"What the?"
Zhao Lingfeng jerked back, startled, only to find the Stone Claw Bear's mouth practically overflowing with saliva as it stared at the golden strands.
"This isn't honey, you big lump!" Zhao Lingfeng hissed, wiping the drool from his shoulder. "Since when do Stone Claw Bears even eat honey?"
The bear had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, its small eyes darting away as it tried to discreetly wipe its mouth with one massive paw.
Shaking his head, Zhao Lingfeng turned back to the task at hand.
His heart sank as he realized he had left his pickaxe behind, a choice he made to reduce weight while packing for the secret realm. Still, he had sturdy utility knife he used for daily tasks.
Better than nothing, he thought grimly, pulling out the knife.
He carefully pressed the blade against one of the silk strands, trying to saw through it. The moment metal touched silk, a jolt of electricity numbed his fingers.
"Tch!" Zhao Lingfeng switched to a two-handed grip, setting his sword aside. He worked the knife like a miniature pickaxe, but the silk remained stubbornly intact. Behind him, the sounds of combat grew more intense.
The barrier was soon to meet its fate.
Desperation mounting, Zhao Lingfeng channeled half his spiritual energy into his arms.
*Tink*
What responded was only the chipping sound of the blade meeting the silk.
Nothing was chipped.
His movements grew frantic as he poured every drop of his cultivation into the task, striking again and again until his arms trembled with exhaustion.
Four heavy strikes later…
the Thunder Silk looked exactly as it had before.
A bitter laugh escaped his throat. "Too weak," he muttered. "I'm just too fucking weak."
A gentle poke at his side drew his attention. The Stone Claw Bear gestured toward the silk with one massive claw. Looking closer, Zhao Lingfeng noticed a single strand had come loose during his attempts. His gamer instincts took over, he snatched the strand and it vanished instantly into his inventory.
[You have obtained a Mangled strand of Thunder Silk (Low Quality) x1]
The system message brought a glimmer of hope to his eyes, but one strand wasn't nearly enough. It would probably take more than a full day of time at his pace, and that is if he could even keep the pace in the first place.
Then his eyes rested on the arms of the bear, and suddenly everything clicked.
!!
Stone Claw Bears were mountain dwellers and could be found in rocky habitats. They were complete naturals at gouging through rock formations...
"You try it!" Zhao Lingfeng urged the bear. "Like when you're digging through stone!"
The bear did not understand for a moment, but as Zhao Lingfeng mimed with his hands, its eyes lit up with understanding. Its stone-reinforced claws flashed out in a casual swipe, and a small chunk of Thunder Silk came free with surprising ease.
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
Zhao Lingfeng stared at the message in amazement.
Unlike his mangled attempt, the bear's harvest was pristine. The same creature that had destroyed countless spirit herbs with its clumsy attempts at gathering was suddenly displaying master-level harvesting techniques.
Right right, Zhao Lingfeng realized. The Thunder Silk is more like ore than something fragile like herbs or plants. And the bear's earth-attribute spiritual energy naturally counters the electrical properties!
Boom!
A thunderous crash from behind jolted him from his thoughts.
"Keep going!" he urged the bear.
The bear repeated its actions. Zhao Lingfeng immediately reached out towards the excavated silk.
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
"Again!"
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
"Again!"
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
"Again!"
The two fell into a frantic rhythm, their movements synchronized by desperation and instinct. The bear's large claw would swipe down with precision, the sharp edges slicing through the silk like a knife through butter. Zhao Lingfeng's hands darted in the moment the strands came loose, snatching them up before the silk's natural charge could have some portion of its essence lost into the air.
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
[You have obtained a small chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x1]
….
The system messages flickered in Zhao Lingfeng's vision like a beacon of hope, urging him to push faster, harder. The Stone Claw Bear, excited by its success, began swiping at the silk with increasing speed. Sparks flew with each swipe, the golden strands crackling with power as they fell free.
Zhao Lingfeng's fingers were a blur, his spiritual energy fighting to dull the sting of each static shock as he grabbed the silk chunks one after another. Sweat streamed down his face, mixing with the tension in the air.
Zhao Lingfeng peeked a glance over his shoulder, sensing that the battlefield had gone much quieter.
He honestly wished he hadn't.
The battlefield had devolved into a wasteland.
Cultivators lay scattered across the chamber floor, some struggling to stand while others remained ominously still. The fighting had stopped. Yet, he could still see people in the far back, pushing forward with the desperate energy of exhaustion, their formations long since abandoned. Leading the front was surprisingly Senior Brother Fan Wei?
Much further ahead of them and rapidly approaching in front of his eyes were the Twin-Horned Yellow Beetle, its carapace still crackling with residual lightning, and a small distance behind it, Qin Yi and Tan Rei pursued with grim determination.
The beetle moved with frightening speed despite its wounds, each step leaving scorched marks on the stone floor. Qin Yi's sword still trailed wisps of crimson energy, though his movements had lost their earlier grace, while Tan Rei's spear was raised high in a throwing pose as if he was considering to shoot it out like a javelin in flight.
