Chapter 111 - 78: Cunning and Ingenious Talent

Chapter 111: Chapter 78: Cunning and Ingenious Talent"If we get the Spiritual Ability Species, naturally it belongs to Sister Ren." Ji Xinghuo and the other two had no objections to this. Ren Mian had helped them so much, now that she was in need, they definitely had to do their utmost. However, Ji Xinghuo had a question, "Sister Ren, how did you know there was a Toad Spirit in Deep Rock Rift Valley?" "I bought the information from Night Star platform," Ren Mian replied. "Is it reliable?" "Most likely it is reliable," a hint of coldness appeared in Ren Mian’s eyes, "Night Star platform wouldn’t dare to deceive me; their reputation has always been good." "I worry that they might have sold the information to other people," Ji Xinghuo remained unconvinced. This kind of information trading, besides the initial cost of acquiring the information, was profitable. Selling it once was selling, selling it a hundred times was also selling. Naturally, they would sell to several customers to make even more money. "There is indeed that possibility," Ren Mian pondered for a few moments. "After dawn, we’ll enter Deep Rock Rift Valley and explore the city of the Stone Lizard People. First, we need to confirm if the Toad Spirit is still there." She looked at Ji Xinghuo. "Xinghuo, it’s all up to you now." Ji Xinghuo nodded firmly. A few hours later, it heated up shortly after daylight. The Stone Lizard People disliked heat but not cold, feared light but not darkness. These two factors combined meant they usually only moved about during Star Night and nighttime and wouldn’t leave the canyon easily during the day. The four of them approached the canyon, scouting the terrain. This massive canyon, over a hundred kilometers long, was quite different from others. The surrounding ground was bare with large patches of rock and sparse vegetation, making it difficult to conceal oneself. The widest part of the canyon was over ten kilometers, inside were bizarrely shaped rocks and countless cliffs and precipices that created a complex terrain that resembled a vast maze, deep and bottomless, with cold mist blowing out from tunnels and hidden chambers, awe-inspiring to behold. "Let’s go in." Ren Mian led the team into the canyon. Ji Xinghuo soon found traces of movement. He recognized them as footsteps of the Stone Lizard People, extending deep into the canyon, "Following these traces, we should be able to find the way to the Stone Lizard People’s city." "Xinghuo, you lead the way." "Okay." Ji Xinghuo kept his magnetic field sense active. Actually, he didn’t need to follow the footprints, as he could find the correct path anyway. After more than an hour, the team had ventured deep into the middle section of the canyon, a thousand meters below the surface. Looking up, only dim light could be seen, the sky blocked by large cliffs and strange rocks, the temperature dropping. Moving through felt like navigating between various caves. Suddenly, Ji Xinghuo gestured for his teammates to halt. Ren Mian activated her thought necklace. Her voice sounded in their minds, "What’s wrong?" "Someone’s here." Ji Xinghuo’s expression was a bit odd, "It’s Earthlings, a hunting team, a total of five, all of them should be Super Mutants." The faces of the three teammates were quite animated. Ren Mian snorted internally, "You guessed it, Night Star platform sold the Toad Spirit’s information to others." Then she asked, "They haven’t discovered us, have they?" "No." Ji Xinghuo shook his head. This team was over seven hundred meters away, his own group hadn’t spoken, they all had stick-on "Sweat-Absorbing Orchid Leaves" and had sprayed Deodorant, the other party couldn’t see, hear, or smell them advancing in the canyon and hadn’t realized they had been sighted. "Sister Ren, what do we do?" he asked. "They seem to be very familiar with the canyon, probably having arrived here before us." Ren Mian thought for a few seconds, "Follow them, and we’ll see how things unfold." "Okay." Ji Xinghuo’s magnetic field sense locked onto these five people, trailing at a distance of six to seven hundred meters. This team was moving quickly through the canyon, producing no sounds. "An Illusion Sound Master?" Ji Xinghuo quickly realized the clue. Among the five, one was an Illusion Sound Master, able to constantly conceal the whole team’s movements and absorb sounds, which was much more discreet than just a single Phantom Pearl. Soon, the team ahead slowed down, becoming cautious, and hid in a corner without moving. Ji Xinghuo followed a bit further, then understood the situation. Several hundred meters away, there was a large cave entrance, clearly man-made. The entrance was deep, surrounded by large rocks, hard to notice. Numerous Stone Lizard People guards were present, seemingly the gateway to the Stone Lizard People’s city. Ji Xinghuo relayed this information to his teammates. "They are going inside." In the magnetic field sense, Ji Xinghuo saw one of the mutants undergoing drastic changes. Their height increased from around one-meter-eighty-five to two meters, a large tail grew on their back, and their hands turned into claws, their figure hunching to resemble a Stone Lizard Person exactly. "A Mimicry Master!" Ji Xinghuo was startled; the team actually included a Mimicry Master. This was an extremely rare professional template, possessing three core abilities: "Inorganic Transformation," "Organic Restoration," and "Mimicry," the first two being Transcendent Abilities, and the last one a Superior Ability. The body of the shape-shifting genius constantly morphed in thousands of ways. He could not only transform into other humans and other races through genetic information but could also change into various inanimate objects like rocks, flowing