Black Mud Lake.

After the patrol team left, Li Mu did not leave.

Now that he knew the exact information and had the map, he was no longer in such a hurry.

The fragrance of the fire lotus grew stronger and stronger, and it was about to ripen, which was one of the reasons why he did not leave.

There was another reason that made him wary.

If Feng Xi could find cultivation techniques here, why can't others?

If anyone here has found immortal techniques, they will most likely be hiding in various sects.

On that day, Feng Xi said that he was not qualified to come to the Inner Hidden Sect with his current cultivation level. Could this be the reason?

If what he said is true, then I must cultivate to the Great Perfection of the Ninth Level of Qi Refining, or to the Foundation Establishment stage, before I can come.

Is it possible to build a foundation here?

Sitting by the Black Mud Lake, Li Mu thought of many things, and several hours passed in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't until someone shouted that he was brought back to reality.

"The fire lotus has matured and is beginning to shed its leaves."

Li Mu listened to the sound and looked towards the center of the lake.

Within half a day, one-fifth of the lotus flowers in the pond had bloomed.

The leaves of the dozen or so lotus flowers that had been in full bloom began to wither and fall into the water.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!..."

As the lotus petals fell, several fishing rods were simultaneously cast out from the shore.

One of the fishing hooks caught a fire lotus flower that was about to fall into the lake with great precision.

Li Mu looked back and saw that it was He Bo who had cast the fishing rod.

Is this what Xu Shiheng meant by "picking lotus flowers"? And not "picking them in the river"?

As the River God struck the fire lotus leaf, a sound came from the river, followed by a large splash.

"A crocodile!? A crocodile demon!?"

Seeing a large crocodile emerging from the water, trying to reclaim the fire lotus leaf, Li Mu finally understood why the fire lotus could not be picked.

So there was a guardian monster.

.

Li Mu's spiritual sense was already very strong. In two days, he observed the lotus pond countless times but still couldn't find any guardian monsters.

It wasn't until there was movement in the lake that he could see clearly that the crocodile monsters guarding the fire lotus had been hiding in the mud.

This is a group of crocodile monsters with a certain level of intelligence. Each one is over ten feet long and has three eyes.

Three-eyed crocodile.

Each one possesses the strength of a level one demon beast, equivalent to a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage.

The longest three-eyed crocodile was two zhang long, and should be a level two demon beast.

A level two demon beast's strength is equivalent to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, placing it at the top of the food chain in this Black Mud Lake.

Li Mu estimated that if this level-two three-eyed crocodile came ashore, he was confident he could kill it.

If he were in the lake, he would be at the mercy of others, and might even become food for the three-eyed crocodile.

The petals of the fire lotus kept falling off, and the fishing rods on the shore kept being cast into the lake, hitting more and more fire lotuses.

Meanwhile, the commotion in the lake grew louder, as the three-eyed crocodile continued to devour the fire lotus leaves.

Seeing the bustling scene in the center of the lake and on the shore, Li Mu was moved.

The reason he hadn't gone to pick them was because the level 2 three-eyed crocodile had also remained dormant.

There are more than a dozen mature lotus pods around the three-eyed crocodile.

One of the lotus pods had withered, and only a few black lotus seeds remained on the pod.

It can now be confirmed that the most precious parts of this fire lotus are definitely the lotus pod and lotus seeds.

Otherwise, that level-two three-eyed crocodile would never have been guarding that spot.

.

Li Mu watched from the shore for over an hour, but the level-two three-eyed crocodile remained dormant. He didn't want to wait any longer.

Although he couldn't defeat the three-eyed crocodile, his goal wasn't to fight the crocodile, but rather the lotus pod.

He could easily outsmart the lotus pods.

He quietly withdrew from the shore, concealed himself in a deserted spot, boarded his flying sword, and flew towards the center of the lake.

The closer he got to the center of the lake, the stronger the medicinal fragrance of the fire lotus became, and the scent made him feel refreshed.

