Fleeing for Their Lives

Zhang Xuezhou knew very early on that the vast world contained countless untapped resources.

For example, Qin Meng's enormous spirit jade, while what we have now is a special metal from the caves in the Tuer District.

Limited by individual capabilities and technological levels, ordinary people find it difficult to reach these areas and discover these special objects.

Their encounter with this special metal was purely coincidental. It was a combination of the sonic impact of the giant moth, the explosion of scales, and the aftershocks of the ambush on Turkalandor that caused the cave to collapse and reveal what had been hidden before.

The information about Nagoth, the beneficiary of the No. 1 Sinkhole, shocked everyone. No one had expected that there was such a special metal in the world that could restrain the Seventh Sequence individuals.

This is similar to how the Spirit-Forging Pill targets those in the Sequence Holder, or how a special reaction occurs when a Longevity Elixir collides with Law Power; the whole thing is almost like a dimensional reduction attack.

"This metal is prone to exploding when it hits something. How did Grenas manage to make it into a sword?" Ren Anran found it hard to understand.

"Xuezhou has already turned Soul Jade into gene-based weapons, so it's not difficult for him to fix this metal onto a sword," Wang Haoran said after thinking for a moment. "It's just that everyone has been focusing on his longsword in the past and hasn't noticed the inlays on it."

"Won't his sword explode?" Ren Anran asked.

"The Unlimited Blade from Xuezhou also has replaceable blades!"

Wang Haoran offered a reminder.

This special metal is not suitable for forging, but it is not impossible to use it.

Compared to the power it brings, some drawbacks can be overcome.

"This is a bit of a waste," Zhang Xuezhou lamented. "If I fixed it to the Infinite Blade's ranged attack, I'm afraid it would destroy my weapon in one hit."

"The Infinite Blade relies too heavily on Soul Jade," Wang Haoran said. "It's not a vehicle that's easy to retrieve; it's more suitable for close combat than long-range throwing!"

"But you'll also suffer from the explosion damage in close combat," Zhang Manqian couldn't help but interject.

"If you can't effectively protect yourself, it's like fighting with a ticking time bomb; the slightest carelessness could backfire," Ren Anran said. "Perhaps only those in the Seventh Sequence are qualified to use it!"

After some discussion, the initial fervor in many people's eyes quickly subsided.

There are only a few people in the Seventh Sequence in the world. They may seem like just numbers four, five, six, or seven, but it's like a personal bank account. Adding one more digit will reduce the number of people by a lot, and most people will never even step into this zone in their lifetime.

Things that are beyond the scope of what most people can use are less appealing.

Even when Wang Haoran was helping to store it, he was extremely careful, as if he was afraid that a slight tremor would cause it to explode and hurt him.

He wore a bitter expression, feeling inadequate in serious combat within Zhang Xuezhou's team, and for the first time, he felt powerless in logistics.

"We have this dangerous material, should we take care of that giant moth?" Tulcarando asked. "If we just throw it from a distance, there's a chance this piece of metal will pierce it. Even if it doesn't blow a hole in it, just detonating the poison powder on its body would be enough to kill it!"

"That makes sense!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded as usual.

But at that moment, he had no intention of killing the giant moth.

It wasn't that Zhang Xuezhou lacked a spirit of adventure, but rather that there was a collapse of over a hundred meters between them and the giant moth, with some areas having piles of stones two or three meters high and others having piles of stones eight to ten meters high.

This was not a length that a normal person could crawl into, and Zhang Xuezhou had no interest in digging a hole.

"Saati said my suggestion makes sense, so why don't you all agree!"

Seeing Ren Anran shake her head and then climb out with a searchlight, followed by Zhang Manqian, while Wang Haoran looked back and forth carefully carrying the metal block, Turkalando couldn't help but stomp her feet.

"What you said makes sense, but it's impossible to do," Ren Anran complained. "Why don't you dig up where that giant moth is, and we'll cooperate with you!"

"Your words are so unpleasant to hear... Water?"

