhao Tianru and Han Chen did not hesitate. They turned and fled with the three C-grades, with Zhao Tianru even releasing a golden psychic shield to envelop them. However, the peak B-grade demon bat's speed was terrifying. While Wang Sen and Ling Xiaotian made killing it look easy, it was like a heavenly predator to ordinary B-grades like them. The demon bat arrived in an instant, unleashing several sonic attacks with its wings towards the psychic shield. On the first impact, the psychic shield wavered precariously; on the second, it shattered completely.
"Psychic Explosion!" Zhao Tianru roared, his sequence core spinning wildly. A terrifying psychic explosion erupted around the demon bat, containing mental attacks that momentarily delayed the demon bat's movements and inflicted minor damage. Seeing this, Han Chen gritted his teeth and transformed into a water dragon to engage the demon bat, but it was quickly torn apart. When he reverted to human form, his face was pale. He was, after all, only at the early B-grade and had no power to fight back against a peak B-grade demon bat. Furthermore, the demon bat's attacks carried terrifying mental assaults, which he couldn't evade even by elementalizing.
"Run!" Han Chen roared, his Mandarin perfectly standard, then gritted his teeth and continued to transform into an elemental water dragon, charging towards the demon bat. Zhao Xueyan, without a word, grabbed Yu Zhibo and Ye Ling and fled frantically.
As Yu Zhibo ran, he looked back. He noticed that the peak demon bat had been fixated on him from the beginning, reminding him of what Si Junfang had said: "Little Yu, don't stare at powerful enemies with those eyes anymore, you'll get killed."
"Is it because of me? Is that why these two demon bats were alerted?" Yu Zhibo's mind flashed with this thought, but he quickly dismissed it. If his Sharingan hadn't alerted the demon bats, given their terrifying stealth capabilities, the team would have been unable to escape even if they had gotten closer.
Watching Han Chen and Zhao Tianru struggle, a look of determination flashed in Yu Zhibo's eyes. He first stopped his sequence core from refining his pure land space with lightning, then took the black cat into his space. Afterward, to everyone's astonishment, he directly broke away from the fleeing group.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, he appeared dozens of meters away. A crimson glow flashed in Yu Zhibo's eyes, his Sharingan spinning, and a mental shockwave struck the peak B-grade demon bat. The damage was not high, but the insult to the demon bat from the Sharingan was immense. The demon bat seemed enraged, flipping Han Chen and Zhao Tianru aside with a flap of its wing and lunging towards Yu Zhibo, accompanied by a terrifying mental attack.
"Come on!" Yu Zhibo gave the demon bat the middle finger and simultaneously used the Body Flicker Technique, leaving behind a middle-finger afterimage and disappearing from his spot. The next moment, he was hundreds of meters away. The speed of the Body Flicker Technique was incredibly fast, and its movement path was unpredictable. Soon, Yu Zhibo lured the demon bat several miles away. During this time, he was affected by the demon bat's mental attack, and the mental protection barrier set up by Lin Wanjun within his body had been depleted to 26000/50000.
Continuing to use the Body Flicker Technique until he was ten miles away, his spiritual energy, including the spiritual energy contained within his space, was finally exhausted, and he hid himself within his internal space. "Self-sacrifice? Not a chance! If it weren't for the space, who would do such a thing!" Yu Zhibo lay comfortably in his space, letting Mo Yu spit out a B-grade dark energy spirit crystal, purifying it, and then began to silently recover.