“He’s moving at high speed, what should we do?”
Bai Ting looked at Han Badou, gritted his teeth, and quickly took out a spare rope from his ring. He used a small knife to forcefully chisel one end of it into the ground.
Seeing this, Yan Kuan manipulated the Earth Element to create a Rock Barrier, protecting the knife and the rope secured to the ground, leaving only one end exposed.
“Ba Dou, lead the way!”
Bai Ting, holding the rope, followed behind Han Badou and ran back towards the newly appeared tunnel.
Yan Kuan and Lin Xiaoxiao, seeing this, didn't ask further and decisively followed.
After Chen Bugu left, the team's decisions were primarily made jointly by Bai Ting and Han Badou.
Bai Ting was quick-witted, clear-headed, and decisive in action, working with Han Badou's Brain Power Enhancement - Qianji to help analyze and provide suggestions.
With the two of them working together, the decisions made were often more reasonable.
Supported by a long period of tacit cooperation and full trust, even if Yan Kuan and Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't understand, they would never raise objections at this moment.
The fourth tunnel was very narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Due to Han Badou's limited strength, which could affect the entire team's speed, Bai Ting handed the rope to Yan Kuan and carried Han Badou on his back, allowing him to focus entirely on Energy Monitoring and guide their direction.
Bai Ting also took the opportunity to explain his change of mind.
Han Badou also said that the Nine Star that cut their rope was most likely a native Magic Beast from underground, and it possessed a certain level of intelligence.
Since the other party possessed a certain level of intelligence, there was a possibility of communication.
If it was unwilling to communicate, then they would just beat it half to death first.
As their strength increased, the superiority of the Mythological Ability, Thunder Sprite, also began to gradually manifest. Although Bai Ting was only Eight Star at this time, fighting above his level was not impossible.
Furthermore, the deep underground was Yan Kuan's home turf; he fought like a fish in water here, his strength increasing rather than decreasing.
Although the opponent was a Nine-Star Magic Beast, with their current combat power, they were not afraid to truly face it.
Moreover, the first possibility also carried risks, but at least one thing was certain—that answer wouldn't escape.
Even if they lost track of it, they could still follow the rope back and try the first possibility.
So Bai Ting changed his choice and followed the fellow who had cut their rope.
Since the opponent's goal was to trap them, sitting idly by would only put them in a passive position. It was better to use Ba Dou's monitoring ability to plan ahead and take the initiative.
This time, under Ba Dou's Energy Monitoring, as long as they latched onto the opponent, their current predicament should be able to be overcome.
“Han Badou, which way?”
Bai Ting looked at the fork in the road that appeared again and asked over his shoulder.
“To the right! Its speed isn't fast, but its overall direction is gradually shifting to the lower right.”
Han Badou narrowed the range of his Energy Monitoring, a change in ability he had mastered after breaking through to Six Star.
The more singular the range of Energy Monitoring, the farther the distance it could be released.
At this moment, Han Badou had narrowed the monitoring range into a small cone, continuously tracking the Nine-Star Magic Beast.
Yan Kuan followed closely behind Bai Ting and Lin Xiaoxiao. He stretched out his right hand, touching the stone walls on both sides of the tunnel as he ran.
As they delved deeper, Yan Kuan noticed that the activity of the Earth Element in this area had changed.
“Everyone, I have a discovery to share with you: the Earth Element in this tunnel is unusually active. This kind of active Earth Element shouldn't be floating in the air.”
“We can't perceive the Earth Element, stop talking nonsense and just give us the conclusion!”
Lin Xiaoxiao glared back at Yan Kuan, clearly unable to understand what he was saying.
But before Yan Kuan could explain, Han Badou made another important discovery.
“A new energy reaction has appeared! That guy has stopped!”
“Nine Seven Stars, one Eight Star! This energy reaction belongs to the Mulin Tribe; they've run into each other.”
“No, that guy seems to have been heading straight for that group of Mulin Tribe members. Does it have some kind of sensory ability?”