After arguing, Turkalando realized that her feet had become slightly sticky when she stomped.

She raised her searchlight and looked behind her, only to see that the previously ten-meter-deep pit was now filled with water, which was even spreading outwards.

The water didn't gush out, but it kept seeping in, as if the cave passage they were in was below sea level, and it seemed like the place was about to be submerged.

"That giant moth might drown!"

After quickly informing everyone of the information, Turkalando cupped her hands and rubbed her face with water, feeling that the water in the cave had come at just the right time.

"Even if it doesn't drown, the water will definitely seep everywhere, cutting off the air supply," Turkalando said. "No matter how special these alien insects are, even if their respiratory requirements are low, they won't be able to withstand it. Everyone in the back cave will suffocate!"

"That makes sense, but we need to hurry!"

The water flowing from the cave seemed gentle, but it had already spread unnoticed.

This was a wave almost like a rising tide. At first, it seemed ordinary, but as it rose, it became a rolling torrent.

Zhang Xuezhou thought about the opening that was initially like a spring and felt that it was likely to expand, perhaps even cracking to the size of the entire cave, or forming a new underground passage.

He didn't want to waste any time, since when they came out of the cave, in addition to digging through the walls to escape, they also needed to check their surroundings to prevent another explosion targeting Turkalandor.

Just thinking about this expedition, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

His exposure to the unknown also made him somewhat worried about the future, as he always felt that there might be some dangerous things lurking behind the world.

In the past, he worried that he would be possessed by the extraterrestrial demons, so he had to run faster. But Zhang Xuezhou found that even if he outran the extraterrestrial demons, the world he was in was still not reassuring.

This is his perception of danger and crisis; Zhang Xuezhou still trusts this sense quite a bit.

Perhaps it was the Sinkhole No. 2 that I first encountered, or the No. 1 Sinkhole, or other sinkholes that I had not yet observed, or something else entirely.

Zhang Xuezhou felt as if the world was surrounded by wolves, and they were the sheep in that circle.

With many thoughts swirling in his mind, Zhang Xuezhou quickened his pace and caught up with the departing group.

Regardless of what they've encountered, their immediate priority is to ensure their safety before discussing anything else.

Walk back about eight miles from the area where the giant moths were, and you'll reach the area where the Turs built the separation wall.

This was a place of piled-up brick walls, rubble, and broken stones that even Wang Haoran found hopeless; now it was up to everyone to come and solve it.

"Shall we use this metal to blast this place open?"

Wang Haoran a moment, then realized that the weapon in his hand had come at just the right time. He casually tossed it and it melted a hole the size of a fist in the stone. If he had thrown it with a greater force, the power it would have brought would likely have been even stronger.

If it's thrown hundreds of times, there might be an extra passageway to pass through in the buried area.

"This thing is too unstable; it might trigger another landslide. Let's use a surgical technique!"

Zhang Xuezhou chanted incantations and cast spells, and blue light floated across his palm.

By the time he slapped down, the pebbles in his path had turned into stone chips.

The area with the brick walls and piles of rubble was extremely unstable, so he had no choice but to step on the collapsed rubble to reach higher ground and choose the area at the top of the cave to cast his spell.

Zhang Manqian and Wang Haoran occasionally lend a hand, throwing out any stones they could pull out.

This collapsed area is not as large as the cave area behind it, but it still stretches for a considerable distance, which means it is destined to be a rather troublesome procedure.

Zhang Xuezhou mechanically repeated the spellcasting, with Ren Anran occasionally intervening with her spellcasting.

A passage nearly six meters long, wide enough for one person to pass through, was dug through. Zhang Xuezhou had just felt a cold wind of a different temperature sweep in from the front when he heard a sharp, piercing sound coming from the cave behind him, mixed with bursts of loud noise and the sound of rushing water.

This caused his expression to change drastically.

The area was blocked by rubble more than a hundred meters away, and seawater was spreading. Zhang Xuezhou never expected that the giant moth would be able to emerge from the area behind it.