The evening light reflected softly across the lake as Lian walked back along the quieter shoreline path alone.
The woven fish basket still rested against his shoulder while the distant village sounds gradually faded behind him.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The boy finally sighed helplessly.
"…You could at least explain things properly sometimes."
Above him—
the invisible white lizard rested calmly atop his head beneath concealment.
"You ask unnecessary questions."
Lian's face twitched immediately.
"How is asking *why* unnecessary?!"
"You were told to return."
"So I returned."
"But normal people usually want reasons!"
A brief silence followed.
Then—
"You continue regardless, even without one."
Lian opened his mouth—
then paused.
Because annoyingly…
that was true.
He groaned quietly afterward.
"…You really are impossible to argue with."
The lizard ignored him completely.
Instead—
his attention remained fixed toward the lake ahead.
Toward the faint spiritual residue beneath the water.
The energy there was weak.
But unnatural.
Not enough to threaten him.
Eventually—
they reached the quieter section of the shoreline again.
No villagers remained nearby now.
Only drifting water.
Faint wind.
And soft evening light reflecting across the lake surface.
Lian placed the basket down beside the dock before crossing his arms.
"…Alright."
"I came back."
"Now what?"
His words never finished.
The moment they left his mouth—
his entire body suddenly lifted into the air.
"Wha—?!"
The fish basket slipped from his grip instantly.
THUMP.
It crashed onto the dock behind him while Lian himself floated helplessly several feet above the wooden planks.
His eyes widened in panic.
"Lizarius?!"
"What are you doing?!"
The invisible force holding him gave no warning.
FWOOOSH.
His body shot forward instantly.
Straight toward the lake.
"WAIT—!"
Lian barely had time to scream before they plunged beneath the surface.
Yet—
there was no splash.
No impact.
The lake surface distorted slightly, as though they had passed through a thin veil before being swallowed entirely.
Darkness surrounded him immediately.
Cold blue-black water stretched endlessly in every direction while the world above vanished completely.
Lian's heart nearly exploded from panic.
He instinctively clamped his mouth shut while thrashing violently.
Arms swinging.
Legs kicking.
Trying to swim upward.
Trying to escape.
Fear surged through him.
*I'm drowning!*
*I can't breathe!*
Meanwhile—
the white lizard floated calmly nearby.
Now visible.
His snow-white scales drifted faintly through the darkness while an invisible force suspended both of them beneath the lake's depths.
The lizard observed the panicking boy silently for several seconds.
Then calmly spoke.
"Breathe."
Lian shot him a furious look.
*Breathe?!*
*How am I supposed to breathe underwater?!*
He continued struggling—
until something strange registered.
…He wasn't wet.
His clothes floated naturally around him.
But no water touched his skin.
No crushing pressure filled his chest.
It felt as though an invisible barrier surrounded him completely.
Protecting him.
Lian's frantic movements gradually slowed.
Confusion replacing panic.
He looked down at himself.
Then up at the lizard.
Golden reptilian eyes reflected faintly in the surrounding darkness.
The calm voice sounded again.
"You are not drowning."
Lian hesitated.
Then carefully inhaled.
His eyes widened instantly.
Air.
Real air entered his lungs smoothly.
Lian blinked repeatedly in disbelief.
"…I can actually breathe…"
A stunned pause followed.
"…That's really cool."
Then immediately—
his expression snapped back.
"Couldn't you warn me first?!"
"For a second I thought you decided to kill me!"
The lizard ignored the complaint entirely.
Instead—
he slowly drifted deeper into the lake.
Not swimming.
Simply descending as though gravity itself had been rewritten.
Lian floated helplessly after him beneath the same invisible force.
The deeper they went—
the darker the world became.
Soon—
even the faint light from above disappeared completely.
Only endless black water remained.
Lian swallowed nervously.
"…Can you at least tell me where we're going now?"
"I can't see anything."
"It's completely dark down here…"
The lizard remained calm.
Then—
blue flames ignited beside him.
FWOOOSH.
Small floating fireballs appeared silently within the water, their light cold and spectral.
They drifted around the lizard, illuminating the depths in ghostly blue tones.
The darkness retreated.
Lian's eyes widened.
"…Whoa…"
Ancient stone formations became visible beneath them.
Submerged roots.
Broken rock.
Shifting underwater shadows.
And ahead—
far deeper below—
something faintly glowed blue beneath layers of mud and sediment.
The lizard's golden eyes narrowed slightly as he drifted toward it.
Meanwhile—
Lian stared at the floating flames in awe.
"…That's amazing…"
Then, after a pause—
he added quietly:
"…You really are terrifying."
They descended further.
The silence deepened.
Only currents and drifting blue fire illuminated the abyss.
Schools of fish scattered instantly whenever the pair approached, silver bodies flashing between submerged rocks before vanishing into deeper darkness.
Lian floated beside the lizard now, quieter.
Still amazed.
Still uneasy.
The deeper regions of the lake felt nothing like the surface.
Ancient.
Heavy.
Unnatural.
Then—
the darkness ahead began to thin.
At first, only faint blue glimmers appeared beneath the lakebed.
But as they approached—
more crystalline shapes became visible.
Small stones embedded in sediment.
Smooth.
Translucent.
Each one pulsing softly with contained spiritual energy.
The water itself seemed clearer around them.
Lighter.
Strangely pure.
Lian's eyes widened.
"…What are those?"
Before the lizard could answer—
his gaze shifted further ahead.
And Lian froze instantly.
"…Wait…"
Something enormous rested in the center of the lakebed.
At first, it looked like a massive black boulder.
But then—
he saw the shape.
The curved shell.
The layered ridges.
His pupils shrank.
