Chapter 127: Si Jin, He Has Come
The Rock Armor Lizard moved!
It lunged at Zhou Ying with astonishing speed.
Zhou Ying dodged to the side, stumbling slightly, and barely avoided being swiped by its foreclaw.
’Now’s my chance!’
Yun Sheng’s gaze hardened, and two thin needles shot through the air.
One aimed for the left eye, the other for the right.
But the Rock Armor Lizard seemed to sense the danger. It whipped its head, and the two thin needles grazed past its eyelids, leaving only two faint marks on its scales.
"So close!" Cheng Nian exclaimed.
Yun Sheng gritted her teeth.
’Not fast enough.’
’Not precise enough.’
’I need to get closer.’
"I’ll get its attention," He Yi said, a rare occurrence.
With that, his body erupted into motion, his Alloy Blade slashing fiercely at the Rock Armor Lizard’s hind leg.
CLANG!
The blade collided with the scales, striking sparks and leaving only a shallow white mark.
But the Rock Armor Lizard was enraged. It spun around and lunged at He Yi!
He Yi rolled away clumsily, just barely avoiding the massive claws that could have torn him to shreds.
In the instant the Rock Armor Lizard turned its back to Zhou Ying, she made her move.
Her spiritual power coalesced into a sharp spike and instantly pierced the gap where the back of its neck met its scales!
SCREECH!
The Rock Armor Lizard let out a pained shriek, its body freezing for a moment.
"Yun Sheng!" Zhou Ying shouted.
Before her voice could fade, four thin needles materialized at once—two stabbing into its eyes, two into the glands beneath its throat.
The Rock Armor Lizard’s massive body trembled violently. Its blood-red eyes were instantly pierced, and dark red blood gushed from the gaps in the scales on its throat.
It let out one final roar and crashed to the ground.
Dust flew into the air.
Everyone was panting, staring at the B-level pollutant lying on the ground. For a moment, no one spoke.
Cheng Nian was the first to react, staring at the Rock Armor Lizard and stammering, "Is... is it dead?"
Li Wen knelt to check and nodded. "It’s dead."
Zhou Ying looked at Yun Sheng, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "Forming and attacking with four spiritual power needles at once... How did you do that?"
Yun Sheng looked down at her hands, her heart still pounding.
’This is the first time using my spiritual power has felt so smooth, and it’s clearly much stronger than before!’
Guo Kai walked over, glanced at the Rock Armor Lizard’s corpse, then looked at Yun Sheng and Zhou Ying, a rare look of approval on his face.
"Not bad. You didn’t embarrass yourselves."
Meanwhile, Ma Yu was rapidly typing on his tablet: "B-level pollutant, Rock Armor Lizard, eliminated in a coordinated kill. Based on performance, Zhou Ying was the first to spot the weakness and draw its fire. Yun Sheng delivered the final blow. Cheng Nian, Li Wen, and He Yi provided excellent suppression and support. All members are unharmed. Entry complete."
Zhao Qian stood in the distance, her expression complicated.
She had done nothing.
And they... they had killed a B-level pollutant!
As Cheng Nian walked past her, she shot her a half-smiling, half-scornful glance but said nothing.
That look was more cutting than any words.
Zhao Qian bit her lip, her eyes filled with resentment.
"Don’t just stand there gawking," Guo Kai said, glancing at the group. "The mission isn’t over. We still have two markers to get to. Pack it up. We’re leaving in ten minutes."
The team took a ten-minute break where they stood, replenishing their water and checking their gear.
Yun Sheng sat on a rock, looking down at her hands.
The four thin needles just now had consumed more spiritual power than she’d expected, but deep within her spiritual landscape, Bai Ye’s power was continuously replenishing what she had used.
She tried to draw on it, and the power responded instantly, feeling even more solid than before.
"Yun Sheng, let’s go," Cheng Nian’s voice called out.
Yun Sheng stood up and rejoined the team.
The second marker was near a riverbed.
Though called a riverbed, it had clearly been dry for years, leaving only a winding gully and a field of smooth pebbles.
The sun beat down, and the stones reflected a blinding white light that made their eyes ache.
The group walked along the edge of the riverbed. Occasionally, a few small insects would crawl out from the crevices between the stones, only to quickly retreat.
"Nothing abnormal," Ma Yu said, staring at his tablet, though his brow was slightly furrowed. "The data is normal, and the energy fluctuations are within the expected range..."
