"It found us. It can indeed monitor us."
Bai Ting did a crunch and returned to the cave, looking up at the three people above him.
"Let the Mulin Tribe's rats and that monster fight first. Since we haven't entered the fray yet, we might as well be the fishermen and watch the show."
After Yan Kuan finished speaking, he began to reinforce the Rock Barrier beneath their feet, making it easier for them to hide within it.
"Kuan Ge, no need to reinforce it. It seems we have no choice but to enter."
"What do you mean?"
"That guy is coming!"
Yan Kuan's expression suddenly changed. He sensed a shift in the surrounding Earth Element.
The moment Bai Ting crunched back into the cave, the anteater-like Magic Beast burrowed underground, then moved quickly through the soil, soon drilling into the rock wall and approaching them.
"Quick, get down! That guy can swim through the earth. It's coming."
Yan Kuan pressed his hands against the rock walls on both sides, using the Earth Element to solidify all the soil near this tunnel.
At the same time, a dull, strange noise came from one side—the sound of sharp claws digging through rock.
Seizing the opportunity, the few people quickly leaped down from the pit.
As Yan Kuan was the last to leave the tunnel, he looked up and could already see the gleaming sharp claws piercing through the spot where he had just been.
Next, a black, elongated head appeared in the pit, looking down at the four of them as they free-fell.
Just before they landed, Lin Xiaoxiao activated her Mind, slowing their downward momentum.
After Bai Ting found his footing, he immediately conjured a two-meter-long lightning spear and threw it back over his head.
Thunder rumbled, and the lightning spear transformed into a white flash, tearing through the air and accurately shooting into the tunnel where they had just been.
Beneath the dazzling white light, countless electric arcs intertwined within the cave.
After throwing that spear, Bai Ting continued to move quickly with Han Badou and the others, increasing the distance between themselves and the Mulin Tribe members present.
As the electric light dissipated, nothing happened in the pit above them except for a few charred pieces of rock falling down.
"Ba Dou, where is it?"
"I don't know, it's left my Energy Monitoring range."
Han Badou changed the range of his "Energy Monitoring" from a cone to a sphere, completely covering their surroundings. The Nine-Star Magic Beast was too fast and could move freely underground; one-directional monitoring was no longer safe.
Bai Ting, Yan Kuan, and Lin Xiaoxiao stood in a triangular formation, leaning on each other, protecting Han Badou in the middle, ready to deal with an enemy that could appear from anywhere.
"This guy really seems to be hiding."
Another twenty seconds passed, and the anteater-like Magic Beast still hadn't appeared.
There were currently five surviving members of the Mulin Tribe, with Klimo, an Eight-Star, leading them as the team captain.
Although in Bai Ting's eyes, the Mulin Tribe were almost mutated rats, indistinguishable in appearance, Klimo was an exception.
Klimo was a ruthless character, which was evident not only in his usual demeanor but also in his ferocious appearance.
He had a cross-shaped scar over his right eye, with no eyeball beneath it, only an empty socket. The whiskers hanging from his mouth were of varying lengths, almost all showing signs of being cut off.
At this moment, he had many injuries on his body, with the wound on his right arm being the most severe.
The Mulin Tribe were already small in stature, and their arms were not long. Klimo's short right arm was almost completely severed, with only a trace of flesh still connecting it.
The appearance of Bai Ting and the others interrupted their battle with the monster, giving Klimo a chance to catch his breath.
He was cruel to himself, directly tearing off his severed arm and throwing it on the ground, then roughly applying hemostatic powder to the wound.
Afterward, Klimo looked at Bai Ting and the others.
"What a coincidence. It seems you all are destined to die here today too."
Klimo knew that the Magic Beast would not let them go. It would probably be difficult to get out of this underground lair today. Since that was the case, it wouldn't be bad to drag Bai Ting and the others down with him.
"Coincidence? Didn't you all want to follow us? Klimo, stop playing these underhanded tricks. Instead of wasting your time on such schemes, you should focus on honing your strength. Otherwise, how can you compete with us for commissions?"
