Chapter 22: The Battle Begins

"So, what should we do now, Master?!" Shen Hao asked.

"For now, we can't do anything," Mo Han replied. "I am still in my spirit form, and you're not strong enough."

But suddenly, Shen Hao noticed something and interrupted Mo Han.

"Wait… what's that?!"

Shen Hao spotted some crystals in the hands of the metal-type beings. They were examining these crystals, which were as large as a human hand, glowing a pure orange color, and radiating intense heat.

"It seems like they're extracting lava from the Earth's core and storing it inside these heat-resistant crystals," Mo Han explained. "Don't worry. It will take them a long time to extract all of it. Besides, they've already cast a barrier, preventing anyone who can't use Qi from seeing or interacting with this place."

Shen Hao simply listened carefully as Mo Han spoke.

"Come on, let's head back before they notice us."

But right as Mo Han finished speaking, the very thing they feared happened — one of the metal monsters noticed them.

"OH SH*T, HE SAW US!" Shen Hao shouted in panic.

Even though they couldn't hear the creatures' voices, it was clear they were communicating through strange wave-like signals. The metal being alerted the others, and then the real danger began.

Suddenly, a team of bizarre monsters emerged from the mine. These creatures were made purely of flesh. They each had one giant eye, huge ears like an elephant, and four wings — the front pair larger than the back. Other than that, they had no visible features. They flew out at incredible speed.

"Oh sh*t! Where did these guys come from?!" Shen Hao shouted again, now completely alarmed.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Mo Han ordered, cutting him off mid-sentence.

The three of them bolted at full speed, but the flying creatures were extremely fast and quickly closed the distance.

"Damn it!" Shen Hao cursed. "There are at least seven of them: five at Level 3 Beginning Realm, and two at Level 4 Beginning Realm."

Although Shen Hao was at Level 5 Beginning Realm, he wasn't confident he could handle two Level 4 enemies along with the others.

"Master! What should we do now?!" Lingfeng asked anxiously.

"We can't outrun them," Mo Han said. "Shen Hao, you must face them head-on. This will be your first real battle — don't disappoint me!"

With those words, Mo Han entered Shen Hao's body to support him.

"Okay... let's do this," Shen Hao said, taking a deep breath.

"Lingfeng! Take care of those five Level 3 ones. I'll handle the two Level 4 monsters!"

"Yes, boss!"

Lingfeng charged at the five Level 3 creatures, launching his mysterious wind attacks, slicing through the air, and wounding them with his blade.

Meanwhile, everything went silent on Shen Hao's side as he faced off against the two Level 4 monsters. They stared at him, unblinking.

Then suddenly—

Before Shen Hao could react, one of them vanished at an incredible speed and appeared behind him.

The creature gathered all its Qi into its left fist and launched a devastating punch directly at Shen Hao's face.