80: Chapter 80: Rock-eating rats

The nerves that had just relaxed instantly tensed up to the extreme again, and everyone's gaze shot towards the direction from which the sound came.

They saw dense, countless Stone-Eating Rats, like a black flood, surging out from every corner of the valley. Each one had sharp teeth and greedy eyes, and wherever they passed, the stones were gnawed into pits and hollows.

"It's a Stone-Eating Rat tide! Run!" Chen Jianyue shouted hoarsely, his voice revealing unprecedented fear.

Although the individual strength of these Stone-Eating Rats was not high, only comparable to First Order Qi Refining, their numbers were terrifying. Once submerged by them, even those in the Late Stage of Qi Refining would face certain death.

Everyone dared not hesitate for a moment, and they sprinted desperately towards the outside of the valley. Chen Jiancang was also running frantically among the crowd, feeling the tide-like aura behind him getting closer and closer, as if it would engulf them in the next second.

The speed of the Stone-Eating Rats was extremely fast, and in no time, they caught up to the back of the group. Several Stone-Eating Rats were the first to pounce on Chen Jianxiu at the end of the line, their sharp teeth biting fiercely into his leg.

Chen Jianxiu cried out in pain, stumbled, and nearly fell. He quickly circulated his spiritual power and kicked the few Stone-Eating Rats away, but more Stone-Eating Rats surged forward.

Seeing this, Chen Jianmo quickly turned back and cast an earth-attribute Spell. A huge rock rose from the ground, temporarily blocking the Stone-Eating Rats' attack. But this was only a temporary measure; under the gnawing of the Stone-Eating Rats, cracks quickly appeared in the rock.

Seeing this, Chen Jiancang had no choice but to take out several Gust Talismans and throw them at the Stone-Eating Rats behind the surrounded Chen Jianxiu. A strong wind was generated out of thin air, sweeping horizontally through the Stone-Eating Rat swarm, blowing them several zhang away and clearing a vacuum zone.

Chen Jianxiu seized this opportunity, broke free from the encirclement, and caught up.

The group continued to sprint for their lives, their figures weaving through the valley, their clothes soaked with sweat. Chen Jianyue shouted as he ran, "Run towards open ground! Don't let them corner us!"

However, the Stone-Eating Rat tide was like a huge net, tightening around them. Suddenly, Chen Jiancang felt his foot go empty; it turned out that a Stone-Eating Rat had bitten through his shoelace, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Jiancang Pill Master!" Chen Jianyue shouted, wanting to turn back and pull him up. But at this moment, the Stone-Eating Rats had already surrounded Chen Jiancang like a black whirlwind, and Chen Jianyue couldn't get close at all.

Chen Jiancang's heart tightened. He quickly circulated his spiritual power, forming a spiritual power shield around him, and also pasted dozens of Golden Body Talismans on himself, creating a superimposed golden shield.

The Stone-Eating Rats frantically crashed into the shield, making crackling sounds. After all, the Golden Body Talisman was a First Order High Grade defensive Spirit Talisman, how could the Stone-Eating Rats easily bite through it?

But the dense figures of the Stone-Eating Rats, one after another, pounced on the Golden Body Talisman shield. Scattered marks, like window frost patterns, appeared on the shield, and the entire Spirit Talisman shield showed a slight trend of stagnation in its operation.

Just at this critical moment, Chen Jianmo grabbed a large handful of First Order Low Grade Fireball Talismans and threw them towards the Stone-Eating Rat tide. The Fireball Talismans ignited instantly, erupting into raging flames that made the Stone-Eating Rats squeak and scatter, temporarily retreating.

These Fireball Talismans were what Chen Jiancang had previously refined for self-defense. He had originally thought that after refining First Order High Grade Spirit Talismans, these Low Grade Spirit Talismans would be useless, but at this moment, they proved to be of great use.

These Low Grade Spirit Talismans were most suitable for dealing with a massive number of low-level Stone-Eating Rats.

Chen Jianyue seized the opportunity to rush over, pulled up Chen Jiancang, and shouted, "Hurry!" The two continued to sprint with the group. At this point, they could already see the exit of the valley, as if that was their hope for survival.

