Chapter 158: The Trials of Xyl (Part-23)

The glowing holographic wheel appeared before his fading eyes. he could see the image of coins, blank slots, and some fragments of a jellyfish.

Lin Fang didn’t waste time. He tapped the 11x button.

The wheel spun. The water vibrated faintly from the system’s glow.

*Ding!

[You received: Spirit Jellyfish Shard x9, Coins +68.]

He exhaled sharply. “Again…”

He kept spinning.

11x.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Without any care about how many coins he was spending and what results he was getting. The only thing he needed was a particular notification to stop his process.

Lin Fang’s fingers shook violently, but he kept pressing the button. His life was being chipped away. His mana was trying its best to resist the salt waters that invaded his body.

Pain was shredding through him. His consciousness flickered—

But he didn’t stop.

By the 15th spin, at last…

Ding!

[Spirit Jellyfish Shards: 102/100.]

Lin Fang almost laughed — or cried — or both at once.

“Finally…” he rasped, hand slipping from the holographic wheel as his head sank slightly.

Alpha’s voice softened just a fraction. “Good. Now hold on, kid. We’re not out of danger yet.”

The pain in Lin Fang’s body hadn’t even faded when the next wave of light flooded his vision. The system prompt hovered before his eyes, steady and cold even as his awareness wavered.

*Ding!

[Assimilate 100 Spirit Jellyfish shards?]

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.

The shards dissolved into motes of light and vanished.

[Spirit Jellyfish Summon Token has been added to your inventory]

[Lottery-origin spirit detected. Rejected from the Summoner’s Shop.]

[Excess shards dismantled. +30 Coins obtained]

[Lottery Wheel refreshed. New item added to the shop]

The wheel flickered briefly, revealing the silhouette of a massive woolly mammoth before Lin Fang dismissed it without sparing it a glance. His focus was already elsewhere. He dragged open his inventory, found the newly formed summon token, and activated it.

A faint golden glow bloomed in the dark water before him.

At first, it was no bigger than his palm. A tiny jellyfish, soft and translucent, pulsed with gentle light as it floated just above his eyes, bobbing in the water as if curious about the world it had just entered.

The system prompt appeared again.

*Ding!

[Please name your summoned creature.]

Lin Fang didn’t think twice. “Jelly.”

The name is locked in.

*Ding!

[You have reached maximum summon capacity. Upgrade the system for additional summons.]

Lin Fang barely registered the last line.

His hands moved quickly as he opened the shop and bought a stack of growth pills in bulk.

*Ding!

[50,000 coins were deducted. 100 Growth Pills were purchased.]

Fifty thousand coins vanished in one transaction. But he didn’t care, though. With Alpha’s help, he used the pills continuously on Jelly’s image in the pet inventory without summoning it.

Eight pills in.

The transformation was immediate.

Light surged outward like a pulse.

The tiny jellyfish exited the pet inventory and swelled in size, its glow intensifying until the lakebed around him was bathed in warm gold.

In an instant, its presence shifted from fragile to a powerful Commander Tier monster.

Lin Fang didn’t waste time. His chest still burned, his blood still drifted in thin trails through the water.

“Jelly… help me,” he whispered through their mental connection.

A soft squeal echoed in his mind, clear and innocent.

The jellyfish flared with blinding light.

The glow wrapped around Lin Fang’s body like a cocoon.

The torn flesh along his chest knit back together. Fractured bones realigned. The icy burn of salt water vanished as warmth flooded his veins.

His lungs filled with strength again. Even his mana core surged, overflowing back to full as if it had never been emptied.

For a single breath, Lin Fang felt perfect.

Then the light faded.

The once-radiant jellyfish shrank rapidly, its glow dimming until it looked like a deflated golden lantern drifting helplessly downward. Its movements slowed, sinking gently through the water.

Lin Fang caught the new system notice as it appeared.

*Ding!

Restoration Skill (Level 30): Restores the target to peak condition within the last 24 hours. Cooldown effect: Summon enters hibernation for 24 hours.

He reached out and lightly touched the soft surface of its bell. “You did well,” he murmured through their bond.

