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Chapter 107: Teamwork Makes The Dream Work!
Yes, Tang San's wind has arrived!
The Fissure Lizard was of the earth attribute and it was naturally adept at using the ground to hide itself and launch stealth attacks, an ability known as Earth Evasion. In addition, its hide was tough and it had formidable defenses.
Many of the earth-attribute demonic beasts were herbivores, but this lizard was a carnivore, preying on various small demonic beasts for food. It was evident why Tang San and his group were targeted. In the eyes of demonic beasts, humans were nothing but a nice, tender meal. Demonic beasts weren't as intelligent as demons, but their hunting instincts were much more potent. Nearly all demonic beasts were dangerous.
Earth-attribute demonic beasts relied on the ground for most of what they did; their combat ability was significantly reduced once separated from it.
Therefore, when Wu Bingji initiated the attack and Gu Li took control, Tang San's first thought was to separate the beast from the ground.
A beast like this, with cultivation definitely at the fifth order or even close to the sixth, was not easy to kill due to its strong defense. Therefore, the first step was to neutralize its advantage.
The Fissure Lizard couldn’t fly. It thrived on the ground, able to move by Earth Evasion anytime and even attack by harnessing the ground’s power. But once off the ground, it's not much of a threat.
When Wu Bingji saw the Fissure Lizard floating in the air, held up by Tang San's whirlwind, a flash of admiration appeared in his eyes. Such precise judgment!
He knew that his own judgment was sound, but even he couldn't have reacted correctly in the nick of time as Tang San had. Otherwise, his best move would have been to use ice spikes to lift the opponent from the ground.
By now, Tang San was controlling the Fissure Lizard’s levitation at will, and Wu Bingji knew exactly what to do next.
A trail of ice formed under his feet, and Wu Bingji's speed surged. He instantly glided beneath the Fissure Lizard.
"Freeze!" Gu Li's second command came.
As long as there wasn’t a massive difference in cultivation, the effect of the Chrono Croc Transformation was practically absolute. Who can contend with time?
Just as the Fissure Lizard tried to resist, it froze again. In the next instant, Wu Bingji's hands had already struck it.
Presumably at the peak of the fifth order, the Fissure Lizard had a cultivation level similar to Feng Xiong, the Wind Wolf Lord whom Tang San had killed. However, its lack of intelligence made it far less of an opponent. Actually, compared to demons, demonic beasts were generally weaker precisely because of this. There were exceptions, but they were rare.
Thanks to his sixth-order cultivation and the enhancement of the sixth-order Ice Nymph Transformation and ice elemental physique, Wu Bingji’s gentle touch instantly caused the lizard to turn into a lizard-shaped icicle.
The Fissure Lizard, indeed, had solid defenses and was generally resistant to all kinds of attacks. However, faced with this incredible cold, it immediately stiffened.
At the same time, wind blades began to descend from the sky. Eighteen consecutive wind blades dropped one after the other, looking like a green bridge in the air.
Each wind blade struck the exact same spot with incredible precision.
The Fissure Lizard's defense was formidable; even facing the Hundred Birds Homing Strike powered by wind energy, it withstood until the eighth strike before the scales on its nape were cracked open.
As it tried to struggle, Gu Li uttered the third "Freeze!" And then...there was no “then.”
The head of this formidable Fissure Lizard flew. Blood spurted wildly, staining the solid ice red.
Its body, over three meters long, fell to the ground. This demonic beast that had cultivated all the way to the peak of the fifth order was now dead beyond doubt.
The entire battle had lasted only about ten seconds.
After using Time Freeze three times in ten seconds, Gu Li's face turned pale, but his eyes were filled with excitement.
Killed? Just like that?
In the ordinary human understanding, humans of the same level were inferior to demonic beasts, which in turn were inferior to demons. This was due to the level of their physical abilities.
Previously, encounters with demonic beasts had been rare for Gu Li and his team. Even when they did occur, battles were almost always under the guidance of a master.
Today, just a few students had killed a demonic beast evidently stronger than all of them apart from Wu Bingji, and they’d done it very smoothly at that. It was their first time.
Even Cheng Zicheng, who hadn't directly participated in the battle but rather observed from the air, was visibly excited.
How was it so easy?!
The moment after the Fissure Lizard fell, Wu Bingji immediately turned to look at Tang San.
Their eyes met, and Tang San gave him a thumbs-up. Wu Bingji smiled and returned the gesture.
Though Wu Bingji was the most advanced in cultivation in their team, he was well aware that the outcome of this battle would have been quite different without Tang San.
Even with Gu Li's Chrono Croc Transformation and Time Freeze, stopping the defensively strong Fissure Lizard from burrowing into the ground and scampering away would have been a tall order. However, Tang San's whirlwind had followed Gu Li’s ability seamlessly, separating the lizard from the ground. Ideally, Gu Li should have handled this alone in order to allow Tang San to focus solely on attacking, but he hadn't done what he had to do in time. Luckily, Tang San had compensated for it.
In any case, this makeshift team had just taken down a peak fifth-order demonic beast in just ten short seconds. That was an indisputable fact.
The Fissure Lizard was also on the academy's task list, offering significant rewards—one naturae coin per lizard. Its scales were precious. But it was notoriously difficult to kill, as it would burrow away at the first sign of trouble, making it hard even for the strong to capture.
Yet today, they had managed to kill one.
"Amazing," Du Bai exclaimed, jumping out from behind a tree, his face alight with excitement.
Having not participated in the battle, he was unaware of the details. In his view, it was naturally the strength of his companions! The Fissure Lizard had been defeated basically in the time it had taken Gu Li to yell three words.
"Impressive!" Gu Li said, returning to the group and giving Tang San a thumbs-up.
He was not stupid by any means, and he could see who had played the most significant role in the battle.
Tang San smiled and said, "Actually, the credit should go to brother Du Bai."
"Him? Why him?" Cheng Zicheng questioned with a hint of dissatisfaction. It was clear that she was regretting not participating in the battle.
Tang San explained, "Because he was actually the one who detected the enemy! Brother Du Bai's Celestial Fox Vision grants him foresight. It’s not all that great because his cultivation is not quite there yet, but when he feels discomfort, it usually means that there’s some kind of danger approaching. That's why I told you to be alert just now. Otherwise, that sudden ambush could have injured any of us really badly."
Gu Li nodded, still somewhat shaken. He hadn't had time to unleash his Chrono Croc Transformation, and in his normal human form, a strike from the Fissure Lizard's tail could very well have killed him on the spot.
Du Bai blinked, questioning his own importance. He wasn't too sure about it.
Tang San suggested to Wu Bingji, “Senior brother, our team is one unit. How about we split all our gains equally once we return?”.
Wu Bingji looked at him and nodded without hesitation. "That's only fair. If I remember correctly, the Fissure Lizard is worth one naturae coin.”.
"Wow, we're rich, we're rich!" Du Bai danced excitedly around the Fissure Lizard's corpse.
Wu Bingji shook his head in mild amusement and said to Cheng Zicheng, "Zicheng, please keep watch for now. I'll take care of the Fissure Lizard's corpse."
Wu Bingji raised his left hand as he spoke, and only then did Tang San notice a bracelet about two fingers wide on his wrist. The bracelet had intricate patterns and emitted faint energy fluctuations.