At dusk, Ye Haoran was sitting on a flat stone and plucking the feathers off the Flamingo.
Finally, after cleaning the feathers, he took out a bone cleaver and cut the Flamingo into pieces.
A few tents had been set up in the open space. He Ning and Guan Yueyue were sitting cross-legged on the ground, recovering their spiritual power.
The golden grass in Yu Fa's hand fluttered in the wind, transmitting green energy into the Crystal Ape's body.
Although the Crystal Ape did not suffer any external injuries, the strong impact from the Flamingo's diving attack still injured some of its internal organs.
Guan Yueyue opened her eyes slightly and saw Ye Haoran taking out a medium sized claypot wrapped in layers of foam from his big backpack. He carefully set it over the open fire.
Guan Yueyue was used to seeing him taking strange things out of his backpack. Ye Haoran's original intention of coming here was probably for sightseeing.
Ye Haoran poured the cut Flamingo meat, along with the chopped scallion and ginger he brought with him, into the claypot. Then, he tore open two packets of seasoning and poured them in.
The water temperature gradually rose, and he stirred the bird meat in the soup. After a while, a pot of delicious meat soup was ready.
Its fragrance wafted with the wind. He Ning and the rest could not resist sniffing.
The smell was undoubtedly tempting!
After a tiring day, everyone immediately gathered around the fire. With such good food available, who would want to eat compressed dry rations?
Picking up their chopsticks, everyone did not care about their image and finished the pot of meat in a short time.
The sky darkened, and everyone was assigned the night watch order.
This was because the alternate dimension was very dangerous, especially at night, when some nocturnal vicious beasts would be very active.
If they were ambushed in their sleep, they would definitely die.
After some discussion, He Ning would guard the first half of the night, and Yu Fa would guard the second half.
As for Ye Haoran, he had no experience in keeping watch in the alternate dimension, so he was tasked to keep watch in the early hours of the morning with Guan Yueyue.
Ye Haoran set up his own luxurious tent, got into his sleeping bag, and fell asleep in an instant.
A few hours later, Guan Yueyue walked into the tent. He was dragged unwillingly out to keep watch.
Yawn!
Ye Haoran yawned drowsily and looked at the peaceful wilderness under the moonlight. He really couldn't get his spirits up.
"Student Ye, do you know what the end of the alternate dimension looks like?" Guan Yueyue pointed to the distant sky and asked when she saw his listless face.
"The end? It isn't an ocean, is it?" Ye Haoran answered after thinking for a moment.
"No, it's a wall, an invisible wall of spiritual energy."
Guan Yueyue looked into the distance and seemed to be reminiscing as she said, "The wall of spiritual energy is endless, covering the entire scorching field and separating it from the other spaces."
"Separating it from the other spaces?"
Ye Haoran raised his eyebrows.
"Could it be that the different dimensions are all connected?"
"Yes, the so-called alternate dimensions are actually separated areas, and they are all on the same continent."
Guan Yueyue drew a few grids on the ground with a branch and pointed at her sketch, saying, "We're now in the southern volcanic region of this continent, which is why it's so hot here."
"Then, who created those walls?"
Ye Haoran raised his doubts again.
"Nobody knows for sure, but there seems to be some traces of civilization from before the Spirit Martial Era."
Guan Yueyue stopped there. That was all she knew.
Ye Haoran nodded and listened with great interest.
A lot of this information was not in the textbook, especially about the technological society before the Spirit Martial Era. Most of the information was classified.
The night breeze blew gently, bringing with it a hint of coolness. Ye Haoran lay back against a stone, enjoying the rare coolness.
"It's unusually quiet tonight."
Guan Yueyue looked at the quiet wilderness, which was quite different from what she experienced before.
Just as Ye Haoran was enjoying himself, the system's options suddenly popped up:
[The vicious beasts are about to riot. Please choose:]
[Option 1: Run immediately. A wise man knows when to retreat. Reward: You will receive a large amount of spiritual power.]
[Option 2: Defend the camp and kill the invading beasts. Reward: Your spirit level will be immediately raised to Level 10, and you will be rewarded with an inscription 'The Watchman of the Night'.]
[Option 3: Head to the location of the riot and find out the conspiracy behind it! Reward: Your goldfish evolution progress will be increased by 20.]
[Remaining time: 3 minutes 59 seconds]
He sat up immediately and looked at the three options carefully.
Although the rewards of the second and third choices were good, the risk was too high. If he was not careful, he could lose his life.
This was especially so for the second choice. Giving him an inscription as a reward had pretty much foretold the consequences of choosing this option.
Ye Haoran looked at the third option for a while, then squinted his eyes at the silent night in the distance.
Judging from the wording of this option, this beast riot might have been caused by humans.
"What's wrong?" Guan Yueyue asked curiously when she saw him suddenly stand up.
