About four thousand meters from the camp where the group had stopped earlier lay a swamp shrouded in mist year-round.
Yang Chang'an and his companions stood on the dry mud at the swamp's edge, every gaze fixed on the blue stone jutting out of its center.
Jin Li'er sat cross-legged there with her eyes tightly closed, a deep yellow hundred-year soul ring circling her. Its light flickered bright and dim, a clear sign that she had reached the most critical stage of absorption.
On a shallow stretch of swamp not far from them, a terrifyingly enormous Golden-Scaled Giant Crocodile lay motionless. Its massive body occupied almost half the shallows, and its hard golden scales still gleamed coldly in the faint light. Yet its savage eyes had long since lost all their luster, and its body had gone completely stiff. Clearly, it had been dead for some time.
Just an hour earlier, Yang Chang'an's group had arrived near this swamp. Before they could carefully scout their surroundings, the impatient Qianjun Douluo had already grown restless.
This Peak Douluo had always acted with the speed of thunder and the force of the wind. He had no interest whatsoever in dragging his feet.
He merely swept a casual glance into the depths of the swamp before plunging straight into its murky waters. Before the Golden-Scaled Giant Crocodile hiding beneath the surface could react, he seized its thick neck and hauled the soul beast bodily out of the mire as though picking up a tiny shrimp.
The Golden-Scaled Giant Crocodile was hurled onto the bank, the impact leaving it dazed and reeling. Before it could let out an enraged roar, Qianjun Douluo delivered another seemingly effortless slap.
That casual-looking blow held terrifying power. It shattered bones throughout the thick-skinned Golden-Scaled Giant Crocodile's body, leaving