Upon hearing this sound, Chu Qingyun's expression changed, and his heart skipped a beat.
'They're here!'
All the Martial Disciple Ninth Layer Elemental Ore Rats retreated like a receding tide.
But before the human Martial Artists could rejoice, even larger and fatter Elemental Ore Rats quickly took their place.
Each of the new Elemental Ore Rats was over half a meter long. Their sharp fangs, like daggers, curved into a vicious arc.
Moreover, these Elemental Ore Rats, whose strength had reached the Martial Artist Realm, didn't just attack from the front. They also pounced on Chu Qingyun and the others from the walls on both sides, and even from behind.
All the human Martial Artists were surrounded!
"What... what's happening!"
"We're surrounded! We're surrounded..."
Everyone descended into a panic, their hands trembling as they gripped their weapons.
Before, a sliver of hope still remained in their hearts.
'If we just grab the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit, we can run back and survive.'
But now, that single sliver of hope had been extinguished. In their hearts, most of them had already given up.
"How could this happen? How?! How could I be surrounded by this pack of filthy, mongrel rats!"
Even the instigator, Young Master Ning, was now descending into madness.
He had schemed against Chu Qingyun and the others, never imagining that he himself would end up being outsmarted by a pack of rats.
Seeing the stronger swarm of rats about to charge them, some people even gave up resisting and dropped their weapons.
Others, unwilling to be eaten alive by the Elemental Ore Rats, chose to take their own lives.
But there were still some who, in their final moments, erupted with all their strength and charged fearlessly toward the Elemental Ore Rats.
In the face of death, all of humanity's true nature was laid bare.
But Chu Qingyun's mind remained perfectly clear.
He still had hope. Even surrounded by the rat swarm, there was a chance to escape.
'Fortune favors the bold. I'll risk it all!'
A ruthless glint flashed in Chu Qingyun's eyes. He flung out a vine, which rapidly grew to its maximum length of twenty meters, wrapped around the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit, and with a hard tug, pulled it into his hand.
With the Spiritual Medicine in hand, Chu Qingyun grew his other two vines to nearly ten meters. They propped him up near the ceiling of the mine tunnel, and like a giant on stilts, he strode toward the exit.
At that moment, facing the human Martial Artists' most frenzied counterattack, the Elemental Ore Rat Swarm was in disarray, its attention divided.
And at the same time, Da and Er flanked Young Master Ning on the left and right, protecting him as they charged out.
"The Primordial Spirit Fruit! Go get the Primordial Spirit Fruit! That lowlife stole my Primordial Spirit Fruit!"
Young Master Ning was in a frenzy, even wanting to lunge forward and snatch the Primordial Spirit Fruit from Chu Qingyun.
However, his two guards, who were thankfully still sane, held him back tightly. Wielding two Wolf Fang Clubs, they brutally smashed open a bloody path and dragged him toward the exit.
"Young Master! Young Master, save me! Take me with you, Young Master!"
The sycophantic servant, Xiaosi, desperately clung to Young Master Ning's leg, trying to escape with him.
"Get off! Get the hell off me, you damn dog!"
Enraged, Young Master Ning landed two heavy kicks and sent Xiaosi tumbling away.
Xiaosi rolled twice on the ground and was instantly engulfed by the swarm of rats. Within a few breaths, he was devoured down to a clean skeleton.
Chu Qingyun, striding along as if on stilts, wasn't having an easy time either.
Below, Elemental Ore Rats constantly latched onto his vines, gnawing at them fiercely.
Moreover, some daredevil Elemental Ore Rats even scrambled up the vines, trying to attack Chu Qingyun directly.
Chu Qingyun had to control his Primordial Power to repair the vines as best he could, all while being distracted by the Elemental Ore Rats climbing up from below and leaping down from above.
For a moment, he was in a frantic scramble.
If not for his third vine held in reserve, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.
