That despicable, scheming woman, she actually disguised herself as an elf lady!

At this moment, the calm underground lake suddenly surged with waves, and the booming sound was like a world-shattering thunderbolt, which instantly spread throughout the entire cave.

A simple boat, entirely made of ice shield, floated on the lake like a fallen leaf on the green river.

Upon seeing this, Liu Huan was stunned. His lips moved, but after a long pause, he finally managed to utter, "That tiger woman!!"

He stepped onto the ice ship, and a small ball of cyan light appeared in his palm. This cyan light transformed into a cocoon of light, which gradually grew larger, emanating a continuous stream of strong winds.

The strong wind propelled the ice boat toward the direction of the Silver Lotus.

Although both are magic swordsmen, Ophelia leans towards arcane swordsmanship, while Liu Huan leans towards elemental swordsmanship based on earth, fire, wind, and water.

Although both belong to the category of magic swordsmen, they are quite different.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Liu Huan could release wind blades to power boats.

A few minutes later, the ice ship anchored not far from the Silver Lotus. This was the limit; any closer and it would be attacked by the Silver Lotus's guardian monsters.

Upon seeing the Silver Heart Lotus, Liu Huan was overwhelmed with emotion. After calming himself, he said, "Ophelia, I'll lure away the guardian monster in a moment. You seize the opportunity to take the lotus root and heart from the Silver Heart Lotus!"

Ophelia objected, "Aren't you a bad swimmer?"

"I'm not a good swimmer, but I have this!"

After speaking, Liu Huan took out a bottle of potion that shimmered with a faint silver-blue light. With a gentle shake, the bottle began to shimmer with tiny, shimmering light, like the ripples of the tide.

This is the Breath of Water, which allows the drinker to temporarily gain the ability to breathe underwater, just like a fish in the water, no longer limited by the water's nature.

Liu Huan drank it all in one gulp. At first, he only felt a refreshing sweetness in his mouth, but soon a cool magic power flowed down his throat and spread along his blood vessels to his limbs.

Magic flowed through his body. After carefully contemplating it, he felt the time was right and leaped into the water. The feeling of falling into the water was indescribable.

Glug glug----

After a burst of bubbles, the view beneath the lake's surface is fully revealed.

The roots of the Silver Heart Lotus plunged straight into the silt at the bottom of the lake, surrounded by two or three enormous black-shelled turtles, each guarding the vicinity, watching intently.

One of the black-shelled turtles was extremely intimidating, its jet-black head peeking out from its shell, its green eyes staring in this direction.

Upon sensing this gaze, Liu Huan felt as if he had entered an ice cave, his entire body seemingly turning into a block of ice, unable to move.

"Damn, this old tortoise must be at the Refining Realm!" After saying that, he hesitated for a moment: "Do I really want to provoke such a demon for a lotus flower? But the four Bone Forging sessions are a rare opportunity. If I miss this one, I may not have such a good chance again."

He hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted his teeth and said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! If I miss this opportunity, I think I'll regret it terribly later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Huan twisted his body and swam towards the Silver Heart Lotus.

Halfway through the swim, it was stopped by one of the black-shelled turtles.

Without hesitation, Liu Huan clenched his fist and slapped the black-armored tortoise in front of him away. "You're talking to an adult, what are you doing here, little tortoise?"

The Black-Armored Turtle in the Refining Realm was inherently lazy. Upon seeing this, a hint of anger flashed in its eyes. It then opened its mouth and condensed a ball of blue-purple energy. Soon after, a water arrow shot towards Liu Huan.

Liu Huan was slightly startled, but fortunately, he was an experienced adventurer and managed to twist his body and dodge the attack with great difficulty.

The water arrow was incredibly powerful, flying at breakneck speed like a meteor, and then pierced straight through his groin before hurtling towards the boulder behind him.

The moment the blue-purple light vanished, the massive boulder shattered into pieces, scattering like petals in all directions.

"Holy crap, it's that powerful?"

Upon seeing this, Liu Huan felt a chill run down his spine and broke out in a cold sweat. If he were hit, wouldn't Selena be destined to live a life of widowhood for the rest of her life?!

Before he could react, several water arrows, like death missiles, shot towards him at lightning speed.

However, relying on his ability to speak water, Liu Huan calmly dodged them one by one. Not satisfied with that, he even started to flirt with the Black-Armored Turtle of the Refining Realm.

He positioned his rear end against the black-armored tortoise and, mimicking a certain alchemist from the canyon, began to sway and taunt to the extreme, making even a monster in the filthy realm seem to possess simple intelligence.

Upon seeing this, the black-shelled tortoise's eyes instantly turned red. It stretched out all four limbs from its shell, roared, and charged straight at the shameless villain in front of it.

"Hehe, they've taken the bait!" Liu Huan's face lit up with joy upon seeing this.

He then transformed into a swordfish and swiftly flew away into the distance.

After all, the Black Armored Turtle is a demonic creature at the Refining Realm, and Liu Huan has almost no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation!

