Chapter 42

At this moment, the massive flame image above An Ying's head had already been shattered by the ice pillar.

Nie Tian noticed that the dense, white, cold mist around them was continuously converging towards the ice pillar.

This was the glacial zone, the long-term habitat of the Ice Serpent, a mere second-level spirit beast. Yet, it could absorb the extremely cold spiritual energy of heaven and earth to enhance the power of the ice pillar.

The ice pillar, replenished by the extremely cold spiritual energy, grew thicker and longer!

In contrast, An Ying appeared listless, clearly having expended too much strength.

“Hiss!”

After using the ice pillar to hold back An Ying’s flame image, the Ice Serpent slowly swam towards her.

Even from a hundred meters away, Nie Tian could clearly see the despondency and unease in An Ying’s eyes.

It seemed that she herself knew she probably couldn’t hold on for much longer.

She had placed her hopes on Pan Tao and Zheng Rui, but she didn’t notice that Pan Tao and Zheng Rui hadn’t even found the shadow of the Ground Lizard.

Nie Tian was clear-headed, understanding that whether An Ying could hold back the Ice Serpent was the key to their survival.

Once An Ying was in danger and the Ice Serpent broke through to them, the trial participants fighting the first-level spirit beasts would immediately collapse.

At that time, Nie Tian would also have no chance of escape and would become food for the spirit beasts here.

“This can’t go on.” His eyes were heavy as he tried to find a solution to turn around this extremely dangerous situation.

Since the Ground Lizard and the Ice Serpent appeared simultaneously, he had realized that if he wanted to survive, he had to work together with An Ying and the others.

That was why, when Jiang Miao was in danger, he acted without hesitation.

Although he found Zheng Rui and Pan Tao annoying, he knew that in this battle, he needed these two to stay alive.

Because, apart from An Ying, Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were the strongest fighters, capable of sharing the pressure and preventing the Ground Lizard from recklessly killing everyone.

“An Ying is under too much pressure. One of you must go and help her!” Nie Tian suddenly said.

“Are you talking to us?” Pan Tao was taken aback.

“Who do you think you are? Our task is to kill the Ground Lizard. We know what to do, no need for you to worry!” Zheng Rui, who was already annoyed, said angrily.

“Kill the Ground Lizard? You don’t even know where it is, how can you kill it?” Nie Tian sneered, “You’re just wasting time here! If it doesn’t come out, are you going to wait until An Ying is bitten to death by the Ice Serpent?”

Zheng Rui was about to argue, but Pan Tao waved his hand, signaling him not to argue with Nie Tian, “Do you have any good suggestions?”

“Let Zheng Rui go help An Ying. You staying here is enough for now. If the Ground Lizard really dares to come out, he can come back.” Nie Tian, knowing that An Ying was in a precarious situation, spoke rapidly, “I think when the Ground Lizard shows up, I can also help you share some of the pressure, enough to let you hold on until Zheng Rui returns!”

“Time is running out, An Ying can’t hold on much longer, make your decision quickly!”

Compared to Zheng Rui, Pan Tao was better at seeing the big picture and could make relatively wise decisions in critical moments.

So, when Nie Tian said this, he only looked at him.

“Zheng Rui! Listen to him, go help An Ying!” Pan Tao took a deep breath, his face resolute, “Don’t worry about me, if the Ground Lizard really shows up, I can hold on for at least half an hour!”

“Can you see if An Ying can wait for you to waste more time?!” When Zheng Rui hesitated, Nie Tian suddenly roared.

“If anything happens to Brother Tao, I won’t let you off!” Zheng Rui glanced at An Ying, seeing that she was struggling to hold back the Ice Serpent’s overwhelming attack. He gritted his teeth, glared at Nie Tian, and suddenly left at top speed.

By this time, Nie Tian had already given up on killing the first-level spirit beasts.

Because he understood that the true factors that could influence the situation were the Ground Lizard and the Ice Serpent.

Especially the Ground Lizard!

After the Ground Lizard, hidden deep underground, bit and killed Zu Fang, the actions of the trial participants fighting the first-level spirit beasts became somewhat stiff.

Those young people frequently looked down at their feet, fearing that the Ground Lizard would suddenly emerge from underground and bite them to death.

Although the Ground Lizard did not reappear, it was like a bomb hidden underground, potentially exploding under anyone’s feet.

This hidden, massive threat made them walk on thin ice, fighting the spirit beasts with trepidation, fearing they would become the next Zu Fang.

