It took them a little over an hour to reach Bai Xi Village.
After getting off the bus near the village committee, they were quickly greeted by the village committee staff.
Although the four were not professional beast masters, Bai Xi Village warmly welcomed anyone who could help eliminate the earth rats.
Due to the urgency of the situation, the four didn't waste time on formalities and headed straight to the heavily infested areas, which were the farmland and forest regions.
Standing at the edge of the vast farmland and forest, Shi Yu and the others were momentarily speechless.
Where should they start?
In fact, some of the less intelligent and weaker earth rats had already been killed by the farmers' pesticides and their pet dogs and cats.
So, the ones they needed to eliminate were the more advanced and cunning earth rats.
These earth rats were elusive, skilled at hiding, and had strong combat abilities, making them very difficult to eliminate.
"Let's summon our pet beasts first," Shi Yu suggested.
To lock onto the earth rats in such a complex environment, nothing could match Eleven's super vision.
"Okay."
After Shi Yu spoke, the four communicated with their beast spaces and summoned their pet beasts.
In front of Shi Yu and Zhuang Yue appeared iron-eating beasts, in front of Chen Kai appeared his ice armor beast, and in front of the other girl, Yu Jingjing, appeared a thorny vine that resembled a snake.
As soon as the pet beasts were summoned, Zhuang Yue's attention was drawn to Eleven.
Yesterday, she had only observed from a distance and hadn't noticed anything, but today, up close, she realized that Shi Yu's iron-eating beast was almost perfectly developed, with healthy fur and a robust physique.
"Great master, did you get your iron-eating beast from the iron bamboo breeding base?"
"Yep," Shi Yu nodded.
All the iron-eating beasts in the entire Ice Plain City should have been bred at the iron bamboo breeding base... including Zhuang Yue's.
However, Zhuang Yue's iron-eating beast was clearly larger and older than Shi Yu's, so they were likely not from the same batch of pups.
Since they were not from the same batch, the two iron-eating beasts didn't seem to recognize each other. Eleven glanced at the other one and quickly looked away.
On the other hand, Chen Kai's ice armor beast was wary of Eleven the entire time, almost melting in fear.
"Wait, wait."
"Great master, aren't you a disciple of the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall?" Zhuang Yue suddenly thought of something.
Shi Yu was so powerful that this seemed to be the only explanation.
"No..."
Shi Yu shook his head.
The Bamboo Stone Martial Hall and the iron bamboo breeding base were part of the same organization.
The owner of the martial hall and the breeding base was the same person.
The iron bamboo breeding base was a breeding ground for iron-eating beasts, while the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall was a place specifically for training beast masters who had contracted iron-eating beasts.
The current hall master of the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall was a master-level beast master who specialized in breeding iron-eating beasts.
His iron-eating beast, in addition to mastering hardening abilities, also possessed the power of lightning and fire, thanks to a very special breeding method.
One could say that in Ice Plain City, if anyone knew the most about breeding iron-eating beasts, it would be the beast masters of the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall.
It was normal for Zhuang Yue to suspect that Shi Yu was a disciple of the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall. Even if Shi Yu said he was a direct disciple, she would probably believe him.
However, although Shi Yu currently had no connection with the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall, he would eventually seek their guidance... yes, for mutual learning.
"Not? I thought you must be a direct disciple of the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall..." Zhuang Yue laughed.
"Among the beast masters in our Pingcheng, the most powerful one is probably Hall Master Lin," Chen Kai said.
There were apprentices, professionals, and masters, and the professional level was further divided into junior, intermediate, and senior. The Hall Master Lin of the Bamboo Stone Martial Hall was a master-level beast master.
His strength was well-known even throughout the entire Ice Plain City.
"Whether Hall Master Lin is the most powerful or not, I don't know, but her daughter seems to be the youngest professional beast master in our Pingcheng," Yu Jingjing said.
"I heard she passed the professional examination at 18 and later entered one of the nine major institutions for further study. She should have graduated by now... I wonder what level she has reached."
"You're behind on the news. Lin Xiuzhu later chose the breeding specialty and has already returned to Pingcheng. My iron-eating beast was even chosen with her help," Zhuang Yue said. "Sister Xiuzhu said she chose this specialty to research whether iron-eating beasts can evolve further. I don't know if she succeeded..."
