Bai Luhao

The night grew deeper.

At the entrance to the Lava Grotto, scorching air currents began to churn.

Before long, a middle-aged man wearing a deep blue mage robe with silver trim, and holding an ice-blue gem staff, strode quickly towards the entrance.

He had a lean face and a steady aura, clearly a powerful A-class mage.

He approached Bai Luhao, who was meditating with his eyes closed, standing like an iron tower before the teleportation gate. He bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Guild Master, all members of the expedition team have arrived and are ready to depart. The outer perimeter has also been secured."

Bai Luhao slowly opened his eyes.

At that moment, his pupils took on a cold, sharp, vertical slit shape, like a tiger hunting.

He stood up, his massive three-meter frame casting a large shadow, an invisible pressure causing the surrounding air to stagnate.

He didn't respond immediately, but instead, his predator-like eyes slowly scanned the surroundings.

After a few seconds, he retracted his gaze and let out a low grunt from his throat:

"Hmm, no anomalies. Let's go."

"Yes!"

The blue-robed mage immediately responded and turned to signal the expedition team members waiting behind him.

This expedition team, composed of the White Tiger Guild's elites, numbered around fifteen.

In addition to the S-class Hunter Bai Luhao, who led the team, there were three A-class Hunters, and the rest were peak B-class experts.

The occupational composition was well-balanced, with melee, ranged, offensive, defensive, and support roles, clearly indicating they were experienced and well-prepared.

The group entered one by one, their figures being swallowed by the deep blue teleportation gate.

After the expedition team members disappeared into the teleportation gate.

The remaining members of the White Tiger Guild immediately cooperated with the military, setting up several tight cordons within fifty meters of the teleportation gate.

All kinds of detection instruments and magic traps were activated, with guns and staffs aimed at the teleportation gate.

This was to ensure that any stray Monsters that managed to break through would be eliminated immediately.

However, neither the experienced Hunters nor the sensitive detection instruments noticed that just after Bai Luhao and the others had all entered.

The light of the teleportation gate seemed to distort for an extremely brief moment, then returned to normal, as if it were just a normal fluctuation in energy flow.

A faint breeze, barely perceptible, swept past the cordon, kicking up some dust before dissipating into the hot air.

A-class underground city, "Lava Grotto."

It lived up to its name.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, a terrifying heatwave, enough to instantly dehydrate and incapacitate an ordinary person, washed over them!

The air was filled with a heavy smell of sulfur, and as far as the eye could see, it was a doomsday scene of intertwined crimson and scorched black.

The vast cave space was filled with flowing rivers and lakes of dark red magma, with bubbles occasionally bursting and splashing hot sparks.

The cave walls were scorched and cracked by the high temperature, glowing red. In many places, the churning magma below was directly exposed, emitting a terrifying heat exceeding a thousand degrees Celsius!

The fire elemental magic power in the air was so dense it was almost visible, forming waves of distorted heat.

Even this team composed of elite Hunters felt immense pressure facing such an extreme environment.

Several team members, who were relatively fragile and leaned towards magic or support roles, immediately activated their portable thermostatic magic accessories or turned on the isolation arrays on their protective suits.

Layers of pale blue or silver-white magic shields enveloped them, barely resisting the pervasive scorching onslaught.

Most of the melee-type team members relied on their robust physiques to endure, their skin only slightly reddening and beads of sweat appearing.

"Maintain formation, stay alert! The native Monsters here are likely adept at high-temperature environments and surprise attacks!"

The blue-robed ice mage Li Xuanbing shouted loudly, simultaneously waving his staff to cast another layer of faint frost shield around the perimeter of the team, slightly lowering the surrounding temperature.

Before he finished speaking, an unexpected event occurred!

Chiiiiii--!

Several sharp whistling sounds pierced the air almost simultaneously from a seemingly calm dark red magma lake to the side!

Dozens of slender, spear-like objects, their tips gleaming with a faint blue cold light, shot out at speeds exceeding sound, tearing through the scorching air with ear-piercing sonic booms, like a torrential downpour aimed at the expedition team!

Upon closer inspection, they were sharp spikes resembling scorpion tails, entirely red, but with a strange blue glow at their tips.

They were clearly poisoned or imbued with special magic effects!

The attack came extremely suddenly and fiercely!

However, the reaction speed of this expedition team was also top-notch!

Almost the instant the whistling sounds were heard.

In the center of the team, Jin Changpu, an A-class earth mage with a sturdy build and a heavy, earth-yellow staff, snorted coldly and slammed his staff onto the ground!

"Earth Wall · Multiple Barrier!"

