Chapter 56

The fiery red fluid was suddenly attacked by bone spikes, splitting open from the middle and cracking into two halves right where it stood.

Mu Huiyue kept a close eye on the movement of the substance. Fortunately, there were no signs of recovery. The fluid slowly split into two clumps at the cut, and its glow dimmed considerably.

It seemed unlikely that it could release the same kind of flames in the near future.

Ellen’s strike was successful, and he slipped back into the shadows. Mu Huiyue let out a slight breath of relief.

At least the pet’s ability could deal effective damage, giving her a chance to fight back, so she wouldn’t be chased down relentlessly.

Just as she thought this, the ground trembled once more.

The injured fiery red fluid seemed to have triggered some sort of mechanism, and this round of tremors was particularly violent, causing Mu Huiyue to almost lose her balance.

Crystals, several times more than before, grew from all directions, not only on the rock walls but also from the ground.

The crystals shattered one after another with the tremors, and more and more fiery red fluid spread out. For a moment, the ground seemed to be covered in magma, with blazing flames illuminating every corner of the cave.

As the fluid began to solidify and take shape, at least ten strange creatures shakily stood up. Mu Huiyue immediately turned and ran, not hesitating to fight.

This was not the time to gather information…!

Ellen followed closely in the shadows, once again enveloping the Beast Master and drawing her into the shadow realm.

The cold, damp darkness flooded over their heads like a tide. Mu Huiyue held her breath, trying to extend the time she could keep impurities out of the shadow space.

After retreating through the shadows for some time, until the tremors were no longer felt in the shadow space, Ellen and the Beast Master emerged from the shadows.

They were still in the dim cave. Mu Huiyue held her breath and listened carefully, confirming that the tremors hadn’t spread to this area.

She still didn’t dare relax, looking towards the light source in the cave—there was a fiery red crystal that hadn’t changed yet.

These smaller crystals didn’t seem to turn into the fluid-based fire-spitting monsters, or perhaps, when there was no tremor, these tiny crystals were temporarily safe.

Just then, a wave of intense heat and flames suddenly spread from around the corner of the cave, followed by a voice that sounded somewhat familiar to Mu Huiyue.

“Ah Miao, use Flame Wheel!”

Mu Huiyue ran forward and turned a corner, just in time to see the fire-spitting cat, Ah Miao, transform into a burning firewheel, leaping high into the air. Behind it was Beast Master Wen Li.

“Wen Li, don’t attack those things!” Mu Huiyue shouted.

Hearing her voice, the firewheel veered off course just before hitting its target, slamming into the dark red rock wall.

The fiery red substance that had just released flames wriggled and then coiled into a slightly shorter shape, with no other changes.

Mu Huiyue’s tense heart relaxed slightly. If the firewheel had hit the fluid, it was likely that, like with Ellen earlier, one of the masses would have been defeated, but more fluid monsters would have emerged.

“Huiyue!” Wen Li also spotted her and ran over with a look of relief. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Mu Huiyue smiled and nodded, then glanced at the person standing next to Wen Li.

There was another person beside her, someone who seemed to be from the group she had encountered earlier.

That was someone Mu Huiyue recognized, appearing in a video about the inventory of Kumaxi. Like Lin Lin, he was a contestant from Yunzhou, currently ranked fifth on the leaderboard, Xu Chenglu.

His signature pet, the Red Serpent Turtle, was slowly but steadily crawling toward them, while Ah Miao had already disengaged from the Fire Wheel form and nimbly jumped back to Wen Li’s side.

[Name]: Red Serpent Turtle
[Attributes]: Fire Element
[Race Level]: Mid-level Battle General
[Growth Stage]: First stage of Growth
[Talent Core]: Flowing Flame (Fire Element C-Class)
[Race Description]: A fire-element land turtle-like extraordinary creature that feeds on flames. It has a complete flowing flame cycle within its body and can spew high-energy fire-based attacks from the shell on its back, resembling a volcano.

