Chapter Thirty-Eight

Wang Ningning had left, but her monsters remained in the arena. Cheng Yuan continued to challenge others and win, while the defeated Fang Zizhong took his Snowfield Wild Bull to the infirmary, leaving Wang Ningning’s arena in a strange offline state.

Immediately, someone tried to approach her unattended Double Turtle team. Chen Kexin, who possessed the rare ancient Golden Spear Triceratops—a monster renowned for its balanced offense and defense—decided to seize the opportunity. Normally, its species' limit was only at the adult stage, but with over a hundred of its kind, the strongest individual could potentially ascend to become a Triceratops King, capable of facing a Tyrannosaurus head-on. If Wang Ningning were present, Chen Kexin would have hesitated, but with her offline, she attacked, hoping a victory would propel her into the top ten.

The two turtles eyed the imposing girl. “Is she here to cause trouble?” “Doesn’t matter, just fight,” declared the Explosive Tyrant Turtle. Minutes later, Chen Kexin stared at her head shield, riddled with bite holes, then at the turtle eggs before her. In that moment, she finally understood Wang Ningning’s formidable reputation. The damage wasn’t high, but the tactics were infuriating.

Her attacks, using the long horn, could only manage weak physical impacts against the dual shield of fire wall and earth wall, and she had to endure flames to do so. The once golden skin was scorched black. After finally breaching a hole with her horn and attempting a new approach, she was ambushed by the turtles lurking at the entrance.

Just then, Wang Ningning returned and saw her shield formation facing the now disheveled Golden Spear Triceratops. She chuckled openly, her laughter drawing the attention of those present.

Night fell, and Cheng Yuan gazed at the card in his hand, resembling a ticket, recalling the principal’s words after school: “I have two dungeons. One is known, but you must team up with those six repeaters, and rewards will be distributed as needed. The other is unknown; I’ve sent people inside, it’s not large, but there are at least five targets, all at the adult stage. Of course, whichever you choose, you can always request leave and skip classes.”

Cheng Yuan raised the card high under the moonlight, revealing bright red feather patterns.

The next afternoon, Wang Ningning glanced at the empty desk beside her and swept her gaze fiercely around. She was frustrated; Cheng Yuan hadn’t come to school, and her proud tactics had been saddled with an infuriating name. Who was the bastard who named it the “Turtle Bastard Combat System”? Her formation was called the Shield Array, not that ridiculous name.

After losing to Cheng Yuan, Wang Ningning went home and slept early. But this time, Cheng Yuan, using his cub-stage Gold White Tiger, reversed the battle and defeated the adult Snowfield Wild Bull. The school had recorded the meaningful duel and posted it online, along with records of his battle with Wang Ningning.

Originally, it was just incidental footage, but the voices in the video were too quiet. When Wang Ningning mentioned the Shield Array, viewers could barely hear it. Unable to discern the name, they initially called it the Turtle Egg Tactic. With two turtles, it became the Double Yellow Turtle Egg. After an hour of circulation and a certain girl’s vengeful comment, it morphed into the Turtle Bastard Tactic. Wang Ningning, the creator, acquired a new title: Turtle Girl.

When she first arrived at school, Wang Ningning hadn’t noticed anything amiss, only that her classmates looked at her strangely. One of her close friends pointed it out, especially after the scene where Cheng Yuan gently lifted her chin, which was clipped and edited with odd pink tones by unfamiliar upperclassmen. After watching it, Wang Ningning was mortified.

In the mountain village dungeon, Cheng Yuan frowned at the tiger-faced statue before him. The tiger-headed human figure represented a special branch of tiger monsters—the Mountain Lord. The strong were like the Enlightened Beast, intimidating all and protecting the land; the weak differed little from ordinary tigers, even bearing extra vulnerabilities.

Cheng Yuan examined the five large porcelain bowls before the statue, each containing one of the five sacrificial animals: cow, pig, sheep, dog, and chicken. He glanced at a nearby ruined mural depicting a group of humans respectfully kneeling before the statue. In the bowls, five severed heads were clearly visible.

Sacrificing the five animals, seeking the Mountain Lord’s protection—this seemed to be a method. The tiger cub, curious, touched the statue with its nose, sensing a kinship. Cheng Yuan scooped up the cub, saying, “Come on, let’s check out the surrounding offerings.”

Half an hour later, Cheng Yuan returned to the statue and sat down, having briefly explored and discovered the state of the five offerings. First was the cow, an Iron-Horned Black Water Buffalo, the largest and strongest, over five meters long and weighing an estimated two tons.

Next was the dog, whose habits resembled wolves, though its appearance still showed traits of a local dog: black base, scattered white markings, as if scorched by fire. Its nearly three-meter size and agile build indicated it was a Fire-Clawed Tiger-Spotted Dog.

The chicken was an Ice Feather Chicken, with a blue-white coloration that appeared noble and refined. Unfortunately, it was the weakest of the five, measuring only 1.5 meters in length, though its wingspan exceeded three meters. It could fly and attack from a distance.

The sheep was a Heavy-Horned Bighorn, nearly three meters long, sporting a pair of thick, massive horns larger than its head, atop a muscular body.

The pig was an Oak-Armored Wild Boar, over three meters in length and weighing more than a ton, with tough skin and flesh, often covered in a muddy armor. If not for the tree bark patterns rubbed off when it scratched against trees, Cheng Yuan would have had difficulty identifying it.

None of these offerings were easy to deal with. This dungeon wasn’t an arena—the monsters here knew the terrain better than he did, constantly battling for survival, with formidable attack capabilities. Most astonishingly, they were all social creatures.

A herd of water buffalo—Cheng Yuan realized, even if the tiger cub ascended, it would be crushed by a stampede. The dog pack was even more absurd: various colors—yellow, white, pure black—anyone could see their attributes were wildly mixed, and they fought in coordinated teams.

Soloing any one would be difficult, let alone facing them in groups. After pondering, Cheng Yuan’s gaze settled on the Ice Feather Chicken, the only one lacking close-combat skills and with weak defense, obvious strengths and weaknesses. If the tiger cub engaged in melee, even as a wild dungeon monster with rich enemy tactics, it couldn’t withstand the cub’s damage, which had already skinned an adult Snowfield Wild Bull.

The Snowfield Wild Bull was enormous, over three meters long, with a thick, muscular frame that still couldn’t defend against the cub’s attack; an adult Ice Feather Chicken stood no chance of turning the tables.