Little Dragonfly

After clearing six Arena Zones in a row, aside from the third one being a bit difficult—with one mutated elite monster and three elite monsters—the rest had been carved through under Shi Hongyu's leadership.

However, they had used up two Energy Crystal Blocks by now.

Their own Palm Energy had also been depleted to a certain extent.

Fu Junlin checked his Palm Energy. He had roughly thirty percent remaining.

"The target Arena Zone is ahead!"

Shi Hongyu let out a long sigh and put away the Teleportation Intensity Detector in her hand.

The number displayed on it was far from encouraging.

"The current Teleportation Intensity is only 42%. Everyone, keep Intent in mind. If the one ahead really is a Death-Cycle Arena, its Teleportation Intensity won't exceed 30%.

"Remember, if you're injured, call for the War Banner Master immediately. Junlin, Zheng Feng, keep your eyes open.

"If anyone suffers serious injuries such as severed limbs, ruptured blood vessels, or massive bleeding, you absolutely cannot teleport back to the city. Understood?"

Shi Hongyu said gravely.

"Understood!"

Feeling Shi Hongyu's caution, the others answered loudly.

"If things become impossible, return to the city immediately while you're still uninjured!"

Shi Hongyu gave one more reminder before leading them into the light gate.

Buzz!

The moment they entered the light gate, an indescribable oppression washed over them. The detector in Shi Hongyu's hand immediately displayed a number.

"Intent! Teleportation Intensity: 27%!"

Sure enough, the Teleportation Intensity had fallen below thirty percent.

The others all felt their hearts skip a beat.

Teleportation Intensity determined how safe it was to return to the city.

Every Arena Zone had different rules, and the Teleportation Intensity in a Death-Cycle Arena was the lowest.

Once the Teleportation Intensity fell below thirty, severely injured people might not die on the spot if they did not teleport back to the city.

But if they teleported while seriously injured, there was an extremely high chance of "blood loss," with a mortality rate exceeding 98%. Therefore, they had to find a War Banner Master for prompt treatment after sustaining serious injuries.

Otherwise, teleporting back while badly injured would almost certainly mean returning as a corpse.

The group looked toward the Arena Zone and was instantly stunned by the sight before them.

This Arena Zone appeared extraordinarily vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. It covered at least several square kilometers, enough to meet the requirements for a small trading city.

But it was not level ground.

The place where they stood was the edge of a massive pit.

As far as they could see, the entire Arena Zone had sunk around six meters, forming an incomparably enormous pit.

At the center of this sunken Arena Zone stood countless huge stones resembling giant Rubik's Cubes.

They were square, with uneven distances between them.

Some were lined up in rows, but most were gathered in groups of two or three.

It looked like a gigantic maze.

Each boulder was roughly a six-meter cube. Their surfaces were rough, and some were already covered in moss.

It did not even look like a place where monsters would appear.

From their position at the edge of the pit, the nearest stone was ten meters away. Aside from Shi Hongyu, who might be able to jump across, even Chen Keyu could not make it without a running start.

Within the pit, unknown dangers awaited them in the deep pathways between those massive stone blocks.

Shi Hongyu first took out the silver suitcase another teacher had handed her before they entered. Opening it revealed automated surveillance equipment, and several small drones automatically took flight.

After circling overhead, they snapped onto the surrounding wall with a sharp smack.

Their batteries were only enough to support two patrols of the Arena Zone, so they would activate one by one on the day after this Death-Cycle Arena was completely conquered.

"Let's go!"

Shi Hongyu put away the equipment, rolled her neck and shoulders first, producing several crisp cracks of bone, then jumped down from the edge of the pit.

The others jumped down as well.

A drop of six meters was a piece of cake given their physical strength.

Duo Xinyu jumped last. He had the mechanical dog and robot leap onto the huge stone across from them.

He had the two move around up there as scouts.

Then he jumped down and moved together with Fu Junlin and the others, bringing along two giant mechanical scorpions.

An eerie atmosphere filled the massive pit. Every turn ahead seemed to conceal an unknown danger.

They advanced in a single-file formation, with Shi Hongyu leading at the front.

Chen Keyu, who was capable in close combat, brought up the rear.

Fragments occasionally fell from above, knocked loose by the mechanical dog and robot.

Sss, sss, sss...

Sss, sss, sss...

After walking quietly for a while, a second sound finally emerged besides their footsteps.

Shi Hongyu slowly raised her hand, and everyone stopped.

The sound was extremely faint, like the rubbing of insect wings.

They listened carefully for its source and gradually determined that it came from behind them, from the place they had just passed.

Behind them was a fork in the road.

Shi Hongyu signaled Chen Keyu. He then put away his greatsword and drew two short daggers.

The daggers glowed with a faint blue light, radiating waves of cold air.

He crept quietly to one branch of the fork and peeked around the corner.

Sss, sss, sss...

The sound immediately became clearer. Chen Keyu let out a long breath and turned to signal Shi Hongyu that the danger had been cleared.

That was because he saw a dragonfly the size of a fist. The sound came from the high-speed vibration of its wings.

The sound from before had seemed slightly louder than this, but Chen Keyu could only assume that the dragonfly had restrained itself a little after seeing people.

Although it was also a mutated creature, something that size was not particularly threatening.

The others lowered their guard as well.

But at the other passage behind Chen Keyu, a black shadow slowly poked its head out.

Chen Keyu glanced toward that passage with casual Intent, but the moment he turned around, the sight nearly scared his soul out of him...