Chapter 1473: Kids Who Are Digging Their Own Graves
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After ending his conversation with Bloody, Lin Huang pondered for a while and decided to bring forward his intended hunting time.
"Your other materials can be put aside for now; you can look at them when you've come back from the hunt. Today, memorize the monster guide—tomorrow we're going hunting first thing in the morning!"
After sending this message to the newly formed chat group, Lin Huang tagged everyone.
"What happened? Why are we suddenly in such a hurry?" Mr. Fu was the first one to pop up and ask.
He had only achieved his breakthrough to true god-level not too long ago and was still adjusting to the novelty of coming to the great world. He had only just begun to relax and had not expected Lin Huang to bring the originally-scheduled hunting time forward.
"Kylie has run into some problems on her end, so I need to upgrade my combat level to true god-level as soon as possible," Lin Huang explained briefly.
"When you enter the battleground this time, you don't necessarily have to kill tons of abyssal monsters. Your main focus is on familiarizing yourselves with the environment." In reality, Lin Huang could enter the battleground entirely on his own but he was a little uneasy about letting Lin Xin and the others charge into the battleground without his supervision. Therefore, after some deliberation, he still ended up choosing to bring forward the entire itinerary so he could take them in to explore first.
After chatting a bit more in the group, Lin Huang closed the chat group and went to the branch of the Mysterious Item Pavilion alone.
After buying a copy of detailed information about the Abyssal battleground nearby, Lin Huang immediately began going through it carefully.
This expanse of battleground where Demon Hunter Star Zone was located went by the name of the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss. It was originally the main battleground where a Lord from the Dragon Tribe and a Lord from the Abyss engaged in combat. It was currently the off-peak season for battles, and entry to the battleground was restricted by the Lords of the Dragon Tribe and the Abyss—only powerhouses below heavenly god-level could go in to hunt.
The reason for preserving this sort of battleground was mainly to train up new blood for various major organizations.
To prevent geniuses who had not yet grown into maturity from encountering more powerful enemies, the battleground was further subdivided into the outer, inner, and core layers.
Only Virtual Gods could enter the outer layer. The inner layer was the battleground for True Gods, while the core layer was where the topmost-tier True God powerhouses clashed.
The core and inner layers were connected, but the powerhouses in the core layer usually could not be bothered to enter the inner layer to battle with low to medium-rank True Gods.
On the other hand, the outer and inner layers were connected, but only one-way. Virtual Gods in the outer layer were able to enter the inner layer; conversely, however, True Gods from the inner layer were unable to enter the outer layer to hunt Virtual Gods.
As a result, in the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss, some virtual god-level peak powerhouses would hunt along the border area between the outer and inner layers and occasionally fought against True Gods. If they were to find themselves in a situation, they could immediately escape to the outer layer to avoid being hunted down by True Gods.Looks like I'll have to go around the inner layer first, hunt enough seventh and eighth-rank Divine Fires, then enter the core layer.' Lin Huang's goal was very clear. 'I just don't know whether there'll be any True God peak powerhouses showing up in the core layer…'
After carefully reading over the information once, Lin Huang sent a copy of it to Lin Xin and the rest of the group.
"All of you, take a look through this information. There's no need to read it all—just read the relevant information about the hunting area you'll be in, and that will do."
After making these arrangements, Lin Huang closed his eyes right away and began cultivating Seamless, patiently awaiting the start of the hunt.
At eight o'clock the next morning, everyone met together at the agreed time.
"Has everyone done their pre-battle preparations?" Lin Huang's gaze swept over everyone present. He could sense that, apart from Lin Xuan and Chan Dou, everyone else was more or less slightly nervous, including Mr. Fu.
Lin Xuan was not nervous, perhaps due to the last few years of hardship that had formed his unflappable character.
On the other hand, Chan Dou was not nervous because, as one of the five princes, he had almost never failed while growing up. This gave him massive confidence.
Mr. Fu being nervous was something Lin Huang could understand. After all, Mr. Fu had not utilized his full abilities in many years, much less hunt in ruins. Moreover, after coming to the great world this time, he had seen a large number of True Gods, which had made him more cautious on some levels.
