CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 29: THE CHARM OF THAT SWORD

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

The roller coaster Jiang Xinyu built from solid ice was the most terrifying Wang Lan had ever seen. Even a ’devil’s roller coaster’ couldn’t compare to this level of thrill; a normal person would go up lively and spirited but come down scared out of their wits.

The Leopard King could never have imagined that its previous aerial launch was the doing of these detestable humans. Although an underlying unease pricked at its heart, it still had absolute confidence in its ultimate move.

Once more, the Leopard King transformed into a streak of light, charging towards Jiang Xinyu and the others. At that precise instant, a crystal-clear ice track suddenly materialized before it.

The ice surface was as smooth as a mirror, with protective guide wings installed on both sides. In short, it was designed to ensure that once the Leopard King charged onto the track, it would safely complete the entire course before being swiftly sent on its way.

The Leopard King’s expression was savage; in its eyes, the five abominable humans before it seemed destined to be torn to shreds in the next second. But WHOOSH, the scene before its eyes changed.

The humans were gone. All it could see was crystal-clear ice, like something from the Immortal Realm.

The Leopard King hurriedly cut off its Flame Acceleration skill. It was moving at five hundred meters, and combined with the mirror-smooth ice bridge, even with its acceleration halted, the terrifying inertia carried it forward. Without slowing one bit, it was whipped around seven or eight large loops, soaring to a peak and then plummeting rapidly.

Within about five seconds, the Leopard King entered the final sprint section of the track.

The Leopard King tried to steady its somewhat dizzy head. The strong centrifugal force had caused some internal imbalance, and its vision had started to black out.

Suddenly, the Leopard King shuddered. The greenish-brown cliff face was rushing towards it at an alarming rate, its fierce expression distorting and twisting.

It’s going to crash! Stop! Stop! Stop...

These were the Leopard King’s thoughts, but what erupted from its maw was a howl like that of a cat in heat.

"AWOOO—AOW... AOW AOW AOW!"

BOOM—

The sight made Wang Lan and the others wince. Smashing face-first into a cliff must have hurt... a lot.

This violent collision drove the Leopard King’s entire head into the cliff, embedding it almost up to its neck in the rock.

Seizing such a heaven-sent opportunity, Jiang Xinyu wasn’t about to let it slip. She instantly activated her Star Martial Skill. A burst of Extreme Cold Aura swiftly followed, striking the Leopard King’s neck. Frost appeared in a blink, instantly freezing half of the Leopard King’s body to the cliff face.

Only its tail, stiff as a steel whip, remained, thrashing violently behind it as if powered by a motor.

Wang Lan, Two-handed Great Sword in hand, suddenly charged forward. Xu Xiangwen quickly followed suit.

Xu Xiangwen was still considering how to kill the Leopard King. Although it had crashed into the cliff and its body was frozen by Jiang Xinyu, its Steel Hardening skill surely hadn’t been disabled.

With its entire body hardened, my two-handed sword will have a hard time breaking through its defense... Should I use the Speedy Wind Slash? I haven’t fully mastered that move yet. Using it could likely result in multiple fractures all over my body... What should I do?

But in Wang Lan’s eyes, only one target remained—the small, pink bull’s-eye located at the base of the Leopard King’s tail.

Thus, Wang Lan was the first to dash behind the Flaming Leopard King. He raised his palm-wide, one-and-a-half-meter-long Two-handed Great Sword and thrust it viciously into the target.

The sword met hardly any resistance. It skewered the flesh as easily as a skewer through meat, penetrating right to the hilt.

The atmosphere suddenly went quiet, save for the whistling cold wind in the canyon and a sharp, indrawn hiss, like the sound that sets one’s teeth on edge.

CLANG— Xu Xiangwen’s two-handed sword fell to the ground, his eyes wide like two split salted duck eggs.

"Fuck..."

ROAR—

A piercing roar exploded from the cliff wall after half a second of suppression.

BOOM— Suddenly, the ice encasing the Leopard King shattered. A mass of fire, as hot as molten lava, splattered out from the cliffside. Wang Lan’s hands trembled, and he forcefully wrenched his sword to the side.

CRACK— The handle of the Two-handed Great Sword actually snapped right off.

Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu retreated explosively. After delivering the final attack of its life, the Leopard King collapsed, convulsed twice, and died.

A message chimed in Wang Lan’s mind: Defeated an opponent of a higher level. Reward: one hundred experience points and ten skill points.

Hearing the prompt, a happy smile appeared on Wang Lan’s face. Yet, in Xu Xiangwen’s eyes, this smile looked particularly sinister. Recalling how the Leopard King had died, Xu Xiangwen shivered and took a step back.

"What’s wrong with you guys?" Wang Lan exited the system interface and looked up at them. The strange looks in their eyes made him wonder if they had a problem with him.

"Nothing... nothing..." Xu Xiangwen stammered. "Wang Lan, I never realized you had such a... twisted sense of humor."

Wang Lan was speechless.

"Was there a better way to handle that situation?" he asked.

"I know there wasn’t," Xu Xiangwen admitted, looking at Wang Lan with admiration, his feelings inexplicably mixed. "But most people would never have thought of that."

"The Leopard King’s final burst was truly frightening. To think it blew such a big hole in the mountain!" Wang Youle exclaimed in amazement, looking at the blasted-out, sooty black cave in the cliffside.

"Are you stupid? Obviously, the inside of the mountain wall was already empty," Gong Feiyu said, coming to stand beside Wang Youle and sighing softly as he looked at the cave entrance.

"Not good!" Xu Xiangwen exclaimed, a bit panicked after activating his Heavenly Eye. "The noise from the fight has lured in Flaming Leopards. Also, Gale Wolves have detected the commotion and are now lingering at the canyon exit. If we try to leave now, we’ll definitely run into them!"

