Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1415 Hyena Ecology

The flames were still burning. Yu Chilong looked at Lu Ning's figure standing in front of the deep pit and gestured to his subordinates, telling them not to make any rash moves.

The biggest fear in hunting missions is never the difficulty of killing the prey, but rather the hunter's carelessness. The fact that the flames on Lu Ning's body haven't gone out yet proves that "Reversal" is still working on her. Whether the evil creature's abilities can continue to function after death, or whether the evil creature is still alive, neither is good news.

"Wait a mininute……"

The flames on Lu Ning's body did not weaken; instead, they burned even more fiercely. She reached out and plucked a spark from the flames, flicked it in mid-air, and transformed it into the shape of a javelin.

The method of use was exactly the same as hers using the power of the Nine Revolutions of Senluo to control the Frost Array. Lu Ning was very certain that she had hit the evil thing. Even an invisible existence could not avoid the power of innate true qi. However, the situation that was happening to her now was very likely because it was not dead.

Or rather, can this thing really be killed in the conventional way? The mission given by the distribution center is "collect or kill," but what if some evil creatures cannot be killed at all and can only be collected?

A drop of rain fell on her face, startling her.

not dead!

The nature of the rainwater was changed; it could pass through the flames burning around Lu Ning without evaporating, but instead began to solidify. Although this one drop of solid rain wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable, what if there was more than one drop?

The bigger problem is that Lu Ning thought she had just encountered a counterattack, but it doesn't seem to be the case. It's obvious that the evil entity's "reversal" power has many more and better ways to attack her, but right now it's just a solid rain, a disturbance that, while a bit troublesome, can't really be called a nuisance.

"Lu Ning! What's going on?!"

The rain wasn't just falling on Lu Ning's side, but only the high temperature there caused the rain to solidify. On Yu Chilong's side, it was just ordinary rain, and he didn't realize the seriousness of the problem.

"Get out of the rain!!" Lu Ning shouted at the top of her lungs.

Perhaps everyone, including all the demons, has misunderstood one thing... From beginning to end, this evil creature from the past has never actually launched any serious attack.

"cough!"

One of the men next to Yuchi Long suddenly coughed and spat out some blood clots.

The human body also produces water vapor during physiological activities. If this water is reversed into a solid state, the damage to the body is foreseeable, but it will not be fatal in the short term.

But the key issue wasn't there. Lu Ning raised the javelin and hurled it into the air. The flaming javelin itself had little mass; it was formed from her innate purple qi. Its range reached the heavens, though it lacked accuracy. Lu Ning felt the connection between herself and the javelin. After exceeding a certain range, the fiery power attached to it suddenly began to weaken, then the flames faded, and ice regenerated.

It is obvious that this area is still within the influence of the evil entity, but the reversible effect has failed.

"This is a bit troublesome..." Lu Ning brushed the rain off her head and ran quickly toward Yu Chilong's position. She didn't know if she would make it in time, but she had to hurry!
Meanwhile, Yu Chilong had already re-established his military formation. Although coughing up blood clots looked serious, it was only a minor injury. Yu Chilong's men were simply confused, but they didn't lose their composure. By the time Lu Ning ran over, Yu Chilong had basically figured out the situation.

"Hey! Yuchi Long, take your men and evacuate this area first—"

“I understand.” Yu Chilong nodded to Lu Ning. “It didn’t attack us; it just made the surrounding area a habitable environment for itself.”

"Yes! It's just nest building!"

Lu Ning was glad that Yu Chilong was a smart enough companion, so she didn't need to explain: "The number of people is useless here! What doesn't fit the environment will be changed! Your attack only makes some changes to the environment, it won't change the essence!"

Yu Chilong could only nod, but he was clearly still unwilling.

Lu Ning could no longer concern herself with his situation, because she noticed the surrounding environment was continuing to change. The evil creature was indeed still alive, possibly injured, but not fatally. If fatality wasn't an option, how should she deal with it? Conquer it? Could such an intangible thing be conquered? Or should she rephrase it?

She suddenly recalled her experience on Trial Island.

Compared to this monstrous creature that only knows how to build its nest, the apocalyptic monsters on Judgment Island are far more terrifying. How did Judgment Island manage to contain these things? How did they contain them, and how did they subdue them?

If this is nest-building behavior, then this is the environment it prefers...

