As Chu Tian continued his journey, he gradually moved further away from the designated task area. It had been almost a month since he entered this non-task area. His combat suit was in tatters, and he was covered in dirt.
Chu Tian decided that after finding the Golden Snake Turtle, he would return to the base. He had been out in the wilderness for quite some time, and he wanted to make use of the valuable materials he had collected.
Following the markings on the map, Chu Tian finally arrived near the enormous lake where the Golden Snake Turtle was said to reside. Standing about fifty meters from the lake, he carefully observed the tranquil water's surface. Occasionally, he sensed small fish swimming by, but there was no sign of the legendary Golden Snake Turtle.
However, Chu Tian didn't give up. Golden Snake Turtles were not common creatures, and higher-level creatures like them tended to be more intelligent and elusive.
Using his spiritual power to carefully scan the lake, Chu Tian finally spotted a Golden Snake Turtle.
The creature's entire body appeared to be covered in a layer of golden scales. Its shell was approximately one square meter in size, and it was currently in the midst of a meal, holding a fish of about twenty centimeters in its mouth, preparing to swallow it.
Chu Tian's eyes displayed the information about the Golden Snake Turtle:
**Golden Snake Turtle**
- **Gender: Male**
- **Species: Beast**
- **Level: C-rank**
- **Talents: Poisonous Fangs, Bone Armor, Water Control**
As the system detected the talents, a prompt appeared:
**"C-rank talents detected. Do you wish to copy them?"**
Chu Tian immediately ignored the Poisonous Fangs talent and chose to copy the Bone Armor and Water Control talents.
**"Ding, successful copy. Host gains C-rank talent: Bone Armor."**
**"Ding, successful copy. Host gains C-rank talent: Water Control."**
With the two talents successfully copied, Chu Tian wasted no time and began preparing to kill the Golden Snake Turtle.
He conjured a longbow in his hand, and a frigid arrow appeared on the bowstring. Chu Tian released the bowstring, and the ice-formed arrow shot towards the lake's surface.
Gradually, the entire lake began to freeze outward from the point where the arrow had landed.
Squinting his eyes, Chu Tian noticed a golden figure rising rapidly from the lake's bottom as the ice encroached.
Evidently, the Golden Snake Turtle had detected the intrusion into its territory. Chu Tian pulled the bowstring to its full extent, but this time, it wasn't an ice arrow he had nocked. Instead, it was an arrow formed from the combination of ice and flames.
The interplay of ice and fire created an eerie atmosphere.
The Golden Snake Turtle, with its incredibly tough shell, burst through the thick layer of ice and used the buoyancy of water to launch itself out of the lake. It had opened its mouth, ready to bite Chu Tian.
At that moment, Chu Tian aimed directly at the wide-open mouth of the Golden Snake Turtle and released the arrow.
The arrow, composed of icy and fiery energies, shot towards the creature's open maw, while Chu Tian had already prepared a second arrow.
The Golden Snake Turtle couldn't just stand there like a target; it quickly emitted a strange bird-like cry and sprayed out a water jet from its mouth.
The collision of water, fire, and ice energies caused a violent explosion. The force of the explosion sent the Golden Snake Turtle flying backward.
The battle between the Golden Snake Turtle and Chu Tian had caused a mixture of water, steam, ice, and fire to obscure the vision between them. The Golden Snake Turtle, its eyes struggling to pierce through the water vapor, attempted to leap at Chu Tian once again with its mouth wide open, ready to bite him.
However, due to the water vapor clouding its vision, the Golden Snake Turtle couldn't clearly see Chu Tian. When its vision began to clear slightly, it found itself impaled by an arrow composed of ice and flames, which had flown into its open mouth and disappeared into its body.
Chu Tian watched as the injured Golden Snake Turtle was sent flying and crashed to the ground. The creature emitted a pitiful howl, rolling on the ground in agony. Its skin turned red, and ice continued to form on its body.
**"Detected decomposable materials. Would you like to decompose?"**
Chu Tian immediately chose to decompose the Golden Snake Turtle's remains. The system notification rang out:
**"Ding - Decomposition successful. Host gains a slight increase in strength, speed, defense, and mental power."**
**"Ding - Materials obtained and automatically stored in the spatial bag."**
With the defeat of the Golden Snake Turtle, Chu Tian felt a sense of relief. He had accumulated quite a bit of experience and strength through these battles.
Afterward, Chu Tian examined his current state. His physical abilities had improved significantly. His strength had reached a level where he could exert a force of up to a thousand kilograms, and he could run a hundred meters in about 1.7 seconds. However, he was uncertain about his exact level of defense since he hadn't directly confronted a powerful opponent yet.
With the Golden Snake Turtle defeated and his objectives achieved, Chu Tian took a moment to rest. He sat on a large rock by the tranquil lake, observing his surroundings.
His spatial bag was filled with materials from the countless beasts he had defeated during his journey. He had exceeded the requirements for his mission, and he contemplated returning to the base.
As he rested and thought about his next steps, he suddenly heard the sound of snapping branches in the nearby forest. Chu Tian quickly extended his spiritual power to investigate and confirmed that it was not a wild beast but a human approaching.
Upon closer examination, he couldn't help but smile. The person approaching turned out to be Red Robe, the Fire Talent warrior he had encountered before.
Likewise, Red Robe noticed Chu Tian as well. Although she maintained a calm expression, her eyes lit up with recognition.
When she approached, she saw that Chu Tian looked somewhat worse for wear. His combat suit was in tatters, he was covered in dirt, and he emitted a faint smell of sweat.
"Chu Tian? What are you doing here? This isn't one of the Four Task Zones," Red Robe inquired.
Chu Tian responded with a question of his own, "I was just passing through. How about you? What brings you outside the task zone?"
Red Robe cast a glance at the broken ice on the lake, the remains of the Golden Snake Turtle, and the detached tail she had skillfully cut off.
Approaching Chu Tian, she drew a gleaming dagger from her waist and expertly sliced the tail into smaller pieces.