"What a pity. If Lin Lin were here, she might have been able to reattach your filthy severed arm. But it's also a coincidence that you deliberately lured a Magic Beast last time, causing Lin Lin to be poisoned by insect poison, which is why she doesn't have to witness your filthy rat-like demise here today."
As Lin Xiaoxiao spoke, four Cold Steel Flying Daggers were already spinning rapidly beside her.
"Heh, do you think that woman can escape just because she didn't come down into this lair? By now, she's probably already been thrown off a cliff to feed the Magic Beasts by my team members, just like those Earth Spirit Tribe members."
"Hmph, Klimo, stop being so clever. Do you think we couldn't have predicted something that even your walnut-sized brain could come up with? It's just a pity you won't get a chance to go out and collect the corpses of your idiotic teammates."
After Lin Xiaoxiao finished speaking, she didn't forget to extend her right hand, making a circle with her thumb and forefinger, and then added, "Oh, and you probably don't know the size of a walnut, do you? Well, it's about this big."
"You're looking for death!"
Lin Xiaoxiao successfully enraged Klimo. He gritted his teeth, raised the weapon in his hand, and quickly charged towards Bai Ting and the others.
Klimo was born in the Zero Realm. Since his birth, his parents had told him that the Mulin Tribe was weak, so they should try to keep a low profile.
As he grew up, he also discovered that among those of the same level, the Mulin Tribe was inferior to other races in both speed and strength, and hunting Magic Beasts was more difficult.
They could only roam in groups in various camps, attempting to compensate for their lack of strength with numbers.
Klimo defied convention. He fought fearlessly time and again, even breaking through to Eight-Star, but the cost was the scars all over his body and his missing right eye.
From that moment on, he began to realize that fighting fearlessly would only lead to a quicker death, so Klimo changed his approach.
To achieve his goals, he resorted to any means, no matter how despicable. As long as it succeeded, he would rack his brains.
Although his methods were dirty, under Klimo's leadership, the Mulin Tribe's team indeed snatched more resources, until this damned human team appeared...
The human race, though clearly fewer in number, why were their abilities so comprehensive?
Attack, elemental, healing, control—their abilities covered almost every field.
Not only that, but this team also didn't understand the rules.
They frantically accepted commissions, hunted Magic Beasts, and gained too much prominence, attracting the attention of too many employers, and had already seized Klimo's resources.
Klimo detested this team from the bottom of his heart, and even this race. They were few in number yet powerful in ability, almost the complete opposite of the Mulin Tribe.
Whether out of jealousy or conflicting interests, Klimo decided to make this team disappear completely.
After Bai Ting and the others set off, Klimo led his team to follow behind them.
The Mulin Tribe's whiskers could sense changes in air currents. Even if they got lost in the underground lair, they could more easily find a way out, which gave Klimo confidence.
Even if they had no advantage in a direct confrontation, as long as Bai Ting and the others continued to be depleted in this underground lair, Klimo would eventually find an opportunity to reap the benefits.
However, that strange Nine-Star Magic Beast actually launched a sneak attack from underground.
The Mulin Tribe was caught off guard, and Klimo even lost an arm after several exchanges.
Klimo vividly remembered the look in the Magic Beast's eyes; it clearly carried a hint of mockery.
He knew that the other party had no intention of letting him go, and thus he had long since fallen into despair.
It was at this moment that his proud strategies and schemes, in the mouth of that damned human woman, were dismissed as utterly worthless, like garbage.
Since he was going to die anyway, Klimo decided he would at least bite off a piece of the other party before he went.
As the Mulin Tribe members moved, Bai Ting, Yan Kuan, and Lin Xiaoxiao also quickly entered a battle state.
Only Han Badou's attention remained focused on the disappeared Magic Beast.
"It's here, that guy is above us!"
Han Badou suddenly looked up and saw a section of the rock wall above them beginning to loosen.
Immediately after, the rock wall shattered, and falling rocks tumbled down.
A black, elongated head emerged from the broken opening. It rolled its eyes, looking down at the few people who were about to clash.
From those eyes, Han Badou saw a hint of cunning.
At this moment, an absurd thought suddenly appeared in his Mind.
The "fisherman" had changed...
