19: Chapter 19 One Million Dragon Skins

The number belonged to Su Jin.

"Missed me already?" Li Zhengyang picked up.

"I have a job, are you interested?" Su Jin's voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

"Depends on how much the interest is worth."

"One million."

Li Zhengyang was half-lying down, but upon hearing those three words, his back straightened automatically.

One million, ten thousand points of Blood Qi.

"Speak."

"There is a Rank 4 Demonic Beast in the hinterlands of West Mountain, a Mysterious Scale Flood Lizard. I need materials from this beast."

Rank 4.

Li Zhengyang's brows immediately furrowed.

A Rank 4 Demonic Beast corresponds to Martial Spirit Rank combat power. He is currently a Rank 7 Great Martial Master, with an entire major realm separating them.

A Great Martial Master clashing with a Martial Spirit is just asking to be killed.

"Can't do it, hanging up."

"Why are you in such a hurry before I've finished speaking?" Su Jin's speaking speed didn't change. "This Flood Lizard just happened to hit its once-in-a-decade molting period. Its scales have all fallen off, and its combat power will drop to the Great Martial Master level."

Great Martial Master level.

That changes things.

"And you don't need to kill it," Su Jin continued. "The old skin shed by the Mysterious Scale Flood Lizard is a natural material for Martial Spirit Rank defensive gear. If the whole sheet is intact, it's worth a fortune. You just need to go in and retrieve the skin."

Retrieve the skin without killing it.

That's doable.

"Then why don't you just send someone to pick it up?"

"A Flood Lizard during its molting period has an even worse temper than you. Whoever reaches into its nest, it will fight them to the death." A hint of a smile appeared in Su Jin's tone. "I don't have anyone at the Great Martial Master level willing to take this risk."

The meaning was clear; it wasn't that she couldn't find a Great Martial Master, but that no one dared to go.

A molting Demonic Beast is like a tigress in confinement; if you go to steal its protective shell, it would be strange if it didn't fight to the death.

"What about the time?"

"The molting started at dawn yesterday, totaling forty-eight hours. Thirty-two hours have passed, so you have sixteen hours left. Once this window passes, the new skin will grow in, and it will recover its full Martial Spirit Rank combat power."

Sixteen hours.

Li Zhengyang glanced at his phone: 9:00 AM.

Must get it done before 1:00 AM tomorrow.

"What about the deposit?"

"I'll transfer three hundred thousand to you first. Once the skin is in hand, I'll pay the remaining seven hundred thousand. If you die in there, you don't need to return the three hundred thousand; consider it my treat for your one-day tour of West Mountain."

"Deal."

The payment notification chimed: three hundred thousand yuan.

After hanging up, Li Zhengyang stared at his bank balance for half a second.

Without hesitation.

He pulled up the system interface and entered 300,000 into the top-up field.

Confirm.

[Top-up successful!]

[Obtained Blood Qi value: +3000]

[Current Blood Qi value: 25628]

[Detected Blood Qi value exceeded threshold]

[Realm breakthrough: Rank 7 Great Martial Master → Rank 8 Great Martial Master!]

Blood Qi surged through his meridians, and a wave of soreness and swelling came from his bones.

The rank increase within the Great Martial Master realm isn't as intense as crossing major realms; it feels more like consolidating the Blood Qi.

The range of his externalized Gang Qi expanded by another half meter.

A Rank 8 Great Martial Master fighting a molting Flood Lizard that has dropped to Rank 3.

It's in the bag.

Li Zhengyang sprang off the bed to put on his shoes. His spear was leaning against the door; he grabbed it and left.

Hailed a car, destination: West Mountain.

West Mountain is much wilder than North Mountain.

North Mountain at least has ore veins and abandoned tunnels, and you can occasionally run into a few freelancers running missions.

West Mountain is different; Demonic Beast ranks are generally Rank 3 and above. The government doesn't even outsource it anymore; they just hung up an iron sign that says "Restricted Area."

The driver refused to go any further two kilometers out.

"Brother, a five-man team went in last month. When they came out, only two were left—one missing an arm, one missing a leg."

"They weren't skilled enough."

"Well, you're highly skilled, but I'm not. If I go any further, my legs will turn to jelly."

Paid the fare, got out, and proceeded on foot.

At the entrance of West Mountain stood a rusted iron sign: "Danger Zone: Entry Prohibited."

Underneath the sign, someone had added a line in paint: "If you go in, don't blame us for not warning you."

Li Zhengyang bypassed the sign and opened the coordinates and briefing Su Jin had sent.

The Mysterious Scale Flood Lizard's nest is in an underground river cave in the hinterlands of West Mountain, with the entrance located on a cliff halfway up the mountain.

