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

Lin Ran stood up: "Aren't you underestimating me? I always keep my word!"

Except when lying, except when regretting something, and except when you accidentally forget something.

He silently added a few disclaimers in his mind.

"Okay." Lin Hongbo nodded. "I'll have a good talk with Chu Mingyuan later."

Lin Ran walked out of the study, just as Song Yishu came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of cut fruit.

"What are you two talking about? You're being so secretive."

"We talked about some men's topics," Lin Hongbo's voice came from the study.

Song Yishu rolled her eyes at the direction of the study and handed the fruit plate to Lin Ran: "Have some fruit."

"Okay." Lin Ran took the fruit plate and placed it on the dining table.

Now that we've decided to compete with the Sun family, we need to be wary of their actions.

Given his current cultivation level, he would not be in any danger unless the Sun family patriarch personally intervened.

He was afraid that the Sun family would not play by the rules and would directly send the Tongxuan Ancestor to make a move, in which case he would probably be exposed.

Lin Hongbo's willingness to challenge the Sun family proves that the Lin family has its own trump cards.

Therefore, he shouldn't have to worry about other things.

The most urgent task is to cultivate diligently, improve one's cultivation level as soon as possible, and strive to establish a foundation at an early date.

If the other side really makes a move, it's hard to say who will be the one to take the fall!

After dinner, Lin Ran went upstairs to get his backpack and headed towards the door.

Song Yishu turned her head from the sofa: "Where are you going so late?"

"I will work hard to cultivate and strive to break through as soon as possible," Lin Ran said seriously.

The Lin family villa is now surrounded by cameras. Even if he goes out invisibly, he will inevitably be noticed if he stays there for too long. It's better for him to go out openly.

Song Yishu asked, puzzled, "Where are you going to cultivate so late at night?"

"Anywhere is fine." Lin Ran had already opened the door and was about to leave.

Song Yishu stood up: "How about I have someone convert a training room into my home?"

"No need!" Lin Ran waved his hand with his back to her. "A normal training room can't withstand my antics!"

Although his real target was the mutated beast's crystal core, he was telling the truth.

During practical training sessions at school, he always held back his strength, afraid of breaking something.

"Come back soon!" Song Yishu's voice chased after her.

"rest assured!"

Night had fallen, and the glow of the streetlights spread out across the road.

Lin Ran turned into a blind spot of the surveillance cameras outside the villa, cast an earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic in Chinese fantasy novels), and quickly headed towards the sea.

Previously, the northern location had been targeted by the octopus, so this time he went to a location slightly to the south.

He cast a water-repelling spell, leaped down, and darkness pressed in from all sides.

He swam deeper into the reef area, hunting seven or eight Tier 3 barracudas and stuffing their crystal cores into his backpack one by one.

Third-order mutants no longer pose a threat to him; he can basically be killed in an instant.

After collecting thirty-six third-order crystal cores, he began to swim into deeper waters.

The reefs were left behind, and a wide expanse of sand appeared ahead.

Several waist-high rocks are scattered on the sand, their surfaces covered with dark red algae, undulating gently in the water.

Lin Ran sensed the presence of a fourth-order mutated creature in the vicinity, but saw nothing unusual.

He calmed his mind and focused his energy, fully activating his Heavenly Eye.

Soon, he discovered a slightly raised bulge slowly moving beneath the sand, leaving a shallow groove in its wake.

Lin Ran lowered his altitude and approached the seabed.

The creature under the bulge seemed to sense Lin Ran's approach and immediately stopped.

Just as Lin Ran was hesitating whether to make a move, the sand suddenly exploded.

Bang!

A gigantic mouth covered with ring-shaped sharp teeth sprang out of the sand, heading straight for Lin Ran's face.

The internal structure of that mouth resembled an industrial shredder, with three layers of sharp teeth arranged from the outside in, the innermost layer rotating and wriggling deep within the throat.

"Good heavens, that startled me!"

Even without mutation, a fourth-tier mutated sandworm looks very much like a monster.

Lin Ran leaned back and retreated quickly, his sharp teeth grazing and biting against the tip of his nose.

With a snap, the water flow was bitten into a brief vacuum, and bubbles surged past his eyes.

The sandworm missed its target and its entire body was pulled out of the sand.

It is over ten meters long and its entire body is covered with dark brown segmented carapaces, each segment of which has barbs along its edge.

Its head has no eyes, only a huge, circular mouth that takes up most of its head.