“Calm down, calm down, we must find the Ground Lizard.”

Nie Tian continuously adjusted his breathing, temporarily putting aside the dangerous situation before him, and focused all his attention on the icy ground beneath his feet.

“Calm, calm, calm...”

He silently repeated this in his mind, gradually relaxing to more sharply perceive the movements underground.

“Thump! Thump! Thump...”

During this process, even he didn’t notice that his heartbeat was slowing down.

His body temperature also rapidly dropped.

In just a short while, he felt a chill throughout his body, and his blood flow, like his heartbeat, became extremely slow.

However, his perception seemed to be rapidly increasing. He could sense the changes in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the fluctuations of the spiritual energy within the trial participants, and the breathing of the spirit beasts.

The vibrations from the feet of the trial participants and spirit beasts as they moved seemed to be clearly perceived through his soles.

This sharp insight made him secretly delighted. To better perceive the subtle tremors of the earth, he took off his shoes and socks and stood barefoot on the cold, hard ice.

Without the two layers of shoes and socks, he could indeed more clearly perceive each vibration of the earth.

In the midst of the intense battle, he suddenly closed his eyes, focusing all his spirit and attention on the soles of his feet.

He was using his heart to feel the subtle vibrations from the earth.

Suddenly, he had a strange feeling of his soul leaving his body and wandering outside.

It was as if threads of his consciousness, through his soles, began to drift underground.

At that moment, he felt as if there were dozens of eyeless versions of himself moving through the dark, underground world.

This feeling was like searching for something in pitch-black darkness with both hands...

When his thread-like consciousness drifted to the ground where the trial participants and spirit beasts were stepping, he could hear the deafening “thud” sounds.

What should have been faint sounds became as loud as thunder under the perception of his consciousness.

He could quickly distinguish that these sounds came from the movements of the trial participants and spirit beasts.

His consciousness would immediately avoid these areas and continue to extend in other directions.

He was very patient in his search...

Outside, Pan Tao, who was constantly turning his body and scanning the icy ground with his eyes, also noticed his strange behavior.

At the most intense moment of the battle, Nie Tian did not participate but instead took off his shoes and socks, closed his eyes, and looked like he was courting death.

Pan Tao stared at him, looked at him deeply a few times, and subconsciously moved closer to him to prevent nearby spirit beasts from taking the opportunity to kill him.

After Nie Tian saved Jiang Miao and gave his suggestions, Pan Tao truly regarded him as a member of the team.

Since he believed that Nie Tian would not do anything harmful and was trying to help the team in his own way, Pan Tao considered protecting Nie Tian his responsibility.

“What a strange guy!”

Although he cursed under his breath, he still vigilantly watched the spirit beasts circling around Nie Tian, secretly preparing.

At this moment, Nie Tian, who had dispersed his consciousness and was sensing underground, suddenly felt a dense vitality in one place!

“Ground Lizard!”

Nie Tian suddenly opened his eyes and, based on his previous perception, immediately aimed at a direction.

Just as he was about to act, he suddenly felt a lack of energy, as if he hadn’t slept for seven days and seven nights, and was about to fall asleep.

He instantly realized that the process of extending his consciousness underground and sensing the underground had completely drained his energy.

He knew that in this state, he had no chance of seriously injuring the Ground Lizard or making it pay a price.

“Pan Tao! Over there, Tong Hao! One and a half meters behind Tong Hao, the Ground Lizard is underground!”

He pointed to a young man who was fighting another Ice-Armored Rhino and urgently whispered to Pan Tao, “Go! Use your most powerful attack to strike that piece of ice! Trust me!”

Pan Tao was shocked, “Are you sure?!”

Nie Tian, pale-faced, nodded heavily and urged again, “If I’m wrong, I’ll pay with my life!”

Pan Tao was stunned.

“Go!” Nie Tian roared.

Without any hesitation, Pan Tao, holding a golden spear, transformed into a bolt of lightning and instantly reached behind Tong Hao.

The golden spear suddenly burst with dazzling golden light, so bright that Nie Tian had to close his eyes.

“Thud!”

After closing his eyes, he heard the sound of the spear piercing the ground.

The next moment, the Ground Lizard’s almost frenzied roar also came from under that piece of ice.

...

PS: Third update, my whole body is sore, my neck is numb, but—there’s still a fourth update! Do you still have votes?

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