After Xu Xin led the people away, the lakeside returned to tranquility, leaving only a patch of dry, cracked land under the scorching sun, yet to recover.
About ten minutes later, ripples suddenly began to form on the lake.
Schools of fish, appearing at some unknown time in the lake, started to scatter frantically across the lake surface, gathering at the edges of the lake, motionless as if fearing something.
The ripples on the lake intensified, spreading from the lake's center towards the edges, and then...
At the heart of the lake, at the center of the ripples, a huge head silently rose from the water.
Rock-like scales reflected blinding light under the sun, while the giant black eyes were deeply profound, like an abyss capable of absorbing all the light of the world.
The direction these black eyes focused on was less than a kilometer away, where the Crystal City emitted a glowing white light in all directions.