As for Lin Xin and Xiao Mo, they had minimal combat experience, and both of them had never been to any ruins while growing up.
Huang Wuji was nervous because he had just elevated to virtual god-level and had yet to officially cross swords with other virtual god-level powerhouses.
"There's no need be nervous—the main purpose of going in this time is to familiarize yourselves with the environment," Lin Huang reassured them with a smile, "Let me brief you about the specifics of the arrangement now.
"Master Chan and Xiao Mo, realistically there shouldn't be many Virtual Gods who have mastered Rule Bending Power in the outer layer area. So, my suggestion to both of you is not to use Rule Bending Power unless absolutely necessary, and try your best to find rank-3 and rank-4 Virtual Gods for combat practice, otherwise, the experiences won't bring much in the way of results. Also, I did consider that Wuji is a Virtual God rank-1, so he'll find it more difficult to hunt alone. He'll still need you both to accompany him, which is why I don't recommend delving deep into the outer layer area."
After Lin Huang finished talking, he turned to look at Lin Xin, Lin Xuan, and Mr. Fu once again.
"Xiao Xin, although you're only a Virtual God rank-9, with your equipment, running into low-rank True Gods shouldn't be a huge problem. You can follow Teacher and Da Xuan into the inner area and be their reinforcement because both of them can't enter the outer area…"
Only after arranging the itineraries for both teams did Lin Huang set out with all six of them and enter the dimensional portal to the battleground area.
Once they stepped out of the portal, the seven of them appeared right away at the battleground entrance.
From afar, Lin Xin saw groups of men holding hands and walking through the entrance to the battleground.
"What are they doing?" Lin Xin looked astonished.
"This is to allow teams to be teleported to the same coordinates. If they don't hold hands, everyone will be teleported to different locations."
"Alright then…" Lin Xin nodded, but suddenly asked, "We have both Virtual God and True God combat levels so, if we all hold hands, will we also be teleported to the same coordinates?"
"Yes, we'll all be teleported to the inner layer." Lin Huang nodded. "Virtual Gods can enter the inner layer area; it's only True Gods who can't enter the outer layer area from the inner layer. If True Gods and Virtual Gods teleport together, they will all be teleported to the inner layer area.
"Girl, you definitely must not have read the materials carefully yesterday," Lin Huang commented in some irritated.
"I did read them!" Lin Xin's voice faltered, "It's just that I didn't really look at the details…"
There were not many people lining up at the battleground entrance to register. In front of Lin Huang and the others, there were only three teams left, all of which consisted of only True Gods.
Seeing that there were several Virtual Gods on Lin Huang's team, the other teams began discussing quietly amongst themselves.
A female member of the team in front looked at Huang Wuji and a few others before hesitating a moment and walking over regardless.
"The danger level for this battleground is extremely high. The outer layer area is even more chaotic than the inner layer area. I would suggest that unless you're a high-rank Virtual God, it's probably best you don't enter." After the woman finished, she intentionally eyed Lin Huang, who was a Virtual God rank-6, obviously insinuating, "You shouldn't enter either."
"Thanks for the reminder; we're just going in to have a look. If it doesn't work, we'll come back out," Lin Huang replied with a smile, knowing that she meant well.
Upon seeing this, the woman merely frowned slightly but did not say anything further before turning around and going back to her team.
"Why do you bother about them? They're willing to dig their own graves…" A male member of the team grinned at the woman.
The man intentionally did not use voice transmission, so even the other two teams in front looked over as well.
Lin Huang and the others naturally heard him loud and clear but ignored him and continued to line up
In less than two minutes, the three teams in front finished registering themselves and entered the battleground holding hands.
Registration for Lin Huang's team was also completed very rapidly.
"Team NF404…" The registrar watched as Lin Huang and the others split into two groups and held hands to go through the battleground entrance. His lips twitched in resignation, "Another bunch of kids digging their own graves…"
.Chapter 1474: Earth Skeleton
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After teleporting in from the entrance, Lin Huang realized that only Chan Dou, Xiao Mo, and Huang Wuji were still beside him. Lin Xin and the other two had obviously been teleported somewhere else.
Lin Huang lifted his head and looked around. This was a vast canyon; in the distance, one could see a continuous range of mountains looming on the horizon.
