Huang Jingjun was completely desperate. His older brother had been defeated and lost an arm. Who could save him now?
The young hunter he saw before, still holding a bloodied long knife, was the same person, but the way he looked at him had completely changed.
Earlier, he had wanted to force this person to gather herbs in the daylight and had thought it was funny how naive he was, still asking his brother questions even when death was near.
Looking back now, he remembered the slight smirk on the hunter's face and how his brother had been smiling. Hadn't the hunter also been looking at them the same way?
The three-colored flower was about to bloom. The light mist flowed around, and the sweet fragrance of the flowers grew stronger, refreshing the mind and lifting the spirit.
Qin Ming was deeply drawn in. He turned to dig out the jade box from under the pile of stones, fearing he might miss the best time to pick the flower. Who knew if it would wither quickly after blooming?
Huang Jingde pressed his left hand against his severed arm, his right side covered in blood, his armor soaked. As he staggered back, he left a trail of bloody footprints on the ground.
When he saw Qin Ming turn around, he didn’t think of attacking. Instead, he looked at his brother one last time and prepared to flee. If he could survive, even as a cripple, it would be worth it.
Though Qin Ming was eager to pick the three-colored flower, he wouldn’t make a rookie mistake. He wouldn’t let a newly reborn expert escape right under his nose.
Without turning back, he hurled his long-handled black gold hammer. His strength was immense; throwing it with all his might could even break a hole in a city wall.
Huang Jingde screamed. Just as he turned, he heard a cracking sound, the sound of bones breaking.
In intense pain, he felt his spine shatter. He could no longer support himself and collapsed to the ground.
After retrieving the jade box, Qin Ming quickly moved forward. The three-colored flower was blooming rapidly before his eyes, vibrant and beautiful.
Nothing was more important than this. Qin Ming stepped into the colorful mist, heading straight for the fragrant spiritual plant.
It grew near a crack in the ground among the stones, only about a foot tall, but the flowers were quite large, with petals that could be as big as a fist when fully opened.
The light from the crack made Qin Ming feel a bit breathless and uncomfortable, as the entire plant, accompanied by light rain, was glistening and fully bloomed.
In the light, the main part of the flower was silver, with streaks of red, while the edges were blue and crystal clear.
Its petals resembled willow leaves but were sharper, with edges that had angles. There were many petals, layered and combined, resembling a small forest of blades. Though beautiful, they also exuded a sharpness.
“It’s ripe!”
Qin Ming got to work, pushing aside the stones and pulling the entire three-colored flower out by hand, from the leaves to the roots, all in three colors, filled with vibrant life.
With a snap, he closed the jade box, letting out a sigh of relief as he successfully harvested the incredibly precious spiritual flower.
“Today is truly a double blessing!” Qin Ming was delighted, feeling a sense of accomplishment. After taking revenge on the people from Jinjiling, he had obtained both the blue jade iron and this spiritual flower.
Nearby, Huang Jingjun was so furious he was coughing up blood. Wasn’t this what they had talked about? Now he was completely exhausted, and it seemed he wouldn’t survive.
“Thank you both for your gifts. I’ve been busy in the mountains for days and haven’t achieved as much as I have now,” Qin Ming expressed his heartfelt gratitude.
Huang Jingde was also furious, feeling like his anger would burst out of his chest. He had seen a bright future ahead, ready to use the spiritual flower to practice his skills, but now he had lost everything!
Regardless of whether they were about to breathe their last, Qin Ming still approached to finish them off, doing it cleanly and decisively.
While searching their bodies, he unexpectedly found candles on Huang Jingde. After thinking for a moment, he realized how they were used: to seal the gaps in the jade box.
“Very meticulous!” he praised. With this, even if something with a keen sense of smell came by, it probably wouldn’t detect anything.
In the end, Qin Ming gathered the Huang brothers and placed them alongside the elder from Jinjiling and two Jinjiling knights. He reluctantly set down the long knife and silver spear.
These weapons were too eye-catching; he really couldn’t take them out.
At that moment, chaos erupted underground as various creatures invaded. Qin Ming found himself in an area filled with loud roars, quickly attracting some fierce mutated beasts.
Soon, the elder from Jinjiling and the Huang brothers became “flesh and blood medicine” for the creatures.
Above, a large bird circled, a silver giant eagle with wings spanning ten meters, accompanied by many flying creatures, keeping watch over the entire ravine.
In the underground world, even Cao Long, Mu Qing, and Wei Zhirou’s expressions changed as they gathered with the elders of their clan.
“We’ve already seen creatures mutated four or even five times!”
“Let’s stay underground. At least we’re deep in the ravine, not near the exit. The position is still decent. The creatures won’t be able to attack here for long. Once the news gets out, someone from Chixia City will definitely come to rescue us.”
In the underground cave, even Qin Ming felt the impact. In such chaos, it was no longer suitable to fish in troubled waters; it was too bloody. Some creatures were extremely brutal, tearing people apart before eating them.