It raises its front end, its huge mouth opening and closing, trying to capture the scent of forest fire in the water.

"Hey, I'm here!"

Lin Ran drew his longsword, activated his water manipulation technique, and circled around to the side to the underside of the sand worm, raising his longsword from bottom to top.

when!

The blade struck the segmented carapace with a crisp sound.

Only a faint white mark remained on its shell, which was harder than that of an armored tortoise.

After being struck, the sandworm suddenly swung its tail, sweeping the barbs at the end toward Lin Ran's waist.

when!

Lin Ran parried with his sword, the barbs striking the blade, the immense impact sending him staggering back half a step.

Just as I regained my footing, the sandworms charged at me again.

Its enormous, ring-shaped mouth gaped open, and a stream of murky yellow liquid gushed from deep within its throat.

The liquid spreads extremely quickly in the water, rapidly polluting the seawater wherever it passes, and instantly corroding the seaweed on the rocks.

"Growing this big and even spitting poison, you've certainly evolved quite comprehensively."

Lin Ran's figure flashed, appearing several meters away.

The venom landed where he had just been standing, corroding even the sand on the seabed, creating a shallow pit that was still bubbling.

"Aren't you afraid of poisoning yourself to death!"

Lin Ran raised his hand and formed a hand seal, the golden light spell covering his entire body, and swung his sword to stab at the gap between the segments.

laugh!

The tip of the knife squeezed into the gap in the shell, penetrating two inches into the flesh.

The sandworms writhed wildly, rolling around on the ground, stirring up mud and sand, and drastically reducing visibility.

Lin Ran loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword and leaped onto the sandworm's back: "I haven't tried using lightning magic since I entered the late stage of Qi Refining. Today, I'll give you a good test!"

After saying that, he raised his hand and made a hand seal, and a bolt of lightning struck down on the back of the sand worm.

It wasn't that he didn't want to use more powerful lightning techniques; it was mainly that with his current level of cultivation, he could only use palm lightning.

Furthermore, lightning spreads in water, greatly reducing its power. Therefore, like fire control, it cannot be released directly; it can only be applied at close range.

boom!

A muffled thud came from inside the shell, and a small piece of the sandworm's carapace was blasted open, from which dark yellow fluid gushed out.

The sandworm, in pain, rolled around even more frantically, and Lin Ran was accidentally thrown off.

Bang!

His back slammed into a nearby rock, lifting the entire rock out of the sand.

Fortunately, he was protected by golden light and did not suffer any real harm.

Before he could even catch his breath, the sandworm had already turned around and charged at him.

Its enormous mouth opened wide, its three layers of sharp teeth spinning at high speed, stirring up a whirlpool in the surrounding water and pulling him towards that mouth.

"Hmph! Then I'll send you on your way!" Lin Ran advanced instead of retreating, using the momentum to charge forward and stab the sand worm in the mouth with his knife.

Pfft!

The blade tip pierced through the dense teeth and emerged from the gaps between the segments.

The sandworm emitted a high-pitched hiss, its entire body stiffening for a moment.

Lin Ran gripped the handle tightly and twisted it forcefully, causing the blade to swirl around the junction of the shell and armor.

A large amount of dark yellow bodily fluid gushed out, spreading into a murky mist in the seawater.

The sandworm's struggle went from frantic to convulsing, and finally it went completely limp.

Lin Ran drew his long sword and shook off the slime on the blade.

He pried open the carapace in the center of the sandworm's head and pulled out a crystal core the size of an egg from its skull.

It is dark yellow with ring-shaped patterns on the surface, and its spiritual energy fluctuations are very strong.

"The quality is not bad." He carefully put away the crystal core and then looked around the vicinity.

They also hunted two more fourth-tier swordfin fish and one fourth-tier blue silver snake, and obtained three fourth-tier crystal cores.

They also managed to collect a few third-order crystal cores, bringing their total to thirty-nine third-order crystal cores and four fourth-order crystal cores.

It was already past midnight when they returned to the Lin family home.

He quietly went up to the second floor, only to hear Song Yishu's voice coming from the corner of the stairs: "Is Xiao Ran back?"

Lin Ran looked up and saw Song Yishu coming downstairs in a lotus-colored nightgown.

"You're still awake?" He gave an awkward but polite smile.

I promised to come back early, but I got so caught up in the game that I forgot the time.

Song Yishu didn't ask him why he came home so late, but simply asked softly, "Are you hungry? Do you want Mom to make you some late-night snacks?"