The photo was shot from a distance, showing a green valley sitting in the middle of a world of snow. Inside the valley, leafy trees and fully blown flowers were thriving.
In the middle of all these, there was a spring of water, about several dozen meter-square, covered in a blanket of white fog.
Standing in the middle of the spring was an exotic jade-green plant growing with bean-like bright-red berries.
“This is the Ginseng of Life, huh?”
Ling Jiu’s eyes were affixed to the photo.
“It looks similar to the legendary Ginseng of Life. It has still remained to be verified. But this Spring of Life is definitely legit!”
Shi Gang was in awe. “The guy who took this photo said he had tried the spring water; it is liquified Gene Arcana, but…”
“But what?”
Ling Jiu was puzzled.
“There was a Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon in the valley. That guy would have died and not be able to show these photos here if not for him fleeing quick enough,” Shi Gang said.
“Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon?” Ling Jiu’s heart skipped a beat. “You mean the nasty scaled dragon ranked sixth-fourth on the direbeast list?”
“Yup.” Shi Gang nodded. “The scaled dragons evolved from the pythons. Their strength is phenomenal among the direbeasts.
“Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragons are the most terrific of all scaled dragons. They have marvelous strength, unbeatable self-defensive skill, and three unique abilities. They were not ranked sixty-fourth on the direbeast list for nothing!
“It is guarding the Spring of Life. We can forget about going there. It is up to the trainers and head of camp whether they are interested to explore if the Spring of Life is legit.”
“The Ginseng of Life!”
Ling Jiu’s eyes flashed. “If there is anything more effective than Nine-Hearted Plumleaf Crab Apple in regrowing amputated limbs, it would be the Ginseng of Life.”
The next morning, Ling Jiu headed out toward Mount Kosciuszko. He had only one target: The Ginseng of Life.
Despite knowing there was a Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon guarding the place, Ling Jiu was still confident that with his teleportation and Shadowform abilities, he could steal the Ginseng of Life from under its nose.
What about risks?
With that disproportionately high reward, it was a risk worth taking.
Mount Kosciuszko, at 2,228 meters, was Australia’s tallest mountain. Its peak was snow-capped all year round. So it was not hard to find. Two hours later, Ling Jiu had arrived.
He switched on the Direbeast Radar and scanned if there was any trace of Class 8 direbeasts.
Class 8 direbeasts were the kings of all direbeasts. They were rare, and each of them had their respective territory. So Ling Jiu was sure that there were few Class 8 direbeasts on Mount Kosciuszko.
Therefore, he just needed to find the Class 8 direbeasts on Mount Kosciuszko and he would find the valley where the Spring of Life was.
Ling Jiu was right; the radar showed that there was only one Class 8 direbeast on Mount Kosciuszko.
He followed the radar and found the valley. Ice and snow and cold waves were everywhere, and the valley was the only place where green was thriving.
A warm current hit him as soon as he approached the valley as if he had come to the summer directly from the winter.
He carefully climbed to higher ground to have a bird’s-eye view of the valley.
Then, he saw Spring of Life where white fog was rising from, and also the green plant in the middle of the spring.
“The Ginseng of Life!”
Ling Jiu’s eyes brightened up. He moved like a flash and disappeared from the spot.
After a few teleporting maneuvers, he came in front of the Spring of Life and grabbed the Ginseng of Life at once.
“Flee!”
He disappeared in just the blink of an eye.
As soon as he was gone, a draft of cold spell hit through where he stood a second earlier.
The cold spell was so cold that except for the Spring of Life, all vegetation in the surroundings was frozen over, becoming ice sculptures.
An angry roar rose in the valley, and a powerful sound wave rapidly spread in all directions.
At that moment, the mountains on both sides of the valley shook. Rocks were tumbling down. Snow on the mountainside loosened and moved downhill, forming avalanches.
The next moment, a vicious giant scaled dragon flew into the air. This scaled dragon was over a hundred meters long, three-headed, silverish body with flaming stripes extending from head to tail, two claws on its belly, and a spiral horn on the head.
It was a Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon, the notorious scaled dragon ranked 64th on the list of direbeasts.
Its three pairs of eyes were red. When it flew into the sky at maximum speed, it created a sonic boom.
“Holy moly! It can see me?”
Ling Jiu continued to teleport, wanting to leave as quickly as he could. But it seemed the Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon could see him and was chasing him, closing in from behind.
As it was getting closer, Ling Jiu felt a chill run up his spine. He could sense the murderous air emanating from the Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon.
Had it been other direbeasts, Ling Jiu would have not felt intimated. But this Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon seemed to be unstoppable. He had lost his courage to fight.
His fear manifested itself as uncontrollable shivering of his body.
“This is the Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon? Why is the Celestial Magical Cat so different? Isn’t it the same Class 8 direbeast?”
Roar!
Roars like rumbling thunder came from behind him. He felt his head was going to explode, as if someone was hitting his head with a hammer, his ears ringing.
“I can’t outrun it!”
Ling Jiu could clearly feel the fiery breath coming out of the direbeast’s nostrils. It was no more than 20 or 30 meters from behind. With its speed, it would bite him in the next second.
In that split second, he suddenly changed his direction, going down toward the ground.
The direbeast was caught unawares. It would not change its direction in time because of the momentum and flew straight for a further 100 meters.
Meanwhile, Ling Jiu had performed several times of teleportation and landed on the ground. He then performed an Earth Release technique by burrowing into the earth.
He kept going down.
The Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon had arrived and came down like a meteorite as it impacted the ground with a loud bang.
The impact left behind a crater that was dozens of meters deep and several hundred meters wide.
Yet, Ling Jiu was nowhere to be seen.
The Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon did not give up yet. It pounded the ground with his giant claws until more craters formed in the ground.
“This is crazy!”
Ling Jiu stopped. He could completely sense how horrible this Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon was. The shock wave traveled several hundred meters deep into the earth. Had he not fled quick enough, he would have been smashed, becoming dead meat.
“It was a close call, but I made it!”