Taking advantage of the fact that the Greenshadow Panther hadn’t circled back yet, Jill Young finished extracting the life essence from the Unishear, then had Max haul off a Shadow Wolf carcass before making their retreat.
Today was already a huge haul—better to head back and digest it all first.
"With your guts, how did you even survive in a place like this?" Jill Young grilled Max as she roasted a chunk of meat packed with blood and flesh essence. Judging by his performance today, it was hard to believe he’d ever scored a decent hunt.
"There’s tons of fruit in the woods. I survived a long time just picking fruit," Max grumbled, gnawing on a bland wolf leg. "I’m a professor, not some hunter. Honestly, just staying alive is an achievement."
"That explains why you dug your trap in the forest zone." Jill recalled that the trap she’d found when she first arrived was right at the edge between the forest and the grasslands—hardly a spot for big predators. "By the way, what was up with that Shadow Wolf that fell into your trap the other day?"
"Oh, I lured it there on purpose," Max replied, still frustrated. "But Shadow Wolves usually move in packs, so it’s tough to get just one by itself."
"Alright, I get what kind of material you’re made of." Jill clapped her hands and stood up. "I’m off to take a bath. If you dare sneak a peek—"
"I wouldn’t dare!"
"Then get cracking on that new treehouse."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Max is getting more and more domesticated, huh.
From that day on, Jill Young started her shameless—wait, actually, not-so-shameless—round-the-clock hunting life. Every time she caught prey, extracting the essence from their flesh and blood became a powerful boost for her Titan Spirit Method.
According to the wisdom left behind by Master Golden Wheel, it typically takes an average person six or seven years to reach the third layer of the Titan Spirit Method. Even a genius needs three or four years.
But with a constant supply of flesh and blood essence, Jill’s training speed was like a sports car with the pedal floored. And that essence? It was her fuel. As long as the tank wasn’t empty, she could keep speeding ahead.
Of course, this training style burned through fuel like crazy. The essence from one Shadow Wolf would be gone by noon, and even those big Unishears didn’t provide as much as the wolves. Turns out, only the truly savage predators packed enough punch. Thanks to this discovery, the Shadow Wolves on the prairie were in for a rough time.
Every day, some wild guy slathered in grease would show up on the prairie, yelling his lungs out. The scent was just too tempting, so a bunch of Shadow Wolves would always come running. Each time, the guy would dash into the forest like his life depended on it, but he’d always show up again after a while.
But those wolves? They never came back out of that forest.
Wolves are smart creatures. Once they noticed something fishy was going on, they stopped bothering with that weird upright-walking thing. In fact, every time they caught a whiff of cooked grease, the whole pack would quietly steer clear.
Jill soon realized her human-bait trick was losing its magic. So, she cooked up a new plan.
"Baa~~ baa~~" Under the blue sky, on the prairie, a cute little lamb. Its legs were tangled up in something, so it could only stay put. Its soft cries carried far on the wind, and soon enough, a pack of big Shadow Wolves gathered around. The wolves stared at the lamb, drooling uncontrollably.
"Life as a wolf on this prairie isn’t easy, you know. First, sheep these days are tough customers. Second, the Greenshadow Panther keeps showing up to snack on us. Third, there’s that upright-walking freak wandering around. Today, we finally caught a weakling who can’t fight back. Thank you, heavens! Time to chow down! Hahaha, hand over your life!"
That lively commentary? Courtesy of Jill Young, who was hiding nearby and narrating for the wolf pack. No shame at all.
The wolves, apparently unfamiliar with traps since ancient times, had zero defenses. Sure enough, as soon as Jill finished her 'hand over your life' line, they all pounced—only to tumble right into the pit.
Turns out, there was a ring-shaped pit around the lamb. Nothing fancy—just deep and wide. No spikes or anything, mostly because Jill didn’t have time, and honestly, she didn’t need them.
Jack Young showed up at the edge of the pit, crossbow in hand, and looked down at the agitated, howling Shadow Wolves. A few quick bolts, and they shut up real fast.
"I think it’s about time we ambushed the Greenshadow Panther," Jill mused, feeling her Titan Spirit Method had made real progress—already a third of the way through the third layer.
But just then, Max piped up nervously, "Um, Your Majesty, can we not go after the Greenshadow Panther?"
"Huh?" Jill shot him a sideways glance. "Why not?"
