Dark Blood Path

The wind persisted, and the rain fell incessantly throughout the night.

As the sun rose on the next day, the air was significantly fresher. The jungle was damp with waterlogged leaves, and the earth was blanketed in muddy puddles. After walking for some time, the people were utterly drenched. Still, after over two hours of travel, they were greeted by a revitalizing breeze that caressed their youthful faces, providing a much-needed energy boost. Then, as they rounded a few large trees, the view ahead abruptly opened up.

“How strange! I can distinctly hear the sound of water!”

As they walked, many people started hearing the sound of running water.

Before long, a serpentine river appeared in their field of vision, winding from west to east like a white dragon shuttling through a green ocean. The river was an impressive 200 meters wide, its currents slightly tumultuous from the recent downpour. Yet, despite the heavy rain, the water remained crystal clear, and the wind created ripples on its surface. The sun’s rays danced upon the water, giving it a dazzling and breathtaking sparkle. The grass on the river’s banks appeared to glow even brighter after the rain, and delicate flowers dotted the landscape, begging to be left untouched.

Jiang Xiaowen clasped the hand of little Tian Tian; both of them were taken aback by the beautiful scenery before them. “So beautiful!” they both exclaimed in unison.

While everyone smiled at the sight of the beautiful river, Xiao Yu was distraught. After a heavy overnight rainfall, the river had greatly expanded in width and flow. On their last crossing, he had gathered logs from the forest, cut them into pieces, and used them as stepping stones to easily reach the opposite shore. But unfortunately, not everyone possessed his mastery of the task.

No one knew what would appear in the deep river. Hence, crossing the river impulsively would be too risky. Of course, Jiang Xiaowen could effortlessly fly to the other side, but the task of transporting a hundred people across a 200 to 300-meter-wide river would exhaust her after just three to five trips, requiring half a day to recuperate. The feat of transporting everyone there was near impossible and presented an insurmountable challenge.

Xiao Yu devised a plan; then he instructed Jiang Xiaowen to lead Yun Yun across the river first while he attended to the task.

A massive tree was chopped down, its branches were trimmed, and the trunk was planted straight on the riverbank. Jiang Xiaowen located another trunk and placed it on the other end as well. The ropes brought by the individuals were taken out, and some sturdy vines were used to knot them together into a long rope connecting the two banks. The people held onto the rope, suspended ten meters above the river, and crossed to the other bank, making the journey safer and less strenuous than constructing a raft.

A group of fifteen individuals slid across the rope to the other bank, followed shortly by another fifteen….. and in less than ten minutes, the majority had safely arrived at the opposite side.

Xiao Yu glanced around; there were less than 20 people left, so he declared: “There’s no need to split into smaller groups; let’s proceed as one.”

One by one, everyone clambered up the tree trunk and started sliding towards the opposite bank. Xiao Yu and Han Kexin were the last two to make the journey.

A gentle breeze blew by, and with the clear blue sky overhead and the pristine river flowing beneath their feet, the scenery on both banks was picturesque. However, everyone’s hearts hung in the air as they slowly inched across, gripping the rope tightly and feeling the slight swaying of the tree trunks. But just as the first person reached the midpoint of the river, the people on the opposite bank suddenly found that the river was violently churning.

Huang Jianmin was shocked and yelled, “There is something in the river; be careful!”

Crash!

The river’s surface erupted suddenly, sending water droplets glittering in the golden sun like shards of silver jade. Right then, they caught sight of a silver, exotic fish with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth, rocketing out of the water and snapping its jaws towards one of their companions. The monster was over one meter long.

Jiang Xiaowen unleashed her spiritual power violently, taking control of the exotic fish. The fish hovered over a person’s leg but didn’t attack and instead plummeted back into the water. Almost at the same time, another exotic fish emerged, but Yun Yun quickly took it down with a well-aimed arrow. Right afterward, Jiang Xiaowen spread her wings and soared toward the river.

Du Tao had already seen a large number of shadows swimming in the water; his face changed drastically, and he shouted, “Quickly speed up!”

His voice was still echoing when the sound of splintering water resounded one after another. A dozen huge, exotic silver fishes leaped up from the river, unleashing a barrage of silver water arrows from their jaws. The power of these arrows was intense and as fast as bullets. Two people in the group were simultaneously hit by multiple shots. When the water arrows struck, they plummeted into the river with a scream.

Xiao Yu acted impulsively, diving into the river without a second thought. A cyan light flickered beneath the water’s surface, splitting the flow and staining the clear water with bright red blood. In a matter of moments, over a dozen exotic fishes, cut into several pieces, floated to the surface. Meanwhile, several people on the rope had safely made it to the shore.

Xiao Yu found the two injured people in the river, pulled them out, and quickly pushed them to the bank.

Someone yelled, “Not good; something is coming!”

At this juncture, The river suddenly erupted, spewing water everywhere, and a large black-tailed beast covered in scales could be seen flashing away. Then, a massive wave rose up, towering over ten meters high, and crashed down with immense force, obliterating the rope above the river. The impact was so strong that even those on the bank had to retreat several meters, fearful of the surging waters.

The force of the big waves hit Xiao Yu like a giant bear’s slap, causing him to swallow a few mouthfuls of water.

The huge wave finally subsided, and everyone on the shore was shocked to see the rope hanging over the river had snapped. The waves swept everyone into the river, causing backpacks, packaged food, and other supplies to float away. The people who fell were scattered everywhere in the water, frantically swimming toward the shore.

