Hu… Hu...
Two women breathed hurriedly while leaning against a cave's wall. Their hair and armor were dirtied with green blood from the battle that just occurred. If Xuefeng was there, he would recognize one of them, the blond beauty who now looked tired beyond recognition.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to split from the rest of the group? We barely beat this one…" Jiao questioned as she swallowed a healing pill, hoping to heal a deep wound on her arm. "Do you think it was poisonous?"
While they were exhausted, their opponent was lying some distance away, dead. A gigantic body of Immortal Stage Centipede was still twitching after Jiao impaled its head with an ice spike.
Before her friend Dandan was able to respond, the pill started to work. Anything that didn't belong inside her arm, like dirt or foreign blood, was ejected outside while the wound closed, recovering rapidly. Jiao couldn't be more thankful to her sister for the healing pills that saved her life a few times already.
"Aren't we doing good?" Dandan asked with a smile as she cleaned herself up. "Can't you see your progress? With each battle, your reflexes are quicker and your damage output multiplied. We wouldn't be able to train this efficiently if we stayed with that group of weirdos."
"Good? That Centipede almost ripped off my arm," Jiao mocked her own skills, causing Dandan to snicker.
"Tsk, you always look at the negatives. We still managed to defeat it without any major injuries. We should be celebrating instead."
Dandan closed her eyes and soon a steady flow of Qi entered her body. Even though she was mostly assisting while Jiao did most of the work, it was always best to be at the peak of one's strength.
The Hellhole was unpredictable.
"Look, you know who those people are," Dandan continued with her eyes closed. "Their main goal is to get the Fate Stones from the third zone. They don't care how many sacrifices they make to achieve their goal. We are too weak to follow them and even if we weren't, I doubt we would rip any benefits. It was best to go as a duo and create our own path."
"I know… I am just frustrated at my slow growth," Jiao admitted with a sigh while also switching to absorb Qi from their surroundings. "It has been half a year and I didn't even reach the peak of God stage. Filling all nine Elements is so time-consuming that even being in Hellhole where one can find all Elements doesn't help. I am sure Xuefeng already broke through to the Immortal Stage and is aiming for the Celestial while I'm still stuck."
"Maybe," Dandan nodded. "But what does it have to do with you? My Jiao is already doing her best and if you continue on such a path, good fortune will smile your way. I am sure when you two meet once again, he will rush into your embrace to squeeze you tightly. If I was him, I would definitely miss you."
The image of Xuefeng hugging and kissing her appeared in Jiao's mind but she quickly shook her head, trying to erase it.
Too bad, it was too late. Xuefeng's face was already deeply engraved in her mind as her thoughts could always find their way to him every little break she had. That man was her weakness her main motivation to keep pushing forward.
"I don't want to hope only to have it crushed later. I would rather not expect anything so I don't get disappointed," Jiao replied honestly as she looked at their surroundings to distract herself.
Hundreds of small crystals illuminated the caves but aside from the crystals getting bigger, nothing changed. All they saw were tunnels and more tunnels. Every day for the last few months they faced different underground beasts that grew stronger the further they traveled.
"Are you ready?" Dandan questioned when Jiao opened her eyes while her Qi was back to full capacity. "Let's go before another monster smells the Centipede's blood."
Jiao shivered remembering the first time it happened. They stayed in one place for too long and the blood attracted multiple beasts. They came out alive only because the beasts were more interested in the dead beast carcass instead of them.
They flew ahead but they didn't speed up. They had to always be on alert in case any beasts decided to burst out from the rock-solid walls for an afternoon snack. It happened a few times and will definitely happen again.
"From what I heard, when the crystal begins to turn blue, we should be nearing the second Zone," Dandan reported as she pointed at the crystal illuminating the tunnel. They were still white but one could see some of them had a light blue hue in them.
"I will require your help if we meet with any Celestial Stage Beasts," Jiao reminded as she looked around cautiously. The training was important but she didn't plan on dying here before she could even meet with Xuefeng.
"Hehe, of course. The first zone was just a warm-up. The real training will start now," Dandan announced with a giggle. "It is said that most inheritances can be found in the second zone so we should look around in some smaller tunnels. Maybe we will get lucky."
"I hope so, but I still doubt anyone would choose this place as their grave. I don't get what is so special about here," Jiao said in disgust.
One didn't need to look far to find leftover bones of beasts, scales, or a tone of dirt and stinky defecations. She cut her sense of smell months ago the moment they entered the Hellhole. No normal person would wish to die in such a place.
"Well, maybe that is why it is the safest," Dandan shrugged, not judging any experts. "Let's turn left here, maybe we—"
Just as she decided, the two felt a vibration in both the air and the ground. It hasn't even been a few minutes since the last battle and they already met with another beast.
"Prepare!" Dandan called out excited but that was the last time Jiao heard her voice.
BANG!
The ceiling exploded as the gigantic worm broke into the tunnel right above Jiao. A mouth with thousands of sharp teeth spread apart and collapsed at her with all its weight.
Ice Dome!
Jiao only managed to cast one last defensive spell before she lost consciousness as her body covered in ice.