“Holy crap! Is this secret realm about to blow up?!” Huang Qi shouted in terror.
The three of them were in an utterly miserable state, lying flat on the raft and gripping the gaps between the planks for dear life.
They had almost been thrown off by the waves caused by the shock, and getting completely soaked was unavoidable.
At some point, a protective barrier had formed around Bai Qiu, enclosing the entire raft and blocking all the mud splashing from the front.
Even so, the quake-like tremor sent waves over the raft, soaking his shoes and pant legs.
He hadn’t expected the fully-charged attack of the Stone Staff to be this powerful in this environment.
Its might wasn’t any weaker than the power of his own Noble Phantasm, instantly obliterating the elite Muddy Swamp Crocodile.
With this, the Mage Merchant’s quest was nearly complete—only the last kill count for the Tidal Staff remained!
Stone Staff (Grade D)
Inject mana and absorb surrounding earth-element magic essence to create a falling rock that attacks the enemy.
Each attack purifies and condenses earth-element magic essence inside the staff.
Skill 1: Element Storage
The more earth magic essence stored, the higher the staff’s quality becomes, up to Grade C.
Skill 2: Heavens’ Boulder
Releases all stored compressed earth magic essence, creating an earth-magic focal point at a designated location. The focal point absorbs surrounding earth-element essence and summons a massive Heavens’ Boulder to crash down, dealing immense damage. The absorption radius depends on the amount of stored essence, up to 200 meters.
Only now did Bai Qiu truly understand how perfectly this staff matched the environment.
It wasn’t just that the dense magic essence sped up its attacks—the active skill Heavens’ Boulder also received an enormous environmental boost.
Its power this time was more than a hundred times stronger than the one he used in the Fertile Grasslands!
“Pff! Puh! Ugh!” Huang Qi spat out a mouthful of swamp water.
He had choked himself talking while clinging to the raft.
With a miserable expression he said, “Brother Bai, next time you unleash a big move, give us a warning first! My heart’s not good—if you scare me a few more times I’m gonna die young!”
“Sorry, I didn’t expect the skill to be this strong in this secret realm. Honestly, this might not be any weaker than my Noble Phantasm,” Bai Qiu admitted.
It really was his mistake—he’d been too eager to instantly kill the elite swamp crocodile.
With the staff upgraded to Grade C and empowered by the environment, a few normal falling-rock attacks would’ve been more than enough to finish it.
The others silently cursed in their hearts.
Not weaker than a Noble Phantasm? My ass!
This one attack was like ten times stronger than the combined power of all three of their Noble Phantasms!
At the same time, they gained a whole new understanding of Bai Qiu’s strength.
If this terrifying attack came purely from the staff’s improved grade plus environmental boosts… then that meant Bai Qiu’s own Noble Phantasm—without any boosts—naturally had power comparable to this explosion.
That was truly terrifying.
Everyone stood up and let out a long breath of relief — but right then, a sudden change occurred!
The water beneath them, which had just calmed, suddenly revealed a massive dark shadow.
A moment later, a catfish twice the size of the giant catfish from earlier leaped out of the water!
With its enormous size, even if the raft didn’t break from the impact, the group would still be thrown into the swamp to fight it.
Just as panic struck them and they were still trying to react, Bai Qiu had somehow already appeared directly beneath the monster.
Bai Qiu held the Stone Staff in his right hand, clenched his left hand into a fist, and swung upward with all his strength.
The elite giant catfish’s lower jaw visibly caved in, and right before everyone’s eyes—
“BOOM!”
The force of the punch sent shockwaves blasting outward, even causing ripples to spread again across the already-disturbed water.
“Thud!”
The elite giant catfish crashed heavily into the muddy ground, writhing violently.
Mud splattered everywhere with each of its desperate struggles, and bright red blood seeped from its mouth — Bai Qiu’s punch had clearly dealt immense damage.
Immediately afterward, chunks of rock rained down onto its head.
After a few heavy impacts, its suffering came to an end as it died outright.
Even after dropping back to Grade D, the Stone Staff still packed plenty of power.
Bai Qiu exhaled in relief, still shaken.
“Careless! I didn’t notice it hiding underwater at all just now! That was close — we almost capsized! Scared me to death.”
Ning Xingxue: “…”
Zhao Daqiang: “…”
Huang Qi: “…”
After that small incident, Bai Qiu leapt into the air again, carefully scanning the surroundings.
Nothing within his vision could escape his attention.
And after a closer search, he really did find something unusual — the one and only boss of this dungeon!
Mutant Giant Water Serpent — Level 20, Lord-tier
Strength: C-
Magic: C
Endurance: C-
Agility: D
Skill 1: Devour
Can maintain its life by devouring any water-element energy.
Skill 2: Camouflage
Can use magic to alter its coloration and blend into its surroundings.
Skill 3: Water Cannon
Consumes magic to fire a high-pressure, spiral water-element blast — as powerful as a miniature tsunami!
Description:
A conceptual-type lord. It can grow without eating. Extremely timid. No active hostility toward other creatures. Possesses a certain degree of intelligence.
Right now, it was hiding in the muddy ground to the right of the raft, half of its head sticking out as its two round eyes stared at Bai Qiu — full of sheer terror.
When it noticed Bai Qiu looking in its direction, it quietly lowered its head back into the mud, afraid to make any noise and risk being discovered by this terrifying human.
“Uh…” Bai Qiu was stunned.
A C-grade, lord-level monster… in an E-grade dungeon?!
What shocked him even more was that this strongest existence in the entire dungeon… didn’t even have any aggression.
Meaning — unless a player discovered it and actively attacked it, it would hide the entire time until the player left the dungeon…
“What is it, Brother Bai? Did you find something? Don’t stay silent like that — you’re scaring me!” Huang Qi yelled anxiously, breaking Bai Qiu’s chain of thought and hesitation.
He hesitated because… this lord-tier monster was extremely pacifistic.
Killing it would only yield meat and exp.
Should he really kill something like that?
He longed for battle and worthy enemies.
Yet this serpent — a creature strong enough to truly challenge him — had zero desire to fight.
And judging by the untouched mud around it, with no tracks or crushed terrain, it had clearly been hiding there watching them for a long time.
“Uh… I found something new, everyone. But… how should I say this… I don’t really want to attack it.” Bai Qiu said after a moment of thought.
Zhao Daqiang’s eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, “Is it new materials? Post it in the party chat so we can see!”
Huang Qi and Ning Xingxue were immediately interested as well.
Anything Bai Qiu didn’t want was probably a priceless treasure for them — the more the better.
“…Sigh.”
Bai Qiu let out a helpless sigh.
He took a screenshot of all the information about the Mutant Giant Water Serpent and posted it in the party chat.
— The end of the Chapter–
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