A faint, sleepy emotion brushed against his consciousness before Jelly fell completely still.

He stored it carefully back into the pet inventory.

Only then did Lin Fang turn his attention forward.

Through the distorted water, he could see Sun Nianxi’s small body drifting weakly.

Her breathing was uneven, her burns dark against her skin.

Without a word, Lin Fang angled forward and swam toward her, reaching her just in time.

Without hesitation, Lin Fang placed one hand against her back and released Alpha’s Genesis Pulse. A soft golden shockwave spread outward from his palm.

Her wounds vanished in seconds.

The second-degree burns faded as if they had never existed. Beneath the surface, the damage to her organs and torn flesh rewound itself completely.

A system prompt flashed before Lin Fang’s eyes.

*Ding!

[Greater Restoration has been triggered. Internal injuries fully healed.]

He then grabbed her around the waist and kicked upward with all his strength.

They burst through the surface together.

Lin Fang sucked in a long breath of air, chest tightening with relief as his lungs filled properly for the first time in minutes. He kept a firm grip on Nianxi as he turned his head toward the shore.

Meanwhile, the Green Anaconda King thrashed violently near the shoreline, its massive body rearing again and again as black lightning and sword light tore across its scales.

Li Ying’s wyvern swooped low, spitting dark flame along the serpent’s wounded flank.

Bu Mokong struck from the side with heavy bursts of force.

And above them all, the white-haired teenager Ryan leapt through the air, black lightning exploding around his blade as he slashed downward again.

Lin Fang’s eyes narrowed behind the wolf mask. “That brat…” he muttered.

The memory of the black lightning ripping through the water earlier flashed through his mind. Not all of it had struck the Anaconda. He and Nianxi had taken the damage.

The urge to kill him surged hot and immediate.

But Lin Fang forced it down.

He didn’t know the boy’s background. Someone that young, wielding that kind of power, did not come from nowhere. And right now, this place was already watched.

His gaze momentarily shifted upward.

High in the sky, a faint red light blinked as a drone hovered silently, recording everything.

Lin Fang clicked his tongue. “The Drone is just…”

And even after everything he had thrown at the Anaconda earlier with the Sword of Goujian, which is empowered with Alpha’s blessing, it still wasn’t dead.

This monster was too tough.

But that didn’t mean he had to walk away empty-handed. Not after being reduced to such a state.

As his eyes slid back to Ryan, who seemed to have a triumphant look, Lin Fang decided to steal the boss away from him at all costs.

Lin Fang did not hesitate for long.

He turned his body and slipped back beneath the surface of the lake.

He stayed just a few feet under, close enough that the surface shimmered dimly overhead, close enough that he could still see the shadow of the Anaconda moving like a mountain of muscle in the distance. And use the waters to cover himself from the drone’s attention.

Nianxi floated limply beside him, just barely conscious.

Lin Fang then pulled up his system interface, steadying his heartbeat as he navigated to the quest tab. His gaze locked onto the completed entry.

Hidden Quest 1: Kill and Absorb 100,000 Common-Grade Spirits

Progress: Completed

Reward: Random Mythical-Grade Guardian Spirit

His finger hovered over the confirmation for just a fraction of a second. Then he pressed it.

A sharp chime rang inside his skull.

*Ding!

[A Mythical-grade guardian spirit is being assigned at random.]

[Congratulations, Tiamat has been selected.]

[Proceeding with binding…]

[Binding successful.]

The moment those words finished, the world snapped.

Lin Fang’s consciousness was torn free from his body as if an invisible hand had reached inside his skull and ripped his soul straight out. The pressure in the water vanished. The ache in his muscles disappeared. Sound folded inward until there was nothing at all.

His body and Nianxi’s both sank quietly beneath the surface.

But Lin Fang was no longer there.

He opened his eyes to a sky made of endless pale light.

Grass stretched in every direction, soft and silver-green beneath his feet, swaying as if stirred by an unseen breeze.

The air felt warm, heavy with mist and distant moisture. Far away, vague silhouettes of mountains floated on the horizon, blurred like half-remembered dreams.

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