Li Tian slowly approached the corpse of the Paros Flame Python and sighed, "Initially, I wanted to play with you a bit longer, to drag it out until your poison took effect, but I underestimated your strength and almost got counter-killed."
Recalling the pillar of fire released by the Paros Flame Python, Li Tian couldn't help but think with a flush of shame, "Even with my fire resistance maxed out, I still almost died. That skill is quite interesting."
Li Tian smiled. Dinner time!
Despite the immense size of the Paros Flame Python, Li Tian devoured it in just a few minutes, leaving only its head, all thanks to his Devour talent.
"Damn it! I feel that guy starting to stir again!" Li Tian clutched his head, cold sweat dripping down.
"Should I refuse it again, like before?" Li Tian said, his expression tinged with pain.
"Forget it, I'll take it one step at a time."
Li Tian continued to delve deeper. After leaving the lava zone, he arrived at a cliff ledge. Below, it was pitch black. Li Tian stared for a long time, faintly hearing rustling and creaking sounds coming from below.
As the sounds grew louder, Li Tian activated his night vision and discovered a large swarm of black, beetle-like monsters, so numerous they covered the entire cliff face!
"What are these things?" Li Tian wondered. Just then, the insects swarmed over him like a tide. Li Tian unhurriedly activated his full-body protective shield.
But these insects seemed to have no ill intent, simply bypassing him. Li Tian casually grabbed a fist-sized beetle, and without a word, put it into his mouth.
After swallowing it, he commented, "Doesn't taste very good."
Watching all the beetles scurry away, he thought there must be something terrifying below, so he grinned and leaped down.
He hadn't expected the cliff to be thousands of meters high. Only upon reaching the bottom did he discover it was an entirely new layer of the Underground City!
"A three-layered Underground City!" Li Tian looked at the vast, gloomy area before him in disbelief, and couldn't help but lick his lips at the thought of new ingredients.
"Let me find those guys the insects are afraid of..." Before Li Tian could finish speaking, he suddenly froze, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of terror, and then...
"Thud!" A heavy sound echoed, a foot landing on the ground. A colossal creature had appeared behind Li Tian, radiating an extremely ominous aura.
In the darkness, its blood-red eyes stared directly at Li Tian.
At this moment, Li Tian was continuously breaking out in cold sweat, his body trembling uncontrollably. He dared not make a move.
Years of combat experience and his judgment of monster threat levels made him realize: the creature behind him was absolutely impossible for him to defeat with his current strength!
It was not even on the same level as the Paros Flame Python!
"Thud!" Another sound. A thick leg landed next to Li Tian. The ominous black mist from the monster slowly approached Li Tian. Li Tian felt his life force draining away!
Fortunately, the monster seemed to ignore Li Tian and continued to walk forward, the black mist still swirling around its body.
Li Tian watched the monster, barely daring to breathe. Its body was shrouded in black miasma, preventing Li Tian from seeing its appearance clearly.
Only after the monster had walked far away did Li Tian let out a sigh of relief and collapse onto the ground.
"This feeling is like when I first encountered an Emperor-level monster before I grew stronger. To think such a being exists in this Underground City."
After a while, Li Tian began to giggle foolishly, stroking his face with his right hand, his eyes glowing red between his fingers, drooling as he laughed, "That's the ultimate feast!"
........
Outside the Underground City, a few days after John and the others returned to Country A, they were summoned by the King to the palace hall.
Fede and Rona were leisurely enjoying delicacies. The King said to John, "I'm sorry to hear that news. You don't need to blame yourselves. You must look forward. It's just a pity Li Tian didn't die on the battlefield."
Upon hearing this, Fede couldn't help but sneer.
John respectfully replied, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. We have come to terms with it. May I ask why Your Majesty has summoned us today?"
"Oh, this matter is very important," the King said, waving his hand.
"Come in, Miss Linna."
Only the crisp sound of high heels was heard, then a tall, fair-skinned, pointy-eared, golden-haired, blue-eyed elf entered from outside the door, dressed in a light green ruffled noble short skirt and white stockings.
She carried an ornate bow on her back, and a fluffy white furball with large, Kartzlan-like eyes sat on her shoulder.
The woman used her hand to flick her long golden hair and said to everyone, "Are you the companions of this young lady from now on?"
Everyone was startled. The King said, "Everyone, this is Kyle Lina, the second daughter of the Kaile Family from the Nuoerha Great Forest, who was recently chosen by the Goddess.
From now on, she will also be a Hero and act with you."
"Hey, don't you dare hold this young lady back in the future, understand?" Kyle Lina said proudly, her arms crossed.
Fede glanced at her and snorted coldly, "Hmph! I wonder which pampered young lady, raised in a greenhouse, this is. She probably hasn't experienced life-or-death situations. Just a pretty vase."
Linna was enraged upon hearing this. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I say, why do you immediately speak ill of others? Did your parents not educate you properly?"
When Fede heard this, his face darkened.
"Or perhaps..." Linna said with a mischievous smile, "Your parents are just like you."
Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire room became oppressive. Fede slowly stood up, his face grim, killing intent uncontrollably leaking out.
The people around him broke out in cold sweat. "What right do you have..." Fede said darkly, like a primal beast about to erupt.
"To talk about my parents!!!" Fede turned his head, his eyes icy as he stared at Linna. Purple magic power surged throughout his body, releasing a massive amount of killing intent.
The surrounding servants felt as if they were suffocating.
"Do you want to die?!" Fede said again. Linna was not to be outdone. Light green magic power filled her body.
She reached for the bow on her back, her eyes fierce, and said, "You want to fight? I'd be happy to oblige!"
The small furball on her shoulder also angrily made "poof, poof" sounds at Fede.
Rona merely watched the show from the side, smiling, thinking: Speaking ill of Fede's parents in front of him is a huge taboo. That little girl is probably going to suffer, after all, Fede is quite terrifying when he gets angry.
John and the King saw the situation was bad and quickly intervened, mediating for a long time before Fede angrily said, "Stinky girl, don't sleep too soundly tonight!" Then he turned and walked out of the room.
"Phew~" Linna let out a sigh of relief. Although she was not weak, she still felt a surge of fear facing Fede at that moment.
Linna vented, "What kind of person is he? To have such a bad-tempered person in the team!"
"Little girl, it's impolite to talk about Fede's parents in front of him, you know," Rona said with a smile, then also walked out.
"Hmm?" Linna wondered. At this point, John, with a hint of regret, told her about Fede's past.
"That's why Fede hates demons so much, to the point of an unending feud," John finally said.
Linna remained silent, simply lowering her head in thought. John then said to the King, "Now that the matter is understood, I will speak with Zhang Xiaolin. We will be busy then."
"No problem, Heroes of the Kingdom. I wish you prosperous martial endeavors."
Walking out of the palace and on the road, Linna looked up at the sky, "I'll find a time to apologize to him."