Chinese Martial Arts: My Super Beast Clone

Chapter 96 Journey Up the Chishui River: The Silver Frog Reappears

"Walk!"

The Crocodile Dragon used its limbs to propel its massive body forward with a thunderous roar.

Sitting on the back of the Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon, Lin Hai's experience was completely different from riding a horse. The Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon had a low chassis and extremely thick limbs, making each landing very stable. Even when running at full speed on the uneven wilderness, Lin Hai only felt slight bumps.

About fifteen minutes later, a wide river appeared ahead.

Chishui River.

The water flowed swiftly, and a thin layer of mist hung over the river, obscuring the opposite bank.

"Let's get in the water." Lin Hai patted the neck of the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon.

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile plunged headfirst into the river.

The moment he entered the water, Lin Hai felt the surrounding river water being slightly pushed aside by an invisible force emanating from the body of the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon.

This is the shared innate ability of the Earth-Splitter Crocodile.

Lin Hai shut his mouth and held his breath.

Underwater light is dim, and the Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon is several times faster in the water than on land. Its huge tail swings from side to side, pushing the water current forward at high speed.

Lin Hai clung tightly to the back of the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon. He could see the underwater reefs and seaweed clearly. However, although he could ride the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon's strength to move underwater, he could not stay underwater for as long as the dragon.

Fortunately, the internal organs of a Ming Jin martial artist have been tempered, and their lung capacity far exceeds that of ordinary people. Lin Hai tried to estimate that, in his current state, he could hold his breath underwater for fifteen minutes without any problem. If it were a Rift Crocodile Dragon using its earth-moving talent to burrow underground, surrounded by compressed soil, its breath-holding time might be reduced by more than half.

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon swam westward, skimming the southern bank of the Chishui River. The river water concealed all their scent and traces.

After swimming for more than ten miles, Lin Hai felt a tightness in his chest, a sign that his lungs were about to run out of oxygen.

"Float up and get some air," Lin Hai transmitted the command via mental link.

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile swam upwards, its head gently breaking the surface of the water.

Lin Hai poked his head out of the water, greedily inhaling the fresh air. The cool air filled his lungs, dispelling the stuffiness.

After a brief moment of breathing, Lin Hai patted the neck of the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon again, and the two of them sank back into the cold waters of the Chishui River.

This time, Lin Hai's mind was completely calmed down.

He lay on the broad back of the Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon, and thanks to his synesthetic talent, everything around him was clearly presented in his mind in a peculiar way.

The underwater world is not a lifeless place.

Below the Chishui River, hundreds and thousands of palm-sized silver-scaled fish converged into a mighty torrent, swimming past them not far away. Countless scales reflected shimmering light in the dim water, like a moving galaxy.

The massive body of the Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon passed through the edge of the school of fish without causing much of a commotion. The fish seemed to sense that the behemoth had no intention of attacking, and after a slight dodge, they resumed their original paths.

The riverbed has a rather complex topography.

The riverbed was covered with thick silt and smoothed stones sculpted by the current. In a relatively flat area of ​​silt, a huge shipwreck lay tilted, most of its hull buried in mud and sand. Judging from its decaying wooden structure and ancient design, it was likely a merchant ship from many years ago. The hull was covered with moss and seaweed, and several dark holes resembled the eyes of a monster.

A huge, dark shadow was lurking in the wreckage's shadow. It was a giant fish, over two meters long, entirely black, with smooth, scaleless skin, and two long whiskers swaying slightly in the water. It remained motionless, perfectly blending into the shadow of the ship and the silt, like a massive rock.

Just then, a plump carp, half a meter long, swam past without warning.

In an instant, the "rock" came to life.

Without warning, the giant fish opened its massive jaws and swallowed the carp whole, giving it no chance to struggle.

The whole process was lightning fast, leaving only a string of tiny bubbles in the water. Then, the giant fish sank back into the mud as if nothing had happened.

Lin Hai's mind stirred slightly.

In this wilderness, both on land and underwater, the most primal law of the jungle prevails. The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is everywhere. While the aura emanating from this giant fish was fierce, it paled in comparison to the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon. It seemed to have sensed this uninvited guest, but remained hidden, not daring to make a move.

Ignoring the local tyrant, the Earth-splitting Crocodile Dragon flicked its tail and continued swimming westward along the riverbed.

