Permanent Martial Arts

Chapter 224: Rat Crisis

The inside of the cave was blindingly dark.

Lin Feng switched on the flashlight and realized that this was a flight of stairs leading downwards. Moreover, the stairs were made of some kind of metal.

The wall beside the stairs was also metal, and felt a little cold to the touch.

Lin Feng was very cautious. He focused all his attention and watched everything around him closely.

Soon, they came down the stairs. The world opened up before them. It looked like a hall.

“Wait, there’s blood.”

Suddenly, Lin Feng stopped. He realized that the ground of this empty hall was covered in blood. Sage Kang had once said that he had sent a few batches of martial artists into the ruins, but none of them had come out.

Those people were most likely doomed. Then, could this blood be the blood of those martial artists?

“Everyone, be careful. There may be danger.”

Even without Lin Feng’s reminder, everyone was already on guard. With so much blood, the owners of the blood was most likely doomed. They had not forgotten how dangerous this ruin was.

Lin Feng’s mental power showed its benefits. He could use his mental power to investigate the surroundings. Although the range was not too far, it managed to cover this hall without any problems.

Suddenly, Lin Feng sensed a shadow flashing through the darkness. As it was too fast, even Lin Feng’s mental power could not capture what it was.

Swish.

Another shadow. This time, Lin Feng saw it clearly. It was clearly an incomparably huge rat. However, this rat was a little strange. Its eyes emitted a bloodthirsty glow, and its entire body was faintly suffused with a black light, blending into the darkness.

“Be careful.”

Lin Feng reminded loudly, but the rat was too fast. It charged over in the blink of an eye.

Swish.

Sialis felt a pain in her neck. She unleashed her Astral Power abruptly and slammed it towards the shadow.

Bang.

The shadow was slapped to the ground, turning into a mess of rotten flesh. It was a huge, bizarre rat. But blood was spurting out of Sialis’ neck.

With a thud, Sialis fell to the ground. Her face was slightly black, and her entire body convulsed. In another moment, she was no longer breathing.

“She’s already dead!” Griman said coldly.

“Everyone, mobilize your Astral Power immediately and deploy it throughout your bodies!”

Lin Feng shouted. Even though this might consume a certain amount of Astral Power, it could ensure their safety in such a dangerous environment.

Unfortunately, Sialis no longer had a chance. She was bitten to death by the giant rat.

“What kind of dire beast is this?”

Someone looked at the rat flesh on the ground and asked through gritted teeth.

“Never seen it before. Not only is it fast, it’s also highly venomous. Sialis wouldn’t be dead otherwise.”

They had just entered the ruins, and one of their companions had already died. It had to be known that Sialis’ strength was quite good. She was a Third Level Metamorphic Realm martial artist who had yet to use all kinds of methods at her disposal. It was a real shame that she had died just like that. At the same time, it also made them even more vigilant towards this ruin.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

Suddenly, many rat screeches came from the darkness again. With his enveloping mental power, Lin Feng discovered a large amount of rats. They were all about the same size as the rat from before.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

These rats charged towards Lin Feng and the others in a frenzy. Fortunately, everyone was prepared this time. They would definitely not make the same mistake as Sialis.

“Armor!”

“Petrification Technique!”

Lin Feng growled. At the same time, his body was already covered in a layer of hideous armor. The Petrification Technique also covered the armor, greatly increasing Lin Feng’s defense.

Lin Feng also wanted to test how strong these rats were. He suddenly took a step forward and charged into the horde of rats.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

These rats all slammed into Lin Feng’s armor. They even bared their sharp teeth, trying to bite through the armor on Lin Feng’s body.

However, they could not even break through the Petrification Technique, let alone break Lin Feng’s armor.

Lin Feng reached out and grabbed a rat. He observed this rat carefully. Aside from sharp teeth and claws, and enough venom to poison a Metamorphic Realm martial artist to death, they seemed very ordinary as well.

At least, it posed no threat to Lin Feng at all.

Thump.

With a slight squeeze, Lin Feng killed the rat.

At the same time, he simply used his hands as sabers. Dense Sharp Horns appeared on his palms, which were much stronger than particle sabers.

“Lightning Arc Saber Technique?”

Using his hands as sabers, Lin Feng utilized the Lightning Arc Saber Technique. He did not even use Astral Power. His speed was extremely fast. In an instant, he slaughtered his way through the rat horde, causing a bloodbath.

