“Glug glug.”
Above the Ring River, a mud monster charged at the unwelcome guests with a roar, spitting mud pellets as a show of deterrence.
To Ivan and his companions, the sound was no different from bubbles popping on the water surface, and they simply ignored the slow-moving mud pellets.
The group briskly crossed the river’s surface.
It must be said that there were indeed many mud monsters on the Ring River, tall and short, with the tallest reaching about ten meters.
The mud monsters seemed territorial, patrolling only their own areas, which made the group’s advance much smoother, ultimately stopping after the second inner Ring River.
“Boss, shouldn’t we go inside and look around?” Locke queried, puzzled.
“We can see clearly from here,” Ivan said, staring ahead.
Like the area where the Frostflame Flower was located, there were unusual Elemental Phenomena all around—there was lightning pulp, dust, frost fog, and others. Compared to the layered ‘Heaven and Earth Net’ of the Frostflame Flower, those here were lacking in density.
However, Ivan did not feel this place was any safer than where the Frostflame Flower was located.
He had not yet decided whether to get involved and naturally would not rashly venture further into it.
At this moment, the ant sentinel and the rapid wood silkworm returned to the swamp ant and Silkworm Queen respectively, bringing no particular findings.
“Jenny, what do you think?” After pausing for a dozen seconds, he turned his head and asked.
“There is a large accumulation of Earth-type, Lightning-type, and Water-type energy particles. The deeper we go, the more volatile the particles become. Whatever is gestating here seems to relate to these three elements,” Jenny said indifferently.
Ivan nodded slightly, his thoughts aligning with hers.
What he sought was an artifact constituted of Earth, Wood, and Fire-type particles, which was distinctly different. Considering the hidden dangers of the Colorful Pit, many things were too perilous to meddle with. After careful consideration, he decided not to intervene.
“Retreat!”
Ivan waved his hand decisively.
Upon hearing his command, Locke hesitated, feeling somewhat displeased to leave a treasure trove empty-handed.
Unbeknownst to them, at the very moment they began their retreat, certain hidden individuals breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves ‘lucky you’re sensible’.
“Boss, there’s some activity; seems like it’s matured?”
However, just as Ivan and the others had crossed the fourth Ring River, a sudden thunderous noise erupted behind them, followed by a continuous crash of thunderstorms. Simultaneously, the dust and frost fog also exploded, creating a deep, rumbling sound that vibrated in all directions.
The group couldn’t help but turn their heads to look back, only to see utter chaos reigning.
With sharp eyes, Ivan caught a glimpse of a treasure manifestation through the turmoil, just as Locke had mentioned, the treasure there had indeed just ripened.
Beside him, Locke’s eyes sparkled intensely.
“There are Thunder barbarians.”
Before Ivan could say anything, some individuals couldn’t hold back any longer; they shed their disguises and emerged as a group of nine.
This scene caught Jenny’s eye, and she gave a warning before turning her head to glare at the swamp ant and Silkworm Queen. The earlier scouting had discovered nothing and had surely exposed their trails.
The Thunder-clan individuals were tall with azure skin, and after emerging, they flapped the wings on their backs and charged towards the chaotic area in a wedge formation.
Their formation concealed a strategy; soon, the Thunder Power covering their bodies linked together, vaguely forming an ancient Thunder Beast. The Thunder Beast, with its overwhelming presence, tightly shielded the Thunder-clan members within.
“Those Thunder barbarians are real brutes,” Locke remarked, watching their bold intrusion. “Supposedly, where treasures are gestated, there must be guardian beasts. There can’t be none here, right?”
No one responded to his comment; meanwhile, the Thunder-clan really was barging through nearby the chaos and didn’t stop, just crashing into it.
It must be said, the ancient beast formed by the thunder was as stable as Mount Tai, pushing aside all surrounding chaos and absorbing the external Thunder Power.
No guardian beast came to stop them.
Just as the Thunder-clan’s figures disappeared into the chaotic phenomena, from the swamp below a colossal abyssal mouth burst forth, so massive it nearly covered most of the area where the treasure was located.
Accompanied by a ground-shaking roar, the abyssal mouth snapped upwards.
Wherever the abyssal mouth passed, whether energy or Thunder-clan members, all were swallowed in one bite.
“This—this is even more reckless!”
The scene truly stunned many onlookers, and Locke suddenly felt his throat go dry.
The creature below now revealed part of its true form—it appeared to be a rock-armored black crocodile enveloped in lightning patterns. Its head alone could encompass most of the area where the treasure was located; its size must be staggeringly immense.
