The Yellow Bear Flying Bear Generals who had split up to explore gradually began to gather. Lu Yuan quickly counted and found that no one was missing. A few had minor injuries. Two people were unharmed, but their collectors had exploded; they had no replacements, and their expressions were deathly gloomy.

Once everyone had gathered, most were in good spirits. Although exploring a Secret Realm was highly dangerous, high risk also came with high rewards. The Merit they could gain from exploring this Elephant God Secret Realm was likely equivalent to exploring other Secret Realms of the same grade multiple times.

As the team leader, Yin Muqing finished counting heads and was about to speak. Suddenly, as if sensing something, she looked in the direction they had come from. The others turned their heads too and immediately saw two figures at the distant entrance, radiating a luminous glow similar to Yin Muqing's, appear in mid-air.

It was Havel the Egersis's exploration team!

"Didn't they say we had a ten-hour head start? It's been less than four hours..." Lu Yuan looked at the time and couldn't help frowning.

Beside him, Han Xun spoke with a cold expression, "It's an issue with the time flow. Obviously, the time flow inside this Secret Realm is different from the outside world..."

Lu Yuan was taken aback, frowning slightly. He hadn't noticed this when he entered the Lament Ruins last time. I have to admit, I'm really inexperienced in Secret Realm exploration, he thought. There are some things I still need to learn from an experienced veteran like Han Xun.

"Let's go!" Yin Muqing stared in the direction the two had appeared, her face slightly cold. She called out and then led the team deeper into the plain.

The Flying Bear Generals followed closely, all choosing to run on the ground. This was partly to avoid attracting unknown hostility and partly to conserve energy.

Lu Yuan followed the main group aimlessly, pondering how to "appropriately" break away from the team to carry out his solo instance plan. Soon enough, the opportunity he was waiting for arrived.

WHOOSH—

At the forefront of the team, Yin Muqing, who was flying, suddenly stopped. She slashed her alloy Long knife diagonally forward and downward, unleashing a substantial energy blade. The blade cut through the sky, causing ripples in the air.

BOOM! It landed in a pile of jagged black rocks up ahead, blasting several mangled figures of Ancient Elephant God's creatures into view.

The entire Yellow Bear unit immediately stopped. Following that, everyone felt mild tremors coming from the black ground beneath their feet. In their forward vision, dark silhouettes exuding intense Evil Energy Fluctuations emerged. Terrifying roars even echoed from the sky. Strange, winged birds with elephant heads circled above them.

All of this happened so suddenly it caught them completely off guard. It was as if this vast, sinister plain had awakened in the span of a few breaths due to their intrusion. Surging malice swept towards them.

HOO—

Lu Yuan discreetly touched his right chest. The Elephant God's curse was scalding him at this moment. Although I don't think my Elephant God's curse alone could cause such a huge commotion, he mused, it's obvious that a large number of these Ancient Elephant God's creatures that suddenly appeared are specifically targeting me. But with the battle already erupting, no one would notice.

Do I have some kind of Hate Aura?

As Lu Yuan was thinking, a large group of Ancient Elephant God's creatures thundered towards him, shaking the earth. The weakest among them had an Evil Energy Fluctuation of S-grade or higher. The majority were SS-grade, and quite a few were SSS-grade. At first glance, there were dozens of them, and their numbers were still increasing.

Even the Flying Bear Generals, who had explored various Evil God Secret Realms, wore grave expressions upon seeing this spectacular scene.

"Attack!"

The moment the horde of Ancient Elephant God's creatures and the exploration team were about to collide, several Four-winged Flying Bears in the team immediately took to the air, proactively charging forward. Each one managed to intercept an SSS-grade Evil God creature. These monsters, with SSS-grade Evil Energy levels, were terrifyingly large, generally over seven meters tall. When they moved, they resembled small, mobile mountains.

Lu Yuan noticed Han Xun casting a peculiar gaze at him. Han Xun wasn't a fool; Lu Yuan's lame lie about "the bigger the body, the weaker the creature; the smaller the body, the stronger" was clearly debunked now. But Lu Yuan pretended not to see, putting on an innocent and confused expression.

Fortunately, Han Xun didn't have time to delve into it with Lu Yuan. As one of the few Four-winged Flying Bear Generals in the team, he merely gave Lu Yuan a meaningful look before rushing off with the other Four-winged Flying Bears to join the front line, helping to block the charge of the Ancient Elephant God's creatures.

Lu Yuan, mixed in the crowd, discreetly looked for an opportunity.

Finally, he saw a strange bird with black and grey feathers, a massive elephant head, and elephant-ear-like wings, screeching as it dived towards him. Lu Yuan's face showed a flicker of panic. He thrust out a palm as if to resist. But the instant the bird touched him, he changed his palm into a claw, grabbing its talons firmly, making it look like he was accidentally snatched into the sky.

Fly away! Fly away! he urged inwardly.

Once airborne, Lu Yuan covertly released a bit of Platinum Universe Qi, repeatedly poking the bird's rear, hoping the pain would make it fly away quickly. Seeing the bird react to the pain and about to flee into the distance, suddenly—

WHOOSH—

A silver-white blade light, like a coiling dragon, slashed through the sky. The strange bird, frantically flapping its elephant-ear wings, froze in mid-air. Then, it silently split into two halves. A stinking rain of blood and gore showered down as Lu Yuan, his face grim, fell from the sky.

Although frustrated, he had to express his sincerest gratitude to the "good person" who had helped him. "Thank you for your aid!"

