Chapter 37 Chapter 37 “The academy clearly declared it dead…
Zhao Peng was choked by Jiang Qing's casual words "Go talk to Teacher Shen" and his face turned red. He stiffened his neck, looked at Tiejia struggling in the pit, and then looked at Shen Zhien who was recording something with an expressionless face on the sidelines, but in the end he didn't go to argue.
If he loses, he loses. At worst, he can win it back next time.
Zhao Peng immediately ran to the edge of the pit, and tried to pull his pet out in a panic, feeling distressed.
The armored bull mooed in grievance, its heavy armor stuck on the edge of the pit. Its bulky body was completely powerless in the narrow space, and it had to rely on Zhao Peng, a single human, to pull it apart. The scene looked extremely funny.
The discussions around became louder, but this time it was no longer just questioning Jiang Qing, but full of ridicule.
"Did anyone see the skill that pig just activated?"
"No... I just saw it stamp its hooves and the ground collapsed. What kind of skill is this? Why haven't I seen it before?"
"No wonder he was the first to cross the thorny ring..."
"Is the White-Haired Scaled Pig so powerful? I have a younger sister at home, and she asked me to recommend a suitable spiritual pet the day before yesterday."
"Fuck, you hate your sister so much, you recommended white-haired scaly pig to her?!?"
"Jiang Qing's pig is just a mutant white-haired scaly pig, and it's still a cub. I think there's only one of its kind in the world."
"Why don't you ask her for tips on raising animals? That pig is growing too fast."
Squad leader Zuo Ye looked at the deep pit, then at Jiang Qing who was squatting and stroking Zhu Tianba's fur as if nothing had happened, with a complicated look in his eyes.
He had previously thought that Jiang Qing had strong defense, but he didn't expect that his attack was also so... well, unique and effective.
Shen Zhien closed the clipboard, the satisfaction in his eyes almost overflowing.
She didn't comment immediately, but just whispered a few words to Songyue. Songyue nodded, walked towards Zhao Peng, motioned him to step back, and then put his hands on the ground.
A soft but tenacious ochre light lit up, and the soil at the edge of the pit squirmed and took shape like a living thing, soon forming a gentle slope.
The Iron-Armored Bull finally managed to struggle up on his own, his body covered in mud, dejected and with his dignity completely lost.
"Zhao Peng, Jiang Qing team, the confrontation is over, Jiang Qing wins." Shen Zhien's voice rang out clearly, bringing this short but shocking confrontation to an end.
"Remember, the core of coordinated operations lies in observation, judgment, timing, and absolute trust and understanding of your own and your partners' abilities. Jiang Qing and her spirit pet cooperated well." This "good" evaluation, spoken from Shen Zhien's mouth, carried great weight.
"Next group, Zuo Ye, Song Shiduo!" Shen Zhien's voice sounded again, drawing everyone's attention back to training.
The atmosphere in the following joint confrontation drill was obviously much more tense.
After witnessing the power of the "weird" combination of Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba, especially the destructive power caused by Zhu Tianba's seemingly random kick, the other students no longer dared to underestimate them.
Everyone was extremely focused, trying to show the best possible collaboration in front of Shen Zhien and several teachers.
Jiang Qing took Zhu Tianba and retreated to the rest area on the sidelines.
She took out the kettle, took a sip herself, poured some more into her palm, and handed it to Zhu Tianba's mouth.
The little fellow stuck out his pink tongue and licked it in small sips, letting out a satisfied hum in his throat, with a relaxed and contented look on his face.
Zhao Peng helped Tiejia climb out of the pit and sat down next to Jiang Qing.
Zhu Tianba secretly opened his eyes and glanced at him.
The mud stains on Tiejia's body have been washed clean. It follows Zhao Peng quietly, with a sense of hard work and a bit of aggrieved look on its face.
Neither the man nor the cow noticed Zhu Tianba's little thoughts.
"Before today, I thought I had a good chance." Zhao Peng said inexplicably.
"Take it easy." Jiang Qing comforted him, "Hope, that's something only people in despair crave."
"Are you trying to comfort me?" Zhao Peng looked up. "But you're the one who showed up so suddenly. My original target was only one, Meng Yanlang."
