The next day, the Fire God Squad entered the territory of the Iron Armored Lizard Dragon.

The lizard dragon's territory was dry, not quite desert-like, but the vegetation was low and sparse, and the sun was scorching.

"There's a path leading to the Burning Plains if you head south from here," Hu Yan mentioned casually.

The Burning Plains were currently the southernmost frontier of China, and also the most perilous area within the explored regions.

Jiang Kai checked the location on the Information Card to confirm the nearest spot where a warlord-level lizard dragon could be found.

Due to the intense heat, the squad chose to walk under the shade of rocks whenever possible to avoid the blazing sun.

As the team set off towards their destination, a massive gray figure suddenly darted out from the depths of a crevice beneath the rocks.

The creature was enormous, over 2.5 meters long, its color blending with the rocks, making it hard to spot unless one looked closely. It moved with its limbs close to the ground, dragging its long tail, its body twisting as it crawled rapidly, lunging directly at them.

The Iron Armored Lizard Dragon, true to its name, was covered in thick, armor-like skin that required sharp weapons to penetrate.

Its defensive capabilities were comparable to the scales on the back of a Double-Horned Merman, except the merman's chest and abdomen lacked scales, making them vulnerable if they couldn't dodge in time.

The lizard dragon's weak spot was also its chest and abdomen, but the problem was that, as a reptile, its chest and abdomen were pressed against the ground, making them hard to attack directly!

The Iron Armored Lizard Dragon flicked out its long tongue, its grayish-white eyes fixed intently on Jiang Kai, the closest to it, as it charged forward!

Jiang Kai was about to dodge, but he suddenly remembered that Zhu's rating was only E-level largely because he struggled to activate his potential state.

With this in mind, Jiang Kai pretended not to see the lizard dragon, only keeping an eye on its movements from the corner of his eye, ready to enter a "phantom" state if necessary.

"Kai, watch out!" Hu Yan, the highest-ranked member of the team, was the second to spot the lizard dragon.

Given Hu Yan's understanding of Jiang Kai, Kai's observational skills were exceptional; in past hunts, it was almost always Kai who first noticed the beasts.

Such a situation was rare today!

Unfortunately, Hu Yan was at the back of the team and wasn't adept at moving quickly, and it seemed he wouldn't make it in time.

Just then, Yuan Zhu, who was right behind Jiang Kai, suddenly let out a scream!

"Ah!"

Hu Yan and Ruan Yu were startled by Yuan Zhu's scream; such a big guy sounded like a soprano!

However, despite the scream, Yuan Zhu didn't think of running away this time.

He suppressed his fear, leaped high, and landed heavily, causing the ground to shake, and the Iron Armored Lizard Dragon was sent flying.

Jiang Kai immediately turned around, raised his hand, and a dart shot out, piercing the lizard dragon's abdomen in an instant.

"Zhu, I didn't hit the vital spot, finish it off quickly!" Jiang Kai shouted.

Yuan Zhu drew a massive sword and thrust it fiercely into the lizard dragon's throat.

[Killed a 27-year-old Iron Armored Lizard Dragon, gained 412 experience points.]

[Obtained one Iron Armored Lizard Dragon corpse.]

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After Yuan Zhu completed the kill, he was still shaken, "Wow, that thing suddenly popped out of the crevice, scared the life out of me!"

Such a large "lizard" suddenly appearing was indeed a bit frightening.

Of course, only Yuan Zhu would scream like that...

"Kai, didn't you see the lizard dragon just now? If I had been a bit slower, it would have bitten you!" Yuan Zhu said with lingering fear.

Jiang Kai smiled slightly, "Of course I saw it, but didn't you say before that you'd have my back from now on? So I just focused on the map, you wouldn't let it eat me, right?"

Yuan Zhu frowned, "Kai, you... you know I'm timid, right?"

Su Nuannuan rushed over, surprised, "Zhu, you entered your potential state so quickly? Back in the Tiger Squad, it was rare for you to enter it even once."

The knockback effect only occurred in the potential state.

Yuan Zhu scratched his head awkwardly, "I don't know, I just felt like it was threatening Jiang Kai's safety, so I panicked and..."

Jiang Kai smiled slightly, although it was a bit unkind to exploit his brotherly bond with Zhu, he was probably the one who knew best how to make Zhu unleash his potential.

"Wow, Zhu, you're so strong!" Hu Yan and Ruan Yu caught up, "That was an area attack, plus crowd control, simply invincible!"

With such praise, Yuan Zhu's confidence began to return.

"Hehe, just average, maybe third best in the world."

Jiang Kai rolled his eyes at Zhu, this guy screamed the loudest earlier, and now he's getting cocky again.

"It's just a lizard dragon, nothing impressive, let's go, we're almost at the warlord-level territory, don't mess up then."

Yuan Zhu put away the corpse card and handed it to Jiang Kai, and the team continued forward.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at a stone forest.

Here, rocks stood tall, with numerous large and small rocks scattered around.

Three or four Iron Armored Lizard Dragons could be seen nearby, swaying their bodies exaggeratedly as they moved back and forth.

Logically, Jiang Kai and his team were already within 50 meters, and these lizard dragons could sense prey hundreds of meters away with their tongues, so they should have noticed Jiang Kai and the others by now.

However, they seemed uninterested in Jiang Kai and his team, only pacing back and forth around the stone forest.

