Chapter 122: Survival Mission!

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——At dawn, the entire Soul-Extinguishing Mercenary Group set out, led by Lant, advancing deep into the White Mist Mountains.

Along the way, Bai Xi finally couldn’t help but ask He Chen, “Captain, what’s wrong with your eyes? You look exhausted. Is it because of last night’s incident?”

Actually, everyone else in the team found it strange. The enormous dark circles under He Chen’s handsome face looked quite comical.

He Chen waved his hand and forced a bitter smile. “It’s nothing, just didn’t sleep well. A little rest will fix it.” Though full of questions, he kept the real reason to himself, considering Xu Wen had no intention of revealing it.

Seven types of four-star demon cores, all immersed in the high heat of the alchemy cauldron, supplemented with over twenty kinds of five-star herbs for refining. He Chen had never heard of such a technique… but he was well aware of the instability and danger inherent in seven demon cores!

Two demon cores of different attributes clashing was already difficult to control and could easily cause the cauldron to explode. Although the seven demon cores happened to maintain a delicate balance, completely controlling and guiding their power to successfully refine something was unimaginable to He Chen.

He didn’t want to pry into Xu Wen’s secrets.

But one thing was certain: that dragon-eye-sized object emitting a faint, magnificent glow was definitely not a simple pill…

Moreover, Xu Wen’s alchemy skill dealt He Chen a crushing blow.

Other abilities aside, alchemy had always been his pride, something the head of the Fire Magic Academy, Harman, had acknowledged. Yet, unexpectedly…

Sigh! Frustrating.

After a whole night of reflection and disappointment, He Chen couldn’t summon any spirit. Suo handed over command to Xu Wen and climbed onto the back of a three-eyed blazing tiger, falling soundly asleep.

Along the way, Lant no longer concealed his seven-star cultivation level. No birds or beasts dared to disturb them as they freely entered the mountainous region.

After more than an hour, the group emerged from the forest into an open area. In the distance stood a vast gray stone forest!

To the left, dozens of figures could be vaguely seen, and further away, several indistinct dark shapes writhed together.

“We’ve arrived!”

The group halted on the open plain.

Keen-eyed Xu Wen immediately noticed that their distance from the stone forest was about the same as that of the distant group. Could there be others undergoing so-called extreme training here?

Lant glanced that way and ordered everyone to wait in place. Then he dashed full speed toward the stone forest.

Soon, he rushed back even faster, dust billowing behind him!

Several huge black shapes lurked in the dust.

Before anyone could ask, Silver Moon Proud Dragon revealed the truth—six-star magical beasts! Four in total.

He Chen’s expression shifted, and he ordered resolutely, “Prepare for battle!”

Since Lant hadn’t personally dealt with those beasts, they were naturally left to their team.

Sure enough!

Lant irresponsibly shouted from afar as he ran back, “The six-star summoning beasts are the object of this extreme training. Stop them!”

Like the wind, he rushed past the group without pause… leaving the four giant ‘bugs’ trailing behind to the team.

“What is this…”

Everyone’s faces changed dramatically.

The pursuing bugs had hexagonal, flat bodies with six moving limbs and impressive speed. Their shells looked extremely hard. As they closed in, two black curled antennae on their heads suddenly straightened like aerials, pointing directly at them.

The four lined up and made the same movement.

In an instant, invisible magical energy surged up from just ahead of the group!

“Watch out!”

“It’s ‘Earth Puppet Demon Bugs’! Beware—they summon puppets!”

Recognizing the creatures, He Chen was deeply troubled. He shouted while retreating and ordered the warriors to attack, the mages to focus their fire.

Earth Puppet Demon Bugs!

The survival handbook introduced them as six-star summoning beasts with the innate talent to summon earth puppets—rare creatures that could endlessly create puppets from mud and magic.

Most summoned puppets possessed high four-star to low five-star strength, and given enough time, could even summon six-star combat-power ‘earth dragons.’

These weren’t the main problem. The real headache was their tough shells and flesh and their tendency to live in groups. They never fought recklessly; their defense ranked high among six-star beasts. Even seven-star masters disdained provoking them.

Before they could enter attack range, the earth ten meters away suddenly twisted.

As if gripped by invisible forces or manipulated underground, the liquid-like mud surged upward more than two meters, twisted, then shrank to form a humanoid mud puppet.

Four mud puppets, all earth-black, with blurred faces and sharp limbs fiercer than beast claws, resembling a human-demon hybrid. The moment the puppets fully formed, they crouched and sprang forward at astonishing speed.

“Move!”

