Strong and Powerful, So Strong and Powerful!

The mine tunnel was pitch-black, and along the walls, abandoned oil lamps covered in dust and grime could just barely be seen.

Fortunately, Blue Lotus was a nun, and she could use an illumination spell to light up the tunnel.

That meant they did not have to proceed in the dark.

But by the same token, because of the illumination spell, Gu Xin and the others were as conspicuous as fireflies in the night.

Before long, pairs of scarlet eyes gradually lit up in the darkness ahead.

"They're night bats, and there are a lot of them," Gu Xin warned the other three.

Night bats were first-tier magical creatures, nocturnal creatures that lived on blood and were especially sensitive to light.

Their shrieks were piercing as a huge swarm of night bats flapped their wings and descended upon the four of them.

"Ha ha ha ha, come on!"

Meng Xiu laughed heartily and slammed his greatshield down in front of him. A phantom shield rapidly expanded, completely blocking the way ahead.

The night bats attacked relentlessly, biting with their teeth and stabbing with their claws, but it was useless. They simply could not break through the shield's defense.

"You filthy pieces of trash, and you dare stand in our way?"

Wang Quan raised his ruby-inlaid staff. Magic power surged as his arrogant voice rang out.

A magic circle appeared in the air above, and raging flames burst forth, forming one rolling wheel of fire after another as they swept downward.

Second-tier fire magic—Rolling Fire Wheels.

The terrified, agonized shrieks of the night bats rang out without end. The flames burned wildly, and those caught in the fire wheels were reduced directly to ash.

"Nice one, Old Wang. You wiped them out in one move." Gu Xin made sure to give his brother due credit.

"Hmph. Before my magic, they're nothing but a bunch of trash bats." Wang Quan proudly lifted his chin.

Gu Xin smiled in relief, while Blue Lotus rolled her eyes.

Having dealt with the first wave of attacking magical creatures, the group of four continued onward.

However, there were far more magical creatures in this mine than they had imagined—night bats, mud hands, mud puppets, mud monsters, and more.

"There are just too many of them. No wonder this mine was abandoned."

Blue Lotus used a healing spell to restore some of Meng Xiu's stamina, unable to keep from frowning.

"It's not a big problem. We should be out soon," Wang Quan said, taking a sip of a magic potion.

"It's fine, brothers. I can hold on!" Meng Xiu still wore his sunny, confident expression.

And Gu Xin...

"Brother, are you done picking yet?" Wang Quan looked at Gu Xin, who was rummaging through the magical creatures' corpses.

Yes, Gu Xin was looting corpses.

"Not a single one is intact. Old Wang, you hit too hard."

Gu Xin stood up with a helpless sigh and casually tossed aside the arm of a mud puppet in his hand.

He had just wanted to reattach the mud puppet's arm. Mud puppets were second-tier magical creatures of the material type, rarely seen in the main world.

Among all the magical creatures that had attacked them just now, there had only been one mud puppet.

But one of Wang Quan's lightning spells had blasted it apart, scattering its body into pieces.

"Is that my fault? Then should I use ice magic next time?" Wang Quan spread his hands innocently. He was an exceptionally rare three-element mage.

Fire, lightning, and ice—this was also the foundation of Wang Quan's confidence.

Because he was a magical genius. Not only did he possess three magic elements, but his innate talent for magic was also extraordinarily high.

A second-tier spell might take others several days to barely grasp, or even half a month before they could cast it.

But Wang Quan could barely use one after only half a day. He was truly a prodigy of magic.

In truth, though, Wang Quan did not particularly enjoy using ice magic. Compared to fire and lightning, ice magic was clearly much weaker.

"As long as you understand. Let's keep going."

Gu Xin clapped his hands. The mud puppet had been shattered far too badly.

The four continued onward, and after roughly five minutes, they finally emerged from the mine.

"If we head that way for more than ten kilometers, we should be able to see the royal city."

Wang Quan took out the map again and checked it.

Rumble—

At that moment, the ground shook violently as a thunderous roar rang out.

"Hm?"

Gu Xin turned his head and saw that the mountain was trembling. Rocks rolled and crumbled away as an earth-yellow "giant" slowly rose to its feet.

It resembled a massive yellow stone statue, with a humanoid structure. From its enormous head, two white eyes looked down upon Gu Xin and the others.

"Is that... an earth-type Stone Golem? Those are extremely rare monsters." Gu Xin's eyes immediately lit up.

The Loess Giant, commonly known as a Stone Golem, was a rare second-tier earth-type monster.

Strictly speaking, the Loess Giant was an advanced evolution of the Mud Golem.

It was said that after absorbing rocks over countless years, a Mud Golem would slowly transform into a Loess Giant.