Yin Muqing, her expression proud, slowly sheathed her Long knife. She glanced at him coolly without a word and quickly turned her gaze elsewhere.

Feeling helpless, Lu Yuan had no choice but to temporarily suppress his thoughts of "escaping." He pretended to join the fight against the besieging Evil God creatures. He controlled his strength to be between SS-grade and SSS-grade, casually dispatching SS-grade Ancient Elephant God's creatures while secretly activating his blood sphere to absorb the Flesh and Blood Essence from the corpses scattered on the battlefield.

Right now, everyone was fighting; no one would stop to deliberately collect spoils of war. This was a boon for Lu Yuan. He didn't know how much Flesh and Blood Essence he had absorbed, only that the blood sphere in his chest was continuously growing and strengthening. After it swelled to a certain point, the blood sphere vibrated with a HUM.

RUSH—

A tide of Qi and blood surged through him. Lu Yuan felt his bones and flesh resonate within his chest, his organs glowed, and a brand-new power welled up from within.

[Power: 27 (Break the Limit 1)]

My Power attribute increased by one point, Lu Yuan noted, glancing at his attribute panel. His original Power of 26 had risen to 27. The experience bar for [Elephant God. Ming King (Extraordinary)] had also reached 15%. Things are progressing pretty quickly. This way of getting stronger while slacking off is pretty sweet...

Lu Yuan sighed inwardly. But this wasn't a long-term solution. If he devoured and absorbed too aggressively, others might easily notice something was amiss. It would look a bit like he was stealing their Merit.

It feels more satisfying to absorb from monsters I kill myself. Leeching experience isn't my style... Lu Yuan thought, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield. He had been looking for a way to "leave" all this time. But with Yin Muqing commanding the center and controlling the field with her blade, his previous plan was difficult to execute. During this period, a few unlucky individuals had been snatched into the sky by the elephant-headed birds, just like him, but Yin Muqing had saved them all with a few slashes.

However... it wasn't as if he had no chance.

The battle had been raging for some time, and the pressure on their group hadn't lessened; in fact, their situation was becoming increasingly difficult. More and more Ancient Elephant God's creatures surged from the black plain, and the number of elite SSS-grade Evil Energy Fluctuation leaders now exceeded ten. Yin Muqing was attacking more frequently, her silver blade light streaking across the sky, breathtakingly brilliant.

If I stay here any longer, I might drag the whole team down with me, Lu Yuan mused, his face expressionless. If I'm alone, I can use guerrilla tactics—fight when I want, run when I want...

It was no longer a matter of him wanting to leave the team; he *had* to. Team members were already injured, and the situation was growing dire.

"Why are there more and more of these monsters! Should we..." someone in the fighting crowd exclaimed with a pale face, clearly thinking of retreating. But Yin Muqing was the leader; their course of action depended on her.

Lu Yuan could almost feel Yin Muqing's internal conflict at that moment.

Just then, the increasingly dense flock of monstrous birds in the sky executed a collective dive, snatching three people into the air to be torn apart.

Perfect chance! Lu Yuan's eyes flashed. He deliberately shouted, "I'll save them!"

THUD! He stomped the ground, shattering a large patch beneath him, and launched himself into the air like a cannonball, heading straight for a group of monstrous birds. His posture made it look as if he was recklessly trying to rescue his comrades.

One of the unfortunate captives, a Double Winged Flying Bear, was being pecked at by several monstrous birds and struggling to resist. When he saw Lu Yuan rushing up, hope gleamed in his eyes. Just as he was about to thank him—

BANG!

A fair-skinned hand slapped hard on his forehead. The poor guy didn't even make a sound as Lu Yuan's palm strike sent him plummeting downwards.

Borrowing the force from the impact, Lu Yuan shot further upwards, successfully burrowing into the "warm" embrace of a flock of monstrous birds as he wished.

"Don't worry about me!" Lu Yuan roared down, his eyes "red." The urgency in his voice attracted the attention of many on the field, momentarily stunning them.

Before anyone could react, Lu Yuan silently chanted in his mind, [Panic Boiling]!

His powerful Spiritual Power, amplified after his Intelligence attribute achieved its second Break the Limit, activated the core skill of his profession, [Panic Boiling]. A deep-seated terror erupted in the minds of the small cluster of Ancient Elephant God's creatures surrounding Lu Yuan. An intense fear, as if a natural predator had appeared, drove them to flap their wings frantically and scatter in all directions.

Lu Yuan, however, clung tightly to the talons of the largest and strongest bird among them. He was carried along with it as it rapidly flew deeper into the plain.

Lu Yuan's timing had been exquisite. It was precisely during the brief opening when Yin Muqing had just used her blade to rescue another Flying Bear General. By the time Yin Muqing realized what had happened, Lu Yuan, "abducted" by the monstrous bird, was already an unknown distance away.

Yin Muqing's expression flickered with indecision for a moment. Ultimately... she chose not to pursue him. Instead, she focused on the bigger picture, dedicating her energy to protecting the Yellow Bear Members on the ground.

Lu Yuan watched the main group recede into the distance and finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. Then, a light gleamed in his eyes.

Now that I've left the main group, the world is truly my oyster. A real leveling paradise... is beckoning me enthusiastically!

「 」

The surging tide of the Ancient Elephant God's creature army retreated, leaving behind a field littered with mangled corpses—a grand "harvest," by all appearances.

However, many of the Yellow Bear Exploration Team members who had escaped the danger felt a heavy mood.

Because...

They had just lost a "selfless" and "heroic" reliable companion!

「 」

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