"Sister Guan, there's no time to explain. We have to run quickly. Something's going to happen!" Ye Haoran said loudly.
They then ran to wake the rest.
"Wake up! Something's going to happen!"
"What's wrong?" asked He Ning as he immediately got out of his sleeping bag. He had a look of vigilance.
"Ye Haoran said that the beasts will riot," said Guan Yueyue as she looked worriedly at the quiet field and frowned. "It's indeed unusual tonight. It's too quiet."
It was just like the calm before the storm.
He Ning glanced at Ye Haoran, who was quickly dismantling the tent, and said decisively, "Pack your things. We're leaving immediately and returning to the base!"
As the team leader, he had to be responsible for the team's safety. He could not afford to make any mistakes.
They packed up their things, checked their surroundings, and returned the way they came.
At this moment, a dull sound suddenly came from the distant horizon.
Thump!
This heavy sound caused the ground to tremble, causing everyone's hearts to skip a few beats.
Roar!
A deafening tiger roar suddenly came from the horizon, forming sound waves that spread across the entire scorching field.
A bright spot suddenly appeared in their northeast direction. In the blink of an eye, it expanded into a dazzling ball of light, shining like a small sun.
Boom!
As the mini sun burst out, the horizon was as bright as day, and their campfire flickered.
"This..."
Guan Yueyue's face was full of shock. Sensing the powerful energy erupting in the horizon, she looked at He Ning and said, "This can't be..."
"It's the Beast Emperor of the scorching field. Other beasts can't possibly launch such a terrifying attack," He Ning said in a low voice, his eyes revealing a trace of fear.
He explained, "It's mobilizing the energy of the entire alternate dimension to fight. I'm afraid it has encountered big trouble. I'm afraid that we'll soon be in trouble too."
Guan Yueyue saw a few high beginner rank Fiery Lizards appear nearby. Their eyes were glistening with a strange deep red color.
"The Beast Emperor's bloodline power could affect all the vicious beasts in the entire alternate dimension. They would frantically eliminate all outsiders."
He Ning immediately summoned the Crystal Ape and said anxiously, "Leave all the tents and other large items behind. We'll ride on the Crystal Ape's back and charge back to the base!"
Everyone did as they were told. The five-meter-tall Crystal Ape crouched down, and with two people in each of its arms, it carried the four of them back the way they had come.
Squeak!
The eyes of the two Fiery Lizards were bloodshot as they charged at them with no regard for their lives.
The Crystal Ape activated a shield in front of it as it charged forward.
Bang!
The two lizards were sent flying more than 10 meters away. The Crystal Ape did not even turn its head and ran back to the base on its huge legs.
If they were surrounded by vicious beasts, there would be no chance of survival for them.
In the alternate dimension base, in a room deep inside, more than a dozen staff members were constantly walking around and summarizing the latest data.
A middle-aged man stood in front of a display, looking at the map of the alternate dimension, which had almost turned entirely into a dangerous deep red. His brows were tightly knitted together.
He was the person in charge of this alternate dimension, the Level 28 great spiritualist, Gu Jiang.
He had been part of the spirit guards of the scorching field for more than ten years. He had encountered a few small-scale beast tides over the years, but this was the first time such a serious riot had occurred.
"Sir, reporting in. The vicious beasts are becoming more and more dangerous. Should we call back the exploration team?" asked an adjutant with a military rank on his shoulder anxiously as he walked in.
"No, the alternate dimension is an important resource for the country. The cause of the riot has not been identified yet. We need more information," Gu Jiang gave a decisive order.
At the same time, he asked the person in charge of communication on the other side, "Are reinforcements coming?"
"Report, Huanggang City, Beitong City, and the other five nearby cities have all been notified. Their spirit guards will arrive soon."
As the messenger was reporting this, a group of people pushed open the door and walked in.
The one in the lead was the director of Beitong City's Spirit Bureau, Hong Yong. Behind him was the team leader, Xu Shan, and the intern, Luo Le.
Luo Le's eyes were filled with excitement. Although his strength was ranked in the top five in Beitong City's Spirit Bureau, he had never had a chance to show off.
Until now, he hadn't even succeeded in becoming a full-time employee. This time, he could prove himself.
"Old Gu, how's the situation?"
Hong Yong walked forward and looked at the map that was deep red in color. His eyes narrowed slightly.
The situation in the scorching field seemed to be more serious than he had imagined!
"The Beast Emperor has made its move. We can't leave the base at all. There are too many vicious beasts."
Gu Jiang clenched his fist. With his strength, he could slaughter his way to the Beast Emperor, but whether he came out alive was unknown.
"However, we suspect that a third party has sneaked in. As for their purpose..."
Gu Jiang rubbed his forehead and pointed to a blurry photo of a tiger on the table. He then continued, "Naturally, they are after its inner core."