Fresh, dark-green blood violently came out, like a hurricane, from the crack between the golden-coloured spear and the earth. 

The Earth Lizard’s ear-splitting shriek rang out from the depths of the land down under!

The icy ground shook violently and the furious Earth Lizard, who had been agitated until its fearful nature had fully awakened, was on the verge of tearing through the ground and escaping to the surface. 

It was obvious, that Pan Tao had an even richer real combat experience, when compared to Jiang Miao and the others. Once he saw that his spear had gone through and fresh blood had whirled out from under the ground like a hurricane, he immediately knew that Nie Tian’s deduction was completely accurate!

His face was filled with ecstasy and his pupils, which were black in colour, had actually suddenly changed into a dark golden colour!

A majestic surge of spiritual energy fluctuation exploded out with a loud bang from the hand that was holding on to the spear. He pulled the spear out as fast as lightning, before he suddenly pierced it through the earth once again!

Glaringly golden lights blossomed once more from the tip of the spear and Nie Tian couldn’t help but to close his eyes once again.

- Chi! -

The same sound rang out from Pan Tao’s spear once more and the Earth Lizard’s pained howls also rang out shortly after. 

“Heh! I’ve found you at long last!”

Pan Tao, who had succeeded in both his attacks, sardonically grinned and his confidence greatly increased. He pulled his spear out once again and was about to pierce downwards once more. 

However, the Earth Lizard, who was unlucky twice, had also evidently reacted knowing that its whereabouts had been exposed. 

That Earth Lizard, that had sustained heavy injuries, didn’t have the intention to fight a battle to the death with Pan Tao, and seemed to violently shrink back under the ground again. 

“Huh?!”

Pan Tao had a stunned look on his face. He saw an earthy lump bulging up highly as it rapidly headed off into the distance.

The grade two Earth Lizard had already possessed sufficient intelligence and as such, it shouldn’t have dared to continue on with the battle after having its beastly body pierced twice.

The Earth Lizard had actually fled in such a manner!

“Zheng Rui! You don’t need to come over. That Earth Lizard has fled! Haha! It actually fled!” Pan Tao excitedly brandished that golden-coloured spear, and made a big fuss. 

Once he had spoken, all the youngsters, that were worried that they were going to be sneakily attacked by the Earth Lizard from under the ground, were stirred up.

Since there was no longer the threat of the Earth Lizard, they too didn’t have fears of trouble in the rear and they felt bold and courageous!

Nie Tian noticed that each and every one of them had stopped looking beneath their feet, as they were all going all-out against the spirit beasts in front of them. 

“Ah! The Earth Lizard fled?” Zheng Rui, who was helping An Ying battle the Black Ice Python, was excited as well, “Elder Brother Tao! You have dealt with it beautifully! If the rest of us can escape from this calamity, then it’s all thanks to your contribution! Ha, you’re worthy of being my Elder Brother Tao! This humble brother admires you!”

Having Zheng Rui as a helpful addition, An Ying was no longer in that much of a difficult situation and could also find the time to take a glance at Pan Tao. 

She didn’t know the specifics of the situation, but she knew that Pan Tao definitely wouldn’t make irresponsible remarks. Since Pan Tao had said that the Earth Lizard had fled, then that definitely must be a fact. 

For Pan Tao to be able to defeat the Earth Lizard, that had exceeded her expectations and she sincerely felt happy about that. 

“Pan Tao, I really couldn’t predict that such a boy as you really has something up his sleeves!” She praised without being stingy about it in the slightest.

“Big Brother Pan! You’re really amazing. It’s all thanks to you this time!” Jiang Miao was so excited, that her small face was flushed red. 

“As expected, those from the Ling Bao Court are out of the ordinary. Boss Pan, we will serve you!”

“Many thanks to Big Brother Pan!”

“…”

The remaining youngsters also started shouting out happily, and praised Pan Tao as much as they could.

Having been praised by everyone in various manners, Pan Tao sheepishly forced out a dry laugh and subconsciously looked towards Nie Tian.

The others didn’t know, but he naturally did know that in reality, Nie Tian was actually the most crucial one in being able to cause serious damage to the Earth Lizard. 

Without Nie Tian’s help in precisely relaying the Earth Lizard’s location, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to catch the Earth Lizard off guard and inflict such incalculable damage on it, nor would he have to cause the Earth Lizard to flee without even fighting.

That Earth Lizard couldn’t estimate that there would be someone who could pinpoint its location and as such, it was not guarded in the slightest. 

In the same manner that it had sneakily attacked Qin Shun and Zu Fang, the Earth Lizard had also been sneakily attacked by Pan Tao. If not, even if the Earth Lizard had dashed out to the surface without the use of any tricks and battled against Pan Tao, it was unlikely that the Earth Lizard would lose so miserably.

That was, because the Earth Lizard’s true strength was actually much stronger than Pan Tao’s.

When the embarra.s.sed Pan Tao looked towards Nie Tian from a distance away, he realised that Nie Tian had extended his arm high in the air and stuck out his thumb, making a gesture of praise towards Pan Tao. 

There wasn’t a shred of mockery in Nie Tian’s eyes anymore and in them, there was only genuine congratulations directed towards Pan Tao.

That was because Nie Tian very clearly understood, that even though he had found the Earth Lizard’s crucial point, but if Pan Tao didn’t decisively attack, Nie Tian really didn’t have any strength left to attack the Earth Lizard. 

Both Pan Tao and Nie Tian had actually played an important role in this battle. 

Once the Earth Lizard, that had hid in the darkness and was repeatedly carrying out its evil schemes, had fled, the whole situation of the battle was turned around in a flash.

He was nearly going to collapse, because he had used up all of his energy, but now that the Earth Lizard had fled, he could finally breathe in a relaxed manner, knowing that the crises had already pa.s.sed him by. 

