Chapter 23 Chapter 23 "What will a butterfly become when it gets fat...
Jiang Qing: [Known levels, types, and characteristics of exotic beasts in Dark Valley]
Phosphorescent Moths (Level 6, Mortal Rank): These large, social creatures are gray-black in color, with a faint blue phosphorescence emanating from the edges of their wings and abdomen. They are one of the valley's primary sources of light. Their primary attack method is to spit phosphorus powder containing a paralyzing toxin. Areas covered by the phosphorus powder briefly glow and continuously emit a paralyzing aura. The phosphorus powder is slightly corrosive to metal and energy shields. Weaknesses: Fear of strong light, fragile wings.
Shadow Leech (Level 3 Mortal): Prefers to lurk in streams or under damp rocks. Slender and swift, it attacks by attaching itself to living creatures, secreting powerful anesthetics and anticoagulants, and then sucking their blood. While its defenses are low, it's extremely formidable and difficult to detect.
Cave Spider (Level 4): Nests in rock crevices or caves, creating webs with exceptionally strong adhesion and resilience. While they typically avoid attacking larger creatures, they will defend their nests. Their fangs are not particularly toxic, primarily causing swelling and persistent pain.
Xueju Blind Lizard (Ordinary Level 4): A small reptilian creature with degraded vision but a keen sense of vibration and scent. It excels at swiftly slithering through rocky crevices and attacking with surprise. Its bite is incredibly powerful, and it carries a neurotoxin that causes local paralysis and severe pain. (Note: Recent exploration reports indicate an unusual increase in the number of blind lizards, leading to increased aggression. Caution is advised.)
Crystalline Mushroom Colony: Large patches of blue or green fluorescent mushrooms grow in parts of the valley floor. These are important energy node indicators, but may also be shelters for small exotic beasts. Some mushroom spores are hallucinogenic.
Zhao Peng: [.........That's it?]
Zhao Peng: [Did you prepare this or did you copy it from the internet? (Disdain)]
Li Xiu: [What Jiang Qing prepared is actually here. (Picture)]
The picture shows another black backpack. Although there are not many things in it, it has all the necessary protective tools and life-saving equipment.
Jiang Qing was once again moved by Li Xiu. She clicked into their chat channel and sent more than a dozen messages of "touched" and "sticky".
Meng Yanlang also appeared in the group at this time.
Meng Yanlang: [These things Jiang Qingfa sent are also very useful. Although the level of the exotic beasts in the Dark Valley is generally not high, they are affected by abnormal energy and are far more dangerous than creatures of the same level. We must be careful.]
Meng Yanlang: [Also, I've brought four energy boxes containing samples from the lab, one for each of us.]
One per person, so there's no need to argue about how to divide the rewards later.
Meng Yanlang was the initiator of the mission, so Li Xiu naturally asked him in the group chat: "When do we meet tomorrow? I'm kind of looking forward to it!"
Meng Yanlang: [See you at the entrance of the academy at 8:00 AM.]
Several people had no objection.
The next morning.
Jiang Qing and Li Xiu traveled together and were the first to arrive at the meeting place.
The sun above my head is very scorching. It's not even eight o'clock yet, but my scalp is already slightly hot.
Jiang Qing squatted under a tree, drawing circles on the ground with a branch out of boredom, while Zhu Tianba squatted beside her and caught ants for fun.
Li Xiu looked around under the sun.
"Come and rest for a while?" Jiang Qing raised his eyelids and called her.
"No need." Li Xiu waved her hand to refuse.
As this is her first time as a beastmaster going out on a mission, she is feeling a little excited.
The snow rabbit lay at her feet, its two ears suddenly stood up, and its black eyes looked to the left and to the right from time to time.
Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba felt the gravel on the ground shaking slightly. When they raised their heads, they saw Zhao Peng and Meng Yanlang riding their respective spirit pets coming from two directions.
