Chapter 194 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

With the decapitation of the last Double-tailed Blue Lizard, Xi Ya's first real combat came to a perfect conclusion!

All eleven Double-tailed Blue Lizards had been slain by Xi Ya, and she hadn't sustained any injuries.

From this battle, it was clear that her utilization of spatial gates was already quite proficient. Her reaction time was also very good, and she was able to keep calm at all times.

Zhang Ye nodded in satisfaction. “Nicely done!”

Receiving his praise, Xi Ya looked extremely happy, her little feet unable to resist tapping a light, cheerful rhythm.

“However, you can still do better,” Zhang Ye said instructively. “The opening speed of your 【Single-Point Spatial Gate】 can be even faster. You need to practice more, or else it will be easy for others to react to it.”

“Also, when you cast spells, you should move around as well. Don't just stand foolishly in one spot.”

“As a pure mage, the thing you need to do most on the battlefield is preserve yourself as much as possible. Only when you are safe can your companions deal damage with peace of mind. Only by staying alive can you maximize your damage output!”

“Do you understand?”

“I understand!” Xi Ya nodded her small head with a serious expression. Her wavy, blue-and-pink hair rippled with her nods, looking incredibly cute.

“Let's continue. Next, we'll go deeper into the canyon. There should be Tier Nine magical beasts there,” Zhang Ye said, and everyone followed him deeper into the canyon.

Along the way, they encountered four waves of magical beasts, which were mostly Tier Seven and Tier Eight, as well as a Tier Nine magical beast.

The Tier Seven and Tier Eight ones served as training for Xi Ya. At this point, Xi Ya was more than a match for Tier Seven magical beasts, but facing Tier Eight ones was still a bit of a stretch. Because Tier Eight magical beasts were extremely fast, Xi Ya often couldn't react in time and needed Zhang Ye to rescue her.

Furthermore, facing bloodshed for the first time, Xi Ya was still somewhat unaccustomed to it. By the end of each battle, her small face would often be pale—not from intense exhaustion, but from feeling nauseated by the bloody scenes. Fortunately, her adaptability was very strong; she knew how to adjust herself and never complained, which made Zhang Ye view her in a new light.

As for the Tier Nine magical beasts, they were left to Lina.

Lina dealt with them easily, showing that her actual combat power had already exceeded Tier Nine.

“A-Nan, do you find this boring?” Zhang Ye asked with a smile, looking at Nan who was twirling his Heavy Thunder dagger.

Nan shook his head. “This is their training. To me, it's just a mission. Being able to complete the mission easily is fine by me.”

Zhang Ye couldn't help but laugh.

As expected of A-Nan.

As they ventured deeper, the magical beasts they encountered grew stronger, and their tiers higher.

After traveling several hundred kilometers deep, almost all the magical beasts they encountered were Tier Eight or above.

The group even encountered a Tier Ten early stage water-attribute magical beast, and it was one of the stronger ones of its tier!

However, it was instantly killed by Nan.

With Nan at the Tier Nine Peak, his actual combat power was likely already no lower than Tier Ten late stage.

Zhang Ye looked around, then waved his hand. A giant tree rose from the ground, lifting everyone away from the damp earth and eventually forming a treehouse dozens of meters high. There, they settled down to rest.

Zhang Ye took a deep breath and said, “Something is wrong, very wrong.”

“Initially, I thought water elements being ten times denser was already exaggerated enough. But the deeper we go, the denser I find the water elements to be. The concentration of water elements here is at least thirty times that of the outside world!”

“It will be dangerous if we go any deeper.”

“I speculate that in the core region, the concentration of water elements will be over fifty times that of the outside world!”

“Therefore, it's highly likely that Saint-tier magical beasts will appear!”

“We should just complete our mission here.”

Hearing this, everyone nodded.

They unconsciously trusted the decisions Zhang Ye made. Perhaps it was because, in their eyes, Zhang Ye was an extremely reliable person.

Afterward, Zhang Ye prepared a sumptuous dinner using the magical beasts they had killed along the way. They sat around the campfire, talking face-to-face.

“Xi Ya, your reaction speed and timing of spellcasting are good, but you're still lacking in self-preservation.”

“The strength of the space attribute lies not only in damage output, but also in mobility. When using spatial gates to deal damage, you can also use them to relocate at the same time. You must ensure your own safety at all times,” Zhang Ye said.

Xi Ya listened intently, then nodded, firmly committing Zhang Ye's words to heart.

“What about me? What about me?” Lina looked at Zhang Ye expectantly.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “You don't have any major issues. You just lack combat experience right now, which can be made up for through continuous fighting.”

“However, one thing you need to pay attention to is that while Xi Ya needs to build confidence, you must not be overconfident.”

