54: Chapter 54 What is meant by a genius-level breakthrough speed?

When the Ice Armor Armadillo, which should have been dead, stood back up in a manner that completely defied the laws of nature, everyone present felt a cold fear, like a slippery venomous snake suddenly darting up their spine to the back of their head, bringing a chill that almost made them freeze.

The beast had been resurrected?

The concept of returning from the dead was not unheard of in this world.

Certain powerful beasts could indeed continue to exist in undead forms under special circumstances, but such resurrections often came at the cost of sacrificing their physical bodies to transform into pure energy entities.

But they had never heard of a phenomenon like the one before them.

"What on earth is this thing?!" a young staff member couldn't help but growl through gritted teeth, his voice cracking slightly from extreme horror.

But when he met the Ice Armor Armadillo's crimson gaze, a deeper chill instantly gripped his heart, causing him to take a half-step back instinctively.

"Shasha..."

"Wuu..."

"Sila..."

At the same time, several crimson points of light, like flowers of death quietly blooming in the darkness, lit up one after another among the shadows of the trees.

Accompanied by the sound of branches and leaves being roughly pushed aside, figures of various shapes, all emitting an extremely uncomfortable aura and wreathed in black light, slowly emerged from the darkness.

They moved forward, faintly forming a loose encirclement that trapped the rescue team at the edge of the small forest clearing.

They were surrounded.

Director Li Haotian's face was as calm as water under the light of the headlamps, but a faint light flickered deep within his slightly narrowed eyes.

He quickly scanned the approaching eerie figures; there were over a dozen of them, with strengths ranging from Rank 1 to Rank 3.

"End this quickly," he said in a low voice.

Following that, Director Li Haotian turned his head, briefly made eye contact with another Advanced Beast Tamer in the team, and shook his head.

As the highest combat power in the team, the Advanced Beast Tamers had to maintain their condition to deal with any potentially greater threats.

But even though Director Li Haotian had given the order, the staff members still hesitated for a moment.

Facing these unprecedentedly eerie monsters, a sense of dread and unease from the depths of their hearts spread through the team like a plague.

The ultimate taboo in a Beast Tamer's battle was to attack blindly without any information about the opponent.

During this oppressive stalemate, a young staff member at the front of the team suddenly felt his arm being nudged.

He was startled, thinking it was a monster's sneak attack, and was about to retreat reflexively when he turned and met a pair of deep green eyes glowing brightly in the dim light.

The Flame Claw Beast had reached the front at some point. It used its claw to shove aside the tactless human standing between it and the monsters, then raised its claw and pointed to the side: "Gagu gagu~"

Gugu gaga, move it, move it, don't block the way!

The young staff member was stunned and instinctively stepped aside.

Lin Chen followed closely behind, walking to the very front of the team.

The beam from the headlamp hit the side of his face, casting a calm silhouette.

Zhang Zhi looked over and saw that Lin Chen's eyes held no fear or hesitation; instead, they flickered with a nearly burning light.

This light wasn't the excitement of facing a strong enemy, but rather the surprise and greed of an experienced hunter who had finally found his desired prey after searching the wilderness for a long time.

A strange emotion suddenly welled up in Zhang Zhi's heart.

It's back; it's back again.

Whenever A-Chen faced a beast, he always wore that exact same burning gaze.

But this time, it was even more intense than before.

He couldn't help but lean over and whisper to Zhao Siwen beside him, "Don't you think A-Chen is acting a bit strange..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Zhi saw that Zhao Siwen was staring at Lin Chen's back with a look of mixed admiration and respect, muttering strange things under his breath:

"I knew I was right. The reason Lin Chen didn't participate in the Young Eagle Cup was that he didn't want to bully the other weak contestants."

"But in a situation like this, a true powerhouse will always be the first to step forward."

Zhang Zhi: "..."

He always felt like these high schoolers were all a bit crazy.

"Heh!"

With a low shout, Zhao Siwen tensed up like a fully loaded spring, and as he exerted force with his feet, the decaying leaves on the ground exploded under the pressure.

Like a cannonball, he charged fiercely toward the Ice Armor Armadillo, with iron fists raised!

Zhang Zhi fell silent.

At the same time, when Director Li Haotian saw Lin Chen take the initiative to attack, his brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything to stop him.

Tilting his head slightly, he spoke to the owl-like beast perched quietly on his shoulder, which looked almost like an ornament:

"Don't let him get hurt."

