Chapter 79: Rat Swarm! Flee!

After several minutes, Xu Jingming collected all the rare flowers and herbs inside the cave.

He also took a space ring from the captain’s corpse.

Although it bore the captain’s spiritual imprint, the man was already dead.

Under Xu Jingming’s powerful spiritual force, the abandoned imprint shattered instantly.

After imprinting his own spirit onto it, a space of roughly one cubic meter appeared in his perception.

Most of the contents inside were potions and pills.

There were also some combat technique scrolls, cash, rare flowers and herbs, and scarce monstrous beast materials.

Nothing else remained.

“Only a C-rank combat technique? This third-rank elite squad didn’t have much of value.”

Xu Jingming shook his head.

Of course,

he knew most of these adepts’ savings were stored in banks.

Without the password, those funds were inaccessible.

“Forget it. Let the banks keep it—consider it a contribution to the state.”

Xu Jingming slipped the newly acquired space ring onto his left hand.

The most valuable item on this third-rank elite squad was likely this space ring, worth over fifty million.

“I wonder if these two one-cubic-meter rings can be exchanged for a two-cubic-meter one.”

“Otherwise, carrying a two-meter-long spear everywhere is a real nuisance.”

He rubbed his chin, then turned and walked to Jiang Chu’s side.

Bloodrage Pills are desperate drugs taken by adepts only in critical moments, granting a significant power boost.

But the side effects are severe.

The full-body weakness lasts nearly one to two months before fading.

Jiang Chu was now in this state—limp, her beautiful face pale as snow.

Seeing Xu Jingming approach, she forced a weak smile, her voice barely audible:

“S...Senior, Earth Spirit Spring can ease the weakness from Bloodrage Pills.

Senior, you can feed me some—just a sip will do.”

“Oh?”

Xu Jingming’s eyes lit up.

He pulled out the half-bottle of Earth Spirit Spring and brought it to Jiang Chu’s crimson lips, letting her drink.

Just a single sip, and her complexion visibly flushed with color.

“Phew, I feel much better.”

Jiang Chu exhaled deeply, nourished, “But to fully recover, I’ll still need three or four hours.”

Earth Spirit Spring, though an S-rank healing elixir capable of instantly mending injuries,

cannot fully counter Bloodrage Pills’ side effects—they affect not just the body, but also the spirit.

Even after consuming it, one must wait three or four hours before regaining full mobility.

Of course,

compared to the original two-month weakness, this was already a great improvement.

“I never knew Bloodrage Pills’ side effects could be alleviated,” Xu Jingming smiled.

He raised his right hand, glancing at the time on his smartwatch.

He’d received Jiang Chu’s distress signal at five p.m.

After this series of events, the current time was 6:23 p.m.

“Three or four hours from now means nine or ten p.m.—by then, it’ll be dark, unsuitable for long-distance pursuit.

Forget it. We’ll rest here tonight—the cave’s safer.”

Xu Jingming was still somewhat drained after activating Thunder Extreme State.

After a moment’s thought, he decided not to hunt monsters again—wait until tomorrow for full recovery.

“Still, this cave needs a bit of cleaning.”

Xu Jingming’s gaze sharpened; he pointed his right hand at the ground: “Thunder Prison!”

Crackling—

Purple Thunder of the Primordial Heavens surged forth, forming a prison of lightning ahead.

This time, it wasn’t meant to imprison enemies, but to clear the area.

As lightning spread, the five corpses on the ground vanished instantly into ash.

“Much better.”

Xu Jingming nodded in satisfaction.

Yet at that moment, a faint monstrous beast roar came from the direction of the hide nest.

“Monstrous beast?!”

Xu Jingming’s expression changed; he vanished in a Thunder Flash to the nest’s side.

Upon closer look, he saw a nest of Burrower Earth Dragon hatchlings in the center.

Several were asleep; only one seemed newly awakened, whimpering softly.

