95: Falling into the beast herd

Gu Xiaoyue shrugged indifferently, "Our team has the number one on the Battle Strength Ranking, so why do I need to be extra careful? It's you, Senior—"

She deliberately glanced at Sun Jian and Zhao Huaiyao, "With two dead weights in tow, you should be extra careful!"

Xiang Quan's face darkened; he huffed and turned to leave.

He was only bringing the dead weights because of Gu Xiaoyue!

If Gu Xiaoyue had been willing to take these two, they wouldn't have been forced upon him by the principal!

Gu Xiaoyue lowered her head and giggled to herself; so, Senior Xiang Quan didn't want to bring Sun Jian and Zhao Huaiyao either.

The senior year homeroom teacher gave all the students remote controls to teleport out of the dungeon.

There were over twenty school buses this time, driving straight to the top of the mountain behind Nanya.

On the edge of the cliff at the summit stood a welcoming pine tree so wide that it would take ten people stretching their arms to encircle it.

Its trunk was as thick as a giant dragon, and its roots were intertwined at the base, possessing an inexplicable power and majesty.

The graduation homeroom teacher pointed to the roots of the welcoming pine, "This is the entrance to the Graduates Secret Realm. Students, please enter in an orderly fashion!"

Unlike the Freshmen Secret Realm, the Graduates Secret Realm was open to all graduates, and this time, eight or nine hundred students were participating.

Gu Xiaoyue's group was the last team; before they entered, Director Wu specifically exhorted them, "Safety first!"

Gu Xiaoyue nodded, and the seven of them entered the secret realm together.

Damn it—

As soon as they landed, they were in the center of a herd of fierce beasts.

There were over twenty mature second-tier and third-tier fierce beasts around them, and seven or eight mature fourth-tier fierce beasts.

There were even two mature fifth-tier fierce beasts!

With this lineup, even Chu Li and Shui Lingyu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Were they going to have to leave just after arriving?

The few fierce beasts closest to Gu Xiaoyue were stunned for a few seconds at first.

Once they reacted, they bared their fangs at them, ready to attack at any moment.

Gu Xiaoyue immediately erected an Earth Shield.

Then she summoned Xiao Qi, Qingqing, Xiao Jiu, and Little Bear.

Chu Li summoned the Azure Dragon and Fire Phoenix, while Shui Lingyu summoned his Fire Phoenix, Nine-Tailed White Fox, and his companion beast—the Jade Kirin.

Fang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Yanxin also summoned the Devouring Golden Claw Leopard and the Colorful Ice Butterfly.

Gu Xiaoyue's palms were slick with sweat, but fortunately—

More than half a month ago, she had enough points to exchange for a Huanpo Lotus.

She had originally planned to use it to help Xiao Qi advance to mature fifth-tier after reaching mature fourth-tier.

She was afraid that if they entered the secret realm and encountered a mature fifth-tier pet beast, it would be difficult to deal with.

Gu Xiaoyue had simply fed the Huanpo Lotus to Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi had slept for a full fourteen days before absorbing the energy of the Huanpo Lotus and advancing to the middle stage of mature fourth-tier.

And Gu Xiaoyue had also used the heavenly crafting stone to share Little Bear's Earth Shield skill.

Mature second and third-tier fierce beasts were manageable; Gu Xiaoyue and Xiao Qi simultaneously used Thunderbolt Spell and Xiao Qi's Lightning Strike.

They could take out four or five at once.

Shui Lingyu's Nine-Tailed White Fox and Jade Kirin were Mental Power pet beasts, and at the late stage of mature third-tier, they could cause the fierce beasts' consciousness to become chaotic.

Then, the two Fire Phoenixes would unleash Fire Sea, killing another four or five in one wave.

Some of the fierce beasts' attacks hit Little Bear's Earth Shield.

While Little Bear's skill was still on cooldown, Gu Xiaoyue would patch up the Earth Shield that had been cracked or shattered.

Fang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Yanxin's pet beasts were currently at the middle stage of mature second-tier.

They could fight mature second and third-tier fierce beasts, but they couldn't do much damage to anything higher.

Ye Wanrou and Chen Yixuan only had early mature first-tier pet beasts, so they had to stay honestly behind the Earth Shield.

After fighting for a long time, the mature second and third-tier fierce beasts had almost all been killed, but a few mature fourth-tier fierce beasts and two mature fifth-tier ones were still alive.

"How come these fierce beasts keep coming as we kill them!"

Ye Wanrou saw clearly that while Gu Xiaoyue and the others were killing the fierce beasts, two more would run over from time to time.

