Inside the gloomy cavern, the two squads quickly agreed on a battle plan.
Since they hadn’t yet developed perfect teamwork with each other, mixing the teams would likely cause chaos. Thus, they decided to stick to operating separately.
"Smart!"
Lü Qing shared the topographical intel he’d had his people survey earlier, then snapped his fingers. "The terrain in this cavern forms a pincer. Our two teams will advance from the tunnels on the left and right and close in on them. We’ll be like a pair of tongs, wiping out this whole nest of rats in one fell swoop!
We’ll split the materials by headcount. As for the loot from the final Rat General, we’ll bid on it. Highest bidder takes all. How does that sound?"
"Acceptable. That’s very fair," Wang Qingli nodded in agreement.
"However..."
Lü Qing’s tone shifted, a fiery battle lust igniting in his eyes as he swept his gaze over Wang Qingli’s team members. "Just killing them silently like this is too boring. How about we add a little wager? We’ll compete to see which side clears faster and gets more kills! The losing side has to clean up the entire battlefield and treat the winners to the most expensive ’Hundred Flowers Brew’ back in the city!"
"A wager?"
Wang Qingli didn’t answer immediately, instead glancing back at her teammates.
Zhang Shan was already rubbing his hands together eagerly, and Zhao Gang wore an expression of defiance. Even the usually reserved Chu Bai had a flicker of eagerness in his eyes.
Seeing that her team’s morale was high, Wang Qingli’s lips curved into a slight smile. A trace of boldness entered her cool voice. "Alright! It looks like Senior Brother Lü is treating us to drinks!"
"Hahaha! We’ll see about that!"
With the bet made, the atmosphere instantly grew tense and fervent.
Without another word, the two teams quickly split up. Like two sharp daggers, they plunged into the dark tunnels on the left and right sides of the cavern.
"Chu Bai, what do you think?"
As soon as they entered the left tunnel, Wang Qingli didn’t rush to order the advance. Instead, she turned to Chu Bai.
After his series of precise combat performances earlier, she had grown accustomed to seeking the opinion of this junior brother, who, despite his youth, possessed an incredibly sharp tactical mind.
Chu Bai’s eyes glinted as he glanced at the intricate cave structure ahead. ’This is purely a contest of efficiency. If we scout, pull monsters, and focus fire by the book, we’ll never be able to beat Lü Qing’s well-coordinated group of senior students.’
’To win, we have to take a risk.’
"Senior Sister, the conventional method is too slow."
Chu Bai said in a low, steady voice, his tone imbued with a convincing calm, "I can handle scouting, pulling the monsters, and precision elimination. Please have Senior Brother Zhao Gang and Senior Brother Zhang Shan abandon all defense and focus their Spiritual Power entirely on offensive output."
"Senior Sister Lin should stick close to me, ready to purify and heal at a moment’s notice."
"Abandon defense?"
Zhao Gang was startled, and the Flying Saber in his hand trembled. "Isn’t that too aggressive? The terrain here is narrow with a lot of shadows. What if we get ambushed by those rats hiding in the dark..."
"There is no ’what if’."
Chu Bai cut him off, his tone certain. "Because they won’t get the chance to ambush us."
With that, he closed his eyes slightly.
When he opened them again, a brilliant golden light swirled in the depths of his once-dark pupils, like two miniature suns.
Golden Eye Shattering Illusion!
In his vision, the once-dim cavern, full of blind spots, instantly became clear. The thick rock walls seemed to turn into translucent gauze, and the flow of Spiritual Qi became clearly visible.
And the Burrow Rats hiding deep in the rock crevices, preparing to ambush them, were all exposed as red dots of light, with nowhere to hide.
"Front left, three feet behind the rock wall, seven of them!"
Chu Bai let out a low shout, raising his hand and sending out a stream of grayish-green Magical Power.
It wasn’t an attack, but a dense, deathly aura, originating from the Life and Death Qi he had just mastered.
This aura precisely drilled into the rock crevice. Although it wasn’t very destructive, its instinctive suppressive feeling toward living beings instantly made the Demon Beasts inside bristle with fear.
"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!"
The well-hidden Burrow Rats felt a sudden chill, as if targeted by a natural predator, and scurried out of the crevice in terror.
However, what greeted them was a long-prepared Flying Saber Rain.
"Die!"
Zhao Gang now understood Chu Bai’s intent. He didn’t need to discern where the enemies were at all. He just had to trust Chu Bai’s callouts and unleash the Flying Sabers in his hand like a downpour in that direction.
THWIP THWIP THWIP!
Before the seven Burrow Rats even hit the ground, they were riddled with blades until they looked like porcupines, unable to even let out a cry.
"Overhead on the right, one Burrow Rat on a higher ledge, about to jump down!"
Without even looking at the result, Chu Bai turned and fired a Spirit Water Needle infused with Geng Metal Qi.
The elite Burrow Rat, which had just poked its head out from behind a stalactite to ambush Zhang Shan, was pierced through the brow by a stream of azure light before it could even act, falling from the ceiling like a sack of rags.
"This..."
Zhao Gang and Zhang Shan exchanged a look, seeing the shock and ecstasy in each other’s eyes.
’This is amazing!’
They didn’t have to worry about ambushes or bother searching for monsters. It was like someone had activated a map hack, spoon-feeding them kills. All they had to do was open their mouths and eat!
"Quick! Next wave!"
Wang Qingli’s eyes lit up as well. As the team captain, she immediately adjusted her strategy. She no longer used her Earth Element Technique for defense, instead transforming it into rows of vicious Earth Spikes to furiously reap lives alongside the others’ attacks.
The entire squad moved like a precision killing machine, flowing as smoothly as water, advancing into the depths at a dumbfounding speed.
All the Burrow Rats they encountered along the way—whether they were ambushing, patrolling, or sleeping—were slaughtered without exception. Even when some of the smarter ones tried to flee, the team didn’t bother to chase, simply steamrolling past them.

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