Chapter 65: The Fiery Black Tortoise

Beneath the water’s surface, a massive stone was anchored by four thick iron chains. Suddenly, it shuddered, and the water level receded considerably. Blood from Narugel’s wounded leg trickled down the bank into the pond, its scent stirring some slumbering creature below. Roused by the smell of blood, it began to awaken.

The iron chains tightened, emitting a faint clanking sound—soft, yet sharp enough for Narugel’s acute hearing to catch. He opened his eyes slowly to find himself propped against a rock, a cloak draped over him. A gentle warmth radiated from his side, bringing comfort to his weary body.

Turning his head, Narugel saw a pile of firewood nearly burnt through, the flames now little more than embers. Li Pingyang slept across from him. Narugel reached up to touch his forehead; his head still throbbed painfully from a recent blow, which had drawn plenty of blood. Li Pingyang had already stanched the bleeding and performed a simple bandage.

His leg wound had been closed thanks to Li Pingyang, who had expended much of his true energy, using the Fire Dragon Encircling technique to heal him. Only a scar remained now.

Suddenly remembering something, Narugel turned anxiously to search around. When he glimpsed the Thunder Bow lying flat behind the rock, he finally exhaled in relief. That weapon was as vital as his own life—the only thing his father had left him before he died. Its significance far exceeded its material value.

Li Pingyang had rescued him from the water, then compared their landing spots and searched nearby until he retrieved the bow from the river.

Narugel stood, picked up an iron arrow, and drew his bow, aiming it at the sleeping Li Pingyang. This was the perfect moment to kill him.

Yet he hesitated, his face a mask of inner conflict as he wrestled with himself. In the end, he lowered the bow and set it aside.

Clang!

The sound he’d heard earlier rang out again. Narugel raised his bow warily, moving step by step toward the pool.

This time, the noise was loud enough to wake even Li Pingyang, who had been sleeping deeply. His eyes snapped open; he immediately went on guard, gripping his short sword.

“That boulder is suspicious!” Narugel called as Li Pingyang approached, pointing to the center of the pool where the stone was shifting.

As the massive stone moved, the ground began to tremble violently, as if an earthquake had struck. The once-calm surface of the water erupted with bubbles, boiling upward.

The stone slowly emerged from the water, the waterline dropping rapidly to reveal the enormous dome of some unknown object.

Next, a colossal bell-shaped form coated in silt broke the surface. As the bell rose from the water, the air around them grew hot, waves of scalding steam rolling forth.

From beneath the water, a gigantic black shape surged upward. Narugel, closest to it, stared in stunned disbelief as the creature revealed itself.

It possessed a thick, long neck and a broad, flat head—serpentine in shape, yet crowned with two dragon-like horns. Its mouth hung half open, displaying rows of vicious fangs. Aside from its pitch-black eyes, its entire body was encased in a molten armor that blazed with red flames.

The beast’s size was so great that only the bell on its back emerged, the rest of its body hidden below the surface.

Li Pingyang, recalling a passage from the System’s Compendium of Ten Thousand Demons, recognized the creature as an ancient monster.

The Flame Xuanwu!

The Flame Xuanwu, a tenth-tier beast and one of the Four Great Beasts of antiquity.

The compendium described it as the hybrid offspring of a primordial Devouring Python and a Flame Turtle—a serpent’s head joined to a turtle’s hardened shell and body.

Legend held that the bell upon its back was the first alchemical furnace forged by the Grand Supreme Elder Lord—a failed creation, repurposed to suppress the beast.

Tens of thousands of years ago, this place had been known as the Blackwater River. The Elder Lord, passing through, chanced upon the malevolent Flame Turtle. To protect the local people, he used the failed furnace and his arcane power to imprison the creature beneath the Blackwater River.

There it remained, suppressed for millennia.

Back then, the Devouring Python was only a fourth-tier beast, but after consuming the Flame Turtle, it mutated into the monstrous Flame Xuanwu.

Its entire body was now sheathed in thick, unbreakable lava armor, impervious to harm.

The Flame Xuanwu fixed its huge eyes on them, seeming to scrutinize the pair before settling its gaze on the wounded Narugel. It opened its maw and let out a hideous screech.

Narugel pulled back his bow and fired at its eye. The Flame Xuanwu squeezed its eyes shut; the iron arrow struck its armored eyelid and bounced off harmlessly.

Though uninjured, the beast was clearly pained.

With a roar, it lunged at Narugel. He tried to leap aside, but his freshly healed leg flared with pain and he stumbled mid-jump.

The Flame Xuanwu’s jaws snapped at him. Narugel quickly braced his bow upright, using it as a pole to hold the creature’s jaws apart, barely avoiding being swallowed whole.

Seeing this, Li Pingyang charged in, short sword raised. He struck at the serpent’s neck, but the armor was harder than steel—the blade rebounded with a metallic clang. Not only did it fail to injure the beast, it didn’t so much as chip the armor. The creature was monstrously resilient.

“Come on, you brute! Bite me if you dare…” Li Pingyang shouted, hacking at the beast’s armor. After several strikes, he managed to draw its fury. The Flame Xuanwu, howling with pain, released Narugel and turned to attack Li Pingyang instead.

Narugel retrieved the Thunder Bow and began firing arrows in support. As Li Pingyang dodged and parried, he shouted to Narugel to target the serpent’s crown.

Drawing upon his domineering true energy, Li Pingyang activated the Weakness Perception technique he had learned during his battle with the Ghost Mother Spider. He pinpointed the beast’s vulnerability—a crest atop its head, resembling a cock’s comb.

Narugel nodded and let fly an arrow at the crown.

Sure enough, when the crown was struck, the Flame Xuanwu went berserk, ramming its head into Li Pingyang. Though he blocked with his sword, the impact sent him flying.

Clutching his chest, Li Pingyang felt as if he’d been struck by a carriage; pain bloomed in his chest, and he coughed up a trace of blood. Narugel, seeing this, faltered, his hands stilling.

“Don’t mind me—keep attacking the crown!” Li Pingyang gasped, forcing himself upright with his sword and charging again at the beast.

Taking advantage, Narugel fired two more arrows at the crown, but his head throbbed and both arrows missed. Blood from his wounds dripped down onto his face.

He shook his head to clear it, then steadied himself for another shot. This time, his arrow struck true, piercing the crown.

Powered by the Thunder Bow, the iron arrow penetrated even the lava armor. Gravely wounded, the Flame Xuanwu howled, then withdrew into its shell and vanished below the water.