Chapter Seventy-One: The Trembling Earth

This scene felt strangely familiar, as if Catherine had recently encountered it somewhere else. An intense sense of mortal danger enveloped her, making every hair on her body stand on end. The instant she deciphered Ling Mo’s lip movements, she reacted immediately: her upper body shot forward, arms touching the ground. The tendons in both her arms and her long legs tensed to the limit, and with all four limbs exerting their strength, she sprang forward in a burst!

Everything seemed to slow down in her eyes: the curling of her fingers gripping the earth, the soil kicked up by the force of her feet, the black-brown dust floating in midair—all moved sluggishly. Out of the corner of her eye, she even caught sight of a massive fireball ‘slowly’ hurtling toward her from behind!

Boom!

The tremendous explosion erupted right behind her, a blast of scorching heat and shockwave slamming into her back. It felt as though she’d been struck by a giant hammer, sending her flying through the air as she desperately flailed to regain her balance. Landing on the ground, she rolled once like a nimble wildcat and sprang up, light and agile.

Glancing back, Catherine saw that the spot where she’d just stood had vanished, replaced by a five-meter-wide lake of molten lava! Within the lake, the blistering magma boiled and surged, orange-red chunks leaping as high as a dozen meters, vividly displaying the staggering energy contained therein.

With lingering fear, Catherine reached back to touch her spine. If she hadn’t chosen the perfect escape route just now, she was certain she’d have been struck by that monstrous fireball—her fate would have been obvious.

“Splendid, truly splendid,” Ling Mo applauded lightly. “Such reaction speed, and the ability to instantly assess the situation and make the correct choice—this is the mark of a top-tier martial talent.”

Catherine shook her head, still shaken. “It was just luck, nothing more.”

“It wasn’t luck,” Ling Mo denied her directly. “In that moment, your mind gathered all the information it could from your surroundings. Making the right decision is a reflection of your innate talent. Luck does exist, but it’s a force too advanced for you to touch or influence right now.”

“Luck? Advanced?” Catherine was baffled. “Isn’t that just a figure of speech? How could it be considered ‘advanced’?”

“Luck is real. For most people, their luck value is equal. But some extremely rare spells can alter this number. I was once targeted by such a spell from an old friend. If I recall, it was called ‘End of Fortune.’ Back then, I was about to crush his head—he managed to launch this as his dying move. A faint shadow wave struck me—no force, no sense of danger. I didn’t pay it any mind.”

At this, Ling Mo’s face darkened with painful memory. “After that, I started choking on water, kept getting rocks dropped on me when I walked near cliffs, tsunamis whenever I approached the coast—even hiding in caves led to earthquakes. In the end, I had no choice but to flee to an endless plain—and would you believe it, a meteor came down and hit me on the head!”

Catherine listened, stupefied, the corner of her eye twitching violently. “Master, you crushed his head and still call him an old friend?”

“What’s the problem? The old friend we’re going to see next wants to crush my head, too—doesn’t stop us from sharing a pleasant conversation,” Ling Mo replied with disdain.

Hearing this terrifying remark, Catherine nearly burst into tears. “...Mother, I want to go home.”

Ling Mo grumbled, “Weren’t you bold enough these past few days? Why are you suddenly so timid?”

“I was bold before because those monsters were roughly on my level! Now we’re about to meet your old friend—if you two start fighting, it’d be like gods battling. Wouldn’t a little shrimp like me die a hundred times over?”

“That won’t happen. Based on what just happened,” Ling Mo pointed at the still-bubbling lava lake, “I’m certain of one thing: my old friend is asleep. What you just triggered was his automatic defense mechanism. If he were awake, he wouldn’t waste energy on such a harmless attack.”

Catherine looked down at the massive lava lake, unable to reconcile that devastating, fifth-level-magic-like attack with the word ‘harmless.’ She was about to retort when, to her horror, a giant wreathed in flames suddenly rose from the lake!

The giant’s head blazed with fire, his expression blank as a face on a playing card. Complex, arcane magical runes stretched from his cheeks to his chest. With her experience as a high-level mage, Catherine could only barely recognize a single “Eternal Scorching” rune array. Only the upper half of the giant’s body emerged from the magma, yet he was already over three meters tall! Most striking of all, the giant’s hands drew a monstrous bow, nocking a flaming arrow that locked squarely onto Catherine!

I’m going to die! If that arrow hits, I’ll die for sure!

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the giant released the bowstring. The arrow, swift as thunder, made no sound at all, as if it were an illusion of flame. One moment the arrow was on the string; in the blink of an eye, it was already at her brow, igniting her entire vision!

Even though death was so close, Catherine’s intuition sensed no danger, for Ling Mo, beside her, casually blew at the flaming arrow. In an instant, all its fire was extinguished, and it disintegrated into black ash, drifting away in the air.

Even the poker-faced flame giant could not remain indifferent at this. The fire atop his head shrank, his brows knitted tightly, and the rune arrays on his cheeks furrowed along with his expression. He scrutinized Ling Mo for a long moment before haltingly speaking: “Master... you... leave... not welcome!”

Ling Mo stepped forward and threw a punch, shattering the flame giant into pieces as he coldly declared, “I come and go as I please—I need no one’s welcome!”

The giant’s head tumbled through the air, pain twisting its blank face, and it struggled to utter, “Assistance... invasion... call... annihilate Nairbe!”

No matter how many times she saw it, Ling Mo’s crisp, decisive attacks always left Catherine entranced. Seeing a supposedly invincible flame giant dispatched so casually, she was about to offer some flattery when Ling Mo scooped her up horizontally, holding her in a princess’s embrace.

Her face flushed crimson. Though Catherine had daydreamed of being held by this powerful master, she never expected her fantasy to be realized so suddenly. After a brief moment of stiffness, she relaxed, pressing her cheek to Ling Mo’s bare chest, feeling its warmth. A gentle happiness swirled in her heart, leaving her dizzy with delight.

Sneaking a glance up, she saw Ling Mo wasn’t looking at her at all, but gazing skyward, as if sensing something. Just as disappointment settled in, she heard Ling Mo say:

“If my old friend were awake, letting you roam this area would be good experience. But since he’s asleep, and the automatic defenses are too dangerous for you, today’s trial ends here. I’ll guide you the rest of the way.”

With that, Ling Mo cast a glance toward the direction of the Magic-Eye Sprite and announced, “Those watching the live broadcast, get ready to record—especially the scholars. What you’re about to see is far beyond anything in your usual experience!”

Before he’d finished speaking, he leapt high into the air. The ground beneath his feet rumbled dully, the surface heaving and trembling more violently than any earthquake. In a single breath, countless cracks split open, revealing a tangled network of magma rivers beneath. Rows of flame giants rose from the molten streams, faces expressionless as they drew their bows and loosed a rain of arrows that blotted out the sky!

At the same time, an unnameable monstrosity appeared on the distant horizon, surging forward with unstoppable might and a whirlwind of dust, its speed deceptively swift. In a blink, it was less than a kilometer away! From afar, one could see a gaping maw full of fangs on its abdomen, now opening slightly as it rumbled deep, guttural words. Though garbled, the meaning was unmistakable:

Rampaging Locomotive!