However, the most unusual thing was the sky.
The blue-black sky contained no stars at all and was covered with dark clouds. No sunlight illuminated this vast expanse of land; there were only the occasional blood-colored lightning flashes and flares of scarlet flame.
"Is this the real Abyss?" Xiao Mo could not help asking.
"This battleground is the product of combined fragments from both the Abyss and the material world," Lin Huang explained nonchalantly.
"My Divine Telekinesis has been suppressed. I can only sense up to a distance of three thousand meters." Chan Dou turned his attention to the more immediate issue right away.
"I can only sense up to one thousand meters." Huang Wuji frowned slightly.
"There are still will remnants of Lords in this battleground. Anyone who is below heavenly god-level will have their Divine Telekinesis suppressed to about one-thousandth of their normal state."
Lin Huang also spread out his Divine Telekinesis. It was suppressed by an unknown force as well, but he still could sense up to around 1200 kilometers.
"Although Divine Telekinesis coverage range isn't wide, it's best that all of you keep it activated. In this battleground—in addition to Abyssal hunters—there are also spirit types that evolved from remnant corpses and souls left behind on the battlefield. There are also undying species, aberrant species, demons, and other monsters… There are some monsters that specialize in concealment and camouflage, and they can be very difficult to detect with the naked eye."
Lin Huang mentioned this because he had already noticed that not too far off, there were many hidden monsters around. However, he did not intend to take action.
There were only ten or so monsters in this wave, all of which were beginner-stage Virtual Gods. They were just right for Chan Dou and the other two to practice on—there was little sense in him making a move.
Due to the limitations of their sensing range, despite Lin Huang's reminder, Chan Dou and the other two still did not notice the group of monsters hiding not too far away.
However, it seemed that the group of monsters had other perception abilities and could sense the presence of Lin Huang and the other three from afar. Not only that, the monsters were sneaking up on them silently.
"Where do we go from here?" As Huang Wuji asked this, he was very clearly looking toward Lin Huang.
Upon hearing this question, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo also looked at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang raised his brows. "Don't look at me; look at the map."
As Lin Huang spoke, he projected a map. Since there was no way to fix positions within the battleground, they would have to determine their locations by themselves. This was not an obstacle for Lin Huang, whose probing range of Divine Telekinesis was extremely wide, but it was slightly more difficult for Chan Dou and the other two.
Seeing the three of them staring at the map with a blank expression, Lin Huang pointed to a dot on the map. "We're currently here, and we're facing this direction right now…"
Hearing Lin Huang describe their location so breezily, Chan Dou stared at him and asked, "How do you know our current location?"
"I've been here once before." Lin Huang concealed the fact that the probing range of his Divine Telekinesis was abnormally wide.
As one had to use Divine Telekinesis to confirm their own location, the coverage range of one's Divine Telekinesis had to be extremely wide to the extent that they could compare it with a map to know where they were.
After getting this answer, Chan Dou nodded and did not ask further. He pulled up his own map projection as well.
"From what I see, if we continue walking in this direction, we'll go deeper and deeper into the outer layer areas…"Seeing that Chan Dou had started taking the lead, Lin Huang did not say anything more and waited for Chan Dou to finish talking before adding two reminders, "The distribution of the monsters on the map isn't completely accurate. Some monsters will migrate spontaneously, and some will also move due to man-made influences. Moreover, the Abyssal hunters also won't hunt according to the monster distribution rules and may appear anywhere in any area. It's also possible for intermediate-stage and high-level monsters to appear in the beginner-stage monster distribution area on the map. In short, don't trust the map too much. The information there can only be used as a reference."
Chan Dou and the others nodded solemnly, put away the map, and began flying in Chan Dou's chosen direction at low speed.
The group of them flew no more than ten meters above the ground, and they flew very slowly.
The reason was very simple. Flying high would make it easy for them to be discovered, and would cause them to become targets. Flying fast could also easily cause air turbulence and draw unnecessary attention.
Lin Huang trailed behind the three leisurely, watching Chan Dou and the others getting closer to the direction where the monsters were hiding. However, he did not speak up to remind them.