The briefing highlighted two key points.

One: The Flood Lizard is eight meters long and curls up by the water pool in the deepest part of the cave when molting.

Two: The shed old skin floats on the water surface, covering an area of about fifteen square meters. It must be retrieved in one whole piece.

Li Zhengyang had a plan now.

Go in, steal it, and run.

After walking for forty minutes, he reached the cliff.

A two-meter-wide cave entrance split the cliff face, sloping downward. Water vapor surged out from the cave, carrying a thick, fishy, gamey smell.

Li Zhengyang squeezed in sideways, spear tip pointing down.

The inside of the cave was much darker than a mine tunnel; his phone's flashlight only illuminated three to five meters.

The ground was wet and slippery; every step had to be firm.

Two hundred meters down, the terrain leveled out.

The sound of water came from ahead.

An underground river.

He turned off the light and, using the dim glow of the minerals on the cave walls, crept forward while hugging the rock face.

The moment his field of vision opened up, he saw it.

A water pool.

Over thirty meters in diameter, the water was pitch black and bottomless.

A huge black shadow was curled up by the edge of the pool.

Its six-meter-long body was coiled in a circle. Its scales were cracked all over, and transparent mucus oozed from the gaps where the new and old scales were alternating.

The Flood Lizard's head rested on its tail; its two eyes were half-closed, covered by a film.

The old skin was peeling off from its spine, with more than half already shed, spread out on the edge of the pool, faintly gleaming with a metallic luster in the dim light.

Li Zhengyang held his breath.

The body length didn't seem quite the same as the briefing, but whatever—get the one million first!

Startling Cloud Step.

He tapped his foot against the ground, his figure moving silently sideways along the edge of the pool.

Ten meters, five meters, three meters.

The Flood Lizard didn't move.

Li Zhengyang crouched down, reached his left hand toward the water, and his fingertips touched the edge of the Flood Lizard skin.

A ripple spread across the water.

The Flood Lizard's eyes snapped open.

Fierce light burst from its cloudy eyeballs. No matter how poor its vision was, the vibrations on the water surface couldn't fool it.

Li Zhengyang didn't hesitate at all.

He grabbed the Flood Lizard skin with his left hand and yanked it hard.

The entire skin lifted from the water, flying up with a splash.

The Flood Lizard exploded into action.

Its six-meter-long body soared into the air, tearing through the remaining fragments of old skin, opening its mouth full of jagged teeth, and lunging at Li Zhengyang.

The Rank 3 combat power during the molting period was still terrifying.

Li Zhengyang held his spear in his right hand. Collapse Technique.

The spear tip met the Flood Lizard's lower jaw head-on, and his Gang Qi erupted.

That massive head was forced back. The Flood Lizard's body crashed into the pool, splashing a two-meter-high column of water.

Li Zhengyang didn't pursue.

The item was already in hand; there was no need to linger in battle. He turned and ran.

The pool behind him erupted. The Flood Lizard rolled out of the water, its body slamming against the rocky ground, letting out a heart-wrenching roar.

The sound waves bounced back and forth in the enclosed cave, making his scalp tingle.

The Flood Lizard's speed had indeed dropped significantly during the molting period; its movements crawling out of the pool were sluggish, and its newly grown scales hadn't hardened, with several patches of tender pink flesh exposed.

But its Rank 4 foundation was there; it chased as soon as it scrambled up, the sound of its four short legs digging into the ground like a bulldozer.

Li Zhengyang charged fifty meters toward the cave entrance. A glance out of the corner of his eye showed the Flood Lizard had chased for thirty meters and was accelerating.

This damn cave was narrow and slippery; the lateral movement advantage of Startling Cloud Step couldn't be utilized, and his linear speed wasn't much different from the Flood Lizard's.

One hundred and fifty more meters and he'd be at the exit.

He could make it.

Just as he thought this, the ground beneath his feet shook.

It wasn't the vibration of the Flood Lizard chasing him.

It came from ahead.

From the direction of the cave entrance.

Something was walking into the cave.

Li Zhengyang's speed dropped sharply; his feet skidded to a halt on the wet, slippery stone surface.

A burst of aura poured in from the cave entrance.

Intense.

The sense of oppression was on a completely different level from the molting one behind him.

Damn.

Another one.

The light at the cave entrance was more than half blocked; a black shadow, even larger than the one behind him, was blocking the exit.

Its scales were completely intact, each one gleaming with a metallic luster. Sunlight shone in from behind it, outlining its silhouette like a black mountain.

Rank 4 Demonic Beast.

Martial Spirit Rank.

Full form.