Chapter 43

Dark green blood spurted out from the gap between the golden spear and the ground!

The roar of the Earth Lizard came from deep underground, deafening!

The ice-covered land began to shake violently. The enraged Earth Lizard, its ferocity aroused, was about to burst out of the ground.

Pantao, compared to Jiang Miao and the others, clearly had much more practical combat experience. As soon as he saw the blood spurt from the ground, he immediately knew that Nie Tian's judgment was completely correct!

His face was filled with wild joy, and his black pupils suddenly turned dark gold!

A powerful spiritual energy fluctuation erupted from his hand holding the spear. He swiftly pulled out the spear and thrust it into the ground again!

Blinding golden light once again bloomed from the tip of the spear, forcing Nie Tian to close his eyes again.

"Swish!"

The same sound came from Pantao's side again, followed by the Earth Lizard's painful howl.

"Heh! Finally found you!"

Pantao, having succeeded in both attacks, grinned with increased confidence. He pulled out the spear again and was about to thrust it down.

However, the Earth Lizard, having been hit twice, clearly reacted. It knew its location had been exposed.

The Earth Lizard, severely injured, did not intend to fight to the death with Pantao. It seemed to have suddenly retreated into the ground.

"Hey!"

Pantao looked stunned. He saw a large mound of earth rapidly moving away.

A Level 2 Earth Lizard had enough intelligence. Having been pierced twice, it probably didn't dare to stay and fight.

The Earth Lizard actually fled!

"Zheng Rui! You don't need to come over. The Earth Lizard has fled! Haha! It actually fled!" Pantao was excited, waving the golden spear and shouting.

Upon hearing this, all the young people who were worried about being ambushed by the Earth Lizard from underground were invigorated.

Without the threat of the Earth Lizard, they no longer had any concerns and their courage grew!

Nie Tian noticed that none of them looked at their feet anymore, fully focusing on the spirit beasts in front of them.

"Ah! The Earth Lizard fled?" Zheng Rui, who was helping An Ying fight the Ice Python, was also excited. "Brother Tao! Well done! If we all survive this, it's all thanks to you! Ha, you're worthy of being Brother Tao! I admire you!"

With Zheng Rui's help, An Ying was no longer in such a dire situation and could spare a moment to look at Pantao.

She didn't know the specifics, but she knew Pantao wouldn't lie. If Pantao said the Earth Lizard fled, it must be true.

Pantao's ability to defeat the Earth Lizard exceeded her expectations, and she genuinely felt happy.

"Pantao, I didn't expect it! You really have a knack for this!" she praised him without reservation.

"Brother Pantao! You're amazing, we owe you this time!" Jiang Miao's face was flushed with excitement.

"Those from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion are indeed extraordinary. Big Brother Pantao, we admire you!"

"Thank you, Brother Pantao!"

"..."

The other young people also cheered, lavishing praise on Pantao.

Pantao, flattered by all the praise, chuckled awkwardly and glanced at Nie Tian.

Others might not know, but he knew that the key to hitting the Earth Lizard was actually Nie Tian.

Without Nie Tian's accurate location, he would never have been able to surprise the Earth Lizard and cause it such a significant loss, nor would the Earth Lizard have fled without a fight.

The Earth Lizard, unable to anticipate that someone could pinpoint its location, had no defenses.

Just as it had ambushed Qin Shun and Zu Fang, it was ambushed by Pantao in the same way. Otherwise, even if it had come out openly to fight Pantao, it wouldn't have lost so badly.

Because, in reality, it was stronger than Pantao.

Feeling embarrassed, Pantao looked at Nie Tian from a distance and saw Nie Tian giving him a thumbs-up, a gesture of praise.

In Nie Tian's eyes, there was no trace of mockery, only sincere congratulations.

Nie Tian knew very well that although finding the Earth Lizard was key, without Pantao's decisive action, he wouldn't have had the strength to deal a heavy blow to the Earth Lizard.

In this battle, both he and Pantao played crucial roles.

With the Earth Lizard, which had been lurking and repeatedly attacking, now fleeing, the entire battle situation was instantly reversed.

At this moment, though he was exhausted and nearly fainting, the escape of the Earth Lizard allowed him to catch his breath, knowing the crisis had passed.

