Chapter 355 – The Abnormal Mermaid Girl

Perhaps due to their effective strategy of avoiding battles and deliberately collecting rare treasures while focusing solely on finding the entrance to the next floor, Azure Mercury eventually discovered an opening on the side of a stone wall in a cavern chamber around dawn.

This was the entrance to the Second Floor—descending directly downward, unlike the other intricate passages that branched out elsewhere. Its difference from the other paths was immediately apparent.

Without hesitation, Su Ming and his group jumped into the opening and entered the Second Floor.

Although it was already dawn, since they had learned from Xu Xiayan before the Midnight Labyrinth manifested that the entrance would only open in the evening, they had taken turns resting. Thus, everyone was energetic and ready to continue their journey.

Remembering they had to reach the Tenth Floor within seven days while reserving time to gather resources on the lower floors, Su Ming’s group aimed to pass through the upper floors as quickly as possible, avoiding any wasted time.

So, with no objections, they pressed on, adhering to their previous approach: evading unnecessary fights, not collecting low-level rare treasures, and saving both time and energy whenever possible. They only engaged when unavoidable, otherwise, it was all about moving forward, forward, and forward.

Under these circumstances, over the next few days, Su Ming’s group smoothly navigated through layer after layer of the labyrinth.

Before dawn on the second day, they found the entrance to the Third Floor in a cavern chamber on the Second Floor and arrived without issue.

By noon on the second day, they spotted the entrance to the Fourth Floor within a nest inhabited by Phantom Demons. They collectively attacked, eliminating all the Phantom Demons in the nest, and entered the Fourth Floor.

That evening, during an unavoidable battle, they destroyed a small lake and found the entrance within it, proceeding to the Fifth Floor.

At this point, Su Ming and the others finally stopped, setting up camp in a relatively safe area to rest.

Mainly, it was because Tong Xinyao, the young girl, couldn’t hold out any longer.

Being young and a physically frail Sorcerer, it was quite remarkable that she had managed to keep up with non-stop travel for a full day and night.

Su Ming, Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and the others were all upper-rank Hunters with ample physical stamina, but mental fatigue was unavoidable. Even if they could persist now, resting was necessary for the journey ahead.

It wasn’t until dawn on the third day that they set out again to search for the entrance to the Sixth Floor.

This time, however, it took nearly a full day for Su Ming’s group to locate the entrance to the Sixth Floor.

There was no helping it—on the Sixth Floor, they encountered an upper-rank Phantom Demon and accidentally trespassed into the territory of a Hazardous Species.

That’s right.

Starting from the Fifth Floor of the Midnight Labyrinth, upper-rank Phantom Demons finally began to appear.

After straying into the upper-rank Phantom Demon’s territory, Su Ming and the others were almost instantly surrounded by the aggressive Hazardous Species and a large horde of Phantom Demons, plunging them into a siege battle.

In this fight, Su Ming unleashed his Divine Might, transforming into a mobile artillery platform. He relentlessly cast various low and intermediate-level Spirit Arts, ultimately incinerating the numerous Phantom Demons that had surrounded them.This made little Tong Xinyao look at Su Ming with eyes full of admiration, which Su Ming found quite satisfying.

As for the Hazardous Species, its strength was merely average—not comparable to the top-tier Hazardous Species that could rival Five-Star Professionals, let alone the Ghoul that was nearly evolved and could compete with Peak Five-Star-level beings. Its strength, like that of ordinary Hazardous Species, fell between Four-Star and Five-Star Professionals—stronger than Four-Star but weaker than Five-Star.

Against such an opponent, there was no need for Su Ming to intervene, much less for Chi Qian to step in. Mu Yan and Feng Qing’er, both Five-Star Professionals, were more than sufficient.

The poor Hazardous Species first had its minions slaughtered by Su Ming, then was tightly entangled by Mu Yan’s Thorned Whip, unable to flee or even move freely. Facing Feng Qing’er, who wielded a high-quality alchemical weapon, its miserable fate was predictable.

In the end, Feng Qing’er used her recurve saber to sever both of its arms, then cut off its legs, before piercing its head with a final strike, leaving it utterly dead.

Su Ming took a liking to the Materials from this Hazardous Species. After dismembering it into pieces, he happily packed them into his backpack, marking his first satisfying harvest and a taste of success.

It was worth mentioning that this Hazardous Species was guarding a peculiar, strange tree bearing Amber Fruits, which gave Su Ming a pleasant surprise.

Amber Fruit is a material used to brew the Amber Potion and serves as its most crucial primary ingredient.

The Amber Potion is a precious concoction that can enhance Spirit Power and even has a certain chance of allowing a Sorcerer to enter a state of enlightenment, significantly advancing their strength.

Moreover, if an ordinary person consumes this valuable potion, there is a chance they might awaken a Spirit Constitution and become a Sorcerer, embarking on the path of the supernatural.

Such a precious alchemical potion reaches the highest grade of quality—the pinnacle of premium grades—and is second in value only to Divine-Grade Potions.

Of course, Su Ming had only obtained the materials to brew this precious potion, not the potion itself.