"But..." Zhao Peng changed the subject, "When I think about the fact that Meng Yanlang is hopeless, I don't feel so sad anymore. Based on my experience, he can't beat you, Jiang Qing. That opportunity must be yours."
He looked at Jiang Qing, hoping she would say something nice.
However, he was disappointed.
Jiang Qing shrugged with a relaxed expression: "I think you're both wrong. The spots in the escort team should be reserved for those who need it more."
"?" Zhao Peng's eyes quickly scanned Jiang Qing. "You?"
"Of course!" Jiang Qing said frankly, "You and Meng Yanlang are not short of money."
Zhao Peng was choked: "You...you participated in the selection just for the money?"
"What else?" Her eyes revealed a hint of greed. "Who isn't after the Guard's resources? I'm just being more direct. Besides, raising pigs is really expensive, especially raising piglets."
Zhao Peng rolled his eyes: "Vague."
Zhu Tianba listened to Jiang Qing's words silently, and took note of them in his heart. His little nose twitched in the air, trying to sniff the faint "treasure aura" in the air.
Zhao Peng didn't believe how much money a pig could cost. No matter how much, it would definitely not be as much as the armor.
The conversation between the two ended, and the confrontation on the field continued fiercely. The light of skill collision flashed, and the roars of spirit pets rose one after another.
Shen Zhien's eyes were as sharp as an eagle, sweeping over every student and their spirit pet, recording their performance, their coordination, and their ability to deal with emergencies.
Songyue and Dafei stood at the edge of the venue like rocks, ready to deal with any unexpected situation at any time.
When the last group of students completed the confrontation drill, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
Shen Zhien stood in the center of the venue and looked around.
After several days of brutal triple tests of physical strength, endurance and coordination, most of the students looked exhausted, and most of the spirit pets were listless, with only a few maintaining considerable spirit.
"Training ends here." Shen Zhien's voice broke the silence. "Your achievements and performance have been observed by me and the other teachers. Remember, selection for the Guards is not a matter of luck, but of strength and determination."
After the words fell, the nerves that had been tense for two days seemed to finally relax.
The students, as if granted amnesty, dragged their heavy feet and left the training ground in twos and threes, carrying their spirit pets.
The air was filled with the smell of sweat, dust, residual source power, and a deep sense of fatigue.
"Jiang Qing."
Jiang Qing was about to leave when she was suddenly called, and Song Shiduo and several classmates appeared behind her.
Song Shiduo: "The official tryouts are the day after tomorrow. We're planning to go outside the school to get upgrade materials. Do you want to come with us?"
Ever since she let her classmate's spirit pet listen to her "inner voice" last time, the relationship between her and her classmates has eased a little.
The reason why Song Shiduo invited Jiang Qing was, on the one hand, because she felt that she had great potential to join the guard team, and on the other hand, at the request of her classmates, she wanted to ask Jiang Qing about her secrets of raising animals.
Jiang Qing thought for a while. She was tired after a whole day and didn't want to fight for any upgrade materials. Moreover, Zhu Tianba's upgrade materials only came from the beast core source power from another world. The ordinary upgrade materials in the wild were useless to it.
She was about to refuse when Zhu Tianba suddenly nudged her hand.
"You want to go?" Jiang Qing raised his eyebrows, a little surprised.
Zhu Tianba nodded.
The last incident made it clear that Jiang Qing couldn't take any of the shiny gold things in the academy, otherwise he would be punished because they all belonged to someone. But he could take things in the wild, because exotic animals were not human!
The plan works!
"Alright." Jiang Qing looked up at Song Shiduo and the others, "Count me in. Where are we going?"
Song Shiduo exchanged glances with the others and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's go to the outskirts of the Misty Forest," a boy named Sun Yu said. "Our pets are all stuck. We need the agility core of the Shadow Cat or the hardened scales of the Ironthorn Lizard as catalysts. The production in the Misty Forest is more stable, and the risks are relatively controllable."
"Misty Forest?" Jiang Qing frowned. "Although the danger level in the outer area is not high, the terrain is complex and it's easy to get lost. Moreover, the patrol team seems to have reported that the small exotic beasts there are a bit unusually active recently."