"Ha ha."

Pantao, seeing the praise in Nie Tian's eyes, smiled. This smile... was genuine admiration and joy.

He nodded lightly to Nie Tian, and the two exchanged a knowing glance.

"Brother Tao! Don't just stand there, quickly help us take down the Ice Python!" Zheng Rui shouted.

"Coming!" Pantao laughed heartily.

But just as he was about to move, he noticed Nie Tian's poor condition.

"Child Hao! Ignore the spirit beasts here and quickly go to Nie Tian's side to protect him. He's not in good shape," Pantao said sternly.

After the Earth Lizard fled, Tong Hao was the only one who didn't celebrate. His face was still filled with lingering fear.

He knew very well that without Pantao's arrival, he would have been the next target of the Earth Lizard, and he... would have been bitten to death.

He still felt fear.

When ordered by Pantao, he glanced at Nie Tian. Seeing Nie Tian sitting on the ground, pale and listless, he frowned, looking somewhat unwilling.

He didn't know that the one who truly saved him was Nie Tian.

But at this moment, while everyone was in a fierce battle, Nie Tian was sitting on the ground...

This made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

—He thought Nie Tian wasn't contributing.

"Tong Hao! Did you hear me?" Pantao glared.

"Oh, I heard, I'll go right away," Tong Hao finally responded.

In his view, Pantao had saved his life, and he owed Pantao a great favor.

So, as long as it was Pantao's order, he would follow it, regardless of his personal feelings.

He quickly reached Nie Tian's side.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked perfunctorily.

"Something happened, so I'm a bit weak," Nie Tian didn't explain much, not wanting to embarrass Pantao, who was being praised by everyone. "Thank you for coming to protect me."

"You're welcome, I'm just following Brother Pantao's orders," Tong Hao's expression was cold. He stared at Nie Tian for a while, then said in a strange tone, "You talked a good game earlier, telling everyone not to be afraid, but you... how did you get so scared?"

Nie Tian's listlessness and pale face really made it look like he was scared.

He assumed that facing the threats of the Ice Python and the Earth Lizard, with no hope of survival, Nie Tian had been frightened.

"Haha." Nie Tian laughed, not arguing. He didn't want to explain to such a person.

"So, you're just good at talking." Tong Hao muttered, his face full of disdain as he looked at Nie Tian.

"The Ice Python has fled too!"

"The other spirit beasts are retreating into the depths of the glacier!"

"Ha! We won, we scared them all away!"

Suddenly, all the young people began to cheer.

Nie Tian focused and saw that the Ice Python was indeed fleeing at high speed into the depths of the glacier.

Without the Earth Lizard's assistance, it had to face An Ying, Pantao, and Zheng Rui. It seemed to know that once they united, it would be hard to defeat them, so it left decisively.

Once it left, the remaining spirit beasts naturally didn't dare to stay and scattered.

"Should we chase them?" Zheng Rui asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

An Ying, holding a long sword, was panting heavily, sweat streaming down her forehead. "No, let's not chase them! The battle with the Ice Python has drained too much of my spiritual energy. I have less than thirty percent left. I need to recover quickly to continue deeper into the glacier."

"Who knows if there are other Level 2 spirit beasts in the glacier."

An Ying said, still feeling the aftereffects of the battle.

"Right, let's take a break for now to be safe," Pantao agreed.

The survivors, who had just escaped death, had wanted to pursue, but hearing An Ying and Pantao, they all calmed down.

After this battle, the way they looked at Pantao was clearly different from before.

In their eyes, Pantao, who had single-handedly severely injured the hidden Earth Lizard, was the greatest hero of this battle!

Pantao was the one who secured the victory.

Without him, the Earth Lizard would have been a major threat to everyone, and Zheng Rui and An Ying wouldn't have been able to force the Ice Python to flee.

Though not explicitly stated, after this ordeal, everyone regarded Pantao as a leader on par with An Ying.

Some even thought Pantao should be the new commander.

—Pantao had firmly established his authority through this battle.

...

PS: This is the fourth chapter. I haven't updated four chapters in a day for two years. Damn, I'm getting old and exhausted. Please give me a monthly vote if you like it.