The armored bull and the undead rat together were as big as a truck. The two beasts stopped in the middle of the road, blocking half the width of the road.
Zhao Peng sat on the iron armor, more than half a body taller than the undead rat. The sense of superiority brought by looking down made him feel comfortable both physically and mentally.
Although the Undead Rat and the Iron-Armored Bull are both immortal-level spirit beasts, his is more stylish than Meng Yanlang's.
It’s worthy of being Zhao Peng!
Although Meng Yanlang was not as outgoing as Zhao Peng, he couldn't help but have some fantasies in his heart.
He sat on the back of the undead rat, his body straight and his face stern. He was imagining himself wearing a red battle robe, with a cold and hard temperament, and being the legendary undead knight who controlled undead creatures.
The two of them were immersed in their own fantasies, posing in various ways.
Jiang Qing and Li Xiu were speechless watching from the side: "......"
"Hey!" Jiang Qing said, squinting his eyes as he shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand, "Are you two still leaving?"
Meng Yanlang and Zhao Peng suddenly came to their senses and said in unison, "Let's go!"
Jiang Qing patted the mud off his hands, picked up the backpack and put it back on his back, then raised his feet and prepared to set off.
Before he had taken a few steps, he was stopped by Zhao Peng.
"Are you planning to just walk over there?" Zhao Peng looked at the two people holding a pig and a rabbit with suspicion.
Jiang Qing and Li Xiu paused and turned back at the same time.
Meng Yanlang explained, "Wudong Forest is very large. The Dark Valley we're heading to is on its western edge, and it might take us half a day to walk there."
"What should we do then?" Jiang Qing asked.
Her pig Tianba is still in its cub stage, and Li Xiu's Xuemelting Rabbit is originally a small-sized spiritual beast, neither of which can be used as a mount.
"You still have to rely on me at this critical moment." Zhao Peng suddenly laughed evilly, "Meng Yanlang, you were the one who refused to team up with me the day before yesterday. Now you know you can't do without me."
Meng Yanlang didn't want to pay attention to him, but his undead rat did have limited space. It could barely carry one person, but it was not enough for two people.
In the end, Jiang Qing and Li Xiu rode on Zhao Peng's armored bull, while Meng Yanlang led the way alone.
The advantage of the undead rat lies in its speed. On the road, three voices would always sound from behind every once in a while, asking Meng Yanlang to ride slower.
Meng Yanlang: “…”
He controlled the Undead Rat and changed from running to walking, so that he could barely maintain distance from the Armored Bull.
Wudong Forest is just as its name suggests, with milky white mist filling the air all day long. The mist here is not constant, but sometimes it is as thin as a veil, revealing hazy light and shadows, and sometimes it is as thick as milk, with visibility less than ten meters.
Like now, when the weather is good, the mist in the forest seems to cast a fairy-like filter over this place.
The Wudong Forest has a unique and refreshing moisture and a faint scent of humus, flowing silently among the branches and leaves.
The dead branches creaked under the feet of the two beasts.
The closer we get to Dark Valley, the darker the forest becomes.
The undead rat finally stopped at the unknown location of Dark Valley marked on the map.
Meng Yanlang rolled off its back, took out his Lingtong, opened a photo, looked around carefully comparing it with the surrounding environment, and his sight finally locked on an unknown place.
"The Dark Valley is just behind that hill, but there is a cliff there and the drop is too big. We have to go around to the mountain pass below to get in." Meng Yanlang said.
Zhao Peng drove his armored car close to the hill where Meng Yanlang pointed, and looked down. There was indeed a huge deep pit underneath. One side of the pit was as dark as an abyss, but the other side was unusually bright.
"Isn't it said that the Dark Valley was formed by a meteorite from outer space? Why does it look like there was already a cave here?" Li Xiu asked in confusion.
A tiankeng would only have one entrance, which is on the top, but here there are obviously two entrances and exits. Looking at the traces of stone formations over there, it doesn't look like it was artificially carved, but rather like it was formed by natural weathering and rain.