"That's why we need to form a team!" Song Shiduo patted his chest. "My bear can scout and provide early warning, and we'll only be active in the outermost areas. We need to fight quickly and decisively, and we'll definitely be back before sunset."
"Okay." Jiang Qing agreed.
Just in case, she sent a message to several people in the group to report it. If anything happened to her, Li Xiu, Zhao Peng and others could ask the teacher to rescue them.
The team quickly assembled and set out on the road to the Misty Forest.
The forest is in much better condition when the sun is shining than in the morning and evening. The concentration of the surrounding mist is very low, and the light in the forest is not that dim. It looks like an ordinary forest with denser trees.
On the outskirts of the forest, there are towering ancient trees with gnarled branches and low bushes growing everywhere. The air is filled with the smell of damp soil and rotten leaves, occasionally mixed with the calls of unknown birds and beasts.
As we walked a little further in, the atmosphere became noticeably tense.
A classmate sent out his spiritual pet, the Wind Falcon. It flapped its green wings and flew high into the sky, scanning the ground below with its sharp eyes.
Song Shiduo's bear was leading the way ahead. Its thick paws pushed aside the low bushes, and its heavy breathing was particularly clear in the silent forest.
The large spirit pets of the remaining people were also distributed on both sides of the team to guard. All the spirit beasts combined to surround the people in the middle to form a protective circle.
Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba walked at the back of the team. Zhu Tianba's little nose kept twitching, as if he was capturing information in the air that ordinary people could hardly perceive.
"The map shows that the Ironthorn Lizard's activity area is near the rocky slope in front, while the Shadow Cat prefers moist depressions." Song Shiduo lowered his voice and pointed to a rocky area in front.
"I hope I'll have better luck today and find the materials sooner. This forest feels a little more eerie than the last time I came here." Sun Yu rubbed his hands nervously.
Everyone stopped when they approached the edge of the rocky slope.
Song Shiduo said, "Let's observe the surrounding environment first, each of us will collect what we need, and then we will gather together to fight after the Iron Thorn Lizard or Shadow Cat appears."
"Okay." Everyone had no objection to Song Shiduo's arrangement, and the team quickly dispersed.
Jiang Qing took Zhu Tianba to the other side.
She had been here before when she took on collection missions, and there was nothing special about it.
The two were strolling leisurely in the forest, when suddenly Zhu Tianba stopped in front of a bush. He raised his little head and made a very slight, alert "kang kang" sound from his throat, no longer the usual lazy tone.
Its body was slightly tense, its ears were erected alertly, and its small eyes were fixed on the shadow of a huge rock in front of it.
"What's wrong, Zhu Tianba?" Jiang Qing immediately became alert and asked in a low voice.
She was very familiar with Zhu Tianba's reaction, which usually meant that it sensed some strong threat or abnormal energy fluctuation.
Almost at the same time, Qingyu, who was hovering high in the sky on the other side, also let out a sharp and rapid warning cry.
"Be careful!" Song Shiduo reacted very quickly and immediately ordered Xiong Zaizai to stand in front of everyone. His heavy body was like a wall.
"hiss--"
Accompanied by a friction sound, a dark green shadow shot out from the shadow of the rock like an arrow. It was extremely fast, carrying a fishy wind, and its target was directly aimed at Xiong Zaizai who was at the front of the team.
"It's a spiny lizard!" Wang Lei exclaimed.
But the condition of this thorny lizard is obviously not right.
Its body size is a circle larger than that of the ordinary iron-gray lizard. The iron-gray scales that originally covered its back now took on a strange dark green color, as if corroded by strong acid, with an ominous glow flickering at the edges.
Its eyes were not the usual amber color, but were covered with scarlet bloodshot. Its pupils were shrunk into a slit, revealing a violent and bloodthirsty light. The saliva flowing from its mouth emitted a pungent fishy smell, and when it dripped onto the ground, it actually made a slight "sizzling" sound.
"Roar!" The bear roared angrily, and its huge paw, wrapped in a brown-red source of energy, slammed hard at the attacking iron thorn lizard.
"Bang--"
A dull thud was heard.
Xiong Zaizai is known for his strength, and this palm is enough to smash rocks.
