"Crash!"
With a hiss, a giant wave formed in the lake which was originally calm.
A huge shadow suddenly leapt out from the beneath the water surface and created a mace-like pillar of water which was aimed at Fang Yuan.
"Hmmm? What a beast, you still dare to attack me?"
Fang Yuan chided. 3 spiritual meridians suddenly surfaced in his body. "You...come out!"
"Rumble!"
He originally possessed an elemental power level of 2. With the addition of 3 levels, his [Essence] reached 30 points! With it being released all at once, the power was sufficient to topple mountains and overturn the seas [1]!
"Bang!"
Two gigantic hands made of elemental force appeared. With a strike of the claw, the pillar of water was dispersed.
At the same time, the other hand grasped the tail of the shadow and gave it a yank!
"Sou!"
Amidst the water droplets, a giant snake was tossed from the bottom of the lake onto the bank, creating a small tremor in the earth.
"This is..."
Shi Yutong's footwork was light and she retreated rapidly. Her face was full of shock as she look at the monstrous snake.
The snake was as thick as a water barrel and was covered in emerald green scales. It was more than 30 metres long. More importantly, it had a set of small claws and it had a lump on its forehead. The snake was no ordinary snake.
"Dragons and snakes exist deep within the mountains... ancient snakes possess spiritual energy and can transform into a water dragon in 500 years!"
Shi Yutong's expression changed. "This is...this is a water dragon!"
Given the water dragon's spiritual aura, it was a stretch to classify it as a dragon.
"Its horn is not yet fully grown and cannot even be considered a young dragon. It is a snake monster at most!"
Fang Yuan rode a wave forward even though he appeared uninterested.
"Hiss!"
The giant snake[2] raised its body and held its head high, its pupils full of suspicion as it looked at its enemy. It hissed menacingly once again.
What made Shi Yutong flabbergasted was the fact that while the snake was extremely vicious, it appeared timid in front of Fang Yuan.
"It seems that you have achieved spiritual awareness. I do not want to kill as well. Be good and hand over that person's inheritance...and I will spare your life, how about that?"
Fang Yuan slowly moved forward as he tried to strike a deal with the snake.
"Hiss!"
The water dragon was enraged. It opened its jaws.
"Whoosh!"
An emerald green fog appeared and float towards Fang Yuan. Wherever the fog passed, the ground made a hissing sound and white smoke emerged. In a flash, the ground where the fog passed dissolved. It was apparent that the poison was unmatched.
The inheritance was important to the snake and it would go to great lengths to protect it!
"What a poisonous creature!"
Fang Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He heaved a sigh and shook his head. "It seems that this Poisonous Dragon Lake was created by you?"
The spiritual meridians on his body flashed and formed a multi-coloured armour which surrounded his entire body. The poisonous fog was unable to penetrate it and Fang Yuan dashed through the poisonous fog, appearing before the giant snake.
"Hiss!"
The snake hissed as it used its tail like a giant mace and struck down on Fang Yuan.
"Giant Eagle Claw!"
Fang Yuan's left hand formed the shape of a claw as he struck viciously.
Compared to the giant snake that was over 30 metres in length, Fang Yuan's small frame appeared to be like an ant's. However, with a strike from his claw, his elemental force ripped through the air, creating a tremor. The snake's tail was struck open and a large number of scales, stained with the snake's poisonous blood, crashed and shattered against the ground.
"Sect head..."
Shi Yutong saw the clash between the snake and Fang Yuan from the side and realized that although she was a Wu Zong, she was unable to help.
The prowess of the two of them was far beyond what she had imagined!
"This piece of land has many dangers. If the master is not here, the snake would not budge even if a few Wu Zongs were here..."
She swept the entire area with her eyes as suspicions clouded her beautiful facial features." It is just...where is the inheritance?"
The surroundings were filled with nothing but highly toxic marshes with a small lake.
"Unless it is at the bottom of the lake..."
A horrific thought appeared in Shi Yutong's mind.
If that was truly the case, one would have to dive into the poisonous lake water to search for the inheritance and at the same time, dodge the attacks of the snake. Even a Wu Zong would be heavily wounded or killed if he was not careful.
"Whoosh!"
Unknowingly, the surrounding was filled with white fog. It was thick and advanced and retreated, like a common fog in the mountains.
However, Shi Yutong knew the real danger of the fog and had experienced it before. She hastily retreated.
'This Bewildering Fog was the spiritual technique of the Sect Head...it is able to confound the senses of even a Wu Zong and ....'
Shi Yutong hastily fixed her eyes on the snake monster.
The fog surrounded Fang Yuan and the snake as they battled, and seeped into the scales of the snake. However, Shi Yutong was astounded as the movement of the snake did not appear to be affected by the Bewildering Fog.
"Hmmm?'
Fang Yuan also noticed that the fog had no effect on the snake as well.
A blinding flash of light flashed in the lump on the snake's head.
The monstrous snake's resistance against the Bewildering Fog momentarily increased exponentially.
"According to the norm, while the snake is stronger than an ordinary Wu Zong, it is a spiritual beast and as such, its mind is simple. It should be easily affected by the fog..."