Whether that rumor was true or not did not matter. What mattered was that a Loess Giant had appeared before them.

"Ooh! This is a big one! Brothers, get behind me!"

Meng Xiu, the knight, was just as excited. Looking at the Loess Giant that stood nearly ten meters tall, he was practically thrilled.

A foe like that—the punch it threw had to pack some serious power, right?!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps boomed as the Loess Giant approached. It was not particularly fast due to its huge, weighty body, but every step carried it a great distance.

"Hey! You slowpoke monster, come hit me!"

Meng Xiu braced himself and raised his shield, not forgetting to taunt the Loess Giant.

Meanwhile, Gu Xin and the other two had already retreated dozens of meters, afraid of getting caught up in the Loess Giant's attack.

In just a few strides, the Loess Giant reached Meng Xiu. Its rock-forged fist clenched before smashing down viciously.

Boom!

The Loess Giant's heavy fist slammed into Meng Xiu's shield. The terrifying force shook Meng Xiu from head to toe, and veins bulged along the arm gripping the shield's handle.

Heavy—far too heavy!

Yet a huge grin spread across Meng Xiu's tense, darkened face.

Strong and powerful! So strong and powerful!!

He burst into wild laughter!

"Hahaha! That's the stuff! So damn good! Put more force into it and make me feel even better!"

Perhaps it understood Meng Xiu's words, or perhaps his crazed laughter was simply too grating.

The Loess Giant raised its other arm high and brought it crashing down as well.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, and Meng Xiu was hammered straight into the earth.

"Flame Spear!"

Wang Quan's spell was finally complete.

Within crimson magic patterns, a massive spear of flame condensed and shot through the air, hurtling straight at the Loess Giant.

Sensing danger, the Loess Giant abruptly raised an arm across its body.

The Flame Spear struck the Loess Giant, but it failed to pierce through its rocky arm.

"Its defense is too high." Wang Quan's gaze sharpened. In that case...

Explode!

Boom!

The Flame Spear exploded with a bang. Amid the violent fiery blast, the Loess Giant let out a deep howl of pain, and part of its stone arm was blown apart.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wang Quan used a summoning card to summon [Bandit Goblin]. The Bandit Goblin immediately ran to Meng Xiu, laboriously hauled him out of the ground, and dragged him back to Wang Quan and the others.

"May the radiance of the gods heal you."

Blue Lotus hurriedly cast Holy Light.

Meng Xiu was in poor condition. The Loess Giant's blow had been far too heavy, and he was seriously injured.

"Fuck me, that thing's way too strong."

Meng Xiu bared his teeth in pain. His body was covered in wounds, yet an unnatural flush had spread across his face, making him look rather bizarre.

"With a Stone Golem's size and weight, its strength is bound to be astonishing. You don't need to..."

Gu Xin had wanted to comfort Meng Xiu, afraid the Loess Giant might have shattered his confidence.

"Hahaha, but it feels so good! It hit me so good! It's been so long since anyone treated me this rough and forceful."

Meng Xiu continued cackling madly.

Gu Xin choked on his words. Blue Lotus's face twitched, and she nearly lost control of her Holy Light spell.

What the fuck, did a door crush your brain or something?

"Quit yapping and get back up there. That big guy's coming over."

As Wang Quan condensed another spell, he shouted at Meng Xiu.

The Loess Giant had recovered by now, but it seemed even angrier than before. With every step shaking the ground, it marched toward them.

If they really let the Loess Giant get close, how the hell were they supposed to fight it?

"But Meng Xiu can't hold it off." Blue Lotus frowned tightly.

Hadn't Meng Xiu just been punched into the ground by two blows?

"We should avoid its edge for now. There's no need to clash with it head-on."

"Hah? It's just a second-tier monster, and you want me to avoid it?"

Wang Quan was extremely displeased.

"My magic can hurt it. As long as Meng Xiu can hold on a little longer, I can break this rock into pieces."

Wang Quan had a point. His fire magic, Flame Spear, had indeed injured the Loess Giant earlier.

As long as he could cast a few more spells, he would defeat this monster sooner or later.

"Then who's going to hold it off?" Blue Lotus asked the soul-searching question.

"No problem, brothers. Leave it to me!" Meng Xiu got to his feet and raised his great shield.

"I'm the toughest man in the Knight Academy! For the honor of knights!!"

Knight Meng Xiu was incomparably brave. Knight Meng Xiu prepared to charge. Knight Meng Xiu stopped in his tracks.

Because a hand had blocked his way.

"Children, it seems you need my help." Gu Xin flashed a broad smile.

"Big Gu?"

"Such fine material can't be ruined by you again."