“Hehe.”

Pan Tao, who could perceive praise from Nie Tian’s eyes, exuded a smile from the corners of his mouth. This smile… was only really one of admiration and joy that came from the bottom of his heart.

He slightly nodded his head towards Nie Tian and the both of them exchanged a look of tacit mutual understanding. 

“Elder Brother Tao! Don’t be distracted! Quickly come and help us get rid of the Black Ice Python!” Zheng Rui loudly reminded him. 

“I’m coming!” Pan Tao laughed out loud. 

But it was when he was bordering on leaving, that the tip of his eyebrows twitched and he noticed that Nie Tian’s consciousness wasn’t stable.

“Tong Hao! Do not bother with the spirit beasts here. Quickly go to Nie Tian’s side and protect him for awhile. His condition is rather unstable.” Pan Tao instructed with a serious look on his face.

Tong Hao was the only one who wasn’t excited to his heart’s content after the Earth Lizard had fled. In fact, he had an uncertain and fearful look on his face.

That was because he was very clear that if Pan Tao hadn’t arrived, he would’ve become the Earth Lizard’s next target. He… would’ve been bitten to death by the Earth Lizard.

He still felt the fear at this moment. 

Tong Hao, who had been commanded by Pan Tao, took a peek at Nie Tian. When he realised that Nie Tian was sitting on the ground with a pale face and appeared to be dispirited, he furrowed his brows and seemed to be somewhat unwilling to do so. 

He didn’t know that the person who had really saved him was Nie Tian. 

However, when everyone was fiercely fighting, Nie Tian, was just sitting on the ground...

This made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

He felt that Nie Tian didn’t put forth his strength.

“Tong Hao! Did you hear what I said?” Pan Tao glared at him.

“Oh, understood. I’ll go at once.” Only then did Tong Hao respond. 

In his eyes, Pan Tao had saved his life once and as such, he owed Pan Tao a huge favour.

Therefore, as long as Pan Tao instructed him to do so, regardless of whether he was willing to in his heart, he would still obey Pan Tao’s order and complete it. 

Very quickly, Tong Hao arrived at Nie Tian’s side.

“What’s the matter with you? Are you alright?” He asked half-heartedly. 

“Something small came up and that’s why I’m a little weak.” Nie Tian also didn’t explain anything so as to not make Pan Tao, who was incessantly praised by everyone, feel embarra.s.sed, “Thank you for coming to protect me.”

“You’re welcome. I was only obeying Big Brother Pan’s instructions.” Tong Hao had an indifferent look on his face. He stared at Nie Tian for a moment and suddenly asked in a strange tone: “The words you had previously said were quite pleasant to listen to and made it so that everyone didn’t harbour any fears in their thoughts, but you… how did you end up unable to fight from fear?”

Nie Tian’s dispirited mind and pale face really seemed as though he had almost died from shock.

Tong Hao believed, that it was only natural for Nie Tian to be scared to this extent, seeing as he had no hope for survival after facing the threats from the Black Ice Python and the Earth Lizard.

“He.” Nie Tian let out a dry laugh and didn’t bother to argue with him. He was also too lazy to explain anything to this kind of fellow. 

“As it turns out, it was merely the eloquence of speaking.” Tong Hao muttered softly to himself and when he looked towards Nie Tian again, there was a disdainful look painted all across his face.

“The Black Ice Python has also fled!”

“The other spirit beasts are evacuating into the deepest parts of the glacier region!”

“Ha! We’re victorious in scaring all of them away!”

Suddenly, all of the youngsters started to cheer.

Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention and only then did he realise, that the Black Ice Python had really fled to the deepest parts of the glacier region, at an extremely fast speed. 

When it had lost the a.s.sistance of the Earth Lizard and had to face the An Ying, Pan Tao and Zheng Rui trio, the Black Ice Python also seemed to know, that once the trio had joined forces with one another, it would be difficult to defeat them in battle. Thus, the Black Ice Python had decisively left. 

Once the Black Ice Python had left, the remaining spirit beasts naturally didn’t dare to stay around and also fled, scattering in all directions.

“Are we going to give chase?” Zheng Rui asked, finding it difficult to contain his excitement. 

An Ying was carrying the saber and was continuously panting. The beads of sweat that stained her forehead directly rolled downwards, “Forget it, we’re not going to give chase! Fighting with the Black Ice Python has consumed too much of my spiritual energy. At present, there is not even thirty percent of spiritual energy left inside my body. I have to quickly recover and only then can we proceed to the deepest parts of the glacier region.”

“No one would know if there’re still other grade two spirit beasts in that glacier region.” An Ying said with lingering fears in her heart.

“Yes, our purpose is to be safe. It would be better if we recuperated for the time being.” Pan Tao agreed.

The trial takers, whose lives had been renewed after the calamity, originally still wanted to pursue and attack, but once they had heard An Ying and Pan Tao say it like this, they all quickly laid down their flags and stilled their drums.

After the battle, each and every one of their gazes, as they looked towards Pan Tao, was obviously different than before. 

In their eyes, Pan Tao, who had seriously injured the Earth Lizard, who was hidden beneath the surface in the darkness, with just his own strength, was this battle’s greatest meritorious member!

Pan Tao was was the settled victor.

Without him, the Earth Lizard would be everyone’s mortal malady. Zheng Rui and An Ying were also unable to force the Black Ice Python to flee. 

Even though it wasn’t publicly said, but after going through such a calamity, everyone had deemed Pan Tao as their leader, just like An Ying. 

So much so that they believed that Pan Tao ought to be the new commander who called the shots around here. 

Pan Tao had simply relied on this battle to set his dignity upright. 

……

Translator: Our Most Awesome Nata
Editor: Sietse
From XianXiaWorld