Chapter 42: The Mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　In an absentminded manner, Feng Wu started snorting softly as she pouted slightly.

　　Without warning, Lu Ming was whispering by her ear, “You’ve so much to say. Do you care for me that much?”

　　Feng Wu was caught off-guard and started in fright, nearly crying out loud. Her small face blushed furiously as she shot Lu Ming a vicious glare. “What nonsense is that? Who cares for you? If it weren’t for Bis Sis Mu Lan’s order, if it weren’t for you rescuing me, I wouldn’t have given two sh*ts about you!”

　　“Oh! So, that’s how it is!” Lu Ming clicked his tongue and looked away.

　　Phew!

　　Feng Wu let out a gentle sigh. Even so, for some reason, her heart would not stop racing.

　　In a short while, another group arrived. These were the apprentices of the Onyx Tortoise Hall.

　　The four halls were all here.

　　Lu Ming and Feng Wu held their breaths as they stared ahead.

　　After a moment, the apprentices of the four halls placed one Silver-eyed Rabbit after another at the cave’s entrance. Then, they all scattered and took up hiding spots nearby.

　　There were over fifty Silver-eyed Rabbits at east. The Silver-eyed Rabbits were all filled up with Drowsy Powder. The smell of the rabbits charged the air.

　　Rustle…

　　In a while, a monitor lizard, which was half a meter tall and four meters long, came clambering out. It was covered in black scales.

　　This was a Black-scaled Monitor Lizard. Nevertheless, it was evidently just an ordinary Black-scaled Monitor Lizard, which was equivalent to a Second Grade Second Level demonic beast. It was not a mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard that was on the Ninth Grade Second Level.

　　The Black-scaled Monitor Lizard spotted the Silver-eyed Rabbits the moment it crawled out. It hurriedly scampered forwards and swallowed a Silver-eyed Rabbit in a single gulp with great relish.

　　Rustle…

　　At this point, another Black-scaled Monitor Lizard came out as well. It was not a mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard either.

　　Soon, a few Black-scaled Monitor Lizards clambered out one after another. In a few moments, they had swallowed ten or so Silver-eyed Rabbits.

　　The apprentices of the four halls were rather anxious. They had spent several days just to capture these Silver-eyed Rabbits. If these ordinary Black-scaled Monitor Lizards ate them all, the apprentices would not have a second chance.

　　Currently, there were only two days left until the end of the test. They had no time to capture that many Silver-eyed Rabbits again.

　　Furthermore, they did not have enough Drowsy Powder with them.

　　Just then…

　　Roar!

　　A thunderous cry echoed from the cave. Following that, there was continuous thumping as a colossal creature emerged.

　　This was a Black-scaled Monitor Lizard as well, but its size was ten times that of the others. Moreover, its eyes were red.

　　A metal piece that hung around this Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s neck proclaimed two words: “Five Hundred”.

　　The 500-point metal piece!

　　Everyone’s gazes shone fervently.

　　Roar!

　　Upon noticing the Silver-eyed Rabbits, the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard unleashed a loud howl.

　　Rustle…

　　The other Black-scaled Monitor Lizards seemed frightened and they all retreated.

　　The mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard forged ahead by itself and opened its grisly jaws. In one gulp, it devoured five or six Silver-eyed Rabbits.

　　After a few minutes, almost 40 Silver-eyed Rabbits were swallowed by the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard.

　　It roared once more, then turned around, slowly slinking back into the cave.

　　Rustle…

　　At this point, the regular Black-scaled Monitor Lizards, which had eaten the Silver-eyed Rabbits first, swayed slightly before falling to the ground and snoring in deep slumber.

　　The Drowsy Powder in the Silver-eyed Rabbits within their stomachs was taking effect.

　　The apprentices of the four halls did not rush into the cave as they waited for the medicine to work.

　　The mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard would not be knocked out as easily as the ordinary Black-scaled Monitor Lizards.

　　Only after ten minutes had passed did the apprentices all race into the cave.

