"Crackling--"
Sparks flew from the burning wood.
The flickering firelight illuminated three figures sleeping soundly on a wooden bed inside the room.
Shen Heng sat on a stool by the wall.
A pale white Origin Power struggled upwards from his outstretched right hand, attempting to form the shape of a tree branch.
He was practicing the cultivation Daoist Master Li had described for further strengthening his control over the Origin Power.
In the simulation, neither Body Tempering nor breathing exercises are real; they have no effect on the real body. This is the only thing you can practice.
The tree branch formed from the Origin Power gradually took shape in Shen Heng's hands.
First branch, second branch, third branch...
Smack
The Origin Power dispersed.
Shen Heng let out a soft sigh, somewhat wearily lowering his hand, and didn't try again.
It seems that because the simulation borrows from their mental energy, they are more prone to mental fatigue.
It's not time to make a substitution yet, so we need to save some energy for the next two hours.
Shen Heng lowered his eyes slightly, and began to review the cultivation process he had just undergone in his mind.
"The completion of the forked tree branch design caused the flow of Origin Power in that section to cease, leading to the overall collapse..."
"No, having Origin Power outside the body makes it even harder to control; I can't handle several at the same time..."
After a long while, Shen Heng slowly raised his eyes.
He glanced at the sleeping group.
Cultivation is not an option, and it's not time for the shift change yet. What should we do next?
After thinking for a while, Shen Heng stood up and picked up a burning piece of wood from the campfire to use as a torch.
A few minutes later, Shen Heng reached the rooftop.
He left the torch in the stairwell and walked out.
Oppressive, deathly silent...
The already dimly lit environment became even more difficult to see due to the arrival of night.
Although it wasn't pitch black yet, one could only barely make out the distant, indistinct buildings by the flashes of lightning that kept streaking across the sky.
This area must be several tens of kilometers in radius, right?... Shen Heng strained his eyes to look into the distance, and as far as he could see, tall buildings still occasionally appeared due to the lightning.
After standing on the rooftop for a while, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a certain spot.
There, a faint light flickered.
The flames moved forward and quickly grew brighter. Then, three running figures appeared in Shen Heng's sight.
This is... Shen Heng was slightly taken aback, then, as if he had just realized something, he unleashed his abilities.
Following the three footsteps came the sound of four claws landing.
You went out to kill Calamity Beast late at night, but lost and got chased by Calamity Beast?
Or perhaps the Calamity Beast discovered where they were hiding, and they couldn't defeat it, so they were chased by Calamity Beast?
Shen Heng didn't know, but that didn't stop him from knowing the fates of the others.
Running around at night with a torch will only attract more Calamity Beast, and you'll eventually get killed by Calamity Beast.
But if you don't carry a torch, you'll be chased in the dark, and you might easily get separated from others.
In this city full of Third Tier cities, getting separated and unable to reunite is almost the same as being dead.
In other words, no matter what, they will all be eliminated tonight.
That's how it was originally.
Shen Heng glanced at the group of people who were almost on the street where his building was located, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth.
"Turn right at the next intersection, extinguish and discard the torch, then go inside the building. The rest is up to you."
The sound waves were focused by Shen Heng and emitted towards the group.
The leader paused, hesitated for a moment, and then quickly turned right.
The person next to her asked a question, and she simply gave a brief explanation.
The three of them quickly did as Shen Heng had just told them.
The torch went out, was lost, and he went inside the building.
Shen Heng listened to the sounds of the three people going upstairs, then turned his gaze to the blurry figures of several Calamity Beast at the street corner.
They were too far away for him to directly control the sound waves generated by the three people's movements.
In other words, among the Calamity Beast chasing them, those with slightly better hearing could hear the three of them making noise.
but...
"It's not a big problem," Shen Heng murmured.
It might be difficult for him to impact the brain of the Calamity Beast from such a distance, but it would be quite simple to make the Calamity Beast hear the sound.
Shen Heng slowly raised his hand.
Street intersection.
Several Calamity Beast looked at the empty street ahead with some confusion.
Just as they were about to figure out where those three people had gone...
despair!
An inexplicable sound came from somewhere.
The Calamity Beast looked in the direction from which the sound came.
The sound came from the front...
despair!
No, that doesn't seem right either. Did it come from the left or the right?
Just as the Calamity Beast was confused, the 'tap-tap' sound suddenly disappeared.
Then, a series of footsteps suddenly came from the right front.
This time, the sound remained in the same location, steadily coming from the right front, and gradually fading and receding into the distance...
Inside the building.
Three figures huddled in the dark room.
They didn't dare to speak, and even their breathing, still heavy from the exertion, was kept low.
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes...
Finally, a low whisper rang out in the room.
"Sister Yingluo, has the Calamity Beast left?"
There was a moment of silence in the room, followed by a clear, bright voice.
"They haven't come looking for us after all this time, they must have left!"
Upon hearing this, the remaining two people in the room breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a voice filled with remorse.
"I'm sorry, if I hadn't suggested going out to kill the Calamity Beast, this wouldn't have happened."
Xiong Yingluo looked in the direction from which the sound came.
The room was dark, and she couldn't see clearly, but she could vaguely make out that there was a person there.
"No need to apologize. Although it was your suggestion, we only went out to kill the Calamity Beast after I gave my permission."
"But that's because I got injured during the day without being careful, otherwise we would have..."
"No need to say any more of this. Just remember, we are a team, and all decisions are team decisions!"
"Yes, aren't we on the same team?" the girl who asked the first question said with a light laugh.
There was a moment of silence in the room before a soft "hmm" was heard.
Yu Ruofei smiled and turned to look in Xiong Yingluo's direction.
"Sister Yingluo, who was that voice just now?"
Xiong Yingluo paused for a moment, then said:
"It should belong to Shen Heng."
" Shen Heng?" Yu Ruofei repeated in a low voice, as if confirming, or as if he had already confirmed it.
"Yes, although I didn't hear clearly just now, he's the only one in the training camp who could lure the Calamity Beast away silently," Xiong Yingluo confirmed.
"Oh--"
Yu Ruofei nodded, drawing out the sound, as the image of a black-haired youth flashed through his mind.
Although she hadn't spoken to the other person, there shouldn't be anyone in the training camp who didn't know them.
After all, the other party is somewhat special compared to them.
A D-Class ability user!
Someone whose combined training makes them stand out from the top!