After exiting the space, Yu Zhibo prepared to test the power of his skills.
First, he created a clone to keep watch, activated his scarlet Sharingan, and gazed at the vast plain ahead.
The plain before him was scarred by several Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation blasts, with smoke still rising from many places where the fires had not completely extinguished. As far as the eye could see, not a single demon rat appeared on the ground.
However, the rat holes were extensive and interconnected beneath the plain, and Yu Zhibo believed there were bound to be some stragglers.
Therefore, he directly channeled his spiritual energy, without even forming hand seals, and slammed his palm onto the ground:
Earth Style: Earth Flow River!
The surging earth spiritual energy flowed from his palm into the ground and then spread outwards. Instantly, the soil within three meters of the ground in front of him softened completely. Originating from the ground one meter in front of Yu Zhibo, it transformed into a gray mudflow, like a rolling river, surging forward.
Squeak, squeak, squeak
As the mudflow continued to surge and the ground softened, demon rats began to emerge from underground, dozens of them, a dense black mass. Most of them were D-class demon rats. They were swept along by the earthflow, struggling to break free.
Yu Zhibo's lips curled. He brought his hands together and used another Earth Style ninjutsu, followed by a combination of Fire Style ninjutsu.
Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
As his hands met, a gray dragon head appeared at the source of the mudflow, launching countless earth bullets condensed from the earthflow. As they flew into the air, Yu Zhibo ignited them with a Great Fireball, greatly increasing their power as they shot towards the demon rats, instantly killing them all.
"Quite flashy!"
Looking at the dead demon rats, Yu Zhibo smiled.
The combination ninjutsu he used this time was inspired by the ninjutsu used by the Third Hokage against Orochimaru in the Naruto anime. The principle was to release the Earth Flow River to trap enemies, then condense an Earth Dragon head to spray Earth Dragon Bullets imbued with spiritual energy, and finally ignite them with Fire Style ninjutsu to increase damage and launch them at the enemy.
After collecting all the dark energy spirit crystals, he used Earth Flow River a few more times, destroying the demon rats' homes and killing nearly a hundred more. His spiritual energy points increased by nearly twenty thousand.
Just as he was getting tired of using Earth Flow River and was about to use Swamp of the Underworld, he suddenly felt a gaze filled with danger. He abruptly turned towards the forest and met a pair of glowing green eyes.
It was a peak C-class demon leopard. Its body was the size of a regular adult tiger, with smooth muscle lines, sharp teeth, and claws that gleamed with cold light. It was a natural hunter.
Upon discovering that Yu Zhibo had spotted it, the demon leopard pushed off the ground from hundreds of meters away, turning into an afterimage. The next moment, its ferocious head appeared before Yu Zhibo.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
Yu Zhibo was prepared. He held two fingers vertically in front of him. The moment the demon leopard pounced, his body faded and disappeared from his original position. The next moment, he was already in mid-air.
Taking advantage of the demon leopard's expended momentum and its moment of looking at him, he spread his limbs into a cross shape, lightning flashing around him, as if a thunder god had descended.
"Almighty Push— no, Lightning Style: Lightning Illusion Flash Pillar!"
As the ninjutsu was unleashed, a brilliant silver sun appeared in mid-air.
Lightning spiritual energy, with dazzling light, erupted from every pore of his body, emitting countless rays of light that illuminated the surroundings to a blinding white.
"Who's showing off? So blinding!"
The shadow clone, keeping watch, couldn't help but raise its hand to shield its eyes upon seeing this. It felt that all it could see was a dazzling light and nothing else.
On the plain below, the demon leopard, accustomed to the darkness, couldn't help but close its eyes and stood frozen in place.
"I am so strong!"
Stimulated by the lightning, Yu Zhibo's cell neurons were thoroughly strengthened. A surging power filled his body. He directly opened the first three gates of the Eight Inner Gates. Head down, feet up, he stepped onto the now viscous air and, like a small silver sun, shot towards the demon leopard, piercing its electric-cooker-sized head with Chidori.
"This is too fierce!"
His palm gripping an egg-sized dark energy spirit crystal, he pulled it from the dead demon leopard's head and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction, even feeling the sensation of having too many powerful skills and not knowing which one to use.
