The new addition to their three-person dorm squad was none other than Chen Linyu's girlfriend, a girl named Zhao Nan.
Bringing a girl whose Silver Lotus Wood hadn't even mutated along to explore the academic building would be a complete liability. So, after some discussion, they decided to hunt in the outer areas first.
"Let me give you a reminder before we head out. Be extremely careful. Tianhe, Lin Yu—if something happens, don't worry about me. Just focus on keeping Zhao Nan protected in the middle."
Han Ning's gaze swept over the silent Zhao Nan before he led the way out the main door.
As usual, Yin Yi took the lead, with Han Ning positioned further back. Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu flanked Zhao Nan, keeping her protected in the center.
They proceeded in silence.
They soon reached the area where they had hunted Demon Eye Frogs two days prior.
Han Ning first led his teammates in killing a few Demon Eye Frogs, giving Zhao Nan a taste of coordinated combat in the wild. After her Silver Lotus Wood absorbed the corpses, they escorted her back to the dormitory area.
The whole affair took less than an hour. With the newcomer training mission from Dean Wu completed, Han Ning's group of three was now unburdened. They returned once more to the place where they had been attacked by the Monster Rats.
Strangely, even after they advanced another hundred-plus meters, the expected Monster Rats never appeared to attack them.
'Could last time have just been a coincidence?' Han Ning wondered, standing before a messy flowerbed and gazing at the tall building ahead.
They were only a few dozen meters away from the Bioengineering Department's academic building.
"Let's stick closer. Watch our surroundings. Those Monster Rats are stealthy, and something this strange means trouble." Although the rats hadn't appeared, Han Ning didn't lower his guard.
"I even made myself an arm guard for this little expedition." Lin Tianhe raised his arm, showing off the forearm he had wrapped in layers of thick cardboard.
"To be honest, I doubt that arm guard will do much," Chen Linyu teased with a laugh. "I bet a Monster Rat could bite right through it."
"Hey, some protection is better than none," Lin Tianhe said, shaking his head. "If Teacher Fang had been wearing a guard like this a few days ago, his injury probably wouldn't have been so severe." The thought of Teacher Fang's gruesome wound made him scan his surroundings more cautiously.
"Shh... Quiet. There's movement up ahead."
Han Ning cut them off, his eyes narrowing. Behind the bushes of a greenbelt up ahead, he could just make out a dozen or so sizable dark shapes writhing in the dirt.
"Yin Yi, get ready to fight."
As the three of them crept closer, they finally saw it clearly: a bizarre cluster of over a dozen rats, all with their tails tangled together.
In the very center lay an enormous, snow-white rat the size of a puppy, its eyes shut tight.
"SKREEE!"
As if sensing their approach, the giant white rat's eyes snapped open. It fixed its blood-red gaze on Han Ning and his friends and let out a piercing shriek.
It opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and a frost-colored vortex the size of a soybean began to rapidly form inside.
"Get back!"
Seeing this, Han Ning quickly yanked his two roommates back, pulling them behind Yin Yi for cover.
WHOOSH—
A snow-white icicle as thick as a finger shot from the white rat's mouth, narrowly grazing the tops of their heads.
'A Spiritual Energy attack…'
This was the first Soul Beast besides Yin Yi that Han Ning had ever encountered capable of launching an attack with Spiritual Energy.
"Yin Yi, kill it!"
Almost simultaneously, both sides launched their attacks.
A jade-green light flared from Yin Yi as five glowing Silver Thorns tore through the air. They instantly blew apart four of the charging Monster Rats in mid-air, while the fifth shot straight for the white rat's face.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP—
The other Silver Lotus Woods followed suit, forming a barrier to stop the charging Monster Rats from reaching the three men behind them.
Han Ning wasn't idle, either. He grabbed the Compound Bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and took aim at a Monster Rat about to break through their defenses before releasing the string.
WHOOSH!
The Arrow whistled through the air and struck the Monster Rat squarely in the head. The force of the impact carried its body backward, pinning it to the ground.
"Damn, what Power! Ah Ning, when did you get so strong?" Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu couldn't help but gulp as they stared at the Monster Rat Han Ning had killed with a single shot.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle, the white rat blurred, nimbly dodging Yin Yi's Silver Thorn. Leaving a trail of white afterimages, it blinked like a phantom and reappeared right beside Yin Yi.
It raised its long, sharp claws, the tips glinting with a cold light, and swiped directly at Yin Yi.
CRACKLE—
A fine layer of frost appeared on Yin Yi's jade-green branches. But Yin Yi didn't dodge or evade. It simply lashed out with a sweeping strike, the immense force generating a powerful gust as it slammed into the white rat's belly.
"SQUEE! SQUEE!"
The white rat's abdomen caved in, and its entire body was sent flying several meters before crashing hard into the mud.
Just then, three more Silver Thorns, glowing with green light, shrieked through the air and blew the downed white rat into three lifeless chunks of flesh.
With the white rat dead, the surrounding Monster Rats panicked. Their orderly formation dissolved into chaos, and several of them even began to flee.
With the pressure on them greatly reduced, the other two Silver Lotus Woods switched from defense to offense, using their long vines to block the escaping Monster Rats.
"Stop them! Don't let a single one escape! Kill them all!"
Han Ning shouted as he repeatedly drew his bowstring. His archery wasn't particularly skilled; of the five arrows he fired, only two hit their marks, and neither struck a vital spot.
Once the white rat was dead, the remaining Monster Rats were complete pushovers. They were picked off one by one by Yin Yi, the other two Silver Lotus Woods, and Han Ning's group.
"Badass! Totally badass, Ah Ning! Your Silver Lotus Wood has gotten way stronger. It took on, like, ten of them at once and easily killed that leader rat."
Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu clicked their tongues in amazement as they circled Yin Yi, examining it closely.
'Taking on ten is an exaggeration. Taking on five is more like it,' Han Ning thought.
Ever since Yin Yi's Spiritual Ability Attribute reached its cap, it could fire five relatively weak Silver Thorns at once.
"Alright, let's clean this up. It's getting late, and we still have to go inside to scavenge for supplies."
"Okay, okay! We really hit the jackpot this time."
They had killed about sixteen Monster Rats in total, plus the white one that was now mangled beyond recognition. It was a massive haul.
Han Ning didn't join his roommates in gathering the other corpses. Instead, under Yin Yi's protection, he walked over to the fragmented remains of the white rat. He picked up its tail, still attached to the lower half of the Body, and examined it closely.
It was icy to the touch, and a faint, cold aura lingered around the sundered remains.
[+0.2]
Just this one-third of the body alone provided his system with 0.2 Energy.
'Huh? What's that?'
Han Ning's gaze shifted, and he noticed something inside another chunk of the corpse not far away. A point of frost-white light was slowly pulsing.