CHAPTER 300: CHAPTER 300: STRUCK IT RICH, BIG TIME

"Let’s not get hung up on that now; it was fifteen years ago. We’ll report it to the school after we get out. Let’s leave."

"Yeah!"

The two flew out from their previous location and then met up with Yue Jifeng and Bai Ji, who were waiting outside.

As soon as Wang Lan stepped out of the woods, he was forcefully subjected to a public display of affection. Seeing the two cuddled up together watching the river flow eastward, Wang Lan felt like throwing a rock. If they had been discreet about it before, now these two were unabashedly open.

"Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun are back? How did it go, did you find the antidote?"

Wang Lan looked oddly at Yue Jifeng, who was all smiles in the sunshine. Caught in the act, and you’re still so calm without a shred of shyness? Do you have any decency?

"We’ve collected everything, but I can’t guarantee we can make it. After all, when we were at the academy, the failure rate for making antidotes was pretty high."

As he said this, Wang Lan activated the Folding Space on his wrist. His watch detached and quickly transformed in front of him. In the blink of an eye, a small laboratory appeared.

Compared to the Space Box they had seen earlier, this was true high-tech.

The medical department’s equipment was all there in miniature form within the lab. Wang Lan couldn’t help but marvel once again at Sun Li’s foresight; she had known he would need these items and had prepared them for him in advance.

Wang Lan re-sequenced the extracted toxins according to the antidote’s coding order and fed them into the Star Martial Toxin Synthesizer one by one. The apparatus’s schematics continuously displayed the genetic toxin codes, resembling a loom at work. Wang Lan carefully added each component, and the synthesizer verified his formulated antidote through reverse-deduction coding.

Sun Li usually had to make multiple attempts to successfully create an antidote for Star Martial Toxins, so Wang Lan didn’t expect to succeed on his first try. But strangely enough, even when Wang Lan fed the last of the toxins into the machine, there were no error messages or indications of failure.

Is my technique that good? Or is my luck just that great?

He patiently waited for half an hour.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP—" A soft alarm sounded, indicating the synthesis was complete. Wang Lan quickly opened the finished product container, where forty capsules appeared.

"Success. We have forty antidotes, ten for each of us. If we run out, we must leave. Take one before we go back in. Remember, the antidote is also a Star Martial Toxin; it will neutralize the Ghost Eye Toxin once we inhale it. Take another capsule when you start to feel dizzy and your vision blurs. Ten pills should be enough to last us a day."

"Wang Lan, I suddenly feel like teaming up with you is damn lucky," Yue Jifeng said, grabbing Wang Lan’s shoulder and giving it a good rub. "If we didn’t have you on our team, we’d still be stuck fighting the Golden Winged Fire Scorpion."

"That’s for sure! Wang Lan, how about we keep teaming up after we graduate? It’s comforting to have you around," Bai Ji chimed in eagerly.

"I don’t even know where I’ll be after graduation... but of course, if there’s a chance, definitely."

"Alright, we have three days left; time is pressing. Let’s deal with the Ghost-eye," Yu Ruoyun commanded immediately.

After distributing the antidotes, the group of four charged toward The Death Valley. Sure enough, the poisonous fog in The Death Valley was the Ghost-eye’s body. When the four of them got closer, the fog clearly scouted tens of meters toward them. When Wang Lan and the others approached further, the fog suddenly expanded, enveloping all four of them.

The four quickly swallowed a capsule, and the dizzy, blurry feeling instantly disappeared. At the same time, uncountable ghost-like figures appeared before their eyes.

A horrifying ghostly face with a giant eye stared back at them. No mouth, no hands, just a face fluttering in the air.

Without hesitation, the group’s attacks launched instantly. Wang Lan’s Star Cloud Sword Dance activated, and Sword Qi weaved in and out; a dozen streams of Sword Qi shot out, almost simultaneously hitting a Ghost-eye in its eye.

The eye was hit and burst instantly, dropping a Soul Bead from the sky.

"Slain fifteen Ghost-eyes, reward of one thousand experience points, three hundred skill points."

"Damn... they’re that easy to kill?" Wang Lan exclaimed in surprise.

They’re easier to kill than Star Shine Stage Exotic Beasts, and they give quite a lot of experience points too!

As Wang Lan instantly killed fifteen Ghost-eyes, Yue Jifeng had already slaughtered nearly a hundred. As the top speed demon of his senior year, Yue Jifeng showcased a terrifying harvesting speed.

"The only scary thing about Ghost-eyes is the Star Martial Toxins. With the toxins gone, they’re nothing," Yue Jifeng was flying high with excitement.

Last time we entered, I couldn’t last more than five seconds, feeling weak all over and nearly thought I’d die here. But this time, I’m clear-headed and refreshed, light as a swallow; my moves are bold. Today, I just want to kill... kill Ghost-eyes!

With the four people’s rapid slaughter, Soul Beads fell from the sky like rain. Thousands of Ghost-eyes died within the first five minutes.

The Ghost-eyes were baffled. Why the hell were our potent toxins having no effect on them?! But soon, the Ghost-eyes seemed to realize that if this continued, they were doomed to be massacred.

Quickly, countless Ghost-eyes began to gather. Ten of them could even merge into a larger Ghost-eye, which could emit acid mist and launch lightning attacks after the fusion. Their strength instantly increased by several levels compared to the previous Ghost-eyes.

But even having become this strong, they were still not as good in combat as an ordinary Golden Winged Fire Scorpion. Once Wang Lan and the others found their rhythm, it was another one-sided slaughter.

The Ghost-eyes despaired. This is too much for us!

Moreover, Wang Lan and his three companions were ecstatic to discover that the Soul Beads dropped by the fused Ghost-eye were of superior quality, with some even larger Ghost-eyes dropping medium-grade Soul Beads.

