Lin Kun froze behind the vines, cold sweat instantly soaking his back. The terrifying aura emanating from the depths of the valley weighed on his heart like something tangible, leaving him barely able to breathe. The Book Spirit frantically warned him within his sea of consciousness, its light crystal flickering as though it might explode, transmitting nothing but a chaotic stream of "???" and "Extremely Dangerous."
Outside, a Lightning Badger was still stubbornly digging at the rocks. Inside was some super Spirit Beast powerhouse of unknown level—one that could definitely kill him a hundred times over!
A badger in front, a tiger behind, and Lin Kun stood in the middle, nearly scared senseless.
Calm down! Calm down! Lin Kun, you have to calm down! Lin Kun screamed inwardly. System, System! Save me! Got any invisibility talismans or teleportation scrolls on sale? Like, ninety percent off?
Ding! Detected that the host is facing extreme danger. Temporary shop recommendation: One-time Random Teleportation Scroll (maximum teleportation distance: 500 meters). Original price: 800 points. Explosive sale price: 600 points! Host's current points: 415. Additional recommendation: Advanced Concealment Talisman (can completely conceal one's aura for ten minutes; effective against Spirit Beasts below ten thousand years). Original price: 1,500 points. Clearance price: 1,200 points!
Lin Kun: "..." This lousy system really was unreliable! Not only was it ridiculously expensive, it was even taking advantage of the situation! What the hell could he afford?
Looks like he could only rely on himself!
The Lightning Badger outside was still digging away with loud grunts, making quite a racket. Lin Kun nervously glanced at the vague, massive figure deep in the valley. Seemingly disturbed by the noise, it shifted slightly!
It's over, it's over! That stupid badger is going to get me killed! Lin Kun was scared out of his wits. He had to make that thing outside shut up!
In his desperation, he came up with an idea. He pulled out another low-grade Spirit Beast Core from his system space—the one he had thrown earlier had been purchased before, and he had restocked afterward—carefully wrapped it in a Mental Thread, then slowly dangled the core out through the crack in the rocks as if he were fishing.
The Lightning Badger, which had been digging at the rocks, abruptly stopped. Its tiny eyes locked onto the core radiating an enticing energy fluctuation.
"Screech!" It let out a sharp cry and lunged at the core!
Lin Kun immediately controlled the Mental Thread, suspending the core and luring the Lightning Badger away from the rock crevice! He did not move very fast, but it was enough to capture the badger's attention.
Sure enough, the starving Lightning Badger was completely drawn in by the core. It howled as it chased after it, quickly running far away.
One problem solved! Lin Kun relaxed slightly, but his nerves immediately tightened again—the greatest threat was still in the valley!
He held his breath and did not dare move. He wished he could even stop his heartbeat. He tried activating the "Presence Reduction" buff, but against pressure of this level, the buff's effect was negligible.
The figure deep in the valley shifted again. Perhaps because the noise outside had vanished, it seemed to settle down a little, but that terrifying aura still permeated the area.
He could not stay here! He had to retreat slowly!
Lin Kun began inching backward at an agonizingly slow pace, terrified of making even the slightest sound. His movements were as gentle as though he were defusing a bomb.
Just as he was about to retreat into the relatively safe middle section of the crevice, he accidentally kicked a small pebble.
The sound of the pebble rolling across the ground was especially clear in the silent valley!
"!!!" Lin Kun's heart nearly leaped out of his throat!
The terrifying aura from the depths of the valley suddenly intensified! Those enormous eyes, which had been shut, abruptly opened a slit! They were dark red vertical pupils like molten lava! With just one glance, Lin Kun felt as though his soul were about to freeze solid!
Run! It was too late!
At that critical moment, inspiration struck Lin Kun. He made an utterly cowardly decision, but perhaps the only correct one—he dropped flat onto the ground, spread his limbs, buried his face in the dirt, and fully activated the Book Spirit to cover his entire body, simulating a state of I'm a rock, I'm a dead leaf, I have no trace of life!
Playing dead!
It was the only survival plan he could think of at the moment, and the cheapest one! He was betting that a powerhouse like this would have no interest in something completely unresponsive!
Those lava-like vertical pupils swept over the direction where Lin Kun was lying and seemed to pause for a moment. He could feel an indescribably terrifying Mental Power sweep across his body, nearly freezing all the blood in his veins.
He desperately maintained his "I'm dead" state, even emptying his mind, afraid that the other party might sense any mental activity at all.
Time seemed to pass for a long while, yet also only an instant.
That terrifying Mental Power finally moved away. The enormous eyes slowly closed, and the suffocating aura gradually receded, as though it had fallen asleep once more.
Lin Kun remained motionless, sprawled there as though he were truly dead. Only after a full incense stick's worth of time had passed, when he was certain there was no further movement, did he dare slowly, bit by bit, lift his head.
Cold sweat had soaked his entire body. He gasped for air but did not dare make a sound. His hands and feet were trembling.
He had survived! He had actually gotten through it by playing dead!
He glanced at the massive figure deep in the valley, which had returned to stillness. Still shaken, he did not dare linger for even one more second. Moving more lightly and quickly than when he had entered, he crawled on all fours back through the other end of the rock crevice.
Only after returning to the relatively safe outskirts of the forest and feeling sunlight on his body did Lin Kun collapse onto the ground, feeling as though he had just walked through the gates of hell.
"Damn... this practical lesson was way too thrilling..." He was still terrified, and he decided that he would absolutely never crawl into random holes again.
Still, the gains had been enormous. He touched the heavy high-quality Star Pattern Iron in his backpack, then recalled the appearance of that terrifying Spirit Beast just now. Though he had not seen its full form clearly, the Book Spirit seemed to have recorded several extremely blurry images and fragments of information. Even its light crystal had dimmed considerably, clearly showing that analyzing such an existence consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
"This risk wasn't taken for nothing." Lin Kun consoled himself. "I need to hurry back and turn in the mission. I can't stay in this godforsaken place any longer!"
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