Chapter 131: A Roar from the Core Region

Lin Xiao had already made his stance clear, so the matter became straightforward.

Everyone decided to press on.

Zi Shu and the others were genuinely curious about what had caused such a massive uprising of the gold-devouring rats.

Of course, no one acted immediately. The fire was still raging; they had to wait until all the rats were completely incinerated before moving forward.

The burning of the rats' corpses lasted over two hours.

By the time the fire died down, dawn had already broken.

Gold-devouring rats rarely produce spirit pearls, but it wasn’t completely unheard of. With such a vast number of them, some spirit pearls inevitably appeared.

Soon, the group found many spirit pearls lying quietly about.

They didn’t rush to collect them. Though the flames had been extinguished, the air still carried a pungent stench.

Zi Shu released several wind-based spiritual techniques, and Wei Yang summoned a small artificial rainfall, making the environment somewhat more bearable.

Only then did everyone begin to tally their haul. When they gathered all the spirit pearls in one place, they were stunned.

These gold-devouring rats, which hardly ever dropped spirit pearls, had yielded over thirty pearls.

To Zi Shu and the others, this was almost unbelievable.

But it also gave a clear indication of how many rats they had killed.

After such a fierce battle, everyone was exhausted and a bit hungry.

Yet no one seemed inclined to eat breakfast.

The mere thought of those rats turned their stomachs.

It wasn’t long before the group made a unanimous decision: they would continue forward, skipping breakfast and combining it with lunch later.

All eyes were fixed blankly on the road ahead.

The route had been planned earlier, and as fate would have it, the direction from which the rat tide had surged was exactly their path forward.

Now everyone understood the meaning of “a smooth and open road.”

Previously, the path had been cluttered with grasslands and woods.

But now, everything was gone—every plant had been devoured during the advance of the rat tide.

The group was left somewhat speechless; the journey ahead promised to be tedious.

And indeed, that was the case. For the next half-day, Lin Xiao and the others pressed on.

Not a single spirit beast appeared along the way.

It was unclear whether the original beasts had fled or perished beneath the rat surge.

By midday, the group finally took a break.

Zi Shu felt wise. During dinner last night, he had asked Lin Xiao to prepare extra food, which now came in handy.

Otherwise, given the current circumstances, catching a spirit beast on the road would have been nearly impossible.

Without this preparation, they would have been forced to survive on dry rations.

Thanks to Lin Xiao, their top-tier chef, none of the Wolf War Mercenaries wanted to eat mere dry rations.

After lunch, they resumed their march. Their speed in the morning had been impressive.

With no obstacles blocking their view, even without Lin Xiao and You Ji scouting, the scenery stretched out completely.

In such conditions, the group was pushing themselves fully.

By noon, they had covered dozens of miles.

Yet, astonishingly, they had still not reached the origin of the rat uprising.

This left everyone feeling incredulous and somewhat uneasy.

The rat tide had surged toward the entrance of the secret realm. Given their overwhelming numbers and rapid reproduction, if they broke out of the realm, the destruction would be unimaginable.

What, then, had caused such panic among the rats?

Zi Shu suddenly felt it was imperative to uncover the reason.

After marching all afternoon, the group finally arrived at the starting point of the rat uprising.

Vegetation grew lush again.

Lin Xiao immediately sensed the change. The spiritual energy concentration here was even denser than when they first entered the secret realm.

A faint hunch formed in his heart: this might be the core zone of the realm.

Zi Shu’s words confirmed his suspicion.

“Everyone, be extra cautious. Ahead lies the core zone of the secret realm. The spirit beasts here are far more dangerous than outside. Most are at level five; a few even reach level six. It’s late today—we won’t venture in now. Let’s rest overnight and explore thoroughly tomorrow.”

Lin Xiao knew Zi Shu was addressing him; the others had no idea how many secret realms Zi Shu had visited before, so such matters needed no elaborate explanation.

No one objected; after a full day’s march, rest was well deserved.

Since there was no need to light a fire for cooking, Lin Xiao found himself relatively free.

He began to survey the surroundings.

Although the vegetation here was no longer dense—scarred by the rat horde—the scene suggested that the initial rat numbers were not overwhelmingly large.

The subsequent rat tide likely grew as their actions attracted others, swelling their ranks until reaching the scale they’d witnessed.

Where Lin Xiao stood was at most the periphery of the core zone, yet he already spotted several rare spirit herbs.

He suppressed his urge to collect them—these herbs wouldn’t run away. It was better to search thoroughly during tomorrow’s exploration.

Otherwise, provoking an unwanted spirit beast could spark another fierce battle.

The journey ahead demanded extreme caution. Zi Shu had warned: the spirit beasts here would mostly be level five or higher, their threat undeniable.

The group busied themselves with preparations for the night.

Just then, a piercing roar echoed from the core zone.

The sound was harsh and grating; the Wolf War Mercenaries immediately became alert, gathering together.

Lin Xiao quickly scanned the direction of the roar but found nothing within his sight range.

No spirit beasts were visible.

After that roar, silence returned.

Zi Shu and the others fixed their gaze on Lin Xiao and You Ji.

Lin Xiao shook his head promptly.

“No signs of danger. The roar came from quite a distance.”

You Ji, attuned to sound, had a keener sensitivity.

“Pig Brother is right. Though I didn’t sense it closely, I feel the roar’s origin is not near us.”

Their expressions grew grave.

This was no good news.

For such a clear roar to reach them from so far away meant only one thing: its source was formidable.