"But I think it's too difficult... Master Lin spent his whole life breeding iron-eating beasts and never found a way for them to evolve further. I guess iron-eating beasts can only be this way."
"Besides, even if it were discovered, it wouldn't concern us..."
Zhuang Yue's iron-eating beast yawned, completely carefree and unbothered by the world.
"Stop chatting... I've spotted an earth rat," Shi Yu said.
While the others were chatting, Eleven, using its super vision, had already locked onto an earth rat.
It didn't care about evolution or anything like that; it was content with the way things were.
Following Eleven's gaze, Shi Yu looked in the direction it was pointing.
In a corner of the farmland, a giant rat about thirty centimeters long, hairless, and with a body that looked like soil, was stealthily picking red fruits.
"There."
Shi Yu pointed, and the other three followed his gaze.
"Judging by its size, it's probably a level four earth rat, and it's alone, so it's not very threatening. The challenge is how to eliminate it before it uses its earth-digging ability to escape!" Chen Kai said.
"Books say that earth rats are very alert. They are more sensitive to temperature than to sound or light. The iron-eating beast and ice armor beast approaching it might make it notice due to their body heat..." Yu Jingjing said. "I'll have the thorny vine pretend to be a plant and approach it to see if it can directly entangle it."
"But I'm not sure if the thorny vine's thorns can affect its earthy shell. You guys follow up."
The other three agreed with this strategy. Under Yu Jingjing's command, her thorny vine began to mimic a plant and slowly crawl on the ground.
The thorny vine was indeed very plant-like, as it was a plant life form. The earth rat didn't notice it at all, as it saw the plant as just food.
High-level hunters often appear in the form of their prey...
At the same time, Eleven and the ice armor beast also prepared for the hunt.
Only Zhuang Yue's iron-eating beast was still confused... it stared with its black-ringed eyes, trying hard to see where the earth rat was, but it couldn't see it at all!
This was normal for an iron-eating beast, after all, the earth rat's camouflage was too good.
Soon, the thorny vine reached the earth rat and extended its thorny vines, locking onto the target!
Swish!!
The thorny vine launched a deadly entanglement, but a level four earth rat that had grown in such an environment was no fool. At the last moment, it sensed danger and, frightened, dropped the red fruit and ranβ
Whoosh!!
It turned and ran, very fast, successfully evading the attack.
Earth rats usually dig escape tunnels in advance when they come out to forage, rather than burrowing on the spot.
Burrowing on the spot was actually not very fast and could easily be caught, so it was better to use the pre-dug escape routes.
The thorny vine's first attack failed, and it no longer tried to be stealthy. It grew more thorns and flew towards the earth rat, restricting its movement and speed.
At the same time, Eleven and the ice armor beast also burst into action.
"Run? Can you run away?"
Chen Kai shouted. The ice armor beast was also skilled at digging; given time, it could even tunnel through ice.
Even if the earth rat successfully burrowed, it wasn't impossible to catch it.
Of course, the best scenario would be to eliminate it before it reached the tunnel entrance.
However... the ice armor beast was still a step too slow.
The earth rat successfully reached the tunnel entrance.
Just as the earth rat was overjoyed and about to burrow in, Eleven, with a much faster burst speed, arrived.
In previous battles, Eleven had stayed in place and instantly defeated the ice armor beast, but this didn't mean its burst speed was inferior to the ice armor beast's...
Boom!!
Eleven, starting from a run, quickly surpassed the ice armor beast and caught up to the earth rat. It leaped and, with a hardened palm, struck the entrance where the earth rat was about to burrow.
Like a massive steel block falling from the sky, a huge impact accompanied by dust and smoke rose, and the ground was directly smashed into a large pit.
With its super vision and burst speed, Eleven felt it was much more agile than yesterday, discovering the tunnel entrance before the thorny vine and the ice armor beast. It wore a proud expression.
The earth rat, however, was stunned. Where was my home?
It was quickly entangled by the thorny vine.
But now, everyone's attention was on the large pit next to Eleven.
What kind of power is this... it's like a falling object from a great height. The other three felt their scalps tingle as they looked at the small, chubby iron-eating beast, thinking that with it, they could directly tackle a group of earth rats.