When the pit entered its devouring state, the earthen pillars were quickly all sucked down to the bottom of the hole.
Those hundreds of large and small pits looked like black holes, making anyone who saw them tremble in fear.
Xia Hua hurriedly said, "Jiang Kai, before the next eruption, a large number of beasts will rush here. We have to deal with this raw soil immediately!"
Jiang Kai nodded. The beasts didn't care whether he had a national soul or not!
The eleven of them sped up their mining pace.
In about an hour, Jiang Kai's group had mostly processed the raw soil on their side. The Warlord helping Jiang Kai had dug up more than 120 pieces of ore!
Just then, the ground began to shake violently again.
Moments later, from the dense white mist all around, a massive ape covered in rock-like armor charged out!
Jiang Kai immediately threw out Chasing Death. He didn't aim to pierce its armor — only to knock the beast flying, down into the pit.
One of the Chasing Death strikes landed a critical hit. The giant ape was struck by a powerful force and, as soon as it fell into the deep pit, its body was pulled rapidly down toward the bottom by an even greater power.
The ape didn't even have time to react — it vanished instantly.
"These earth-element and metal-element beasts also want to use these ores to enhance their strength," Xia Hua explained. "That's why they come to fight over them! They're already here, and there'll only be more and more of them!"
The man leading the other group carefully looked at Jiang Kai. "Jiang Kai, we've already finished sorting the raw soil. Now that the beasts are attacking, we also need to prepare to defend ourselves. Can you let us go now?"
Jiang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly. With a massive beast attack coming, neither Huo Shen nor the others had the time to watch these people, nor did they want to keep them around.
He snorted coldly. "Scram!"
The Warlord finally left reluctantly.
Not long after the Azure Dragon Warlord left, a large number of beasts came attacking, quickly spreading to all areas around the pits!
Huo Shen's team immediately entered combat readiness — they had already encountered four beasts.
Hu Yan used wind power; Jiang Kai used critical hits — barely managing to hold their ground.
The number of beasts kept increasing. A single misstep near the pits' edges, and whether it was a Warlord or a beast, anyone would be sucked down!
"Xia Hua, Dong Xue, the beasts seem to be increasing in number!" Jiang Kai said. "When will the mining area enter eruption mode again?"
Xia Hua replied, "I don't know either. The eruptions and devouring phases change irregularly."
"But the number of beasts will keep rising, and their ranks will keep getting higher."
"However, the better the ores that appear later, the higher the chance of rare ones. We'd better hold out for a few more rounds."
Jiang Kai frowned tightly. As expected, the Fallen Minefield was a place where opportunity and danger coexisted.
Unfortunately, like at the beginning, mining without interference was no longer possible.
The beasts appearing now were mostly ordinary-grade — they should be able to endure.
After holding out for more than ten minutes, the hundreds of pits entered eruption mode again.
At that time, the number of beasts emerging from the mist actually decreased.
Those beasts, seeing the soil pillars shooting up from the ground, immediately lunged toward them, using their strong bodies to withstand the impact of the soil and rock, grabbing some raw soil along the way.
They didn't seem to care whether there were ores inside or not — they just swallowed the raw soil directly.
Some beasts, after swallowing the raw soil, showed changes on their bodies — the metallic or rocky armor covering them began to alter.
They must've been lucky, swallowing raw soil that contained ores — the ores directly changed their armor attributes.
Most of the beasts were busy fighting over ores, so Jiang Kai's group didn't bother to go looking for trouble.
Jiang Kai immediately resumed collecting raw soil, while Ruan Yu and Hu Yan mined, and Xia Hua and Dong Xue stood guard.
Unfortunately, this second eruption lasted only a few minutes before the pits entered the devouring state again.
With no raw soil to fight over, the beasts' attention immediately shifted to the nearby humans.
From all directions within the white mist, over a dozen figures sprang out — some of them large-sized beasts.
Jiang Kai quickly threw out Chasing Death, shouting, "Don't leave my side!"
Chasing Death danced in Jiang Kai's hands — the Yama Command and God of Light's Command blasted beast after beast into the abyss!
