178: Chapter 178 Landslide and Counterattack

A warm, dense energy, carrying an indescribable vitality, generated within Qin Ce's body.

However, Qin Ce did not use it to heal his own body.

Instead, he pressed his fingers against the Qingluan, channeling the energy of Reborn into the Qingluan's body like silk threads.

The Qingluan's body began to glow.

It was not the white light from before that had nearly torn it apart with energy, nor the burning golden flames from its breakthrough, but a softer, more introverted cyan light.

The light seeped out from the Qingluan's bones, from its muscles, and from its blood, enveloping its entire body in a thin, cyan halo.

Qin Ce could feel that the energy within the Qingluan was undergoing a change he had never seen before.

Those energies were no longer violent or chaotic; instead, they flowed orderly through the Qingluan's meridians along a regular trajectory, as if combed by an invisible hand.

That trajectory was not the Qingluan's original energy circulation route, but a more complex, exquisite path carrying a mysterious, profound regularity.

The Qingluan's body shuddered violently.

Those broken bones began to reconnect, the torn muscles began to regrow, and tiny new buds sprouted from the roots of the damaged feathers.

At the same time, the healed body surged with stronger energy, flowing through the contract link and into Qin Ce's body.

Qin Ce's body also began to recover.

Broken ribs healed, twisted arms returned to their positions, and damaged internal organs were repaired. The wounds that had made him gasp for air were healing bit by bit.

This was a positive cycle.

The Qingluan's energy flowed into Qin Ce, Qin Ce converted it into the energy of Reborn and sent it back to the Qingluan; the Qingluan generated stronger energy after healing and sent it back to Qin Ce.

Both of their bodies were recovering at a visible speed.

Scars faded, blood and vitality returned, and their auras climbed.

But Qin Ce noticed a problem.

When their injuries had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent, the power of Reborn began to weaken.

It wasn't slowing down; it was weakening—that warm, vital energy was fading little by little.

This was due to the conservation of energy.

Reborn did not create energy out of thin air; it converted energy.

The Qingluan's energy flowed into Qin Ce, Qin Ce converted it into healing energy and sent it back to the Qingluan, and the Qingluan generated new energy after healing to send back to Qin Ce. The cycle worked, but there was a loss with every conversion.

Those losses did not disappear; they were used for repair, for strengthening, and for consolidating the foundation.

But a loss was still a loss.

The total energy was definitely being consumed.

So when their injuries were seventy or eighty percent healed, their total internal energy was already much weaker than in their prime.

The Qingluan's actual aura had dropped from Upper Bronze Rank to mid-grade bronze, and the wind-type energy Qin Ce could mobilize was only half of his usual amount.

The body had recovered, but the power had not returned.

At this moment, Qin Ce lifted his head and looked toward the southern ridge.

The Pterosaur's roar continued, and the sound of rocks shattering continued.

His team members were still hiding in that mountain crevice.

Qin Ce closed his eyes and sensed Tianlu's location through the contract.

Tianlu was deep within the crevice, still alive, still shivering, but it hadn't retreated.

He could feel Tianlu's emotions and the atmosphere around it—it wasn't fear, but a kind of persistence.

The corners of Qin Ce's mouth curled up slightly.

These team members, these old, weak, sick, and disabled people he had rescued from the refugee camp, treated, and trained.

Facing a Gold Rank Pterosaur, not a single one had run. They hid in that mountain crevice, using their own lives to buy him time.

"Good." Qin Ce said the word softly.

He opened his eyes and stood up, bracing himself against the ground.

The Qingluan also stood up; the wound on its left wing had not completely healed, but it could already flap it.

Qin Ce looked toward the ridge; the Pterosaur was still digging. It had already dug in at least fifty meters, the entrance to the crevice had been widened to several meters, and its entire body had squeezed inside.

If it kept digging, it wouldn't be long before it dug through the entire crevice.

Qin Ce's gaze rested on the Pterosaur for a moment.

Nine-Star Insight, activate.

Information flooded his mind like flowing water—Low-grade Gold, peak state, mixed wind and metal attributes, extremely fast, sharp wing claws, extremely high defense.

Weakness: Low intelligence.

Just this one?

Qin Ce frowned.

Low intelligence, what kind of weakness was that? Anyone could see the Pterosaur wasn't smart.

But what use was that in battle?

It didn't need a brain; its body was the weapon.

Looking further down. Status: Peak. No hidden injuries, no flaws, no weaknesses to exploit.

