Chapter 265: Chapter 170: Beast Horde Evolution, Furnace Heart! _2
“Such horrifying attack power, even a Specialized Level Martial Artist wouldn’t be able to withstand it head-on.”
Qin Shi’s face turned pale. Every time he used Dimension Slash, he experienced a sense of mental exhaustion and physical emptiness.
He activated his Cultivation Furnace to recover his strength, then meditated in the void to make his spirit whole.
About half an hour later, his Mortal Body returned to its peak state.
He collected the red crystals one by one and threw them into his tactical backpack.
Immediately after, he looked for the next group of guard dogs and unleashed a Dimension Slash.
During this period, he ran into two other teams. Qin Shi, quite amiable, asked them to leave their supplies and voluntarily quit the competition.
Seeing the Dimension Slash in action, none of the competitors disobeyed.
“How did such a monster get into the outer region?”
They all wondered the same thing.
A bit over eighty points in Life Force, roughly the Third Rank of the Martial Arts Path at Amateur Level.
Yet he also integrated the Spiritual Ability Path, opened up spell slots, and could cast skills.
The combination of the two paths resulted in terrifying combat power!
When Qin Shi, almost obsessively, swept the outer region clean, a whole day had passed.
His tactical backpack was bulging, completely filled with materials.
“I’ve eaten almost all my rations; it’s time to head to the mid-layer region to restock.”
Qin Shi continually enhanced his Skill Level in Dimension Slash, eventually reducing its cooldown to one slash every twenty minutes.
Moreover, his control became more refined, no longer just a simple hand gesture with a long wind-up that was easy to dodge.
The noticeable progress made him quite satisfied.
The core in the Sea of Consciousness inside his brain grew increasingly radiant, as if it had been polished.
“What form should my Holy Embryo take? The ancient Saint Heirs and Saintesses all seemed to favor making it into a bell, cauldron, or tower!”
Qin Shi ventured into the depths of the Netherworld Esotericists’ lair, passing through the dark and eerie underground caverns. They had laid several traps, but fortunately, his Spiritual Power had evolved, making his senses incredibly sharp, allowing him to destroy them one by one.
During this journey, he harvested a wealth of materials, excluding the disgustingly decomposed flesh and biological limbs soaking in formaldehyde. He packed up a lot of precious metals used in esoteric rituals and items contaminated with strong Netherworld aura.
Thanks to his Automatic Pickup achievement trait, he didn’t miss any valuable item, cleaning out the lair entirely.
“What an exhilarating and rewarding haul.”
Qin Shi gained immense satisfaction from looting and collecting.
It took him twenty minutes to navigate the complex underground caverns and return to the surface world.
The glaring sunlight slightly pained his eyes. The mid-layer region’s landscape differed somewhat from the outer region.
Clusters of dense crystal clusters grew along the steep cliffs on both sides, resembling patches of weeds.
The sunlight reflected off them, creating a dazzling display of colors.
“The manual mentioned that Rust Beasts are rampant in the mid-layer region. These are anomalous creatures born from high-intensity warfare that disrupted the ecosystem.”
Qin Shi, with his powerful Spiritual Power, almost had an eidetic memory and had long memorized the content.
He slowed his breathing, making his aura extremely subtle, and spread his Spiritual Power far and wide, creating a Perception Domain nearly a hundred meters wide.
Sure enough, he “saw” around a hundred peculiar beasts.
They were about two meters long, quite large, and resembled hyenas, their flesh showing signs of metallic rust corrosion.
Packed densely together, they looked quite spectacular from a distance.
Usually, to clear out Rust Beasts, one must wear corrosion-resistant ceramic composite armor and use the firepower of Gauss Rifles to scour the ground.
The most troublesome aspect of Rust Beasts is that they self-destruct upon taking damage, scattering high-temperature radioactive matter that forms a continuously burning contaminated area.
Once surrounded, escape becomes extremely difficult.
Even Specialized Level Martial Artists wouldn’t recklessly fall into a herd of hundreds of Rust Beasts.
“Each Rust Beast is worth seventy points. If I can take out this herd, I should be able to catch up to the people in the core region.”
Qin Shi pondered. Rust Beasts generally moved in groups. They fed on metals, secreting strong acids from their mouths and absorbing iron elements, which gave them naturally high defense. Given their numbers, killing a few wasn’t too difficult, but wiping out the entire herd was no easy task.
“Missing out on all those points would be such a waste.”
Qin Shi hid in a corner, observing the herd of Rust Beasts.
He hadn’t forgotten that his goal was to break into the core region and fight for the top spot!
Accumulating points was crucial for him!
“The rankings refresh every three days. I need to push my ranking higher before that.”
Qin Shi’s mind raced. Currently, his most potent attack was the Dimension Slash refined from the Void Meditation Technique.
But expecting to clear out a hundred Rust Beasts with one slash was pure fantasy.
If he drew too much aggro, it would definitely incite a beastly riot, surrounding him completely.
The radioactive high temperatures, combined with the potent toxins, would increase the threat exponentially!
“The downside of being a lone wolf is having too many tasks to handle.”
Qin Shi sighed. If he had someone to lure the beasts and hold them off, the difficulty would drop significantly.
But he wasn’t in a rush. He found a vantage point with a good view and settled in to wait for an opportunity.
He silently activated the Void Meditation Technique, absorbing the roaming energy in the Dimension Space.
When Qin Shi opened his eyes again, the sun had already tilted westward, casting an orange glow over the Great Rift Valley.
The Rust Beast herd hadn’t moved away. They climbed the cliffs and moved in and out of the crystal clusters.