The well-trained members of the Langya Squad immediately avoided making eye contact with the beasts and launched a counterattack at once.
Only Mu Ting dismissed Sheng Xia’s warning.
Curious, she looked directly at one of the beasts and instantly became trapped within an illusion of her own making, standing motionless on the spot.
The beast pack split into two groups. One half advanced toward the Golden Lion Squad, while the other engaged the Langya Squad.
There were more than a dozen fox-like mutated beasts standing half the height of a person. Each possessed nine tails, every one nearly half a meter long.
Their fur was snow white, their golden eyes strangely enchanting. Sharp fangs filled their mouths, and each of their four limbs ended in razor-sharp claws.
Gu Ziyan was the first to attack, hurling several fireballs forward. The fox beasts charged directly through the flames without suffering the slightest injury, seemingly immune to fire.
Xu Yi controlled steel arrows and pinned several fox beasts to the ground, yet even with arrows piercing straight through their bodies, the creatures refused to die.
The fox beasts entangled by Ye Qingqing’s vines were equally tenacious, struggling continuously against their restraints.
These fox beasts possessed astonishing vitality.
Sensing something was wrong, Gu Ziyan immediately ordered a retreat.
As he pulled Sheng Xia backward, her heart filled with shock.
They really were Nine-Tailed Fox Beasts!
In the original Interdimensional White Paper, they were described as follows:
The Nine-Tailed Fox Beast was classified as a high-level beast. They feared neither water nor fire and possessed extremely powerful regenerative abilities.
Their eyes could trap people inside illusions, allowing them to kill their victims with ease.
Most importantly, each one possessed nine lives, with each tail representing a single life.
To kill them, all nine tails had to be severed.
After hesitating for only a second, Sheng Xia tugged on Gu Ziyan’s hand and quietly asked, “Class Monitor, do you trust me?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Ziyan replied, “I do.”
Sheng Xia smiled and quickly explained everything she knew about the Nine-Tailed Fox Beast.
Gu Ziyan’s pupils contracted slightly before he rapidly issued orders.
“Xu Yi, Shen Li, shoot their tails and pin them down. Xu Dayou, Ye Qingqing, use your blades and cut off the tails…”
The moment his orders were given, the team immediately understood.
Working together flawlessly, the four of them severed all the tails from two Nine-Tailed Fox Beasts in a matter of moments.
Once stripped of their tails, the beasts became weak and dying, making them easy to finish off.
At the same time, the members of Lucas Bruce’s squad were finally freed by Aria Luce.
Lucas couldn’t help feeling grateful that they had brought a mental ability user like Aria.
After the team had fallen under the illusion, Aria had been the first to wake him.
Thinking back to how one of the fox beasts had nearly slashed open his throat with a single claw strike, he felt a lingering chill.
Had he not regained consciousness in time and blocked the attack with his left arm, he likely would never have returned to the Latin American Federation.
Now that the Langya Squad had discovered the method for killing the fox beasts, the Golden Lion Squad refused to be outdone and eagerly sought revenge.
Tina Nice manipulated the wind into razor-sharp blades that sliced through the foxes’ tails.
Alex Swan grabbed fox beasts one after another and smashed them into the ground. With every swing of his fists, he crushed their heads into pulp, spraying red and white matter everywhere in a scene too gruesome to watch.
While everyone fought desperately, Jinbao’s nimble golden figure darted around the battlefield.
With a casual swipe of his golden claws, the fox beasts’ iron-hard skulls split open like tofu.
Before long, Jinbao had collected several crystals.
He didn’t even spare the beasts killed by Lucas’s squad.
Hiding behind Gu Ziyan, Sheng Xia was speechless.
As expected, when it came to collecting treasures, Jinbao was always the most enthusiastic.
By the time everyone finished off the last Nine-Tailed Fox Beast and began cleaning up the battlefield, they discovered that all the crystals had mysteriously vanished…
Jinbao proudly presented every crystal he had gathered to Sheng Xia.
Looking slightly embarrassed, Sheng Xia handed the crystals belonging to the Golden Lion Squad back to Lucas while giving the rest to Gu Ziyan.
“Um… sorry about that. Jinbao can be a little mischievous sometimes.”
As she spoke, she held down the indignant Jinbao, continuously apologizing to him through their mental connection.
Only after signing a series of unequal treaties involving future gourmet meals did Jinbao finally forgive her.
Gu Ziyan glanced at the crystals in his hand before placing them back into Sheng Xia’s palm.
“You earned these. Keep them.”
With the fox beasts dead, the illusion disappeared, and Mu Ting finally regained consciousness.
The moment she saw Gu Ziyan giving all the crystals to Sheng Xia, resentment filled her heart.
In previous missions, everyone shared the crystals equally.
Why should Sheng Xia get all of them?
Her face flushed red with indignation.
By now, most of her injuries had healed, and the swelling on her face had disappeared.
Sheng Xia snorted inwardly.
Her recovery ability was pretty impressive.
Then Mu Ting shouted in a shrill voice, “Why? She hid behind you the whole time and did nothing. Why should she get them?”
“It was Sheng Xia who warned everyone in time and prevented us from falling into the illusion. Besides…”
Gu Ziyan paused and looked around before continuing.
“It was Sheng Xia who figured out how to kill the fox beasts. These crystals naturally belong to her.”
Ye Qingqing, Xu Yi, and the others immediately voiced their agreement.
Not a single person objected to Gu Ziyan’s decision.
Just as Mu Ting was about to argue further, Lucas interrupted her by stepping forward with his own crystals.
Taking Sheng Xia’s hand, he placed all the crystals into her palm and said sincerely,
“Captain Gu is right. Sheng Xia, you deserve these. Thank you.”