The lotus pond, covering several dozen acres, doesn't seem very large from the shore, but once you reach the center of the lake, the sight of hundreds or even thousands of fiery lotus flowers is truly breathtaking.

Standing above the center of the lake, Li Mu reminded himself not to be greedy; ten flowers would suffice.

However, once he started picking around the lotus pond, he didn't stop, picking more than a dozen buds that were about to bloom.

He also picked more than ten lotus flowers in full bloom, until a three-eyed crocodile swam by, at which point he slipped away.

While in the air, he changed direction, feeling that the fire lotus was enough.

He slowly approached the mature lotus seedpod, and due to the spatial fluctuations, the Level 2 Three-Eyed Crocodile seemed to sense it.

While the three-eyed crocodile was distracted, Li Mu quickly picked two ripe lotus pods.

"boom!"

The three-eyed crocodile, realizing something was wrong, didn't see Li Mu's body, but instead spat out a large fireball at the air where he was standing.

The fireball was enormous, exceeding two meters in diameter, and moved with incredible speed, completely engulfing Li Mu in mid-air.

He could have dodged, but as the three-eyed crocodile unleashed its fireball, a divine sense attack was simultaneously fired from its third eye.

This double attack dealt a heavy blow to Li Mu, burning away his spiritual energy shield.

Affected by the attack on his divine sense, his mind went blank for a moment, and he finally managed to escape the fireball's embrace on instinct.

Before it could regain its footing, a long, large tail lashed out.

Li Mu's body was like a tattered sack, sent flying dozens of meters by the blow. In mid-air, he felt like his soul was about to die.

.

Li Mu, who was hit three times in a row by the three-eyed crocodile, almost fell into the water.

But the three-eyed crocodile showed no sign of letting him go and had already caught up with him.

At this moment, he no longer cared about concealing himself and controlled his flying sword to soar into the sky.

He had just left his resting place when his huge tail slapped it again, splashing water more than ten meters high.

People on the shore have already seen the situation in the center of the lake.

"Look, what's that?"

"Holy crap, someone actually came to the middle of the lake to pick fire lotus flowers."

"My idol! After all these years, finally someone dares to pick lotus flowers."

"Just wait and see, whether he can come back is still uncertain."

"Holy crap, how can that person stand in the air? Could he be a fellow cultivator?"

Although Li Mu was standing in the air, his situation was very bad.

His blood and qi surged throughout his body, and his internal organs were injured.

He was eating pills while cursing at the three-eyed crocodile.

"Damn it, what's the big deal? It's just two lotus pods."

Looking down at the three-eyed crocodile with its dead fish eyes, Li Mu was filled with fear.

If I hadn't run away quickly, I would have really become this guy's food.

After a period of recuperation, his body had recovered to about 80%. He glanced at the three-eyed crocodile that refused to leave the water and felt a surge of anger.

Being chased and beaten by a beast and not fighting back is not his style.

He grabbed a handful of iron nails and quickly hurled them at the three-eyed crocodile.

After a loud noise, the three-eyed crocodile was unharmed, as if it had been scratched.

He took out the sniper rifle again and aimed it at the three-eyed crocodile's third eye.

"Bang!"

A small splash of blood rose up, leaving only a bloodstain on the three-eyed crocodile's head.

The three-eyed crocodile seemed to be enraged, leaping up and pouncing on Li Mu in mid-air.

This time, Li Mu was prepared. After dodging the attack, he slashed at the three-eyed crocodile with his wooden fang sword.

"Clang!"

The wooden sword made a metallic clang when it touched the three-eyed crocodile's forepaw.

Li Mu attacked and fled, cursing as he retreated.

"Holy crap! Is this beast really that difficult to deal with?"

The three-eyed crocodile relentlessly pursued the prey in the water, biting it tightly.

Li Mu fought and fled, keeping the three-eyed crocodile dangling from him, occasionally turning around to slash with his sword.

After taking the three-eyed crocodile to a considerable distance, he disappeared again and sped away on his flying sword.

The target: that withered lotus pod and its mature lotus seeds.