A tall and bright building stood tall in the center of the city-state.
Su Hao had already put on his armor and equipped himself with some relatively easy-to-bring equipment. He was prepared to rush to the mine.
His heart was much more at ease when he saw the Radiant Holy Sword, as his castle would not come under attack by any monsters within a five kilometer radius even though he was not in the city-state.
His civilians would also be safe.
With that in mind, more than 300,000 Sacred Night Bugs had already woken up from the top of the Skyscraper Tower. They began flapping their wings and flew madly into the darkness!
Su Hao led the bugs toward the mine.
…
The air inside the depths of the forest was very cold.
A cold lake was situated in the middle of several black mines.
The so-called mutant crystals were situated on the other side of the bottomless lake.
Thousands of wild monsters called the bottom of their lake home. They were all lying dormant there as they guarded the mutant crystals behind them.
At that moment, Qin Shuang—who wore a tight-fitting red dress, high-heel leather boots, and had her long hair tied into a ponytail—-was riding on the back of a level 10 White Unicorn as it galloped through the forest!
She held the map in her hand and ran in the direction of the mine.
Having lost her way many times in her journey, she would have had to search for even longer had it not been for the map that she obtained through the [Trading Channel].
Before she entered the forest, however, she encountered many rare and exotic beasts below level ten, which were all swiftly dealt with by her White Unicorns.
What surprised her most was the complete absence of any wild beast when she set foot in the forest. It was a sight that made her feel increasingly uneasy., and goosebumps began to appear on her fair skin.
The deeper she went into the forest, the more bone-chilling the cold temperature was!
At that moment, a shrill cry came from the depths of the forest, followed by a gust of cold wind!
Chaos soon ensued in the forest!
The leaves of the forest trees rustled in the strong wind, and the sky somehow became darker too.
Upon seeing that, Qin Shuang's pupils contracted sharply and even her hand that was holding the White Unicorn's whip was beginning to tremble.
Cold sweat was dripping from her forehead, yet she still pretended to act calm and look up at the darkening sky!
At that moment, a group of unknown creatures suddenly appeared up above!
The next second, she roared, "Set up the formation!"
Dozens of level 10 White Unicorns kept pace with her and protected her as she went deeper into the forest.
Her field of vision picked up on a shimmering light in the distance where the horizon was.
At that moment, the moonlight descended upon the earth, illuminating the horizon and filling the place with light.
Qin Shuang knew that the source of the light was the lake.
Legend had it that anyone who crossed the lake could collect all kinds of mutant crystals.
She narrowed her eyes and held her breath, for her heartbeat accelerated the further she walked in.
However, she still had to cross the lake regardless of how scared she was!
She could become stronger as long as she obtained the mutant crystals from that place, giving her a shot at being noticed by Su Hao.
That was her line of thought.
"Go!" she ordered, and her White Unicorns galloped deeper into the forest!
All of a sudden, a deep and cold male voice came from the depths of the forest. "Who's there?"
Seconds later, more than 300,000 Sacred Night Bugs rushed toward Qin Shuang from the depths of the forest!
All that Qin Shuang could see before her were swarms of black and golden insects flying toward her!
More importantly, the places that the insects went to were barren!
Qin Shuang was startled by that scene and immediately pulled the reins!
The huge swarm of Sacred Night Bugs were like a black hole with no end in sight!
Both the degree of destruction and the speed of their flight was far beyond anything Qin Shuang had ever imagined!
At that critical juncture, Qin Shuang felt as if she was going to die!
'What do I do! I don't want to die!'
"Hellp! I don't want to die!"
She was not in the frame of mind to order her White Unicorns to do what was right. The only thing she could think of was to shout!
"Help me! I don't want to die here!"
She closed her eyes tightly as soon as she ended her sentence, as if she had chosen to just wait for her demise during the last moments of her life.
…
After four to five seconds, she slowly began to frown.
'Wait? Why does it feel as though I'm still alive? Didn't the black hole-like vortex swallow me alive?'
She was stunned to realize that she was not attacked or devoured.
As she opened her eyes slowly, she saw that the swarm of over 300,000 Sacred Night Bugs seemed to have stopped in their tracks. They no longer flew toward Qin Shuang or devoured her.
Beside the swarm stood a blurry figure, and she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
It was a man wearing silver armor and a simple sword.
It was Su Hao, who stood at the edge of the lake with his hands behind his back. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head indifferently.
"And who are you?"
Qin Shuang realized that he was asking her a question, so she immediately cupped her hands and lowered her head.
"I'm Qin Shuang, Lord of the White Unicorn Castle."
As soon as she said her name, Su Hao frowned—as if needing time to ponder—before saying, "Doesn't ring a bell."
Qin Shuang's expression was filled with rage when she heard that.
"My name is known to all men on the Endless Continent."
Su Hao no longer had the mood to hear her answer and immediately turned around to leave.
Upon seeing that, Qin Shuang frowned and asked angrily, "Hey! Who are you? What's with your attitude!"
"I'm Su Hao!" came the nonchalant reply. He turned around and waved at her before continuing to walk forward.
Qin Shuang was stunned.
'Su… Hao? THE Su Hao? How could it be? What a coincidence!'
Before she could respond properly to that revelation, she immediately ran to Su Hao's side and said, "Hey! Don't you know me? We're good friends!"
Su Hao, however, continued to walk forward as if he had no intention of responding.
Qin Shuang was incensed to see his reaction, but she suppressed it rapidly and said slowly, "It's fine. Since fate has brought us together, why don't we continue the journey with each other? I happen to have the map for this mine!"
She shamelessly kept up with Su Hao's pace as she said that!
Su Hao neither refused or accepted it and merely continued to walk forward. Soon, a dozen White Unicorns and 300,000-strong Sacred Night Bugs followed the two of them into the depths of the forest!