Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1
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“Please present your Beast Tamer Badge.” The guard at the entrance of the secret realm said.
Secret realms weren’t places you could enter freely.
First of all, ordinary people weren’t allowed in at all. Second, the higher the level of the secret realm, the stricter the requirements for beast masters entering it.
However, if someone wanted to sneak in without meeting the requirements, there were still many ways.
As long as one was willing to pay a price, there were always contracted beasts with special skills that could help.
Qiao Sang, Lin Shi, and Yuan Jiewen each handed over their badges in turn.
The guard scanned them with the corresponding device, then waved them through.
Just as Qiao Sang was about to step inside, a voice shouted from the side: “Have you bought insurance? You must get insurance before entering! We at Renyu Insurance-”
Qiao Sang didn’t bother listening, lifted her foot, and stepped into the secret realm.
It was like a pebble dropping into water, ripples spreading rapidly, before the barrier quickly settled back into stillness.
Her vision went black.
In the next instant, the scene restored itself.
Qiao Sang found herself in the middle of a dense forest.
Whether it was because there was no sunlight in this realm or because the thick trees blotted out the sky, no rays of sunlight managed to filter through the gaps, leaving everything dim.
Fortunately, the faint ambient light, combined with Yabao’s dazzling flame wings, allowed her to make out the outlines of her surroundings.
There were no signs of people nearby, but traces of battle were everywhere.
Uprooted trees lay scattered across the ground, fallen leaves covered the area in a messy layer, and several Venomfang Worms lay fainted on the ground.
“Looks like the people who went in before us just left not long ago.” Lin Shi spoke.
Secret realms couldn’t be entered at will. When one team went in, there needed to be a time interval before the next group entered.
It was said that if too many people surged in at once, it could damage the passageway into the realm.
Qiao Sang was about to speak, when her ears twitched, picking up sounds from the upper right.
“Yap!”
At the same moment, Yabao also noticed the disturbance. Without waiting for his beast master’s order, he showed an excited expression, let out a call, and opened his mouth. A dazzling spiral of flame instantly shot toward the upper right.
“Venomfang!”
With a miserable cry, two charred figures fell from the trees.
Looking closely, they were Venomfang Worms.
This finally snapped Yuan Jiewen out of his daze.
He looked at the black-haired girl before him with a complicated expression, then pulled two anti-poison masks out of his backpack.
“Wear these. There are a lot of Venomfang Worms in this area. Their breath contains toxins, so even the air is poisonous. With these masks, it’ll be safer.”
He paused, then added: “I didn’t know there would be three people in our team, so I only brought two masks. You two can use them.”
Thanks to Lubao’s feedback ability, even the toxins of General-level beasts couldn’t take Qiao Sang down immediately. The Venomfang Worms were only low-level beasts, their venom couldn’t harm her at all.
Just then, a rustling noise suddenly erupted all around.
Damn… Qiao Sang looked up, pupils contracting, cursing inwardly.
A massive swarm of Venomfang Worms, baring their poisonous fangs, surged out from all directions at once. They filled the entire sky above them, swarming toward the group.
Even though she had faced similar situations back on Chaosu Star, seeing a horde of insect-type beasts suddenly appear still sent goosebumps racing down her arms.
Yuan Jiewen also looked up, his already pale face turning several shades whiter.
By his side, a beast with two sturdy legs, a mostly blue body, cat-like whiskers, and bladed scallop-like claws stepped forward with a serious expression, shielding its master.
Lin Shi glanced at the swarming Venomfang Worms overhead. Though her expression was calm, she suddenly stepped closer to Qiao Sang and said in a trembling voice: “Protect me.”
“Little Treasure! Gangbao!” Qiao Sang shouted.
“Xun~”
Little Treasure appeared, his eyes glowing blue.
A Venomfang Worm bared its fangs directly above him.
A drop of thick, purple venom hung from its teeth, about to fall less than a centimeter from Little Treasure’s head.
Suddenly, an invisible force rippled outward, freezing everything in place.
The venom stopped in midair, suspended where it was.
The Venomfang Worms hung in the air. They tried to struggle, but found they couldn’t move at all. Their eyes widened in panic.
“Gang Slice!”
Gangbao trembled, her feathers glowing purple, then shot out all at once.
Countless glowing feathers, like blades, slashed through the immobilized Venomfang Worms with overwhelming tearing power.
Frozen by psychic force, the worms couldn’t dodge.
“Venomfang!”
“Venomfang!”
One after another, cries of pain rang out.