"…Is that…"
"…A clam?"
It was enormous.
Easily the size of a carriage.
Its dark shell was partially buried beneath mud and glowing blue crystals, while faint spiritual pressure drifted from its slumbering form.
Completely still.
Like an ancient creature asleep beneath the lake for centuries.
Lian swallowed.
"That thing is huge…"
"And what even are those glowing stones around it?"
The white lizard did not answer immediately.
His golden eyes remained fixed on the massive creature.
A Rank Seven beast.
Then inwardly—
he calmly queried the system.
*What is it?*
The response arrived instantly.
[Species Identified: Deepwater Black Shell Clam]
[Threat Assessment: Rank Seven Spirit Beast]
Lian remained unaware of the system's words.
But the lizard's eyes narrowed faintly.
Rank Seven.
Weak.
Completely insignificant compared to him now.
His attention shifted toward the glowing stones nearby.
*What are those?*
The system responded immediately.
[Identified Object: Condensed Water Essence Crystals]
[Description: Spiritual minerals formed through prolonged accumulation of water-attributed spiritual energy.]
[Often produced near water spiritual veins or aquatic spirit beast territories.]
[Contains purified water essence suitable for cultivation, alchemy, spiritual recovery, and water-affinity tempering.]
Blue flames drifted silently around the lizard as he observed the crystals.
Interesting.
A weak water spiritual vein branch.
The clam had likely settled here long ago because of it.
Meanwhile—
Lian stared at the enormous creature nervously.
"…It's alive… right?"
"Yes."
The answer came calmly.
Lian stiffened instantly.
"…Can it see us?"
"…Can it kill us?"
"Yes."
A pause.
"…You."
Lian's face turned pale.
"…Then why am I here?!"
The lizard ignored the panic entirely.
Instead—
his gaze shifted beneath the clam itself.
Toward faint blue light seeping through cracks in the lakebed.
Then—
without warning—
he moved.
The lake trembled.
Lian's eyes widened instantly.
At first, nothing seemed to happen.
Then—
the water obeyed.
A deep current surged beneath the clam as invisible force wrapped around it completely.
The enormous Rank Seven beast had no time to react.
Its shell shifted violently.
Mud erupted outward.
The surrounding crystals lifted into suspension like drifting stars.
Lian stared in shock.
"…What—"
The gigantic clam rose.
Slowly.
Effortlessly.
Even the glowing crystals floated with it, suspended like a constellation.
Lian's mouth fell open.
"…You can do that?!"
The lizard did not answer.
He simply displaced the massive creature several meters aside, holding it motionless.
The lakebed beneath it was revealed.
A circular stone surface.
Ancient.
Cracked.
And from the fractures—
pure blue spiritual energy leaked upward in steady pulses.
Dense.
Rich.
Lian could feel it instantly.
Even through the protective barrier around him—
his skin prickled.
The Qi here was overwhelming.
The lizard glanced at him.
"Go there."
Lian blinked.
"…What?"
"Cultivate."
Lian stared blankly.
"…Now?!"
"Yes."
So casually it was almost absurd.
He looked at the floating clam.
Then the glowing crystals.
Then back at the lizard.
"…You're telling me to cultivate under a giant monster you just moved like it's nothing?"
Silence.
Lian's face twitched.
Of course.
Naturally.
Because apparently this was normal now.
After a brief hesitation—
he obeyed.
He carefully drifted down toward the exposed stone.
The moment he approached—
his eyes widened.
The spiritual energy here was absurd.
Thick.
Heavy.
Almost tangible.
Like standing at the center of a storm made of Qi.
Lian slowly lowered himself onto the glowing cracked stone beneath the lakebed.
The surrounding water quieted strangely.
Only faint currents moved through the abyss.
He sat cross-legged beneath the enormous suspended clam while blue light from the crystals illuminated the space.
Then he began circulating his technique.
Instantly—
his body trembled.
The Qi rushed in.
Thicker than anything he had ever felt.
Refined.
Cold.
Pure.
Lian's expression shifted from focus into disbelief.
This cultivation speed…
It was beyond anything he knew.
The bottleneck he had struggled with all week suddenly felt thinner.
Almost fragile.
Then—
his body jolted.
A faint pulse of energy spread outward beneath the water.
His eyes snapped open.
Shock flooded his face.
"…I broke through?"
His voice echoed faintly through the underwater barrier.
First Stage Spirit Refining.
Already achieved.
Lian stared at his hands in disbelief.
"…Already?"
Moments ago, cultivation had felt painfully slow.
Now—
it felt effortless.
The white lizard answered calmly.
"The spiritual density here is approximately twenty-seven times higher than your village."
Lian's mouth slowly opened.
"…Twenty-seven?"
No wonder.
The boy looked around again—
at the crystals.
At the clam.
At the lakebed.
Then finally at the lizard.
"…You knew this was here the whole time?"
"Uncertain."
"…And you only brought me now?!"
"You would have died earlier."
Lian's face twitched.
Right.
Fair.
Still—
his excitement quickly returned.
He had broken through.
Actually broken through.
A real cultivator now.
Even if only at the lowest stage.
The realization made his chest tighten with excitement.
Meanwhile—
the lizard observed the environment calmly.
Rank Seven beast.
Weak.
But the crystals were useful.
Very useful.
Interesting.
Lian suddenly laughed beneath the water.
"I actually did it…"
He clenched his fists.
Then immediately looked up.
"…Can I keep cultivating here?"
"For now."
Lian grinned.
Then immediately sat back down and resumed cultivation without hesitation.
Above him—
the white lizard floated silently beneath the glowing blue light.
Watching as the boy continued refining himself within the depths of the lake.