62: Chapter 62 Next time, run first, then talk – a pyrrhic victory!

The crocodile's body slowly rose as the golden scales on its head fully lit up, actually projecting a phantom image of half a tortoise shell behind it. Zhao Yu's pupils shrank: "It's the embryonic form of the Black Tortoise! Interrupt it, quickly!"

He lunged fiercely toward the nearest water pillar, slamming into it with his shoulder. Amidst flying stone debris, the water pillar only swayed slightly. The Xuan Shui Crocodile's long tail swept over; this time, Zhao Yu couldn't completely dodge it, and the sensation of his ribs snapping made his vision go dark.

Su Qingyue's essence blood dyed the Ice Silkworm Silk red. The transparent threads of 'Mirror Moon Kill: Traceful' had just touched the Xuan Shui Crocodile's seven-inch mark when they were shattered by an earthy-yellow shockwave. She was thrown back as if hit by a heavy hammer, crashing into the rock wall. A metallic sweetness welled up in her throat, and her Spiritual Qi Meridians throbbed with a tearing pain.

Zhao Yu's longsword had long since been snapped by the crocodile's tail. Enduring the agonizing pain of a fractured right tibia, he lunged forward and drove the broken blade into the old wound on the crocodile's belly. However, he was sent flying by the burst of Qi as the creature rolled over. His right arm twisted at a bizarre angle, leaving him unable to even let out a scream.

The Xuan Shui Crocodile roared frantically, its golden scales glinting with a malevolent light under the moon.

Zhang Wen clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. Beads of blood seeped from between his fingers and dripped into the mud, instantly scorched into white smoke by the purple lightning rising around him.

He knew he absolutely could not retreat—Senior Sister's Spiritual Qi fluctuations were already so weak they were almost invisible, and Zhao Yu's gasps were accompanied by the grinding sound of bone on bone.

The Xuan Shui Crocodile turned its head, its vertical pupils reflecting Zhang Wen's slight figure. It suddenly lowered its body, crushing forward like a moving small mountain.

Zhang Wen slammed his foot against the ground: "Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks!" Lightning Radiance enveloped him as he leaped back over ten feet, the muddy water at his feet sizzling. But the Xuan Shui Crocodile was far faster than he imagined; the tip of its tail grazed his back, tearing a trail of blood. A searing pain crawled up his spine.

He staggered to a steady stance. Just as he was about to form a hand seal, the Xuan Shui Crocodile's massive maw was already before his eyes.

Zhang Wen forced his body to twist. His left arm was grazed by the crocodile's snout, instantly tearing the flesh and exposing stark white bone. The intense pain made his vision darken, but it also forced out a ruthless determination—using the momentum, he lunged under the crocodile's belly and slammed his left palm, wreathed in purple lightning, against that old wound: "Rushing Thunder Delusion Breaking Fist: Startling Thunder Arises!"

As the fist energy exploded, the Xuan Shui Crocodile let out a deafening roar and rolled over, flinging him away.

Zhang Wen crashed down beside Zhao Yu, the bloody froth he coughed up splashing onto the other's face. Yet, he stared fixedly at that wound—the fist energy from just now had only caused the healed flesh to crack a sliver, and it was already closing at a visible rate.

“Thun... Thunder Net...” Zhao Yu struggled to raise a hand toward the crocodile's body, but let out a pained groan before he could finish. Zhang Wen understood instantly. Enduring the agony in his left arm, he formed a seal: “Thousand Mechanisms of Purple Lightning Transformation!” Fine threads of lightning had just wound around the crocodile's body when they were shaken to the point of collapse by the creature's erupting Bloodline Power.

He gritted his teeth and pushed his Spiritual Qi. The lightning threads suddenly tightened, exploding with blinding electric light between the gaps in the scales. The Xuan Shui Crocodile's movements visibly faltered for a moment.

Now! Zhang Wen dragged his injured arm and lunged forward, only to be struck in the chest by the crocodile's front claw. He flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing down beside Su Qingyue.

He could feel a section of his sternum had collapsed, and every breath tasted of blood. But in his peripheral vision, Su Qingyue was using all her strength to raise her hand. Her fingertip glowed with a final bit of Shimmer, pointing at the old wound on the crocodile's belly that was bleeding again.

“Senior Sister...!” Zhang Wen roared as he propped himself up. The purple lightning around him suddenly surged, even the air crackling from the heat.