After observing for a while, Jiang Kai noticed some super-sized lizard dragons over 3.5 meters long, likely elite lizard dragons, mostly hidden under the rocks.

And in the center of the stone forest, surrounded by boulders, the situation inside was obscured.

These lizard dragons were definitely guarding the warlord!

Jiang Kai turned to Hu Yan, "Old Hu, Rain Prayer, confuse our scent, Ruan Yu, protect Nuannuan and Old Hu, Zhu, come with me!"

Hu Yan said, "My Rain Prayer is upgraded, it only takes 3 minutes to prepare now, and the range, rainfall, and intensity have all improved!"

Jiang Kai was delighted, "That's great, Old Hu, start preparing right away, once it rains, we'll make our move."

Old Hu immediately began to cast Rain Prayer.

Moments later, the cloudless sky suddenly gathered a layer of dark clouds from nowhere.

Boom, a few claps of thunder exploded in the desert.

Before long, a torrential downpour ensued!

"Zhu, charge!"

Jiang Kai and Yuan Zhu dashed towards the stone forest through the rain!

In the downpour, the lizard dragons in the stone forest struggled to pinpoint Jiang Kai and the others' exact location with their tongues, but they could still see with their eyes that two humans were invading!

Previously, Jiang Kai and the others had only seen seven or eight lizard dragons, but as the two began their attack, a large number of lizard dragons surged from all directions.

From under rocks, behind rocks, in pits, among low grass... massive creatures with thick armor crawled quickly, converging!

At a glance, there were at least thirty Iron Armored Lizard Dragons gathered here, including three or four larger elite Iron Armored Lizard Dragons.

"Zhu, I have no defense, cover me!" Jiang Kai shouted lowly, deliberately shifting the burden onto Yuan Zhu.

It must be said, Jiang Kai held a high status in Zhu's heart; he rarely activated his potential in the Tiger Squad, but with Jiang Kai, he used his potential like drinking water.

"Ah, so disgusting! Earth-Shaking Stomp!" Yuan Zhu was quite repulsed by these ugly creatures, but his body slammed into the ground like a cannonball.

Instantly, the lizard dragons within a five-meter radius of Yuan Zhu were sent flying!

As their bodies left the ground, Jiang Kai made his move!

He had to severely injure as many lizard dragons as possible in just a few seconds!

In the past, he might not have been fast enough, but now, Jiang Kai was full of confidence!

"Interesting... just the right practice!"

With Ghost Eye Focus, Jiang Kai's hands moved like lightning, accurately and swiftly, as nine darts shot out!

The lizard dragons weren't densely packed, making it hard to create a large ignition effect, and it was still raining, but Jiang Kai didn't need to use Quenching Pursuit.

"Gambler's Time!" Jiang Kai shouted lowly.

Gambler's Time's description was a 100% increase in attack speed, including throwing darts and retrieving them.

Jiang Kai's nine fingers twitched rapidly, quickly recalling the darts and shooting them out again.

Ruan Yu's modifications allowed Jiang Kai to shoot the darts individually and recall them separately, rather than all at once.

He could shoot the darts in sequence, recalling the first ones as soon as they hit, so when the later darts were shot, the earlier ones were already back in Jiang Kai's hands.

As a result, during the ten seconds of Gambler's Time, Jiang Kai managed to create an endless barrage of darts!

Hu Yan's eyes widened in shock, watching Jiang Kai's lightning-fast moves, exclaiming, "Wow, how many years has Kai been single to have such hand speed?"

Ruan Yu frowned, "Last time, he wasn't this fast... Tsk tsk, such speed is like a machine, rich women must love it!"

Su Nuannuan couldn't help but laugh, blushing and glaring at Ruan Yu, "You Fire God Squad guys are so dirty!"

Ruan Yu quickly apologized, "Sorry, Miss Nuannuan, we're used to being just us guys, forgot there's a lady present."

Hu Yan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Ahem, Zhu and Kai's skill coordination is seamless!"

Hu Yan nodded, "Yes, normally, who dares to flip a lizard dragon over? Even if they occasionally expose their bellies, it's hard to hit the vital spot in an instant, only Kai's ranged attack has this capability."

Nuannuan nodded, "Indeed, they work well together. During the Newcomer Trial, they did the same. These Iron Armored Lizard Dragons are hard to kill under normal circumstances. When I was in the Tiger Squad, it took Captain Li and three second-tier professions over ten minutes to kill a regular lizard dragon, they had to break its armor first."

As they spoke, Yuan Zhu suddenly exclaimed, "Wow, I leveled up! Kai, I'm level 11 now!"

Nuannuan suddenly exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement, "It's over! Two minutes, they killed all the lizard dragons on the perimeter!"

"A total of 31, including three elites!"

"Zhu was originally level ten and a half, in two minutes, he reached level eleven?!"

She suddenly remembered what Jiang Kai said before, that Captain Li and the others' leveling speed... was too slow!

Now it seemed, he wasn't exaggerating at all, in fact, he was being quite modest.

Compared to Jiang Kai and the others' kill speed, the Tiger Squad's leveling speed was practically standing still!

Hu Yan and Ruan Yu, however, weren't too shocked.

Hu Yan smiled slightly at Nuannuan, speaking with a profound air, "Nuannuan, no need to be surprised, this is the speed of the Fire God Squad!"

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