"It's good, but the commotion is too big!"
As he mastered various Earth Style ninjutsu, his perception of the earth became increasingly clear.
Placing his palm on the ground and feeling the vibrations, he sensed that quite a few demonic beasts were rushing towards this area. Judging by the aura spreading from afar, there were even B-class ones among them. Yu Zhibo pondered for a few seconds. Instead of entering the space on the spot, he directly bypassed several strong auras and headed towards the lake created by the chaotic demon bats.
"Since the advancement was successful, it's time to reunite with the team!"
The secret realm contained countless dangers. Flying demonic beasts circled in the sky, various demonic beasts lurked in the forests, and countless amphibious demonic beasts hid in the swamps. Therefore, the underground was the safest. If the captain and the others were injured, they would most likely choose to dig an underground chamber for recuperation.
"Of course, it's not impossible that Senior Wang Sen still has spare teleportation talismans, and the team might teleport back to the initial underground chamber. In that case, there are only two things I can do next."
After a simple analysis, Yu Zhibo created a shadow clone and ordered it to crush a teleportation talisman and return to the initial underground chamber.
Upon arriving at the underground chamber, the clone looked at the empty room, shook its head, and dissipated on its own.
"Not in the underground chamber? Then let's see if they are nearby."
Yu Zhibo pondered for a few seconds and spent 6,000 spiritual energy points to upgrade [Earth Style: Earth Dragon Concealment] to Mastery. Instantly, its attributes changed significantly:
[Earth Style: Earth Dragon Concealment (Mastery): Utilizes flowing spiritual energy to transform soil into fine sand particles, allowing for excavation and movement underground like an earth dragon. Because it can perceive the situation above ground while hidden underground, it is suitable for surprise attacks. Furthermore, due to its ability to burrow deep underground, it can also escape quickly from places beyond the enemy's reach.
Mastery Skill Details: Based on the host's current abilities, the condensed earth dragon can travel a distance of 20 kilometers. Each condensed earth dragon can perceive information within a 500-meter radius.]
After upgrading Earth Dragon Concealment to Mastery, he created eight more clones and ordered them to rush out twenty miles in different directions, and then continue to use the Earth Dragon Concealment technique to search.
Swish, swish, swish~
At his command, the eight clones instantly vanished from their spots.
As the clones dispersed, the soil beneath Yu Zhibo's feet loosened and softened, and he slowly sank into the ground, sitting cross-legged.
Then, he used the Mastery-level Earth Style: Earth Dragon Concealment technique, utilizing flowing spiritual energy to finally condense eight mini earth dragons that burrowed forward in eight directions, simultaneously perceiving everything around them.
These small earth dragons were each imbued with his mental power, allowing them to perceive everything around them, like extensions of his own body, which was quite miraculous.
Afterward, he completely closed his eyes and began to sense everything detected by the earth dragons.
Time quietly passed, and the range of the earth dragons' excavation expanded. Yu Zhibo began to mentally organize the information he had obtained.
"At 8 o'clock, 2000 meters away, a human-faced demon spider is ambushing a demon crow, and it seems to be succeeding."
"At 12 o'clock, 40,000 meters away, a B-class demon bull is resting."
"At 3 o'clock, there are large cracks in the ground, as if cut by sword energy. Is that Senior Wang Sen's skill? There are also other combat traces. Could it be that they encountered those foreigners?"
"At 6 o'clock, a B-class demon lion is fighting a B-class demon tiger."
"At 10 o'clock, 9600 meters away, six foreigners have been discovered. Not good, my probing has been sensed!"
Yu Zhibo frowned, directly abandoning the earth dragon that had been detected, and its attached mental power dissipated on the spot. He then began to consolidate the information from the other earth dragons.
About an hour later, just as Yu Zhibo's mind was becoming somewhat fatigued, suddenly, at a distance of twenty miles, in the 10 o'clock direction, a clone suddenly disappeared and transmitted back an image:
A small earth dragon condensed by a clone, after excavating outward for 15 kilometers, suddenly encountered a golden transparent barrier. Within the barrier, there were six people covered in wounds and blood, resting.
These people were Ling Xiaotian and his group of six.