"Then that’s the biggest abnormality," Guo Kai said gravely. "After all the commotion last night, there’s not a single trace of it nearby? Not even a limb, not a drop of blood?"
Zhou Ying paused in her tracks.
Yun Sheng also stopped, her gaze sweeping over their surroundings.
’It’s too clean.’
’Clean, as if something had deliberately tidied up.’
"Keep moving. Once we’re done with this marker, we head straight to the third," Guo Kai decided.
The group quickened their pace, advancing along the riverbed toward the marker.
The moment she stepped into the area, a sharp, piercing pain shot through the depths of Yun Sheng’s spiritual landscape.
"Stop!" she blurted out.
Everyone froze instantly.
Guo Kai’s eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
Cold sweat beaded on Yun Sheng’s forehead as she stared intently at the pile of rubble ahead. "Something’s here... a lot of them."
HSSS...
The words had barely left her lips when ear-piercing hisses erupted from all directions!
From behind the rubble, from within the withered grass, even the ground itself began to vibrate as countless black shadows shot out at once.
Split Ridge Lizards, Bone-piercing Vines, corrosive worms, and several ferocious creatures Yun Sheng couldn’t name—a mix of B-level, C-level, and D-level pollutants—surged toward them like a tidal wave!
"There’s so many!" Cheng Nian’s face went pale.
"Fall back!" Guo Kai roared, his Alloy Blade already drawn. "Ma Yu, send the signal for reinforcements!"
Ma Yu quickly pressed the emergency call button, but his expression changed in the next second.
"The signal’s being jammed!"
Everyone’s hearts sank at once.
The pollutants were already upon them, their deafening hisses echoing as swarms of black shadows closed in from all sides.
"Circle up! Back to back!"
Guo Kai roared as he swung his blade, severing a lunging Bone-piercing Vine and getting splattered with its blood.
The battle erupted in an instant.
Zhou Ying’s spiritual power pierced a Split Ridge Lizard’s eye socket, but she was sent flying by another one, crashing hard onto the gravel. She let out a muffled grunt, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
He Yi silently moved to shield her, his Alloy Blade blocking a pouncing claw. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open, and blood dripped down the hilt of his blade.
Cheng Nian screamed and dodged a spray of corrosive slime, only to have a Bone-piercing Vine wrap around her ankle and drag her to the ground.
Li Wen lunged forward and severed the vine, but another vine’s tip slashed her arm, opening a wound so deep the bone was visible. Blood gushed out.
Guo Kai and Ma Yu fought desperately to hold off the strongest B-level pollutants, but there were too many.
A Split Ridge Lizard broke through the line and slammed hard into Guo Kai’s side. He grunted as he was sent flying, tumbling several times on the ground and struggling to get back up.
Ma Yu’s Spirit Barrier was simultaneously struck by three B-level pollutants. Cracks spread across it before it shattered with a loud crash. The spiritual backlash made him spit up blood, and he fell to one knee.
Zhao Qian was already pale with fright, her legs too weak to run.
She stumbled backward, tripped on the loose stones, and at that moment, the tip of a Bone-piercing Vine was already stabbing toward her face.
"Ah—"
She let out a piercing shriek, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
The Bone-piercing Vine paused, as if it had lost interest, and turned to lunge at Yun Sheng instead.
Yun Sheng had just used her spiritual power to skewer three corrosive worms and hadn’t even had a chance to catch her breath when she caught the attacking black shadow in her peripheral vision.
’Too fast.’
’I can’t dodge it.’
She instinctively raised her hand, trying to form a barrier, but she had used too much spiritual power. The barrier was as thin as paper, shattering on contact.
The tip of the vine stabbed toward her eyes.
’It’s over.’
THUD!
A muffled sound rang out.
The expected pain never came.
A figure cloaked in black had appeared before Yun Sheng at some unknown moment.
His back was to her, his figure tall and straight. One hand had firmly caught the stabbing tip of the vine.
The Bone-piercing Vine, strong enough to shatter rock, crumbled inch by inch in his palm, dissolving into dust that scattered away.
A familiar silhouette.
A familiar aura.
Yun Sheng’s pupils contracted. She was completely frozen in place.
Everything around her seemed to stand still. She opened her mouth.
A name, as soft as a whisper in a dream, escaped her lips.
"Si Jin..."