Chapter 064 The River-Turning Crocodile (5)

Everyone turned warily toward the source of the noise, only to see that two low-rank Spirit Illusionists had already perished. A gaping, gruesome hole yawned in their chests—their hearts had been ripped out while they were caught off guard! The sudden appearance of a new enemy sent a chill through the group.

Shen Duo stepped closer to examine the wounds with a furrowed brow. In her previous life as a military police officer, she had studied courses in human anatomy and medicine. The wounds on these Spirit Illusionists were ragged, the flesh around them mangled and indistinct. This was nothing like the work of sharp weapons or even illusion artifacts; rather, it seemed as if some ferocious beast had torn out their hearts with brute force.

Feng Jun also sensed something was amiss, his expression turning grave.

“Everyone, be careful. There may be other high-rank phantom beasts nearby!” For the first time, Feng Jun issued such a solemn warning.

Immediately, the group, rattled by Feng Jun’s words, scanned the surroundings with heightened vigilance, readying themselves for battle.

Through her mental link, Shen Duo asked Yu Sha, “Yu Sha, what kind of phantom beast do you think this is?”

“A River-Turning Crocodile,” Yu Sha replied with certainty.

“What? Does that mean there’s more than one River-Turning Crocodile here?” Shen Duo drew a sharp breath.

“And the one hiding is a One-Star Divine Phantom Beast!”

Yet another explosive piece of news came from Yu Sha.

A One-Star Divine Phantom Beast! Shen Duo recalled her sparring match with Feng Jun and his Eight-Headed Giant Python. She hadn’t been confident then, and being able to force Feng Jun out of his armored state had only been possible thanks to the old man’s longsword. Now, faced with another Divine Phantom Beast, Shen Duo’s heart was uneasy, but her fighting spirit surged. Real combat was the best way to grow stronger; as someone with a background in the military police, she knew this better than anyone.

Yu Sha’s voice sounded again: “According to the inheritance I carry, River-Turning Crocodiles are usually born in pairs. Their intelligence rivals that of humans, and they’re extremely cunning. I suspect that when the rogue Illusionists found a River-Turning Crocodile advancing here, it was actually one of a pair undergoing advancement. By the time we arrived, one had succeeded, and it is now the other’s turn. Normally, phantom beasts advance naturally. Any unnatural means of advancement, regardless of whether it’s a special technique left by an ancient Illusionist, always carries hidden dangers. If we weren’t guarding outside, ready to reap the benefits, this River-Turning Crocodile wouldn’t have resorted to such a bizarre method to hasten its progress.”

Shen Duo nodded. The priority now was to subdue these two River-Turning Crocodiles.

Most phantom beasts harbored deep hatred for human Illusionists, especially the higher-ranked ones. Proud of their noble bloodlines, they would never willingly become the phantom beast of a human Illusionist, bound for life to a single person—a humiliation to their dignity. Some Illusionists didn’t even treat their phantom beasts as partners, but as mere battle pets, which only fueled the beasts’ resentment. After all, these creatures were sentient beings with their own thoughts; they were not mere animals.

The River-Turning Crocodile was still writhing in pain in the pool, but now everyone’s attention was focused on the sounds in the purple reed forest around them, not daring to let their guard down for even a moment.

Hearts pounded in everyone’s chests. Strangely, the phantom beast that had just ambushed them did not appear again. After a while, with no further sound, some began to relax. Kang Cheng, the second son of the Lord of Shark City, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said hesitantly, “Maybe the high-rank phantom beast has already left?”

Several people loosened up, just as Kang Cheng had. Yet just as doubts faded, two more screams erupted from the rear left. This time, the group wasn’t completely caught off guard. Feng Jun no longer concealed his strength; the pentagram beneath his feet flared with a complex pattern of light, and intense pale-blue spiritual energy coalesced into a blade that slashed toward a section of the purple reed forest.

Following Feng Jun, bursts of green light flashed as the Spirit Illusionists unleashed their various techniques. A howl of pain echoed as a massive pit was blasted into the reeds. Inside lay a ferocious crocodile, only half the size of the one in the pool, its entire body shifting from transparent to silvery white.

This newly advanced River-Turning Crocodile had claws as sharp as knives, and its slightly open jaws were stained with fresh blood—a clear sign it had just ambushed the Spirit Illusionists.

Its limbs were shockingly agile, nothing like the cumbersome movements of an ordinary crocodile. In an instant, it vanished into the purple reeds! Left behind were two more ambushed Spirit Illusionists; one of them, Hong Zhi—a rogue recruited by the Lord of Shark City—was luckier than the other, having only lost an arm instead of his heart.

Fingers are connected to the heart, let alone an entire arm; Hong Zhi had long since fainted from the pain.

Even after the One-Star Divine Phantom Beast River-Turning Crocodile disappeared again, everyone remained on edge, their nerves stretched taut.

Feng Jun, too, was facing such a formidable phantom beast for the first time. He stood by Shen Duo’s side and reminded her, “Xiao Duo, be careful. This River-Turning Crocodile can turn invisible.”

With its silvery-white body and considerable size, the River-Turning Crocodile should have been easy to spot in the purple reeds, yet it had hidden among them from the start—even Feng Jun, a One-Star Sky Illusionist, had failed to detect it. Clearly, it possessed some form of invisibility.

Few phantom beasts could turn invisible, and even fewer could remain hidden as thoroughly as the River-Turning Crocodile, leaving not a trace of their presence. Even Feng Jun, raised in one of the Four Great Clans, had never heard of such a thing. He had heard of River-Turning Crocodiles before—they bore traces of ancient phantom beast blood—but invisibility was an exceedingly rare skill. Had this beast mutated?

Every phantom beast had its own attribute: Lei Hang’s Scarlet Flame Vermilion Bird was of the fire element, Feng Jun’s Eight-Headed Giant Python was water, Ben Yi’s beast was wind. The River-Turning Crocodile should have been water as well. Yet invisibility was a wood-element skill. Why did a water-element River-Turning Crocodile possess it? The only explanation was that during its advancement, the beast had mutated under the influence of the natural elements and gained an additional attribute.

On the Sacred Radiance Continent, most magical and phantom beasts were single-element, and multi-element beasts were exceedingly rare and highly prized. Such creatures often developed astounding skills during their advancement, just like this River-Turning Crocodile’s invisibility, making it capable of striking fatally when the enemy least expected it.

But the continent’s laws maintained balance: every strength brought a weakness. Multi-element beasts were less controllable, and if their advancement went awry, they might develop only ornamental skills rather than deadly ones. Moreover, their single-element counterparts typically had stronger offensive abilities. Gains and losses balanced out.

Now, no one knew where the River-Turning Crocodile lurked, waiting to strike. Everyone was on edge, fearing they might be the next target. Zoey shielded Princess Doris, finally understanding the beast’s strategy: to pick off the weaker Spirit Illusionists one by one with lightning attacks, slowly boiling the frog, whittling away their fighting strength, and, more importantly, breaking their morale by instilling terror.