Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

"Deep in the mine, there is a pool of water, in which there is a group of mineral crystal toads, most of them are third-order."

Zhang Jiafei glanced at Lin Ran and continued, "Those guys can dive and spray venom; they're extremely troublesome. They're probably the most difficult things to deal with in this mine."

"A crystal toad?" Lin Ran pondered for a moment. "Since it's so dangerous, why doesn't the city defense force just wipe them out?"

"It's no use." Zhang Jiafei shook his head: "Unless the entire mine is filled in, those mineral crystal toads are impossible to eradicate."

Lin Ran understood immediately: "I see."

Since the mine pit served as a training ground for the Xinhai Martial Arts Academy, it was impossible to simply fill it in.

This location is easy to manage and won't cause mutated beasts to roam freely. If it's filled in, where can we find another assessment point that's so easy to control?

"Then let's go to the pool." Lin Ran made up his mind.

"But……"

Zhang Jiafei's expression was somewhat hesitant: "Although most of the mineral crystal toads are third-tier, it's possible that there are fourth-tier ones among them. Generally, very few people actively approach that area."

"I can handle even a fourth-tier opponent," Lin Ran said proudly.

Actually, he wasn't sure if he could deal with a fourth-tier mutated beast. He said that simply to put Zhang Jiafei at ease.

If this guy decides to back out and refuses to lead the way, Lin Ran doesn't know how long it will take to find his way through this huge mine.

Zhang Jiafei glanced at Lin Ran's expression, hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth: "Alright, senior, come with me."

The two continued forward.

The mine tunnel became narrower and narrower, water began to seep down from the rock walls overhead, and the ground became muddy.

A clawed rat darted out from behind an abandoned minecart and had its skull shattered by Lin Ran's palm strike.

Not far along, another armored lizard blocked the fork in the road.

Lin Ran swung his training longsword, piercing it through its eye socket and into its brain.

Claw Rats are the most common Tier 1 mutated beasts in the mine, and one would appear from time to time, but they didn't pose any significant obstacle to Lin Ran.

Zhang Jiafei looked slightly excited; he had made a fortune this time.

Even if it's only half a percent of the profit, given this senior's methods, it would probably be an unimaginable figure.

Before long, the mine tunnel suddenly opened up.

Ahead lies a natural karst cave, eroded by an underground pool, roughly the size of half a football field.

The pool is at the bottom of the cave, and the water is dark and the bottom is not visible.

The rock face was covered with a layer of moss that emitted a faint fluorescent glow, barely illuminating the surrounding outline.

Several skeletons of mutated beasts lay scattered by the pool, their surfaces riddled with corroded pits.

Zhang Jiafei stopped fifty meters away from the pool: "Senior, those monsters are just ahead."

"Okay." Lin Ran nodded. "You wait here, I'll go check."

After saying that, he walked alone toward the pool.

The soles of the shoes crunched softly on the damp limestone, the sound carrying far through the empty pit.

When we were still twenty meters away from the pool, ripples suddenly appeared on the surface of the water.

Immediately afterwards, the water surface exploded, and a cloud of dark green, viscous liquid sprayed towards us, carrying a pungent, sour smell.

Lin Ran sidestepped.

The venom splattered on the rock wall behind him, hissing and turning the rock surface black quickly, covered with a dense layer of bubbles.

"Giggle!"

A toad the size of an adult domestic pig crawled out of the water.

Its entire body is dark green, and its back is covered with densely packed, fist-sized crystalline warts, each of which emits a ghostly green light in the darkness.

His chin throbbed, and a low gurgling sound came from his throat.

"As expected, it's Tier 3." Lin Ran's lips curled up slightly.

The mineral toad pushed off the ground with its limbs, launching its entire body toward Lin Ran, while simultaneously opening its mouth to spew out a glob of venom.

Bang!

The venom dispersed into a green mist in mid-air, covering an area of ​​half a meter.

Lin Ran touched the ground with his toes and stepped back, drawing his training longsword as he dodged the poisonous fog.

The mineral crystal toad landed, and its tongue shot out from its mouth. It was two meters long, with barbs on the tip, and went straight for Lin Ran's face.

"Overeating is not a good habit."

Lin Ran swung his training longsword, slashing at the mineral crystal toad's tongue.

Pfft!

The tongue snapped off, and the mineral toad roared in anger.

"Croak!"