Gu Xiaoyue frowned; these fierce beasts, with different tiers and species, were actually able to stay in the same place.

And fierce beasts kept coming over.

Could it be—

There was something nearby that attracted fierce beasts?

She used her Mental Power to scout the area.

"Ding—Chenxing Stone detected near the host. Do you wish to receive it?—"

Chenxing Stone?

Gu Xiaoyue chose to receive it without hesitation.

It was said that placing a Chenxing Stone into the Yu Beast Space could increase the growth rate of pet beasts by 20%.

No wonder there were so many fierce beasts nearby.

If anyone had been here before, they would have avoided it because of the large number of fierce beasts gathered.

If they were unlucky and fell into the middle of a herd of fierce beasts like Gu Xiaoyue and the others, they would likely be in grave danger.

"Ding—Receiving Chenxing Stone—Completion progress (0%) Estimated time: 2 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds—"

It would take 3 hours to finish receiving the Chenxing Stone.

That meant that for these three hours, more fierce beasts would continue to arrive.

Gu Xiaoyue didn't dwell on it and continued to fight.

The two mature fifth-tier Poison-Scaled White Apes had not yet attacked, only watching from the side as the other fierce beasts were killed.

The Earth-tier Poison-Scaled White Apes already had some mature intelligence.

They were probably waiting for the other fierce beasts to exhaust Gu Xiaoyue and her group's strength before attacking.

But they had miscalculated.

Seeing that they were not in a hurry to attack, Gu Xiaoyue recalled Xiao Qi and Qingqing to the Yu Beast Space to rest.

Chu Li and Shui Lingyu understood and held the line for a while.

When Gu Xiaoyue released Xiao Qi and Qingqing, Chu Li was the first to recall his Fire Phoenix.

Finally, it was Shui Lingyu's Jade Kirin and Fire Phoenix.

The two Poison-Scaled White Apes didn't notice at first, until Gu Xiaoyue recalled Xiao Qi and Little Bear for the second time.

They finally noticed, but of the original dozens of fierce beasts, only a few were left now.

With Xiao Qi's Immortal Tier attack power, a mature fourth-tier fierce beast could be taken down in just three or four hits.

"Roar—Huff—"

The Poison-Scaled White Apes finally launched an attack, charging towards Gu Xiaoyue's Earth Shield.

Xiao Qi immediately used Thunderbolt Spell on one of them, paralyzing it for 1.3 seconds, while Gu Xiaoyue used Thunderbolt Spell on the other.

She could only immobilize and paralyze it for 1.1 seconds.

Chu Li and Shui Lingyu's Fire Phoenixes cast Fire Circle, trapping the two Poison-Scaled White Apes inside.

The Poison-Scaled White Apes were Wood-type fierce beasts, and their close-range attacks with poisonous scales were much more powerful than their long-range Wood Thorns.

However, Chu Li's Fire Phoenix was only at the middle stage of mature second-tier, and Shui Lingyu's Fire Phoenix was at the middle stage of mature third-tier.

The difference in levels meant their Fire Circle couldn't trap the white apes for long.

So, while they were trapped, everyone threw their skills at them desperately.

Even Ye Wanrou and Chen Yixuan summoned their pet beasts to attack.

Although it didn't hurt much, they knew how to aim; they targeted the skills at the injured areas of the two Poison-Scaled White Apes.

And the numbness and itching at the wounds were even more tormenting to the fierce beasts than mere pain!

As the team's main damage dealer, Xiao Qi's proficient-level Thunderbolt Spell had a short cooldown.

It struck the two Poison-Scaled White Apes left and right.

When the fire from the Fire Circle dimmed, they snarled and continued to charge towards Gu Xiaoyue.

The two Fire Phoenixes used the Fire Circle again to trap them.

This war of attrition lasted for a very long time, over two hours, before they finally wore the two Poison-Scaled White Apes to death!

The group recalled their pet beasts and collapsed to the ground together.

Gu Xiaoyue, who had just wanted to rest for a while, suddenly sprang back up; she had to collect the corpses of the fierce beasts all over the ground first!

After collecting the fierce beast corpses and finishing the reception of the Chenxing Stone, she casually threw it into the Yu Beast Space.

There shouldn't be any more high-tier fierce beasts coming, right? Gu Xiaoyue sat down on the spot and looked up, only to see a small hill not far away emitting a pink glow.

"Look, is there a treasure over there!"

The others looked in the direction Gu Xiaoyue was pointing, "Where?"