Qin Hua stood at the shores of the lake, peering in to see her pitch black reflection on the deceptively still waters.

She had already covered every inch of the space inside the rift, so if the rift crystal was still inside, it either had to be in some special hidden spot or in the depths of this lake.

Meow. Coco walked over and coolly played with the lake water by waddling its small paw inside.

[Sigh. Get back furball.] Qin Hua growled tiredly.

They had already cleared all the mutated eels from the lake, so possibly she could simply swim down and grab the crystal wherever it is? Was it really that simple? Or was there more to it?

Engrossed in her thought, she kept staring at the lake planning their next move and thinking about the possible dangers that could be hidden in the still waters of the lake when suddenly an ominous feeling gripped her mind.

The wolf gasped and quickly leaped back, pulling the cat as well along with her. [Just now… Was that a pair of eyes?] The hair on her body stood erect as she warily looked at the lake.

There was definitely something inside and she had a feeling that it was stronger than everything else she had faced in the rift!

[What should I do now? Growl.]

Perhaps because she was still shaken from having experienced the unknown crimson world and the strange creature that had almost taken her life, she was a bit hesitant.

The memory was after all very fresh.

But at the same time… she had come all this way, how could she give up without even trying?

Qin Hua paced back and forth on the shores of the lake for a few minutes, after which she quickly summoned out her clone.

The three of them then once again waddled through the lake and reached the other side with the protruding cliff from which they had jumped down in the first place.

This cave tunnel led right back to the entrance of the rift that connected their world to the rift.

Qin Hua shifted into her werewolf form and with the cat clinging to her back, she climbed up back into the cave tunnel. Her claws dug into the rock wall and she reached back up in just a few seconds.

Her clone as well followed in her footsteps and used the same crevices she had made to climb back up.

All three of them then ran over to the entrance of the rift. This time instead of the red swirling energy, there was once again the black swirling energy.

Qin Hua felt a slight relief wash over her at the sight of this.

The thought that she could leave this place right now if she wanted to gave her some comfort, but she did not plan on leaving just like that.

[Purple and Coco. You both stay right here.] She growled. [Coco are you paying attention? Listen to me or else no more exp leeching for you! I will cut you off!]

Meow…?

[Never mind. Just stay here. Woof!]

Qin Hua sighed and looked at the two before running back out to the edge of the winding tunnels. The vast lake sprawled out in front of her looking as still and steady as ever.

Gulp. She then took a deep breath and dove straight into the lake.

This time it was different. Without all the eels suffocating her and crowding around her, Qin Hua was able to calmly swim down taking a look around.

The cool waters of the lake were comforting to her body as she had only a few minutes ago experienced a volcanic hell. She even opened her mouth and drank big gulps, feeling her insides cool down as well.

Luckily for her, the lake wasn’t too deep so she was able to observe everything on the bottom surface without having to go too far in.

She came up regularly for air and continued swimming around, trying to search for anything that looked like a mana crystal or something like that assuming that the rift crystal core looked somewhat similar.

However, even after swimming around for a while, weirdly Qin Hua was not able to find anything. There also wasn’t any insanely strong beast prowling at the bottom of the lake.

This made her more confident and after finishing an entire lap around the lake, she began venturing further deeper to take a better look.

[Hmm… The crystal thing has to be here somewhere. Where else could it be?]

She began inspecting the couple of plants and the small rocks down on the lake’s floor trying to get some clue when she noticed an unusually large boulder.

This boulder was leaning against the cave wall on the other side of the lake at the very bottom.

Qin Hua quickly swam towards it and pushed the boulder aside as this was probably the only place where she hadn’t searched in the entire rift space.

Crack. The boulder shifted as she pushed it aside and fell down on the lake’s floor with a soft thud sending ripples on the surrounding waters.

And previously where the boulder was located, there was now a small tunnel. Qin Hua’s eyes bulged as she quietly stepped into the tunnel.

Even though this was located at the bottom of the lake, water still did not go in. [What is this? A magic barrier?] She curiously looked around and wandered deeper into the cave.

Ka ta ta ta.

Sensing her presence a few spiders crawled towards her which Qin Hua swiftly cleared by sending out darts of black energy.

As she went deeper more spiders came out, but she clearly just as quickly as they popped out. She went deeper and deeper inside when suddenly, she completely froze.

At the very end, there was another huge cave opening and within it was a beast that completely shocked her.

A huge body covered with scales, the same color as the waters of the lake. A huge tail swinging back and forth in boredom. A series of thorny spikes extending from this tail all the way up to the beast’s head.

And last but not least, a devilish face with two horns and two slit-like eyes staring right at her!

[Ins… Inspect.] Qin Hua shuddered. She had never seen a monster of this proportion until now and its mere gaze was enough to instill fear in her very soul.

<Ding. Water Drake, Level 40>

[Ahh… Drake… that thing is a dragon?] The familiar chime of the system snapped her out of her trance and Qin Hua slowly tip-toed back.

Not that it mattered as the beast was directly staring right into her eyes. It watched her do a reverse take with the same calm and annoyed expression.

The huge drake eyed her as if she was a pest that it could end with just a snap of its fingers. It eyed her up and down and then sniffed her as if it was trying to figure out something.

Its eyes then bulged slightly and the next instant it moved.

Qin Hua shuddered and she knew that she needed to act now.

Though the beast’s level wasn’t all that different from the other monsters she had faced in the rift, she still felt a sense of danger looming from it. She was not its match.

She executed the next part of her plan and quickly activated the second ability of her clone. Switch places!

Before the drake could make its move, she was long gone and her body vanished into a wisp of smoke.

The next instant she appeared next to Coco back at the entrance of the rift, her heart pounding crazily inside her black furry chest.

[Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. That was so close.] She was finally able to breathe.

She was just about to drag the cat and get the hell out of this mysterious place where a freaking dragon was sitting, but her footsteps paused.

Strangely, the beast didn’t seem to have followed her. There was absolutely no noise whatever.

[Wait a second…] Qin Hua gaped in the direction where the drake was located with her mouth wide open. Did this mean that the drake was not chasing after her?

She waited for a couple of seconds and then she collapsed on the floor, letting out a deep breath. It looked like she didn’t have to flee just yet.

But the main problem still remained…

[Ahhhh! How the hell am I supposed to fight that thing?] Qin Hua growled in silence and tried to rack her brain. She then took out a grenade from her inventory.

[No, let’s make it two just to be safe. No three.]

Gripping the three grenades in her paw, she once again summoned her clone and waddled all the way back to the bottom of the lake.

[Damn it. Have I gone crazy? Why am I willingly walking into the lion’s den like this? Woof? Since when did I become so courageous? Fuck, I should just get the hell out of here?]