Mutated beasts wandering in the wilderness were mostly low-tier. High-tier ones each had their own territory.
Zhen Zhong threw out a fireball, burning a mutated beast to death. He walked forward with a knife, cut off a half-cooked piece of meat, took a bite—and immediately spat it out.
“Spit! Damn this is disgusting.”
He then sliced open the beast’s skull, revealing a marble-sized transparent beast core.
Zhen Zhong took it out and infused it with energy, sensing the earth-element inside.
“Gong Cheng, yours.”
He tossed it over. Gong Cheng raised a hand and caught it.
Ordinary beast cores were small and contained very little energy. Same-type ability users could absorb them to increase their ability level, while different-type users could only use them to replenish energy.
The higher the ability level, the greater the demand for beast cores.
In addition, sensing natural energy could also improve ability growth.
Liang Zimo took out prepared food from his spatial storage and distributed it to everyone.
Quan Xiaoyi, a Tier-4 Water Ability User, was short and delicate-looking, with lively eyes.
Her gaze secretly darted between Ji Chaoxi and Ye Jiming as she giggled to herself, as if thinking of something amusing.
Liang Zimo just happened to hand her food and asked in confusion, “Xiaoyi, what are you laughing at?”
Quan Xiaoyi immediately stopped smiling and shot him a glare, snatching the food from his hand.
“Go away, mind your own business. I can laugh at whatever I want.”
Liang Zimo frowned and walked off to sit and eat reluctantly.
Ji Chaoxi didn’t want to stay close to Ye Jiming, so she walked up to Zhen Zhong.
“How far is it?”
Zhen Zhong looked at Gong Cheng, the Tier-4 Earth Ability User and the team’s guide.
Gong Cheng immediately answered, “About two more hours. If we’re lucky, we can finish the mission today. But we won’t make it back to the base before dark—we’ll need to find a place to stay overnight.”
Ji Chaoxi nodded and sat nearby, thinking.
Staying outside at night… that was actually good for her.
She could use the darkness to escape.
The wilderness at night was dangerous, but she could communicate with plants and avoid threats.
Once she entered the wilderness, Ye Jiming would never find her again.
At that thought, she quietly relaxed.
Then she felt a gaze on her.
She looked up instinctively.
Ye Jiming had appeared beside her at some point, staring at her with dark, heavy eyes—as if he could see through everything she was thinking.
A chill ran down her spine.
Ji Chaoxi lowered her head and pretended to eat.
After replenishing their stamina, the group continued forward. As expected, in about two hours, they reached the territory of the Rank-5 Mutated Beast.
There were no low-tier beasts here at all. The Rank-5 beast ruled this land like a sovereign.
Liang Zimo, still young and easygoing, said to Ye Jiming, “You stay with me. Don’t run around.”
Ye Jiming didn’t respond. His eyes were fixed on Ji Chaoxi’s slender figure ahead, already engaged in battle.
The team immediately went all out.
Liang Zimo raised a rocket launcher, used spatial transfer, and detonated it directly in front of the beast’s eye.
The beast roared in pain.
Gong Cheng controlled the earth, binding its limbs.
Zhen Zhong’s fireballs rained down like meteors.
Quan Xiaoyi condensed a four-meter water arrow and shouted, “Let’s kill it!”
The water arrow pierced through the beast, dealing heavy damage.
The Rank-5 Mutated Beast opened its mouth and gathered a terrifying black energy sphere filled with dark aura.
Zhen Zhong shouted, “F*ck! Dark-type! Dodge!”
Ji Chaoxi, focused on support and healing, stood farther away. She quickly released three vines that wrapped around three teammates and pulled them back out of range.
The vines tightened, and all four of them retreated rapidly together.
The dark-element attack exploded into a black mushroom cloud.
After a moment, everything quieted.
Liang Zimo grabbed Ye Jiming tightly, dragging him forward several steps before finally letting go, exhausted.
“Hey, don’t worry. With Gong Cheng here, they’ll be fine.”
He immediately fired another shot to stop the escaping beast.
The ground bulged.
Gong Cheng emerged from the earth with the others, coughing out soil.
Ji Chaoxi protected herself with vines and was relatively unharmed.
Moments later, Zhen Zhong burst out of the dirt.
“Damn it, don’t let it escape!”
Ji Chaoxi used healing ability. The group’s injuries quickly recovered.
With healing and coordinated attacks, they fought without restraint.
Within minutes, the Rank-5 Mutated Beast finally fell under Quan Xiaoyi’s final water strike.
Gong Cheng gave her a thumbs-up. “A real heroine. Impressive!”
Quan Xiaoyi lifted her chin proudly. “Don’t fall for me.”
Everyone laughed and rested while Liang Zimo stored the beast corpse.
Ji Chaoxi was recovering her energy when she felt someone approach.
She looked up.
Ye Jiming crouched in front of her.
“Are you injured?”
“No.” Her reply was short, clearly unwilling to engage.
After a moment of silence, Ye Jiming suddenly lifted her into his arms.
Ji Chaoxi was startled and instinctively grabbed his shoulders.
“Ye Jiming…”
“Don’t move. Or I’ll kiss you here.”
A blatant threat.
He had stopped pretending from last night onward.
Ji Chaoxi pressed her lips together and stopped struggling.
The others only smiled knowingly. It wasn’t the first time they had seen this.
Before, when Ji Chaoxi brought Ye Jiming on missions, she would make him carry her when she was tired, even forcing him to crawl on the ground like a dog for entertainment.
Gong Cheng said, “There’s a village less than two hours ahead. We’ll stay there tonight.”
Zhen Zhong nodded. “Alright, lead the way.”
Liang Zimo handed out water bottles to replenish everyone’s hydration.
Quan Xiaoyi glanced at Ji Chaoxi being carried behind them, her eyes sparkling as she clearly began inventing stories in her head.
They arrived at a ruined village and found a building that could be used. Everyone worked together—setting up sonic interference devices, clearing weeds, cleaning rooms, and making fire.
Ji Chaoxi was pulling weeds in the yard when Ye Jiming followed her closely, radiating silent pressure.
She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
Tonight, she had to leave.
This Ye Jiming was not normal.
On the way back, she had observed him carefully. Carrying her for two hours without even breathing heavily—this was not something an ordinary non-awakened person could do.
And last night… that madness that felt like he truly wanted to kill her.
All signs pointed to one thing:
He had already awakened abilities—but was hiding it.
Even more disturbing, she couldn’t sense any energy fluctuation from him at all.
That was wrong.
Very wrong.
She had to leave immediately.
She didn’t want to be thrown into a Mutated Beast Horde again, living every moment under the shadow of death.