476: Leave the three of them to me.

"This is the fourteenth giant we have hunted. We obtained 9 Growth Essences and 2 Giant Puppets in total."

Inside a temporary camp, Wang Yan was discussing the recent haul with a group of Hua Nation Professionals.

Growth Essence was one of the main spoils that the giants could drop.

The effect of this item was simple: it provided a large amount of experience points, enough to potentially boost the current level by one-fifth of the required experience.

Of course, the Growth Essences dropped by giants of different levels varied; the higher the level, the less experience was gained.

Although this item seemed somewhat niche, the Growth Essence could be used by multiple people.

In just a few days, Wang Yan's level had increased by more than two ranks, something he had never dared to imagine before.

After all, for a defense-oriented Professional like him, the experience points gained were usually insufficient, making his leveling speed naturally slower.

The Growth Essence solved this problem perfectly.

Many even believed that the Growth Essence could quickly raise the level of auxiliary Professionals, such as Divine Craftsmen, Healing-type Professionals, and others.

These types of Professions were very powerful, but their leveling speed had always been the biggest issue.

Therefore, the value of the Growth Essence was self-evident.

Giant Puppets, on the other hand, were auxiliary combat items that could summon a puppet with a combat power of around 200,000 to assist in battle for ten minutes.

At this stage, this combat power was completely inadequate in the eyes of some experts, but its enormous size still played a significant role.

Wang Yan nodded, rubbing his temples, feeling a slight headache.

Since entering this secret realm, he had been searching for traces of the experts from Whale Fall City, but had received no news.

On the contrary, he had found many Hua Nation Professionals and cooperated with them to kill many giants.

He had even learned a new Holy Skill two days ago.

This should have been a cause for joy, but after the sudden disappearance of the experts ranked on the three lists, Wang Yan felt uneasy.

He vaguely felt that a shocking conspiracy was brewing within this secret realm.

The constant reports during this period about Professionals being wiped out made his frown deepen, forming the shape of the Chinese character 'chuan' ( river).

He always remembered the mission Gu Qinghan had given him: to protect the Professionals of Whale Fall City as much as possible.

Yet, he simply could not find anyone from Whale Fall City, which truly made him anxious.

Especially this morning, a feeling of unease kept throbbing in his heart, preventing him from concentrating on his thoughts.

"You guys continue chatting; I'm going out for a walk."

Leaving that sentence behind, Wang Yan walked out of the makeshift tent to get some fresh air.

He looked up at the gray sky and the massive giant corpse in the distance, letting out a sigh.

Just as he was about to wander around, he suddenly saw what looked like fireballs descending from the sky.

At first, he thought it was an illusion, but soon he felt a wave of intense heat.

Wang Yan's expression changed drastically. The massive stone axe appeared in his hand, and he plunged it fiercely into the ground.

The surrounding ground rapidly transformed, and then a thick rock barrier appeared, blocking the path where the fireballs were falling.

However, just as the fireballs were about to hit the stone wall, they suddenly shook violently and then burst into countless fragments.

In an instant, the area seemed to be showered by a rain of fire, and the falling flames ignited all the surrounding tents.

Some people ran out of the tents, caught fire, and screamed while desperately trying to extinguish the flames. When the fire subsided, their bodies were already charred.

"Enemy attack!"

In fact, everyone had already realized the problem without Wang Yan having to remind them.

Many people rushed out with their weapons, watching the direction from which the fireballs had struck as if facing a formidable enemy.

Suddenly, raindrops began to fall from the sky above the area.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and just as they were wondering about the cause, they heard someone scream and fall to the ground clutching his arm.

As more and more raindrops fell, people realized that the rain had an extremely strong corrosive effect.

Although, like the rain of fire, it wasn't fatal, the pain was agonizingly real.

"Brother Wang Yan, what's going on?"

A person emerged from the tent behind Wang Yan—it was the same person who had reported the findings to him earlier.

Wang Yan did not turn around. While controlling the rock and earth to defend against the raindrops, he quickly said:

"It must be the Plunderers attacking. With such a large-scale attack, I sense the presence of Clerics among them."

"Although saying this might affect morale, there is likely more than one Cleric!"

Hearing Wang Yan's words, the person behind him changed his expression, but quickly pulled out his weapon and said:

"It's fine. Although I am only a Pseudo-Cleric, holding one back for a short time shouldn't be a problem."

"Brother Wang Yan, since you are so strong, you should be able to handle one. By then..."

Before he could finish speaking, a loud boom was heard.

Following that, everyone saw a massive breach appear in the stone wall Wang Yan had erected.

As the smoke and dust cleared, a muscular man, naked from the waist up, appeared before everyone, staring at Wang Yan with a sinister grin.

He laughed heartily, like a hunter toying with his prey:

"A good guess, and you were right. We certainly brought more than one Cleric."

"But, did you ever consider that we brought three Clerics?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone trembled, and even Wang Yan gritted his teeth.

Three Clerics, even if they were all Low-level Clerics, were enough to pose a threat to him.

The muscular man rushed over quickly, and Wang Yan manipulated several stone spikes to jut out, but they were all violently smashed apart by the opponent.

Then, he raised his fist and engaged in a frontal confrontation with Wang Yan's stone axe.

Wang Yan's eyes were cold. Just as he was about to teach the opponent a lesson, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

He abruptly lowered his head. A sharp dagger grazed past his shoulder, leaving a deep scratch mark on the gear that had swiftly materialized on him.

Failing to land the strike, the suddenly appearing assassin immediately retreated, his figure slowly fading as he passed through a patch of shadow.

The muscular man who had been forced back wasn't angry. He shook the blood off his hand, and his wound had already vanished.

Following that, a slender figure descended from the sky, landing on the rock barrier Wang Yan had erected.

And in the breach the muscular man had created earlier, a man with fiery red hair appeared, a constantly flickering flame held in his hand.

At this moment, Wang Yan suddenly took a deep breath and looked at the extremely deep scratch on his shoulder.

"Four Clerics..."

Anyone capable of leaving such a mark on his gear was undoubtedly a Cleric.

He suddenly felt somewhat fortunate that he hadn't found the Professionals of Whale Fall City, otherwise, the losses today would certainly have been devastating.

However, he wouldn't easily abandon the people he had fought alongside.

He did not turn his head, but spoke to the Pseudo-Cleric next to him:

"You take the others and hold back the guy using his fists. If possible, try to kill him."

The man gritted his teeth, yet nodded heavily, but then quickly asked:

"What about the other three Clerics?"

Wang Yan pulled out the stone axe that was plunged into the ground, his voice devoid of any emotion:

"Leave the remaining three to me."

He had experienced this kind of desperate situation many times.

But this time, it was undoubtedly the most perilous.