[Normal Hidden Energy Value]: 11,145P

The young man wearing the Yunzhou Beast Master High School badge on his chest looked over at Mu Huiyue and introduced himself: “I’m Xu Chenglu.”

“Mu Huiyue.”

The two briefly exchanged names, marking the start of their acquaintance.

“Did you both also get brought here by that strange energy fluctuation?” Mu Huiyue asked.

“I don’t even know what happened. The battle between you and Lin Fei was really exciting…” Wen Li said, recalling with frustration. “Then, suddenly, whoosh, we ended up here, and there were all these strange things everywhere. I met Xu Chenglu here.”

“My situation is similar,” Xu Chenglu said. “When the anomaly occurred, I was moving toward the central area. I guessed the Master of the Secret Realm should be there, but then suddenly there was an energy upheaval, and when I opened my eyes again, I was already here.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Huiyue paused for a moment. “After coming here, did you feel dizzy or experience any other aftereffects?”

Both of them shook their heads.

Then it wasn’t a secret realm that came about due to some ‘anchor point’ connection.

Mu Huiyue fell into thought. It wasn’t just her; Wen Li and Xu Chenglu were here too. It’s possible that contestants who were near the central area at the time were all brought here. If she encountered Lin Fei or others later, it wouldn’t be surprising.

A secret realm with no protective transition period would definitely disrupt sensory perception. Even though Wen Li and Xu Chenglu were both humans with “anchor point” qualifications, it was unlikely that they hadn’t felt anything.

“Also, this situation is even stranger. The two of them had no reaction, yet Mu Huiyue, as the investigator, was experiencing significant symptoms.”

“What is this place, and what should we do next…” Wen Li sighed deeply.

This test had really been full of unexpected events. She had originally thought that defeating everyone in continuous battles would be enough, but she hadn’t expected to be constantly dragged into strange situations.

“Meow-ow.” Ah Miao pawed at Wen Li, looking completely calm.

It didn’t understand the current situation either, but ever since forming a contract with its Beast Master, most of the time, both the master and pet were clueless about what was going on. They just went with the flow.

Mu Huiyue pondered for a moment before suddenly saying to her, “Wen Li, let’s have a battle.”

“Now?” Wen Li’s eyes widened. While conflicted, she also felt a bit tempted. “Since you’ve challenged me, there’s obviously no reason to refuse…”

“Come on, I agree to the battle!”

The two of them assumed their stances, eyeing each other, waiting for a while, but nothing happened.

The record terminal, which should have appeared here with small wings, was completely missing.

“As expected, even the [Video System V-Type] monitoring is gone. We’ve most likely lost all contact…”

Mu Huiyue’s mood sank slightly. Her phone had no signal, the Bureau’s bracelet had no signal, and now even the Beast Master Association’s control had failed.

“Are you trying to see if the battle record terminal will appear?” Wen Li finally caught on, letting out a long sigh. “I was wondering why you suddenly proposed a battle here…”

“Because you’re the only one who would agree to a battle in this situation.” Mu Huiyue smiled at her. “When a formal battle is agreed upon by both sides on the island, the record terminal will definitely appear. If it’s prearranged, it might not.”

“Well, you’re not wrong…” Wen Li sheepishly scratched her cheek, realizing that she had indeed accepted the battle with sincere intent.

“I actually hope the battle proceeds smoothly.” Xu Chenglu glanced at the two of them. “But the current situation is even worse, right?”

The absence of the record terminal meant that the Beast Master Association’s monitoring system had no idea where they had gone.

They were trapped here, unsure of their location or when rescue would come.

“Well, we don’t have to be that pessimistic, right? With the supplies we have, we should be able to hold on for a while…”

Wen Li’s voice grew quieter as she spoke. The little food she had was all provided by Mu Huiyue, and both she and her pet were relying on her friend’s share. Of the three present, she had the least ground to bring this up.

