Adrian stood behind Bryce plunging a dagger he had retrieved deep into the back of Bryce. His cold gaze watched the body fall to the ground.
This plan had been brewing in his mind since they decided to face the beast. Since he wasn't a part of their team, even if he helped them deal with the beast, he would not receive any share of the rewards. In fact, they would probably decided to kill him after the whole ordeal was over. So he decided to strike first.
However, to his pleasant surprise, the granite crocodile had already helped him deal with most of his problems leaving only a severely exhausted Bryan for him to face. After dealing with Bryan, Adrian didn't relax, but rather rushed over to where Lily had collapsed. Staring at her unmoving body, he noticed the faint rising and falling of her chest.
"She's not dead." Adrian exclaimed in his mind in surprise. Normally, a strike from a beast at that level should have been enough to end her life considering the immense difference in power. Like him, Lily was also in the fifth level of the foundation establishment realm. However, she didn't possess his powerful body, so withstanding such an attack was surprising.
However, he didn't dwell on it too much. A quick plunging of his dagger into her heart made sure she would never wake up again. Now, Adrian was truly alone. He immediately stored the corpse of the granite crocodile as well as the other disciples. Then, he rushed towards the lake where he saw Roberts body as well. After swifly storing it, he swifly dug up a cave near the lake.
After entering it and sealing it's entrance, Adrian collapsed to his knees. All the accumulated stress and fatigue washed over him and his legs couldn't support his body weight anymore. All he could do was lie down and fall asleep. He woke up late in the night and feeling far refreshed after that peaceful sleep. He noticed some mist had seeped into the cave despite blocking the entrance.
This meant that they were in the dead of night. He quickly took out some dries meat and munched on it quickly. He didn't dare to light up a fire to roast the crocodile meat.
Even though he had sealed the cave, the aroma could attract beasts. Especially now that the valley is empty. Usually, the smell of blood should have attracted several beast over, but since the aura of a rank 3 beast still lingered in the area, they dared not enter the valley.
However, this could only last for so long. He didn't know how long the aura would linger for, hence he had to act fast. After his meal, he started cultivating again. The earlier battle had once again reminded him of his powerlessness. This ignited a fire inside him which forced him to push himself. Luckily for him, his experiences this time in the Misty mountains seemed to have benefited him a lot. He could feel that he had almost reached the peak of the fifth rank and would soon break through in at most a week. This delighted him as he continued focusing his attention on cultivation.
The night gradually passed and soon, it was morning. Adrian exited his cave and went to the lake to have a bath. Though still weary of his sorroundings, he enjoyed the feeling of safety he felt. After a light breakfast, he returned to the edge of the lake.
Excitement was etched on his face as he dived down to the depths of the lake. This time, he went far deeper than before until he arrived in front of a massive cave near the bottom of the lake. This cave obviously belonged to the granite crocodile. The density of Qi was immense at this depth and it kept increasing as he neared the cave. He was now sure the whatever treasure was causing this was definitely in the cave of the granite crocodile. He brought out his sword just incase while swimming into the cave. However, a peculiar sight greeted him. He could see bones in multiple corners of the cave. This meant that he wasn't the first person to discover the peculiarity of the lake. Others had seemingly done the same and had ventured to retrieve the supposed treasure within the lake.
However, they all met with the same fate. Death by the granite crocodile. This also explained why there was no previous information about this region. Anyone who found it would immediately dive in wanting to retrieve it for themselves and would consequently be vanquished by the crocodile.
A peculiar thought arose in Adrian's mind.
'It seems this was its own form of fishing.'
He soon discarded these thoughts as he swam deeper into the cave.
He didn't know what he was looking for but it wasn't hard to find it. All he had to do was follow the trail of increasing spiritual Qi. This led him to a secluded corner where he found a peculiar flower growing through the soil in the cave.
It resembled a white rose despite it being about three times the size of a normal one. However, it seemed that it wasn't fully mature yet as most of its petals were still closed. However, the ones that were open contained hues of three different colours at their tips.
Waves of pure Qi were being emanated from the flower as he swam closer to inspect the flower.
Adrian began trembling in excitement as he couldn't believe his eyes.
This was the flower that was in the sage of slaughters memory, the rainbow rose. Such a rare and precious flower was actually growing in a cave inhabited by a rank 3 beast. If those powerful individuals were to here of this, who knew how they would react.
He was even tempted to just sit down there and start cultivating. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time nor air for that endeavour.
He forcefully calmed himself down while gently digging into the soil with his hands.
He acted very carefully, afraid of damaging even a single root. After successfully uprooting the flower, he then transplanted it inside the blood star.