Lu Ning thrust her sword into the now damp and muddy ground. Flames spread across the ground, but unlike when she attacked the evil creatures, they were not as violent. Instead, the ground began to slowly warm up, becoming a more humid environment.

The area it needs is not as large as the range of influence it creates. This can be seen from the state of its javelin recovery. The farther away the range, the less it cares. It only needs to disable powerful targets so that they can't interfere with it.

"I'm not good at things like environmental modification..." Lu Ning heard Yu Chilong's cavalry troop disappear into the distance, so she thrust her sword deeper. Now, she wasn't the one supporting the heat being transmitted here, but rather she was exchanging the energy of the Frost Array back through the items she had left in the hands of her subordinates, and then converting it through the "reversal" effect she had received.

The earth recovered from the mud, and then marks began to appear.

The unseen evil creature began to fall into the "nest." It seemed quite satisfied with the environment Lu Ning had created, and thus Lu Ning's reversal state was not weakened. Soon, Lu Ning observed that a cavity had appeared in the soil, and the evil creature began to burrow underground, constantly changing its form, much like a human adjusting its appearance to find the most comfortable sleeping position.

Lu Ning really wanted to roast this evil thing again here, but she simply didn't have the strength. The purple flames had almost faded, and even though she was now considered the number one innate purple qi possessor in the world, she couldn't withstand using it like this.

She forcefully pulled the sword out, gasped for breath, and then slowly extinguished the flames. The quest at the distribution center hadn't shown a completion notification; merely appeasing the evil spirit didn't count as a capture?
She hadn't done a hunting mission in so long that she hadn't expected a level 5 hunt to be so difficult.

However, after the evil object sank into the ground and the surface began to close, the strange phenomena in the sky also began to disappear, and the rain falling on our faces returned to normal. Because the environmental changes were deemed unnecessary to maintain, everything returned to normal.

“But the problem is not yet solved…” Lu Ning felt the reversed state in her body, with no sign of recovery.

In short, she should first go back and reunite with her subordinates, and then consider how to seal off this evil entity. The collection of the distribution center probably also has certain requirements, and she needs to find out where the conditions are met.

However, as she walked back, she heard the ground shaking.

The muddy area wasn't very large, so the ground in the distance was still hard, but the vibration sounded like Yuchi Long had returned.
Wrong quantity!

Lu Ning's hearing had been heightened to a very sharp level, and in an instant she sensed that the number of galloping cavalry seemed to have decreased by at least half. She wasn't sure if this was Yu Chilong's army, and just as she was about to hide, she saw the familiar wind pressure, but Yu Chilong was not at the front of the column.

"how……"

"General Lu, run!" Gongsun Yue, who had once ridden Lu Ning's horse, was among the troops, but now his face showed considerable panic. Lu Ning frowned slightly and shouted, "What's going on! Explain yourself clearly!"

"The boss said that these things have a hyena-like ecosystem. Once one starts to rest, the others will move in as soon as they hear it!"

As expected of Yuchi Long, he explained things very clearly.

Lu Ning circulated her internal energy and roughly understood why the evil thing had kept her in a reversed state; it turned out it was to find a guardian for its den.

Although these things have unpredictable abilities and immeasurable forms, they are all living beings that act according to certain biological instincts.

"Hurry up—"

"Yuchi Long stayed behind to cover the rear, right? I have to find him and bring him back. You can't be without him either." Lu Ning dodged an arm that tried to pull her onto her horse, leaped up, and at the same time gave orders to her subordinates in the Frost Array to come and find her.

Hunting requires facing challenges head-on.

Lu Ning knew that Gongsun Yue and the others wouldn't turn back. Since it was Yuchi Long who gave the order, they would definitely do it. It was also a matter of his ability.

Yuchi Long, who was covering the rear, probably had his own plans. It would be difficult to evacuate with so many people, but Lu Ning was not worried about this problem. Her men were specially trained in retreat and maneuvering, and they could run faster than cavalry in this kind of terrain.

After crossing a low hill, Lu Ning saw Yu Chilong leading his troops in a frantic rush. Behind him, a fierce battle had already broken out.

No wonder it's called a hyena ecosystem; even they fight among themselves.

