CHAPTER 296: CHAPTER 296: THE BATTLE IS SO MUCH BETTER WITH WANG LAN

"The Exotic Beasts on the fourth layer are indeed stronger than I imagined!" Yu Ruoyun sighed deeply as she watched the battle unfold before her.

"Thankfully, we have Wang Lan," Yue Jifeng said. "Even if we get injured, there’s no need to worry. Let’s not switch targets; let’s hunt this one. Ruoyun, your Ice Attribute attacks greatly restrict the Golden Winged Fire Scorpion, creating an opportunity for me to deliver a fatal blow. It just consumes quite a bit of Star Power."

Bai Ji had already successfully collected the Soul Beads, a total of 98.

"How should we divide them?"

"Let’s not divide them for now," Yu Ruoyun decided. "Bai Ji, you keep them safe and just give us Soul Beads to replenish Star Power as needed."

Since Wang Lan hadn’t consumed much Star Power, he didn’t need Soul Beads for replenishment.

"Although these are also low-grade Soul Beads, their quality is much better than the ones from the lower levels," Bai Ji noted, examining them. "The Star Power they contain is actually twice as much."

"After all, they’re from powerful Exotic Beasts at the peak or late stage of the Star Cloud Stage. That’s to be expected," Yu Ruoyun commented.

"Oh no—" Suddenly, Bai Ji’s expression changed dramatically as she cried out in alarm.

"What’s wrong?"

"A powerful Exotic Beast is coming, at least at the peak of the Galaxy Stage!" Bai Ji had barely finished speaking when the ground suddenly began to tremble. The stone wall sealing them in suddenly began to crack.

"This is bad! Retreat quickly!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the stone wall in front of them burst into pieces. A giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion appeared amidst the thick smoke and, after letting out a roar to the sky, swiftly chased after Wang Lan and his companions.

"Bai Ji!"

"Understood!"

Bai Ji pressed hard on the ground, and numerous earth walls rose behind her. But the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion, tearing through them with ease, continued to smash through the earth walls in relentless pursuit.

"We can’t get away!" Yu Ruoyun analyzed the situation instantly and called out in a deep voice.

"Gate of The Underworld—"

Suddenly, Wang Lan turned around and slapped the ground with his palm. Behind Bai Ji’s earth walls, a sinister stone gate suddenly rose.

BOOM—

A loud noise echoed, and the ground shook violently.

The unstoppable giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion crashed head-on into the Gate of The Underworld.

The four of them, having stopped in their tracks, winced. Perhaps this is what ’not turning back until you hit a wall’ truly means?

At this moment, the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion appeared extremely miserable. One of its previously majestic horns was now broken, and greenish blood flowed from the stump.

If the Golden Winged Fire Scorpion could talk right now, it would definitely want to scream. Everything was fine with those earth walls—each one I smashed through felt great! As magnificent as I am, shouldn’t my underlings be singing my praises in unison behind me? But why did you have to suddenly conjure such a hard wall, so insidiously? Who are you trying to trap?!

Rage, an incomparable rage.

The giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion’s body shimmered with red light.

Yu Ruoyun’s and Wang Lan’s expressions changed drastically. Without hesitation, they grabbed Yue Jifeng and Bai Ji, soaring into the sky. In the blink of an eye, the ground they had been standing on turned into a boiling sea of molten lava.

It covered a terrifying distance of several hundred meters.

ROAR— A fierce roar sounded. The Gate of The Underworld, having lost its foundation, gradually sank into the lava. From within the molten lava, the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion advanced with a ruthless swagger, step by step.

Even worse, hundreds of its underlings followed it, a sight resembling an army on the march.

"Damn it! I’ve never been this humiliated in my entire life! Yu Ruoyun, let’s do this!" Yue Jifeng roared, still held aloft by Wang Lan.

"Alright! Bai Ji, let’s launch together—Earth Hill Walk!" Yu Ruoyun commanded.