　　After a few more minutes, Feng Wu asked Lu Ming, “Are we going in too?”

　　“I’m going in. Wait here for me.” Lu Ming nodded before explaining further, “Things might get messy in there. If I’m alone, it’ll be easier to escape.”

　　She bit her lip, aware that he was right.

　　“Alright. You must be careful then,” she said.

　　Lu Ming nodded, then his figure darted off as he went into the cave.

　　Outside the cave, there were still apprentices from the four halls whose cultivation levels were not that high. Even so, no one dared to stop Lu Ming.

　　Since the other apprentices were inside as well, who would bother stopping him?

　　Lu Ming made his way into the cave without any trouble.

　　It was pitch-dark in the cave. Although Lu Ming was a Master Realm martial artist, with much better eyesight than ordinary people, the cave was dim and gloomy to him as well.

　　Lu Ming held his breath and cautiously made his way forward.

　　However, after 100 meters, there were a few forks in the path. He even noticed a Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s body there.

　　This was merely a First Level Black-scaled Monitor Lizard, so Lu Ming had no interest in absorbing its blood essence. Thus, he simply chose a path and continued onward.

　　In this lair of the Black-scaled Monitor Lizards, the paths weaved in all directions, intersecting in complicated ways.

　　Lu Ming traveled a few hundred meters before encountering another crossroads. Once again, he picked a path at random and went in deeper.

　　On the way, he saw quite a few Black-scaled Monitor Lizard bodies.

　　There were two First Grade and one Second Grade Second Level Black-scaled Monitor Lizards. Lu Ming did not pass them up and devoured all of their blood essences.

　　As he walked, he cultivated the blood essence. His cultivation was rapidly improving.

　　It was clear that apprentices of the four halls had numbers on their side. Throughout his journey, he did not see any corpses of the apprentices.

　　In this manner, Lu Ming went forth for around 20 minutes, devouring three First Grade and one Second Grade Second Level Black-scaled Monitor Lizards on his way. His cultivation successfully reached mid-Second Grade Master Realm.

　　Just then, Lu Ming noticed a faint source of light up ahead.

　　He trodded lightly as he headed towards the light. Upon approaching it, he discovered it was another cave entrance that was lower than an average person’s height. He walked forward and looked out of the entrance, and was taken aback.

　　Outside this entrance, there was an enormous underground cavern. It was over a hundred meters wide and dozens of meters tall.

　　Everywhere on the stone walls of the cavern were rocks that glowed with a faint light. These were the Luminous Stone ores. If one extracted the glowing components of these ores, it could be used to manufacture Luminous Stones which could be used for illumination.

　　With the light of the Luminous Stone ores, Lu Ming saw many entrances throughout the cavern as well. Through the entrances, he could vaguely make out human figures.

　　Quite a few men from the four halls were lying in wait outside these entrances.

　　As for the entrance that Lu Ming was next to, it was more than ten meters above the cavern’s ground surface.

　　In the center of the cavern, a colossal creature lay sprawled. It was that mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard.

　　At present, the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard had not fallen into a deep sleep yet. It growled softly and opened its bloody mouth from time to time.

　　No wonder the apprentices of the four halls had not made their move. They were waiting for the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard to sink into slumber.

　　The mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard was a Ninth Grade Second Level demonic beast which was equivalent to a Ninth Grade Master Realm powerhouse. Any martial artist below the Fourth Grade Master Realm would definitely die if they were struck by it even once.

　　Time trickled by slowly. After ten or so minutes, the eyelids of the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard grew heavier. It was dropping off but was not fully asleep yet.

　　The mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s resistance was fearsome. Even after eating so many Silver-eyed Rabbits, it could still hold on until now.

　　Swoosh!

　　Just then, a figure bolted out from one of the cave entrances like lightning, lunging towards the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s neck.

　　“Yin Kai!”

　　Lu Ming’s eyes sparkled. That figure was actually Yin Kai.