“No wonder the Burrower Earth Dragon chased us out—it had hatchlings.”

Jiang Chu realized aloud.

“A whole nest of monstrous beast hatchlings—seven or eight of them. Once grown, who knows how many human adepts they’ll kill.”

“Their reproductive power is terrifying...”

Xu Jingming shook his head.

Monstrous beasts are inherently vicious; even their hatchlings rarely can be tamed.

Perhaps weaker, cuter hatchlings might serve as pets for powerful adepts.

But this nest of Burrower Earth Dragons was ugly, with zero utility.

Thus, surging Thunder Light consumed every single Burrower Earth Dragon hatchling.

Perhaps due to their low rank, killing this nest granted Xu Jingming no adept points.

“Get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll take you out of the forest mountain zone.”

After telling Jiang Chu this, Xu Jingming sat cross-legged on the ground.

His entire adept energy was nearly depleted—perfect time for cultivating his adept training method.

Soon, he entered meditative stillness, continuously absorbing ambient Yuan energy to strengthen himself.

Jiang Chu, equally exhausted after the battle, leaned weakly against the wall.

In moments, she sank into deep sleep...

The next day, 7:21 a.m.

From the hidden cave exit buried in dense forest, Xu Jingming and Jiang Chu emerged one after the other.

“Mmm~~, the air in the mountains and forests is truly better. If not for monstrous beasts, I’d live here a month.”

Jiang Chu stretched languidly; under the morning sun, her exquisite profile glowed like polished jade.

She had fully recovered, now dressed in a brand-new silver-white battle suit.

Xu Jingming, beside her, smiled faintly.

Due to monstrous beasts, human-inhabited areas held virtually no mountain forests.

Such tranquil groves existed only in the wilderness.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the forest’s edge.”

Xu Jingming slung his tactical pack, gripping the Dark Cloud Gale Spear, then confirmed their direction via smartwatch.

He set off toward the city ruins.

“Got it, Senior!”

Jiang Chu giggled and followed.

The two moved swiftly through the forest, one behind the other.

Along the way, Xu Jingming killed several third-rank monstrous beasts.

One hour later.

Xu Jingming and Jiang Chu were still running.

Suddenly, Xu Jingming sensed faint tremors from behind—large monstrous beasts charging.

He turned—and saw a ferocious, two-story-tall tiger covered in flames burst from the forest!

“Fifth-rank Flame Tiger!”

Xu Jingming was stunned, with no time to react—

Yet the fifth-rank Flame Tiger seemed not to notice them at all.

With a wave of heat, like a massive fireball, it raced past them without hesitation.

“It didn’t notice us?”

Xu Jingming’s eyebrows lifted.

Human adept flesh was irresistible to monstrous beasts—this fifth-rank beast couldn’t have missed them.

“Senior, look at that ferocious beast—it seems like it’s fleeing for its life,” Jiang Chu said thoughtfully.

“Fleeing for its life?” Xu Jingming frowned slightly.

A fifth-rank ferocious beast is among the top dominators in the entire Source Water Wilderness.

What kind of ferocious beast could make it flee?

“Squeak-squeak-squeak—”

As he pondered, a dense swarm of ferocious beasts surged out of the dense forest like a tidal wave, accompanied by a cacophony of shrill cries.

These beasts resembled rats in appearance, but were over forty centimeters long, each radiating a first-rank aura.

They formed a ferocious beast tide, like a rushing flood!

“It’s a Rat Tide!”

Xu Jingming’s expression changed instantly.

Iron-Eating Rats are among the weakest ferocious beasts in their kind, typically at first-rank level.

Their combat power is weak—even ordinary humans can kill them.

But once Iron-Eating Rats form a massive Rat Tide, even a sixth-rank expert caught off guard and surrounded will die without fail!

“No wonder even that fifth-rank ferocious beast is fleeing!”

Xu Jingming no longer cared about anything else—he grabbed Jiang Chu and began fleeing too!