27: Chapter 27 Everyone was dumbfounded, physical body directly confronting an eighth-level pig

Lin Qi's alloy dagger flashed, slicing through the wrist-thick thorns blocking his path as easily as peeling an apple. The cuts were as smooth as a mirror.

Zhang Wei followed behind, holding a wooden stick, looking left and right.

"Brother Qi, how much did this dagger cost? It looks pretty sharp."

"Fifty."

Lin Qi didn't look back. His steps were steady, landing firmly on the ground, avoiding all the dead branches and leaves.

"Fifty? Dollars?"

"RMB, from a street stall."

Zhang Wei's mouth twitched. A fifty-yuan dagger that could cut through hardwood like tofu? This was clearly a matter of force-application technique.

The team Advanced silently for five hundred meters.

It was too quiet all around. The previously audible insect chirps were gone. Even the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves became very faint, as if suppressed by something.

Lin Qi suddenly stopped. He stood in front of an ancient tree that required three people to hug, and raised a hand to signal a halt.

"Why stop?" Li Shaobai frowned from behind, spinning his long sword. "There are no traps ahead. My Eagle Eye sees it very clearly."

Lin Qi ignored him. He reached out and touched a gash on the ancient tree, two meters off the ground.

There were three parallel claw marks, five centimeters deep, with rough edges and upturned bark. Dark red resin seeped from the wound, already half-congealed.

Lin Qi leaned in to smell it. "Pine resin, and a hint of… a fishy stench."

He crouched down and rummaged through a pile of waist-high weeds at the base of the tree.

"Ugh—" Several girls who had gathered to watch gagged, covering their mouths.

Beneath the pile of weeds was a huge pile of excrement. It was still steaming. Mixed inside were white bone fragments and some undigested fur.

Lin Qi expressionlessly used his dagger to poke at the heap, carefully examining its internal structure.

"What kind of perverted hobby is this?" Wang Gang stepped back in disgust. "Lin Qi, are you sick?"

Lin Qi stood up and wiped his dagger on the grass.

"The core temperature of the excrement is about forty degrees, and the surface dryness is low, meaning it left less than twenty minutes ago."

He pointed to the pile of bone fragments. "That's the leg bone of a Wind Blade Wolf. Looking at the fracture surface, it was chewed directly. The bone density of a Wind Blade Wolf is very high; whatever could chew this up has a bite force of at least two thousand pounds."

Lin Qi turned to look at Instructor Su Qing. "Instructor, I suggest we change course. We are in the territory of this thing, and it is very hungry right now, currently foraging."

Instructor Su Qing raised an eyebrow, and the tablet in her hand lit up. The screen showed that this area was a green safe zone.

"According to intelligence, there are only some low-level herbivorous Source Beasts and small predators here. There is no record of large, strength-type Source Beasts."

Instructor Su Qing's fingers tapped on the screen a few times. "It might be an Advanced monster passing through, or the data update is lagging."

"Data lag gets people killed." Lin Qi sheathed his dagger back at his waist. "I don't recommend betting lives on probability."

Li Shaobai sneered. "Scared already? Since it's a safe zone, even if there is a monster, how strong could it be? It's just right for us to practice." He looked at Lin Qi with contempt. "If you're scared, you can hide in the back."

Lin Qi looked at Li Shaobai as if looking at a dead man. "Fine."

Lin Qi moved to the side, clearing the path. "Then you go first."

Li Shaobai choked, snorted coldly, and raised his sword to move forward.

Just then, the ground trembled. It was very slight, as if a heavy truck had driven by in the distance. The leaves on the trees fell with a rustle.

Lin Qi's pupils shrank. Not in front. It was from the side.

"Fatty, get down!"

Lin Qi shouted in a low voice, his body tensing up, arching his back like a startled leopard.

Zhang Wei obeyed Lin Qi's words absolutely. Without thinking, he threw himself onto the ground like a starving dog, hugging his head with both hands.

Rumble—

The ground vibration became violent. Heavy footsteps sounded like dense drumbeats, coming from the right flank of the team. That was the weakest point of the defense, where several mage-class girls were standing.

