Inside the Otherworld Secret Realm, Gu Zheng and his three companions warily surveyed their surroundings.
They stood in a clearing beside a lake. Behind them lay a vast expanse of emerald water, without a ripple or wave. Before them was a valley, its entrance broad and its flanking slopes steep.
"This place is too dangerous," Gu Zheng said quietly, his gaze sweeping their surroundings. "We need to find a spatial passage and leave as soon as possible."
They had entered this place by accident.
A spatial passage had suddenly appeared on Lake Center Island. Unable to dodge in time, they had been swept straight into it. By the time they realized what had happened, they were already inside this unfamiliar Secret Realm.
"What's that?"
The ears of a skinny boy among the four suddenly twitched. He whipped his head toward the distant valley.
His name was Liu Qing, and he had fused with the genes of a Third-Order Six-Eared Gale Hound. His hearing was countless times sharper than an ordinary person's, allowing him to pick up sounds from tremendous distances.
"There's something in the valley," Liu Qing said in a hushed voice, his expression grave.
All four turned to look toward the valley.
Deep within it, they could just make out an enormous coiled shadow.
It was a snake-a snake so enormous that the sight of it stole their breath. Its body was well over ten meters long, pitch-black and gleaming with a metallic sheen, as though it had been cast from steel.
Most alarming of all, a pair of wings grew from its back. They were folded against its sides, their tips trailing on the ground.
The giant python lay coiled in a heap, seemingly asleep. With each breath, occasional wisps of air puffed from its nostrils, stirring the air around it.
"It's a Two-Winged Thousand-Steel Python!" Gu Zheng's pupils contracted as he recognized the Gene Beast.
A Two-Winged Thousand-Steel Python that large was definitely a third-order Gene Beast.
"What's that?" Liu Qing suddenly pointed at several enormous rocks near the valley's entrance.
Each rock was more than a meter across. Their surfaces glowed dark red, like masses of solidified flame.
"Hematite!" the only girl in their group blurted out, her eyes lighting up.
The others looked over too, their gazes burning with desire.
Gene Beasts could be used to forge Gene Equipment, and so could certain natural treasures.
Hematite was one of them.
"Just one of those has to be worth at least a million Gene Coins, right?" Liu Qing murmured, longing in his eyes.
"Forget it," Gu Zheng said calmly, his voice low. "The Two-Winged Thousand-Steel Python can only glide short distances, not fly, but it's definitely a third-order Gene Beast. It's not something we can afford to provoke."
He paused, tearing his gaze away from the hematite. "Our lives matter more than money."
The others fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
Gu Zheng was right. With their current strength, provoking a third-order Gene Beast was no different from courting death.
"Let's go." Gu Zheng waved a hand, and the four quickly left the area, following the lake to explore in another direction.
Elsewhere.
Ji Zhixing staggered upon landing, then hurriedly steadied himself. Gripping the Yellowstone Staff, he looked around warily.
He was in a forest.
The trees were astonishingly tall, reaching dozens of meters into the air. Their trunks were so thick that even several people joining hands could not encircle them.
Everything was quiet. He held his breath and listened closely for a long while. Only after confirming there was no movement nearby did he let out a small breath of relief.
He looked back.
There was nothing behind him but empty space. The distorted spatial passage had vanished.
The passage is gone. Ji Zhixing's heart sank.
He reached back and touched his back, his fingertips meeting something wet and slick. Turning his hand over, he saw blood. A slit had been torn in his clothes, and his back burned with pain.
The Black Eagle's claws grazed me, he concluded. It should only be a scratch. Nothing serious.
Third-order Gene Beasts roam this place. I can't stay here. Ji Zhixing surveyed his surroundings. I have to find a passage out as soon as possible.
Gripping the Yellowstone Staff, he cautiously headed deeper into the forest.
A thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, soft beneath his feet.
He kept every step light, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings and his ears alert for the slightest sound.
Before he had gone far, a rustling suddenly came from ahead.
Ji Zhixing stopped, slipped behind a large tree, and held his breath.
"Ji Zhixing?"
A voice suddenly rang out, startling him.
He poked his head out and saw two students from Third Middle School emerging from the bushes, waving at him.
They looked familiar. They were from Class Four, but Ji Zhixing could not recall their names.
"It's me." Ji Zhixing stepped out from behind the tree.
"Thank goodness!" The two hurried over, their faces filled with the relief of having survived a disaster. "Are you alone?"
"Just me." Ji Zhixing nodded. "What about you?"
"Just us too," one of them, a tall boy, said with a bitter smile. "That Black Eagle was chasing us. We had no choice but to duck into a nearby spatial passage."
The other boy, who had a round face, added, "The passage disappeared after we came in, so all we could do was keep moving forward."
"I'm Li Qiang," the tall boy introduced himself.
"I'm Zhao Gang," the round-faced boy said.
Ji Zhixing nodded. "Then let's stick together. There's safety in numbers. Hopefully, we can find a passage back sooner."
The two promptly nodded.
The three continued exploring together.
Enormous beast roars occasionally rang out through the forest. Whenever they heard one, they immediately steered clear, not daring to approach.
After roughly a few minutes, the trees ahead suddenly began to thin.
Through the trunks, they could see a broad expanse of water.
"It's a lake!" Li Qiang said excitedly.
The three quickened their pace and emerged from the forest.
The view suddenly opened up. An enormous lake lay before them, its waters broad and clear, like a gigantic mirror.
"This lake..." Ji Zhixing was about to say something when he suddenly heard footsteps from another direction.
Not one person's footsteps, but several.
He whipped his head around.
Four people emerged at the forest's edge.
Gu Zheng was in the lead. Behind him were three students from Rain City Middle School, all of whom they had seen before.
When Gu Zheng spotted Ji Zhixing and the other two, he was also briefly taken aback, his steps faltering.
"Gu Zheng..." Seeing Ji Zhixing's group, Liu Qing seemed to think of something. His eyes flickered, and he murmured a few words to the others around him.
After listening, Gu Zheng's expression shifted slightly, his gaze sweeping over Ji Zhixing and his companions.
"Gu Zheng!" Li Qiang's and Zhao Gang's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of Gu Zheng's group.
The two hurried forward with ingratiating smiles.
"Gu Zheng, you're here too!" Li Qiang said. "This is great! We were just worrying about which way to go."
"Exactly!" Zhao Gang nodded repeatedly. "We'll be much safer with you."
Seeing this, Ji Zhixing could only follow them over.
As the three approached, a faint smile appeared on Gu Zheng's face.
"You've come at just the right time." His tone was gentle and sounded very friendly. "There's something I need a hand with."
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