While most people had never seen a Holy Beast, nor even a Death Claw, they were familiar with the legends. The better the synergy between a Holy Beast and its wielder, the greater the strength they could unleash – this was the common tale.
The key point was that this rumor didn't originate from the contestants themselves, but rather from the members of their respective hunting teams.
Therefore, at the entrance to the entire trial area, aside from the teams possessing Holy Beasts, most others were in low spirits.
Meanwhile, within the passage between the second and third layers of the beast tide, Li Chonglou was also cautiously making his way. Although the passage wasn't long in terms of distance, perhaps only a few hundred meters, the space within could only accommodate one person, and there were electric fences on both sides. Any misstep, let alone for him, even a sage would be instantly charred.
Fortunately, the passage was not complicated. Before long, Li Chonglou successfully followed the passage to a bend below.
The entire deep pit did not lead directly to the third layer. Instead, there was a bend at the bottom, and after another stretch, one had to continue downwards to exit this passage.
When Li Chonglou reached the exit of the passage, the scene outside made him secretly alarmed.
Outside the passage was another vast space. Li Chonglou had learned earlier that this third layer was the true underground space, completely dark, with only the base's incandescent lights present at the passage.
And at this moment, illuminated by those incandescent lights, massive bodies were restlessly stirring. Strangely, they did not engage in conflict or combat with each other; at most, they exchanged low growls as warnings.
Yet, even so, it made Li Chonglou understand the danger of the third layer.
These creatures were not only bizarre in appearance, with crocodile-like beings sporting wings, but also elephants covered in scales. Most importantly, the light reflected from their skin seemed to constantly showcase their formidable defense.
What truly startled Li Chonglou was the aura they exuded.
Each of them was comparable to a Dragon or a Thunder Wind, and this scene before him involved at least a hundred massive mutated creatures!
"Xi Feng seemed to mention that there are at least tens of thousands of mutated creatures here."
Li Chonglou's eyes narrowed slightly. Amidst his shock, he faintly felt a surge of excitement.
If he could kill all these tens of thousands of mutated creatures, he believed his脉潜 (Pulse Submergence) would have truly begun!
However, the thought was beautiful, but reality was harsh. He simply didn't have that much time at the moment. This thought flashed through his mind, and then he quickened his pace to the edge of the passage, leaping down without hesitation.
As soon as he left the range of the electric fence, the mutated creatures below reacted. Pairs of crimson eyes fixated on Li Chonglou's figure. Some impatient ones even used nearby strange beasts as springboards, lunging directly at him.
Li Chonglou calmly took the Ice Seal Gun that Xi Wen had given him from his back, aimed at the head of the mutated creature, and gently pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A bloom of ice exploded in the air. To his surprise, the mutated creature that had leaped up, despite being hit precisely in the head, was not significantly affected. Its gaping maw still lunged towards him.
Frowning slightly, Li Chonglou had to switch to an armor-piercing round. When the creature was only five meters away, he fired again. Its entire head exploded, turning into a spray of blood that splattered in all directions.
Stepping on its corpse, Li Chonglou used the momentum to leap away. At this moment, a winged crocodile suddenly flapped its black wings, which were twice the size of its body. Its body, weighing at least several tons, was actually flying towards him.
Li Chonglou had initially thought its wings were merely decorative. He was startled and quickly aimed an armor-piercing round at its head again.
Bang!
With another shot, the crocodile's head also exploded. However, Li Chonglou noticed something was amiss.
"These guys seem to be stimulated by blood?"
At this moment, the pack of massive strange beasts on the ground had descended into complete chaos, madly pursuing Li Chonglou's landing spots. Several of them, learning from the previous beast, were using their companions' bodies as stepping stones to pounce at him.
Cannot use armor-piercing rounds!
Li Chonglou reacted instantly, immediately putting away his firearm. On the first beast that lunged at him, he twisted his body and landed on its back.
Boom! The massive body crashed to the ground. In that instant, Li Chonglou sprang up, landed safely, and then immediately rushed out.
While he was confident he could deal with one of these creatures per minute, the sheer number at the moment was too great, and he didn't know if it would attract other mutated behemoths. Therefore, Li Chonglou had no intention of getting entangled.
In terms of speed, Li Chonglou could outrun these mutated behemoths by several streets. Thus, in less than five minutes, he had shaken off this group of maddened mutated beasts.
However, this was when the true danger of the third layer arrived. Having moved away from the passage entrance, the environment ahead immediately became pitch black. Even with the night vision goggles left by Captain Xi Wen, the visible distance was extremely limited.
At most, his vision extended only about ten meters.
This was undoubtedly contrary to common sense, but no one had explained the reason to him. Li Chonglou could only instinctively activate his Sky Eye Divine Vision.
And just then, a swift dark shadow suddenly lunged at his face.
Li Chonglou's expression changed. He only had time to raise his hands to shield himself. The next moment, he felt a powerful impact hit him, sending him flying backward uncontrollably.
This impact force – it was so strong!
Even with his current strength, which had improved by nearly twenty percent, he still found this impact force difficult to accept. At this moment, his entire body was tightly contracted, his organs instinctively resisting the shock.
However, Li Chonglou's eyes lit up. He quickly circulated his 脉潜 (Pulse Submergence) cultivation technique, guiding all this impact force to various acupoints with his internal energy. Instantly, all his acupoints were activated. This effect was even better than when he had fought the Strange Bull previously!
Yet, when he landed, he couldn't help but have a trickle of blood flow from the corner of his mouth. It was unavoidable; the impact force was too fierce. Although he had used most of the energy to temper his acupoints, the remaining force still injured his organs.
It was only at this point that he realized what had attacked him.
It was another Strange Bull!
However, its size and aura were more than double what they had been before!