Mira spent the next 24 hours healing her injuries. All of the holes on her body had already been healed. There were only a few minor injuries left, but Mira wasn't worried about those.
After most of her body was healed, Mira left the F.LD.I.L with 50 Points left over after clearing 5 Stages in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.
She had earned 62 Points from completing 5 Stages, and the pill she bought cost 12 Points, leaving her with 50.
That might not sound like a lot, and in truth, it wasn't. Sure, she could buy a few resources that could be beneficial to her, but she could also get similar things without the F.LD.I.L.
The things she wanted to buy cost hundreds or even thousands of points!
This got Mira thinking, isn't her current Stage the best chance she'll have at earning points? In the Core Formation Realm, she should be invincible! Despite that, Mira also felt that defeating a Nascent Soul Realm shadow was probably near impossible.
On the flip side, despite being so heavily injured after completing the 5th Stage, Mira felt like as long as she caught up to the shadows in terms of Qi control and refined her Chaos Body Martial Art, she might be able to clear Stage 8 or even Stage 9.
Naturally, she wouldn't just go hop into the 6th Stage of the Abyssal Battle Ladder right now, but where is she right now?
She's deep underground, surrounded by all kinds of unknown and powerful enemies. What better place is there other than here for her to improve?
Therefore, instead of immediately breaking through after clearing the 5th Stage of the Abyssal Battle Ladder, Mira went out of the Nightbringer Ant Queen's chambers and began searching for any enemies she could fight!
Knowing just how truly lacking her abilities are, Mira decided it would be in her best interest to perfect her current powers.
Just like that, 3 months passed by in a flash, and Mira continued to improve every day as she bulldozed her way through the surrounding tunnels.
However, what she didn't know was that her actions had caught the attention of some unsavory beings.
***
Deep underground, below Mira's location, an 8-meter-tall humanoid creature stood in front of an altar with a large sphere of blood floating above. The creature looked oddly similar to the chimere beast that Mira was forced to use her Death Tail against, except it wasn't covered in black mist.
The creature's body was similar to that of a bear. It had feline limbs, a scorpion-like stinger, two antennae on its head, and large black bat wings on its back.
This creature was clearly Rank 8, not only from the aura it's releasing but also by the simple fact that it's a beast in human form. Not just that, but that power radiating signified that it wasn't a Low-Stage Rank 8 beast either.
No, it was a Peak-Stage Rank 8 beast!
The chimera beast looked at the sphere of blood in front of it and frowned.
"The amount of blood collected this month has decreased as well. Something must've gone wrong with one of the farms. Do you guys know anything?" The chimera beast spoke to the others in the room with a deep voice.
That's right! The chimera beast wasn't the only one in the room! Other than it, there were 5 other Rank 8 beasts. However, they were clearly much weaker than the chimera.
There was an ant-like humanoid, a beetle-like humanoid, a humanoid bat, a small humanoid cat, and a massive humanoid bear. Although it was a bit weird for a few of these beasts to be living underground, it's not that odd.
The Ancient Beast Mountain Range is full of mysteries and dangers!
The 5 humanoid beasts eyed each other wearily, almost as if they were afraid to speak out, but they could tell that the chimera's patience was running thin.
The humanoid ant was the first to speak up.
"I have noticed a decline in my colon-farms over the last few months, but at first, I didn't think much of it. They are just low-intelligence beings and would naturally fight each other for resources. We all know how amazing yet dangerous the Mountains are."
"However, it wasn't until this past month that I noticed something was seriously wrong. I was losing my connection to too many of my farms! So, I sent someone to investigate, but in the end they were killed. Fortunately, it was able to send a message of the being wreaking havoc on our farms."
A strand of Qi left the humanoid ant's head and entered the chimera's head, transmitting an image of the being destroying their farms.
"A fox, huh? Why is fox here? From the looks of it, that's not an ordinary fox either. Strange. I don't remember ever offending the Fox Clan…" The chimera muttered out loud before turning to the other four humanoid beasts.
"Do you four have something similar to report?"
"Y-Yes, Master. According to our investigations, it is that fox that's wreaking havoc amongst some of our lower-tier farms. However, this month, it seemed to have moved on to some of our mid-tier farms. Although the pace is much slower than when it was attacking our Lower-Tier Farms, I'm afraid that with how fast she's advancing, our middle-tier farms will soon be destroyed." The humanoid cat answered as the others nodded.
The chimera took all this information and appeared thoughtful. However, a frown soon appeared on its face.
"I'll deal with your punishment for not informing me of this earlier. For now, we should first deal with this little problem. If that girl really is from the Fox Clan, then dealing with her carelessly may very well kill us all."
"However, I have some serious doubts that she's actually from that Clan. For one, if she really were a Rank 8 Fox who has taken, then she wouldn't be dealing with those dregs. Secondly, a Rank 8 Fox would've been able to sense us. Her not coming here means she either can't sense us or she's not worried about us. However, based on her actions, she's most likely just not strong enough to sense us."
"That brings us to the question of 'what is she?' Well, I'm sure most of you know the answer. She's most likely a filthy beastman! A being that is part human, part beast! If that's the case, then she's definitely not part of the Fox Clan."
As soon as the chimera said this, the other humanoid beasts in the room all showed a look of disgust and disdain.
"Than, Master, what should we do with her? Should we just go and get rid of this pest once and for all?" The humanoid bear asked, but the chimera shook his head.
"No, one of you should just go capture her. Despite her being a beastman, those 9 tails signify that she has an extraordinary bloodline. You might not know this, but from what I know, 9-Tailed Foxes have bloodlines almost on the same level as Dragons! Just capture her so we can sacrifice her. At least that way, she can make up for all the losses we've incurred over the last few months. I have a feeling that her blood is worth more than all those farms combined times 1000." The chimera explained, causing the other beast's eyes to widen.
They've lived their entire lives underground and were lucky enough to become Rank 8 beasts and gain their human form, so their knowledge of the outside world and its history was limited.
However, even though they've spent most of their lives underground, they know of Dragons. What beast doesn't know of Dragons?
For 9-tailed foxes to have a bloodline almost comparable to dragons…
The fox woman terrorizing their farms must have an extraordinary bloodline! If what the chimera said was true, then they really scored big!
A weak humanoid fox with an extraordinary bloodline appeared right in their lap just when they were in need of blood! If this wasn't Heaven's blessing, then they didn't know what was.
"Alright, enough about that. Go capture that girl and bring her to me. We need to make the most out of her bloodline." The chimera ordered.
"Yes, Master!" The five humanoid beasts/insects affirmed and immediately left to go capture the fox girl.
However, right after they left, the chimera suddenly had a bad premonition; he felt like capturing that fox girl might be one of the worst decisions he could possibly make.
He didn't know why he suddenly felt this way. His instincts told him she was just a little girl who got lucky.
'Yet, why am I feeling like this? Is she actually part of the Fox Clan? Was I wrong in my analysis? No, I'm sure I'm right! Then, how come I feel like I'm about to drag a tiger into my den? Should I call them back?' The chimera thought, but it was already too late.
