The large ant’s chirps grew urgent and short. It stopped moving, aimed its sharp, wide mandibles in the direction behind it, and hissed relentlessly.

A second after the large ant cried out, Han Ning also heard a faint rumbling sound coming from the direction of the Mushroom Forest to the west.

The noise was like a surging flash flood or a mudslide, and the ground beneath their feet began to tremble faintly.

What’s more, the sound was growing louder at an alarming rate.

Another second passed, and even the other three, who hadn’t achieved a Spiritual Power breakthrough, could clearly hear the commotion inside the Mushroom Forest.

It was a clear sign of how quickly the unknown entity was approaching.

"Something’s coming. Let’s fall back," Han Ning said, glancing toward the sound. "I’m guessing it’s a companion of that mushroom head." He immediately slung the pack from the ground onto his back.

The four of them didn’t hesitate for a moment. They broke into a run, heading back the way they came, not even having time to deal with the ant corpses littering the ground.

"CHH-CHH!! CHH!"

As the large ant ran alongside them, it continuously and frantically twitched its antennae toward another direction, then let out short chirps at Han Ning and the others.

"Are you telling us to follow you?"

Though he couldn’t understand the ant’s language, Han Ning had a good idea of what it was trying to say from its body language.

"CHH-CHH!!"

The large ant didn’t react, simply repeating the same actions.

"Teacher Lü, which way do we go?" Han Ning shouted as he ran, not slowing his pace.

Lü Xiuning shouted back without any hesitation, "Wasn’t what we just went through enough? We can’t be too trusting of the Soul Beasts here. Run toward the academy!"

Then, listening to the ever-approaching roar, he frowned. "We’re at least several dozen kilometers of mountain roads away from the swamp. Do you think we can outrun the creature behind us at our current speed?"

"Obviously not!" Lin Tianhe glanced back instinctively. In the distant Mushroom Forest, he could faintly make out the movement of giant green-capped mushrooms swaying slowly as they were struck by an unknown creature.

"It’s dangerous, but we have no other choice... Have Yin Yi carry us and fly away!"

"Yin Yi!"

Han Ning made a snap decision and shouted for Yin Yi.

"Ling~"

Thanks to their many coordinated efforts, Yin Yi understood instantly. It shot out several vines, wrapping them around Han Ning and the three others, the four Silver Lotus Woods, and the large red ant.

As for Egg Pancake, Han Ning recalled it directly into his Soul Beast Space.

"Fly!"

Yin Yi swung its vines, lifting the four people and five Soul Beasts hanging below. The leaves on its back fluttered, and it shot up from the ground, flying diagonally toward the distant sky.

They had just lifted into the air when Han Ning felt an icy chill shoot up from his tailbone, and every hair on his body stood on end in an instant.

"Yin Yi, look out!" Han Ning’s pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he activated his Spiritual Surge Talent, and the Spiritual Power in his mind surged madly into Yin Yi’s Soul Beast Space.

VMM~

In that instant, the air behind them began to tremble.

A beam of Energy Particles as thick as an arm, wreathed in green Flowing Light, suddenly shot out from the Mushroom Forest behind them, striking toward Yin Yi’s back at an astonishing speed.

Yin Yi barely had time to conjure a massive Frost Shield before the beam struck home.

BANG!

A sharp crack echoed in midair.

"Ling!"

The thick Frost Shield shattered into a cloud of icy fragments. The remnant of the beam, its momentum unchecked, slammed into Yin Yi’s back, cracking its Emerald-like body and sending it plummeting downward.

"Yin Yi!" Han Ning’s heart tightened as he sensed Yin Yi’s pain.

Before he could form another thought, the powerful blast wave traveled down the vines, violently shaking the people dangling below and making the world spin around them.

Just as they were about to hit the ground, the other three Silver Lotus Woods quickly shot out their Vine Whips, weaving a simple net to buffer the fall and lessen the impact.

THUMP~

Everyone, people and Soul Beasts alike—including Yin Yi—crashed to the ground, skidding to a halt and carving a long scar in the earth.

"Ling!"

Yin Yi shook its head and got back up. A green light enveloped its body, and the cracks on its back healed in an instant. It once again wrapped its vines around the still-dazed people and the other Soul Beasts, resuming its low-altitude flight forward.

Han Ning quickly recovered from the dizzying impact. Seeing Yin Yi was still full of life, his tense heart finally relaxed, but he still asked with concern, "Yin Yi, are you okay?"

"Ling!" Yin Yi nodded forcefully, indicating that it was fine.

"Teacher Lü, Tianhe, Ah Chen, what about you?"

"We’re okay, just some scrapes." The other three were also in a daze, but thankfully, none were seriously injured.

"This is bad. We can’t fly too high. There’s a Soul Beast back there that’s stronger than Yin Yi, or at least on par with it. We have to fly low through the Mushroom Forest." Han Ning struggled to turn his head and could already see a large group of green shadows rapidly closing in on them.

In the brief moment he was speaking, he saw three more dazzling green lights flare to life.

"Yin Yi, hug the ground!"

At this point, Han Ning had switched to sending messages to Yin Yi with his Spiritual Power. The transmission was instantaneous, faster than the speed of nerve impulses.

Almost at the same instant, Yin Yi dropped its altitude, skimming just above the ground.

The vines connecting to the others were now level with Yin Yi, pulled taut.

VMM~

The air trembled slightly.

Three beams shot in from the left, center, and right in a crisscrossing pattern.

With Han Ning’s Spiritual Power giving it an early warning, Yin Yi was prepared. It dodged two of the beams. To face the last one, a green light flared around its body as it rapidly fired more than a dozen high-speed, spinning Emerald Flower Thorns to collide with the oncoming beam.

BANG!

A roar like a bomb exploding echoed through the Mushroom Forest.

The beam was knocked off course by Yin Yi. It grazed past a giant purple mushroom, instantly scarring its surface with a corrosive mark.

’Such incredible power. Even without a Spiritual Power enhancement, more than a dozen Flower Thorns couldn’t even destroy a single beam of green light.’

Seeing this, Han Ning grew even more uneasy.

"CHH-CHH!!!"

"CHH! CHH!"

"Teacher Lü, Han Ning, this ant keeps chirping at us. Should we listen to it and go in the direction it’s pointing?" Lin Tianhe was closest to the large ant, and the incessant chirping was making his head spin.

"We have no other choice... Let’s give it a shot. Follow the direction the large ant is pointing."

At this point, Lü Xiuning no longer insisted on returning the way they came. It was already too late for that.

Han Ning didn’t say anything more about it, simply instructing Yin Yi to fly in the direction the large ant indicated.

’Teacher Lü was right to be concerned for everyone’s safety. After all, who could be sure the large ant wasn’t leading them to some other dangerous place?’

’And who could have known from the start that the creature behind them would be this powerful?’

’To them, the swamp they had come from had seemed like the safest place.’

’People can’t be Prophets. Since there was no going back, the only option was to decisively change the plan.’