Wang Lan asked, "What’s the situation inside the cave? Is it dangerous?"

Xu Xiangwen quickly scanned the cave with his Heavenly Eye. "There’s a huge internal space, and I haven’t detected any immediate danger. I’m just not sure if there’s air circulation inside."

"If there’s no danger, let’s hide inside the cave first," Jiang Xinyu decisively ordered.

With a WHOOSH, everyone filed into the cave. The interior was a very large space, but it was so dark they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces. Wang Lan and the others hurriedly took out glow sticks. Once activated, these cast a light as bright as torches.

After walking forward for nearly a hundred meters, the group stopped.

Suddenly, Jiang Xinyu turned around and looked at Wang Youle. Being stared at by Jiang Xinyu like that, Wang Youle’s expression became somewhat unnatural.

"Jiang Xinyu..." Wang Youle began, his expression a little strained. "Is there... something wrong?"

"The Soul Bead of the Leopard King doesn’t belong to you," Jiang Xinyu said, her voice calm yet piercing Wang Youle’s heart like an arrow.

His face changed slightly, and then he forced a smile. "Of course, I understand. I didn’t help much; I only collected it because I saw you all had forgotten to pick it up."

Saying this, he took the Soul Bead from his backpack. "Here!"

"Give it to Wang Lan. He killed the Flaming Leopard King, and it was his plan," she instructed.

"Wang Lan!" Wang Youle’s heart was bleeding inwardly, but he forced a sycophantic smile. It was so strained that even a fool could see how difficult it was for him to feign it.

Wang Lan took the Soul Bead but didn’t absorb it immediately. While this particular Soul Bead was only worth one skill point, it contained pure Star Power. It would be too wasteful to absorb such a high-quality Soul Bead directly for just that.

Wang Lan pocketed the Soul Bead without any guilt. After all, he had almost single-handedly killed the Leopard King, so no one could object to him taking it.

"Eh? I think I’ve discovered something incredible!" Xu Xiangwen suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it?" Wang Lan asked.

"Electric wires! There are actually electric wires here!" Xu Xiangwen cried. "This cave isn’t natural—or rather, it’s natural but has been modified by humans. Could it be a secret military base?"

"If there are electric wires, there should be power. Let’s look around," Jiang Xinyu suggested.

Holding a glow stick, Xu Xiangwen felt his way deeper into the cave. After about three hundred more meters, SNAP!

With a crisp sound, the passage before them suddenly lit up. Wang Lan and the others then realized that beyond this vast natural cave lay another, man-made corridor.

"Could it really be a military base?" Gong Feiyu asked, astonished.

Building a base within a Different Dimensional Space is extremely challenging, as many physical rules differ from the outside world. For instance, simple things like generating and using electrical energy would require research and development practically from scratch within a Different Dimensional Space.

"It shouldn’t be," Jiang Xinyu said. Her Jiang Technology Group cooperated closely with military enterprises, so she had some understanding of military bases. "If it were a military base, there would be clear military insignia. To an outsider, there might seem to be no difference, but to an expert, the distinctions are significant."

"It looks like this base has been abandoned," Wang Lan mused. "How about we go in and take a look? If it’s not a military base, then this is a serious problem. Building a secret base inside the training grounds... who knows what they were plotting?" For some reason, Wang Lan suddenly thought of the Demon Clan.

The Demon Clan dared to target the parents of students from the Multi-wheel Bilingual Academy; there’s no guarantee they aren’t stirring up trouble in other ways too.

The group entered the corridor, which led them into an area resembling an experimental factory. Rows of objects looking like incubation chambers were densely arranged within it.

"These seem like... a biotech processing plant," Wang Lan spoke gravely, looking at the equipment. "Many of the machines are identical to those used by my aunt’s biotech company."

"AHH—"

A scream suddenly pierced the air. Everyone turned to see Wang Youle sitting on the ground, scared out of his wits.

"What are you doing?" Gong Feiyu snapped. "Suddenly screaming like that could scare someone to death!"

"N-no... M-monsters! These incubation chambers... they’re full of monsters!" Wang Youle stammered, his face pale and trembling.

"Monsters?" Wang Lan strode forward. When he saw the creatures inside through the transparent covers, his face immediately darkened.

The creatures looked similar to the Demon Soldiers he had seen but were larger, with more extensive carapace coverage on their bodies. Judging by their thick limbs, they also seemed stronger.

Jiang Xinyu and the others checked the other incubation chambers, and their expressions grew grim.

"This is a Demon Clan base?" Jiang Xinyu murmured, her expression grim. "Are they secretly breeding Demon Clan warriors here?"

"Most likely," Wang Lan declared, his face solemn. "Let’s go. We need to inform the training ground garrison immediately."

"Wait a moment," Xu Xiangwen suggested. "Since this base has already been sealed, the Demon Clan must have evacuated. Let’s explore further; we might find something else. If we can uncover the Demon Clan’s plans, we’ll have made a great contribution."

Wang Lan’s point was valid, but Xu Xiangwen also had a good argument. Achievements were particularly important for students like them. Having such a discovery on their records could give them preferential consideration during recruitment by the Star Martial Academy.

They soon found another room that appeared to be a laboratory area. Inside, they discovered a huge computer that had been running for who knows how long.

When they turned on its monitor, a password prompt appeared.

"Don’t touch it!" Jiang Xinyu’s voice suddenly rang out, just as Wang Lan was about to fiddle with the computer. "That’s a trigger-activated password. If you enter even one wrong digit, the computer will immediately self-destruct."