Baoyu Lihua Needle (Green): A disposable top-grade hidden weapon meticulously crafted by masters of hidden weapons, imitating the techniques of the Tang Sect. It guarantees bloodshed and death within ten meters.
Qin Shilei had just used this disposable killing tool to dispatch Ma Lian with a single blow.
Fearing his own weakness might cause him to miss, Qin Shilei deliberately waited until Ma Lian was close before unleashing the Baoyu Lihua Needle.
At this moment, An Qian finally finished off the last enemy and turned to see Qin Shilei and the others safe and sound, her heart finally at ease.
Qin Shilei took out his short bow and handed it to An Qian. "Take this bow. If there are any more enemies, shoot them from a distance."
An Qian hesitated as she accepted the short bow. "I've never shot an arrow before. I'm afraid I might miss nine out of ten shots."
Qin Shilei smiled encouragingly. "It's alright, just shoot."
With that, he took out a handful of crystal cores and began to absorb them.
He still had two to three thousand crystal cores on him, but he hadn't had the time to absorb them. Now was the perfect opportunity to heal his injuries by leveling up.
An Qian, holding the short bow, tried shooting an arrow at a distant giant tree.
It hit the trunk precisely.
She then tried aiming at a single leaf.
The arrow shot through the leaf.
"I didn't realize my archery talent was this high!"
An Qian's eyes sparkled with brilliance, and she fired ten more arrows in quick succession.
Each arrow found its mark.
"You stinking bug, don't you dare show your face again, or I'll shoot you to pieces." An Qian thought of the glowing insects that had almost disfigured her.
As if summoned by her thoughts, a swarm of glowing insects drifted in from the front left.
"Die!"
An Qian rapidly fired over a dozen arrows, obliterating each glowing insect from a distance.
More than four hours later.
Qin Shilei finally finished absorbing two thousand crystal cores and leveled up to Black Iron 2-star.
Name: Qin Shilei
Level: Black Iron 2-star
Experience: 1/3000
Cultivation Technique: Lei Dong Jiu Tian
Combat Skill: Qi Xing Luo Chang Kong
His strength had increased slightly, but there was no qualitative change.
Ever since entering the Black Iron realm, the "One-Punch Man" attribute could only increase his strength by nine times.
Qin Shilei speculated that even with "One-Punch Man," he probably wouldn't be able to withstand more than a few blows from the roc.
He tried to move his broken left arm and found that he could now pick up light objects like arrows.
After Zhang Xiaoli's treatment, coupled with a Golden Wound Pill and the healing from leveling up, his injuries had significantly improved.
The broken bones had already fused together and were slowly regenerating.
Qin Shilei could walk independently but still dared not exert himself, unable to even fully draw his bow.
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoli also slowly woke up. "Brother Qin, how are you feeling? I'll heal you right away."
Qin Shilei handed her a large handful of crystal cores. "Recover your mental energy well, and we'll talk later."
Zhang Xiaoli, still with a dull headache, sat cross-legged and began absorbing the crystal cores.
Qin Shilei looked up and saw several groups of glowing insects dead in the distance. An Qian was fully engaged in her newfound activity, so he didn't bother her.
He also sat cross-legged and circulated Lei Dong Jiu Tian through his meridians, hoping to accelerate his healing with qi.
In the latter half of the night, Zhang Xiaoli treated Qin Shilei again, then took the short bow and replaced An Qian on watch.
Qin Shilei continued to use qi to heal his injuries, and before he knew it, it was the next morning.
A ray of sunlight occasionally pierced through the gaps in the leaves, casting faint light into the dim forest.
From last night until now, eagle cries could be heard from above intermittently.
This indicated that the roc had not left, and Qin Shilei and the others dared not venture back out of the forest.
They could only walk deeper into the forest, with the sun behind them.
Treading on the thick layer of fallen leaves, Qin Shilei always felt as if a pair of eyes were watching them from within the forest.
He looked around but found nothing unusual.
Behind them, countless vines slowly stretched out from the surrounding giant trees.
When Qin Shilei looked back, the vines suddenly froze.
"There are so many vines here, and they're so tough." An Qian, leading the way, cut down a vine blocking their path with a single sword strike.
Just then, a rustling sound was heard.
Numerous vines rapidly coiled towards Qin Shilei and the others from all directions.
"Ah!" An Qian's mother was the first to be ensnared.
Then came Qin Shilei, whose injuries had not yet healed.
An Qian swung her Jade Moon Sword into a defensive screen, and countless severed vines fell to the ground.
She could defend herself for the time being but was powerless to rescue her mother and Qin Shilei.
As for the vines that had coiled around Zhang Xiaoli, they stopped abruptly upon contact.
Then, they all retreated.
Even the vines that had bound Qin Shilei and He Yuyao like a rice dumpling loosened their grip and retreated.
An Qian asked, "Xiaoli, did you subdue these vines?"
Zhang Xiaoli shook her head and explained, "These vines have mutated, and there are more than one of them. My mental power can only control one pet at a time, like the willow tree. So, I could only make these vines retreat."
She paused and added, "Let me lead the way. In this forest, my awakened Jianmu physique has an advantage."
An Qian nodded and moved to the back, walking alongside her mother.
Some of the vines were just ordinary plants, and Zhang Xiaoli still needed to use her Tang dao to chop them to clear the path. A small portion of the mutated ones automatically retreated the moment she stepped on them, clearing the way.
"Be careful!" Qin Shilei suddenly grabbed Zhang Xiaoli, who was moving forward.
That feeling of being watched had returned.
Zhang Xiaoli looked around and finally noticed a patch of mushrooms ahead that looked unusual.
In the center of those bright red mushrooms were several animal skeletons.
An Qian took out her short bow. "I'll shoot an arrow to see."
"Swish!"
She drew the bow and released the arrow, which flew swiftly towards a mushroom the size of a palm.
"Bang!"
The mushroom that was hit exploded, and a cloud of pink smoke spread out, forming a mist cluster about two meters in size.
"Could these mushrooms poison animals and then absorb their nutrients?" An Qian asked, frowning.
Now that they knew the enemy's attack method, everyone avoided the brightly colored mushrooms.
Subsequently, they encountered another instance of plants attacking people. Although not as fierce as the vine attack, it was sudden, making everyone deeply aware of the dangers of this forest.
Qin Shilei suggested, "Why don't we stay here for a while and let me recover fully before we move on?"
Just then, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching from ahead.
Qin Shilei and the others quickly hid behind a large tree. Then, thirty to forty people appeared in their sight.
The outer perimeter was a group of soldiers in camouflage uniforms, protecting four old men and a middle-aged woman in the center.
"How much longer do we have to walk? We've covered almost the entire forest these past three days, and we've already lost over twenty people. Are we supposed to wait until everyone is dead before we can leave this accursed place?" the middle-aged woman stopped and said with dissatisfaction.
"Deputy Director Huang, only after we've surveyed the east side completely can we choose the best escape route," the leading military officer said patiently, his brow furrowed.
*Crack!*
He Yuyao accidentally stepped on a dry twig.
"Who's there?" the officer turned his head towards Qin Shilei's position.