Yun Wanli, the Winged Wind Listener, and the Ghost Eye regained freedom once the Chained Ghost was put away.

“What was that??”

Yun Wanli stared at Su Ping in a daze. Yun Wanli felt the spatial pressure when he was trapped. He thought he was about to reach the end of his life. However, Su Ping defeated that beast with a single move. The tides were turned, just like that.

The hole that appeared in s.p.a.ce made Yun Wanli's heart flutter with fear. He felt the inside of that hole was the most terrifying s.p.a.ce in the world.

Su Ping put away the ring; he noticed the fear in Yun Wanli's face but didn't mind it.

That beast-catching ring was able to catch both beasts and humans.

After all, he had bought the ring from the system's shop.

Everything was a pet according to the system; even Joanna was a pet. Of course, humans could be turned into pets.

Whoos.h.!.+

Su Ping told the Little Skeleton to keep an eye out for him while his consciousness entered the beast-catching ring. There was a boundless darkness inside, where tides were surging. The only thing that Su Ping was able to see within was a beast chained up at the center of that s.p.a.ce, dangling in the air. It was the Chained Ghost!

Su Ping's consciousness manifested itself in a tangible form while staring at the beast immobilized by the chains. He reached the beast and asked, “Have you seen this girl?”

He waved his hand and Su Lingyue's image appeared right in front of him.

That was a s.p.a.ce which was an intersection between reality and a virtual world. His thoughts could be manifested.

The Chained Ghost turned its eyes to look at Su Ping and snarled. “Let me go you dirty bug!”

“Answer my questions if you want to get out,” Su Ping replied.

“Go away!” shouted the Chained Ghost.

Su Ping was not mad. He had become used to the fact that most beasts were short-tempered. He cautioned the beast, “You must know what kind of situation you're in. Killing you is but child's play for me. Answer my questions honestly if you want to live, and I might just spare your life.”

The Chained Ghost glared at Su Ping but stopped shouting.

The threat of death was effective.

“That puny thing ran into that place. If you want to find her, go deeper!” the Chained Ghost said with a spooky voice.

Su Ping stared at the beast. A moment later, Su Ping said, “I will go. You can tell me that she's dead all you want but I would still go. I will find her; I won't stop until I see her with my own eyes.”

“Wow, so scary. Off you go, then.” The Chained Ghost grinned.

Su Ping kept his gaze on the beast two more seconds. “Legendary battle pet warriors have been here before, right? Where did they go? Did you kill them? Or did they take off?”

The Chained Ghost laughed a grim laugh. “Of course we killed them. This is our place now. You…”

All of a sudden, the beast thought of something. It stopped the sentence halfway and asked a question, “I've already told you where that puny thing went. Shouldn't you be letting me out?”

“Not now.”

Su Ping cast one last glance at the beast before he left the beast-catching ring.

“Hmm, I knew it, you despicable thing. But you're not nearly as good as I am…” The Chained Ghost sneered. It knew that Su Ping wouldn't really let it go, it wasn't disappointed. But the chains around it did vex the beast.

The chains were too tight; the beast was unable to break itself free, no matter what he did.

The energy inside him was contained by the chains.

“You'll be the first one I eat when I get out!” Chained Ghost promised itself.

Su Ping's consciousness returned to his body.

He stood on the Inferno Dragon's shoulder as he contemplated.

He wondered if he could trust the Chained Ghost.

Of course, that had to do with the legendary battle pet warriors.

As for Su Lingyue

He would go in there, whether she was dead or alive. The Chained Ghost might have been setting him up but he didn't mind.

If his family was in the caves, no matter how dark the place was, he would be the light. “Fate Challenger Su, we…” Yun Wanli gingerly stepped closer to where Su Ping was.

He didn't have the guts to ask about that dark s.p.a.ce. That hole had been able to swallow the beast king; it had to be his personal secret. As a matter of fact, he was wis.h.i.+ng he hadn't seen that happen, at all. He was afraid that Su Ping might want to kill him to silence him.

Su Ping told Yun Wanli, “Let's go.”

“Sure.” Yun Wanli nodded.

Su Ping looked to his sides. Both the right and the left side led to darkness. He thought about it and chose the way to the right.

Whoos.h.!.+

For the sake of safety, Su Ping summoned the Dark Dragon Hound.

Phew!

The Dark Dragon Hound jumped out from the swirl. First, the Dark Dragon Hound did a stretch, then quickly ran to where Su Ping was, when it saw his soul.

“Go on, lead the way,” Su Ping said directly.

The Dark Dragon Hound was about to play cute with Su Ping when the words reached its ears. It trembled after peering into the darkness, and then looked back at Su Ping with its big, watery eyes.

Su Ping rolled his eyes. The guy with the strongest defense was the most fearful of all.