This was because he knew that he could remind them once, but he could not keep reminding them for the second and third time. Only after encountering the monsters themselves would they truly commit this to memory.
When the team had approached within a certain distance, Chan Dou suddenly frowned slightly.
He detected no anomalies within his Divine Telekinesis sensing range, and there was nothing unusual in sight, but his intuition was sending him warning signals.
"Wait a minute!" He made a decisive decision and waved his hand to stop everyone from moving forward.
"What's the matter?" Xiao Mo was a little bewildered.
"Did you discover anything out of the ordinary?" Huang Wuji immediately increased his vigilance.
"I didn't find anything unusual, but my intuition's sensing there's danger ahead…"
Chan Dou had just finished speaking when they heard a hissing sound. Thousands of meters away, the earth began churning rapidly, before surging toward Lin Huang and the others like a wave.
The tumbling wave of sandy soil roiled higher and higher, increasing in speed. Almost the next instant, it loomed in front of Lin Huang and the others.
Lin Huang had long since vanished in a flash, silently appearing hundreds of meters above the ground and observing the reactions of the three people below him.
Seeing the wave gradually drawing closer, the three were visibly stunned for a moment before they reacted. They began fleeing toward the higher areas in the direction that they had come from.
Chan Dou was the calmest among them and only adjusted his flying altitude to be slightly higher. He narrowed his eyes and observed for a while, then went into combat mode right away.
This was because he already knew what was approaching.
Huang Wuji and Xiao Mo had retreated some distance in a panic. Seeing that Chan Dou did not follow suit, they stopped fleeing.
"Don't panic; it's a spirit type—an Earth Skeleton." After that, Chan Dou added, "Normally its combat level doesn't exceed beginner-stage virtual god-level."
Earth Skeletons were originally skeletons buried beneath the ground that had transformed into spirit types. They were skilled at moving through the earth, but their abilities were not considered strong.
At Chan Dou's words, Huang Wuji and Xiao Mo visibly calmed down.
Both of them had read the monster guide for the great world and had some understanding of Earth Skeletons. Hearing that it was this type of monster, they immediately felt a rush of relief.
Not long after Chan Dou finished speaking, the sand had already barreled its way in front of him. Chan Dou did not fight back either, but let it swallow him up.
Following that, roaring sounds of battle came from within the tumbling sand and the sand's rolling momentum visibly weakened.
Huang Wuji and Xiao Mo glanced at each other, then they moved almost simultaneously, transforming into two streams of light that plunged into the tumbling sand.
Seeing the three of them officially in combat mode, Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction.
Not long after, the tumbling sand's momentum gradually halted. The dust billowing into the air blocked Lin Huang's view, but with Divine Telekinesis, he could observe everything happening behind the curtain of sand clearly.
The Earth Skeletons were easily beheaded by Chan Dou and Xiao Mo, and their numbers were rapidly decreasing. Although Huang Wuji's abilities were limited by his combat strength, he also was able to move freely within the dust and draw fire from several Earth Skeletons, assisting the other two in completing their kills.
Although this was the first time the three of them had joined forces, they had surprisingly good chemistry.
After merely three to four minutes, fourteen Earth Skeletons had all been beheaded on the spot.
The tumbling sand also became still, leaving behind only a pile of earth that looked as if it had been dug over by an iron plow.
Lin Huang's figure gradually descended. He glanced at Chan Dou before turning his gaze on Xiao Mo and Huang Wuji. "Don't panic when you encounter a situation. Observe first, then only make your decisions…"
After briefly discussing some issues regarding the three, Lin Huang allowed Chan Dou to continue leading the team forward…
Chapter 1475: The Battle Is Not Over Yet
After experiencing the first wave of surprise attacks from the Earth Skeletons, Chan Dou and the other two quickly went into battle mode.
Chan Dou and Huang Wuji were the most outstanding of the gravel world's younger generation. They had been through countless battles, both great and small. Therefore, after becoming familiar with the new environment of the battleground, their confidence quickly returned.