"It seems like there was originally a cave here." Meng Yanlang said.
"Stop talking so much. Just go down and take a look and you'll know." Zhao Peng interrupted the two.
Jiang Qing deeply agreed with what he said.
Several people rode on the spirit beasts again and, based on the experience of their predecessors, went around to the cave entrance below.
As soon as he entered the cave, Jiang Qing felt that the surroundings were particularly familiar. The scenery in the photos posted corresponded to each other here, including wild ferns, pools of water, weeds, and a stone in the front left that looked like a gourd.
"We can't even find the entrance, how are we going to get in?" Several people looked around in front of the cave.
"Go this way." Jiang Qing pointed to a patch of weeds in front of the gourd that were taller than a person.
"How do you know?" Zhao Peng looked at her in surprise.
Jiang Qing glanced at him calmly and said, "Didn't I say I made a guide? Do you really think the things I posted in the group were just white hair?"
Zhao Peng: “…” He really thought so.
Next, it was natural for Jiang Qing to take the lead.
After passing through a long and narrow cave entrance, the four of them finally entered the dark valley. There was a different world inside. Patches of blue fluorescent light turned into star-like light sources, adding a touch of fantasy to the cave.
"Don't get close to those light spots. There are many dark pools here, and the water is very deep. It will be difficult to rescue if you fall in." Jiang Qing looked serious and spoke to the three people in a serious tone.
"This is still the outskirts of the Dark Valley. There will be post stations left by others along the way. They store some temporary supplies and first aid equipment for those in need to take." As they were talking, they happened to see a simple yellow tent along the way.
The tent was only knee-high, and inside was a special war preparation box with a code.
"There is a code on this box. How do we open it?" Li Xiu asked.
"Some people will post on the forum specifically, mark the location and leave a password. Whoever sees the post can successfully open the box by using the number left on it." Meng Yanlang took over Jiang Qing's work and explained it to everyone.
"But there are some people who may like to leave some riddles on the box, and others can open the box as long as they guess the answer correctly," said Meng Yanlang.
"Then take a quick look at what kind of box this is?" Zhao Peng squeezed in and squatted beside the two of them.
His fingertips lightly touched the lock on the box, and a circle of light from the formation created by the power of beast control lit up.
[Question: What will a blue-skirted butterfly become if it gets fat?]
Zhao Peng: Huh?
"What kind of question is this?" Zhao Peng frowned. "Is this a test on knowledge of spirit beast evolution?"
Zhao Peng filled in the four words [Phantom Butterfly] in the formation input box with suspicion and clicked OK.
There was a beep from the box, and something was clearly wrong.
"???" Zhao Peng scratched his hair, "What's wrong? I got full marks in Evolution!"
He repeatedly typed these four words on the box. The beeps echoed around him again and again, almost making him doubt himself.
He pulled Meng Yanlang, who was observing the surroundings nearby, over and pushed him down in front of the box. Pointing at the box, he said, "The final evolutionary form of the Blue-skirted Butterfly is the Phantom Light Butterfly. Say something quickly, don't you?"
Meng Yanlang's grades were also good, with full marks in every subject. Zhao Peng never denied his authority, and he needed Meng Yanlang to speak up to verify his answers.
Meng Yanlang felt dizzy from the shaking. He slapped his claws away and squeezed out a word impatiently from his throat.
"Um."
"What's the problem?" Zhao Peng's brows were furrowed so tightly that they looked like they could have pinched a fly to death. "The person who came up with this question must have never been properly educated!"
"How about... you take a closer look at the question?" Jiang Qing hesitated for a long time and finally couldn't help but speak.
Zhao Peng tilted his head and looked at her when he heard that.
She took the box from several people and entered the three words "Fa Fu Die" in the input box.
With a click, the lock opened.
Zhao Peng: “!!”
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