Ophelia, hidden inside the ice boat, witnessed Liu Huan's provocation and sighed softly.

She didn't know why Liu Huan could always do such shameless and outrageous things; she certainly couldn't do that herself.

However, she also admired Liu Huan's willingness to use any means to become stronger, and wondered if she herself was too lax.

She shook her head, clearing her mind of all thoughts. Then, seeing that the strongest black-armored tortoise had been lured away, she knew it was time for her to make her appearance.

"Water control technique".

A flash of azure light streaked across the water, and Ophelia had already submerged herself, moving swiftly towards the roots of the Silver Heart Lotus like a mermaid.

The largest black-armored tortoise was busy chasing Liu Huan, while the remaining two were merely demons that had just entered the Bone Forging level, and were no match for her at all.

With a wave of her hand, a swirling stream of water appeared before Ophelia, resembling a serpent coiling around two black-armored turtles.

"Little turtles, you can stay here quietly!"

Ophelia glanced at them, a smile playing on her lips, which quickly vanished as she returned to her aloof and indifferent demeanor.

Every girl has dreamed of becoming a princess in a tower, but reality always throws a punch at you, wearing down your youthful spirit.

Ophelia wasn't always this cold-hearted; it was just that suffering had closed her heart, and she had become accustomed to using a cold expression to reject the approach of others.

She swam to the roots of the silver lotus, controlled the water flow to wash away the silt, revealing the pure white, frost-like lotus root lying on the ice.

The lotus root is plump and round, crystal clear like jade, just like the chubby little hand of a ginseng.

When the Black-Armored Turtle, at the Refining Realm, turned around and saw this scene, its rage intensified, and it abandoned Liu Huan and charged towards them.

"Gurgle gurgle!!"

Liu Huan turned around in surprise and couldn't help but want to remind him, but then he remembered that they were underwater and couldn't say a word.

Ophelia held two sections of white lotus root and suddenly felt the gentle lake water become viscous, as if she were in the middle of a waterfall, and every movement required a lot of effort.

Looking back, she was surprised to find that the giant tortoise at the Refining Realm was charging towards her, not daring to linger for a moment.

Ophelia pursed her red lips and swam towards the lake, but she was far slower than the black-armored turtle.

When the black tortoise's head was less than three meters away, Ophelia suddenly turned around, and a wall of icy cold air suddenly appeared around her, blocking the way. She then quickly changed direction and continued to escape.

The black-armored turtle couldn't dodge in time and crashed directly into the ice wall that had appeared out of nowhere, smashing it to pieces.

The price was that his head became dizzy, and he shook his head to regain his senses. He then focused on Ophelia's direction and continued to chase after her.

Just as she was about to catch up, Ophelia resorted to her old trick, constantly pulling on the black-shelled tortoise.

Finally, she emerged from the water like a moon princess and stood steadily on the ice ship.

Liu Huan had been waiting there for a long time. Seeing that the black-armored tortoise still dared to pursue him relentlessly, he shouted, "How dare you!"

He gathered dazzling blue and red light in his hands, which then coalesced and emitted a scorching and chilling aura.

"You beast, take this Fiery Wind Slash!!"

The Blazing Wind Slash transformed into a curved blade, which was slightly flipped and grasped with one hand, bursting out with dazzling light and flying towards the black-armored turtle that had just broken out of the water and was frozen in mid-air.

"Hiss!"

The Blazing Wind Slash missed the Black Armored Turtle's head, only hitting its shell. The turtle was sent flying like a baseball, splashing water everywhere.

"Quick, let's go!!"

Liu Huan wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead and immediately unleashed a wind-based magic spell—Wind Blade—at maximum power, propelling the ice boat toward the shore.

Ophelia then created two oars made of ice and began to frantically row them.

The moment the bow of the boat touched the shore, Liu Huan collapsed to the ground.

"That was really close!"

Looking back, I realized that I had put my life in danger and was almost swallowed by the black-armored turtle several times.

If Ophelia hadn't been caught stealing lotus roots by that black-armored tortoise in the Refining Realm, and if she had been out there a little longer, Liu Huan felt he would have been doomed!

Ophelia stood on the shore, holding two sections of snow-white lotus root, slightly out of breath.

Water droplets dripped from the ends of her deep purple hair, her clothes were soaked by the lake water, and the stray hairs on her forehead clung to her brows, making her look like a pure lotus flower that rose from the mud unsullied.

She asked, "How do I use this?"

Liu Huan wouldn't even bend or straighten his fingers, lying motionless on the ground, and said, "Actually, I don't know either."

Upon hearing this, Ophelia was completely stunned.

In fact, Liu Huan himself was not sure if this was the Silver Heart Lotus; he had only heard the chief of the Gray Feather Tribe mention it.

However, he dared not tell the truth, otherwise his life would be in danger.

Ophelia didn't doubt this, because even from just touching it, she could feel a powerful and intense energy hidden within the lotus root.

"Thank you both for helping us pick the silver-fleshed lotus roots!"

Just as the two were feeling melancholy, a sudden voice interrupted their thoughts.