"Understood!"

As soon as Yu Ruoyun spoke, ripples of Star Energy Fluctuation emanated from both her and Bai Ji. Their Star Energy Fluctuation synchronized, and suddenly, they each threw an Array into the sky. The Arrays merged, forming a massive Array that spanned a five-hundred-meter radius above them.

Suddenly, a small hill emerged from within the Array. The hill was porcelain white, like a monolith of Han Baiyu Mountain.

Such an impactful Star Martial Skill left Wang Lan feeling invigorated. Yu Ruoyun then hastily called out to Wang Lan again, "Wang Lan, quick! Weight Exchange!"

"Understood!" Wang Lan promptly set Yue Jifeng down and activated Phantom Tracer in mid-air. In the blink of an eye, he appeared atop the Han Baiyu Mountain.

"Weight Exchange—"

Under Wang Lan’s Law of Gravity, the Han Baiyu Mountain’s weight instantly increased more than tenfold. The terrifying weight descended with a howling force, fiercely pressing down on the Golden Winged Fire Scorpions below.

BOOM—

The earth trembled violently, and even teams several kilometers away heard the horrific noise from this location.

"Damn, which powerhouse is that going all out over there?"

"This commotion is almost on par with a nuclear bomb."

"It seems to be Princess Yu. Truly worthy of her title! Such a disturbance couldn’t be caused by anyone below the Star Sea Stage."

The force of the five-hundred-meter Pyramid Mountain was already extraordinary. After Wang Lan applied Weight Exchange, burdening it with dozens of times more gravity, the pyramid became even more terrifying than a natural mountain.

The surface lava instantly spurted in all directions, and the ground was deeply dented by the pressure. And with this massive strike, the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion and its common underlings alike were all crushed beneath the mountain.

"Earth Flow Bi!" Bai Ji quickly cast an Earth Attribute defensive Star Martial Skill, erecting high walls to block the impact of the splashing lava.

RUMBLE...

The aftershocks gradually dissipated. Under the immense pressure Wang Lan had applied, the Han Baiyu Mountain developed countless cracks and was on the verge of collapse, unable to withstand the terrifying gravity.

"Defeated higher-level enemy. Reward: 10,000 Experience Points, 800 Skill Points."

Wow, this is a huge haul!

Wang Lan’s figure flashed, and he returned to Yu Ruoyun and the others’ side. He was about to declare the job done, but suddenly, his expression changed.

It’s not right, the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion isn’t dead.

The experience points and skill points gained from this kill were clearly from those few hundred ordinary Exotic Beasts. If the giant Exotic Beast were included, it should have been at least 20,000 or 30,000 experience points.

As if to confirm Wang Lan’s guess, the cracked Han Baiyu Mountain suddenly crumbled, and flames soared to the sky. Amidst the flames, a fierce mutated Exotic Beast emerged from the ruins.

Amidst the fiery molten lava, its ravaged body was rapidly regenerating. It took angry steps, charging toward Wang Lan and the others like an avalanche.

A single Exotic Beast, yet it charged with the momentum of an entire army, its terrifying pressure sweeping over them like a gale-force headwind.

"Damn it, it can actually molt and regenerate?"

"With the mountain we just dropped, any backup Golden Winged Fire Scorpions should be delayed. So, this one... how do we deal with it?" Yue Jifeng asked, rubbing his chin with a hint of excitement.

"How else? We charge!" Yu Ruoyun declared. "Bai Ji, you control the field and create favorable conditions for us! Wang Lan, provide cover and be ready to rescue! Speedy Wind and I will take the lead!"

The four-person team charged again at the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion.

The intense battle made Wang Lan lose track of time. Fire and molten lava rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour. Dancing amidst blades, brushing shoulders with death—the thrill was extraordinary.

In this moment, Wang Lan finally understood the saying in the world of Star Martial Warriors: never underestimate a woman. Because when women got serious, they were even fiercer than men.