The largest group consisted of paper figures with flat bodies that could attach themselves to rocks, trees, or even the ground at any time, then leap out and strike with a sword. They were all dressed in blue, with their hair tied up like swordsmen, and had no facial features. They were agile, but their attacks lacked any set moves. Instead, they constantly switched between two-dimensional and three-dimensional states, using their unique characteristics to launch sneak attacks and assassinations, making them quite troublesome.

Those who can fight this thing are no normal beings. Five "ghosts" floating in the air, dissolving like mud and dripping purple substance, were spewing out mud from their bodies with their mouths wide open. The paper figure's sword could not do any damage to these ghosts.

The last force, clearly consisting of only one individual, was a cloud floating in the sky. A torrential downpour fell from this cloud, which was hovering at an extremely low altitude. Amidst the dense rain, a slender shadow, with several extra arms and legs than a human, appeared and disappeared. The cloud drifted through the two sides that were fighting, chasing after Yuchi Long. Yuchi Long was obviously hiding from this thing.

"Yuchi Long!" Lu Ning projected her voice using her inner strength. Her skill in transmitting sound secretly wasn't very good, so many people in Yuchi Long's group heard her call. Yuchi Long was pleasantly surprised to see Lu Ning coming, but he immediately pointed to the cloud floating behind him and waved his hand vigorously.

Are these all evil artifacts from the past? They certainly are.

Yu Chilong could only manage a wry smile.

Following Lu Ning's advice, he tried to leave the area affected by the invisible evil, but encountered the strange cloud along the way. He had initially thought that tangible things, at least having a target, would be easier to deal with than intangible ones, but his impact force, capable of blowing away rocks and giant trees, passed directly through the cloud. The elongated, strange shadow in the rain was merely an image refracted by the raindrops, having no real substance. Only when the raindrops touched the ground did they truly interact with the world, resulting in a dense network of beehives.

It's as if they wanted to shorten the saying "constant dripping wears away a stone" to a mere instant.

Yu Chilong had no choice but to run if he couldn't win. He soon realized that the cloud was coming for him, because he encountered the two groups of paper figures and ghosts who were fighting each other but couldn't reach each other, and they also saw the cloud as a target. Strangely, although none of the three groups could hurt each other, they were still fighting fiercely, and the cloud was also blocked from moving forward.

He quickly dispatched a group of men to leave first, while he stayed behind to cover the rear. He realized this was a good opportunity to observe the evil creatures, but someone also needed to relay their basic information. Now that Lu Ning had arrived, at least one side of the evil creatures should be temporarily dealt with.

Having no other options with Yun Duo, he gestured for Lu Ning to leave quickly. Unexpectedly, Yun Duo reacted very quickly, suddenly turning her head and rushing towards Lu Ning.

“Scent hunting, these evil creatures are probably creatures that once lived in this world.” Lu Ning was not surprised. Her reversal state was much more severe than Yu Chilong’s. With such strong characteristics, if the cloud was really after the invisible evil creature, it would definitely be looking for her.

To be honest, Lu Ning was already a bit tired from dealing with just one, but her profound internal strength meant she wasn't too worried. However, at this moment, it was truly difficult for her to fight another one. She needed to probe out the weaknesses, survival status, and conditions for capturing these creatures one by one, and she didn't know how many lives would be lost.

The cold mist swept in from the side, and the water falling from the clouds quickly froze in the mist, but it could not affect the clouds at all. Lu Ning clearly saw that the strange shadow in the rain was slowly reaching out to her.

"Your shadow in this world should eventually have a real body somewhere..." She leaned back, letting a perfect substitute take over her current state and detach from herself, heading towards Yu Yun. The ignited sword was swung out, though it had no effect, it still drew Yu Yun's attention.

As for Lu Ning, she had already returned to the Frost Array. The excellence of the Perfect Substitute lies in its ability to inherit most of Lu Ning's abnormal state. Without "Reversal", Lu Ning had no attraction to these evil creatures. She reached out and rolled up the Frost Mist, which enveloped Yu Chi Long's team as well, and both sides disappeared into the night.

"Thank you, but I don't see any more solutions for these evil things. And with so many..." Yu Chilong said to Lu Ning from inside the ice array.

"I'm not going to waste time thinking about these things. I'm going to go directly to the people who saw them and ask them how they dealt with these things back then." Lu Ning took out a bell. She had kept this for a long time, and it was finally time to use it for the second time.

The guide lights were lit, and the dilapidated carriage became visible directly in the fog.