33: Chapter 33 Armored Crocodile Lizard

Beneath the giant tree where Ye Tian was hiding, it was a complete mess.

The thick trunk was covered in claw marks, and the ground had been trampled into pits and hollows.

He was panting heavily; the web of his right hand, tightly gripping the short blade, had already split open, and blood dripped down the handle.

A wound on his left arm, deep enough to see the bone, burned with pain; it was the result of failing to dodge in time earlier and being grazed by that beast's sharp claws.

Ten zhang away, a Vicious Beast, massive as a small hill, was crouching low and letting out low growls.

This Vicious Beast resembled a giant lizard but possessed a hideous crocodile head, its entire body covered in dark, thick scale armor. It was exactly a Fifth-Rank Vicious Beast, an Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard!

Ye Tian had been in the Secret Realm for one day.

Relying on caution and strength, he had harvested a few Spiritual Plants rare in the outside world and several exotic fruits containing pure Spiritual Qi, and had easily dealt with a few blind, third or fourth-rank Vicious Beasts.

However, just as he was crossing the edge of this swamp, heading toward a valley in the distance with even richer Spiritual Qi, he encountered this blocking Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard.

This beast was not only immensely strong, but even more terrifying was its set of scale armor, which had astonishing defensive power!

Ye Tian's Overlapping Wave Fist Triple Strength blasted against it, yet could only leave shallow white marks and emit dull thuds, failing to cause any substantial damage!

On the contrary, the Crocodile Lizard's sharp claws and giant mouth filled with fangs posed a deadly threat with every attack.

"Damn it! How is this guy's scale armor so thick!"

Ye Tian cursed inwardly, but his gaze became increasingly sharp.

He had already fought dozens of rounds with this beast; his True Qi consumption was not small, yet he still couldn't break its defense.

If he continued to drag this out, the situation would be extremely unfavorable for him.

The Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard's scarlet vertical pupils locked onto Ye Tian, its thick tail sweeping restlessly.

It seemed to have been angered by the tenacity of the "little bug" before it, and its patience was running out.

Suddenly, its four limbs kicked off the ground violently, and its massive body erupted with speed inconsistent with its size, charging fiercely toward Ye Tian!

Ye Tian's pupils constricted; he dared not take it head-on, so he exerted force under his feet, his figure rapidly retreating to the side and back!

Boom!

The Crocodile Lizard missed, and its huge head slammed violently into a large tree behind where Ye Tian had just been standing, the trunk as thick as a man's embrace snapping upon impact!

Seizing this Opportunity, a cold glint flashed in Ye Tian's eyes; he advanced instead of retreating!

His body slid along the ground, his short blade infused with all his strength, stabbing fiercely toward the Crocodile Lizard's relatively soft abdominal weak point!

However, this Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard had extremely rich combat experience and seemed to have anticipated it long ago; its thick tail swept over, moving with astonishing speed!

"Not good!"

Ye Tian forcibly twisted his body, holding the short blade horizontally in front of him to block!

A loud sound!

The short blade collided violently with the scale-covered tail, sparks flying everywhere!

Ye Tian only felt an irresistible force coming from it; his throat tasted sweet, he flew backward, crashed into the mud, and the short blade flew out of his hand.

"Roar!"

Having succeeded with one strike, the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard let out a triumphant roar, turned around, and pounced again, vowing to tear this annoying prey to shreds!

Ye Tian struggled to climb up, but his internal organs were shaken and his Qi and blood were churning, causing his movements to be a beat too slow.

Seeing that giant mouth about to bite down!

At the critical moment of life and death, a flash of inspiration struck his mind!

He remembered a niche technique called "Pulse-Vibrating Art" recorded in the fragments of the Mystic Tortoise True Explanation. It wasn't a direct attack, but rather injecting a high-frequency vibrating dark strength into an object to destroy its structure from the inside!

This technique was extremely difficult to master and had very high requirements for control; he had never successfully executed it before.

But at this moment, there was no other choice!

He took a sharp breath, ignoring his injuries, and crazily compressed his remaining True Qi and Body Refining strength, following that profound method, concentrating it at the tip of his right index finger!

Just at the instant the Crocodile Lizard's giant mouth was about to close!

Ye Tian darted forward, avoiding the fangs, and poked his right finger toward a connection point on the Crocodile Lizard's lower jaw where the scale armor was relatively dense!

"Pulse-Vibrating Art! Break for me!"

Pfft!

The sensation at his fingertip was not hard, but rather a peculiar feeling of penetration!