It was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Those rats were completely useless against Lin Feng.

Watching Lin Feng kill the rat dire beasts like a knife through hot butter, Griman and the others felt a little ashamed. They did not have such a formidable defensive ability like Lin Feng. Moreover, the rats were highly venomous and could poison Metamorphic Realm martial artists to death. They did not dare to withdraw their protective Astral Power.

Moreover, they could not kill these rats with raw physical strength. Hence, almost all of them, including Griman, were holding out with great difficulty. Even the eight of them combined could not match the number of rats Lin Feng had killed.

Even Griman, who had competed with Lin Feng in the Global Martial Arts Competition, had to admit that Lin Feng’s abilities were too comprehensive. Moreover, they were very useful no matter the environment.

If not for Lin Feng, just these numerous rats would have caused them a lot of trouble. When their Astral Power was exhausted, they would probably die to the rats.

No wonder none of the many batches of martial artists Sage Kang had sent into this ruin had returned. Just these terrifying rat dire beasts alone were more than what any Metamorphic Realm martial artist deal with.

Even Divine Realm martial artists would probably be exhausted here. When their Astral Power was depleted, they would probably be devoured by the rat dire beasts immediately.

They were a little relieved that they had Lin Feng. Otherwise, they really wouldn’t know how to deal with it this time. Forget about venturing deep into the ruins, they probably wouldn’t even be able to leave this place.

“There are too many rats. We have to leave quickly!”

Lin Feng turned around and took a look. His endurance was very strong and could fight for several days and nights without fear, and even kill all these rat dire beasts.

However, the remaining eight martial artists could not hold out for that long. They could easily deal with these rats now because they still had sufficient Astral Power. Once their Astral Power was exhausted, the situation would probably be reversed immediately.

They could not continue wasting time with these rats.

“Everyone, follow me. There’s a tunnel here.”

Lin Feng moved with large strides, practically rampaging. All the rats he collided with were smashed to death. Even a single step from Lin Feng would crush a few rats to death.

Lin Feng’s Armor and Petrification innate abilities were just too useful.

Lin Feng practically crushed his way over. There were too many rat dire beasts. At a glance, they seemed to fill the entire hall, as if they were infinite, and were still converging from all directions.

Even though all of them were battle-honed Metamorphic Realm martial artists, their scalps still tingled a little at this moment. As for Sialis, who had died previously, her corpse was no longer there. Not even her bones were left behind. They had all been devoured by the rat dire beasts.

No wonder they had only seen blood in the hall and not corpses. The corpses had probably been devoured by the rat dire beasts.

Lin Feng came to the front of Griman and the others. They had already formed a circle. With Astral Power, it was not difficult for them to deal with these rat dire beasts.

“Go!”

Lin Feng took the lead like a bulldozer, forcefully creating a bloody path. Lin Feng’s armor was covered in blood, but his fists were basically covered in the blood of those rats.

There were actually some passageways around the hall. Lin Feng thought for a moment and walked straight towards a passageway ahead.

“You guys go in first. I’ll cover the rear. These rats do not pose much threat to me.”

Lin Feng was covered in blood, but he was everyone’s reliance at this moment. Originally, they were all prodigies who wanted to enter the ruins to explore the mysteries of the ruins, and use various methods to successfully decipher the ruins.

They did not expect to become Lin Feng’s burden.

“Lin Feng, be careful.”

Griman looked deeply at Lin Feng. Initially, he was not very convinced and still had thoughts of “competing” in the future. But now, looking at the endless stream of rats, he no longer had any intention of competing with Lin Feng.

Lin Feng covered the rear. Seeing that Griman and the others had all entered the tunnel, the corners of his lips curled into a cold smile. Even he was a little flustered by the endless waves of rat dire beasts. He could not stop these rats from charging into the tunnel.

“Void Bubble!”

Lin Feng waved his hand, and a total of ten beautiful Void Bubbles appeared. Moreover, Lin Feng controlled the diameter of these Void Bubbles to be very large. At least every Astral Bubble had a diameter of more than five meters.

Astral Bubbles with a diameter of five meters might be much weaker, but it was more than enough to deal with these rats.

“Collapse!”

Lin Feng’s ten Astral Bubble enveloped a large amount of rat dire beasts in the hall before suddenly collapsing.

