"Qin Hua… what is this…?" Lu Chen was so shocked that he even called the wolf by her real name, forgetting about the other people standing near them. He looked dazedly at the portal.
Woof! Qin Hua grinned. She did not answer him or explain anything. She smacked her lips in excitement and without hesitating, she placed her paw on the swirling mass of ice shards.
To everyone's surprise, the very next moment she was sucked into the swirling mass without leaving any trace of her existence behind.
"Qin HUA!!!" Lu Chen shouted in alarm and dashed behind her, only to get himself sucked in as well.
After these two went in, Coco as well nonchalantly meowed and slowly walked in, padding one foot after the other.
Guan Ye, Alex and Xu Meilin looked at each other blankly, not knowing if they were supposed to follow them or not.
"Aioooo! Boss and Big boss got eaten by that thing!" Luo Zu panicked and started shouting, making everyone nervously murmur about what could possibly be happening now.
Meanwhile, inside the rift, Lu Chen stood absolutely frozen.
Weirdly, everything around him was frozen as well. He took in deep breaths as he looked at the wolf in front of him with a million questions in his gaze.
Qin Hua grinned and used her paw to write on the snow. "This is spatial rift. We fight beasts and monsters here. Become stronger."
"Ah…" Lu Chen read and re-read the lines. He could understand what it meant but at the same time… spatial rift? That means beasts and monsters here are from some other planet?
He felt as if he was going crazy and his life was getting farther and farther away from reality every single time. He was a stranger to his own life.
Qin Hua could see his distress and she reluctantly stepped forward to give him a big wolf hug. Her giant paws gave the man some warmth despite the frozen chilly winds that were caressing him.
Lu Chen silently hugged her back. "That's right. It didn't matter what this world turned into... I am not alone." He chuckled and looked at the wolf peering at him with her sharp feral eyes.
"Is this where you hunted the dragon like beast?"
Qin Hua quickly nodded. [Yes! Yes! Woof!]
Lu Chen patted her and smiled warmly. "Then I guess this is a good opportunity for all of us to become a lot stronger. That is what you want right? Shall I bring in the others as well?"
He had already calmed down and the previous confusion and restlessness inside him had disappeared completely.
Qin Hua was relieved and quickly bobbed her head again. She then turned to point her paw at the swirling white misty portal.
"Oh? I can walk in and walk out?" Lu Chen gazed at the gate between the spatial rift and earth and observed the magical energy.
He touched it curiously and once again found himself standing in front of Alex, Guan Ye and everyone else.
"Bro Chen! Bro Chen! You are alright!" Xu Meilin immediately jumped towards him and hugged him tightly.
"You! What happened? Where did you go? Little white?" Alex exclaimed. Others as well looked at him as if they were looking at a ghost.
Before anyone could panic further, Lu Chen raised his hand and quickly explained. "We are going to a place with lots of beasts and it can help us get stronger."
"This is kind of like a gate to that place. See I can step in and out at will." He demonstrated it to everyone so that they would calm down a little.
"I do have to warn you guys. We might be facing a lot of dangerous situations inside. I cannot guarantee anyone's safety." Lu Chen especially glanced at the elder and the parents of the kids.
"However, if you want to stay out here, then also it might not be safe. It is up to you to decide what you want to do."
"If you wish to enter, please touch this thing and you will be inside." He stepped aside, leaving space for others to come forward. He didn't know how many would dare to enter.
Of course, as soon as he finished talking, there was a person jumping forward at full speed. "AHHHHHHH! I am going innnnnn!!!!"
Alex gritted her teeth in anger and shouted. "Luo Zu, you bastard. You stepped on my feet."
She was about to step forward when the other party had over eagerly beat her to the punch. However, he didn't hear her scolding as the man had already disappeared into the portal.
As if she was going to go inside just to beat some sense into him, she stepped in and went inside next.
Lu Chen shook his head helplessly. These people were not treating anything seriously! He didn't know why he even bothered giving a warning beforehand.
"Umm. I will also be going in." Guan Ye went in next, followed by Xu Meilin who was clearly nervous but still went in anyways.
"Anyone else?" Lu Chen asked and one by one everybody started going in. Even the elders and the kids and every last member of the group ended up going inside.
Lu Chen also then went in as the last person.
Inside the rift, standing around the crowded entrance, everyone was completely perplexed. The land around them was completely frozen. There was simply snow and snow everywhere.
Even with their enhanced bodies and higher attributes, the cold was spreading everywhere, down to their very bones. Their teeth chattered and their sensitive regions shivered.
"What the hell is this?" Alex instantly hated the place. She was affected more than the others because of the incompatibility of the frozen paradise with her fire magic.
Lu Chen, on the other hand, was feeling very relaxed and clear headed. He could feel the mana in the cold air readily entering his body and coursing through his veins with vigor.
Suddenly, he felt a change within himself and he sat down to meditate. His mind focused and just as Qin Hua had taught him, he tried to bring all of his mana to his body's core center.
Bang!
The invisible barrier that was preventing him from progressing further snapped and completely shattered.
And the next instant, every dot of mana in his body coaslesced in his abdominal center as if he had swallowed a magnet.
Lu Chen's breathing became ragged and he tried his utmost to remain calm. Everyone looked at him with awe. They could feel a powerful aura coming from him.
Qin Hua as well looked at him and she could guess what was happening. [Not bad! Woof!]
Since all she could do now was wait just like everyone else, she silently looked around, giving Lu Chen the time he needed.
No one moved or said anything, so nothing was happening just yet.
However, the system's notification arrived promptly. [Thank God! You had me worried for a minute there! Woof!]
Qin Hua excitedly looked at the quest this time.
<Ding. You have entered a spatial rift>
<Ding. A new unique quest has been generated>
<Ding. Secure the crystal core of the rift>
<Ding. Reward: 200000 experience points; 30 skill points>
[Oh no!] The second Qin Hua's gaze flickered through the generous reward numbers, the alarm in her brain rang loudly.
If the system was offering her 4 times the rewards of the previous quest, then that could only mean that the difficulty level might also be similarly higher or even exponentially higher!
If she knew one thing about the mysterious system, it was that there were no free handouts. Everything needed to be earned through hard work and putting her life on the line.
Just as her mind began to wander among the infinite possibilities and dangers that she could potentially be facing, she noticed another small notification that had also popped up.
<Ding. Do you wish to activate party mode?>
Woof? Qin Hua had never seen this message and she was confused as to why the system would want her to party in the middle of a freaking death sentence.
[Woof! What is this party mode?]
<Ding. Party mode can be enabled when the user is surrounded by high loyalty relations>
<Ding. Party mode enables experience sharing>
[Woof! There is such a thing?!] Qin Hua was shocked. This was definitely a good thing as it could help other people increase their strength faster, giving them an additional boost, but…
[Will the quest rewards also be shared…?]
<Ding. Quest rewards cannot be shared>
The wolf immediately became overjoyed. Not that she didn't want to share her experience points. After all, if everyone contributed, they could all possibly get through this together.
Also, if everyone fought together, it was only fair that the experience points be distributed, but the thing that she cared about was… skill points!!!
30 skill points!!! She really did not want to share those with anyone!!!
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