Taking advantage of his long strides, Chu Qingyun leaped onto the stone platform near the tunnel entrance and rushed out of the mine, well ahead of Young Master Ning and his men.
Less than a minute later, Young Master Ning and his two guards also charged to the platform and escaped.
Although the Elemental Ore Rat Swarm was powerful, the two Seventh-Level Martial Artists' desperate charge was enough to get Young Master Ning out alive.
Of course, by the time they got out of the mine, Chu Qingyun was long gone, not even a shadow of him remaining.
"AHHH! DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!"
"That lowlife! He deserves to die!"
After escaping the hellish mine, Young Master Ning's eyes were bloodshot with rage as he howled furiously.
After all his scheming and the deaths of so many of his men, the final fruit had been snatched away by Chu Qingyun.
The sheer frustration was enough to drive him mad!
"Young Master, this whole affair is too strange. I've never heard of low-level Elemental Ore Rats using such cunning tricks. We should head back to Qingshan City," Da advised, holding his blood-drenched Wolf Fang Club.
"No! Find him! Find that lowlife for me!"
"I'm going to kill him with my own hands! And I'll slaughter his entire family!"
Young Master Ning's face was twisted in a vicious snarl as he roared.
Da and Er were both helpless. They could only follow Young Master Ning, searching for the man like a pair of headless chickens.
When their young master went into a frenzy like this, no one could stop him.
Not far from the mine entrance, hidden in a crevice between the rocks, Chu Qingyun's expression turned chillingly cold.
'Slaughter my entire family?'
'I'll slaughter you first!'
With a flicker of his figure, Chu Qingyun vanished, heading in the opposite direction from Young Master Ning and his men.
After Chu Qingyun and Young Master Ning's group escaped, the remaining human Martial Artists were quickly annihilated by the Elemental Ore Rat Swarm.
After all the humans were dead, a massive rat, two meters long with two golden stripes on its body, suddenly emerged from the rock face next to the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit Tree.
When this giant rat appeared, all the other Elemental Ore Rats prostrated themselves obediently on the ground, not daring to even lift their heads.
The golden-striped rat straightened up, stroking its chin in a very human-like manner as it muttered to itself.
"That kid's use of the Three-Star Vine was truly brilliant. What an incredible human genius. A shame he was too vigilant, or I could have finished him off."
"Still, where on earth is the Vermilion Bird? It's clearly somewhere nearby. Don't tell me I'll have to sneak into Qingshan City..."
The golden-striped rat muttered a few more words in human language before burrowing into the ground and disappearing.
Silence returned once more to the dim mine tunnel.
But the thick stench of blood would likely take a very long time to fade.
After leaving the area around the mine, Chu Qingyun found a secluded spot, ate the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit, and began to cultivate.
After entering his stomach, the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit transformed into a strange power.
This power, without any need for Chu Qingyun to control it, surged toward his blocked fifth meridian on its own and began to batter against it fiercely.
An hour later, the fifth meridian was completely opened.
'Fifth Level Martial Artist!'
More than half of the strange power remained, and it began to assault his sixth meridian.
Another hour and a half later, the sixth meridian was completely opened.
'Sixth Level Martial Artist!'
However, a great deal of the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit's power was still left, and it once again charged toward the seventh meridian.
'Am I going to break through to the seventh level?'
'Forget it. An opportunity like this can't be missed. Break through!'
After a moment's hesitation, Chu Qingyun didn't stop the power, allowing it to surge toward his seventh meridian.
After it forced open more than half of the seventh meridian, all the power was depleted.
At this moment, however, Chu Qingyun took out a large amount of Primordial Stones and began to absorb the Primordial Power within them to continue assaulting the seventh meridian.
After using up almost all the Primordial Stones he had acquired on this trip, the seventh meridian was finally opened.
Seventh-Level Martial Artist!
He had jumped three levels in a row!
Chu Qingyun's eyes snapped open, and a sharp, murderous intent erupted from him.
"Young Master Ning, I hope you haven't gone far!"