“Continue retreating!”
“Yeah, let’s move quickly.”
Ivan didn’t know whether this giant crocodile truly had the confidence or was just recklessly acting; such thick, turbulent energy was directly ingested into its belly, and by any measure, it was an entity best left unprovoked.
Locke no longer had thoughts of treasure hunting, as the giant crocodile was fierce and he hardly seemed enough to fill its teeth gap.
The group arrived quickly and left just as swiftly.
“Crack!”
As they moved away, pillars of lightning flashed at the edge of the treasure’s location, striking down near the Ring River and transforming into figures—the lightning tribe.
However, nine went in, and only five came out, each one in a sorry state.
When the giant crocodile’s abyssal maw attacked, had it not been for the quick reactions of those behind, utilizing their full repertoire to transform into lightning and escape, they would all have ended up as the giant crocodile’s meal.
“Run!”
The escaping members of the lightning tribe didn’t dare to stop, swiftly distancing themselves from this extremely fierce creature.
Behind them, the giant crocodile had cleared the area it passed through.
Before it could fully swallow everything, it felt an excruciating pain that pierced through the heavens, radiating from inside out, unable to swallow the remaining energy particles in its mouth.
As the overlord of hundreds of miles, the giant crocodile wasn’t about to give up easily, despite rolling in pain on the ground, it kept its jaws tightly shut.
As the giant crocodile rolled, there was a rumbling explosion like a mountain rolling back and forth on the ground, wreaking havoc nearby.
“Roar!”
Ultimately, matters did not shift according to its will.
Shortly after, a bloody hole exploded on its body, and it involuntarily roared.
Instantly, the bloody hole and the giant crocodile’s mouth turned into two vortexes, furiously spewing out energy particles, and other objects followed.
This bizarre scene undoubtedly captured the attention of two groups of people from near and far.
“Ah—ah, it’s spitting things out.” Locke couldn’t believe it, as time and again, events surpassed his imagination.
From afar, accompanied by the discharge of energy, three peculiar orbs shot out, and, unsurprisingly, these were the treasures nurtured by this place.
The orbs flew at an incredible speed, a yellow orb heading in their direction of retreat, a blue orb not too far away, and the last one, spat from the mouth, flew straight upwards.
“Boss?” Locke looked eagerly at Ivan.
“Heaven and Earth Net will not hold it against you if you don’t take it,” Ivan muttered.
“What?” Locke blinked.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry and chase after that blue one,” Ivan said impatiently.
“Oh, right.” Hearing this, Locke quickly dashed after it.
Jenny also moved, heading towards the yellow orb’s path. As it neared, she grabbed it, dispersing the light around it to reveal the treasure.
It turned out to be a crystal-clear bead.
The bead, the size of a fist, was full of unique Earth-type energy, essentially a natural high-level magicalized item.
Locke was also successful; by the time others arrived, he had already secured another bead, a Lightning-type energy bead, its quality no less than that of the Earth-type.
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“Let’s go.”
Ivan didn’t inspect them closely, he pocketed the two beads and ordered a continued retreat.
They picked up the bargains and left, which nearly enraged the lightning tribe to the point of exploding their lungs.
Thinking of how long the lightning tribe had laid in wait, sacrificing almost half of their number and wounding the rest, they ended up with nothing. Meanwhile, those humans looked as if they were just out for a stroll, yet they walked away with the richest fruits.
“Human sorcerers are indeed despicable, shamelessly stealing our achievements.”
“Kill! Anything less will not quench the fury of our lightning tribe.”
The lightning tribe and humans were natural enemies, already filled with pent-up anger; this incident caused their rage to overwhelm their reason, feeling they should catch up and teach the human sorcerers a bloody lesson.
The next second, five lightning tribe members, with dazzling lightning radiance, chased after them.
However, they soon realized that the human sorcerers’ speed was not slower than theirs. The leading member of the lightning tribe, Gao Deng, halted the group, pulling out a thin fishskin scroll from his pocket.
“Based on the surrounding area’s layout, they must pass through here. We can take a risk and go by a shortcut.”
Gao Deng infused an appropriate amount of Thunder Power into the fishskin scroll, and a detailed map clearly emerged. He first touched a zone marked as intermediate danger, then gestured over a higher danger area.
“I agree.”
“I agree too. After catching them, we’ll retrieve the tri-color beads to console our sacrificed tribesmen.”
His words gained approval from the others; they all thought they should take a shortcut to intercept the human sorcerers’ party, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to calm their minds.
Besides, in terms of understanding the battlefield in the pit, their lightning tribe was surely a notch above.