The owl-like beast tilted its head, its eyes glowing, and then it spread its wings, silently merging into the dense shadows of the canopy above and vanishing.

At this moment, Lin Chen stared straight at the Shadow Scythe Lizard, his thoughts racing.

When he encountered that Gale Weasel earlier, he had forgotten one very important thing—using the double exp card.

One should know that Dark Species themselves provided more experience than ordinary beasts; combined with the experience card, it would be enough to double the Flame Claw Beast's leveling speed.

So, he mentally activated the double exp card, but the system's voice rang out:

[Note! Dark Species already benefit from an experience bonus and cannot be stacked with the double exp card!]

Lin Chen was furious.

Damn system, a world crisis is about to descend, and you're still suppressing my combat power???

The next moment, Lin Chen cast an angry gaze at the Shadow Scythe Lizard.

It's all your fault!

Meanwhile, the Flame Claw Beast had already arrived directly in front of the Shadow Scythe Lizard. It beckoned with its claws and roared arrogantly: "Gagu gagu!"

"Sila!"

The Shadow Scythe Lizard suddenly let out a sharp hiss. The thick black light flowing around it surged, and it kicked off the ground. With its scythe-like arms trailing behind, its entire body darted out like a ghost, attacking the Flame Claw Beast.

The Flame Claw Beast's eyes flickered. Without needing Lin Chen's command, it tilted its body slightly, its orange figure sliding half a step to the side like flowing water, precisely dodging the Shadow Scythe Lizard's fierce, linear pounce.

Having missed its strike, the Shadow Scythe Lizard turned and attacked again. The two hideous bone scythes crossed over its chest suddenly erupted with a blinding black light.

Dark-type skill: Cross Slash!

"Sila!"

The piercing sound of tearing rang out again!

A highly condensed, pitch-black cross-shaped blade light erupted from the scythe blades, tearing through the air and hurtling toward the Flame Claw Beast's waist with a shrill whistle.

"Er Huo, Flame Breath Bullet." Lin Chen's command was calm and swift.

A fierce light exploded in the Flame Claw Beast's eyes. Facing the incoming Cross Slash, it didn't dodge. Its chest puffed up visibly, and an orange flame instantly surged in its throat.

The Flame Breath Bullet shot out with a boom, colliding directly with the incoming pitch-black cross-shaped blade light!

Boom—!!!

The Flame Breath Bullet and the cross-shaped blade light collided violently in mid-air. The massive sound of the impact, accompanied by a spherical shockwave, instantly cleared the surrounding dead branches and leaves. Dust flew everywhere, temporarily obscuring both sides' vision.

Amidst the smoke and dust of the explosion, a spark of orange light suddenly lit up, expanding explosively like a spark dropped into boiling oil.

Covered in surging flames, the Flame Claw Beast trampled the ground and charged forward, forcibly plowing through the still-unsettled energy turbulence and dust, rushing toward the Shadow Scythe Lizard with an unstoppable momentum!

Bang!!!

In the next instant, the flame-clad Flame Claw Beast slammed hard into the Shadow Scythe Lizard. The terrifying impact forced a pained hiss from the latter, and its slender body flew backward uncontrollably until it crashed through a small tree the width of a bowl and stumbled to the ground.

"Small Explosion." Lin Chen followed up, determined not to give the Shadow Scythe Lizard a single moment to breathe.

The Flame Claw Beast's chest puffed up again. Two seconds later, a thick column of fire erupted from its mouth!

Rumble!

The sound of an explosion followed as the surging pillar of fire instantly swallowed the Shadow Scythe Lizard's figure, the flames flaring up and illuminating the darkness.

A second later.

[Killed a Rank 2 Dark Species, gained 12 experience points]

[Current badge of light progress: Same-rank Dark Species 1/100]

[Current level progress: Rank 2 Stage 1 (24/36)]

The system notification sounded at the perfect time.

At this moment, Lin Chen couldn't suppress the curl of his lips. He looked back at Zhang Zhi and asked, "Brother Zhang, how long does it usually take to advance from Rank 2 Stage 1 to Stage 2?"

Zhang Zhi clearly hadn't expected Lin Chen to ask this. He paused and replied, "That depends on the specific situation of the beast. My Qinglan Hunting Dog took over a week, I think."

Lin Chen nodded in understanding.

If an ordinary beast took over a week, then it would be perfectly reasonable for the genius Flame Claw Beast to break through in a single night, right?