water, tables, chairs, and the like. His combat style was incredibly strange and unpredictable. The shape-shifting genius swaggered towards the cave entrance, where the Stone Lizard guards saw him but did not prepare for an attack—only asking him questions. The shape-shifting genius didn’t reply. As he approached the guards, his hands suddenly turned into sharp blades, and, with one on each side, he chopped off the heads of two guards. Simultaneously, his body transformed into a large cloud of smoke, enveloping the remaining Stone Lizard people. They immediately suffocated, unable to make any sound. The toxic smoke clearly entered through the nostrils of the Stone Lizard people, accelerating their poisoning. The smoke, like invisible hands, strangled their necks and coiled around their bodies, quietly killing them. In just a few seconds, an entire team of Stone Lizard guards was wiped out. Ji Xinghuo was astounded. Even knowing ahead of time that he was a shape-shifting genius, such a method of killing was very hard to guard against. After the shape-shifting genius killed the guards, his teammates came out from hiding and entered the cave. "Let’s go in too." As Ji Xinghuo and his three companions approached the cave entrance, Ren Mian noted the Stone Lizard corpses on the ground. Her expression slightly changed; she had already heard from Ji Xinghuo that these were the doings of the shape-shifting genius. "This team is not simple," Chi Zhonglin muttered to himself. "Just one shape-shifting genius is enough to be wary of," Ren Mian remained calm. "However, the information from Toad Spirit is over a year old. Longyang Terrace might not have sold it just to us and the team ahead. Without adequate preparation, they wouldn’t find the Toad Spirit, it must still be here." She paused for a moment. "This might actually be a good thing." Ji Xinghuo guessed her thoughts. "Does Sister Ren want to use them as bait?" "Exactly," Ren Mian smiled. "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. This time, let’s play the oriole." As they spoke, the four of them had already entered the channel behind the cave entrance. This passage wound its way downward with many forks and guards, all of whom had been cleared by the team ahead. Ji Xinghuo and his group followed behind, gradually moving deeper. Moments later, the path suddenly opened into a vast cavern which was nearly two hundred meters high. Huge pillars or rocks supported the dome, the lighting was dim, and looking from the entrance side to the opposite, it was a good three to four kilometers distant. Ji Xinghuo peered into the distance, realizing that the pathway he was on was just one of the entries to the cavern. There were over a dozen such pathways. The cavern housed countless nests, all carved out of the massive original rocks, unevenly arranged but in an orderly fashion, like man-made beehives. However, instead of bees, each nest housed Stone Lizard people, making it a vast city beneath a city. The dim lighting didn’t significantly affect Wanxiang Star Pupil. Ji Xinghuo looked towards the opposite side of the cavern, where a gigantic archway stood one hundred meters tall. Behind the archway, another cavern could be seen. It was these interconnected caverns that formed the subterranean city of the Stone Lizard people. On their home planet, "Night Star," they also lived underground. Their technology was not advanced, even primitive, which was why they were defeated by the invading army of Dagon people and subjugated to the rule of the Dagon people. At this time, the team ahead had already moved far away. They had the Illusion Sound Master cover their forms, carefully avoiding the Stone Lizard people in the cavern as they moved towards the archway. Ji Xinghuo saw through their silent illusions with one glance. This was his first direct observation of this Hunting Team; all five members were male, and from their attire and equipment, he could guess their mutant professions. Illusion Sound Master and shape-shifting genius were already known. The remaining three included a tall man carrying a long spear, likely a Martial Artist. Another wore heavy full-body plate armor, like a moving humanoid fortress, holding a giant ax at least two or three hundred kilograms heavy. Yet his steps were light and swift, as if the heavy armor and ax weighed nothing, seemingly crafted from styrofoam. "Gravity Warrior!" Ji Xinghuo felt enlightened; only a Gravity Warrior could have such a capacity for making heavy weights seem effortless. The last mutant’s profession was also easy to identify; he wore streamlined, flexible leather armor, with elasticity to fit the body. His weapon was two short swords, and his war boots were specially made superpower equipment. This design reduced air resistance during high-speed movement. "He’s a Flying Steps." Shape-shifting genius, Martial Artist, Illusion Sound Master, Gravity Warrior, Flying Steps. The professional configuration of this team was quite unusual, clearly a temporary formation, focusing not on configuration but on individual strength. If the strength was strong enough, many problems could be solved. From their skin color, it was evident that these five people, except the one fully covered in heavy armor, included two Asians, one Caucasian, and one African. Such an international combination rarely lasted long, especially since all five were Super Mutants. They had formed this temporary team because of the Toad Spirit. "Where is the Toad Spirit?" Ji Xinghuo looked in the direction they were heading, asking Ren Mian in his mind. S~eaʀᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Over there," Ren Mian pointed towards the cavern’s opposite archway. "The Toad Spirit is in the deepest part of the Stone Lizard city. Let’s follow them, letting them scout ahead for us."