Chapter 270: Water Lizard King
"!!!"
"Elder Xu?"
"Elder Xu?"
"Elder Xu! Wait for us!"
The abandoned crowd stared blankly for a moment before snapping back to reality. Casting aside all caution, they hastily activated their Spiritual Power and leaped into the air, following the path Elder Xu had taken.
But Elder Xu had fled so quickly, how could they possibly remember the entire route?
"PLOP!"
Someone missed a step and fell into the swamp. They were immediately caught by a strange, immense force that dragged them down. Water Lizards hidden beneath the surface swarmed them. A few bubbles, GLUG GLUG, rose to the surface, and in the next moment, only a clean-picked white skeleton floated up.
In just a short while, many more had fallen into the swamp.
However, Sikao Dao, Yan City, and Yang Ye—the Princes of the three kingdoms—were a different story. They tapped their toes lightly on the marshland, leaping forward swiftly without a single misstep. They looked completely at ease, as if they had known the correct path through the swamp all along.
Shen Daoxing, of course, wasn’t foolish enough to just stand there and wait to die. But just as he was about to move...
The Blood Dragon’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
"I can sense Wind Attribute Spiritual Power. A massive Celestial Essence Ore Vein is buried beneath this swamp. This Water Lizard must have grown so large by devouring vast quantities of ore. With such dense Wind Attribute Spiritual Power, it must have a Wind Attribute Demon Core in its body. Kid, weren’t you just looking for Wind Source Ore? The effect of a Wind Attribute Demon Core is far better than some ore."
Shen Daoxing paused, then his face lit up with joy. "Senior, does that mean if I get this Water Lizard’s Demon Core, I won’t have to go through the trouble of making a trade with Tianze?"
At that moment, Jiang Shaohe’s legs were shaking so badly he was frozen in fear. But as he looked at the terrifying, colossal Water Lizard King nearby, he knew he had no time to be scared.
Jiang Shaohe suddenly willed his legs to move and was about to bolt.
But in a flash, the Water Lizard King moved.
Jiang Shaohe’s vision went dark. The monstrous Water Lizard King had appeared before him, its massive body looming over him like a small mountain.
Jiang Shaohe jumped, too scared to move a muscle. His heart was in his throat.
But just as suddenly, the Water Lizard King vanished. It had snatched the person in front of Jiang Shaohe and, with a PLOP, dived back into the swamp.
Jiang Shaohe instantly let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest in lingering fear. He quickly tugged at Shen Daoxing behind him. "Yang! Yang! This is our chance! Let’s run!"
But when he pulled on Shen Daoxing, he found he couldn’t budge him at all.
Jiang Shaohe whipped his head around and saw Shen Daoxing staring down at the water’s surface, seemingly lost in thought.
"Yang? What are you spacing out for? Let’s go!" Jiang Shaohe exclaimed in alarm. "We have to run before that Water Lizard King comes back out! If we’re too late, we’ll be its next meal!"
As he spoke, he reached out to pull Shen Daoxing again, but this time he stumbled, grabbing nothing but air.
The next moment, he saw a figure flash past him.
"SPLASH!"
Shen Daoxing had dived straight into the swamp.
"???" Jiang Shaohe was speechless.
After a long moment of stunned silence, Jiang Shaohe finally processed what had happened and cried out in disbelief, "??? Yang, why did you jump in instead of running away?"
"Yang, you’re such an idiot!" Jiang Shaohe couldn’t help but slap his thigh in frustration.
Suddenly, Jiang Shaohe looked into the distance and saw that the Little Water Lizards, who had been scared off by the Water Lizard King, had crept back at some point and were now stirring restlessly.
A shiver ran down his spine. Forgetting everything else, he immediately turned tail and ran, chasing after Sikao Dao and the others in the distance.
...
After diving into the swamp, Shen Daoxing immediately found it hard to breathe. He raised two fingers and muttered the Water Avoidance Mantra.
A soft light glowed around Shen Daoxing’s body as an aura manifested, pushing away the surrounding water and mud. Shen Daoxing immediately began to breathe deeply.
Suddenly, he felt something at his feet.
He looked down and saw a green Water Lizard shoot out from the mud below, opening its savage jaws to bite his thigh.
Shen Daoxing raised the Great Ming Demon Sparrow and slashed down.
"SCHLICK!"
A black light flashed.
The Water Lizard was instantly split in two.
However, no sooner had he slain that one than the mud below churned, and a dozen more vicious-looking Water Lizards burst out.
Without any hesitation, Shen Daoxing swung the Great Ming Demon Sparrow again and again.
"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!"
Several arcs of black light flashed in succession.
In an instant, the dozen or so surrounding Water Lizards were all sliced in half.
But as soon as they fell, the mud at Shen Daoxing’s feet roiled once more, and even more Water Lizards shot out, a dense swarm scrambling to bite him.
’This is endless!’
The seven-colored Profound Platform inside Shen Daoxing’s body began to spin. Venerable Power silently emerged, gathering on the Great Ming Demon Sparrow.
Shen Daoxing spun lightly, and the Great Ming Demon Sparrow carved a graceful arc. In that instant, the surrounding space began to distort, compressing one moment and stretching the next.
BZZT! Black arcs of electricity flickered.
A large area of the surrounding mud, along with every single Water Lizard within it, was instantly annihilated, as if erased from existence.
It was only then that Shen Daoxing saw the skeletons buried deep within the swamp’s mud. Dark green Water Lizards were crawling all over them—in their thigh bones, their chest cavities, and even inside their skulls.
’So they were the ones causing all the trouble before.’
Shen Daoxing slashed his sword.
BZZT!
Black arcs of electricity flickered, and everything below—the skeletons and the Water Lizards inside them—vanished without a trace.
Afterward, Shen Daoxing swept his gaze coolly across the area. The remaining Water Lizards froze, took a uniform step back, and then suddenly vanished into black shadows, disappearing completely.
’It seems they know fear after all.’
Then, Shen Daoxing looked around beneath the surface, searching for the hidden Water Lizard King.
Suddenly, Shen Daoxing turned toward a patch of mud not far away. He sensed a strange Wind Attribute aura from within. He raised the Great Ming Demon Sparrow and swung it down.
In an instant, a large chunk of mud was sliced away.
But what Shen Daoxing saw was a huge, bloody, savage mouth, already wide open and waiting for him.
The Water Lizard King had been lying in ambush there all along.
As soon as Shen Daoxing cleared away the mud above it, the Water Lizard King shot into motion. Opening its cavernous mouth, it lunged forward like a black shadow.
"CLANG!"
A sound like striking metal rang out.
The Water Lizard King’s massive figure froze mid-lunge. A jade-white Dharma Seal had appeared in Shen Daoxing’s hand.
The Dharma Seal was enormous, completely propping open the Water Lizard King’s giant mouth.
It strained its jaws but couldn’t bite down at all.
"CRACK!"
A sharp, cracking sound echoed.
Two of the Water Lizard King’s sharp teeth shattered.