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Chapter 106: Going Into The Mountains
Neither Mu Enqing, nor Guan Longjiang, or even Zhang Haoxuan realized that Tang San’s words were unusually persuasive when he argued his point.
Normally, the teachers wouldn't have let him go after the mighty Winged Tiger, since they were well aware of the risks involved. The fact that they agreed was actually thanks to Tang San’s divine consciousness. Although he had yet to find anything that could directly strengthen it and it was still lacking quantity-wise, with the growth of his spiritual power and the nourishment it provided to his divine consciousness, it started to imbue some of the qualities of a God King to his sea of consciousness.
Tang San’s growth had truly accelerated after he successively integrated the Golden Roc Transformation and the Chrono Croc Transformation. And this hunting expedition for the Winged Tiger was an opportunity for him from several points of view: acquiring resources for cultivation, earning money, helping his teammates improve, and improving himself.
They walked until midday, and Du Bai was already feeling dizzy from fatigue, so they decided to rest.
The Kali Mountains were vast, and even those with good Demonic God Transformations would take up to two weeks to cross the mountain range.
They found an open hillside with a good view and rested. They took out their dry food and water to replenish their physical energy.
Leaning against a tree trunk, Du Bai rubbed his legs, saying, "I've heard that when the Celestial Fox clan travels, they are surrounded by numerous guards and powerful beings. They ride in carriages pulled by mighty demons, covering the sky and followed by rainbows. You know, as an inheritor of the Celestial Fox Transformation, asking for a litter isn't too much, right? That way, we could move faster."
Cheng Zicheng, standing atop a tree branch and surveying the surroundings, retorted, "What nonsense are you thinking about? A litter? If you can't keep up, we might as well leave you behind as food for the demons. I think they’d find you pretty tasty."
"Zicheng, why are you always so heartless toward me? Are you acting like this when I’m around because you’re secretly in love with me? If that’s the case, just say it. Who knows, I might actually consider giving you a chance," Du Bai said, grinning cheekily.
Gu Li's mouth twitched, "Looks like you're not tired enough if you still have the energy to spout crap. You’re still a kid, what do you know about love? Zicheng is right, you're just talking nonsense."
"Senior brother, look at them. They're all bullying me. Aren’t you going to do something about it?" Du Bai complained to Wu Bingji.
Wu Bingji, who was studying the map with Tang San, glanced back at Du Bai with an eyebrow raised. "Be quiet."
"Yes, sir." Du Bai immediately shut his mouth, looking aggravated.
Tang San couldn't help but chuckle. This guy was a real mascot—not only was he a lucky talisman, but also quite a character.
"We are here right now, and if we keep going in this direction, we will enter their habitat in about a day and a half. But the area is vast. Generally, they like to move around mountain streams, guarding water sources," Wu Bingji explained, pointing at the simple map in his hand.
Tang San nodded. "Then we'll continue to move in that direction. Let's see what happens as we go."
Wu Bingji raised his voice. "Everyone, we have now entered the active area of demonic beasts. We could encounter any one of them at any time. You must be careful and stay on guard."
"Hmm..." Tang San observed the surrounding mountains. The mountains were lush and green, with few bare spots, and even on the cliffs, there was vegetation. The rich spiritual energy of this world indeed made it suitable for the growth of various life forms.
After resting for a while, just as they were about to set off again, Du Bai suddenly frowned and rubbed his eyes.
Tang San had been observing him, so these minor gestures did not escape his attention.
Du Bai's Celestial Fox Vision was only at the third order, meaning he couldn't see changes in destiny but only had a weak sense of it. Even the teachers at the academy didn't know how to use the Celestial Fox Vision, as Du Bai was a unique case even in the vast Redemption Society. But Tang San had kept a close eye on Du Bai since the beginning, and now that he knew about the Celestial Fox Vision, he understood: many of Du Bai’s seemingly random actions were in fact subconscious responses to this particular sense.
