The second anomaly zone was a seemingly calm lake. The water was so blue it looked black, and at a glance it seemed bottomless. The surface was as flat as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky and tree shadows.
Xuanxi’s perception caught movement from the bottom of the lake, but found it wasn’t an energy fluctuation—it was the heartbeat of a creature. Thump, thump. The sound was loud and heavy.
“There’s something under the lake,” Xuanxi said.
“Monster?” Elsa asked.
“Yeah, and it’s huge.”
“Perfect.” Reginald cracked his knuckles. “We’ll finish the hunting mission right here.”
“Don’t rush.” Valeris stopped him, opening the map. “Let’s test it first.”
Xuanxi closed her eyes and focused her perception on the lake bottom. The shape of the monster gradually became clear in her mind—snake-like, over twenty meters long, covered in ink-black scales.
Its body was coiled in the deepest depression of the lake, curled into a ball. Its breathing was heavy; each exhalation made the lake tremble slightly. Its heartbeat was slow, but every beat was like someone hammering an iron sledgehammer into the ground.
“Lake swamp dragon python,” Xuanxi said, opening her eyes. “And it’s a monster with one foot in the high rank.”
“How do we fight it?” Elsa asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Xuanxi looked at the lake, thinking. “Elsa, you’re responsible for forcing it out. Bombard the lake surface with flames, but don’t go too hard—steam will block our vision.”
“Okay.”
“Reginald, after it comes out, use an earth wall to block its retreat. Don’t let it go back into the water.”
“Understood.”
“Valeris, once it charges ashore, use ice spikes to attack its weak points. Its scales are too thick; hitting elsewhere is useless.”
“Got it.”
“Xige, you stay in the middle to coordinate. If any of us can’t hold on, you cover.”
“Mm.”
“I’ll buff you.” Xuanxi raised her hands, and four water spheres gathered in her palms. The water spheres floated above her palms, refracting rainbow light in the sunlight.
She gently pushed, and the four spheres floated toward the four people, dispersing above their heads into a thin water membrane that covered their skin.
“This is a water spirit shield,” Xuanxi said. “It can absorb some damage and also speed up your elemental recovery.”
Elsa looked down at the nearly invisible water membrane on her arm and poked it. “So cold.”
“Stop poking, let’s go.” Reginald was already by the lake.
The five of them split up.
Elsa’s flames hit the lake surface. Amplified by the environment, they spewed out a sea of fire. Brownish-red flames covered half the lake. The water evaporated, steam rose, and white fog spread.
The lake swamp dragon python, disturbed, rushed out from the bottom. Its entire body was covered in ink-black scales, each one gleaming with a cold light. It opened its huge mouth, and deep in its throat, a dark red light gathered.
Reginald’s earth walls rose behind it. Three layers of earth walls stacked up, completely sealing the python’s escape route.
Valeris’s ice spikes shot toward the python’s eyes. A dozen icy blue lines streaked through the air. The python turned its head and dodged most of them, but one spike hit the corner of its eye. The ink-black scales burst from the ice explosion, and black blood gushed out.
At that moment, Hildegrifa’s lightning light struck from the side. Silver-white electric arcs hit the python’s tail, blowing off its scales and spraying black blood.
The python’s tail veered off course and crashed to the ground, sending rocks flying.
Realizing it was outmatched, the python’s gaze shifted from Valeris and swept over everyone—Elsa’s flames, Reginald’s earth walls, Valeris’s ice spikes, Hildegrifa’s lightning light. Its murky vertical pupils paused on each of the four for a moment, then turned to Xuanxi.
Xuanxi had been standing at the very back of the team, never participating in the attack from start to finish.
She had no defense except a thin water membrane. She wasn’t covered in scales like the other four; she just stood there, watching the other four fight.
It seemed she was the weakest one.
The python’s judgment wasn’t necessarily wrong. In the western dragon clan’s combat system, water attribute was indeed known for healing and support, lacking in offensive power.
A water-attribute dragon was basically logistics in team battles. The python’s body turned toward Xuanxi. It stared at her like a beast eyeing its prey.