Sheng Xia was somewhat overwhelmed. She glanced at Gu Ziyan, and only after seeing him nod did she accept them.
“Thank you.”
After a moment, she asked, “Um… does anyone want the Nine-Tailed Fox Beast corpses?”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Apparently, the little one was obsessed with crystals, while the bigger one was eyeing the beast corpses.
Lucas shrugged indifferently.
There was no way for them to carry the corpses anyway, and keeping blood-covered carcasses around would only attract more beasts.
Sheng Xia beamed.
Her steps became noticeably lighter as she quickly collected all dozen-plus Nine-Tailed Fox Beast corpses.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Beast was valuable from head to toe.
She had struck it rich. Absolutely struck me as rich!
Meanwhile, Gu Ziyan and Lucas had already agreed to travel together.
This dimensional realm was filled with dangers, and staying together greatly increased their chances of survival.
Besides, Sheng Xia seemed to possess extensive knowledge about certain beasts.
Traveling with her would undoubtedly improve their odds.
Everyone tacitly avoided asking how she knew so much.
After all, everyone had their own secrets.
With the two squads joining forces, their group instantly became much larger.
Sheng Xia happily chatted with one person after another, her mood exceptionally good.
Back at Shaolin Temple, she had barely had any friends. The fellow disciples were all sparring partners who would start fighting at the slightest disagreement.
There were very few girls in the entire temple, making this the first time Sheng Xia had gotten to know so many people.
Following closely behind her, Gu Ziyan listened to her chatting nonstop and couldn’t help twitching his forehead.
He had never expected Sheng Xia to be such a chatterbox.
…
The deeper they ventured into the realm, the more the landscape changed.
What had initially been barren wasteland gradually transformed into lush vegetation.
The team continued traveling until nightfall.
With darkness concealing whatever dangers might be lurking ahead, both captains immediately decided to make camp and continue their journey after sunrise.
Throughout the day, they had encountered no other beasts.
Only shortly before setting up camp had Xu Dayou caught two sand rats that had appeared out of nowhere.
Nothing inside a dimensional realm could be treated carelessly.
Not wanting to frighten the girls in the group, Xu Dayou quietly dealt with the two sand rats and buried them outside the camp.
Everyone had expended considerable energy that day and was starving.
After eating some dry rations, pairs of eyes stared longingly at the roasted meat in Sheng Xia’s hands.
Jinbao had insisted on eating beast meat, and Sheng Xia couldn’t bear to refuse him.
So she took out one of the Nine-Tailed Fox Beasts they had killed earlier, prepared it, and placed it over the campfire.
Ye Qingqing and Tina Nice each roasted one as well.
Taking various seasonings from her Spatial storage, Sheng Xia soon produced delicious roasted meat.
While swallowing her saliva, Ye Qingqing asked,
“Sheng Xia, are you sure it’s safe to eat beast meat?”
Sheng Xia nodded and muttered in confusion, “Didn’t everyone already eat it before?”
The members of the Langya Squad exchanged bewildered glances.
When had they ever eaten beast meat?
“The meat pies that morning were made from beast meat. It was from the one I killed in Kangcheng.”
After Sheng Xia explained, everyone relaxed.
With Gu Ziyan using his fire elemental ability to assist, the meat was fully cooked after fifteen minutes.
The men ate roasted meat while keeping watch around the camp, while the women sat around the campfire happily enjoying the meal.
Ye Qingqing let out a satisfied burp.
The members of the Golden Lion Squad practically devoured the food.
It had been ages since they had tasted meat.
As they enjoyed the delicious roasted beast meat alongside the fresh complimentary lettuce provided by Sheng Xia, they were so moved they nearly cried.
Good times were always short-lived.
Just as everyone was preparing to sleep, Xu Dayou, who was standing watch, suddenly shouted in alarm.
“Quick! Enemy attack!”
Nothing could be seen in the darkness.
All they could hear were rustling sounds coming from the distance.
It sounded as though a massive swarm of creatures was rushing toward their camp.
The members of both squads instinctively formed a defensive circle, weapons in hand.
Sheng Xia immediately stored all the supplies and tents inside her Spatial storage before Gu Ziyan pulled her into the center of the formation.
His expression turned grave.
Raising his hand, he launched a fireball into the distance.
By the light of the flames, they could see an enormous horde of sand rats charging toward them.
Each sand rat was as large as a rabbit, and their oversized front teeth sent chills down Sheng Xia’s spine.
She hated rats more than anything.
Stepping forward, Gu Ziyan created a ring of fire about ten meters away.
Moments later, the sand rats arrived.
They surrounded the fire ring and completely encircled the group.
The sand rats feared fire and stopped outside the flames.
Gu Ziyan immediately ordered an attack.
Using the firelight, they watched sand rats fall one after another, only to be replaced by more.
Lucas was on the verge of tears.
After surviving the nightmare of the sand scorpions, he couldn’t believe he was about to endure another nightmare involving sand rats.
Once he returned home, he swore he would pray much more often to the Goddess of Luck so he wouldn’t be this unlucky again.
By the time both squads had nearly exhausted all their bullets and explosives, they had only barely reached the outer edge of the swarm.
Their abilities were nearly depleted as well.
Yet even now, thousands of sand rats remain outside the perimeter.
Worse still, more and more sand rats continued gathering behind them.
Uncle Baza asked in a trembling voice, “What do we do? Their numbers seem to be increasing.”
“Why won’t these sand rats leave us alone?” Xu Yi asked in confusion.
Xu Dayou’s old face turned red as he replied in a voice barely louder than a mosquito, “Maybe… because I accidentally killed two of them earlier.”
Everyone: …