Fang Yuan looked on, deep in thought.
"Unless it possesses a treasure that protects it!"
"Hiss!"
As the light on its head started to flicker, the snake covered its entire body with the poisonous fog that it spat out. With a vicious flick of its tail, it tried to escape towards the lake.
Its preferred battlefield was still the bottom of the poisonous lake!
"Do you think that I only have these few tricks up my sleeves?"
Fang Yuan laughed, both hands making a grab for the snake. "Come back!"
"Whoosh!"
The surrounding fog condensed into chains and trapped the snake.
The snake possessed immerse strength and as it struggled, many chains broke one by one. However, the broken chains started to recombine and restrict the movement of the snake.
"Ha!"
Fang Yuan muttered the incantation and a huge amount of white fog gathered before him, forming a wall of white fog.
"Go!"
An immense pressure blanketed the entire area.
He looked at the monstrous snake before sending the wall of white fog towards the snake. In an instant, it arrived before the snake.
"Hiss!"
The snake's scales were raised. It was restricted by the chains and was a huge target. There was no chance that it would be able to escape.
In that crucial moment, the lump on its head released a blinding light and cascaded over its body like a screen of water, protecting it.
"Crash!"
The next instant, the wall of white fog was shattered and there was a layer of fog covering the earth.
The blast from the impact was channelled outwards and even dispelled the poisonous fog that was nearby.
Shi Yutong's martial arts were raised to her limits. Her ears were ringing and she lost her orientation. It was only after a while before she became aware of the situation.
All she saw two long marks on the ground. She was only affected by the aftershock and her defense almost crumbled. She was flung back over 30 metres and almost sustain serious injuries!
"What happens to that giant snake?"
She lifted her gaze and saw that there was a large crater where the snake originally was. The lake water flooded into the crater and at the bottom of the crater was the giant snake. Its scales were shattered and a claw was broken. It looked very pitiful.
Fang Yuan stood before the snake and looked like a deity.
"There is no need to pretend. This small injury is nothing!"
He arrived before the snake and looked on mockingly.
He had barely finished his sentence when the snake glared at him with vicious intent and used its remaining claw to strike him.
"Crash!'
The earth shook and a claw print appeared on the ground.
"Sou!"
Fang Yuan transformed into a shadow and evaded the attack before arriving at the lump on the giant snake's head.
"The snake is strange mostly because of this lump!"
He was suspicious. 3 spiritual meridians appeared on his body and the sheen of his armour intensified.
"Hiss!"
The giant snake started to flail wildly as it tried to fling Fang Yuan from its head in order to protect the lump.
"Hehe..."
Fang Yuan remained rooted, his left hand transforming into a blade. His face looked indifferent as he brought the blade down.
"Pop!"
The blade flashed.
Amidst the shrieks of the monstrous snake, the lump on its forehead split open, its poisonous blood splattered onto Fang Yuan.
"Chh chh!"
Its poisonous properties were much more fearsome. Even though the defences were formed using the power of the spiritual meridians, the elemental force was dissipating at an alarming rate with a "chh" sound.
"Giant Eagle Claw!"
Fang Yuan took a deep breath before channelling his elemental force onto his left arm. He plunged his hand straight into the lump, towards the source of the light and closed his hand on a spherical object.
"Hiss!"
Beneath him, the giant snake started to thrash about and even slam its head on the ground.
"Come out!"
That spherical object appeared to be connected to multiple blood vessels like an old tree where its branches are intertwined.
Fang Yuan laughed and using his elemental power level 5, severed the meridians and yanked out the object!
"Chhh!"
A jet of blood spurted out as the giant snake gave a pitiful cry before falling limply to the ground as if all the bones in its body were removed.
"This is..."
Shi Yutong stepped forward and confirmed that the snake was gravely injured from its weak spiritual aura. She then looked at Fang Yuan who was gracefully floating down.
In his hand was a blue pearl which had some blood stains and threads of remnants on it.
"If my guess is correct, this pearl is a rare treasure. The snake might have possessed magical properties. However, it was only after being exposed to the pearl that the snake started to display signs of transformation..."
Fang Yuan wiped away the bloodstains to reveal the original look of the rare treasure.
It was the size of a fist and was blue. Flickering golden threads could be seen within the pearl.
"Dragon Pearl?"
Shi Yutong pondered before speaking the name of a rumoured legendary treasure before correcting herself. "No..."
"It is not a dragon pearl but a water dragon pearl. However, I suppose you can call it….."
Fang Yuan shook his head before turning to leave.
"Hmmmm?"
Shi Yutong was startled. "Sect Head, What about the inheritance?'
She did not forget what Fang Yuan set out to get.
"It's here!"
Fang Yuan looked at the pearl in his hand and smiled.
The predecessor displayed originality by hiding the inheritance within the pearl. If Fang Yuan's magical energy was not extraordinary, he would not have realized it.
As for the snake, without the pearl, even if it was able to survive, its prowess would be greatly diminished and it would not be of much use.
[1] A Chinese idiom suggesting that the something, in this case, power was enormous.
[2] snake monster, snake and water dragon are used interchangeably to describe the water dragon based on the original text of the author.