57: Chapter 57 The Water Beast of Lal

The next day, at noon.

Nie Ning clung to the treetop, his eyes scanning the area ahead.

The water cloud vine is an aquatic plant that needs to grow on rocks, so it usually grows on cliff faces near streams.

When he entered this place earlier, Nie Ning had seen a small mountain in the distance, which was also his destination for this trip.

It had to be said that the mountain looked closer than it was; after running for so long, he had only just managed to reach the vicinity of the small mountain.

Fortunately, he only encountered two weaker strange beasts along the way. Their strength was similar to the Crimson Fire Ape he had met before, so he dealt with them easily.

After arriving at the foot of the mountain, Nie Ning began searching for a stream around the base.

Along the way, Nie Ning encountered many animals and strange beasts.

However, since this was already the deepest part of the Wantai Forest, fighting would easily attract the attention of other predators, so Nie Ning mostly chose to bypass them.

The small mountain didn't look big, but it still took him most of the day.

Fortunately, the outcome was good; Nie Ning found a stream.

According to the clues Borton found in an ancient book, there might be water cloud vines near this stream.

...

Although it was already dark, Nie Ning did not linger too long; he needed to find the water cloud vine as soon as possible and then leave.

After all, this wasn't Lilith's back garden. Even a Frenzied Giant Bear could be driven out, and Nie Ning didn't want to run into those powerful strange beasts.

Following the flow of the stream, Nie Ning walked up along the mountain.

After about twenty minutes, a cliff wall blocked Nie Ning's path.

Below the cliff wall was a small pond. As the breeze blew, the water's surface shimmered under the moonlight, possessing a unique beauty.

At this moment, Nie Ning's attention was entirely on the cliff wall, which was covered in a large amount of ivy-like plants.

Its leaves were white and irregularly round in shape. The vines were slender with dense foliage, swaying with the breeze.

"Looks like I'm in luck."

Looking at the water cloud vines on the cliff wall, a smile appeared on Nie Ning's face.

More importantly, the entire cliff wall was covered in water cloud vines.

However, not every water cloud vine could be used; it had to be the kind that had just grown recently, with succulent stems.

Although there were some requirements, the cliff wall was full of water cloud vines, so it shouldn't be hard to find usable ones.

Nie Ning sniffed the air, wanting to see if there were any strange beasts nearby.

A foul stench hit him, scaring Nie Ning into quickly deactivating his Strange Beast Body.

He had forgotten that water cloud vines need animal feces to grow, and since there was a water source here, there were naturally strange beasts present—making it the perfect growing environment for water cloud vines.

As for why there were so many, it was because things humans can eat aren't necessarily edible for beasts.

In the eyes of strange beasts, the water cloud vine was nothing more than a plant full of a fishy, foul smell.

Unless they were on the verge of starvation, no beast would eat it.

Before, Nie Ning's only worry was that the water source had dried up, fearing that the water cloud vines here had withered.

Even if he could find water cloud vine seeds, he couldn't wait that long.

...

Nie Ning searched the vicinity, and seeing no strange beasts, he began collecting the water cloud vines.

However, there were fewer water cloud vines that met the requirements than Nie Ning had imagined; he only found five plants on the entire cliff wall.

But for Nie Ning, this was enough.

As long as the breakthrough didn't fail, one plant would actually suffice.

Nie Ning happily began collecting the water cloud vines, unaware that danger was quietly approaching.

Ripples stirred on the surface of the pond as a huge dark shadow slowly emerged from the water and gradually approached the shore.

Although Nie Ning didn't notice the presence of the dark shadow, the sound of water droplets falling caught his attention.

Nie Ning turned to look; the dark shadow was already behind him, making him shiver involuntarily from fright.

It was an upright, humanoid creature.

It was stout, about three meters tall, with flesh that appeared pink and tender.

Its hands and legs were chubby and shaped like cattail fans. Its round head had two pinkish tentacles, and it carried a huge snail shell on its back.

Looking closely, aside from the hands and legs, it looked more like a giant snail.

"Lar Phantom Water Beast!"

Nie Ning couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

This was a water-attribute strange beast that liked to drag its prey into the water to drown them.

He knew this creature existed in the Wantai Forest, but it was rumored that the Lar Phantom Water Beast had gone extinct hundreds of years ago. He hadn't expected there to be one here!

The Lar Phantom Water Beast extended its fan-shaped palm to strike Nie Ning. Seeing this, Nie Ning quickly flattened himself on the ground, but a large patch of water cloud vines on the cliff wall was swept away.

Before Nie Ning could react, a tentacle grabbed his legs—it was one of the tentacles from the top of the Lar Phantom Water Beast's head.

The Lar Phantom Water Beast was very strong, dragging Nie Ning toward the pond.

Nie Ning naturally wouldn't just wait for death.

If he couldn't beat the Lar Phantom Water Beast on land, then being dragged into the water would mean certain death!

Nie Ning drew his longsword, and the fiery red blade slashed at the tentacle binding his legs.

The Lar Phantom Water Beast seemed to sense danger and released the tentacle binding Nie Ning, turning to swing its palm at him again.

Seeing this, Nie Ning crossed his arms to block the attack.

*Bang!*

A cloud of dust rose from the ground.

Just as the Lar Phantom Water Beast thought Nie Ning had been crushed to death, it suddenly felt its palm being lifted by a massive force.

Having activated his Strange Beast Body, Nie Ning's strength surged, but it was still slightly inferior to the Lar Phantom Water Beast's.

Suddenly, the soil beneath the Lar Phantom Water Beast's feet loosened, and its legs sank into the ground.

Taking advantage of the Lar Phantom Water Beast's instability, Nie Ning flipped it over onto the ground.

Without giving the Lar Phantom Water Beast time to breathe, Nie Ning extended his left hand and used his Earth Control skill, burying the beast in the raised dust.

Then Nie Ning leaped high into the air, his flaming longsword piercing toward the Lar Phantom Water Beast.

But at that moment, the pond fluctuated violently, and several jets of water shot toward Nie Ning.

Seeing this, Nie Ning raised his hand and summoned an Earth Shield to block his front.

The destructive power of the water jets was very strong, breaking through the Earth Shield in an instant.

For a Knight, this amount of time was enough to dodge the attack.

Nie Ning spun his body to avoid the water jets, then plunged his longsword into the Lar Phantom Water Beast in the ground.

The Lar Phantom Water Beast cried out in pain and instinctively swung its massive palm at Nie Ning.

Fortunately, Nie Ning was prepared. He extended his right hand to block his side, shedding most of the force as he was knocked away and landing steadily.

Nie Ning had no intention of continuing the fight; he turned around, grabbed his bag, and ran.

The strength of the Lar Phantom Water Beast was very formidable; near a water source, even a Frenzied Giant Bear would have a hard time beating it.

If he were too heavily injured here, he might end up as a meal for other strange beasts.

But the injured Lar Phantom Water Beast was unwilling to let Nie Ning go just like that.

...