As for Xiao Mo, despite not having as much battle experience as the other two, his combat strength was still at virtual god-level rank-3 after all, and he had mastered Rule Bending Power. His overall abilities were only slightly inferior to Chan Dou, and it was hard to find someone who was his match among the beginner-stage Virtual Gods. Seeing that Huang Wuji was so fearless despite only being a Virtual God rank-1, Xiao Mo quickly followed suit and went into battle mode as well.
As they continued on their way, the three of them were also becoming increasingly familiar with the hunting process.
Lin Huang followed behind them the entire time. He did not make any moves and rarely even spoke. He merely briefly pointed out their mistakes and areas for improvement every time the three of them finished a battle.
Chan Dou and the other two also improved rapidly in subsequent battles and rarely repeated the mistakes they had made.
After the group had advanced several thousand kilometers and were about to reach the boundary of the beginner-stage Virtual God area, Lin Huang glanced silently at Chan Dou and the other two, the corner of his lips quirking up slightly.
He had sensed early on that there was a group of Abyssal hunters not too far away, who were all intermediate-stage Virtual Gods from rank-4 to rank-6—seven people in total.
However, he was not planning on giving hints to Chan Dou and the other two.
At this point, all three had gone through a few dozen battles, and their confidence was rapidly beginning to expand. Lin Huang felt that at this moment, it was essential that they experience some hard knocks in the world.
As Lin Huang and the other three continued their approach, the group of Abyssal hunters soon became aware of their presence. However, due to the disparity in their Divine Telekinesis coverage ranges, Chan Dou and the other two did not notice anything out of the ordinary.
With his Divine Telekinesis, Lin Huang could clearly see that the seven people from the other group were split into two teams, with one team making its way around from behind. They were evidently planning to attack Chan Dou and the other two from both sides.
As the distance between the two groups diminished, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo noticed something unusual almost simultaneously, but at this point, they were already less than three thousand meters from the hunters ahead of them.
"It's the Abyssal hunters!"
As soon as Chan Dou finished speaking, the three abyssal monsters in front of them sprang out, appearing in front of Lin Huang and the other three from not too far off and blocking their way forward.
Upon sensing the strength of the three monsters' auras, Chan Dou and the other two grimaced.
This was because their opponents were two Virtual God rank-5s and a Virtual God rank-6.
"Didn't think we'd be lucky enough to bump into a bunch of human kids." The leader, a Virtual God rank-6 monster, had a human-like upper torso with a bald head and knotted muscles, except that it had eight glass bead-like eyes on its face, which made it seem incredibly like a deity. However, the biggest difference between itself and a human was that it did not have legs below its waist—instead, it had dozens of scarlet tentacles.
"Three Virtual God rank-3s, and a Virtual God rank-1. I don't know where you found the courage to enter the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss." The monster off to one side stood upright on both legs; just by looking at its silhouette, one might have thought that it was a tall, thin male human. However, its body was covered by thick blue-black scales, and even the two eyes in its head were fish eyes.
leaped backward until it reached a certain distance.After that, it watched with a horrified expression as the Big-mouthed Monster was completely swallowed up by the dark shadow, its life force gradually dying out.
On the other side, the Tentacle Monster also let out a dismal howl.
The Fish-scaled Monster turned its head in that direction, and saw that all the scarlet tentacles in the sky had been fractured into nothingness—even the Tentacle Monster's whole body had been impaled by a blinding golden streak of light
As the anguished howl suddenly ceased, the Tentacle Monster's life force dissipated, and its corpse slumped toward the ground.
When it saw the Tentacle Monster and the Big-mouthed Monster die one after the other, the Fish-scaled Monster turned to flee but saw a streak of golden light hurtling toward it from the spot where the Tentacle Monster had fallen.
That golden streak of light had practically reached maximum speed and pierced right through the Fish-scaled Monster's body in an instant.
Before the golden light had fully dissipated, a human silhouette gradually revealed itself.
It was Chan Dou!
He held his sword in one hand, but his chest was heaving violently. His sword-wielding right hand was also trembling slightly.
He had used Rule Bending Power to attack twice consecutively, which put extreme stress on his body. It had even depleted the greater part of his Divine Power.
Sensing that the three monsters' life force had dissipated, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo were about to exhale a sigh of relief when Lin Huang's voice sounded in their ears.
"The battle is not over yet…"