Qin Ce's heart sank.

He couldn't beat it, couldn't run away, and it didn't even have a weakness.

He was just about to close Nine-Star Insight when his gaze inadvertently swept over the cliff face the Pterosaur was digging into.

Then his movements paused.

That cliff face had already changed under the Pterosaur's continuous attacks. It wasn't just ordinary rubble falling, but a crack—starting from where the Pterosaur's bone blade cut in, extending into the mountain, getting deeper and wider.

Qin Ce's Nine-Star Insight subconsciously swept toward that crack.

[Granite Mountain Face]

[Structural Integrity: 62%]

[Fracture Critical Point: 50%]

[Current Crack Depth: Over one-third of the mountain's thickness, under continuous stress]

Qin Ce's eyes suddenly lit up.

The Pterosaur wasn't just digging into the crevice; it was destroying the mountain's structure. Every claw stroke was weakening the support of this cliff. When the structural integrity dropped below 50%, the entire cliff would fracture.

If a granite cliff dozens of meters high collapsed, it would be enough to crush the Pterosaur.

Qin Ce's gaze fell on the Pterosaur. It was intently digging into the cliff, bone blades cutting into the granite claw after claw, rubble flying, the crack widening bit by bit.

But it didn't notice the change in the mountain.

This was the benefit of low intelligence—it didn't understand what it was doing; it only knew it had to dig in and tear those little bugs apart.

Qin Ce took a deep breath and began to calculate.

The mountain's structural integrity was now 62%, and it was still 12% away from the 50% fracture critical point.

How could he make up for this 12%?

Qin Ce's gaze swept over the entrance of the crevice.

Then he saw his team members.

Qin Ce's eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

He contacted Tianlu through the Soul Talisman.

"Tianlu, have Sun Lie follow my instructions."

Tianlu crouched on a rock deep in the crevice, the nine-colored light on its antlers flickering. It turned around and patted Sun Lie's leg with its small paw.

Sun Lie looked down at Tianlu, stunned for a moment.

Then he felt the passive skill of his Pet Beast, the Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino, Heart-to-Heart Connection, receiving mental communication from Tianlu.

It was Qin Ce.

Sun Lie's pupils contracted sharply.

"Captain?" His voice was very low, but his hands were trembling.

Qin Ce's voice rang in his mind, very light, but very clear: "Listen to me. Everyone, prepare to attack."

Sun Lie took a deep breath and turned to the people behind him: "The Captain has an order."

Everyone went quiet at once.

"All fire-type and light-type Pet Beasts, aim at the cliff face the Pterosaur is digging into and attack with full force."

Jiang Mo was stunned. "Captain, hit the cliff? Not the Pterosaur?"

"Hit the cliff." Sun Lie repeated Qin Ce's words, "Do it now."

No one asked why again.

Lei Gang was the first to move. His Pet Beast released a ball of dark red fire light, blasting toward the cliff.

Feng Bao's Chi Tiger Beast opened its mouth, and a dazzling white beam of light shot out—it was a light-type attack, hitting the edge of the cliff crack precisely.

The newcomers' Pet Beasts also moved.

Some breathed fire, some shot light; although they only left shallow black marks on the cliff, no one stopped.

Sun Lie's Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino attacked last. Its lava bomb had the longest charge time and the greatest power; the dark red fireball, trailing a long tail of flame, accurately slammed into the center of the cliff crack.

Boom—!!!

The cliff shuddered violently, rubble flew, and the crack widened a bit more.

The Pterosaur stopped its movements, confused for a moment.

But it turned its head, its dark red eyes staring fixedly at the people attacking deep in the crevice. Its nostrils flared as it identified the scent that drove it mad, still on those people.

It let out a low hiss and continued to dig toward the depths of the crevice.

Qin Ce took a deep breath.

"Tianlu, Lumeng. Attack the Pterosaur continuously."

Tianlu crouched in the rock crevice, the nine-colored light on its antlers shining brilliantly.

A rune flew from the top of its head, passed through the narrow crevice, passed through the flying rubble, and stuck precisely to the Pterosaur's neck. The control effect of Lumeng was completely ineffective against the Gold Rank Pterosaur; the rune stuck to the scales like a piece of paper blown by the wind, not even causing a moment of hesitation.

But Lumeng was not just a control skill.

It had a second-stage effect—Defect Detonation. After the hard control ended, the rune energy would pierce into the Fierce Beast's body, detonating old injuries or innate defects.

