CHAPTER 438: CHAPTER 438: THE BATTLE WITH MUTATED RATS

The white flames turned white-hot and formed petals that exploded outward, engulfing hundreds of rats in an inferno. The shockwave tore through the sides of the forest, uprooting smaller trees.

When the smoke cleared, the road behind them was covered in ashes and scorched earth. But the noise beneath the ground didn’t stop.

Ye Xuan frowned when he heard the sound, "They’re still coming?" He couldn’t understand why the rats were so persistent.

Chu Miao closed her eyes for a moment, expanding her divine sense. Her brows furrowed so much it could kill a fly.

"There’s a nest beneath the forest. Thousands more. If we stay here, we’ll be surrounded and it’s a waste of time." She said and turned around to see if their companions had already gotten far.

However, she was surprised to see them running towards them on foot.

All the other cars had been parked a distance away and earth walls had been erected around them to protect them from the onslaught of rats.

As the huge group of thirty plus people began to attack, the pressure on Ye Xuan and Chu Miao lessened.

A colorful scene appeared in the middle of the road with different colors of spiritual energy lighting up the sky.

As hundreds of rats threw themselves at the people around, hundreds fell at their swords or superpower attacks.

There were wind blades flying and cutting the rats to pieces, fireballs burning them to ashes within seconds, ice arrows piercing through their bodies and taking their lives, and many other scenes that left them no chance of survival.

However, Chu Miao noticed that the more they kill the rats, the more they come above the ground.

It was as if there was an endless supply of rats in that forest.

Realizing that the battle would never end and time was ticking, Chu Miao decided to get everyone to leave.

Even though leaving such a large number of mutated rats was not a good idea as they would probably get stronger, they needed to get to the village before dark as they had no idea what else was in that forest.

They could always come back later to eliminate them when they had time.

"Everyone, prepare to move out. We have already reduced their numbers by thousands.

We can find another opportunity to come and clear them."

Without hesitation, Lei Ying and the other brothers in Ye Xuan’s squad began moving towards the vehicles they had left behind while still killing the rats.

The others hesitated for a moment before following suit. They still had some resistance in taking orders from a young girl but when they saw the other elite soldiers who were even stronger than them following what Chu Miao told them without questions, they could only obey.

Thus, several cars left just as quickly as they stopped.

Ye Xuan also led Chu Miao to their car and covered her while she walked to her side of the car.

Before she entered the passenger door, she waved her hand and clenched her first suddenly.

The rats that were still near them all burst into a bloody mist. At the same time, she waved her other hand and countless crystal cores flew towards her and disappeared when they neared the spot she was standing on.

She had placed them all in her space ring.

Without another word, she climbed into the car and Ye Xuan went around to the driver’s seat before speeding off.

The car accelerated, throwing them back in their seats.

Through the window, they could see the swarm covering the road, chasing relentlessly.

"They’re faster than before," Li Kun said, sweat trickling down his forehead. "It’s like they’re evolving in real time!"

Hearing the voice coming from the comm on the dashboard, Chu Miao looked behind carefully and realized that Li Kun was right.

The speed at which those rats were chasing was different from when they had just left the camp they were eating barbecue at.

Her gaze darkened. "That’s not normal. They’re feeding off the residual spiritual energy in the soil. Something or someone must have released it."

This was the first time Chu Miao had seen something like that, even in her previous life where cultivation was normal, she hadn’t witnessed anything so abnormal.

"Could it be something similar to a mutated core? They can get strength transferred from another source." Ye Xuan asked, his mind racing.

"Possibly," Chu Miao replied. "If there’s a beast king controlling them, that’s bad news."

She had seen beast kings in her previous life. Even her white tiger was the king of all beasts related to the cat family.

It had the ability to command even the famous golden lions.

Thus, if a beast king had appeared in this forest, it was not good news. For cultivators like them, the beast king wasn’t a threat, but there were survivors who were ordinary or their superpowers low, then the beast king became a serious threat.

As the car sped forward, a low rumbling sound came from behind, it was deeper and heavier than that of the other rats.

Ye Xuan looked out the back through the sideview mirror, and his eyes widened slightly.

It wasn’t an easy feat to shock Ye Xuan but the situation behind them had indeed surprised him.

A massive rat, easily the size of a bear was forcing its way out of the ground. Its fur was metallic gray, its claws glowed faintly with red light, and a crystalline horn protruded from its head.

This was a pure king-tier mutation. Even someone as composed as Ye Xuan couldn’t help but be surprised.

Chu Miao noticed his expression and turned around to look behind through the window. She was similarly shocked by the size of that rat.

She hadn’t expected the mutation of animals to have reached such a stage.

It looked like the animals in this world were also quickly becoming similar to ancient demon beasts.

"Brace yourselves!" Ye Xuan barked an order.

"Something unexpected is at our tails." He wasn’t afraid of the rat and even though he wanted to avoid a fight, if they were forced, then they had to be ready.

The creature screeched, a sound that shook even the dust in the air. It was so unpleasant and powerful that it almost burst the eardrums of the ordinary soldiers and less powerful superpower users.

Several of the smaller rats exploded as the beast’s aura surged outwards.

The rat opened its mouth, firing a beam of crimson energy that struck the road, melting asphalt and stone alike.

The shockwave hit their car, sending it skidding sideways. Ye Xuan struggled for a while before he could keep it under control.

"We can’t outrun that!" He said while accelerating to the maximum.

However, the rat king was way faster.

Chu Miao pressed her hand against the window, her palm glowing.

A translucent barrier of spiritual light spread around the car just as another beam of energy shot toward them.

It created a barrier that protected the car from such fierce attacks and they escaped without any damage.

"I’ll distract it," she said, reaching for the door handle.

Ye Xuan grabbed her wrist, his eyes gentle yet firm. "You’re not going out there alone."

To him, it didn’t matter whether Chu Miao was the strongest human, he didn’t want her taking such risks.

He would rather fight than let her get hurt even a little.

Chu Miao turned to look at him and she met his gaze with her own determined one.

This was the first time they had faced off and both of them were unwilling to yield.

Eventually, Chu Miao relented.

"Fine." She said grumpily. "Let’s do it together then." She had just wanted to test and see whether the beasts evolving and mutating in this world were the same as those in ancient times or those in the ancient battlefield in terms of strength and combat abilities.

Before the others who heard them through the comms could protest, the two stopped the car and jumped out.

Chu Miao floated gracefully, summoning her sword midair, while Ye Xuan landed with a thud, lightning crackling at his feet.

That was a marvelous entrance for a fight with a rat.

The massive rat king charged toward them as soon as they landed without giving them a chance to breathe.

Chu Miao raised her sword, flames bursting upward to form a blazing phoenix in front of her.

Ye Xuan on the other hand swung his halberd, merging his thunder with her flame. The phoenix let out a deafening screech, its body wrapped in arcs of lightning, and dove straight at the beast.

The explosion was like a thunderclap that shook the sky.

The impact created a crater several meters wide, and flames consumed everything in sight, including soil.

When the smoke finally cleared, the massive rat lay on the ground, its charred body twitching before it disintegrated into ash. A crystal core rolled out from the remains, pulsing faintly with red light.