But the Stone-Eating Rat tide did not give up; they followed closely behind the group like maggots clinging to bone.

As soon as the group ran out of the valley, they found that the open space outside was also covered in Stone-Eating Rats. It turned out that this valley was one of the Stone-Eating Rats' nests, and their numbers were even greater than everyone had imagined.

"What do we do?" Chen Jianxiu asked breathlessly, his face full of despair. Chen Jianyue looked at the dense Stone-Eating Rats surrounding them, his brows furrowed. He knew that this was a moment of life and death.

"Everyone, quickly get on the spiritual boat." Chen Jianyue quickly took out the spiritual boat and shouted loudly.

Flying with a spiritual boat in the Qingya Mountain Range was too dangerous. Not to mention the attacks from flying demonic beasts hidden in the clouds, flying in the air was more likely to attract the attention and attacks of Second Order demonic beasts.

If there hadn't been no other way at this moment, Chen Jianyue would never have used the spiritual boat to escape.

Hearing Chen Jianyue's shout, the group stumbled towards the spiritual boat as if grasping at a last straw. The spiritual boat emitted a faint light, like a beacon of hope in this perilous environment.

However, the Stone-Eating Rats seemed to sense the group's intention. They became even more frantic, surging forward like black evil waves, their shrieks making people's ears ache.

Several Stone-Eating Rats were the first to jump onto the edge of the spiritual boat, their sharp claws scratching the outer shell of the spiritual boat with grating sounds.

Chen Jianyue was burning with anxiety. He quickly formed hand seals, injecting streams of spiritual power into the spiritual boat. The spiritual boat trembled violently, emitting a hum, and a faint light curtain appeared around it, repelling the Stone-Eating Rats attempting to climb aboard.

The group boarded the spiritual boat one after another. As soon as Chen Jiancang stood firm, he immediately took out his storage bag and pulled out handfuls of the Low Grade Spirit Talismans he had previously refined.

He knew deeply that these Spirit Talismans were their life-saving treasures at this moment. Without hesitation, he threw them towards the Stone-Eating Rat tide. For a time, fireballs, ice cones, and rocks intertwined, exploding among the Stone-Eating Rat swarm. Large numbers of Stone-Eating Rats were annihilated, but even more Stone-Eating Rats surged forward.

Chen Jianmo wasn't idle either. He cast earth-element Spells, building earthen walls around the spiritual boat, attempting to block the Stone-Eating Rats' attack. But the Stone-Eating Rats frantically gnawed at the earthen walls, and the walls quickly collapsed under their biting.

The spiritual boat slowly ascended. Just as it was about to completely leave the ground, an exceptionally large Stone-Eating Rat suddenly darted out from the swarm and bit the tail of the spiritual boat. The spiritual boat shook violently, and its speed instantly slowed down.

"Oh no, it's the Stone-Eating Rat King!" Chen Jianyue shouted. The strength of this Stone-Eating Rat King was at least comparable to the Late Stage of Qi Refining, and ordinary attacks had no effect on it at all.

Chen Jianyue made a decisive move, took out his Magic Treasure longsword, and a sharp sword energy slashed towards the Stone-Eating Rat King. The Stone-Eating Rat King dodged nimbly, the sword energy grazing its body and leaving only a shallow wound on it.

The Stone-Eating Rat King roared furiously. It shook the spiritual boat vigorously, and the spiritual boat swayed violently. The people on the spiritual boat were thrown off balance, nearly being flung off.

Chen Jiancang was burning with anxiety. He quickly took out several Fire Cloud Talismans, activated them, and threw them towards the Stone-Eating Rat King. The Fire Cloud Talismans exploded in front of the Stone-Eating Rat King, and a scorching flame instantly engulfed the Stone-Eating Rat King.

The Stone-Eating Rat King let out a painful shriek. It released its bite on the spiritual boat and retreated in a sorry state. The spiritual boat took the opportunity to accelerate, finally breaking free from the entanglement of the Stone-Eating Rat tide, and flew towards the distance.