Chapter 1121

They froze in place.

Except for Lin An, all the Awakened Ones who heard the system prompt stared with their mouths open in shock; their originally excited feelings were like having a bucket of cold water poured over their heads, chilling them to the core.

"How could this... how could this!!"

"What on earth is going on!!"

Looking at the two frozen corpses on the ground, their desperate fight just now seemed like a joke.

None of them are fools; even if they aren't skilled at spiritual anomaly instances, with everyone present being Awakened Ones, everyone realized what the system prompt just now actually meant.

Defeat 1.. Please continue!?

Continue with one or two!? Just killing one is already this exhausting; hard to imagine, what are we supposed to do later?

Li Xiang, face drained of color, smile stiff on his face, subconsciously looked toward Xiao Peng at this moment.

But at this moment, Xiao Peng, who was usually extremely confident and seemed as if nothing could faze him, also had an ugly expression, tightly pressing his lips.

His spiritual energy had already been depleted by one-third.. That ghostly shadow just now had strength comparable to his! If it weren't for so many people attacking together, he probably couldn't even win in a one-on-one fight!

If we have to go through that two or three more times, aren't we all going to die here!?

This doesn't even count the difficulty of searching, nor the possible reduction in numbers if we search incorrectly.

The fewer people there are, the greater the pressure; although these Second Level entities can't inflict much damage, they can still serve as expendable items that can block one attack!

Moving on to the later part..

Suddenly, Xiao Peng instantly lifted his head to look at Lin An:

"You're also a Third Level Intermediate, right!?"

After coming to their senses, everyone also turned their gazes toward Lin An in unison. They had earlier noticed that Lin An's strength was not ordinary, and his moves seemed extremely effortless. However, the system's notification startled them, and for a moment they actually forgot this fact.

At the same time, Li Xiang, whose face was deathly pale, also understood Xiao Peng's meaning.

That's right.

Their pressure comes from having to kill an unknown number of spiritual entities later on. Relying solely on Xiao Peng would probably be useless, but if this man who calls himself Ye Lin is also intermediate, they might not be unable to survive.

Even deep down, he had a feeling that these three people were somewhat mysterious, not like ordinary Third Level individuals.

"That's correct."

Lin An casually admitted it, not surprised at all.

The strength he revealed was roughly that of a Third Level Intermediate; as for Zhang Tie and Mo Ling, they basically hadn't lifted a finger.

Unlike the others, whose eyes flashed with a hint of joy and hope upon hearing this, Xiao Peng's gaze suddenly filled with apprehension; he kept scanning Lin An, as if with a probing intent.

"So, the reason this round's difficulty is so high is because you guys are behind it, right!?"

"Two Third Level Intermediates—no wonder killing just one isn't enough!"

"No, the two behind you are also not right!"

While speaking, Xiao Peng seemed somewhat angry; after not seeing anything, his gaze fell on the two people behind Lin An.

"Who exactly are you people?"

The middle-aged man beside them froze upon hearing this, and the others also followed, understanding Xiao Peng's meaning.

The earlier joy was replaced, turning into a faint resentment.

The difficulty of a regular dungeon increases with the entrants' strength, which is a well-known unspoken rule; combining that with the earlier scene where Zhang Tie and Mo Ling clearly hadn't done much, they also thought that this mysterious trio must have been holding back on purpose! Isn't this just using them as cannon fodder?

Lin An, hearing the faint accusation in the other's tone, furrowed his brows slightly and then let out a light chuckle, unbothered:

"So what if it is?"

"Aren't you also a Third Level Intermediate, likewise holding back your trump card?"

Regardless of the other's attitude, Lin An also wasn't afraid of Xiao Peng and the others' resentment.

Besides Xiao Peng, whom he slightly cared about due to the other's suspected identity as a card holder, the others? Even combined, they weren't worth a slap from Zhang Tie.

Lin An even gave Xiao Peng, who still wanted to say something, a meaningful glance.

If the other really does have a card, then sorry, that card will belong to me.

