95: The Source of Mental Shackles

"Shadow Blade Wolf! A Tier 4 Vicious Beast!"

Zhou Mingyuan's expression changed abruptly, and he quickly crossed his arms in front of his chest.

He was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, his back hitting a crystal pillar with a heavy thud.

But the Shadow Blade Wolf's speed far exceeded expectations; a swipe of its front paw sent him flying over ten meters away.

It then pounced on him, opening its maw to bite directly at his throat!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Over the comms, Lin Qianqian's gasp was caught in her throat.

Liu Hongyan's hand, holding the binoculars, trembled slightly.

The Wu Brothers were rushing towards them.

Just as the fangs were about to touch Wang Kai's skin, a black figure, like a ghost, cut in between the two!

The movement didn't seem fast, yet it precisely exploited the Shadow Blade Wolf's blind spot.

"Chh—"

A casual hand chop sliced through.

After a sound like a blade entering flesh, the Shadow Blade Wolf's massive body suddenly stiffened in mid-air.

All six of its eyes bulged simultaneously, and a black line, as thin as a hair, stretched from its brow to its tail.

"Boom!"

The two halves of the corpse crashed into the crystal clusters on either side, and dark green blood splattered like a waterfall onto the glistening walls.

The entire kill was fluid and seamless, without a single wasted movement.

As Su Lei settled, not a single drop of blood stained the hem of his trench coat.

He lowered his gaze to his right hand, which was as clean as before, as if he had merely brushed away a fallen leaf.

He lightly pressed his earbud and said calmly, "It's fine now. Everyone, continue with your tasks."

Zhou Mingyuan sat on the ground, his face pale.

Another 0.1 second, and his windpipe would have been completely torn open.

He stared blankly at Su Lei, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, and couldn't help but cast a grateful look.

Su Lei looked at him too, but there was no blame in his eyes.

"You are very responsible, but you need to be more careful."

Zhou Mingyuan nodded quickly, then looked at the two halves of the corpse and couldn't help but whisper, "That move just now... wasn't an ordinary Martial Skill, was it?"

Su Lei nodded slightly, "Good eyesight. That is an A-rank Martial Skill, Ten Steps, One Kill."

This answer shocked everyone in the squad.

An A-rank Martial Skill—even in the Martial Alliance Association, it was a treasure of sect-guarding level!

Su Lei ignored the stunned Zhou Mingyuan and walked straight to the Shadow Blade Wolf's corpse, extracting a walnut-sized black beast core from it.

"Good luck, a beast core appeared."

"It's yours."

Zhou Mingyuan fumbled to catch the thrown beast core, swallowed, and cast a flattered gaze.

"No, I can't, this is too precious..."

Su Lei shook his head, cutting him off.

"This thing offers me very little improvement, but it greatly helps you all consolidate your Qi and blood."

"Since you chose to become my subordinate, there's no need to be so formal."

"If it had infiltrated Liu Hongyan's side, it would have been troublesome."

"You were able to discover the problem in time and investigate it immediately; you are a very responsible person. Lin Qianqian did not choose the wrong person."

After speaking, he turned and walked into the distance.

"Maintain vigilance."

"Be careful."

Zhou Mingyuan tightly clutched the beast core, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

There was the gratitude of being recognized, the relief of surviving a disaster, and a certain indescribable determination.

"Yes!"

He suddenly straightened his body, even though his legs were still trembling slightly, "I was careless just now; I will never make the same mistake again!"

...Listening to the conversation between the two over the comms, the Wu Brothers and Liu Hongyan's bodies trembled.

As newly joined members, they were originally high-ranking Martial Masters from the Western Military Region who had fallen out of favor.

Because they lacked connections or had offended powerful figures, they were assigned to insignificant, idle posts, spending their days with paperwork.

When Lin Qianqian's invitation reached their hands, the three of them barely hesitated.

But upon learning they were to explore the Kunlun Secret Realm, it was impossible for them not to be nervous.

They could very well die here.

If Su Lei hadn't intervened in time, Zhou Mingyuan would probably be dead by now.

But what shocked them even more was the commander's attitude.

In the military, a mission error meant confinement and docked pay.

Yet Su Lei not only didn't blame Zhou Mingyuan but instead bestowed upon him a precious beast core?

Lin Qianqian sighed softly, recalling the scene during the hunting competition.

Then, a beast core was also discovered, and Su Lei, without changing his expression, swallowed it directly... She shook her head, stopping her wild thoughts, and scanned her surroundings vigilantly.

This area was too quiet; even the faint friction sounds usually present between the crystal clusters had disappeared, as if the entire forest was holding its breath, waiting for something.

"Is it not ready yet?"

"Almost ready." Liu Hongyan bit her lower lip, her fingers rapidly adjusting parameters. "Once this is analyzed, we can pinpoint the core frequency of the Mental Energy suppression..."

Five minutes later, the spectrum analyzer suddenly flickered violently, and the projected light points jumped wildly.

"Found it!" Liu Hongyan exclaimed, her finger quickly sliding to zoom in on a certain frequency band.

"The Mental Energy suppression comes from the direction of the snowy mountain; it's an energy waveform never before recorded!"

Soon, everyone gathered around.

The energy spectrum analyzer emitted a faint hum, and the projected energy map slowly rotated in the air.

The projection clearly showed wave-like energy radiation.

Like ripples, it spread from the peak of the snowy mountain, covering the entire Secret Realm.

Su Lei's expression instantly became exceptionally serious: "Can you determine the center point?"

Liu Hongyan quickly operated the instrument, saying in a deep voice, "It's less than five kilometers from us."

"It's deep within that ice cave. The energy intensity is more than ten times that of the periphery!"

Her voice unconsciously lowered, "And... it seems to be breathing."

Su Lei nodded slightly, looking at everyone.

"Pack up your gear, we depart in ten minutes."

"Objective—the center of the energy vortex."

...The squad advanced towards the snowy mountain in a tactical formation.

Su Lei and Wang Kai led the way, Zhou Mingyuan and the Wu Brothers guarded the flanks, while Lin Qianqian and Liu Hongyan provided central support, their eyes constantly scanning every suspicious shadow in the surroundings.

As they delved deeper, the crystal forest became increasingly dense.

The enormous blue crystal clusters began to exhibit bizarre growth patterns, some resembling frozen giant waves, others twisted human figures.

A strange hum filled the air, like countless tiny crystals rubbing against each other.

Thirty minutes later,

The crystal cluster forest ahead suddenly thinned out, the twisted blue crystals appearing to have been violently pushed aside by some immense force, forming an unnaturally open area.

Dozens of corpses lay scattered on the ground—

There were Martial Artists from the Martial Alliance, and others wearing unknown uniforms; each had that eerie eye brand on their chest.

Wang Kai quickly went forward to inspect them.

"It's the reconnaissance team previously sent by the Martial Alliance Association."

"The fatal wounds were all... self-inflicted."

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