“I can figure something out for the supplies. Besides, we’re all level 2 or above Beast Masters, so we can last a few days even without food,” Mu Huiyue said, glancing at the fiery red liquid. “…But I’m more worried about those things.”

The liquid, which had just released flames, was slowly collapsing. The light inside had dimmed considerably, and it no longer seemed capable of firing high-temperature flames.

“How do you know they can’t attack?” Xu Chenglu asked, voicing the concern that everyone was thinking.

Mu Huiyue briefly described her experiences before meeting them.

“So, you’re saying the things that flow out of these crystals have biological activity, but no thought or consciousness, and when they’re defeated, more of their kind will appear?”

After listening to Mu Huiyue, Wen Li counted on her fingers to summarize everything, her eyes brightening as she looked at her friend.

While she and Ah Miao were being chased, Mu Huiyue had already figured out so much information—she really was impressive!

“And they can release those high-temperature flames,” Xu Chenglu added.

After speaking, the Red-Crane Turtle, after much effort, finally crawled to its Beast Master’s side. It stretched its limbs and lazily lay down right where it was.

As it moved, the volcanic rock on its back cracked along the lines of its shell, releasing small bursts of flame, as though it were yawning with a breath of fire.

“Thanks to the Red-Crane Turtle catching the flames that thing shot out…”

Recalling the danger from earlier, Wen Li couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear. The raging stream of fire had nearly engulfed the entire tunnel, and even with the [Burning Blood] talent boosting her, it would have been difficult for her to escape unharmed.

It was the volcano-like structure on the Red-Crane Turtle’s back that absorbed all the flames, allowing the two of them to escape unharmed.

Xu Chenglu glanced at his pet, understanding Mu Huiyue’s concern.

If it were just a single mass of fiery liquid, that would be fine, but if more of them showed up, aside from Mu Huiyue, who could be shielded by her pet and dive into the shadows, neither he nor Wen Li would be able to escape.

Right now, they didn’t understand the triggering mechanism of the crystal liquid, so they could only try not to provoke those things. However, that didn’t guarantee they wouldn’t release high-temperature flames again.

This place was truly too strange.

After some discussion, the three of them decided to take advantage of the temporary safety to rest and recover.

Mu Huiyue let Ellen return to the Beast Master space, where he and Baiya settled into the Rest Cabin to quickly recover to their optimal state.

Wen Li and Xu Chenglu also took out resources and food to help their pets recover.

Yanshī Miao ate the energy cubes that Wen Li gave, then resonated with the Burning Blood talent to replenish the energy it had used up earlier.

The Red-Crane Turtle, however, seemed to have a poor appetite. It lay on the ground, making whining sounds.

“You’re full and don’t want to eat?” Xu Chenglu understood his pet’s meaning and pondered, “Is it from absorbing the flames earlier…?”

The Red-Crane Turtle nodded repeatedly, and the volcanic rock on its back cracked again, releasing a burst of fiery red flames.

This time, the noise wasn’t like a yawn, but more like a contented burp, with a fiery exhale.

Before the Red-Crane Turtle could make a second fiery burp, Mu Huiyue suddenly looked up, her gaze fixed on the dimming fiery liquid.

Somehow, it had already recovered quite a bit, its shape once again tall enough to spew flames, slowly stirring back to life.

Ellen had already returned to the shadow of his Beast Master, ready for battle at any moment.

Xu Chenglu also stood up: “Wait, if it’s just a single flame, the Red-Crane Turtle can—”

“It’s not just one anymore,” Mu Huiyue decisively pulled back, grabbing Wen Li, who was still munching on the energy cube. “Run!”

No sooner had she spoken than the ground shook violently again. Countless fiery red crystals grew from all directions, shattering in the tremor, and lava-like liquid began to spread.

One, two, five, ten…

More and more of the liquid creatures stood up, their bodies surrounded by swirling magma, ready to release all their heat.

Xu Chenglu didn’t dare waste any more time. He quickly scooped up his slow-moving turtle and ran backward.