Du Tao yelled out, “Hurry up and save our people!” After uttering those words, he urgently wanted to jump into the water.

Xiao Yugang popped his head out of the water, took a quick gasp of air, and upon hearing Du Tao’s call, he immediately shouted loudly, “Everyone retreat; don’t go into the water!”

Jiang Xiaowen flapped her wings and lingered in mid-air, barely avoiding the huge waves just now. She didn’t know who to save. When she saw Xiao Yu floating up, she quickly shouted, “Oh no, where did Teacher Han go? She can’t swim!”

Xiao Yu’s heart trembled, his eyes darted across the water, and he couldn’t see Han Kexin’s shadow, “This is developing badly!” he thought to himself.

With no time to dive and rescue, Xiao Yu suddenly felt the water beneath him surge upward. A massive object was swimming towards him from the bottom, causing the current to churn. Acting quickly, Xiao Yu swam to the side, trying to avoid the unknown creature.

At this time, the water flow became more and more turbulent.

Jiang Xiaowen flapped her wings and flew down to catch a student who fell into the water.

Suddenly, the river’s surface surged once more as a massive black body broke through. Its blood-stained jaws were about to chomp down on Jiang Xiaowen, who, shocked, quickly dodged away. The monster fell back into the water with a loud splash, creating a huge ripple that pushed Xiao Yu out seven or eight meters away.

Xiao Yu took a deep breath and plunged into the river.

The monster thrashed about, churning up the sediment at the bottom of the river and making the once clear water murky. Finally, Xiao Yu caught a glimpse of the monster’s appearance in the water. It looked like a snake with two thick forelimbs, one eye, and razor-sharp teeth and was covered in black scales. It was most likely a first-order monster with a body length of about fifteen meters.

The exotic basilisk slithered slowly along the river bed, turning its head towards the people on the shore. Then, surging out of the water, it was preparing to launch a surprise attack.

Without even thinking about it, Xiao Yu waved the luminous beast blade and flung it out.

The blade sliced through the water, striking the head of the swift monster basilisk with a surprise attack. The momentum of its sprint was abruptly halted as a surge of bubbles burst from its mouth, and a spray of black blood spewed from its wounded area.

With anger in its solitary eye, the basilisk turned its head to glare at Xiao Yu. Then, it opened its mouth with ferocity, and the water gathered and spewed out fiercely, forming a cone-shaped spiral wave.

Unfortunately, being in the water severely hindered his movements, making it nearly impossible for him to move as swiftly as he wanted.

Xiao Yu’s pupils shrank suddenly, and everything around him seemed to freeze. He kicked his legs, propelling his body several meters away from the spiraling water wave. Yet he couldn’t avoid the full impact. The black scale armor on his body was torn apart, and his red blood immediately tinted the surrounding waters.

Several individuals were rescued from the river and brought to the shore. At this moment, the anxiously waiting crowd heard a sudden explosion and saw a cone-shaped water column surge out of the river before bombarding the nearby forest. The spiral cone of water ground down the trees, sending wooden chips and droplets scattering throughout the sky.

“What a powerful attack!” Jiang Xiaowen was taken aback and grew deeply worried. “Is Xiao Yu battling this creature in the water? Can he really win in such an environment? And where is Teacher Han? She’s been underwater for so long, and she can’t swim…”

Xiao Yu charged toward the strange basilisk. With a swift backhanded grip, he grabbed the blade lodged in its body, dragged it forward, and inflicted a deep, long wound. The basilisk furiously flicked its tail, sending Xiao Yu flying over ten meters away.

As Xiao Yu was flying upside down, his gaze shifted, and he spotted a human figure sinking more than ten meters away—it was Han Kexin. Without hesitation, he disregarded the exotic basilisk and raced to her side. He embraced her waist and activated “bullet time”, kicked his legs, and propelled himself towards the water’s surface like a missile, with water surging all around him.

Boom!

The river broke apart, and by the time Xiao Yu burst out, he was already more than a hundred meters downstream, separated from the rest.

Han Kexin was still conscious and clung tightly to Xiao Yu. The moment they emerged from the water, she coughed up a large mouthful and took two deep breaths. However, at that moment, the exotic basilisk pursued them like a shadow. It burst out of the water, creating a massive wave that engulfed them both and pulled them back into the water once again.

Moments later, Xiao Yu and Han Kexin emerged further down the river, only to be swept away by the massive waves.

Fighting in water was inherently disadvantageous for human beings. Not to mention the added strain of having to rescue Han Kexin. In this battle, Xiao Yu was completely in a passive position!

Jiang Xiaowen wanted to intervene but was unable to. Her poor swimming skills and the ineffectiveness of mind manipulation against the exotic basilisk made her entering the water useless. She could only grasp at her heart and wait patiently.

The exotic basilisk chased Xiao Yu away, prompting Du Tao to make a quick decision and send in a rescue team to save those who fell into the river. Not long after, most of the people who fell into the river just now were rescued, and only two people were still missing.

The intense battle in the water raged on, and Xiao Yu was feeling increasingly disadvantaged. The monster basilisk moved fluidly like a fish in the water, while he was limited in every turn. only exerting 10% of his fighting power. As a result, he could only fend off the attacks and retreat, exhausting his physical strength without delivering any substantial blows to the monster basilisk.