Time slowly passed during the monotonous underwater journey.

Every fifteen minutes or so, Lin Hai would command the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon to surface for air.

They swam for nearly a hundred miles in this way.

The river narrows here, the current becomes more rapid, and the banks change from gentle mudflats to steep cliffs.

The search dogs brought by the Japanese could never have tracked them here.

"That's about enough, get ready to go ashore," Lin Hai instructed the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon.

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile understood and began to slowly approach the shore.

Just as it was about to surface, Lin Hai's synesthetic talent suddenly caught a glimpse of an unusual flash of light.

It was a flash of silver light, appearing and disappearing in an instant on a rock in the middle of the river not far ahead.

He was familiar with this silver light.

It's that treasure beast, the Silver Frog, that the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon lost track of before!

How did it end up here? Hundreds of miles away on the upper reaches of the Chishui River?

Lin Hai didn't have time to think; a single thought immediately crossed his mind: "Catch up with it!"

Upon receiving the command, the Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon's previously steady advance suddenly unleashed astonishing power. With a powerful push off the riverbed, its massive body, like a torpedo launched from its barrel, cleaved through the water and charged towards the reef.

The silver frog on the reef seemed to sense the danger as well. It was only the size of a palm, and its entire body was like silver, shimmering with an eerie luster in the dim light.

"Croak!"

A clear, crisp chirp.

With a kick of its hind legs, the silver frog's small body transformed into a streak of silver lightning, leaping directly off the reef and tracing a parabola over ten meters long before landing precisely on the south bank of the river.

"boom!"

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon followed closely behind, its massive body slamming through the water, creating a towering spray, before crashing heavily onto the shallow shore. Mud and water splashed everywhere, but it didn't pause for a moment, using all four limbs to push off and chase after the silver light.

Lin Hai sat on the back of the Crocodile Dragon, his body rising and falling with the violent jolts. He gripped the bone spikes on the Crocodile Dragon's back tightly with both hands, while his eyes were fixed on the constantly leaping silver figure in front of him.

This silver frog is incredibly fast; on the rugged and complex riverbank, it can leap more than ten meters with each bound.

But the Earth-Splitting Crocodile Dragon was equally fast. Its two-zhang-long body, when running, smashed through countless dead trees and boulders blocking its path. The man and the beast, one chasing and the other fleeing, covered more than a thousand meters in the blink of an eye.

The terrain ahead became increasingly treacherous, revealing a rocky hill composed of massive piled-up boulders.

The silver frog hopped and leaped, its body moving with extreme agility among the rocks, before finally disappearing behind a huge, screen-shaped rock with a light leap.

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon caught up, letting out a deep roar. Its massive body did not slow down at all, preparing to go around the giant rock.

Just as it was about to turn around the rocky hill, the momentum of the Earth-Splitter Crocodile Dragon suddenly stopped. Its massive body seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall. Its four claws dug deep furrows in the ground. It stopped, its scales standing on end, and a low growl full of threat and unease came from its throat.

A tremendous sense of oppression came from behind the rocks.

That aura was cold and violent. The mere pressure of that aura caused Lin Hai's muscles to tense up instantly, and his blood and qi seemed to freeze for a moment.

Behind the rocks was a relatively open flat area.

In the center of the flat ground, on a huge blue stone, a massive figure was slowly rising.

It was a large, white, striped tiger.

A giant beast whose size far exceeds that of an ordinary tiger.

Its body length was at least over ten and a half feet, and its shoulder height was almost equivalent to that of an adult human. At this moment, the striped white tiger was lowering its head slightly, quietly watching them.

Not far from it, the silver frog they had been chasing all the way was sitting there unharmed, and even leisurely croaked once.

"Quack."

Lin Hai's heart pounded, and his back was quickly soaked with cold sweat.

This white tiger felt far more terrifying to him than the demonic wolf he had encountered before! The demonic wolf was merely ferocious, but this white tiger gave him the feeling of facing an intelligent being. Its eyes held no bloodthirsty madness, only a bottomless indifference.

The Earth-Splitter Crocodile's muscles tensed, and it entered battle mode.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

A man, a crocodile, and a tiger faced off among the mountain rocks.

A gust of wind whistled through the cracks in the rocks, making a mournful sound.