Su Xi quickly skimmed through the competition rules, then activated the radar device on her Intellect-Brain. After confirming there were no Xeno-beasts within several miles around her, she opened the communication interface and dialed Niuniu’s number. Indeed, as a top student in the Elemental System, Niuniu had also joined this competition.
“Mibao.” Soon, the other party’s projection appeared on her wristband. “Where are you?”
“In a forest,” she explained.
“Ah, I’m in a desert!” Niuniu pointed at the vast expanse of yellow sand behind her.
“Let me check.” Su Xi immediately glanced at the map and realized that beyond her forest lay a grassland, adjacent to the desert. Judging by the positioning, it was likely where Niuniu was. “It seems we’re not too far apart. I can reach you in about half a day. Let’s meet up in the grassland first.”
“Okay!” Niuniu nodded. After agreeing on a location and discussing some precautions, they ended the call.
Su Xi rummaged through her toolkit. Perhaps to accommodate first-year students like them, it actually contained a Hover-board—not an ordinary one, but the kind capable of flight, reaching speeds of hundreds of miles per hour.
She took it out and stepped onto it, immediately lifting off the ground. Surprisingly, it was quite stable. She had initially worried about being blown off while flying, but the Hover-board automatically generated a Force Field around it, enveloping the rider and completely shielding them from the wind.
Su Xi didn’t dare fly too high, staying close to the ground while keeping an eye on her radar. Even after flying hundreds of miles, not a single red dot appeared on the radar. At first, she was pleased, but gradually, she began to feel something was off.
What was going on? Weren’t Xeno-beasts supposed to be rampant on this planet? Why hadn’t she encountered a single one?
Although she wasn’t aiming to accumulate points, she still wanted to see what the legendary Xeno-beasts looked like.
Just as she was puzzling over this, her Intellect-Brain began vibrating frantically. Looking down, she saw it was Niuniu calling. As soon as she answered, Niuniu’s panicked face appeared on the screen. “Mibao, there are so many Xeno-beasts here! I can’t make it over.”
“What!” Su Xi exclaimed, about to ask for details when Niuniu’s camera suddenly shifted. The next moment, she saw a dark, dense mass—no, not clouds! Zooming in on a corner, she realized it was actually a massive swarm of Xeno-beasts.
These Xeno-beasts looked utterly grotesque: giant toads the size of small hills, with mottled gray-green skin covered in festering sores and suction cups; insects whose heads were densely packed with compound eyes, their centers housing retractable, serrated mouthparts; Lava Monsters resembling charred, cracked rocks, with dark red magma seething through the fissures and fiery maws capable of spewing flames…
Each one seemed like a monster straight out of Cthulhu mythology, especially with their piercing shrieks and roars. Even through the Intellect-Brain, Su Xi felt her scalp tingle.
Niuniu was clearly fleeing for her life, the footage shaking violently.
Anxious, Su Xi checked the map while shouting a warning, “Head north! There’s a mountain range there that might slow them down.”
Without hesitation, Niuniu turned toward the north. Meanwhile, Su Xi pushed her Hover-board to its maximum speed, racing toward Niuniu’s coordinates. The board beneath her feet whirred loudly, emitting a roaring sound.
Faster, faster!
“They’re in the sky too! Ah!” A sudden cry of alarm came through the communication, and the screen went dark.
“Niuniu!” Su Xi was startled, but the Intellect-Brain gave no response. She could only desperately urge her skateboard forward.
The journey that originally required half a day was completed in just two hours as she burst out of the forest and onto the lush green grassland. Sure enough, after flying for less than a moment, the previously silent space echoed with faint, sharp screeches—clearly coming from a distant place.
Without hesitation, she headed straight for the northern location. Niuniu’s communication still hadn’t responded, but fortunately, the positioning signal remained, so she wouldn’t lose her target.
After flying for another dozen minutes, as the target drew closer, Su Xi finally saw the so-called Xeno-beasts. With just one glance, she was stunned by the scene before her: in the distance was a black tide piled up by Xeno-beasts, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. At a glance, all she could see were ferocious and bizarre Xeno-beasts, densely covering the ground, while the sky was a dark, oppressive mass.
A chill ran down her spine as two words flashed through her mind—Beast Tide!
Forcing herself to take a deep breath to regain her composure, she checked the positioning and saw a blaze of fire not far ahead.
It was Niuniu, using her Fire-type Transcendent abilities to summon a massive wall of flames to block the Xeno-beasts. At her feet lay a damaged aircraft, and around her, a circle of Xeno-beasts lay fallen, their bodies engulfed in roaring flames that temporarily halted the advance of the beasts. The air carried the scent of scorched flesh.
But these were only a few scattered beasts; far more were behind her. She resembled a small shell on the beach about to be swallowed by a giant wave, and it was clear she couldn’t hold on much longer—the flames she conjured from her hands grew weaker and weaker.
“Niuniu, get on!” Without hesitation, Su Xi swooped down, grabbed her, and fled.
While the Beast Tide hadn’t arrived yet, they had to put as much distance between themselves and it as possible.
“Mibao… you scared me to death!” Niuniu clung tightly to her waist, her face pale, clearly terrified. “How can there be so many Xeno-beasts? Weren’t they supposed to be scattered?”
“I don’t know either,” Su Xi replied, maneuvering the aircraft as she listened to the thunderous roars of the beasts behind them, flying desperately. “Let’s escape the Beast Tide first.”
The aircraft was fast, but the Xeno-beasts behind them were not slow either. The two struggled to put some distance between themselves and the beasts, but completely escaping was clearly impossible. Su Xi had no choice but to plunge into the mountains.
The complex terrain indeed blocked many of the frenzied ground-based Xeno-beasts, but those in the sky were unstoppable. Moreover, the airborne Xeno-beasts were noticeably larger, with wings spanning several meters wide. Their flapping not only matched the speed of the skateboard but also stirred the surrounding air, creating swirling gusts of wind.
At first, the two managed to maintain their balance, but after flying for a while, they began to sway.
“Mibao, be careful!” Niuniu quickly warned. “Those Xeno-beasts are about to catch up.”
Su Xi also realized they couldn’t keep flying like this. Glancing down at the desolate valley below, she gritted her teeth and descended. “Let’s go down!”
With that, she flew downward. It was a barren valley, rugged with rolling hills but devoid of any vegetation. Su Xi scanned the area and finally spotted a cave beneath a cliff. Her heart leaped with joy, and she immediately landed.
After observing the surroundings and confirming there were no traces of Xeno-beasts, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s hide in here first!” Su Xi said, leading Niuniu into the cave. “We’ll leave once that flock of Xeno-beasts in the sky passes.”
“Okay!” Niuniu agreed without hesitation. After entering the cave, she carefully summoned a ball of fire and tossed it deeper inside, both for illumination and as a precaution.
The moment the flames ignited, a pained cry echoed from within—”Ow!”
“Ow~~ Who? Who threw that fire?” came an angry and somewhat familiar male voice.
The two froze.
That voice…