Gao Wu: I became the minor villain that the protagonist was about to destroy.

After Kaoru Hanayama left, Yoru gazed at the scenery outside the window, lost in thought.

(Was it an accident, intentional, or perhaps a deliberate attempt to throw the entire city of Luoxia into chaos?)

("In these six days, there has been no news of any more students being killed in the secret realm. The butcher has not shown his face since killing the second young master of the Lei family. Could it be that his purpose is to start with the Lei family and cause chaos in Luoxia City first?")

("If that's really the case, then it's my turn now.")

Today, Chu Yu and the others came to the company for training as usual, but as soon as they entered the door, they felt that the atmosphere today was different from usual.

Xiao Yi asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Has something serious happened?"

Chu Yu shook her head: "I don't know. My dad told me that things have been a bit chaotic in Luoxia City lately, and he told me to be careful."

Mo Ling: "Yes, that's what my family told me too."

Yun Ni: "However, there haven't been any reports of that butcher committing murders recently. The strict investigation in the secret realm has ended, and things have returned to normal."

The five of them then went to the training room. In the past, Ji Wubai would train with them, but this time, the training room was empty.

Lin Yue asked in confusion, "That's strange, where is Wu Bai?"

Xiao Yi: "It's not just him. Didn't you notice? When we came in, there was only that little girl at the door. Leng Ruoxue was gone too."

"I suspect something really happened."

At this moment, Leng Ruoxue and Ji Wubai received Ye Ming's order to search for the remnants of the evil forces that had been wiped out by the Black Dragon Society.

Meanwhile, the two of them had already arrived at an abandoned village through an informant within the company.

Leng Ruoxue scanned her surroundings but couldn't sense any human presence.

"It's too quiet here."

Ji Wubai nodded: "It is indeed a bit strange, be careful."

The two then began searching house to house, but to no avail; they found nothing of value.

Ji Wubai couldn't help but wonder if the intelligence was wrong: "I haven't seen a single person. There really are people here."

Suddenly, Leng Ruoxue asked, "What's the name of this village?"

"The village?" Ji Wubai was a little confused by Leng Ruoxue's sudden question.

"I really didn't notice that. I'll have to go to the village entrance to take a look."

The two walked slowly toward the village entrance. After arriving at the village entrance, they searched around and found two blurry characters carved on a stone. The characters were not complicated and could be vaguely seen. The words "Stone Village" were carved on it.

"Ishimura..." Leng Ruoxue kept searching her mind for information about Ishimura. She seemed to have some, but it wasn't clear.

"What's wrong? Does the name Ishimura ring a bell for you?"

Leng Ruoxue nodded solemnly: "There is a little, but I've forgotten some of it."

Just then, Ji Wubai suddenly felt someone watching him. He flipped his hand, grabbed the throwing knife, and flung it out in a certain direction.

"call out--!"

The throwing knife passed through an open space and disappeared into thin air.

&: "It's gone!"

Just as the two were in shock, a whooshing sound came from the air, and Leng Ruoxue summoned her longsword and swung it out.

With a "ding!" sound, a throwing knife was knocked down.

Ji Wubai looked closely and saw that the throwing knife that had fallen to the ground was the very one he had just thrown.

"This is my throwing knife!"

Suddenly, Leng Ruoxue thought of something.

"Ishimura?! I remember now!"

In that moment of stunned silence, Ji Wubai suddenly pushed Leng Ruoxue away, and there was a mark left by a sharp blade where Leng Ruoxue had just been standing.

"Watch out! The enemy has spatial abilities!"

Leng Ruoxue, sword in hand, warily surveyed her surroundings: "I know, this is Stone Village. This village wasn't abandoned; it was slaughtered by the Void Mantises."

(Although a large number of monsters entered the secret realm back then, a small number of monster groups still survive in this world, hiding in the deep mountains and forests.)

"Void Mantis?! What's that?!"

"It's a mantis-type monster, but the Void Mantis has the ability to traverse space from birth. It's ranked among the top 100 rarest monsters in the encyclopedia!"

"Judging from that attack, this Void Mantis is still in its infancy, but its strength is already close to that of the Green Monster."

In an instant, Leng Ruoxue and Ji Wubai exerted force with their feet, and their figures retreated backward. With a "whoosh," a slash appeared in the air.

The moment Ji Wubai retreated, he swung his throwing knife sharply, sending it flying into the air ahead.

"bite--!"

The throwing knife was knocked directly to the ground.

Leng Ruoxue mobilized her spiritual energy in her dantian, and her whole body emitted waves of cold air.

In an instant, the longsword was swung fiercely, and a sword aura carrying a chilling aura roared out.

It hit the air directly in front of it, leaving four tracks on the ground.

Gradually, the air, which had been completely empty, began to fill with color, and a giant mantis, 1 meter tall and pale purple in color, appeared before the two of them.

"Click..."

Ji Wubai was quite shocked as this was the first time he had ever seen such a monster.

"So this is the Void Mantis, it's pretty cool."

Leng Ruoxue rolled her eyes at Ji Wubai: "You won't think it's cool once its scythe cuts your head off."

"Forehead...."

"Click!"

The Void Mantis, which had just appeared, was enveloped in a layer of flowing light, and its form began to gradually disappear.

"That's the mimicry characteristic of insect-type monsters, I can't sense it at all."

In an instant, Ji Wubai sensed a spatial fluctuation. He slightly shifted his body, and a blade of light almost grazed his body before landing on the ground. A slash emerged, leaving a mark tens of meters long on the ground.

Ji Wubai suddenly raised his knee.

"Bang--!!"

Ji Wubai felt as if his knee had hit a steel plate.

"So hard!"

Leng Ruoxue explained, "The Void Mantis's exoskeleton is exceptionally hard; breaking it by brute force would require immense strength!"

"We must attack its joints; that's the Void Mantis's weakest point!"

"You make it sound so simple. I can only determine its location by sensing the spatial power emanating from it; attacking its joints is far too difficult!"

In that instant, Ji Wubai felt a chill, and saw Leng Ruoxue appear beside him, her longsword suddenly swung out.

"bite--!!"

The longsword and the invisible scythe collided violently.

Leng Ruoxue gripped the longsword in her right hand, and a chilling aura emanated from her entire body.

"Han Hua!!"

"Whoosh—!!!"

A sudden chill emanated from Leng Ruoxue's body.