For half a minute, the storm of blades continued. Finally, Gangbao spread her wings, and every glowing feather returned neatly to her body.
Little Treasure silently stepped back to avoid the dripping venom, his eyes returning to golden.
The swarm of Venomfang Worms fell from the air en masse, unconscious.
“Yap…”
Yabao looked at the scene, suddenly realizing why his beast master hadn’t ordered him to attack. These guys were just too weak…
Gangbao was only a few points away from evolution, once she maxed out her growth points, she could evolve into a Steel Sword Falcon. These Venomfang Worms were the perfect way to farm points… Qiao Sang glanced at Yuan Jiewen and said:
“I have resistance against poison, so I won’t wear the mask. You two should.”
“O-okay…” Yuan Jiewen replied blankly, staring at the fallen Venomfang Worms, his mind reeling.
Venomfang Worms might be low-level beasts, but to a C-rank beast master, numbers alone made them dangerous.
Most prepared teams would need several minutes to handle such a swarm.
But in less than a minute, Qiao Sang had cleared them all by herself…
Yuan Jiewen looked at her with awe, as if she were an untouchable powerhouse.
He had been wrong.
He had actually doubted her earlier, suspecting she only tricked him into coming by lying about having a beast with Healing Light…
Lin Shi’s eyes flickered with satisfaction. She extended her hand toward Yuan Jiewen.
“The anti-poison mask.”
Snapping back to his senses, Yuan Jiewen hurriedly handed it over.
“Which direction did you head last time?” While the two put on their masks, Qiao Sang asked.
“There.” Yuan Jiewen pointed southwest.
Southwest… Hair-Sting Scorpions, the ones that eat hair… Qiao Sang recalled the information she had researched last night. She glanced at her teammates’ hair and asked:
“Did you bring wigs?”
Wigs? Lin Shi stayed silent.
“I brought some.” Yuan Jiewen tapped the backpack behind him.
As he said that, he couldn’t help but glance at Qiao Sang’s tiny pack, wondering what it could possibly hold. Even if it was full of wigs, it probably couldn’t carry more than a few, right?
Only then did Lin Shi finally speak: “I didn’t bring any.”
Qiao Sang looked at her.
“It’s fine, just stick with me.”
Hair-Sting Scorpions, mid-level poison-type beasts. As long as we use one to control and one to attack, just like how we handled the Venomfang Worms earlier, it’ll work.
Lin Shi responded with a trusting “Mm.”
Yuan Jiewen instantly understood, among the three of them, the true core of the team was likely the girl in front of him.
The three of them set out toward the southwest.
Qiao Sang didn’t dare let Little Treasure use spatial movement too casually.
If it were only herself, it would be fine, but with a big client at her side, the one who could casually produce an S-grade Ghost Tear, it would be troublesome if they accidentally teleported into a spot occupied by wild beasts.
After all, Little Treasure had a history of such mishaps.
“Gang Slice.”
Gangbao flew ahead, scouting. From time to time, her voice rang in Qiao Sang’s mind, reporting that the way ahead was safe.
Even so, Qiao Sang didn’t lower her guard, carefully scanning the surroundings.
What Gangbao could see were only the obvious dangers. Many wild beasts lurked hidden, not immediately visible, like the Swamp Mud Men in the northwest.
Yabao maintained his massive form, his powerful aura forcing weaker beasts to avoid them, making the journey relatively safe.
“Gang Slice.”
Suddenly, Gangbao called again,she had spotted Hair-Sting Scorpions ahead.
As expected of Gangbao, after hearing about Hair-Sting Scorpions just once the previous night, she had already memorized their appearance.
Qiao Sang sensed the distance between them and Gangbao and said: “About 500 meters ahead is their territory. Get the wigs ready.”
“Understood.” Yuan Jiewen swiftly moved his backpack to his front, pulling out a long yellow wig to wear, while holding two more wigs in his hands.
After a thought, he handed a long red wig to Lin Shi with good intentions: “Here, take this one.”
Lin Shi looked at the red wig in his hand, then at the yellow one on his own head. After a few seconds of silence, she accepted it.
“…Thank you.”
“You should put it on now. We’ll be in Hair-Sting Scorpion territory any moment.” Qiao Sang reminded when she saw the client hadn’t worn it yet.
Lin Shi paused again, then handed the wig back.
“Why don’t you wear it? I noticed you don’t have one.”
The big boss… didn’t bring a wig? Yuan Jiewen immediately sensed an opportunity to show off, reaching back into his bag to fetch another.