Lin Ran didn't give it time to react. He immediately pushed off with his feet, leaped to the side of the mineral crystal toad, and slashed again.

Click!

The training longsword cleaved through the flesh of the mineral crystal toad, and blood splattered everywhere.

Lin Ran drew his sword and slashed again. The mineral crystal toad let out a piercing screech, and the crystals on its body exploded at the same time, instantly spreading poisonous mist.

If Lin Ran were merely a martial artist at the Inner Breath Realm, he would inevitably be poisoned in this situation.

But now that he is a Qi Refining cultivator, he can disperse the poisonous mist with a wave of his hand, preventing it from getting close.

With its venom spray, tongue whip, and self-destructing crystal warts, it has quite a few attack methods.

No wonder Zhang Jiafei hesitated; this kind of mutated beast is indeed troublesome for martial artists in the Tongqiao and Neixi realms.

Having ascertained the strength of the mineral crystal toad, Lin Ran felt much more at ease and immediately thrust out his sword, striking the toad squarely in the eye and penetrating deep into its brain.

The mineral toad twitched a few times on the ground and died instantly.

He crouched down and pried open the skull of the mineral crystal toad.

Embedded in the center of the skull was a dark green crystal core, its surface shimmering with a viscous luster.

It was slightly inferior to the crystal core I had obtained from Sun Jingyao, but it was still a genuine Tier 3 crystal core.

At this moment, three more mineral crystal toads emerged from the water and swam toward the shore in a triangular formation.

Lin Ran shook off the bloodstains from his training sword and waited for them to come ashore.

"Giggle!"

Three mineral crystal toads leaped out of the water at the same time and pounced on Lin Ran.

At the same time, three streams of venom were sprayed out, striking Lin Ran from three different directions in a staggered manner.

"They even know how to team up; they're quite clever!"

Lin Ran pushed off with his feet, rising high and flipping over the three streaks of venom.

Upon landing, the right palm is filled with spiritual power, and it strikes down on the head of the foremost creature.

Snapped!

His skull was shattered, and he died on the spot.

As he landed, Lin Ran swept his left leg across, kicking over the second mineral crystal toad.

The guy lay on his back and roared.

"Croak!"

Lin Ran swung his longsword, killing another mineral crystal toad beside him with a single strike. Then he stepped forward and slew the one that hadn't even managed to turn over yet.

In the blink of an eye, three more Tier 3 crystal cores entered the tent.

Not far away, Zhang Jiafei exclaimed with excitement, "This time, we've really hooked up with a powerful backer!"

After a moment's thought, he advised, "Senior, should we retreat first? A large number of monsters might appear behind us!"

Lin Ran waved his hand: "Don't panic, this is nothing."

This was a rare opportunity, so how could he possibly back down so easily?

As they spoke, ripples appeared on the water's surface once more.

A string of bubbles rose from the center of the pool, growing denser and denser.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen mineral crystal toads appeared on the water's surface, simultaneously spraying venom at Lin Ran.

Lin Ran activated his spiritual power and cast a Dust-Avoiding Technique.

The poisonous fog rushed towards him, but was dispersed three feet away, preventing it from getting close.

More than a dozen mineral crystal toads leaped ashore at the same time, their dark green bodies densely covering the rocks along the edge of the pool.

Lin Ran gripped the knife in his hand, pushed off with his feet, and crashed into the swarm of toads.

With a single sweeping stroke, the two foremost mineral crystal toads were cut in half at the waist.

Before the blade had finished its strike, it swung back and sliced ​​off the chin of the third animal.

Venom and blood mist mingled in the air as Lin Ran weaved through the swarm of toads, each swing of his blade bringing down a mineral crystal toad.

"Croak!"

The four mineral crystal toads simultaneously shot out their tongues, wrapping around Lin Ran's limbs from four directions.

Lin Ran swung his left hand and grabbed the two tongues that were attacking from the front. With a strong pull, he dragged the two mineral crystal toads off the ground and they collided in mid-air.

With his right hand wielding the long sword, he slashed off the tongue attacking from the left, while simultaneously shifting his feet to the side to avoid the attack from the right.

Before the two mineral crystal toads whose tongues he had grabbed could even hit the ground, Lin Ran's knife had already arrived.

He pierced both of them with a single stroke, pinning them to the rocks by the pool.

The number of mineral toads on the shore is rapidly decreasing.

The remaining few began to retreat, gathering back towards the pool.