Leio reacted fastest, his fighting energy flaring as he slashed horizontally with all his might! The four mud puppets seemed to crash into a train, splitting open a wide gash in their chests and bellies, then were thrown back.

That strike naturally invigorated the Soul-Extinguishing members… but!

What happened next plunged their spirits once more.

The four mud puppets rolled on the ground, then stood again as the large wounds instantly sealed themselves like slime, rapidly shrinking.

“Damage ineffective?”

He Chen’s eyes snapped open. Turning sharply, he shouted, “Mr. Lant! How can we handle so many Earth Puppet Demon Bugs?!”

His judgment was correct. With their current strength, even one Earth Puppet Demon Bug was tough to deal with, let alone four.

Before he finished speaking, Lant’s voice came clearly to every ear.

“The so-called extreme mission is about doing the impossible, pushing you to your limits, and fully unleashing your potential. And remember, my task for you is to stop them… not to kill them.”

“…”

Everyone was stunned.

Not kill the Earth Puppet Demon Bugs?

What kind of training was this?

A golden wheel of fire shot from Xu Wen’s hand. One fully restored mud puppet didn’t even have time to cry out before being cleaved in two, silently dissolving into a heap of mud.

“So it’s a survival mission. That makes sense…” Xu Wen thought, his gaze toward the Earth Puppet Demon Bugs shifting as he grasped the true purpose of Lant’s extreme training.

He Chen suddenly understood as well, then shouted, “Do not attack the Earth Puppet Demon Bugs! Warriors, conserve your fighting energy; prioritize defense! Mages, concentrate fire on the puppets they summon!”

As he spoke, the second wave of Earth Puppet Demon Bugs’ summons completed.

The mud puppets increased from three to seven, greatly raising the pressure.

The mages’ first round of spells was launched, clearly divided to target the three nearest mud puppets.

Frustratingly, the mud puppets’ defense and self-healing were extremely strong. Only frost warrior Kong Yue’s attacks had some effect; the rest of the warriors’ damage was quickly restored.

The mages fared similarly. Except for He Chen and Xu Wen, their basic attack spells only caused superficial damage. The seven mud puppets had just been reduced to five when four more reinforcements appeared.

Nine in total!

“This isn’t working! Captain, our magic is useless!” the mages complained. The mud puppets’ defense neared top-level four-star, with special constitution; ordinary four-star magic barely affected them.

The warriors’ situation wasn’t better. Nine mud puppets greatly increased the pressure. Their fighting armor suffered rapid damage. Without quick improvement, they’d be in grave danger.

“Mages, stop attacking! Switch to supportive spells, focus on crowd control.”

“Leio, protect the team. Other warriors, concentrate fire, take them down one by one! Enough hits will kill them!”

“Captain Xu, Kong Yue, follow me as main damage dealers. Bai Xi, Proud Dragon, assist Kong Yue.”

He Chen quickly devised the second tactical order after brief engagement.

At this moment, except for Kong Yue and Xu Wen who had just taken down two mud puppets, four newly summoned puppets joined the fray, bringing unprecedented pressure to the warriors.

Eleven mud puppets!

The Earth Puppet Demon Bugs remained far outside the battle circle, seemingly relishing the situation. Their black antennae stood stiffly, continuing to emit magical waves to summon more mud puppets.

The battle turned dire. Warriors fought while retreating as the mud puppets multiplied. Lant rubbed his brow and nose from behind.

“Four Earth Puppet Demon Bugs on the first try—isn’t that a bit too harsh…”

The next second!

A golden light burst from the mages’ group. Hundreds of golden flame serpents split into three streams, sweeping through the chest and belly of three mud puppets, instantly turning them to mud!

At the same time, He Chen struck. The golden fiery wheel flew out, destroying two mud puppets lined up in a row.

Other mages unleashed their spells simultaneously!

Several mud puppets failed to dodge, their feet sinking before being pulled by a strong force downward. Meanwhile, Kong Yue, aided by archers and beast tamers, skillfully manipulated frost fighting energy, freezing parts of mud puppets one by one before shattering them.

Some died, while the remaining dozen were entangled, greatly easing the Soul-Extinguishing members’ burden.

“Well done!”

“Charge!”

Another mud puppet was torn apart by the warriors’ coordinated strikes. As their numbers dwindled, the team finally caught up with the Earth Puppet Demon Bugs’ summoning speed.

Hearing the cheers, Lant smiled mysteriously and took a deep swig of strong liquor.

“The extreme training hasn’t officially started yet… what’s coming next is the main course!”

(To be continued)