“Although your mobility is nearly peerless below the Saint-tier and your damage output is excellent, don't forget that your own tier is only at the Tier Seven Peak. So, before your tier increases, you must be cautious in everything you do and not blindly rely on confidence.”

“Overconfidence is arrogance, and arrogance will make you pay a price, just like during that battle with Gajeel. Do you understand?”

“Mm!” Lina nodded vigorously.

Knowing that Lina had taken his words to heart, Zhang Ye smiled in relief.

The forest at night was beautiful. Abundant water elements floated in the air, forming a dense mist. The moonlight cascaded down, casting a mysterious veil over the canyon forest.

They had hunted quite a few magical beasts today, and their harvest was already enough to submit the mission.

However, after Zhang Ye suggested returning, Lina and Xi Ya seemed to feel that they hadn't had enough.

Opportunities for real combat training with magical beasts were rare. They felt they had learned a lot from this combat experience, and Zhang Ye had also taught them many things during the battles. Since they wanted to continue, Zhang Ye granted their wish and decided to train for one more day.

The next day, everyone continued to traverse Claude Canyon, using the magical beasts they randomly encountered to hone themselves.

During this time, several Tier Ten magical beasts appeared, all of which were slain by Nan, while Zhang Ye was responsible for protecting the safety of the two girls.

With Zhang Ye around, both girls felt an immense sense of security.

However, Claude Canyon seemed a bit different today.

Mist was rising.

At first, it was just a light mist, but later on, the water vapor began to obscure their vision without them realizing it.

Looking at the increasingly thick mist, Zhang Ye frowned.

His perception, which was comparable to the Saint-tier, could detect a hidden mana within the mist, as well as... laws!

He had originally thought the mist was formed naturally due to the high concentration of water elements, but now it seemed that this was clearly not the only reason.

There was a problem!

Thus, Zhang Ye made a prompt decision to head back.

However, when they turned around to find the path they had come from, they discovered that the path... had vanished!

Zhang Ye's frown deepened. The surrounding mist grew thicker and thicker, until it was almost as if someone had thrown a smoke bomb at their feet, reducing visibility to less than three meters.

Furthermore, their mana perception and Divine Sense could not penetrate outward either; their perception range of over a dozen kilometers was compressed to less than ten meters!

Zhang Ye felt an increasingly bad premonition.

“Hold hands. We must not get separated! The mist here can interfere with perception!” Zhang Ye said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Lina immediately grasped Xi Ya's small hand, while using her other hand to actively hold Zhang Ye's.

Nan hesitated, but before he could hesitate for long, Zhang Ye grabbed his hand.

Zhang Ye's hand was firm and warm. Holding it, much of Nan's uneasy feeling about the unknown instantly dissipated.

Analyze!

Zhang Ye's eyes shone like torches as he stared at the surrounding mist to analyze it.

【Water Illusion Mist: An unranked water-attribute spell. It forms a water mist that obstructs the perception of those enveloped by it, causing them to lose their sense of direction!】

【Due to physical constitution requirements, the analysis will take three minutes!】

【Note: Can only be mastered by those with a Pure Water Body!】

It really was a spell!

And an extremely special one at that!

Unranked represented specialness, as well as strangeness and power, just like Gujiu's 【Devour】.

But while Devour only took a single second to analyze, this spell required three minutes!

This was because Zhang Ye didn't have the so-called 【Pure Water Body】 at all. The system needed time to fully analyze and refine the spell to the point where Zhang Ye could cast it. If Zhang Ye possessed a Pure Water Body himself, the analysis time for this spell would also have been one second!

In other words, this was a spell cast by a person or some other entity with a Pure Water Body, and the purpose was to make them get lost?

Zhang Ye secretly thought to himself that things were looking bad.

Since this spell could envelop them silently, the caster's cultivation level had to be above theirs.

Furthermore, since they hadn't said a word, the newcomer was highly likely hostile.

Forcing himself to calm down, Zhang Ye took a deep breath and shouted into the surroundings, “We mean no offense! Please let us leave!”

There was no response from the surroundings.

However, sensing the mana fluctuations hidden within the mist, Zhang Ye knew that 'person' had heard him.

Nan had already drawn his Heavy Thunder dagger and purple-gold long blade, purple lightning flashing. He had clearly entered a combat stance.

Lina also held her dual pistols, ready for anything.

Xi Ya gripped her staff tightly, her face full of nervousness.

Zhang Ye glanced at everyone, his mana already surging. If any accident occurred, he would protect everyone and escape at the fastest speed possible.

“Don't show any hostility,” Zhang Ye transmitted his voice, then shouted aloud to the surroundings once more, “We bear no ill intent! Please let us leave!”

However, in the next instant, the response he received was a barrage of water arrows!

Countless water arrows shot toward the group with sharp intent. Zhang Ye's pupils contracted as his arms instantly spread wide, and multiple magic barriers enveloped everyone in a flash.