It charged. Its twenty-meter-long body barreled toward Xuanxi like a runaway train. The ground trembled, and rocks jumped.
“Xuanxi!” Elsa’s shout came from afar.
“Dodge!” Reginald’s voice.
Valeris didn’t shout. Her ice spikes shot straight toward the python’s eyes, but the python didn’t dodge. A few ice spikes occasionally slipped through the gaps in its scales, but it no longer cared.
Hildegrifa’s lightning light hit the python’s side, blowing off scales, but the python didn’t stop. Its eyes were only on Xuanxi. If it killed that support, it might survive.
Xuanxi didn’t dodge. She stood there, watching the twenty-meter-long giant python charge at her. Its ink-black scales gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
In its murky yellow vertical pupils, her reflection appeared—dark cyan hair, amber gold eyes, and the four heavenly fate marks under her right eye.
Then she moved, surging forward. Dark cyan scales emerged from her fingertips in an instant. She dragon-transformed her entire right arm. Water surged from between the scales, condensing above her fist into a sharp water blade.
She also raised her left hand and condensed a second water blade. At this moment, she was no longer in the support position; she was the team’s main force.
The python’s vertical pupils suddenly contracted. In Xuanxi’s amber gold eyes, there was no fear, no panic—only one feeling: pure killing intent.
It finally realized its judgment was wrong. It hadn’t charged at the weakest one; instead, it had charged at the strongest.
Xuanxi’s water blades stabbed into the python’s throat. Both blades entered simultaneously.
Scales shattered under the blades, black blood gushed out, splattering on her face, body, and hair. Countless tiny water blades cut from the inside, peeling the python’s armor off scale by scale from the inside.
The python’s body stiffened. The light in its murky vertical pupils gradually died out. Its body crashed heavily to the ground, raising dust and sending rocks flying.
Xuanxi pulled the water blades out of the python’s throat and dispelled the scales. Her face was covered in black blood, and her right arm was still trembling slightly, but her back was straight. She turned around and looked at the four.
Elsa’s mouth was hanging open, forgotten. Reginald’s amber eyes held an expression she had never seen before, and so did Valeris.
Hildegrifa stood the farthest away, her silver-white hair fluttering in the wind, her amethyst eyes watching her. There was no surprise, no shock—only an expression that said ‘As expected of the person I have my eye on.’
Xuanxi curled her lips. “What are you standing around for? Collect samples.”
“The hunting mission is done just like that?” Elsa’s voice was full of disbelief.
“The second node is also complete.” Valeris checked a box on her notebook. “Both assessment missions are complete.”
“Then are we going to the later nodes?” Elsa finally found her voice.
Xuanxi touched the jade pendant under her collar. “We’re going. After all, there are some things I haven’t finished yet.”
At the end of the canyon was another open area. Sunlight leaked through gaps in the clouds, shining on the five of them. Xuanxi walked at the front.
Her dark cyan hair still had the python’s black blood on it, and the bloodstains on her face weren’t wiped clean yet, but her steps were steady and her back was straight. Hildegrifa walked on her right, her silver-white hair fluttering in the wind.
“Why didn’t you use water blades from the start?” Hildegrifa’s voice was soft.
“I was luring it, making it charge at me.” Xuanxi didn’t look at her.
“Its scales are too thick. We can’t break through head-on. I had to wait for it to charge on its own, using its speed to hit my water blades. The faster it went, the deeper the blades would stab.”
“Then how did you know it would charge at you?”
Xuanxi was silent for a moment. “Because I showed weakness. In its eyes, I was the weakest.”
Hildegrifa said nothing. She reached out and wiped the dried bloodstain from Xuanxi’s face. Her fingertips were cool, tracing from Xuanxi’s cheekbone to her jaw, then paused there, before withdrawing.
“Brilliant tactic,” she said.
Xuanxi curled her lips. “Of course.”
The five continued deeper into the canyon. The sunlight shone on them, stretching their shadows long.
Five shadows interwove on the gravel path, and before they knew it, they had reached the end of the canyon.