“Go,” Su Ping repeated, grumpily. The Dark Dragon Hound had to give up begging and darted a glance at Su Ping with hidden bitterness. Then, it slowly dragged itself over and started to lead the way.

Yun Wanli was surprised when he saw the Dark Dragon Hound; he recognized the species right away.

A battle pet with a sixth-rank bloodline?

But there was something different about this pet; its body and energy seemed to be uncommon. So, is he really not originally from the Blue Planet?

That strange battle pet made Yun Wanli go off into wild flights of fancy again. The only things that could be heard were their footsteps as the scaredy pet was leading the way. Soon after, the Dark Dragon Hound began to bark.

Su Ping quickly moved closer.

Two beast kings were fighting the Dark Dragon Hound. One of them was something like a centipede that was hundreds of meters long and the other one was a seven-meter tall skeleton wearing armor.

The second was a beast that could only be sp.a.w.ned by deadly aura in a special environment; it had been born with strong combat strength.

“Go and help,” Su Ping said.

Whoos.h.!.+

The Little Skeleton was quick dash over; its target was the huge skeleton.

Teleportation! And cut!

A ray of sword light cut the skeleton in two. That swift action was all it took to end the battle.

At the same time, the Dark Dragon Hound had pinned the centipede on the ground and was biting the latter.

Two beast kings lost. The Little Skeleton placed its hand on the other skeleton; a puff of darkness flowed into its body. After some time pa.s.sed, the Little Skeleton put its hands down and the darkness disappeared.

Whoos.h.!.+

The Little Skeleton flew back to where Su Ping was and sat on the Inferno Dragon's shoulder.

Su Ping threw a look at the Dark Dragon Hound that was still feeding off the centipede. “Let's

go.”

The Dark Dragon Hound was unwilling to let go of its food. It found a piece of sh.e.l.l, broke it, got a piece of green meat out, ate it, and went back to its job.

Yun Wanli was unable to utter a single word. Two beast kings had died instantly; both had been powerful enough to give any of the large base cities a scare. And yet, their deaths came too easily.

They pressed on.

Apart from beast kings, they encountered some advanced beasts and most were at the ninth-rank, while some were barely at the eighth-rank.

Of course, the Dark Dragon Hound smashed them all.

“Do you have a map?” Su Ping asked.

Yun Wanli shook his head. “The Deep Caves have a complicated and harsh environment. Only the legendary battle pet warriors that have stayed here long enough can recognize the way. There's no map.” Su Ping darted a contemptuous glance at the man. He was too useless; he could not even be the tour guide.

Yun Wanli surely noticed this reaction because he laughed a hollow laugh after that.

Soon, the Dark Dragon Hound warned Su Ping.

Su Ping was startled. A thing that could make the Dark Dragon Hound sense danger had to be a ruthless character.

“Let's go!”

He went after the Dark Dragon Hound.

Soon, as if running through a membrane of water, Su Ping felt the world had lit up and the cold wind penetrated his bones.

Lying in front of his eyes was boundless ice!

He stepped out of the darkness and onto the ice in a second!

Su Ping couldn't understand it. There was no sun and the sky was blue; there was no color other than white below the sky.

“This is the field of Ice,” Yun Wanli explained. He had emerged from a ripple, while still fused with his Cracking Rock Dragon.

His defense level would be increased while maintaining the merged state. He could at least protect himself in case of a surprise strike.

“Field of Ice?”

Su Ping frowned.

“Yes, there are five different fields in the Deep Caves, or five prisons, to be exact!”

Yun Wanli continued, “All the beasts of the Deep Caves are imprisoned in those five fields. It is said that the first people who built the Deep Caves created the fields so that the beasts would gradually go extinct in them. Of course, that theory wasn't without flaws. Either way, there are five different fiends. The Field of Ice is the closest to the academy.

“Go further on and you'll run into the field of Purgatory, an ocean of fire.

“There should be legendary battle pet warriors at the border of the Purgatory and Ice Fields. We can go there and have a look.”

Su Ping nodded. “Okay. Lead the way.”

Yun Wanli nodded. “Just go straight. You may think this is a boundless world but the field has its limit.”

He hopped onto the Winged Wind Listener's back as he continued, “Some beast is hiding here. Since they've stayed here for a long time, those beasts have a.s.similated with the environment. We can fall into traps easily if we walk around.”

Su Ping told the Inferno Dragon to take him higher up. The dragon had grown a pair of purple wings after gaining the purple dragons bloodline. Whoos.h.!.+

Su Ping and Yun Wanli were flying inside the ma.s.sive cave system; the former didn't mind checking on the Dark Dragon Hound that was still wildly running about in the snow.

Soon after, the hound took the dragon form and joined them in the air.

“I hope we can find the legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower…” Yun Wanli looked worried. The first strategic pa.s.s had been left unguarded, and they had encountered many beasts on the way. That couldn't have been a good sign.