The Beast Feigned Sleep

Two hours later.

The five arrived at a stretch of earthen slopes.

Ahead lay a wasteland—a wasteland within the forest.

It stretched beyond sight, and its area seemed far from small.

"Where did this wasteland come from? It wasn't on the map." Baili Tianming compared the map with the surrounding terrain, his face full of confusion.

"Be careful. Such a major change wouldn't appear for no reason."

Gu Chen warned.

Beside the earthen slope beneath their feet, sparse trees stood in stark contrast to the dense forest in the distance.

This wasteland seemed to be continuously expanding outward.

Dong Lin walked over to a dead, withered tree and gave it a gentle push.

The roots, once incomparably tough, turned to dust and collapsed at once.

Having lost their final support, the trunk came crashing down.

There was no expected dull boom or tremor. The entire trunk turned into fine dust, and a cloud of smoke and dirt immediately spread in all directions.

"What a huge cloud of dust. We can't see a thing."

Baili Tianming complained.

"Not good! Everyone, be careful!"

Gu Chen seemed to have thought of something and loudly warned the others.

"Don't panic. Wind Guiding Art—wind, come!"

Zhao Shuheng cast a spell, summoning a fierce gust.

But it would have been better if the wind had not risen at all.

As the wind surged, dust billowed. Sand and dirt from nowhere completely sealed off everyone's vision.

They now seemed to be trapped in a raging sandstorm.

"Something's wrong! This sand and dust are affecting our divine sense!"

Gu Chen shouted.

"Everyone gather together!"

The dust also seemed to muffle sound to a certain extent.

At this moment, Gu Chen and Baili Tianming had gathered together, warily watching their surroundings.

Dong Lin, Tao Yan, and Zhao Shuheng, who were farther away, had all lost their bearings and could only fight on their own.

Dong Lin calmed himself, secretly forming a hand seal as he watched his surroundings vigilantly.

"Underground!"

Dong Lin sensed a faint tremor in the earth beneath his feet. He hurriedly sprang away from where he had been standing.

Yet only a breath later, the soil where Dong Lin had stood exploded apart.

Two massive black shadows leaped up from underground.

They stared coldly at Dong Lin.

"Two larger-sized mutant beasts."

Because of the sand and dust, his spiritual sense was obstructed, making it difficult for Dong Lin to judge the ranks of the two beasts before him.

The two mutant beasts did not hesitate. Wrapped in sand and stones, they charged fiercely at Dong Lin.

Dong Lin used Moon-Embracing Step, taking two successive steps and rising into the air in an attempt to evade their attack.

Who would have thought that the two mutant beasts would leap up after Dong Lin as well?

Just as they were about to crash into him, Dong Lin hurriedly used Pine-Wind Treading Snow and sharply changed direction.

But due to his lack of proficiency, he was half a beat too slow.

The violent sand and stones slammed into Dong Lin, though most were blocked by his robe.

The heavy shell of the beast on the right also scraped against Dong Lin's right arm.

With only that slight collision, Dong Lin was blasted away to the left by a tremendous force.

His fragile spiritual energy shield scattered at the first touch.

Dong Lin crashed heavily to the ground, suffering no light internal injuries.

"Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder, break!"

Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder did not have much of a special effect against mutant beasts that had gained intelligence but had not yet become spirits and taken human form.

Perhaps the creator of the technique had assumed that against such minor monsters that had yet to transform, there was no need for any special means.

Still, the lightning power of Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder itself was already considerably stronger than that of Profound Spirit Earth-Thunder.

At that moment, lightning was born from the void. The two mutant beasts had nowhere to evade; their shells were struck by lightning, and the lightning plasma pierced straight through their thick armor in a single blow.

The two beasts immediately let out muffled groans.

Realizing that the human before them was not easy to provoke, the two beasts retreated backward in tacit agreement.

Dong Lin watched the two troublesome mutant beasts slowly withdraw and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Junior Brother Dong, watch out!"

"Brother Dong, behind you!"

The two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

Behind Dong Lin, the ground exploded in an instant, and a massive black shadow pounced toward him.

Gu Chen and Baili Tianming arrived one after the other.

A sword and a fist struck both sides of the black shadow. The even larger mutant beast merely paused slightly before continuing its charge at Dong Lin.

Dong Lin had already activated his movement technique in time and flashed to the side.

But the beast was still too fast, violently slamming into the half of Dong Lin's body that had not yet moved clear.

Dong Lin's head spun, and he flew sideways.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the two mutant beasts whose shells he had just pierced with lightning charging wildly toward him.

"Damn it!"

Dong Lin pulled a Clearheart Pill from his robes and swallowed it.

His spirits rallied somewhat. He hastily drew the Thunderclap Sword from his back and flung it forward, activating five lightning patterns in the process.

Five majestic pillars of lightning poured forth, striking toward the two mutant beasts.

As the lightning pillars exploded against the beasts' shells, a thunderstorm engulfed their bodies.

When the thunderstorm dispersed, the two beasts appeared before Dong Lin, their auras weak and the shells on their backs shattered beyond recognition.

Dong Lin, severely injured internally, lay on the ground.

He held a Black Tier lightning talisman in his hand, watching the battle on Gu Chen and Baili Tianming's side.

The two were fighting fiercely against a mutant beast clearly a full size larger than the other two.

With every sword strike Gu Chen made, a deep gash appeared in the beast's shell.

Relying on his sturdy physique, Baili Tianming exchanged blow for blow with the beast in a fervent brawl.

Every time he clashed with the beast, the surrounding earth trembled.

The mutant beast gradually fell into defeat, but Baili Tianming had trapped it, leaving it unable to break free and flee.

By then, the sand and dust were gradually dispersing. Tao Yan and Zhao Shuheng each dragged a mutant beast of the same kind toward the three from two different directions.

Both bore injuries to varying degrees, silently telling of the fierce battles they had just endured.

Only when Gu Chen seized an opening and pierced the mutant beast's head with a sword was the battle finally declared over.

"These Earth-Element Armored Beasts are way too tough."

Baili Tianming wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a breath.

"Is everyone all right?" Gu Chen looked over the group.

Dong Lin circulated his spiritual energy and supported himself as he slowly stood up.

"Good thing my Dantian wasn't injured."

After inspecting himself carefully, Dong Lin let out a relieved breath.

"I never expected these Earth-Element Armored Beasts to coordinate so well. Seeing that Tianming and I were hard to deal with, they actually turned around and went after Brother Dong instead."

Gu Chen said with lingering fear on his face.

"These beasts have a bit of cunning after all. Luckily, they didn't choose to attack one person all at once. Otherwise, we would have been in a miserable state.

"I had to use quite a few methods to take down the one on my side.

"Brother Dong fought three alone and still took down two of them. Not bad, Brother Dong!"

Zhao Shuheng looked at Dong Lin and spoke admiringly.

"Luck, just luck. It was still thanks to Brother Gu and Brother Tianming arriving in time. Otherwise, I would have been in a miserable state."

Dong Lin coughed weakly.

Gu Chen looked at Tao Yan, who was silently meditating nearby.

"Junior Sister Tao, are you all right?"

"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Gu. I'm fine."

Other than Gu Chen, Tao Yan was in the best condition. Only a few traces of blood stained her clothes, which were not damaged. It seemed she had not been drawn into close combat with the mutant beast.

"Everyone was hurt badly this time. Let's rest up, then turn back. This harvest should be quite substantial."

Gu Chen looked toward the five Earth-Element Armored Beasts piled into a small mountain in the distance.