While searching for a way out, he had already killed several mutated creatures.
He couldn’t run deeper into the ravine. Based on his memory, he headed towards the area where the mountain people had disappeared.
Qin Ming guessed that some old hunters might find a way out of the valley because they often roamed the mountains, had high survival skills, and could make the right decisions when entering the underground.
A fierce white bear with blood on its mouth charged at him, its sharp claws piercing through two dead bodies. When it saw Qin Ming, it came straight for him.
“I can’t take down this giant bear!” Qin Ming felt the danger; this beast was much fiercer than the creatures mutated three times.
He quickly fled. He had experienced such life-threatening escapes when he was younger, living in the mountains at fourteen or fifteen, where he had faced near-death situations.
However, back then, he was dealing with ordinary beasts, and he had people like Lu Ze and Xu Yueping looking after him. Now, he was facing a repeatedly mutated giant beast.
Qin Ming hadn’t faced such bloody and terrifying scenes in a long time. He could only keep running; stopping meant death.
Fortunately, the underground passages were dense, like a spider web, with some areas quite narrow.
The white bear was blocked and angrily struck the stone wall, shaking the entire passage violently, causing rocks to fall, while the two corpses hanging from its claws were already mangled.
Qin Ming knew that Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect would suffer heavy losses this time. The few survivors were already rushing towards Huang Jingde’s family territory.
Many paths in the underground cave were stained with blood, and the roars of the creatures mixed with human shouts echoed. If the two sides encountered each other, one side would surely fall.
Qin Ming moved forward through the narrow passage. After emerging from another area, he saw an elder from the Three-Eyed Sect dead, pierced through the chest by the long horns of a golden giant bull.
This elder, who had been reborn three times, was particularly unfortunate. He was directionally challenged, turning around in circles and never leaving that area.
Otherwise, with his strength, he would have long since escaped to the Huang family’s territory. He had just gotten lost here.
The golden giant bull had already hung five corpses from its massive horns. With a powerful shake of its head, it sent all the bodies flying against the stone wall, leaving behind pools of blood.
Beneath its feet lay more corpses, crushed by its enormous hooves.
The golden giant bull, with its smooth, almost silk-like fur, was nearly soaked in blood. Upon spotting Qin Ming, it breathed fire from its mouth and charged at him.
Seeing its ferocity, Qin Ming knew he was no match and turned to re-enter the narrow passage.
Now, cursing or threatening a terrifying creature was useless; he could only hope it would leave quickly.
This feeling of life and death being out of his control was unsettling. Qin Ming strongly desired to grow stronger again. In such a place, if a smaller creature that had mutated multiple times appeared, he would undoubtedly die.
“Bang!”
The golden giant bull's horns were more terrifying than a shiny long knife, smashing the stone wall to pieces, causing large rocks to fall and dust to rise.
The fire it spewed from its mouth scorched the rock wall red, waves of heat rolling out.
“No wonder even the elders reborn three times couldn’t handle it and died in the passage,” Qin Ming’s heart raced as he retreated deeper into the passage.
After about fifteen minutes, the golden giant bull finally left. It wasn’t satisfied until it had killed the two-legged beasts.
Qin Ming waited a bit longer, and when it became quieter outside, he cautiously ventured out. This time, he encountered some creatures, but they weren’t as dangerous.
Eventually, he squeezed through a gap that was barely passable for a person. After getting through, the path became a bit easier; this was the last area the mountain people had entered.
Qin Ming moved forward cautiously. It was pitch black here, but fortunately, he had a sunstone with him. Even so, he struggled through the rugged paths for over half an hour before finally emerging from the dark underground fissure, escaping the ravine and entering a dense forest.
Qin Ming couldn’t help but admire the experienced old hunters. If he had to find this escape route on his own, he certainly wouldn’t have found it so quickly.
He felt a bit emotional. Originally, the miners were in the most dangerous situation, yet they ended up being the ones who escaped.
Of course, this was also related to their quick self-rescue upon entering the underground. If they had been chased in like those from Jinjiling and the Three-Eyed Sect, they wouldn’t have had time to find a way out.
Qin Ming let out a long sigh. No matter how one looked at it, he had finally escaped.
The mountains were very quiet. He hardly saw any creatures while on his way.
Qin Ming slowed his pace. Many dangerous creatures had already entered the ravine, and he thought for a moment before suddenly stopping.
“If I remember correctly, the lairs of the white bear and the golden bull are less than ten miles from here. They are among the strongest creatures in the outer regions of the mountains.”
Qin Ming acted decisively, turning and sprinting in a certain direction.
He had nearly been harmed when encountering the two giant beasts. Although he ended up unscathed, the experience was quite thrilling. If he hadn’t found that narrow passage, he would have either been torn apart by the bear’s claws or hung on the bull’s horns.
Qin Ming decided to take advantage of the absence of the two giant beasts and raid their lair.