While the trio stood there watching, following Mokong’s suggestion, Lin Fang dove further deep into the dark waters until he reached the lakebed. The Green Anaconda King’s massive lower body lay coiled there, thick as a house pillar and anchored like a mountain.
Alpha’s voice rang in his mind—"Now."
Protecting his eyes with mana from the waters, Lin Fang stretched out his hand, and mana surged from his palm. Alpha twisted that mana instantly, converting it into raw torrents of lightning that exploded into the water
The electricity crawled over the serpent’s scales, illuminating its erald body in jagged flashes.
But the mont the current reached the surface, Nixian’s werewolf form spasd violently.
The beast-girl let out a distorted, muffled cry as the shock tore through her body. She couldn’t hold the form under that pain. Her limbs shrank, bones cracked back into place, fur receded—and the next mont, she was just Sun Nixian again, a fifteen-year-old girl drifting unconscious in the dark water, skin sizzling with first-degree burns.
Lin Fang saw it.
However, he did not swim to catch her.
His eyes stayed locked on the serpent.
With a breath, he summoned the Sword of Goujian. "Activate, Alpha’s Blessing." He thought in his head, selecting the blade as his target.
Coating the blade in thick layers of mana, Lin Fang then drove it straight into the serpent’s body.
The sword pierced clean through scale, then muscle, then into the thick hide beneath, bringing a painful hiss from its mouth, but Lin Fang wasn’t done yet. He then poured his mana into the sword that was struck in its hide and muttered, "Alpha, help ..."
In response, whatever mana was poured into the sword transford into flas as it spread outward, started burning its insides.
Up above, the monster let out a monstrous, pained hiss. Its upper body broke the surface, thrashing violently, then dove again, dragging the lake again, feeling intense burns in its body
anwhile, on the shore...
Ryan Zhao’s expression twisted into sothing furious and ugly, watching the monster disappear.
"That bastard tried to steal our kill." His voice dripped with venom.
Li Ying narrowed her eyes. "You’re almost out of mana. Don’t be reckless."
He scoffed, digging into his belt pouch. "I’ve got mana recovery potions. More than enough."
"There’s still one day left in the trials," she pressed with a frown. "And you know that the last day will be more chaotic."
Ryan didn’t even pretend to listen. His hand was already on the lake’s surface, black arcs crackling between his fingers. "I don’t care. I’ll kill him." His teeth clenched in rage.
Without waiting any longer, the teenager slamd both palms into the water, pouring the rest of his mana into the lake entirely. And then...
"Lightning..."
The lake lit up with pitch-black lightning at once, sweeping outward like a tidal wave of destruction. However, this attack wasn’t aid at the serpent this ti.
It was aid directly at the masked stranger beneath the water.
"Graaa" "Blurrrb"
Lin Fang felt the attack hit him like a thousand blades cutting through every nerve. His entire body convulsed, bubbles exploding from his mouth as he scread underwater.
"Kiddo."
Alpha reacted instantly.
*Ding!
[Guardian’s Mantle was forcibly acted by the guardian spirit.]
As soon as one of the guardian skills was unleashed, a thick, shimring layer of mana wrapped around him like a second skin, raising his defense by 300%, enough to resist the effects of black lightning. But then even he felt the faint burn as if his skin was pierced with tiny needles this ti...
However, 1000 mana points also began to reduce every second to maintain that shell.
Alpha’s voice then echoed sharply in his mind, low and tense. "I never thought I’d see another human wield primordial energy this early in life."
Lin Fang’s eyes widened even as the lightning raked across his skin. Primordial? he managed to think through clenched teeth.
"Yes," Alpha replied, tone grim. "This is Primordial Lightning. However, it wasn’t pure thought. That boy inherited it from soone rather than being born with it. But even diluted, it’s lethal to most beings."
Another shock tore through him. Lin Fang gritted his teeth. "Forget the lecture... I need to move."
anwhile, the Green Anaconda King twisted beneath him, its massive coils shifting as its instincts honed in on weakness. Its golden eyes fixed onto Lin Fang’s location, even with the turbulence around them.
Lin Fang shot another look toward Nixian.
The girl floated helplessly, her skin scorched from the overlapping lightning bursts. She was also affected by the black lightning earlier, and now, her burns increased to second degree, while she was almost drowned in the lake bed, her lungs filled with water.
Lin Fang inhaled sharply and activated Stealth.
His body flickered and disappeared, vanishing from the Anaconda’s sight as he swam toward her. The currents shifted silently around him as he cut through the depths—
—but the serpent was far smarter than he expected.
The Green Anaconda’s eyes glowed with a predatory light. It tilted its head...and then unleashed a wide beam of condensed energy right at where Lin Fang shouldn’t have been visible.
Alpha’s roar cracked inside his head.
"Careful—!"
*Ding!
[Guardian’s Possession was activated.]
Alpha seized partial control of Lin Fang’s body and dumped half of their remaining mana into forming a do-like mana barrier in a split second.
As a result, when the beam hit the barrier, a tallic echo rippled through the water, and a second later, it shattered like glass.
The backlash slamd into Lin Fang’s chest. His stealth shattered instantly as his body flew back, crashing into the lakebed with a heavy thud.
Pain tore through him like fire. A gash ran from his shoulder down to his hip, his skin torn open, and his muscles ripped apart. The blood poured out in thick streams, tinting the water a dark red around him.
Lin Fang choked, coughing blood that scattered into the lake waters. And the salt content in the lake only burned his injuries even more.
"Damn it..." he snarled through clenched teeth. "This fu*king hurts..."
As the Green Anaconda’s shadow passed over him like a falling mountain, Alpha’s voice hit him like a slap. "I told you to lose that kid! Why bring her with you? Look at the state you’re in now, because of her."
Lin Fang let out a hoarse groan, bubbles escaping his lips as blood drifted from his wound. "Nice try... but I was planning to take this monster on eventually..."
Alpha snapped back imdiately in irritation. "Yes — but not underwater, idiot! Here, your body is slow and heavy. That beam? If it were aid when you were in mid-air, you would’ve dodged it."
Lin Fang didn’t argue because he knew Alpha was right. His chest felt like it was splitting apart. Each breath was agony. Salt water only made it worse.
"Fine... fine..." he breathed, voice fading. "Is there a spirit core I can use? A skill? Or should I summon Xuan Hei...?"
Alpha practically roared. "No! Xuan Hei will die the mont he enters the water. Even if it is a mythical grade monster, it is still a cat. It is not a marine creature. — Don’t be stupid. In fact, any monster you summon right now will die before you make it to the top. Unlike humans, who are basically adaptive in nature, we monsters don’t have the resilience in habitats we can’t live."
Lin Fang’s vision blurred. The lakebed swayed like a dark ceiling about to collapse. "Then... tell sothing useful... before I black out."
Alpha hesitated for the first ti. "You’re not being watched."
"What?" Lin Fang whispered, half-dazed.
"No drones, no humans. Even the serpent has turned its focus back toward those acquaintances of yours. So listen carefully... You can use this mont to form a contract with another monster."
Lin Fang blinked hard, trying to stay conscious. "Another... monster? What the hell are you talking about..."
"You have the lottery wheel. That Spirit Jellyfish — if you evolve it and raise it — can help once it reaches level 30. It’s the only aquatic-type monster you can get instantly. And if you die again, I swear I am not reviving you twice in a row."
Lin Fang coughed violently, blood spilling into the water again. "Fine... whatever helps..."
He forced his trembling fingers to move. Even that simple motion felt like lifting a mountain. His lungs scread for air. His vision flickered like a dying candle. But through sheer stubborn will, he summoned the system screen.
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