At this, everyone’s eyes lit up. Soul Beads couldn’t normally be fused; even a mountain of ordinary Soul Beads could never be combined into a single medium-grade one. But this law didn’t seem to apply to the Ghost-eyes.

The Ghost-eye can actually synthesize high-quality, high-level Soul Beads! Is this really a Ghost-eye? Is this even an Exotic Beast? This is a priceless treasure!

Moreover, the issue was that for all Exotic Beasts, their combat power level was higher than their Soul Bead’s grade. For example, an Exotic Beast clearly possessing Star Cloud Stage combat power might only drop the most ordinary type of Soul Bead. To obtain a medium-grade Soul Bead, one would have to slay an Exotic Beast with at least Galaxy Stage strength. What was more annoying were those mutated Exotic Beasts; their strength was terrifying, but their Soul Beads were sometimes still just ordinary.

This Ghost-eye... it’s a real saint among Exotic Beasts!

A giant Ghost-eye with only Star Cloud Stage strength can drop a medium-grade Soul Bead! I’d take a dozen of these Exotic Beasts! Yue Jifeng thought.

Yue Jifeng then exclaimed comically, "Did I say that? That wasn’t me!"

That was why Wang Lan and his team, looking at the Ghost-eye’s frightening face that could scare children to tears, suddenly saw it in a kind and adorable light. If the Ghost-eyes knew what they were thinking, they would probably be sobbing in despair.

Finally, someone appreciates our handsomeness...

Sword lights flickered, thunder roared, starlight filled the sky, and fire spread like a prairie blaze.

Under the relentless slaughter by Wang Lan and his group, the Ghost-eyes panicked. From tens gathering, in a blink, they transformed into hundreds merging into one giant Ghost-eye. But being large didn’t necessarily mean being strong.

The giant Ghost-eye floated in the sky like a massive jellyfish, its form flickering like a phantom. When it receded, all attacks were ineffective. The Ghost Mother would recede as if retreating into another dimension, but it would reappear whenever it launched an attack. This reappearance coincided exactly with the moments Wang Lan and his companions attacked.

Three giant Ghost Mothers floated in the sky, each capable of unleashing overwhelming attacks. In terms of attack power, they were indeed comparable to the ultimate skills of a Star Sea Stage Star Martial Warrior.

But the Ghost Mothers were slow, their defenses were weak, and although their attacks covered a wide area, they were also slow. In the eyes of Wang Lan and the others, they were just big, clumsy targets.

"Purple Flame Sword—"

Seizing the moment just before a Ghost Mother unleashed its Thundering Ten Thousand Catties attack, Wang Lan instantly used Phantom Tracer to appear above its head. Then, channeling the Blending of Thunder and Fire, a Purple Flame Sword cleaved down from the heavens.

A vicious blow struck the Ghost Mother’s giant eye, and green blood spurted out. With a successful hit, Wang Lan dared not hesitate and immediately followed up with a barrage of Purple Flame Arrows.

With its eye severely injured, the Ghost Mother couldn’t fade into the void for a moment and was instantly hit by a dozen of Wang Lan’s arrows.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM—"

Explosions rang out one after another, and the giant eye of the Ghost Mother burst open in the sky. A fist-sized Soul Bead fell from the heavens, caught by Wang Lan.

Sure enough, another top-grade Soul Bead!

A top-grade Soul Bead can be exchanged for one hundred Academic Credits. I’ve already acquired four of them! That’s an S-rank Star Martial Skill right there. Sweet!

As Wang Lan finished his battle, Yue Jifeng and Yu Ruoyun also seized a fleeting opportunity and unleashed their ultimate attacks. The devastating force of their attacks was something Wang Lan couldn’t match; he had needed two strikes to kill his target, while they only needed one.

Amid the dazzling explosions, two top-grade Soul Beads fell slowly into their hands.

Suddenly, the poisonous fog unexpectedly began to shrink rapidly.

This scene made Wang Lan and his teammates quickly regroup and stay alert; who knew what kind of powerful move the Ghost-eye was conjuring with such a grand display.

The poisonous fog condensed swiftly, and the pervasive mist that had covered the entire valley vanished as if banished by sunlight. At this moment, Wang Lan and the others finally realized what the fog was up to.

They watched as the poisonous fog seeped into the numerous fissures of the basin. Did it just... run away?

"Hey, are you even an Exotic Beast anymore? You’re the first damn Exotic Beast I’ve ever seen that runs away!" Yue Jifeng immediately got agitated and chased after it, cursing loudly.

Perhaps hearing Yue Jifeng’s voice, the Ghost-eye fled even faster. In a blink, the last wisp of poisonous fog disappeared into the crevices of the rocks, restoring The Death Valley to its original appearance.

If it weren’t for all the Soul Beads scattered everywhere, I’d almost doubt that the toxic miasma was ever really here, Wang Lan thought.

"We’ve struck it rich... hahaha... the harvest is more than double that of the Golden Winged Fire Scorpion!" Bai Ji said, her smile sweet and radiant.

"In four years of university, I’ve never seen such a bountiful harvest!" one of them exclaimed.

"Let’s collect all the Soul Beads. Can you store them all, Wang Lan? If not, we’ll use our bags."

"Wait, what’s this?" Suddenly, Bai Ji exclaimed, unearthing a pickaxe head from the loose soil beneath her feet.

It was a pickaxe head with crescent-shaped ends, specifically designed for mining. If it had appeared in the mountains or at a construction site, it would be understandable. But in the poison-filled air of The Death Valley, it was incredibly out of place.

"Wang Lan, could someone get this far in without an antidote?" Bai Ji asked, staring with innocent eyes.