“Two Seven Star energy signatures have disappeared; they've started fighting…”
Bai Ting slammed on the brakes, stopping his forward momentum.
If the other party truly was heading straight for the Mulin Tribe from the beginning, then it most likely possessed certain detection methods.
If that was the case, then were their current actions also within the opponent's grasp?
If so, could this be a trap?
Bai Ting was a little unsure.
“Han Badou, what do you think?”
Bai Ting turned his head, asking Han Badou for his opinion.
“Let's continue to approach. If it can truly detect us, we can use this to test its attitude.”
“Furthermore, to put it another way, they've already started fighting. When the snipe and clam fight, it's an opportunity. We'd best take this chance to deal with it, otherwise a Nine-Star Magic Beast constantly lurking in the shadows is too passive.”
“But we might need to be fast. Another Seven Star energy signature has disappeared; the Mulin Tribe, this ‘clam,’ has some substance.”
Bai Ting nodded, then continued to sprint.
Since just now, the overall slope of this tunnel had begun to steepen, almost at a 20-degree angle downwards, and the soil seemed to have loosened quite a bit.
To prevent slipping, they had no choice but to slow down.
“How much further are they from us?”
“About one hundred meters down this direction.”
“Oh, by the way, Yan Kuan, what were you trying to say just now?”
Bai Ting turned his head, remembering that Yan Kuan hadn't finished speaking earlier.
“I was trying to say that the Earth Element in this tunnel is too active, and both the side walls and the ground are covered in new soil. There's a possibility that this tunnel hasn't been formed for long.”
At this, even Han Badou turned to look at Yan Kuan, his expression somewhat surprised.
“Kuan Ge, you mean this tunnel was dug out by someone? And not long ago?” Han Badou understood Yan Kuan's meaning.
“Yes, and most likely using Earth Element abilities to clear the way, which is why there's active elemental residue and new soil everywhere. The opponent is skilled in Earth Element abilities, and their combat power will also increase underground!”
Upon hearing this, Han Badou suddenly realized that the ability to change terrain, which was part of the second possibility they had previously considered, was now explained.
This way, it seemed the probability of the second possibility occurring was rapidly amplified.
“Ba Dou! Yan Kuan!”
Bai Ting slid down, the slope growing steeper and steeper. At this point, the slope of the path beneath their feet was almost 40 degrees.
Not only that, he noticed that the passage ahead was broken, leaving only a pit going straight down.
“It's here. Go down the hole; they're below!”
Yan Kuan also saw the pit from the side and immediately acted, constructing Rock Barriers inside the pit for footholds.
The group slid down and finally jumped into the pit.
Before completely falling out of the hole, they grabbed onto the Rock Barriers constructed by Yan Kuan, using them to hang themselves directly inside the hole.
Han Badou quickly jumped off Bai Ting's back, holding onto the Rock Barrier himself to stabilize his body.
Bai Ting looked around at everyone, nodded, then hung upside down, inverting his whole body to peer out of the hole, observing the situation outside.
Outside the hole was a massive space.
This space was like a giant hemisphere, and Bai Ting and the others were currently located on the ceiling.
Unlike other places, this space showed clear signs of renovation. The ground was not only flat and clean, but in the center, a strange stone platform was even erected.
And beneath the stone platform, five Mulin Tribe warriors, holding poisoned weapons, were battling a Nine-Star Magic Beast.
The Magic Beast had a strange appearance, looking like a black anteater overall, except it stood on two legs, and a pair of green eyes protruded from the sides of its long, narrow head.
There was no fur on its body; its exposed black skin was layered, appearing very loose and rough, but the half-meter-long claws on its limbs were extremely sharp, emitting a cold glint.
At this moment, it raised its left claw, flinging the impaled Mulin Tribe corpse to one side.
The corpse fell to the ground, and one could clearly see it covered in claw marks, while the large hole in its chest was even more shocking.
Then, the black-skinned Magic Beast shook its head, its green eyes' pupils rotating, and it looked towards Bai Ting's direction.