Although Lin An considers himself not a bad person, he's not exactly a good one either. A card pertains to the Fourth Stage, and he would rather grasp it in his own hands. As for whether Xiao Peng is willing to voluntarily give it up, that should be 'willing'.

On the opposing side, in the silence, Xiao Peng seemed to also realize that Lin An had guessed something; for a moment, his already unsightly face grew even darker.

Having held it in for a while, he had no choice but to skip the previous topic and instead speak in a low voice;

"No matter what."

"If you guys still don't exert yourselves later, then we'll all die together!"

"With the difficulty this high this time, you should know what to do!"

After throwing out that sentence, Xiao Peng then led his people away, as if wanting to distance himself from Lin An.

Seeing Xiao Peng lead his people away, intending to continue searching for the true body, Zhang Tie, who had remained silent until now, couldn't help but speak:

"Captain Lin, should we keep searching?"

"Later, will we make a move or not?"

Standing in place, Lin An surveyed his surroundings and then spoke calmly:

"Keep searching."

"If we make a move, try to conserve our strength. That Xiao Peng isn't so simple; if nothing unexpected happens, he should have some trump cards."

Having said that, Lin An suddenly turned his head to look at Mo Ling, who had taken the form of a girl beside him:

"Did you sense anything just now?"

"Huh?"

Mo Ling blinked slightly, not quite understanding what Lin An meant.

"Sense what?"

"Is there still a problem somewhere?"

Listening to Mo Ling's answer, Lin An pondered for a moment and then shook his head:

"Forget it, nothing."

"Maybe I'm overthinking..."

"Found it!"

"This thing moved!"

"Want to bet and try? I feel it's the real body!"

"Maybe killing this one will count as completing the mission!"

"Check passed, discovered a fierce ghost!"

"Buzz!"

"Killed 2, please continue searching for the fierce ghost's true form!"

"Why isn't it over yet!!"

"How many are there exactly!!"

"Are we going to die here!!"

"Don't argue anymore.. keep looking. Maybe there's only one left.."

"This painting! The head on this painting turned!"

"Check passed, discovered a fierce ghost!"

"Buzz!"

Three hours and two minutes later.

With a shrill whistle, the resentment dissipated; the middle-aged man Li Xiang, sitting collapsed on the ground, trembled with his hands, obviously exhausted.

Looking at the last Second Level behind them, their team now only had three people left.

"Not over yet.. not over yet.."

Under the greatest psychological pressure, the sole surviving Second Level Awakened Ones repeatedly screamed in terror; in this hopeless torment, he could barely endure. Especially, he realized his survival was purely because Xiao Peng and the others needed him to submit an application; if he continued, he was almost certainly doomed.

After three battles, only Third Levels could survive; Second Levels simply couldn't endure.

At the same time, Xiao Peng, standing in place with a weary look, felt even more wary of Lin An and the three.

I don't know why, but after three battles, he always felt Lin An still had reserve strength!

Several times danger arose, Lin An could handle it with ease, yet he only displayed strength equal to his. Forced, he had used up four light blue Props! Especially that strong man, who just now directly blocked the Spiritual Anomaly's attack in combat.

Such vigorous vitality practically made him doubt life.

Hearing his companions' despairing, hopeless words, Xiao Peng steeled himself and tried to comfort them:

"Next time, next time maybe it'll end! It can't be endless!"

"Yeah, it's possible."

He hurriedly echoed, also a form of self-comfort.

Li Xiang gulped, trying to find the problem:

"Could it be that we're searching too slowly? Or maybe we need to find and kill several at once!? Will this ghost thing revive?"

"Or maybe we came in with nine people, corresponding to nine ghosts?"

As the words fell, the others all froze; it wasn't impossible.

And Zhang Tie subconsciously glanced at Lin An.

To be honest, he was also a bit frightened.

Although he had just tried it, this Third Level intermediate Spiritual Anomaly couldn't kill him right away, but after one or two more times, he'd also be knocked out.

Li Xiang's first two suggestions weren't reliable, but nine ghosts... might actually be true.

However, upon hearing that, Lin An suddenly spoke:

The approach is all Mistaken.

"We've been played by the system."