"Hello," Qian Duoduo greeted with a smile, his left hand pulling an iron crossbow bolt from a bucket of cold water and quickly loading it onto the crossbow arm.
The Lu Xi Giant chuckled and said, "Hello. You're really well hidden."
"I'm not hidden." Qian Duoduo aimed at the Lu Xi Giant's throat. Although he didn't believe it, Qian Duoduo truly wasn't hidden. He had been forging iron here openly all this time; if you couldn't see him, you couldn't blame others.
"Let's change locations. Let's have a competition." The Lu Xi Giant's right hand was behind his back; it was unknown what lethal weapon he held.
Qian Duoduo shook his head, "We've already been competing." The moment they entered this city, their competition began.
Without Spiritual Qi, cultivation, Magic Treasures, or Medicinal Pills, whoever could defeat the other, no matter the means, would win.
Before the Lu Xi Giant sought out Qian Duoduo, he must have found a tool capable of killing Qian Duoduo.
And Qian Duoduo, coincidentally, had also forged one.
The Lu Xi Giant slowly retreated, wanting to get out of the Soul-Seizing Blood Crossbow's attack range.
"Uncle, test the weapon," Qian Duoduo said to the middle-aged man.
"Please—" The middle-aged man replied readily.
The Lu Xi Giant turned his head at the sound, took large strides, and fled into the distance.
"Buzz!" The string vibrated, the arrow shot out, accurately hitting the Lu Xi Giant in the back of his heart. The Lu Xi Giant's body trembled, freezing in place.
Qian Duoduo loaded another crossbow bolt, aimed at the Lu Xi Giant's head, and with a "buzz," the crossbow bolt embedded itself.
The Lu Xi Giant rolled on the ground, a thick iron rod, the size of an arm, thrown beside him. He pointed at Qian Duoduo, saying miserably, "Unfair."
"Unfair?" Qian Duoduo aimed at his throat. "Refining a Mortal Weapon with mortal iron and mortal fire, that's true skill. Losing to true skill is perfectly fair!"
"Bang!" Where the crossbow bolt struck, a spray of blood flew from the Lu Xi Giant's throat.
Qian Duoduo turned and waved at the middle-aged man, "Goodbye, Uncle. Thank you!"
"Fifth round, Lu Dong wins," the Artifact Spirit's voice sounded.
It was as pleasant as celestial music, as beautiful as a heavenly sound.
Back at the Magic Treasure vault, "Bu Huan is mighty! Bu Huan is mighty! Bu Huan is mighty!" Dugu Yunshan led everyone in a continuous cheer.
Although they couldn't make any sound or use Spiritual Awareness just now, they clearly knew the entire process.
This round was so satisfying; Lu Xi had no power to fight back.
Winning two rounds in a row greatly boosted everyone's morale.
Deng Feihong pulled Qian Duoduo's hand, pushed him in front of the cauldron, and brushed away the dust on the ground. "Senior Brother Bu Huan, please sit and continue Artifact Refining, continue—"
Qian Duoduo smiled and sat down. He had indeed gained some insights from forging iron with the middle-aged man in the city just now.
Time passed quickly, as if it were just a single breath. "Time to set off." Xu Fa walked over and handed Qian Duoduo the Heart Chess vest.
The sixth round began, and they entered the underground world. The entire world was dimly lit, their naked eyes half-blind, relying entirely on Spiritual Awareness for exploration. Flying in the sky were not birds, but flocks of bats. According to the records of Spirit Beasts, these bats were called Large Footed Spirit Bats; although they were only low-level combat beasts, there were thousands of them, and they were not to be provoked.
"Senior Brother Bu Huan, do you have anything these bats like to eat?" Deng Feihong asked timidly. The Large Footed Spirit Bat looked quite strange, with large feet and long teeth, and a frightening appearance.
"I have some in the manor, but unfortunately, I didn't bring them." These Large Footed Spirit Bats liked to eat fish, and Qian Duoduo's manor also raised some fish. But Qian Duoduo didn't like to eat fish, and his Golden Toad never stored any.
Cao Yueying spoke, "Feeding them is useless. There are so many, it's impossible to communicate."
"That's still better than communicating with some people." Deng Feihong thought Cao Yueying was referring to her, and automatically retorted.