The Pterosaur had no old injuries and no innate defects. The second-stage effect was invalid.

But it also had a third-stage effect.

Misfortune Entanglement.

A Fierce Beast affected by Lumeng would have bad luck. Attacks would inexplicably miss, it would suddenly slip while running, be tripped by vines while chasing, and a bird flying overhead could drop a pile of dung right into its eyes.

One layer of Lumeng had a negligible effect. Two layers were negligible.

But what about ten, twenty, or thirty layers?

On Tianlu's antlers, the nine-colored light flickered crazily. Rune after rune flew from its head, passing through the crevice, through the rubble, one after another, sticking to the Pterosaur.

Ten, twenty, thirty.

The Pterosaur's movements began to look wrong.

One claw missed, its bone blade cutting into a protruding rock instead of digging into the cliff, splitting the rock in two instead. It changed angles, another claw, and the bone blade got stuck in the crack, taking several tugs to pull out. It shook its head angrily, its neck hitting the top of the cliff, rubble falling down and smashing onto its own head.

Its luck was getting worse bit by bit.

Qin Ce watched those increasingly absurd mistakes, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"Do it now." He said to Sun Lie, "Everyone, ice-type, dark-type, prepare."

In the crevice, Sun Lie relayed the order.

Everyone's expression changed.

The fire and light attacks had just stopped, and now ice-type and dark-type? That wasn't the Pterosaur's attribute; hitting it would be useless.

And Qin Ce told them to run after attacking—run out from the other exit.

That exit led to the other side of the ridge, with no cover, no protection; running out meant being in the Pterosaur's line of sight.

Someone opened their mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing Sun Lie's livid face, they swallowed their words.

"The Captain said, run after attacking. Don't even look back."

Lei Gang was the first to stand up. His Black Iron War Ape was metal-type, not ice-type or dark-type, but he didn't hesitate. "I don't have ice-type or dark-type, I can't attack. But I can be the first to run."

He turned and walked toward the exit on the other side of the crevice. The Black Iron War Ape followed behind him, its silvery-gray fur gleaming faintly in the dim crevice.

Then came Feng Bao; his Chi Tiger Beast was lightning-type and couldn't attack either. He followed behind Lei Gang.

Then came the others. The team members who didn't have ice-type or dark-type Pet Beasts walked toward the exit one by one. No one asked "Will we die if we run out?" or "What if the Pterosaur chases us?" They just walked, walked to the side of the exit, crouched down, and prepared to sprint.

The team members with ice-type and dark-type Pet Beasts stayed behind. Not many, five of them.

The five people's Pet Beasts began to accumulate energy. Ice-blue patterns appeared on the scales of the Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino; that was ice-type energy condensing. A Frost Wolf opened its mouth, and cold air diffused from it. A Shadow Bat huddled on the top of the crevice, dark-type energy surging within it. A Nether Cat crouched on a rock, its golden eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Wait for my command." Qin Ce's voice rang in Sun Lie's mind.

Sun Lie nodded, his hand pressing on the back of the Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino, feeling the ice-type energy surging crazily within its body.

At the entrance of the crevice, the Pterosaur was still digging.

Its movements were becoming clumsier and more absurd. One claw missed, one claw stuck, one claw split a rock. Those Lumeng runes were like a layer of thick silt, plastered all over it, making its luck terrible.

But it was still digging. It had already dug eighty meters in.

Deep in the crevice, people were pressed against each other; there wasn't much space left to hide.

Qin Ce looked up at the Qingluan.

The Qingluan's wounds hadn't completely healed, and the wound on its left wing was still bleeding, but its eyes were bright. It looked at Qin Ce, its golden eyes holding no fear, no hesitation, only an eagerness to fight.

"Xiao Qing, fly one more time."

The Qingluan let out a clear cry, flapped its wings, and carried Qin Ce into the sky.

It flew very slowly; the wound on its left wing prevented it from flapping with full force, but it flew very steadily.

"Accumulate Phoenix Flow!"

The next moment, the Qingluan circled in the air, beginning to draw wind-type energy from the surrounding air, condensing Phoenix Flow one by one.

One, two, three.

The Qingluan's body was trembling. Not from fear, but from being unable to hold on.

It might not be able to withstand even nine Phoenix Flows in its current state, but it didn't stop.

Four, five, six.

Qin Ce didn't let it continue.

Six Phoenix Flows, plus his current state, was enough.

"Sun Lie." Qin Ce's voice rang in Sun Lie's mind, "Attack."