Chapter 45: Peril in the Cave

Led by a staff member, the group of five walked down a long corridor and arrived at a parking lot.

"Please board vehicle number ten, everyone. We are expected to arrive at the location of this F-grade dimensional gate in about half an hour. I wish you all a successful operation."

The guiding staff member offered a professional smile before motioning for the five of them to get in.

Shen Xing looked around. There were many other small teams like theirs here.

Almost all of them were in groups of five, boarding vehicles that headed off in different directions.

"Let's get in the car too."

Shen Xing spoke first, then was the first to open the door and get into the front passenger seat.

Before long, the other four followed.

Through the rearview mirror, Shen Xing saw the girl named Xu Minghui huddled in the corner of the back seat, looking even more timid and terrified.

Wang Ming was sitting right beside her, making flirtatious remarks and constantly trying to strike up a conversation.

"Wait before driving off, Minghui. Let's switch places."

Shen Xing raised a hand to stop the driver and opened the adjacent car door.

"Th—thank you!"

Xu Minghui was immensely grateful. After bowing deeply, she hurriedly fled to the front passenger seat.

Wang Ming glared at Shen Xing with a malevolent look.

Wang Zuo and Wang You showed no reaction, as if they were already accustomed to such occurrences.

The atmosphere in the car was rather unharmonious, so none of them spoke a word until the vehicle arrived at its destination.

After getting out of the car, Shen Xing discovered that this was an abandoned, half-built concrete building.

The surroundings were desolate and uninhabited, situated in a rather remote location.

Before leaving, the driver said:

"Vehicles will come to pick you up later, so I'll head out first. Dimensional gates of this F-grade typically carry no danger, so no emergency response measures have been arranged outside. You can just head straight inside. Should an accident occur and you truly cannot handle the situation, retreat immediately. Safety comes first."

Shen Xing nodded. He had already learned about these protocols from Ouyang Lin.

The five of them walked into the skeleton building. Hanging quietly about five meters above the ground was a black rift.

Two soldiers were guarding near the rift. Seeing the five approach, they said nothing, simply nodding in acknowledgment before gesturing for them to enter.

They had performed this task countless times.

The outcome was always uneventful, lacking anything that could ignite passion.

Before entering, Shen Xing asked the two guards:

"Excuse me, how long does it usually take to come out of an F-grade one like this?"

"Hard to say. Fast ones take a dozen minutes, slow ones might take half an hour."

Shen Xing murmured an acknowledgment and was the last to enter the rift.

This type of rift was what they called a dimensional gate—the most unique product since the dawn of the High Martial Era.

This was a technology that remained unresolved to this day.

Through this dimensional gate, two worlds could actually be linked together.

Moreover, living beings from different worlds could travel back and forth without experiencing any physical discomfort.

It was as if during the passage through that rift, the body had already adjusted to the ecosystem on the other side.

Naturally, while the rifts looked similar on the surface, their internal sizes and forms varied wildly once entered.

Based on extensive statistics, humanity had concluded that the spatial forms inside these rifts were actually captured locations from the world on the other side.

Simply put, a region of land from the opposite side had been directly pasted onto Blue Star.

However, the scope of this inclusion had energy limits.

Dimensional gates of different grades allowed living beings of corresponding tiers to enter.

For instance, an F-grade dimensional gate like this only permitted martial artists below level 12 to enter. A powerhouse like Ouyang Lin would face massive repulsion; forcing her way through would cause the dimensional gate to collapse.

By the same token, the world on the other side operated under the same rule.

Therefore, this was why everyone believed that F-grade difficulties carried no danger.

...

Upon entering.

Shen Xing found his vision suddenly plunging into dimness.

He looked around, surrounded entirely by cold stone walls.

"A cave? At this rate, I might just break the record for the fastest clearance."

A cave implied a mandatory, narrow encounter.

In other words, combat would inevitably break out very soon.

There was no possibility of evasion or detouring.

"Where did those four go? Why didn't they wait for me?"

Muttering to himself, Shen Xing took a multi-functional flashlight from his backpack, strapped it to his head, and ventured deeper into the cave.

After walking for about three minutes, he found nothing.

At the same time, he found no trace of the other four either.

Shen Xing's expression gradually grew solemn.

After walking for another two minutes, he halted his steps.

The scenario he least wanted to encounter appeared before his eyes.

Ahead lay a fork in the road.

Illuminating them with the flashlight, both paths looked remarkably similar.

"There are four of them, and the three from the Wang family certainly won't separate. If they split into two paths, Xu Minghui would have to take one alone—that possibility is rather low.

Though the possibility of risking it alone just to escape Wang Ming's harassment isn't completely zero, generally speaking, one should still put safety first.

Most importantly... not a single one of you four has any brains to leave a mark?"

Shen Xing searched carefully but found no strange traces whatsoever.

Speechless, he could only pick a fork at random and walk in.

"Anyway, the dimensional energy contained within a gate is fixed; once the subjugation is complete, the energy will dissipate. The dimensional gate will then enter a collapse phase, which usually lasts about half an hour. As long as I leave during that window, it'll be fine. So whichever path I choose makes no difference—the objective is to wipe out the monsters."

Thinking this, Shen Xing drew his standard-issue saber and cautiously advanced.

Through a month of intense training, he had mastered the basics of various conventional weapons.

At the same time, he had chosen saber techniques as his direction for refinement.

By the end of training, Shen Xing's saber arts were already considered exceptionally outstanding among his peers.

During a previous sparring session with Ouyang Lin, even she offered a rare praise, remarking that Shen Xing had indeed made the right choice in picking saber techniques, radiating a sharp, oppressive killing intent with every sweep.

"Ah!!!!!!"

Just as Shen Xing was picking up his pace, a shrill, miserable scream suddenly echoed from ahead.

Something was wrong!

A chill gripped Shen Xing's heart, and he immediately sprinted forward.

Along the way, a pungent smell of blood rushed into his nostrils.

A sense of unease welled up inside Shen Xing.

"Watch out!"

Under the beam of the flashlight, just as human figures faintly emerged ahead, another stern shout rang out.

The next moment, another scream pierced the air.

Simultaneously, a low roar reverberated.

It was a cry Shen Xing had never heard before—somewhat resembling a tiger's, yet lacking its majestic power.

Shen Xing hurried forward a few steps and finally managed to make out the situation ahead.

Two people were already lying on the ground.

Judging by their clothes, they were Wang Zuo and Wang You.

Blood pooled around each of them, but fortunately, both remained conscious, and their injuries did not appear fatal.

Behind them stood Wang Ming, gripping a sword with both hands, his face drained of color.

And Xu Minghui huddled in the corner, her clothes disheveled.

Ahead of them was a creature halfway between a leopard and a tiger.

It looked like a tiger, though smaller in stature.

Yet it appeared even more ferocious than a tiger, because... it had three heads.