“Who said I didn’t?” Qiao Sang glanced at Little Treasure.
“Take them out.”
“Xun~”
Little Treasure removed his ring, then quickly pulled out two wigs.
He handed the black one to his beast master, then skillfully put the pink afro wig on himself.
Yuan Jiewen froze, quietly withdrawing the hand he’d just put into his pack.
“Put yours on quickly.” Qiao Sang urged again.
“Out of the three of us, you’re the most likely to be targeted.”
The big client only had a high-level Silent Croaker Frog at her side, while Yuan Jiewen had a General-level Shellblade Behemoth. Most wild beasts preferred to pick on the weakest prey, they’d definitely strike at Lin Shi first.
Lin Shi stayed silent for a moment, then finally placed the red wig on her head.
Qiao Sang nodded in satisfaction.
Before long, they reached a foul-smelling swamp.
Strands of hair floated on the surface, black hair made up most of it. The depths below looked gloomy, cold, and disgusting.
“Lu Ai…”
Lubao wrinkled her nose at the stench, tugged the zipper of her pack a little tighter with her claws, clearly unwilling to breathe it in.
Several small Hair-Sting Scorpions lounged beside the swamp, staring intently at the trio and at Little Treasure’s hair, not the least bit afraid of outsiders.
“Be careful. The Hair-Sting Scorpions are all hiding inside the swamp.” Yuan Jiewen warned.
Glug… glug… glug…
No sooner had he spoken than the surface of the swamp began to boil. Black bubbles burst in the mud.
One after another, dark red Hair-Sting Scorpions, each crowned with a disgusting mop of reeking hair, leapt out, lunging straight for the hair of Qiao Sang’s team, including Little Treasure.
Yuan Jiewen quickly grabbed wigs from his pack, tossing them one by one.
The Hair-Sting Scorpions swerved instantly, pouncing on the wigs instead.
At the same time, Shellblade Behemoth slammed its claw onto the ground.
A water column a meter thick shot upward like a massive whip, lashing the scorpions that had clustered around the wigs.
“Xun~”
Little Treasure darted playfully among the Hair-Sting Scorpions, teleporting again and again, dodging their strikes with ease.
Lin Shi calmly edged closer to Qiao Sang, her voice trembling as she said: “Protect me.”
Qiao Sang tossed out her own wig and shouted: “Scorching Wind”
The Hair-Sting Scorpions instantly dove for the wig.
“Yap!”
Yabao opened his mouth, releasing a scorching gale infused with flames that swept up all the Hair-Sting Scorpions before him.
Although Yabao had only trained Scorching Wind to the early mastery stage, it was already more than enough to deal with a swarm of mid-level beasts.
“Hair-Sting!”
"Hair-Sting!”
The scorpions’ dark red bodies turned bright crimson as they shrieked, falling like a rainstorm of red back into the swamp.
“Sting sting!”
The smaller Hair-Sting Scorpions by the side, which had been ready to attack, were so terrified by the scene that they scrambled to roll and leap back into the swamp.
“Boss, amazing!” Yuan Jiewen’s eyes lit up, and without thinking, he almost clapped Qiao Sang on the shoulder.
…Boss? You mean me? Qiao Sang gave him a glance.
Thinking she was displeased, Yuan Jiewen quickly withdrew his hand and switched to business: “Next, we just need to use flying-type beasts to cross. But keep in mind, don’t fly higher than ten meters, or other wild beasts will attack.”
Lin Shi looked at Qiao Sang.
“I don’t have a flying-type beast.”
Yuan Jiewen froze.
As someone from the Central Hollow Region, where almost everyone had a flying beast, he’d never imagined that the big client’s teammate wouldn’t have one.
“It’s fine. We’ll just cross directly.” Qiao Sang turned to Little Treasure.
“To the other side.”
“Xun~”
Little Treasure straightened his slightly crooked wig, his eyes glowing blue.
The next instant, the group appeared on the opposite side of the swamp.
“Spatial Shift?” Yuan Jiewen blinked, then couldn’t help but ask: “Boss, why didn’t we just teleport straight across in the first place?”
Because I wanted to farm points… Qiao Sang naturally accepted the new “Boss” title and explained: “If we jumped straight across, the Hair-Sting Scorpions would’ve ambushed us from behind. Better to take them head-on and finish them first.”
Yuan Jiewen’s eyes widened in realization. So the Boss’s spatial shift couldn’t cover too far in one jump after all.
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