<Ding. High-grade Mana Vein>

[Woof! What is a mana vein? Can I eat it?] Qin Hua eyed the sharp fragment shaped protrusion that was filled to the brim with energy.

[The centipedes were guarding this thing with their lives. This has to be good stuff! Woof!]

<Ding. Mana Veins are concentrated solidifications of mana that can be used for cultivation>

[Oh, so I can't eat it? Never mind. It looks like it won't be tasty anyways.]

[Woof! Coco, stick to me alright. Hold on tight.] Qin Hua slung the cat onto her back and then dashed ahead to grab the sparkling chunk of mana vein.

She weaved through the centipedes that came towards her, intending to slam her down into the pool of acid. 

However, she nimbly dodged their attacks and walked on the acidic goo with as minimal exposure as possible, her paws barely touching the liquid.

She bounded like a rubber ball, bouncing off their bodies, and reached the corner which contained the vein. She extended her paw to swipe the thing, planning to run away after she did so.

But unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Clang!

A loud metallic sound echoed through the tunnels as her paw clashed against the strong mana vein. The damned thing did not look like it was going to budge unless she put in a lot more effort.

However, with all the centipedes now attacking her with their full abilities, that was highly impossible to achieve. 

The small cave had in fact already started collecting their acidic spills and soon it was going to overflow!

Splash. Splash. Splash.

Qin Hua once again dashed around the cave, attacking two of the centipedes that were somewhat badly injured.

[Majestic Roar]

[Rip]

[Maul]

While her claws and her canines were buddy shredding everything in sight, her mind spun and no matter how much she thought, the best alternative seemed to be staying back and fighting to the very end.

It was a bit risky but Qin Hua did not doubt for a second that she wouldn't be able to take care of these centipedes. They were weak enough for her to deal with.

Moreover, the cat strapped onto her back kept sending her heals every now and then.

[Woof! Woof! Alright. I will take care of you guys today. You are going to pay for making my fur dirty!]

The black fenrir roared loudly and started pouncing on one worm after another.

<Ding. 1 Level 21 Rotten Tendril Centipede killed>

<Ding. 1700 Experience points have been rewarded>

<Ding. 1 Level 20 Rotten Tendril Centipede killed>

<Ding. 1000 Experience points have been rewarded>

Two more centipedes died in the blink of an eye reducing the number of worms in the cave now to a mere dozen.

[Woof! This is not going fast enough.]

Qin Hua shook her body and the acidic goop stuck to her black glossy fur drizzled everywhere. Though she was not able to completely get it off, at least it reduced the stinging pain a bit.

But there was no time to rest so she once again attacked the next centipede that was coming for her. However, as she extended her paws this time, she suddenly got an idea.

If she was able to manipulate darkness into black rain, would it also be possible to manipulate it to make her physical attacks stronger?

The black wolf's eyes twinkled and the next instant, dark wisps started coiling around her paws and her canines. She then swiped the centipede in front of her, her paws still engulfed in the black mist.

<Ding. 1 Level 16 Rotten Tendril Centipede killed>

<Ding. 500 Experience points have been rewarded>

<Ding. You have learned a new skill [Shadow Rip]>

<Ding. You have learned a new skill [Shadow Maul]>

[Woof! Yaaas! One-shot kill! This way is so much more effective!] Qin Hua contently smacked her mouth eyeing the new skills and continued striking down the earthworms one by one.

At this point, she stopped paying attention to the acid as it was doing surface damage, but apart from the intense pain, it didn't drain her health too much.

The acid could only easily corrode her skin and was unable to touch the muscle layer that came next. 

Every inch of her skin was destroyed and wounded, of course, except for the part where the cat was comfortably seated on and clinging to her.

Qin Hua wanted to cry as she even heard a soft lazy purring noise. [Let's not think about that. At least she is healing me! Woof!]

The wolf continued sparring against the worms for a couple more minutes until finally, all the worms had been completely slaughtered.

Tssss! The skin on her paws sizzled as Qin Hua tiredly landed on the ground near the mana vein.

[Woof! That wasn't too bad.]

She took a quick look at her health bar which had dropped considerably. She only had one-sixth of her health left. Moreover, both she and Coco were still poisoned. [Should I just use a health potion?]

She shook her head almost immediately. [Let's not waste resources.]

[Now what should I do about this mana vein? Woof!]

As she neared the huge blue fragment jutting out of the ground, she felt a strong overwhelming wave of energy assault her body. Thick strands of pure mana!

Qin Hua could even feel her mana core thrumming inside her body as if it was dancing up and down in joy.

[Woof! Such good stuff!] Her eyes twinkled and she sucked in a huge breath of air. Of course, she had forgotten about the nasty smell which also entered her body and made her retch.

[Gaaajhh! Stupid centipedes! This could have been my personal cultivation spot! They ruined everything. I have to remove this thing from here. Woof!]

The ore fragment was deeply latched onto the earth. Removing this was akin to mining a strong metallic ore from the ground.

Qin Hua tried to claw it out a few times using her new skills but it still seemed insufficient as she only managed to scratch the surface. 

Perhaps she needed to repeat this for another half an hour to get the mana vein out.

After hesitating for a few more seconds, she finally decided to just let it be.

[Woof! Worst case some other beast is going to come here and stake claims on it. It is alright. This could be my trap.] 

[I will lure more beasts here and get more experience points for me! Ba ha ha ha! Woof!]

Qin Hua then started digging through the acidic mess for the mana cores. 

She had slaughtered a total of 17 centipedes and she counted each as she continued absorbing one mana core after another.

Of course, the person she was carrying on her back didn't receive any as this was her loot that she had fought tooth and nail for.

Fortunately, the scavenging process was finished faster than she had expected and Qin Hua looked around, whilst enjoying the warm sensation spreading through her body from the several mana cores.

For now, she had nothing else to do here. She licked the mana vein one more time, enjoying the thick pure strands of mana, and dashed out.

[Ok, Coco. Hold onto me. We are leaving now. We should check on the hospital and the military camp again. I am not sure what is happening there.]

The cat and the dog, one riding the other hurried out of the tunnels. However, even after an entire minute, they were still in the underground labyrinth.

Qin Hua finally noticed that they had been running around in circles. [We are lost, damn it!]

As she tried to sniff out or hear anything that could help them, she also pondered why was such an elaborate network built in the first place. The worms had really gone through a lot of work.

And then suddenly, a thought popped into her brain.

[Woof! Are there more mana veins??? Are there more worms?] 

Qin Hua's feral eyes twinkled and she once again started running, this time paying close attention to everything happening in and around her.

Before long, she once again heard more screeching noises and muffled roars. [Fuck! I was right! There are more worms here. So there should be more mana veins!]

[I need to bring everyone here. This can definitely help us all grow stronger! Woof!]

Since it looked like it was impossible to carry out these mana veins, the next best thing was to bring everyone here and let everyone absorb as much energy as they could.

Qin Hua started planning out the scenario in her mind as she dashed towards the place where she heard the noises.

Just when she was nearing it, suddenly a loud explosion sounded.

BOOOM!

Everything around her rattled, her own body shaking and shivering.

[This! This should be near the hospital!] 

Qin Hua's eyes gleamed in the darkness and she hurried amidst the crumbling rocks and chunks of dirt falling around her due to the impact of the explosion.