After Lily started diving, a silent atmosphere permeated the environment. No one spoke, and anxiety filled her teammates' expressions. Only Adrian was unfazed.
As long as she wasn't stupid like Robert, she would soon come back. That was exactly what happened. Lily resurfaced after a few minutes and excitedly swam towards the group. As she came out of the lake, her clothes clung to her skin, making her appear very sensual and alluring.
Robert couldn't take his eyes off her chest as he was about to start drooling when a jab from Daniel brought him back to his senses.
Luckily for him, Lily was too excited to notice his gaze as she reported her findings to her peers. The group instantly became excited at the report and started staring at the lake with fervent expressions.
With what Lily has just described, whatever was down there would surely be valuable. They immediately started to plan how to approach the situation. The boar eventually came out. A rope was attached to the body as it was thrown into the lake.
The blood tainted the water of the lake as the six pairs of eyes watched it slowly sink toward the bottom. They were hoping to use the scent of blood to lure out the beast before inspecting what they were going up against.
A few tugs on the rope ensured it was still attached to the boar while spreading the bloody scent throughout the lake.
However, as soon as the boar crossed the fifty-meter mark, the rope suddenly became loose in Daniel's hand. He was the one responsible for monitoring the boar's corpse.
Because of the blood spread throughout the surface of the lake, they couldn't even get a glimpse of their foe. Obviously, their plan had failed. This made them pensive and without other options.
Daniel eventually broke the silence by asking a question.
"What now?" He said after their recent expenditure failed. No one replied at first. They didn't expect to not gain anything from their previous actions, which made them a bit skeptical.
"Perhaps we need another bait." Andrea, the other girl in the group, suggested.
"That will take too much time. I don't get why you're all so scared. We haven't even gone that deep into the outer regions, so whatever is there can't be that strong. I refuse to believe that we can't take care of it with our group." For the first time in a while, Robert's words made sense.
They didn't have to be so cautious in the outer regions when they hadn't even reached the depths of it.
"I'll take my leave now. It seems you all have a lot to figure out." Adrian started leaving without even waiting for a response.
"Stop right there! You're also going to help us," Bryce bellowed.
"And why would I do that?" Adrian answered in annoyance. He had already done everything that they had asked, yet they still weren't letting him leave.
Bryce didn't respond but rather brought out his sword. His actions alone spoke of his intentions. His companions mirrored his action, and Adrian soon found himself facing five cultivators in the foundation establishment stage.
His expression darkened as he realized he was trapped. A tense atmosphere enveloped the group as it seemed like a fight was about to break out. Adrian let out a sigh and remained in his position. He couldn't overpower them, so he would still follow their orders for now.
Unlike the demonic cultivators, he did not have the element of surprise and could not ambush them. Bryce snorted after seeing his action and turned his attention towards the lake again.
He then ordered in a deep voice. "We're going in the water."
Everyone then started moving until they all entered the lake. They didn't waste time enjoying the cool sensation on their bodies as they swam deeper into the lake. After reaching the center of the lake, they took deep breaths before diving underwater.
A cultivator's lung capacity far exceeded that of ordinary mortals. They could easily hold their breath for dozens of minutes. This was especially the case for the group. The weakest of them was at the fifth level of the foundation establishment realm.
They could easily hold their breaths for at least thirty minutes without issue. The group kept diving for dozens of meters until they reached the deep end of the lake. At first, they didn't notice anything. Due to the depth at which they were, light was scarce, so they could only see a few feet in front of them.
What they didn't realize was that within a cave in one of the crevices at the bottom of the lake, a pair of reptilian eyes had opened and were staring intently at all of them.
The water around them started to ripple. Bryce, who was the one who had reached the deepest depths, suddenly turned his head towards a particular direction as he brought out his sword and held it in front of his body.
His cultivation technique allowed his senses to be sharper than an average cultivator. That, coupled with his high cultivation level, allowed him to sense the beast before anyone else.
Still, he couldn't react fast enough and was soon sent flying by a single tail whip. He crashed into a boulder underwater while puking out a mouthful of blood.
The rest of the group was utterly dumbfounded when they saw the scene that had just unfolded. A beast had just attacked them before they could even sense it. It was so fast that they couldn't even see it before it attacked.
That could only lead to one conclusion. Their blood ran cold as this realization hit them. They could soon see the massive body of the creature swimming around them. The aura radiated from its body confirmed their fears as it circled them.
It was a Rank 3 magical beast.
"A Stoneveil Crocodile!!!" Adrian yelled in his mind.
The magical beast was a giant crocodile that was about as big as a basketball field.
Its skin had the color of granite, hence the name. The color also gave it great camouflage abilities when it was among rocky terrain. Its reptilian eyes stared at its prey as its long tail gently swayed in the water.