An extremely subtle, yet high-frequency and violently vibrating dark strength instantly penetrated inside the scale armor!

The Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard's massive body suddenly stiffened!

It let out a strange, painful hiss!

At the lower jaw where it had been poked, the surface of the scale armor looked undamaged, but from the inside came a faint "crack" sound!

Good!

Ye Tian felt a surge of joy, but dared not pause for even a second; he immediately rolled on the ground, creating distance.

The Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard was exceptionally furious, but the severe pain coming from its lower jaw and some structural damage affected its movements, making it somewhat sluggish and manic.

Ye Tian took the Opportunity to pick up the dropped short blade, searching for the next chance.

He knew this beast's weakness!

It couldn't be broken by brute force; it required more ingenious strength and precise strikes!

However, what he didn't notice was that while he was fighting the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard, in the shadows of an ancient tree in the distance, a dark figure was silently watching all of this.

In the dark figure's hand, a poisoned short dart was held.

Just at the moment the poisoned short dart in the dark figure's hand was about to be released, a burst of chaotic footsteps and voices suddenly came from the dense forest in the distance.

"The commotion just now seemed to come from this direction!"

"Such strong vicious aura, I'm afraid there's some big guy here!"

"Let's go take a look, maybe there's some Opportunity!"

Before the words faded, several figures emerged from the forest; they were none other than Ye Long, Ye Qing, Ye Hong, and Ye Yuan!

They were clearly attracted by the huge commotion of Ye Tian fighting the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard just now.

The dark figure's movements instantly froze!

A trace of annoyance flashed in his eyes, but facing the four Ye family disciples who had suddenly appeared, especially Ye Long, who was at the Fifth Stage Peak of Qi Gathering, he dared not strike rashly again.

Once exposed, the plan would be completely ruined, and it might even attract a pursuit from the Ye family's higher-ups.

"Hmph!"

The dark figure snorted coldly, his body retreated backward, and he silently merged into the shadows.

As soon as the four of them, Ye Long and the others, appeared, their gazes were immediately attracted by the scene in the field.

When they saw Ye Tian, with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, tattered clothes, and looking slightly disheveled, and opposite him the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard exuding a ferocious aura, its scale armor damaged and its lower jaw clearly showing abnormalities, they immediately understood what was going on.

Ye Long was stunned for a moment, then an undisguised sarcasm appeared on his face: "Yo! I was wondering who caused such a big commotion; so it turns out it's our Ye family's 'Genius' fighting for his life here!"

"What, a single beast has made you end up so miserable?"

"It seems your first-place ranking has quite a bit of moisture in it!"

He deliberately emphasized the tone of "Genius" and "first-place ranking," full of ridicule.

Ye Tian didn't even lift his eyelids; he simply couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Ye Long.

At this moment, more than half of the True Qi in his body was consumed, the wound on his left arm burned with pain, and his internal organs also throbbed with pain due to taking that strike from the Crocodile Lizard's tail head-on.

The top priority was to recover as soon as possible and deal with this Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard.

This Fifth-Rank Vicious Beast was a treasure from head to toe; its scale armor, sharp claws, tendons and bones, and even the potentially existing inner core were all excellent Materials.

He took a deep breath, ignoring his injuries, and once again circulated his remaining True Qi, erupting with the full force of his Overlapping Wave Fist Triple Strength, taking advantage of the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard's sluggish movements and withered aura due to its jaw injury to blast toward its head's weak point!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several consecutive punches, each hitting flesh!

That Crocodile Lizard was already at the end of its rope, and now it could no longer hold on; it let out a shrill wail, its massive body collapsed to the ground with a boom, and it ceased to breathe.

Seeing that Ye Tian had actually killed a Fifth-Rank Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard all by himself, Ye Qing, Ye Hong, and Ye Yuan all gasped, their eyes filled with shock!

"A Fifth-Rank Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard... was actually killed by him!"

"I've heard the Elders in the clan mention that this Vicious Beast's defense is tricky to deal with even for someone at the Qi Gathering Level 6!"

"Too strong..."

Ye Long's expression instantly became extremely ugly, filled with shock and anger!

He had thought Ye Tian was at the end of his rope, but he didn't expect him to still be able to erupt with such combat power, killing this Vicious Beast right in front of him!

This was tantamount to slapping him hard in the face again!

However, when he looked carefully at Ye Tian and discovered that the other party's breathing was rapid, his face was pale, and his aura was clearly much weaker, a vicious thought instantly surged into his mind.