Gu Xin's eyes gleamed as he stared at the Loess Giant. Such precious material—if Wang Quan smashed it to pieces again, Gu Xin would die of heartbreak.

The Loess Giant was far more valuable than a mud golem.

Hearing Gu Xin's words, Wang Quan and the other two were all rather speechless.

"Come, Akaza."

Gu Xin drew out a magic card and poured magic power into it.

The magic card lit up with dazzling purple radiance, and a summoning formation appeared before it.

"Purple? That's an epic-grade magic card."

Blue Lotus and Meng Xiu were greatly surprised. Had Gu Xin made this epic-grade magic card himself?

If so, that was far too impressive.

Wang Quan snorted twice. Look at those two bumpkins—Gu Xin had other epic cards too.

Within the summoning formation, a pale-skinned young man gradually appeared.

"Humanoid?"

This time, even Wang Quan was stunned.

Although they were not card makers, they knew that magic cards were generally related to the materials used in their creation.

So what kind of material was used for a humanoid summoning card?

"Big Gu wouldn't, would he?"

Wang Quan frowned. He knew Gu Xin fairly well and knew what kind of person he was. Gu Xin couldn't possibly use a "human" as material.

"Looks like Big Gu got lucky. He actually made a humanoid summoning card."

Wang Quan clicked his tongue, as if marveling at Gu Xin's good fortune.

He had deliberately said it for Blue Lotus and Meng Xiu to hear. Though the odds were low, there had been cases where magical beast materials ended up producing humanoid cards.

"Looks like Brother Gu Xin is a man blessed with great fortune, hahaha."

Meng Xiu immediately believed him and laughed loudly.

"Indeed."

Blue Lotus lightly tapped her chin with a finger, curiously studying the young man summoned by the card.

His skin was very pale, his hair peach-pink, and deep blue tattoos covered his body. His sclera were blue, while his pupils were golden.

He was not particularly large. He wore only a short purplish-red outer shirt on his upper body, exposing his muscular physique. Below, he wore white training pants, with blood-red prayer beads around his ankles.

He looked like a very strange person overall, both in appearance and aura.

"Lord Gu Xin."

After being summoned, Akaza dropped to one knee and respectfully lowered his head to Gu Xin.

"Akaza, take it down, but don't damage its body. Its weak point is on the left side of its chest."

Gu Xin was concise. That was where the Loess Giant's crystal core was located. As long as the crystal core was knocked out, the Loess Giant would naturally die.

"Yes."

Akaza slowly rose to his feet and turned toward the Loess Giant. The corners of his mouth gradually curled high, carrying a sinister charm.

Thud!

Akaza planted his feet in a horse stance and raised his right palm forward. This was his opening stance.

"Technique Deployment. Destructive Death. Compass Needle!"

Centered on Akaza, a blue, snowflake-shaped formation made of battle aura energy spread out.

"Ooh~ What incredibly rich and pure battle aura!"

Meng Xiu's eyes lit up, especially at that snowflake-shaped battle aura formation. It was beautiful and intricate—how had Akaza done that?

The Yellow Earth Giant roared. Its rocky arm clenched into a fist once more and smashed heavily toward Akaza on the ground.

The terrifyingly powerful punch tore through the air, its friction nearly creating a sonic boom.

Akaza's grin widened, making him look even more sinister. He leaped high to dodge the attack, his gaze fixed tightly on the Yellow Earth Giant's left chest.

"Destructive Death. Air Type! Heh-ha!!"

The veins on Akaza's clenched fists bulged as he repeatedly punched through the air toward that spot.

Destructive Death: Air Type used fists to strike the air, unleashing battle aura shockwaves to attack.

Wave after wave of powerful shockwaves shot out, striking the Yellow Earth Giant in rapid succession like lightning.

The Yellow Earth Giant's defense was extremely high. The first shockwave only left a few cracks. The second widened them, and the third shattered that area apart.

At last, under the relentless beating of the shockwaves, the Yellow Earth Giant's left chest was blasted clean through, even knocking out its crystal core.

Boom.

The Yellow Earth Giant's massive body crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

"Lord Gu Xin."

A blur flashed past, and Akaza reappeared before Gu Xin, handing him the earth-yellow energy crystal core.

"Well done, Akaza."

Gu Xin accepted the pure earth-element crystal core and praised him with a smile.

Akaza said nothing, returning to his usual unsmiling demeanor.

Gu Xin recalled Akaza into his card. Akaza in battle and Akaza outside of battle were practically two different people.

"This Yellow Earth Giant will definitely make an excellent card."

Gu Xin looked toward the Yellow Earth Giant, in an excellent mood. He had found something the moment they entered the secret realm—of course that was worth celebrating.

Today was sure to be a good day.