"However, so many Large Footed Spirit Bats indicate they have abundant food. There must be many underground rivers, and these rivers might not only have fish but also alligators. We must be careful." Qian Duoduo quickly changed the subject. If this woman started arguing, even the ultimate battle wouldn't matter.
This time, their defensive weapon was still the Chuan Yun Boots. Their offensive weapon was the Raging Battle Bracelet. This Battle Bracelet was a type of Divine Artifact for assassination; worn on the arm, it increased strength and speed by 30% within a quarter of an hour.
Among them, Dugu Yunshan was undoubtedly the strongest in combat, and to win, they had to strengthen him.
The underground world was a series of connected caves, like a natural maze. In some caves, there were surging underground rivers. Qian Duoduo and his companions dared not emit light, as that would make them a living target.
Fortunately, Qian Duoduo's Spiritual Awareness was sufficient to avoid the Large Footed Spirit Bat groups in advance. Although they fed on fish, if provoked, they wouldn't mind drinking some human blood.
"Slow—stop." Qian Duoduo used his Spiritual Awareness to instruct everyone to stop and press tightly against the rock wall, making no sound.
Qian Duoduo had just sensed that in the cave ahead, there was a larger open space, and within that space were two powerful Qi.
Slowly turning, two turtle-shaped Spirit Beasts appeared in Qian Duoduo's Spiritual Awareness. They were Vajra Turtles, high-level Jin Beasts. These turtles were gentle in nature, feeding on fish. Their shells were extremely hard, like Vajra.
Qian Duoduo was about to go around, but suddenly thought that the Vajra Turtle's shell and scales were excellent materials for carving Formations. If he could get one or two, Senior Brother would surely be very happy. The Vajra Turtle was two whole grades higher than the Ironclad Black Tortoise he currently raised.
The place where the two Vajra Turtles stayed was by the bank of an underground river. The Vajra Turtles were stretching their heads, concentrating on catching fish in the river. Their heads were like rocks by the river, but as soon as a fish passed by, their long necks would extend and retract, and a fish would be eaten.
"Are you going to chat with the Vajra Turtles?" Deng Feihong reacted. She thought Qian Duoduo wanted to talk the Vajra Turtles into becoming allies, like he did with the Spirit Fox, to deal with the Lu Xi Giant.
"I didn't bring what they like to eat, so I can't chat." Qian Duoduo began to regret it; he should have brought a little of every kind of food. Refining delicious food could also be considered a form of Artifact Refining. The latest volume of the Encyclopedia of Weapon Refining that Qian Duoduo obtained—the "Tool Usage" volume—embodied the spirit that anything useful is a tool.
Moreover, even with fish in hand, it would be difficult to chat with these two old turtles. There were plenty of fish in the underground river; they were not like the Spirit Fox, lacking food, and certainly not little foodies easily tempted.
Qian Duoduo's Spiritual Awareness slowly spread behind the Vajra Turtles, trying to find the shed scales from their backs. Vajra Turtles, like other turtles, shed their back shells piece by piece as they grow, when their shells can no longer accommodate their bodies, and new, larger scales grow inside.
Unexpectedly, Qian Duoduo detected a thin, rope-like object slowly crawling towards a corner. Qian Duoduo used his Spiritual Awareness to look in that direction and actually saw a pile of large turtle shells. These were precisely the shed scales of these two Vajra Turtles, each as large as a pot lid.
The thin, rope-like object was a slender, long whip. The long whip was very ordinary, a low-level Mortal Weapon, characterized by its sufficient length and minimal movement.
Someone, like Qian Duoduo and his companions, wanted to steal the Vajra Turtle's scales.
Qian Duoduo was afraid of startling the thief, and also afraid of startling the Vajra Turtles, so he didn't dare to look towards the long whip with his Spiritual Awareness.
But he knew that an opportunity had arrived.
The best scenario was that the one who came to steal the Vajra Turtle scales was none other than the Lu Xi Giant.
The long whip silently coiled around one scale, paused for a moment, then coiled around another, and then quietly retracted.
Suddenly, a small stone flew over, hitting those two scales directly.
"Bang," a clear sound echoed in the darkness. The two Vajra Turtles turned their heads together, their four fierce eyes looking towards the sound.