Chapter 42 - 42: Mantis Stalks Cicada
'What are they doing standing near that pond?' Long Chen could see Long Su and 3 others standing near a pond.
"After following this map for 3 days, we finally found that marked location," One of the three people said looking at the lake.
"As you all know, we got this map through great luck, even though I don't know what the treasure at this marked location is. I am not even sure if someone got this treasure from here before us." Long Su looked at the other three as he said seriously.
"But since all four of us found this map together, we can only share the treasure. If it is something that can't be shared, I will take it and pay you your respective share using gold or Mana crystals. As you already know, my Long family can afford it as long as the treasure is worth it." Long Su said with pride on his face.
"Young master Su, of course, we know that the Long family can afford most treasures, and if the treasure is something even beyond their league, then it will only bring us disaster if we keep it, so we will accept your condition." Said a Chubby guy with a fawning expression.
"Hahahaha, you are a really smart guy, Chu Liang. Worthy of being the Young master of the Chu clan. Although it is not a supreme clan like ours, it is still in the top few 1st grade clans of dragon city.
I am sure when you become the clan leader after your father, you will bring your clan even more prosperity." Long Su laughed as he patted Chu Liang's shoulders.
"I am not worthy of such praise, young master Su. Still, I will accept this compliment, since you are the one giving it to me." This Chubby guy called Chu Liang smiled as he said that while looking at Long Su.
"What do you all think about this?" Long Su turned back and looked at the other two.
"We agree to your suggestions as well, Young Master Su." Both of them accepted this proposal after thinking for a while.
'Treasure map? Interesting. They must have got this map from somewhere, that's why they were hurrying here. It makes more sense now. Either coming here for the experience was just an excuse, or they got the map after they came here and changed their plans.' Long Chen thought as he stood behind a tree nearby, just enough so that he was out of the range of Long Su's divine sense.
Long Chen knew that an ordinary 8th stage Spirit Establishment cultivator generally has a divine sense range of 60-70 meters, about one-third of Long Chen's divine sense range.
'The distance between us is 90 meters. If I got near him, there is a good chance that he might not notice me, but if he used divine sense randomly just to check his surroundings, I will be found. I should get a skill that hides my presence from skill Hall on my next visit.
For now, I need to see what they are doing before doing anything.' Long Chen thought as he kept observing Long Su through his divine sense
"According to the mark, the treasure is inside this pond, but there is one problem. There is a steel-backed alligator inside this pond. It's a 10th stage Spirit beast, we need to do something about it."
"Exactly, although it is a 10th stage Spirit beast and we could have taken it out easily if we fought on the ground. But it's inside the water, it will be tough winning a battle against it inside water." Chu Liang commented.
"Then we will just have to get it out of the water and kill it," Long Su smiled as he said.
"How can we make it come out of water?" Chu Liang asked.
"Simple, we will just give it something that it cannot resist. I have a vial of beast attracting liquid with me, made by a grade 1 alchemist of dragon city. I got it for pretty cheap In an auction since no one wanted it. No beast below Earth realm can resist it, let alone steel-backed alligator." Long Su took out a vial as he showed it to his friends proudly.
"You are pretty amazing, master Su. it is just what we needed," all three praised Long Su.
"Let's empty this place and wait nearby" Long Su dropped the vial on the ground as it broke. A strong smell started spreading nearby.
'Interesting, So they are after this treasure. Well, although it's not my birthday, it would still be good getting a free gift today.' Long Chen thought as he smiled brightly.
After a little over 10 minutes, Steel backed alligator finally started emerging from the pond. In a short time, all of its body was out of the water.
This steel-backed alligator was over 10 meters long and had steel-like spikes coming out from its back. Slowly it kept walking towards the spot where that beast attracting liquid was dropped.
'It looks pretty strong, although its speed is lower than the seven-colored panther I killed a day before, its defense is definitely better.' Long Chen judged looking at the steel-backed alligator.
Long Su and his friends finally started attacking the steel-backed alligator.
Steel backed alligator made a loud noise as it fought back, but after a fierce battle, they started pushing it back. Many wounds started appearing on the steel-backed alligator's back.
'Long Su is 8th stage Spirit Establishment cultivator, while the other three are in the 7th stage of Spirit Establishment. They're pretty strong.' Long Chen observed those 4 as they fought.
'Although its defense is the strongest out of all the Spirit beasts I have seen yet, under the combined attack of those 4, it won't survive for much longer.' Long Chen judged looking at the situation.
After a fierce fight, a steel-backed alligator finally felt like his life was in danger as it started retreating towards the pond.
"Kill it before it enters the water!!" Long Su ordered everyone.
Chu Liang was standing between the pond and a steel-backed alligator. As the steel-backed alligator was attacked by the strongest skills of all four cultivators, it couldn't handle it and died.
"This bastard's defense was pretty strong. It took us so much time to kill it, and it even injured us all. Finally, it died."
"Yeah, I heard before that steel-backed alligator's skin is pretty expensive and is a good material for crafting, let's harvest it."
"Stop! Don't waste time on those things. First, we need to look for whatever's inside this pond, after we get this treasure, we can think about what to do with the body of a steel-backed alligator." Long Su said as he focused on the pond.
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