''Please mighty Lord Dragon, help us kill the monster that lives inside the lake!''
When Shun Long heard the village chief's request he couldn't help asking
''Why do they need to take care of a monster that lives in the lake?''
The black dragon nodded his head as he asked this question to the village chief, who then trembled as he responded honestly
''Mightly Lord Dragon! Actually, the water from the lake is greatly beneficial to the cultivation of our tribe members. After drinking just a little of it, a second stage warrior at the peak can advance to the third stage!''
I would still be a third stage warrior if I hadn't consumed the lake's water 200 years ago.
However... every time that our tribe tries to take some water from the lake, we lose many of our warriors to that monster!''
Excitement filled not only Shun Long's, but little Black's eyes as well. If the water could help with the cultivation of the half-fiend members, then it was probably another huge treasure on par with the 'Golden Jade spirit tree'.
However, Shun Long didn't immediately accept the village chief's request, as he had little Black then ask him
''How strong is that monster that lives inside the lake?''
When the village chief heard this question, he couldn't help take a few steps back. Then, after taking a deep breath he responded seriously
''It... it has reached the 5th rank.''
The 5th rank!
Shun Long sucked in a cold breath of air as he heard this.
This was a magic beast that was just as strong, if not stronger than the average early-stage Nascent soul expert.
Although little Black had already reached the middle stage of rank 4, he was still a rank 4 magic beast in the end. Although he could probably fight against an early rank 5 magic beast for a bit, he was unable to really kill one.
Little Black understood what Shun Long was thinking and said
''Master, if it's a rank 5 magic beast, then not just its beast core, but its entire body will be a treasure for us. I can definitely advance my strength as well if I can consume its flesh.''
Shun Long however looked at the greedy black dragon and asked
''How confident are you that you can kill a rank 5 magic beast then?''
Little Black thought seriously for a while and said
''If we are talking about an early rank 5 magic beast... then about 20 percent. I'm also 50 percent certain of defeating it, and more than 80 percent certain of being able to run away if things look bad.''
Shun Long thought seriously for a while before he nodded his head and said
''Alright. There is also something that I want to try as well.''
Seeing that Shun Long had agreed, little Black looked at the half-fiend members as he spoke in their language.
The half-fiend villagers all looked elated as they kowtowed repeatedly on the ground and shouted
''Aytuev vatyetu vtaytue!''
''Aytuev vatyetu vtaytue!''
Little Black ignored the kowtowing villagers, as he then flew above their heads and directly arrived in front of the 30m(98ft) rank 4 'Golden Jade spirit tree', that was in front of the half-fiend village entrance.
Grabbing the golden tree's trunk with his talons, the 3m(10ft) tall little Black slowly uprooted the giant tree.
The half-fiend villagers looked at the black dragon who was taking away the golden tree with excitement in their eyes.
Since he had already agreed to fight against the rank 5 magic beast inside the lake, the villagers didn't even think that little Black would try to trick them.
After storing the 'Golden Jade spirit tree' inside the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long looked at little Black and said
''Since we don't have anything else to do now, then let's go to that lake. We can always come back and collect that mysterious iron from the half-fiend villagers later.''
Little Black nodded his head and looking at the village chief, he had him lead the way to the lake.
The village chief excitedly jumped up and gave some orders to the rest of the villagers, before he personally lead the way for little Black and Shun Long.
As they traveled deeper inside the forest, little Black noticed that the number of magic beasts in the surroundings had drastically decreased.
The half-fiend village chief seemed to know exactly which path to take, so that they wouldn't encounter any magic beasts on the way as well.
Finally, an hour later, their group had arrived in front of a huge lake with crystal blue waters.
The surroundings of the lake were extremely peaceful and there didn't seem to be a single animal around, let alone a magic beast.
The moment that they arrived in front of the lake, little Black's voice sounded inside Shun Long's head as he warned gravely
''Master, be careful!''
At the same time as little Black's voice sounded in his head, Shun Long saw a huge beast head emerging from the depths of the lake.
A 25m(82ft) long magic beast that was shaped like a giant worm slowly revealed itself. The beast had 9 eyes spread on its face, while multiple tentacles were hanging from the sides of its body.
The half-fiend village chief shivered as he saw the beast once again and stepped back as he hid behind a tree, while even Shun Long was stunned for a moment after seeing the beast.
The aura from this worm made it clear that this was truly an early rank 5 magic beast.
Looking at little Black who had already flown up in the sky, ready to fight against it, Shun Long warned
''Little Black be careful! This is a rank 5 'Nine-eyed giant worm'! Its tentacles have a paralyzing poison that can incapacitate even early rank 5 magic beasts.''
The moment that Shun Long finished explaining the 'Nine-eyed giant worm's' strengths, he immediately circulated the 'Monarch's Hourglass' as well as his golden eyes.
Then, turning his eyes to look at the rank 5 giant worm, he mumbled
''Let's see if this will really work.''