Burrow Rat General, Teamwork

As the team pushed deeper into the mine tunnel, the air grew colder and damper.

Great swathes of dark green, glowing moss appeared on the rock walls, casting the enclosed space in an eerie light.

Now and then, water dripped from some unknown underground river. Its clear, hollow notes echoed through the deathly still passage.

The shrill screeches grew more frequent, too.

The Burrow Rats they encountered along the way were clearly a cut above the earlier ones.

These were no longer Qi Refining First Layer grunts that knew only how to charge blindly. Qi Refining Second Layer elite rats appeared among them now and then, with tougher fur, venomous claws and fangs, and even the ability to spit corrosive acid.

But with Wang Qingli's watertight defenses and the explosive attacks of Zhao Gang and Chu Bai, these scattered obstacles were swiftly cleared away.

Chu Bai silently calculated, At our current rate of expenditure and level of coordination, we should be able to take on a pack of around ten Qi Refining Second Layer rats without injury. Any more than that... and someone will probably get hurt.

Just then, Wang Qingli, who was leading the way, stopped short.

The Demon-Seeking Mirror in her hand had ceased flashing. Instead, it shone steadily with a dense blood-red light, and its surface had even grown warm.

"Stop!"

Wang Qingli's voice was low and urgent. "Something big is coming. There are quite a few of them, and their auras are mixed... prepare to fight!"

Before she had finished speaking, a dense scraping came from the dark bend ahead, as though countless sharp claws were scratching at the rock.

Then a dozen or more pairs of crimson eyes lit up in the darkness.

It was a pack of fifteen or sixteen Burrow Rats! Nearly half