Yu Ruoyun charged through the barrage of attacks, unleashing five different Star Martial Skills as if they were free. Speedy Wind’s figure darted around the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion, recklessly inflicting wound after wound.

Thanks to Wang Lan’s Song of Life, they fought fiercely, almost trading injury for injury.

After nearly an hour, the four of them finally wore down the giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion to its death.

Even though they won, it was a pyrrhic victory. When Wang Lan dug Yu Ruoyun and Yue Jifeng out from the rubble, both were covered in wounds. Retreating to a safe spot, Wang Lan quickly directed two healing streams to mend their injuries.

In less than a minute, the two, who had been on the brink of death, were fully restored.

"I finally understand how vital a powerful Medical Attribute Star Martial Warrior is to a team!" Yue Jifeng said excitedly, moving his arm around. "With injuries like these, we’d normally be out of commission for at least five or six days, if not dead. And you healed us in just a minute?"

"Bai Ji, come with me to change clothes." Yu Ruoyun’s clothes were badly torn, but she couldn’t parade around in rags like Yue Jifeng. Luckily, women like them always brought plenty of extra outfits, so changing was easy.

"Found the Soul Beads!" Bai Ji announced half an hour later, her fingers burrowed into the ground. The earth seemed to dance, and one Soul Bead after another popped out before her, as if spat out by the ground.

"Eight hundred ordinary Soul Beads, three mid-grade Soul Beads, and one high-grade Soul Bead! A high-grade Soul Bead... That giant Golden Winged Fire Scorpion actually dropped a high-grade Soul Bead?"

"That’s to be expected," Yu Ruoyun smiled thoughtfully. "How else could it have pushed us so hard if it didn’t possess power at the Star Sea Stage level? One high-grade Soul Bead is worth three thousand ordinary ones. This gives me a somewhat audacious idea..."

"What’s audacious about it? I think it’s perfectly sound!" Yue Jifeng exclaimed, turning to Wang Lan. "We have Wang Lan for rapid healing and Soul Beads to replenish Star Power. We can restore health and energy—it’s perfectly sustainable!"

"I’m just here to support. I’ll go with whatever you decide," Wang Lan replied.

「Three days passed quietly.」

Having shifted their tactical focus, the four no longer targeted common Golden Winged Fire Scorpions. Instead, they specifically sought out mutated or leader-class ones.

Almost every day, they engaged in three to four high-intensity battles, and each time they would sustain severe injuries.

Wang Lan didn’t know if getting injured could become addictive, but Yue Jifeng was gradually showing signs of it. While evading the Golden Winged Fire Scorpions’ frenzied attacks, Wang Lan also had to keep an eye on Yue Jifeng, ensuring he didn’t charge too recklessly and get himself killed.

After each fierce battle, the group was surprised to find that even though they primarily targeted stronger individuals, the number of ordinary Golden Winged Fire Scorpion Soul Beads they collected didn’t decrease.

A powerful Golden Winged Fire Scorpion was often followed by a group of lesser ones. In the midst of their intense battles, even the shockwaves were enough to slaughter large numbers of these ordinary Scorpions.

What these lesser Golden Winged Fire Scorpions never expected was that, having come out to cheer for their leader, they would end up as collateral damage, often killed by their own leader’s area-of-effect Star Martial Skills.

Exotic Beasts are indeed ferocious creatures.

Wang Lan’s group’s combat style also attracted several fourth-year senior students, who came to observe. After all, such earth-shattering commotion, lasting from morning till night, inevitably made them uneasy.

When these senior students arrived and took in the battle scene, most promptly turned and left.

"’Pardon the intrusion. We’ll take our leave!’"

What kind of people are these four? They’re basically courting death! But the astonishing thing is, they miraculously survive each brush with death, only to be fully healed by Wang Lan’s abilities. This is how Demons operate; ordinary people definitely couldn’t manage this.