Fan Xiaobo and his men, twenty to thirty in total, rushed into the cave.
The cave was about two meters wide, dark and silent.
Qin Shilei and the other two walked at the very back, their strong flashlights illuminating the path ahead.
"Ah!"
A scream suddenly came from the front, then abruptly stopped.
"Help!" "Watch out!" "Retreat quickly!"
Panicked shouts echoed from the front.
Oak Shield!
Zhang Xiaoli quickly cast a protective shield on the three of them.
Qin Shilei took the lead, shielding the two women behind him.
The three quickly reached a wide open space ahead.
They saw a giant monster chasing Lu Tiangang and the others.
"What is that thing?" An Qian asked in surprise.
The monster was like a huge ball of flesh, dark red all over, three to four meters tall, with no head, hands, or feet. It wriggled its way forward on the ground, yet moved with incredible speed.
Lu Tiangang and the others' swords and sabers seemed to have no effect on the flesh ball. The weapons would sink in slightly before bouncing off, like extremely resilient rubber.
The flesh ball rolled and lunged at the young man in the rear.
"Help me!"
The young man only managed to let out a cry before being completely engulfed by the flesh ball.
Lu Tiangang and the others frantically swung their weapons, attempting to rescue him.
However, the flesh ball paid no heed to the blades hacking at its body. It wriggled and lunged at another person.
Tattered clothes and a corroded, pitted long saber were left on the ground.
Qin Shilei swallowed, surprised. "It swallowed a living person that quickly?"
"The flesh ball seems to have grown a bit larger," An Qian commented, also surprised.
"It has indeed grown larger," Zhang Xiaoli added.
The person being pursued by the flesh ball wished he had two more legs. "Go chase someone else, my flesh tastes terrible."
Once the flesh ball fixated on someone, it seemed relentless in its pursuit, completely ignoring the people behind it attacking it.
Blazing Star!
Seeing that physical attacks were ineffective, An Qian threw a fiery fireball at the flesh ball.
A burst of sparks exploded on the flesh ball, leaving no visible damage.
Instead, the scattered embers caused Fan Xiaobo and his group to scramble in disarray.
Fan Xiaobo shouted in exasperation, "That idiot is randomly using his abilities! Do you think we don't know how to use ours?"
An Qian retorted with a pout, "You're the idiot! I hope the flesh ball swallows you."
Qin Shilei observed the spot where the flesh ball was hit by Blazing Star, saying calmly, "It doesn't necessarily mean abilities are useless, it's just that this monster has extremely high physical and magical resistance."
The young man targeted by the flesh ball turned and ran towards the cave entrance.
Silver Dragon!
Qin Shilei released his grip, and a powerful attack he had already condensed shot towards the flesh ball that was chasing him towards the entrance.
"Hiss!"
A sharp, piercing hiss echoed in everyone's ears, almost rupturing their eardrums.
A wound the size of a rice bowl appeared on the flesh ball for the first time, causing it to tremble violently.
"That's impossible! An ability attack actually worked?"
Hua Feng's spear trembled, and a golden spear blade shot from its tip towards the flesh ball.
Upon hitting the flesh ball, the spear blade ricocheted and flew towards Xia Yunyan on the other side.
Xia Yunyan, having anticipated this, dodged the spear blade with a swift movement.
"Mr. Qin, how can we damage this monster?" Lu Tiangang asked loudly.
Qin Shilei frowned, replying, "Perhaps my attack surpassed its defense threshold."
Actually, he hadn't expected Silver Dragon to be so effective.
As they spoke, the flesh ball abandoned its previous target and rolled towards Qin Shilei.
There wasn't enough time to cast Silver Dragon again, so Qin Shilei drew Blood Soul and met it head-on.
Blood Soul, imbued with a layer of lightning, sliced into the flesh ball with a whoosh.
Qin Shilei immediately felt a potent life force surge from Blood Soul into him, his stamina becoming incredibly full.
"Hiss!" The flesh ball let out another shriek and then fled into the distance.
"So you're afraid of lightning-attribute attacks," Qin Shilei realized with enlightenment.
Thunderstrike!
A signature move from "Nine Heavens of Thunder," it pierced the flesh ball with more than ten through-and-through holes.
Severely wounded, the flesh ball wilted, its speed noticeably reduced.
Thunderstrike! Thunderstrike! Thunderstrike!
Qin Shilei thrust his sword hundreds of times, riddling the flesh ball with holes until it slumped weakly to the ground.
"It's still not dead?"
Looking at the still wriggling flesh ball on the ground, Qin Shilei raised his hand and unleashed bolts of lightning directly at it.
A fragrant aroma of cooked meat rose as the flesh ball finally stopped moving.
Qin Shilei, not entirely at ease, electrocuted the flesh ball for a while longer before retracting his left hand.
An Qian moved close to Qin Shilei and whispered, "Do you think the Zombie King was attracted to this flesh ball, which is why it's been attacking this cave?"
Qin Shilei pondered and nodded. "Highly likely. This monster has very robust vitality. Perhaps this flesh ball can help the Zombie King evolve."
Zhang Xiaoli also leaned in and whispered, "Brother Qin, you should collect it quickly."
With a wave of his hand, Qin Shilei collected the flesh ball.
"Hey, why did you collect it? Let everyone study why this monster can be immune to our attacks so we can deal with it better next time."
Fan Xiaobo's obnoxious voice rang out immediately.
"It's my spoils of war, so I'll collect it," Qin Shilei stated calmly.
"That monster is so disgusting, you're not thinking of cooking it, are you?" Fan Xiaobo muttered.
Qin Shilei raised his sword and pointed it at him, his voice cold. "Say one more word, and I'll cut you down immediately."
Fan Xiaobo's face turned as red as a pig's liver, but he dared not utter another word.
However, before he turned away, Qin Shilei caught a trace of venom in his eyes.
"Hmph, I'll let you live a little longer for now," Qin Shilei thought to himself and turned to survey the spacious area.
It was about the size of a basketball court, with several stone pillars supporting the ceiling. The floor was paved with large stone slabs.
On the innermost wall was a stone slab, three meters wide and two meters high.
In front of the wall stood a small pedestal, on which rested a transparent, fist-sized bead.
There was nothing else.
Everyone fanned out, examining everything in the space.
Qin Shilei and his group, meanwhile, were feeling around the stone slab and the bead on the innermost wall.
"What if we input Yuan Qi or mental energy into the bead to open some kind of switch?" An Qian mused, then proceeded to inject a stream of Yuan Qi into the bead.
A white light emanated from the stone slab on the wall.
"It really works! Everyone, quickly input your Yuan Qi!" An Qian called out for everyone to contribute.
As more people continuously inputted their Yuan Qi, the white light on the stone slab intensified, eventually becoming a blinding white expanse, resembling a gate of light.
A gate of light? Could it be a passage to another place?