Hundreds of thousands of rats screeched frantically, but as the ten Astral Bubbles collapsed, these rats were instantly reduced to dust. Seeing this scene, Griman and the others behind the tunnel gasped.

Lin Feng’s methods were too comprehensive. Moreover, this Void Bubble was too shocking. Had anyone ever seen ten Astral Bubbles collapse instantly and kill thousands of rat dire beasts?

This was also the first time they had seen it!

Although Lin Feng had consumed 4,000 strands of Astral Power, 4,000 strands of Astral Power was nothing. He had more than 80,000 strands of Astral Power. Losing this tiny amount of Astral Power was nothing much, and had no effect on Lin Feng at all.

However, the others did not think so. Lin Feng had unleashed 4,000 strands of Astral Power at once. This was equivalent to nearly half the Astral Power in his body, and it was to cover their retreat.

He did it to save them. Lin Feng’s “selfless” behavior also convinced the other eight martial artists. They no longer had any second thoughts about Lin Feng being their leader.

Lin Feng used the Void Bubble to clear the hall for the time being, but there were simply too many rats. They were practically infinite. He would not really exhaust his Astral Power to fight the rats to the death.

After entering the tunnel, he realized that there was a huge iron door in the tunnel. Whether due to age or some other reason, it did not fall. He immediately yanked it down hard by hand.

Boom.

The door fell down suddenly, completely sealing the passage and temporarily shutting the rats away.

“Phew…”

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Lin Feng walked over and glanced at the eight martial artists. He said regretfully, “It’s a pity that Sialis is dead. Everyone, you must be careful. Even if you waste some Astral Power, you must use it to protect yourself the entire time.”

“Yes, Leader.”

Everyone spoke together, treating Lin Feng’s words as an order.

“Lin… Leader, I didn’t expect us to become your burden.”

Griman originally wanted to call Lin Feng by his name, but in the end, he still called him Leader. This meant that he had completely acknowledged Lin Feng.

“How could you be a burden? It’s just that my various abilities happened to counter those rats earlier. There must be other dangers in the ruins next. When the time comes, we still need to work together to deal with them. This place should be safe for the time being. Everyone has consumed a lot of Astral Power just now. Let’s restore our Astral Power first.”

Lin Feng also sat on the ground, and the others began to restore their Astral Power.

The most important thing for Metamorphic Realm martial artists was Astral Power. Lin Feng had just consumed 4,000 strands of Astral Power. In order to not arouse suspicion, he also had to restore his Astral Power.

The speed at which the Astra Devourer Technique restored Astral Power was very fast. In less than half an hour, he had completely recovered the 4,000 strands of Astral Power. Lin Feng looked at the others, who were still working hard to restore their Astral Power.

“Longbetham, do you know which civilization this is now?”

Lin Feng called out to Longbetham in his mind. He had a vague feeling of worry. Those rats just now were too bizarre. They might be dire beasts, but they didn’t quite seem like dire beasts.

Be it strength, speed, size, or so on, every rat was actually somewhat inferior to demons. Yet their venom could kill an ordinary demon.

This was just too strange. As far as Lin Feng knew, ordinary dire beasts, even dire beast kings, could not pose any threat to demons. However, these rats were clearly an exception.

As this was an ancient civilization ruin, Lin Feng wondered if it was related to the ancient civilization.

The ones who knew the most about ancient civilizations were not the Nine Sages, but Longbetham!

Lin Feng called out in his mind for a while before Longbetham finally said, “This is a little troublesome. If I am not wrong, this ruin should be a ruin left behind by the seventh civilization.”

“The seventh civilization?”

Lin Feng communicated with Longbetham in his mind. No one else knew.

He remembered that Longbetham had once said that the current civilization was the ninth civilization. Before this, there were eight civilizations. If this ruin was left behind by the seventh civilization, it should be relatively close to the current era.

“Other than you, there had been eight other civilizations in this world. Among these eight civilizations, there had only been three technological civilizations. They are the third, fifth, and seventh civilizations respectively.

“Among them, the third and fifth civilizations were both purely technological civilizations. Only the seventh civilization was mainly technological while focusing on researching dire beasts, and developed things somewhat similar to biomodified beasts. This is rather troublesome.”

There was actually a trace of worry in Longbetham’s tone. This was really rare. Ever since Lin Feng had met Longbetham, Longbetham had always been full of confidence.

This was the first time Lin Feng had seen it so hesitant and worried.