Chapter 547: Chapter 260: Level 6 Shadow Splitting, Powerful Crystal Cluster Guard

"I hope we can just wait for rescue smoothly like this. I don’t want to fight anymore..."

"Me too. Life was so much better back at the academy. I’ll never complain about boring classes again!"

"..."

Eve’s brow furrowed subtly as she listened.

She didn’t blame them. For people who had been called geniuses their whole lives and had everything come easy, thoughts like these were perfectly normal.

Besides, while she enjoyed growing through combat and welcomed a good challenge, this really wasn’t the right time for it.

She was willing to be reckless with her own safety for the sake of growing stronger, but she would never gamble with the lives of others.

Dragging the weak and innocent into danger was the one thing she despised and hated most.

Time trickled by.

Before they knew it, they had been in the narrow cavern for nearly a full day.

During that time, they all managed to get some rest, taking short naps in shifts.

Lin Mo, on the other hand, spent some time in Meditation. For him, short periods of Meditation were actually a more effective way to relax and recover than sleeping.

To his surprise, Mi Lan was doing the same.

Although her focus and proficiency in Meditation were clearly much lower than his, she at least managed to enter a meditative state. That alone put her ahead of most Mages.

’These academy students really are talented.’

The longer they waited, the closer they were to dawn. But the closer it got, the more their patience wore thin.

Even the members of Deke’s Adventurer Squad were clearly not as composed as they had been at the start.

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

"It should be... soon..."

"This mission has taken way too long. When we get back, I’m going to rest for a good month or two."

"Me too. See you at the usual spot then?"

"Haha, you know it!"

...

This seemingly lighthearted banter was just a way to mask and relieve their growing anxiety.

Lin Mo used his Shadow Splitting Skill again, sending out a Clone to scout the area.

Throughout this period, as long as it didn’t tax him too much, he would occasionally send out his Clone to hunt for easy pickings, seeing if it could find any Demons.

As a result, no Demons had come near their location for a while.

This place was already quite remote, and any Demon that happened to wander over was quickly finished off by Lin Mo’s Clone.

Thanks to this, Lin Mo’s Shadow Splitting Skill Proficiency had reached Level 5 (291/360). He was only a few dozen points away from leveling it up.

’Just two more Demons, and the Skill will level up.’

Lin Mo mulled this over as he controlled his Clone, having it continue its search of the surrounding area.

There were no Demons nearby, so Lin Mo had his Clone press onward. It searched for a long time without any luck, and he was just about to write it off as another fruitless expedition. But then, with less than thirty seconds left on the Clone’s duration, a sudden noise echoed from up ahead.

The clone looked ahead. From the dark, profound depths of the mine, a faint, rustling sound was gradually getting closer.

Fearless, since it was only a Clone, it immediately rushed towards the sound at top speed.

Soon, the scene that unfolded before its eyes gave him a jolt.

’This is...’

The Demons that appeared were humanoid, their entire bodies encased in colorful crystal. The material looked similar to the carapaces of the Crystalized Spiders he had encountered before, but it wasn’t identical.

Clearly, the crystal armor on these Demons was even tougher.

In other words, these things were likely far more powerful than the Crystalized Spiders.

These Demons were relatively rare, so Lin Mo couldn’t immediately recall their name. Besides, his Clone was running out of time; he couldn’t afford to think it over.

’Might as well test their strength directly.’

The clone attacked at once, charging the Demon at the head of the group.

Although the clone couldn’t use Skills, its swift movements combined with the replica Frost Dragon Scale Sword in its hand still gave it considerable Combat Power.

The clone slashed its Sword at the Demon. The colorful crystal instantly shattered, but Lin Mo’s expression suddenly changed.

’I didn’t cut it clean in two with one blow!’

In practice, it wasn’t much different from being cut clean through—it was a one-hit kill, with only a sliver holding the Demon together—but the implications were significant.

’My Clone has 158 points in Strength!’

’That means these things have a Physique Attribute of at least 100!’

’Are these Level 9 or even Level 10 Demons?’

The Skill Proficiency notification that followed confirmed Lin Mo’s suspicion.

Shadow Splitting Skill Proficiency +70

’+70 Skill Proficiency... It really was a Level 9 Demon!’

Lin Mo frowned. There were quite a few of them—about a dozen in total.

And one among them seemed exceptionally powerful.

After seeing one of its comrades nearly sliced in two by the clone, the one that looked distinctly different—a ’Crystal Man’—charged forward.

It even carried a weapon. It brandished a Great Sword, also covered in colorful crystal, and swung it at the clone.

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