However, the mutant iron thorn lizard was only knocked back a few meters, leaving a charred mark on the ground. The scales on its back were only slightly concave and did not break.
It shook its head, seemingly not having suffered much harm. Instead, it was aroused to an even stronger ferocity. It kicked the ground with its limbs and pounced forward again fearlessly.
"The defensive power of its scales has increased! Be careful of its saliva, it's corrosive!" Song Shiduo's face changed slightly and he immediately reminded.
Worse things were to come.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss."
“Rustle, rustle.”
More dark green figures suddenly emerged from the cracks in the surrounding rocks and bushes.
More than a dozen thorny lizards in the same violent state with mutated scales surrounded them from all directions.
They let out low roars, their scarlet eyes fixed on the intruders, and the stench and violent atmosphere in the air was suffocating.
"Damn it! How can there be so many of them? Don't they usually live alone?" Sun Yu was so scared that his face turned pale. He commanded his spirit beast to dive and grab a thorny lizard that tried to attack from the flank.
The sharp claws scraped sparks across the mutated scales, leaving only a few shallow white marks.
The scene instantly fell into chaos.
The enraged iron thorn lizard has far extraordinary strength, speed and defense, and is fearless of death.
Although Xiong Zaizai was brave, he could not fight four hands with two fists. Soon, several burn marks appeared on his body from the corrosive saliva, and he roared in pain.
The shield of another spirit beast also began to crack under the violent impact and saliva corrosion of several iron thorny lizards.
The harassment from the green feathers on the head has limited effect, and sneak attacks can only cause superficial injuries and are not fatal.
"We can't go on like this. Their defense is too strong and there are too many of them! We have to find a way to break through!" Song Shiduo's forehead was covered with cold sweat. She waved a short stick condensed from source power to repel an iron thorn lizard that pounced on her. Her arm was burned by the splashing saliva.
"By the way, where is Jiang Qing?" She suddenly looked around, feeling that something was missing.
No one answered her.
......
At this time, Jiang Qing heard a series of collision sounds coming from the other side of the forest. She stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.
Just as he was about to go back to rescue, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Tianba's reaction was a little unusual.
Its little nose sniffed the air frantically, and its eyes kept scanning the cracks it found in the grass in front of it.
Zhu Tianba used his little hooves to dig the ground under his feet rapidly, making a "grunt grunt" sound, then suddenly raised his head, his little eyes fixed on an inconspicuous dark cave deep in the rocky slope, half-hidden by vines.
It nudged Jiang Qing's hand with its nose in that direction, and made a short and urgent "kang kang" sound in its throat, the meaning of which was obvious.
It's going there.
"Be good, let's go back and clean up those thorny lizards first, and then go with everyone, okay?" Jiang Qing squatted down and soothed softly.
Zhu Tianba then looked in the direction of the sound, but because of this, he pushed Jiang Qing even harder, until he even had to use his teeth to drag him.
Jiang Qing staggered as he was dragged, looked back, and prayed in his heart that Song Shiduo and the others could hold on a little longer, then followed Zhu Tianba into the cave.
The cave is deeper than imagined, and it does not go straight, but winds downward.
The cave walls are uneven, covered with sharp rocks and slippery moss.
The further they went in, the stronger the cold and chaotic energy fluctuations became. There seemed to be an invisible pressure in the air, squeezing Jiang Qing's spirit, making her feel dizzy and irritable.
Jiang Qing swallowed.
Zhu Tianba, who was running in the front, suddenly stopped.
Jiang Qing also stopped, took out the lighting tools from the bag he was carrying, and focused the light source forward.
The light pierced the darkness, illuminating a relatively open space at the end of the cave.
The sight before her made her gasp.
There was an irregular hole with a diameter of about two meters on the ground in the center of the cave.
The edge of the pit showed signs of being violently torn apart by powerful energy. A thick, disgusting dark green mist was continuously surging up from the depths of the pit, twisting and wriggling like a living thing.
When these mists came into contact with the cave walls and the ground, they immediately left traces of corrosion and emitted even stronger chaotic energy fluctuations.
More skeletons of strange beasts were scattered on the ground around the pit, and the skeletons were also covered with that strange dark green slime.
On the edge of the pit, there are several dark green minerals that emit a dim light, like some kind of biological crystals.
