Chapter 308: Growth
Qiu Hou remained unconscious, and the others couldn’t very well abandon him and continue forward. With Su Ran’s help, his mangled body slowly began to heal. Melted skin regenerated bit by bit. The process looked rather nauseating and lasted for over an hour before Qiu Hou finally looked human again.
Even though his external injuries had healed, he still showed no signs of waking. According to Su Ran, it was likely due to excessive depletion of extraordinary energy combined with severe injuries. His origin hadn’t been damaged—he just needed time to rest.
That was good news. After all, they had entered the Lost Land for training, not to risk their lives. If Qiu Hou’s origin had been harmed, he wouldn’t be able to participate in the upcoming league competition.
Only when the sky had fully brightened did Qiu Hou’s eyelids tremble and slowly open.
“You’re awake?”
Ji Muge leaned in close, watching the usually shrewd fox-like eyes now filled with rare confusion and lingering fear. Quietly, she activated her wristband and snapped a photo.
In fact, she had already taken a commemorative photo of him when he had collapsed gravely injured earlier. Of course, that couldn’t be discovered—she still couldn’t beat a fully recovered Qiu Hou.
“Do you remember how you were captured?” Shu Yushan asked directly once Qiu Hou seemed to realize he was safe.
“…There was no warning. Suddenly I felt something bind me. It probably had some kind of suppression ability. I could circulate extraordinary energy in my body, but I couldn’t use any extraordinary abilities.”
“Besides that, I felt like it had some powerful mental interference and flesh-eroding ability. I kept trying to resist with extraordinary energy, but my energy was draining faster and faster. I barely saw anything. I just felt like I was being moved to some cold, damp place. Not long after that, I lost consciousness.”
The whole process had left Qiu Hou barely able to resist.
Xu Zhi fell into thought. They hadn’t experienced any “suppression force” while fighting the tree branches. It was likely that the sleeping entity underground unconsciously imposed suppression only on selected prey—and Qiu Hou had simply been the unlucky one chosen.
Sure enough, Shu Yushan frowned slightly. “We didn’t encounter any of those abilities while rescuing you…”
Qiu Hou’s face darkened. “So it was targeting me specifically?”
“Probably just targeting its chosen prey.”
“But if it had such powerful abilities, why didn’t it use them when you were rescuing me?”
Because the main body was asleep and had no idea what was happening.
Still, it was quite a useful ability.
“Don’t overthink it. Since we’ve escaped, let’s figure out what to do next.”
“We definitely can’t go back in that direction. Once Qiu Hou rests a bit more, we’ll continue in another direction.”
Qiu Hou’s injuries weren’t light. A short rest couldn’t fully restore him, but they didn’t have extra time to waste. Besides, in the league competition, there would likely be plenty of situations where one had to fight while injured. They might as well get used to it now.
After waiting about two hours, the team prepared to set off again.
And from the fact that the teachers observing them from the shadows did not intervene or stop them from continuing deeper, Xu Zhi realized that those teachers also didn’t know a [Cup] was lurking beneath that forest.
Otherwise, Qiu Hou—who had likely been captured and fed upon by a [Cup]—would absolutely have been escorted out. The teachers would never have allowed them to keep exploring the outer layer if a [Cup] had appeared—especially with the league about to begin.
The little aberrant plant swayed its branches restlessly. Ever since Qiu Hou had been dug out of the pit, bloody and torn, the small creature—still without self-awareness—had seemed… tempted. Fortunately, under Xu Zhi’s control, it didn’t lose its senses and crawl out of the flowerpot. Otherwise, its fate might have resembled those severed fleshy tendrils.
Choosing a completely different direction, the seven of them ventured deeper once more. After Qiu Hou’s near-disaster, everyone was far more vigilant—but the mental strain increased as well.
In this new direction, the most noticeable change was the rise in danger. They barely walked for long before encountering extraordinary creatures that actively attacked them. Combat almost never stopped. Everyone was rotating nonstop—even Qiu Hou, not fully recovered, had to drag his injured body into battle.
Over several consecutive days, the constant fighting—along with reminders and mutual support—tightened the bonds of this team that had been formed less than half a month ago.
Now, often without words, a glance or a gesture was enough for teammates to understand one another’s intentions. The temptations of the Lost Land also forced them to trust each other more deeply and pay closer attention to one another’s conditions.
These were habits and tacit understandings that simply couldn’t be developed outside without spending massive amounts of time training together.
Most importantly, during these days, Xu Zhi’s [Eye of Secret] played a crucial role. She could always immediately determine the level of danger they faced and clearly assess her teammates’ states, allocating the most reasonable combat strategies. She had never once made an incorrect judgment.
Gradually, this fostered near-unconditional trust in her commands. In battle, the others executed her orders almost without hesitation—never doubting whether her decisions were wrong or whether their own ideas were superior.
“That’s about enough. We need to leave ourselves time to head back.”
After defeating yet another extraordinary creature whose level surpassed theirs, Xu Zhi made the suggestion.
For this team, fighting above their level had already become routine. The highest-ranked member was Chu Xiaoyue, at the second stage of Longevity. That was more formidable than many seniors who had long since graduated from the Inner Court. Her title as the most talented student of recent years hadn’t been unearned—at least before Xu Zhi appeared.
Now, however, with Xu Zhi’s emergence, Chu Xiaoyue’s title of “number one genius” seemed subtly poised to change hands. Of course, that depended on whether Xu Zhi could successfully advance to the second stage of Longevity before reaching fifth year.
After all, once someone stepped into Longevity, being stuck at a single stage for four or five years was perfectly normal.
“Fighting above one’s rank” among extraordinary individuals was extremely difficult—especially after crossing into the Longevity threshold. Each advancement within Longevity granted substantial boosts in strength.
The further one progressed within the Great Dream Realm, the deeper their understanding of the “extraordinary,” the more knowledge and secrets they grasped, and the greater their resistance to extraordinary effects.
Simply put: when a higher rank fought a lower rank, it was penetration plus critical hits. When a lower rank fought a higher rank, it was weakening plus damage reduction. There was no such thing as a fair fight.
The creature they had just defeated was at the third stage of Longevity. It wasn’t even the strongest they had challenged. Among their spoils was also a being that had just stepped into the fourth stage of Longevity. That battle, in fact, had left even Chu Xiaoyue—who usually fought with ease—seriously injured.
But that was their limit: fourth stage of Longevity.
If they encountered anything stronger, they could only turn and run. Group-fighting above their rank capped out at Longevity stage four. As for a whole major stage like a Named—
If they met one with hostile intent, it was unlikely the entire team would make it out alive.
Fortunately, no Named had appeared in the outer layers for decades.