Sensing danger, the Xuan Shui Crocodile whipped around to crush him, only to see Zhang Wen's figure transform into a straight line of lightning— “Thunder Wrath: Instant Prison Kill!”

This time, he held nothing back. His charred palm, carrying an Aura that could tear through anything, followed the gaps in the scales opened by the lightning net and slammed deep into that bleeding old wound.

The Xuan Shui Crocodile let out a wretched howl that didn't sound like a beast. Its massive body arched violently before slamming back onto the ground, making the earth tremble.

Zhang Wen maintained his palm-strike posture until he was certain the Vicious Beast was no longer moving. Only then did he collapse into a sitting position, as if his bones had been removed.

He looked at his charred palm, then at Su Qingyue and Zhao Yu struggling to get up in the distance. He suddenly burst into laughter—a laugh filled with the taste of blood that made the wound in his chest hurt even more.

As the white light of dawn crept across the horizon, Zhao Yu finally panted and cursed, “You kid... your life is tougher than wild grass.”

Su Qingyue stood up by leaning against the rock wall. Looking at the dull gold bead gradually brightening beside the crocodile's corpse, her eyes suddenly grew hot—the water and earth patterns on the bead's surface were fading, revealing a warm jade color inside. It shimmered in the morning light, looking much like the lingering spark of lightning in Zhang Wen's palm.

...

A layer of pale blue water light first flickered on Su Qingyue's fingertips. She leaned against the rock wall to slowly stand straight, her soaked robes stained with blood and filth. Her face remained as pale as paper, yet her eyes were as clear as a cold pool under the moon.

Looking at the two men gasping for breath in the mud, she took a deep breath. The water ripples at her wrist suddenly spread out, transforming into dots of shimmering light that floated toward them: "Water Pulse: Hymn of Compassionate Rain."

As her voice fell, the wounds on Zhang Wen's back were sizzling with bloody bubbles. Beneath the charred flesh, the recovery ability of the Indestructible Thunder Body was quietly activating.

The moment the pale blue water ripples touched his skin, they turned into fine rain threads that seeped inside. The originally torn flesh actually wriggled slightly in the water light, and pale pink new tissue began to emerge where bone had been exposed. Even the charred marks from the lightning burns between his fingers slowly faded, though every inch of healing brought a slight itch that made him let out a low groan.

On the other side, Zhao Yu's twisted right arm was propped up at a bizarre angle. The pain from the grinding broken bones caused cold sweat to pour down his face.

The earthy-yellow halo of the Unbreakable Bedrock flickered around him, but it couldn't withstand the severity of his injuries; his healing speed was as slow as a snail.

When the water ripples wound around his arm, they actually drilled into the gaps between the bones. The originally dislocated joint trembled slightly within the cocoon of water light, letting out a faint 'click.' A numbing warmth spread from the fracture. He instinctively tried to move, but was stopped by Su Qingyue's soft command: "Don't move. Let the water pulse smooth out your bones and Meridians."

She wasn't faring well herself; her chest felt tight as she activated the water pulse, and her previously disordered Meridians still throbbed with stinging pain as the Spiritual Qi circulated.

But seeing the bone fragments on Zhang Wen's left arm gradually covered by new flesh, and Zhao Yu's twitching calf no longer spasming, the water light at her fingertips brightened a bit more.

The rain threads fell upon the two men, splashing into tiny points of light. Mixing with Zhang Wen's lingering purple lightning and Zhao Yu's escaping earthy-yellow Spiritual Qi, they wove into a three-colored mist in the morning light.

“Senior Sister's water pulse... is much more advanced than last time.” Zhao Yu was the first to recover his strength. He tried moving his fingers; although the area of his broken ribs still felt heavy, he could now breathe smoothly.

Zhang Wen stared at his palm—after the charring faded, it actually emitted a faint lightning glow. Clearly, the Hymn of Compassionate Rain was not just healing him; it was also quietly nourishing his over-exhausted Spiritual Qi by following the characteristics of the Indestructible Thunder Body.

Seeing their complexions improve, Su Qingyue finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to withdraw her Spiritual Qi, her vision went black and she staggered.

Zhao Yu was quick to support her, only to find that the water light at her fingertips had faded to the point of near disappearance. The new cold sweat on her temples mixed with bloodstains, glinting with a bitter light in the dawn.