Chapter 192 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

“Once we get back, we'll need to report the situation in Claude Canyon to the academy... but the mission must go on.” Zhang Ye turned around and smiled at everyone. “A tenfold increase in the concentration of water elements isn't necessarily a good thing, but at least for now, it's a good thing for us.

“The water-attribute magical beasts here will be about three times stronger than they were three years ago, and their tiers will be higher. This means the mission rewards will be more handsome, and it will be better for our training.

“Let's go.” With that, Zhang Ye expanded his perception.

His perception had originally reached fifteen kilometers. However, because he had peered at the Lightning Punishment shackles on his mana source and suffered injuries, it only reached thirteen kilometers after recovering. To fully restore it, he would need some treasures that could enhance his mental strength and soul.

Once the thirteen-kilometer perception radius expanded, everything within range flooded into his mind.

After a quick scan, Zhang Ye was able to directly analyze everything within his perception range.

A moment later, he said, “It's just as I thought. The overall strength of the magical beasts has increased significantly. Five li to the southeast, there's a pack of Double-tailed Blue Lizards—twelve of them in total. Their tiers are all around Tier Seven, and the strongest leader is at the peak of Tier Seven. They're perfect for you guys to practice on.”

Everyone nodded and flew toward the direction of the Double-tailed Blue Lizards. Soon, they spotted them.

The Double-tailed Blue Lizards were nearly ten meters long from head to tail, with their tails making up half of their body length. They were dark blue all over, with green and light blue stripes, and their tails were forked like a snake's tongue.

All the Double-tailed Blue Lizards were sprawling on the riverbank, sunbathing. One of them was exceptionally massive.

【Double-tailed Blue Lizard Leader: Tier Seven peak water-attribute magical beast.】

Looking at the massive, thirteen-meter-long Double-tailed Blue Lizard Leader, Zhang Ye said to Lina, “Lina, I'll leave the big one to you. Any problem?”

“No problem!” Lina said, patting her chest with confidence.

Zhang Ye blinked and quickly looked away.

This girl is really well-endowed.

“The smaller ones will be left to Xi Ya,” Zhang Ye said.

Hearing this, Xi Ya was startled. Looking at the remaining eleven Double-tailed Blue Lizards, she couldn't help but gulp.

Seeing Xi Ya's fear, Zhang Ye smiled. “Don't worry, I don't expect you to deal with them all at once. We'll take it step by step.

“Lina already possesses combat power on par with Tier Nine or even Tier Ten. Having her fight the Double-tailed Blue Lizard Leader is just to consolidate and confirm her skills. Her future opponents will be magical beasts of Tier Eight or above.

“But you need more real combat. Only by fighting continuously can you grow stronger as quickly as possible.

“I will guide you through the battle next, but unless absolutely necessary, I won't step in. Understood?”

Xi Ya knew Zhang Ye was doing this for her own good. She nodded gently, a stubborn determination returning to her eyes. “I understand, Ye. L-let's begin!”

Zhang Ye smiled, then waved his hand. Chains condensed from mana instantly bound the eleven Double-tailed Blue Lizards still sunbathing by the river, pulling them up into the sky.

The Double-tailed Blue Lizard Leader, the only one left unbound, was instantly dazed. Looking at its companions in the sky who couldn't even struggle or scream, it finally realized that a powerful enemy had arrived.

It immediately went on high alert, and right at that moment, Lina appeared in front of it.

The reason Lina didn't choose a sneak attack was that she wanted to test her direct combat effectiveness.

As Lina appeared out of thin air, the blue lizard leader froze for a moment, then roared, the blue stripes on its body lighting up.

It opened its mouth, mana gathering inside!

The next moment, a powerful high-pressure water column shot toward Lina. Its force was so immense that it could easily snap a giant tree several hugs wide in half!

Yet, facing such a water column, there wasn't a trace of fear on Lina's face. Instead, a faint smile played at the corners of her lips.

In her eyes, starlight flickered.

She had thought she would be nervous facing a magical beast in real combat. After all, the aura of a magical beast was different from a human's, and the sheer physical size could exert visual and psychological pressure.

Just like during the admissions test, the magical beasts shut outside the barrier had caused her some psychological stress.

However, she wasn't nervous at all.

On the contrary, she felt incredibly relaxed. There was no tension, no fear, and not even her breathing was disrupted in the slightest.

It was as if... everything was completely natural.

She didn't know where this mysterious feeling came from.

And in that fleeting instant, she saw the Light from the Future once more.

But it wasn't a future just a few seconds ahead.

Her intuition told her that the light came from a very, very, very distant future.

It could be years, decades, or even hundreds or thousands of years later.

She saw a hazy image of someone opening his arms to her. She couldn't make out his face, but just looking at him filled her with a warmth that came from the depths of her soul.

The image was too blurry and vanished in a flash, so quickly that she almost thought it was just her imagination.

But the strange sensation in her heart told her otherwise.

She believed in her intuition completely.

She subconsciously turned her head and met Zhang Ye's gaze.

Those dark, bright eyes were filled with warmth and encouragement.

Go for it!

His eyes seemed to say.

Lina slowly exhaled, feeling a constant warmth in her chest.

Ye believes I can easily defeat the blue lizard leader, yet he still encourages me without hesitation...

This is just how Ye is...

Ye is the absolute best...

The next moment, the water column arrived, but in that split second...

Starlight! Bursting flash!

Everyone's eyes widened. Even Zhang Ye's eyes were filled with astonishment.

Hundreds and thousands of afterimages appeared on the battlefield—they were Lina's afterimages.

Every single afterimage was lifelike, with even their eyelashes glowing. Every movement was graceful and effortless, like a dancer in the starry sky.

In that single instant, she used Blink thousands of times.

Thousands of times... How could she have such power? Her mana was nowhere near enough to support Blinking at such a high frequency!

Yet, she had done it. And by the time the afterimages faded, the Double-tailed Blue Lizard Leader was already dead, its corpse a mangled mess, as if it had been bombarded by the 【Shining Twins】 thousands of times.

Zhang Ye knew the power of the 【Shining Twins】 better than anyone; it was absolutely impossible to release so many mana bullets in such a short span of time.

Zhang Ye opened his mouth slightly, and suddenly, his eyes flashed.

He seemed to understand.

It was time.

In that split second, the time around Lina had changed, forming a 【Time Domain】!

Within the domain, the time flow rate was likely dozens of times faster than the outside world. Thus, to those outside, Lina's speed appeared dozens of times faster—both her physical speed and her mana recovery rate seemed to have accelerated by dozens of fold!

Therefore, in the eyes of Zhang Ye and the others, Lina had finished the battle in a mere instant.

But... why had Lina suddenly mastered such a domain without any warning?!

No... wait, it wasn't without warning.

Lina had previously been able to capture the 【Light from the Future】, allowing her to briefly see into the future. Zhang Ye could occasionally do this too, but it required him to enter an extremely focused state.

And that was the so-called "warning sign"!

It seemed that the severe injury from before had not been without its benefits.

Lina had grown stronger once again!

Even if this 【Time Domain】 should actually be called a 【Pseudo-Time Domain】—since Lina was not yet a Saint-tier and could not actively control the power of laws to release a true domain—this was still enough to prove her terrifying strength.

Once the domain was unleashed, the enemy would have to face a Lina moving at several times her normal speed!

Simply terrifying!

Lina's original mobility was already terrifying enough. Multiplying it by several or even dozens of times, even Zhang Ye might not be able to keep up with her speed.