A Divine Skill

As Li Yan advanced, the Lizard Demon Beast, on the verge of becoming a dragon, breathed a blast of scorching fire at him. Faced with the sudden attack, Li Yan curled his lips in a contemptuous smile.

"Water Shield!"

Water formed from mana gathered into a barrier, directly blocking the flames spewed by the Lizard Demon Beast. Its attack thwarted, the beast roared and prepared to crush Li Yan beneath its massive body. But the next second, countless icicles formed from water shot at it like rain.

"Clink, clank, clank!"

The icicles struck the Lizard Demon Beast's scales, and crisp sounds echoed through the cave. Looking at the beast's astonishing defenses, Li Yan felt a burning desire to fight. It had been a long time since he'd experienced a prolonged battle.

In close combat, Li Yan could have slain the Lizard Demon Beast on the verge of becoming a dragon with a single strike, thanks to the Holy Sword. But he loved magic, so he chose to kill it slowly with spells instead. Compared with killing it outright, the pleasure of honing his magic was clearly more exciting.

Struck by the icicles, the Lizard Demon Beast roared and charged at Li Yan. A lizard on the verge of becoming a dragon was enormous, with a body like steel. If an ordinary adventurer were hit by such a charge, their body would probably be smashed to pieces.

As the Lizard Demon Beast charged savagely toward him, Li Yan understood its aim. If he dodged, it would charge straight into Frieren and Flamme behind him.

"Do I have to block it head-on? What a cunning fellow."

The corners of Li Yan's mouth rose slightly as his mana surged wildly. The next second, he vanished from where he stood. The Lizard Demon Beast lost sight of its target, but it didn't stop. Instead, it charged toward Frieren and the others with heavy strides.

"Back to where you started, little lizard."

Li Yan appeared above the Lizard Demon Beast and struck its body with his fist. The next second, he used Spatial Movement to send it back to its original position, interrupting its charge.

An Explosive Magic spell fell from above in the cave. As soon as the Lizard Demon Beast had charged, Li Yan had targeted the spell at its original position, making it just right for him to send the beast into the blast zone.

The Explosive Magic struck the Lizard Demon Beast on the verge of becoming a dragon, and scorching flames blazed through the cave. Its piercing screams prompted Li Yan to add a few Flame Rays, worried that the beast might not feel his passionate intentions.

As the Lizard Demon Beast's cries gradually died down, the smoke also cleared, revealing its body, roasted and somewhat charred.

"What a pity. It was so close to becoming a Pseudo-Dragon. Even though it only had a small amount of dragon blood, its combat power would have been at least ten times what it is now after becoming a Pseudo-Dragon."

Flamme walked up to the Lizard Demon Beast's charred corpse and couldn't help remarking on it.

"It smells so good. Senior Brother, how about grilled fish tonight?"

Frieren tugged at the hem of Li Yan's clothes and rubbed her little belly, looking at him expectantly as she asked.

"Mm, I'll make your favorite, Extra-Spicy Depressing Pickled Cabbage Fish."

Li Yan chuckled as he spoke and walked toward the blue teleportation array that had appeared. The Lizard Demon Beast's death meant that the underground labyrinth had been completely cleared.

As the blue teleportation magic activated, Li Yan opened his eyes. They had returned to the first room, and two splendid silver treasure chests stood before them.

"Treasure chests!"

Anticipation appeared on Frieren's face. She couldn't help rubbing her hands together, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. Ever since seeing treasure chests in books, she had desperately wanted to open one. She didn't care what she got; all she wanted was the thrill of opening a chest.

"Mmm-hmm, one each, Junior Sister."

Li Yan glanced at Frieren, licked his lips expectantly, and pounced on the chest to the right. Frieren aimed for the one on the left and pounced on it just like Li Yan.

As if responding to Li Yan's enthusiasm, the chest opened its enormous mouth and swallowed him whole.

"Damn! There's a Mimic among the chests that are guaranteed to drop after beating the boss?"

Li Yan shouted, sounding somewhat angry. He couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He should have chosen the chest on the left: men on the left, women on the right.

"Ah! Senior Brother, it's so dark inside the chest."

On the other side, Frieren's entire head had been swallowed by a Mimic. Her legs swung through the air as she struggled to get out.

"Don't hurt the young master!"

Little Fool swung her little fists at the chest. She had already used up her mana while clearing out the lesser monsters earlier, so all she could do now was beat on the Mimic with all her strength.

Flamme sighed. As adventurers, Li Yan and Frieren had actually come to grief over such a small detail. She was truly worried about their future. How could anyone get swallowed by a Mimic? It was a mistake only rookie adventurers made.

With a calm expression, Flamme pulled Frieren out and mercilessly sliced the Mimic to pieces with Cutting Magic. Next was Li Yan's Mimic. Flamme pulled Little Fool aside and yanked Li Yan out of the chest, then blasted the Mimic to pieces with Fire Magic when it tried to swallow him again.

"Don't be so reckless next time, you two idiots."

Flamme lightly patted their heads and lectured them with a serious expression. Then she cast Explosive Magic in front of a wall. A powerful blast suddenly rang out, leaving Li Yan and Frieren momentarily stunned, for a somewhat battered wooden treasure chest lay hidden behind the wall.

"Next time you want to find treasure chests, first use Mana Detection to check the surroundings. Don't rush in carelessly to open them. These Mimics hide very well, but sometimes they give off a little fluctuation of mana."

Flamme spoke from experience, while Li Yan and Frieren quietly edged toward the wooden chest, both vying to open this last one.

"Junior Sister, I saw this chest first."

"Senior Brother, you should let your junior sister have it."

The corner of Flamme's mouth twitched. She raised her hands slightly and gave each of them a sharp rap on the head.

"Stop fighting over it. I'll open this chest myself. What good things could you two idiots possibly get?"

Flamme rolled up her sleeves, pulled Li Yan and Frieren aside, and deftly opened the somewhat battered wooden chest herself.

"What is it, Godmother?"

"Is it a magic item, Master?"

Li Yan leaned in curiously, and Frieren poked her head over right behind him.

"It's a Magic Tome about Magic Power. Supposedly, it contains a spell that makes the Magic Puppets one creates obey instructions."

Flamme calmly leafed through the Magic Tome. Ordinary support magic like this wasn't very useful in combat, nor was it very useful against Demons.

"A divine skill!"

Li Yan took it excitedly. This spell was equivalent to the artificial intelligence machines of the future, able to work according to a set program.

Frieren remained calm. The spell wasn't very useful to her; it wasn't a powerful combat spell.