It is these minerals and the surging fog that together constitute the core of this pollution source.
Jiang Qing frowned. She had not heard Teacher Chen Ming mention that there were other beast core source powers dropped in the Misty Forest.
Could it be the fragments that were scattered and splashed here when the previous KDOG collided?
Jiang Qing held up a flashlight, illuminating the surroundings.
She walked into the cave and looked carefully at the dark green ores. Their shapes and characteristics reminded her of dark crystals.
However, the dark crystal is dark blue, while the ore here is dark green, which looks a bit... disgusting.
Jiang Qing took out his Lingtong, took two photos, and posted them in the group chat, captioning: [What does it look like?]
Li Xiu: [Glowing emerald?]
Zhao Peng: [Dark Crystal, but why is your Dark Crystal green?]
The signal in the cave was not good, and the message on the screen was still being updated, so she put down Lingtong, but she also missed Meng Yanlang's last message.
Meng Yanlang: [It's crystal green throughout, and looks more like an egg laid by a large exotic beast. Jiang Qing, where are you now?]
......
In the cave, Zhu Tianba jumped lightly onto a stone wall in the left front of the pit and began to dig the ground with his claws.
After a while, it picked up a square box and walked back and handed it to Jiang Qing.
The box was only the size of her palm and was made entirely of wood, without any patterns or decorations.
Jiang Qing weighed the box and found it was a bit heavy, but it had a lock on it and she couldn't open it for the time being.
Her eyes swept over the green ore and the lingering smoke, and she shuddered. She didn't want to stay here at all.
I put the box in my bag and planned to check it after I got out.
At this moment, another mutation occurred.
The dark green mist surging in the pit suddenly rolled violently, as if stimulated by something. Then, accompanied by a "gurgling" sound of mucus stirring, a behemoth that was far larger than any iron thorny lizard outside slowly stretched out its sticky and disgusting tentacles from the pit filled with filthy energy.
The air seemed to solidify into a sticky gel.
Jiang Qing's heart was beating wildly in his chest, blood rushed to his head, and when he saw the huge dark green tentacle covered with suction cups and mucus, which was wriggling and sticking out of the hole, his heart instantly turned cold.
No one is more familiar with that tentacle than Jiang Qing.
She recognized it at a glance as the tentacle of the giant vine king seal in the dark valley!
The academy clearly declared it dead, and even the remains were recovered for research!
How could it possibly appear here, and in such a... more twisted, more foul form?
The tentacles before him were no longer the pure dark green of the ones in the Dark Valley. Instead, they were covered with a layer of dark green slime that looked like rotting moss. An ominous light flickered around the suction cups, and every wriggling brought down a sticky, pungent, and smelly liquid that dripped onto the ore at the edge of the pit, making a "sizzling" corrosion sound.
The chaotic energy fluctuations it exuded were colder and more manic than those felt in the Dark Valley before, carrying a malicious intent that desecrated life.
"Zhu Tianba!" Jiang Qing's voice was a little distorted due to extreme nervousness. Almost instinctively, she picked up the white ball at her feet, and at the same time, the golden light shield instantly expanded!
At the moment when the golden light shield took shape.
“Bang!”
The huge tentacle was like a poisonous python coming out of a cave, with a sharp scream that tore through the air, wrapped in a disgusting fishy wind and dark green mucus, and lashed towards Jiang Qing's position.
The speed is astonishingly fast.
The heavy crashing sound exploded in the narrow cave, deafening.
The dark green mucus splashed on the golden light shield like a rainstorm, making dense "hissing" sounds, and the violent corrosive energy madly eroded the energy structure of the golden light shield.
"Damn!" Jiang Qing only felt an overwhelming force coming, and the whole person and the golden light shield were smashed away and hit the rock wall behind him heavily.
A sharp pain came from the back, as if all the internal organs had shifted, and a sweet feeling appeared in the throat.
Before the pain in front of her eyes stopped, she heard another extremely shrill scream and she subconsciously covered her ears.
The next second, the iron thorn lizards that were originally attacking Song Shiduo and his group seemed to have sensed some call and stopped attacking the people in front of them. Instead, they crawled around quickly in a twisted posture.
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