The grim sight sent a chill down Zhao Lingfeng's spine. He quickly turned away while calculating, his heart pounding against his ribs.
"Faster!" he urged the bear, his voice tight with desperation. Their current pace, while impressive, wouldn't be enough. They couldn't afford the luxury of careful extraction anymore.
Not with death charging toward them on lightning-wreathed legs.
Zhao Lingfeng demonstrated with sharp gestures, showing the bear how to strike with both arms in alternating blows.
"Like this! Don't cross them. Just straight strikes, one after another!" His hands chopped through the air in rapid succession, mimicking the motion he wanted. "Both arms, full strength!"
GHRR!!
Its massive form shifted, muscles bunching beneath its stone-armored hide. When it struck again, both claws moved in a devastating rhythm—left, right, left, right—each blow carrying enough force to shatter ordinary rock. The Thunder Silk surrendered to this increased assault, no longer coming free in small chunks but in larger pieces that crackled with barely contained power.
[You have obtained a chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x2]
But even this wasn't enough.
"MORE!
EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!"
The bear threw back its head.
GRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOWR!
and released a grinding loud roar that shook loose stones from the ceiling. Its attacks became savage. It's measured precision of before now replaced by raw, desperate power. The Thunder Silk tore free in great sheets now, the golden strands blazing with disrupted energy.
[You have obtained a Large chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x2]
[You have obtained a Large chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x2]
[You have obtained a Large chunk of Thunder Silk (High Quality) x2]
….
Behind them, the beetle's approach sent waves of electrical pressure washing over them, but Zhao Lingfeng couldn't spare even a moment to look. His entire world had narrowed to the space between the bear's claws and his inventory. One mistimed grab, one split-second of misalignment, and he'd lose more than just Thunder Silk. The bear's strikes carried enough force to shear through flesh and bone as easily as the silk they harvested.
Through the frantic back and forth of grab and store, grab and store, something caught the edge of Zhao Lingfeng's vision. The wall behind the diminishing nest had begun to reveal strange patterns and shapes that pulsed with a dull light whenever the bear's earth-attributed spiritual energy struck nearby. They seemed hauntingly familiar, like something he'd seen recently in their journey through the secret realm, but he had no time to dwell on it.
More pressing was the growing numbness in his arms.
The fatigue he'd expected of constantly snatching spiritually charged silk at high speed would tire anyone.
But this was different.
His spiritual energy felt sluggish, resistant, as though each circulation through his meridians had to push through an ever-thickening mud. The repeated exposure to the silk's electrical discharge was clearly taking its toll, far beyond simple physical exhaustion. However, the feeling felt quite different. When it came to the silk, it felt more like a clash of force. On the other hand, this felt more like his spiritual energy was being drained away…
A flash of different coloration caught Zhao Lingfeng's eye amidst the fading golden brilliance. Something distinctly yellower. Its shape seemed oddly familiar, almost like...
"STOP!"
Zhao Lingfeng's arms windmilled frantically, nearly smacking the bear in the snout. The massive creature froze mid-swipe, its small eyes filled with confusion as it tried to understand this sudden halt in their desperate harvest.
"RUN! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"
Tan Rei's voice cracked through the air like a whip.
SSSHHHRRRRKKK!!!
The beetle's screech hit Zhao Lingfeng like a physical force, the sound carrying such beastly rage it made his bones vibrate.
Pure instinct made him turn.
His heart stopped.
The Twin-Horned Yellow Beetle.
Its massive form had condensed into a perfect battering ram, twin horns lowered and crackling with so much electrical energy that the air itself seemed to burn. The voltage surrounding it was so intense that it left a trail of ionized air in its wake, like a comet of pure lightning.
Five seconds.
That's all they had before this large beast and its lightning force would slam into them at a speed that defied Zhao Lingfeng's previous calculations. He had thought they had a little more time. He had been carefully measuring the beetle's movements throughout the battle.
But, the beast had been holding back.
Four seconds.
The distance between them and their impending doom seemed to shrink with impossible speed. Each of the beetle's steps had now even left small craters in the stone floor, its charge carrying such momentum that even the ancient chamber itself seemed to tremble.
Three seconds.
Zhao Lingfeng's mind raced.
The bear couldn't possibly dodge in time.
Not in this confined space, not with its bulk.
Let alone him!
His hand moved toward his sword, but what good would a plain iron blade do against this?
Two seconds.
The world seemed to slow down, every detail burning itself into Zhao Lingfeng's consciousness with crystal clarity. He could see individual sparks dancing between the beetle's horns, could count the cracks in its carapace from their earlier battle. Behind it, Tan Rei's face was twisted in a shout he couldn't hear over the thundering in his ears, while Qin Yi's sword moved through a technique that would come far too late.
The beetle's charge had turned the air into a tunnel of pure electrical energy. Zhao Lingfeng could feel his hair standing on end. The electrical aura alone was already forcing his weak body into paralysis.
The Stone Claw Bear growled, preparing to shield him again. It looked tired, but it still stood its ground to defend its master.
But Zhao Lingfeng knew with terrible certainty that this time that neither his companion or him would be able to survive…