Max shivered all over—he really was scared of this witch, otherwise he wouldn’t have volunteered as human bait. But now wasn’t the time to be afraid, so he swallowed hard and laid out his thoughts: "This underground space is a freak of nature, and the food chain is actually pretty fragile. On this prairie, sheep eat grass, wolves eat sheep, Greenshadow Panther eats everything but there aren’t many of them. Lately, too many wolves have died, and there weren’t many panthers to begin with. If there aren’t enough predators…"
"So you’re worried the sheep will have no natural enemies and take over, messing up the whole ecosystem? That’s actually happened before, even on the surface world."
"Exactly! Ecological balance!" Max silently thanked the biology teacher who’d managed to drill that concept into the witch’s head. Good thing she understood, otherwise convincing her would’ve been a nightmare. "We don’t know how to get out of this space, or how long we’ll be stuck here, so let’s try to keep the ecosystem stable, okay?"
After saying his piece, Max was sure she’d listen. He was a geology PhD, after all—a real expert! Experts get listened to, right? But why did she look so serious? Why was she staring at her right palm? There was nothing there… unless she was doing some mystical 'calculating with fingers' thing from the East?
[SKIPPED: Meta message not part of the story.]
"Yeah, who knows how long you’ll be stuck here." Jill finally patted Max on the shoulder. "You’ve helped me out a lot, so I’ll let you live. The Greenshadow Panther gets a pass—for now."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Max cheered, not noticing that Jill's words implied he was the only one who’d be living here for a while.
Just moments ago, Jill had received info from the Twin Sigil in her right palm and had a rough idea how long she'd be stuck here. Time wasn’t exactly on her side.
"Since the prairie hunt is over, you’ll have to take me to a new hunting ground." Jill’s eyes lit up. "Didn’t you say there’s an Underground Sea around here? Any sea monsters or the like?"
"Just follow the river, cross the prairie, and you’ll reach the sea. The prairie’s too dangerous for me, so I don’t know much about the Underground Sea. But all life comes from the ocean, so there should be plenty of creatures in there."
While Jill and Max were discussing the sea, a loud crack echoed across the distant sky, like summer thunder rumbling overhead.
The rumble reverberated, deep and ominous, filling the whole underground space with a sense of doom. Jill and Max fell silent, exchanged glances, and dashed up to the hilltop. From there, they saw herds of sheep running in panic, scattering in all directions. The Shadow Wolves were howling like crazed bees.
Birds soared overhead, hundreds rising from the woods in a black cloud, flapping away into the distance. Their frantic cries were full of hopeless desperation—none of the usual cheerful chirping.
A sense of impending doom crept over them.
"Max, you’ve been here a while—ever heard a thunderclap like that before?"
"No, never. It rains here sometimes, but the space is too small for thunderclouds to form."
"So what do you think that was?"
"Uh, if I had to guess, that thunder-like sound was probably caused by a geological shift—rock layers cracking. Oh my god! Oh my god, we’re about to have an earthquake! No, no, in a place like this, an earthquake means—" Max’s tongue seemed to tie itself in knots as he stared, wide-eyed and speechless.
"It means this underground space is about to be destroyed," Jill finished for him, saying what he dreaded most. "If the surface rock layer cracks, even just a little, it could spell disaster down here. Lava seeping in, eruptions, rising temperatures—and even if the heat doesn’t cook you, the toxic gases from the magma will finish the job. This underground world is doomed."
Max froze like someone hit him with a petrification spell. After a long moment, he looked at Jill and cracked a cold joke: "Your English has really improved…"
"Enough, Max! We’ve got work to do. Chop down some trees, build a raft—we’re heading out to sea!"
"Out to sea? Why? What’s the point?" Max was in full meltdown mode. "We’re doomed! We can’t leave, we’ll just get swallowed by lava—dead for sure!"
"Snap out of it!" Jill slapped Max across the face, barking, "I don’t care what you think—I’m not just going to sit here and wait to die. There’s no way out from the forest or prairie, so I’ll try the sea! Even if I don’t find an exit, at least I won’t regret not trying. Now get these wolves out and move!"
Max clutched his face, stared at Jill for a moment, and finally said, "Alright, I get it. Thanks. By the way, before the end comes, how about we have a go—just so we don’t die with any regrets—"
"Drop dead!" Jill smacked Max again, sending him flying into the pit.
[SKIPPED: Meta message not part of the story.]