Tang San approached him and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I feel a bit off. I guess I'm just tired," Du Bai replied with a frown, feeling a bit of soreness in his eyes and an inexplicable sense of oppression in his heart.
Hearing this, Tang San's expression turned serious. "Senior brother, be on guard."
He looked up and met the eyes of Cheng Zicheng, who was high up on a tree branch. Hearing Tang San's warning, Cheng Zicheng instinctively started scanning the surroundings.
It was at that moment that the unexpected occurred.
Without any warning, the ground not far from Gu Li suddenly burst open with a bang, and a dirt-yellow spike shot straight at Gu Li's chest.
The change happened incredibly fast. Without Tang San's timely warning, everyone would have been caught off guard.
But with their alertness instantly raised, both Tang San and Wu Bingji reacted immediately.
A strong gust of wind hit Gu Li's side, pushing him sideways. At the same time, an ice shield appeared in front of where Gu Li had been standing.
With a loud bang, the ice shield was pierced by the dirt-yellow spike and the pieces were flung away.
The next moment, a figure emerged from the ground.
It was a somewhat strange-looking demonic beast, about three meters long and with a sizeable dirt-yellow tail. Its entire body was covered in scales, emitting a dirt-yellow halo. As it turned out, this spike-like tail was what had launched the attack on Gu Li.
"It's a Fissure Lizard. Be careful. It's at least fifth-order,” Wu Bingji's voice rang out. He was definitely the strongest among them in terms of theoretical knowledge, and he instantly identified the beast.
The Fissure Lizard's large tail slammed onto the ground at that moment. The dirt-yellow light surrounding it suddenly intensified and the lizard merged into the ground, causing the entire hillside to shake as if in an earthquake.
"Freeze!" Gu Li shouted.
The violently shaking hilltop suddenly became still for a moment.
Gu Li’s shout wasn't because his Chrono Croc Transformation required vocalization, but to alert his companions.
This was their first time venturing out together for training, so there wasn't much coordination among them. Thus, on their way, Tang San had already discussed with everyone that they should call out their abilities when using them so their companions would know what they were doing and act accordingly.
The Chrono Croc Transformation was indeed powerful. Even though this Fissure Lizard was more advanced in cultivation than Gu Li, it couldn't escape the instant time freeze.
In that instant of freezing, Du Bai had already moved to the other side of the large tree, while Cheng Zicheng had already taken flight from her tree branch. Tang San and Wu Bingji directly charged towards the fissure lizard.
This was Tang San's prior arrangement. In the face of strong enemies, Du Bai was to stay as far from the battlefield as possible, while Cheng Zicheng was responsible for observing the battlefield to see if there were other enemies. Gu Li would assist everyone by controlling the pace of the battle, while Tang San and Wu Bingji took on the opponent. The latter was supposed to be the one giving orders, but he had benefited just too much from Tang San’s advice and now fully trusted his decisions.
Tang San had already explained this many times on the road, so everyone now reacted instinctively.
From Wu Bingji’s hands, his usual icicles flew one after another, heading straight for the lizard. However, what Tang San deployed was not his token wind blades.
He vigorously rubbed his hands before him as he rushed forward. In an instant, his eyes turned a deep green, and with the driving force of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, a gust of wind surged up instantaneously.
The purpose of this wind was not actually to harm the enemy.
The icicles arrived first, exploding into ice blossoms on the lizard's hide. The Fissure Lizard had a formidable defense—most earth-attribute demonic beasts, in fact, excelled at defense. Although the Fissure Lizard was certainly in some pain, it was not truly injured, and it only had some indentations and white spots on the scales where it was hit.
The ground beneath it cracked open, emitting a yellow glow as the lizard was about to burrow into the earth.
But at that moment, a green whirlwind swept in, almost instantly lifting the fissure lizard, which had just broken free from Gu Li’s control and was preparing to burrow into the ground.