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RUMBLE--!

The ground shook violently, and seven or eight solid earth walls, one meter thick and three meters high, suddenly rose from the ground like the backs of giant beasts.

They precisely intercepted all the attacking scorpion tail stings!

BANG BANG BANG BANG--!

A dense drumming sound erupted!

The scorpion tail stings, powerful enough to pierce steel plates, plunged fiercely into the earth walls, but only left holes about two and a half inches deep.

They then lost momentum, becoming firmly stuck, their tips still trembling and emitting an unwilling hum.

"Hmph, mere trickery!" Jin Changpu sneered, the staff in his hand glowing brighter. "Wrath of the Earth: Quicksand Devour!"

Those hard earth walls instantly softened, collapsed, and transformed into streams of viscous, heavy, and rapidly rotating mudslides.

Then, as if alive, they flowed upstream along the scorpion tail stings embedded in the walls, counterattacking the lava lake with astonishing speed!

"Rise!"

With a low shout from Jin Changpu, the mudslides suddenly exerted force, like a giant's hand, forcibly pulling out over a dozen monsters hiding beneath the churning lava!

These monsters were ferocious in appearance, their bodies covered in thick, dark red, rhombic scales like pangolins. Their limbs were short and powerful, with sharp claws and teeth, but their tails were like scorpions' segmented long tails, ending in the poisonous stingers they fired.

They were dragged out of the lava by the mudslides, emitting hoarse, unpleasant screeches as they struggled desperately.

"Attack!"

Without Bai Luhao's command, the other team members' attacks had already poured out!

High-speed rotating water spheres imbued with extreme cold precisely struck the monsters' weak joints.

Needles as fine as ox hair but incredibly sharp rained down like a storm of pear blossoms, targeting the monsters' eyes, mouths, and other vital spots.

Even fireballs whizzed out.

In this extreme fire elemental environment, fire magic's power greatly increased. Although the monsters had some fire resistance, the sudden surge in power was enough to disrupt them.

Bai Luhao himself was like a tiger among sheep!

He didn't even activate his transformation, merely flashing his body to appear above the head of the largest monster.

His right hand's five fingers curled into a claw, covered in a layer of solidified pale golden energy. Like a hot knife through butter, it easily pierced the thick scales and plunged deep into the monster's skull.

Then he clenched fiercely!

Squelch!

Red and white matter splattered, and the monster died instantly.

His movements didn't stop. His body flickered, claw shadows flying. In just a few short breaths, he had finished off three more monsters in the same manner.

The battle ended quickly, with all dozen Lava Scorpion Armor Beasts that had ambushed them annihilated.

A strange smell, a mixture of scorching and blood, permeated the air.

"Whoa, Piao Changfan, your 'Thousand Silk Pull' control precision and power have improved quite a bit recently?"

Jin Changpu looked at the dense metal needle holes on several monster heads and glanced somewhat surprised at a young man with short hair beside him, whose fingers were entwined with a faint silver light.

Piao Changfan's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. He looked at the corpses, a hint of doubt crossing his mind.

The number of metal needles he had fired seemed... not this many?

The distribution and force of the needle holes on a few monster heads also seemed slightly different from his usual technique.

Could it be that he was being disturbed by the volatile magic power here?

But facing Jin Changpu's slightly teasing tone, he didn't want to lose face and snorted coldly:

"Naturally. Do you think everyone is like you, only knowing how to build sand walls all day? My research hasn't been in vain."

"Alright, stop bickering." Bai Luhao flicked the grime off his hand and interrupted them. "Piao Changfan, Jin Changpu, once the monsters are cleared, maintain vigilance and continue pushing forward. This damned place can't possibly only have this appetizer."

"Yes, Guild Leader!"

The two immediately sobered up and responded in unison.

The team reorganized their formation and cautiously continued to advance deeper into the grotto in the scorching environment.

Bai Luhao walked at the front of the team, his gaze constantly sweeping over every trace of the surrounding lava rivers and scorched rock walls.

However, his brow furrowed slightly.

During the recent battle, he had a persistent feeling... of being watched.

It wasn't from the Lava Scorpion Armor Beasts, nor from anyone in the team.

It was an extremely subtle gaze, yet it carried a sense of scrutiny, as if a pair of eyes in the darkness were quietly observing them.

Especially observing him, Bai Luhao.

Was it an illusion?

Was the high temperature and chaotic magic power of the Lava Grotto interfering with his senses?

Or was it... that there existed some special entity within this underground city with stealth abilities?

Bai Luhao didn't speak out, but the vigilance in his tiger-like eyes intensified.