Jiang Kai's defense around Huo Shen's team was flawless.
Xia Hua and Dong Xue stared at Jiang Kai's back in awe.
The Jiang Kai who was usually too lazy to even lift a hand — once he moved, the only word to describe him was terrifying.
Many fourth-tier max-level professionals couldn't face a single elite beast alone, yet Jiang Kai was calmly holding off over ten beasts emerging from the mist, showing not a hint of panic.
"Jiang Kai seems stronger than before," Xia Hua said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "His combat skill and mindset — they're already at a professional level."
Dong Xue nodded. "The instructors at the reserve camp said the ideal combat state is when your body, skills, talent, and weapon are perfectly synchronized — your movements are swift, but above all, your heart is calm as still water."
"Jiang Kai right now… seems to be in that state."
The battle lasted for twenty minutes.
Although they didn't need to kill the beasts — only knock them into the pits — the prolonged fight had drained Jiang Kai heavily. He was forced to use his Deceptive Substitute once.
The pits entered eruption mode again. The beasts, busy fighting for ores, eased their attacks on Huo Shen's team.
Jiang Kai quickly collected more raw soil.
Inside the Fallen Minefield, every team was like Huo Shen's — trying to find ores in a perilous environment.
Round after round, the pits cycled from eruption to devouring, from devouring to eruption — and the quality of the ores gradually improved.
However, after the beasts poured in, mining became increasingly difficult.
By the fifth eruption, many teams had no choice but to withdraw.
Many had even died — but the mist blocked vision, so no one could see what was happening across the minefield. They could only hear chaotic battle sounds, beasts' roars, and people's shouts.
"Jiang Kai, the sixth eruption is coming — it's the last one!" Xia Hua shouted urgently, swinging her sword to push back an elite Ironclad Pangolin. "After the sixth eruption, this mining wave will be over!"
"The last one, huh? I can barely hold on!" Jiang Kai panted heavily. "Deceptive Substitute!"
With his third Deceptive Substitute recovery, Jiang Kai and his team held off another beast wave, triggering the sixth eruption.
Unfortunately, the sixth eruption lasted only three or four minutes.
But — after the sixth eruption, the mining wave did not end!
The ground shook violently, and the minefield's mist suddenly surged toward one direction!
Jiang Kai and the others soon saw that not far away, a massive pit had entered devouring mode.
A terrifying devouring force seemed to be sucking in the mist of the entire minefield!
Because the mist was being rapidly drawn in, they could now see that enormous pit — and the countless beasts all around it!
It turned out that their surroundings had already been filled with beasts!
At this point, there were only a few teams left.
"This… Xia Hua, didn't you say it would end after the sixth eruption?" Jiang Kai asked in shock.
"I—I don't know what's going on!" Xia Hua said anxiously. "In the past, the minor eruptions that happened every two months had four eruptions, and the major eruptions every six months had six. After the eruptions ended, there was never another devouring phase!"
Hu Yan said, "They did say earlier this eruption's intensity was stronger than before. Captain Kai, should we go check it out?"
Jiang Kai looked around at the many beasts, hesitating — when suddenly he saw a familiar figure.
A small black shadow was sprinting toward them from the beast-infested area, darting straight to Jiang Kai's side.
"It's… it's you?" Jiang Kai looked in shock at the little creature.
It was that same little mouse that he'd encountered twice before!
Seeing the mouse, Jiang Kai instantly tensed. "Chang Siyao — where is she?"
"Squeak squeak squeak… squeak squeak squeak…" The little one stood up, waving its tiny paws wildly.
Jiang Kai's eyes widened. "You mean Chang Siyao is over there, fighting beasts?"
The little mouse nodded rapidly.
Jiang Kai's heart clenched. He turned to Hu Yan and the others. "The beasts are all being drawn by this devouring force — you guys leave now."
"What about you?" Hu Yan asked.
"I'm going to save my friend! Little one, hop on!"
The little mouse nimbly climbed up Jiang Kai's pants and perched on his shoulder — and together, they charged toward the beast horde.
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