However, the most valuable and hardest-to-find material for the Amber Potion is the Amber Fruit. The other brewing materials are relatively easy to acquire; a trip to the Wanbao Auction House and spending around 100,000 Contribution Points should suffice to gather them all.

Now that he had the Amber Fruit, Su Ming only needed to find a skilled and trustworthy Alchemist to brew it for him, and he would obtain this precious, top-grade potion.

If auctioned at the Wanbao Auction House, a single bottle of Amber Potion could fetch a minimum of 800,000 Contribution Points, far more expensive than the previous Cleansing Potion.

Even the Amber Fruit alone, if auctioned, could sell for around 500,000 Contribution Points.

With such a treasure at hand, Su Ming did not ignore it this time. Without a second thought, he plucked it on the spot.

Normally, once picked, the Amber Fruit would gradually rot if not specially treated and preserved. However, storing it in Su Ming’s Golden Finger backpack was the best preservation method, ensuring it remained safe and sound.

With the full set of Materials from a Hazardous Species and an Amber Fruit, Su Ming had finally achieved his first satisfactory harvest in the three days since entering the Midnight Labyrinth.It was precisely because of this incident that Su Ming and his group were delayed for quite some time, only managing to find the entrance to the Sixth Floor after nightfall.

However, reaching the Sixth Floor in three days was already considered quite fast.

At the very least, Su Ming didn’t believe many teams could move faster than “Azure Mercury.”

After arriving at the Sixth Floor, Su Ming’s group began setting up camp and entered their rest period.

……

Sixth Floor, by the bank of a river.

On the stone-covered riverbank, several tents were set up, bathed in the glow of the campfire, creating an exceptionally cozy atmosphere.

At this moment, Chi Qian and Mu Yan were in the river catching fish and shrimp for tonight’s dinner.

Feng Qing’er sat before the campfire, where a pot was set up, simmering soup.

Tong Xinyao was nearby handling ingredients, occasionally passing some materials to Feng Qing’er to toss into the pot and stir.

As for Su Ming, he was acting as a porter, continuously pulling out items like cushions, pillows, insect repellent, and herbs from his backpack.

While catching fish, Chi Qian and Mu Yan glanced over at this scene from the corner of their eyes.

“No matter how many times I see it, it still feels unbelievable,” Mu Yan murmured softly, standing in the river with her pants rolled up.

“Indeed,” Chi Qian replied, her hands searching through the water while watching Su Ming’s direction. “I really don’t know how the Commander does it—being able to store things out of thin air and retrieve them anytime, anywhere. Even those Seven-Star Professionals can’t do that, right?”

“Could it be some special alchemical tool?” Mu Yan suggested. “But I’ve never heard of any alchemical tool that can store and preserve supplies out of thin air like this.”

“Who has?” Chi Qian nodded. “If such an alchemical tool really existed, it would have long been collected as a treasure by the major Base Cities. The crafting method would be immediately requisitioned, and officially employed Alchemists would mass-produce it as strategic supplies.”

An alchemical tool capable of storing supplies out of thin air would have extraordinary strategic significance.

The transportation of supplies is a critical consideration—whether in strategic operations launched by Base Cities, operations initiated by Professional teams, or commercial trade activities by merchants. It is always a top priority.

If such a tool, capable of storing large quantities of supplies out of thin air and allowing a single person to handle transportation, were to appear, it would surely drive the major Base Cities, teams, Families, factions, and even commercial enterprises into a frenzy.

Take this expedition into the Midnight Labyrinth, for example. Other teams are mostly laden with supplies, having to protect and transport them as they advance, which significantly hampers their speed and efficiency.

In contrast, the “Azure Mercury” team members are all empty-handed aside from their personal gear. They only carry a few emergency supplies, food, and water—nothing more.

Su Ming simply stuffs all the supplies into his backpack, only taking them out when needed.If conditions permitted, Su Ming could have easily moved an entire house into the Midnight Labyrinth, let alone supplies like tents, food, and provisions.

“I heard the Commander comes from Longyao City, which has been quite the talk in the industry lately. He’s from the same Base City as Captain Xu of ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’,” Chi Qian remarked. “Could this be some newly developed alchemical tool from Longyao City or something similar?”

“Is that so?” Mu Yan wondered. “But I’ve never seen Captain Xu use the same methods.”

The two exchanged glances and chuckled in succession.

“I have a feeling,” Mu Yan suddenly said, “that our Commander might become someone truly remarkable in the future.”

Chi Qian nodded emphatically.

This, she never doubted.

Meanwhile, the so-called remarkable person they were talking about was currently thinking…

“I wish I could go home and lie down on a soft, fluffy bed…”

Su Ming sighed silently as he looked at the uneven cushion spread over the stones.

Life is hard, Xiao Ming sighs.

“Seven more days… How am I going to get through this?”

Su Ming continued to lament.

Suddenly…

“Miling!”

A mist of water emerged abruptly behind Su Ming and instantly dispersed.

Little Hai’er appeared from the water vapor, her pair of aqua-blue eyes fixed intently in one direction.

Within them, a trace of longing surfaced.

(End of Chapter)