If the Snake King's aura won't work on this water monster, then...

"Dominance ability, activate!"

A surge of Emperor's Qi erupted from Tu Xiao'an, spreading out into the current.

Ten-odd seconds passed, but the Fish Demon Giant Snake was completely unaffected. On the contrary, it roared and lunged at Tu Xiao'an. Its cavernous maw, filled with ghastly white teeth, was a terrifying sight.

"CRUNCH..."

Its cavernous maw clamped down, swallowing half of Tu Xiao'an's body. Its eyes glinted with excitement.

'A direct hit... but no blood in the water?'

The Fish Demon Giant Snake was slightly taken aback. Tu Xiao'an's cold voice echoed from within its cavernous maw.

"Thunderous Fury..."

In an instant, the Fish Demon Giant Monster was engulfed in a blinding white light as the incessant sound of crackling electricity filled the water.

Interestingly, the blinding white light burst forth from its giant mouth, shining with immense brilliance.

The Fish Demon Giant Monster instantly took immense damage. Its terrifying, ghastly eyes abruptly dimmed, its life force vanished. It had been electrocuted to death.

As electricity coursed through the water, countless smaller water snakes in the area went belly-up and began to slowly float toward the surface.

Tu Xiao'an emerged from its giant mouth, his face dark. "Dammit. What the hell kind of monster is this? It's even immune to my dominance ability."

'What's going on? Is it classified as part of the Fish Race?'

'That traitor. Being a snake is such a promising path, yet it had to make itself into this thing that's neither fish nor snake.'

This was the first time Tu Xiao'an had ever encountered something that could render both his Snake King's aura and his dominance ability ineffective.

The Fish Demon Giant Snake's body was enormous. Even in death, it didn't float, but instead began to sink to the bottom.

Tu Xiao'an stared at the corpse, thinking, 'Should I drop my human form, revert to my true body, and swallow it? Devouring it would mean 300 Evolutionary Energy.'

But before Tu Xiao'an could decide, a piercing, grating noise emanated from the depths of the cavern, accompanied by the impact of a powerful sonic wave.

Suddenly... a swarm of unknown creatures rushed over. Their speed through the water was incredible, no slower than a fish's.

Tu Xiao'an's expression changed in an instant. He retreated, deciding not to act rashly.

But when the swarm of unknown creatures arrived, they didn't go for Tu Xiao'an. Instead, they attached themselves to the Fish Demon Giant Snake's corpse and began to feast heartily.

The massive, ten-meter body of the Fish Demon Giant Snake rapidly shrank, exposing its white bones.

Individually, they weren't large, and the swarm numbered over a hundred. These strange creatures were paper-thin, with a pair of wings on their backs. On closer inspection, they looked a bit like rats with wings, but their mouths were strange, tipped with something like a sucker.

Attached to the body of the Fish Demon Giant Snake, they were sucking frantically.

'Bats?'

"Insight."

"Ding... Vampire Water Bat. Amphibious creature. Level 5."

'Water Bats that live in the water? Now that's interesting.'

Tu Xiao'an's eyes narrowed. A Water Bat, excitedly feeding, was suddenly seized by his Consciousness Power and floated involuntarily right in front of him.

He grabbed the small creature by its thin wings and examined it closely. It was even leaner than bats found on land, and the sucker at its mouth was very unusual, seemingly evolved specifically for sucking blood.

'If one of these things attached to a person and its sucker latched on, it would be like maggots burrowing into your bones. It would make you wish you were dead.'

'A classic Vampire.'

Tu Xiao'an thought, 'Since it's amphibious, it must be able to live on land. But given how fast it swims, it probably can't stay on land for long. It must primarily live in the water.'

With a squeeze of his hand, Tu Xiao'an tore its thin wing. A black liquid flowed from the tear, emitting a foul, fishy stench that was nauseating.

'It even has black blood. Unbelievable.'

"SKREE SKREE..."

As the black blood spread through the water, the hundred-odd Vampire Water Bats instantly swarmed toward Tu Xiao'an like a dark, menacing cloud.

"Disgusting things. All of you can just die!"

Arcs of electricity coursed over Tu Xiao'an's body, and a powerful current of Thunder flashed white in the water.

BZZZT... BZZZT... BZZZT...

The hundreds of Water Bats shuddered violently, killed instantly by the electric shock. Their bodies floated up and began to drift toward the cavern entrance, carried by the outward flow of the current.

Underwater, Tu Xiao'an couldn't use his Flame Power, and his Ice Frost Power wasn't especially effective. But the power of Thunder was doubly effective, its might greatly amplified. The water's conductivity made it incredibly practical.

Any creature that tried to attack him would likely be electrocuted to death before it could even get near.

Having dealt with the swarm of Vampire Water Bats, Tu Xiao'an gazed into the depths and began to ponder. 'This cavern really is extremely dangerous.'

'I haven't even started to go deep, and I've already met a Fish Demon Giant Snake and Vampire Water Bats. It's like this place forbids any outside creature from entering.'

'Trying to enter means death.'

'Besides, fighting in the water is a natural disadvantage for a land creature.'

It was only because of an anomaly like Tu Xiao'an, who had so many different abilities, that one could remain this composed.

He continued deeper...

Tu Xiao'an swam deeper slowly. While he wasn't paranoid enough to see enemies in every shadow, he didn't let his guard down. The cavern was unfathomably mysterious; he couldn't afford to be careless.

He hadn't swum much deeper when a pair of large eyes ahead of him in the water, glowing with a cold, eerie light, fixed upon him.

'For fuck's sake, another Fish Demon Giant Snake.' Its massive body lay sprawled out, blocking Tu Xiao'an's way forward.

This one was a full five zhang—fifteen meters—in size, like a submarine.

Tu Xiao'an gave it a deep look, his eyes narrowing. This one was actually Level 20, having reached the Spirit Monster Level.

"If you don't want to die, get out of my way."

Tu Xiao'an stared coldly at the monster before him, projecting his voice toward it.

The creature's large eyes shone brightly. It opened its cavernous maw, and a jet of water erupted forth, shooting toward Tu Xiao'an a short distance away.

'Hm? Looks like this one won't be easy to deal with.'

Tu Xiao'an calmly watched the approaching jet of water. He shook his head and dodged it with ease, feeling no pressure at all.

But immediately after, three more jets of water shot toward him simultaneously. These jets carried enormous force—enough to shatter every bone in a person's body on impact.

Tu Xiao'an could only keep dodging. After narrowly avoiding the three jets, his expression darkened. The damned Fish Demon Giant Snake was madly churning the water, continuously firing blasts from its giant mouth.

Jet after jet, like meteors from the heavens, came whistling toward Tu Xiao'an in a volley. WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

"Is this ever going to end?!"

Tu Xiao'an was furious. No longer bothering to dodge, he swam straight forward with his hand balled into a fist. Whenever a jet of water shot toward him, he would punch it, creating a muffled explosion in the water.

If this weren't in the deep water of a cavern, the surface of the lake would have likely been churning with massive, sky-high splashes by now.

Punch after punch, Tu Xiao'an shattered the jets of water, steadily closing the distance to the Fish Demon Giant Snake. So, this monster wanted to play at range with him.

Once Tu Xiao'an got close, its snake-like tail suddenly whipped out and wrapped around his waist. With a powerful tug, it pulled him in. Then, it opened its cavernous maw, looking ready to enjoy a fine meal.