Chapter Forty-Five: Crossing the Calamity—The Illusory Crocodile Beast

Yaoye led everyone onward, constantly employing secret techniques as they went. The group followed him, weaving their way around the miasma. Sun Kaide, growing impatient, strode over with a sneer.

He looked at Yaoye with utter disdain and said, "Well, can you actually do this or not? Are you just wasting our time on purpose? If you can't do it, just say so. Don't pretend to be something you're not, claiming you can track the scent left by the demons. Hmph! You’re overestimating yourself!"

Zhao Mu stepped forward, pointing a finger at Sun Kaide's nose, and shouted angrily, "If you think you’re so capable, why don’t you try? I’d like to see what you can actually do, Sun Kaide. If you can't, then keep your mouth shut! No one begged you to come with us."

"You! Fine, fine, I’ll be waiting to see how you explain yourselves when the demon clan gets the Earth Lotus!"

"Both of you, stop arguing! Be careful not to disturb Yaoye. If anyone has objections, you’re welcome to act on your own—I won’t stop you!" Peng Lei interjected, cutting off their quarrel.

Just as Li Qin was about to step forward and explain, Yaoye’s delighted voice rang out, "Wonderful, Senior Brother! I’ve found it!"

"Really, Yaoye? That’s great! Let’s hurry—too much time has already been wasted!" Peng Lei exhaled in relief.

"From here on, follow me, and move at full speed!" With these words, Yaoye dashed toward the distant miasma.

"Let’s go! Everybody, keep up and don’t fall behind! Liu Xin, Xiaoxiao, you two stick close to me!" Peng Lei led the way, charging after Yaoye.

Everyone followed Yaoye at a run, and indeed, there were no dangers along the way. After some time, Yaoye suddenly stopped, prompting everyone else to halt as well. Peng Lei and Li Qin quickly ran to his side, and Li Qin asked, "What’s wrong, Yaoye? Why did you stop all of a sudden?"

Yaoye pointed ahead and said to them, "Look! The Earth Lotus is just up ahead!"

Curious, Peng Lei peered in the direction Yaoye indicated. "Then why aren’t we moving forward? We’ve finally caught up; we can’t let the demon clan get ahead of us!"

"Senior Brother, look—something’s happening up there!"

Peng Lei and Li Qin followed Yaoye’s gaze and saw the demon clan and the people from Fire Dance Academy locked in a standoff with a magical beast.

Li Qin, astonished, pointed at the beast. "What kind of magical beast is that? Why is its aura so overwhelming?"

Yaoye stroked his chin in thought, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "It’s that creature! I can’t believe such a thing really exists!"

"Junior Brother, what is it? Why do you look so unsettled?" Peng Lei, seeing Yaoye so shocked, felt a foreboding.

"Senior Brother, you may not know—this beast is called the Calamity Mirage Crocodile. Its defenses and spirit are exceptionally strong. Once it reaches the tenth tier, nothing can harm it in the slightest! Fortunately, this one is only at the sixth tier, the Demon King realm, but even so, it has the strength of a seventh-tier Demon King. Sadly, because it’s so extraordinary, it cannot awaken true intelligence and remains a mindless beast. It’s only ever appeared in legend—I never expected we’d encounter one here. It’s truly unbelievable!"

After hearing Yaoye’s explanation, Li Qin interjected, "Even a seventh-tier magical beast is equivalent to us at the peak of soul communication, and magical beasts are naturally stronger than humans of the same tier. We have no chance of subduing it right now! What should we do?"

Peng Lei signaled for them to retreat, and as everyone watched Peng Lei and Yaoye fall back, Zhao Mu hurried over. "Senior Brother, what’s going on? Why aren’t we moving forward?"

The senior brother smiled, patted Zhao Mu on the shoulder, and gathered everyone to sit down.

"There’s a seventh-tier magical beast ahead—one we simply can’t handle. It must be the guardian of the Earth Lotus, and right now it’s facing off against the demon clan and people from Fire Dance Academy. There’s no need for us to muddy the waters. Let’s just watch them fight."

Zhao Mu frowned in confusion, unable to guess what Peng Lei was planning. "Senior Brother, are we just going to sit here and let the demon clan take the Earth Lotus?"

Peng Lei chuckled softly and pointed at Zhao Mu, "You! Why would we go over now? We’ll just watch the tigers fight from the mountain. Once they’re locked in battle with the magical beast, they’ll be too busy to care about the Earth Lotus. That’s when we’ll seize the opportunity to snatch it!"

After considering Peng Lei’s words, everyone agreed, "This is an excellent plan! Let’s do it!" One by one, they crouched down in the grass, waiting for their moment.