"Enemy attack! Defensive formation!" Instructor Su Qing's face changed drastically, and she roared, her body turning into an afterimage as she rushed to the right flank.

Too late.

A huge black afterimage smashed through the waist-high bushes. Dead branches and leaves flew everywhere.

The thing was too fast and too large, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression, like an out-of-control dump truck crashing into the crowd.

"Ah!" Screams erupted.

The two mage girls didn't even have time to chant spells, only managing to erect a thin magic shield.

Bang!

The magic shield shattered like glass.

The two girls flew out seven or eight meters like bowling pins, slamming heavily into a tree trunk, sliding down limply, their condition unknown.

The black shadow finally stopped.

It was a huge wild boar with a shoulder height of over two meters. Its whole body was covered in black bristles like steel needles, and its two tusks were curved like knives, with bits of flesh from an unknown creature hanging on them. Its eyes were blood-red, and two streams of white air puffed out of its nostrils.

A bright red warning box popped up on Instructor Su Qing's tablet.

[Mutated Tusk War Boar]

[Rank: LV.8]

[Skills: Savage Charge, Steel Bristle Protection, Bloodthirsty Rage]

"LV.8?" The radar in Wang Gang's hand dropped to the ground. "Isn't this a low-level zone? How could there be such a monster!"

An LV.8 Source Beast was a disaster for this group of students whose average Rank was below LV.3.

The War Boar shook its head, seemingly unsatisfied with the impact. It turned around, its blood-red eyes scanning the crowd. Finally, it locked onto the few girls who were still trembling.

Pick the soft persimmons first. This was the instinct of a beast.

"Beast!" Instructor Su Qing arrived. The dagger in her hand shimmered with blue light, stabbing directly at the War Boar's left eye.

Shadow Dancer skill: Backstab (Variation).

The War Boar reacted extremely quickly, violently shaking its head.

Clang!

The dagger stabbed into the tusk, sparking a series of flashes.

The immense force made Instructor Su Qing's wrist go numb, and she was pushed back several meters by the counter-shock.

"Skin is too thick, can't stab in!" Instructor Su Qing's expression was ugly. This pig's defense was at least five times that of an ordinary Wind Blade Wolf.

The War Boar was enraged. It let out a roar, digging a deep pit in the ground with its front hooves. Its body crouched slightly, muscles tensed. This was the precursor to a charge.

The target was those few girls who were already frightened silly, having forgotten even to run.

"Run!" Li Shaobai shouted, but the sword in his hand was trembling. This level of pressure made him lack even the courage to swing his sword.

The distance was too close. Less than ten meters. Once it charged, those girls would be trampled into meat paste.

No one dared to move. Except for one person.

A figure walked out from the side, blocking the path between the War Boar and the girls.

No armor, no shield. Just a black tank top soaked in sweat, and that lean, muscular physique.

Lin Qi.

He stood there, appearing exceptionally tiny compared to the two-meter-tall War Boar.

"Brother Qi! What are you doing! That's an LV.8!" Zhang Wei shouted from the ground, his voice cracking.

Lin Qi didn't look back. He spread his feet, standing with one in front and one behind. His center of gravity sank. He slowly raised his hands, assuming a strange stance.

It wasn't the military boxing taught at school, nor was it any fancy professional skill. It was just a plain and simple pile-standing stance.

Hunyuan Pile.

"Instructor Su, you said just now that data is dead, but people are alive." Lin Qi looked at the War Boar that was currently gathering power, a crazy arc appearing on the corner of his mouth.

"This pig, I'll take it."

"Roar!"

The War Boar moved. Carrying a fishy wind and dust, like a moving small mountain, it slammed fiercely toward the human who didn't know life from death.

Lin Qi took a deep breath, his chest rising high. Every muscle in his body seemed to turn into steel at this moment.

Skin Refining · Golden Bell Cover.

"Come!" Lin Qi roared, not retreating but advancing, actively meeting those two terrifying tusks.