Li Feng cursed, realizing he was being used as fish bait, but underwater, it was undoubtedly the domain of the dominant fish here.

Li Feng naturally couldn't confront it head-on, maneuvering his body to dodge, but the resistance of the water still made his movements less fluid.

The big fish's sword-like snout was incredibly sharp, directly tearing a hole in Li Feng's wingsuit. Not only that, the instant the big fish brushed past him, it also snapped its tail, giving Li Feng a blow that nearly knocked the wind out of him.

Li Feng barely dodged this hit, but the big fish, slippery as a thief in the water, swam more than ten meters away, executed a graceful turn, and rushed back.

Li Feng didn't hesitate, immediately performing a golden cicada shell, unzipping his wingsuit while simultaneously deploying the parachute attached to the back of the wingsuit.

This parachute had some propulsion power, though almost ineffective in water, it still managed to release the parachute.

Seeing the big fish charging towards him, Li Feng slipped out of the wingsuit with effort, darting upward with all his might. The big fish, aiming for Li Feng, crashed into the wingsuit beneath him, and the opened parachute snugly trapped it.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Feng shot upwards, breaking the surface of the lake. He glanced around. Although the lake in the mountain was vast in area, it was actually long and narrow. Li Feng pinpointed the closest route to the shore and swam quickly towards it.

He hoped the parachute could hold out for a while longer.

Splash.

The big fish, with its head trapped by the parachute, was obviously uncomfortable and began thrashing rapidly below the lake's surface, trying to shake off the thing covering it.

In its frantic, haphazard escape, the big fish even leaped out of the lake, and its massive body, weighing several tons, crashed back down into the water, creating such a commotion that it startled two people fishing in the distance.

"This commotion, it's definitely the Dragon Scale."

The young angler looked at the huge splash far away. Such movement wasn't something ordinary fish could cause; only the legendary Dragon Scale of this lake had such power.

At Sword Mountain, at Divine Sword Manor, this Dragon Scale was the water's fierce beast that everyone dreamed of.

Because the sharp, pointed snout of the Dragon Scale was a natural sword embryo, not only lightweight but also incredibly sharp, its toughness was comparable to alloy.

Additionally, the biggest advantage is that during sword control, it could be easily handled with minimal expense, effectively a natural spirit sword embryo.

Moreover, every part of the Dragon Scale was a treasure. The fish meat is said to be amazingly delicious, able to enhance physical fitness, the fish skin is extraordinarily tough and can be made into Dragon Scale Armor, fitting closely and providing remarkable defense, it could even become a sword scabbard, equally splendid and eye-catching.

However, despite its treasures, capturing a Dragon Scale wasn't so easy.

As the overlord of the water, the Dragon Scale roamed the lake with agility, its sharp snout easily breaking ordinary fishing nets, and with its gigantic body, it possessed astonishing lethality.

Of course, if one were to resort to extraordinary means, it's not impossible to capture it, such as using some bombs, electrifying the water, or using specially designed metal drag nets.

But these methods are forbidden.

At Sword Mountain, anyone can hunt the Dragon Scale, but only by relying on themselves, as it's a form of training. Only by killing the Dragon Scale with one's own strength can one gain the treasures from it, earn the reverence of Divine Sword Manor, and even be accepted into the inner sect, becoming an Inner Sect Disciple.

In other words, successfully hunting a Dragon Scale equates to reaching the top in one step.

However, from the town of Ten Thousand Swords at the base of Sword Mountain to the Divine Sword Manor at the hillside, everyone knows of it, yet those hoping for luck are exceedingly rare, because it's incredibly difficult.

Besides, mishandling it could result in being fish food, and for those disciples who die in the lake, the Lin Family would not interfere, as they've declared beforehand.

In other words, dead is dead.

"Quick, row over, I've been keeping an eye on it for many days, and I've finally located it."

"Senior brother, are you really going there?"

"Nonsense, the Dragon Scale Sword, the Dragon Scale Scabbard, and the Dragon Scale Armor, these are the three treasures of our Divine Sword Manor. The manor has long stated, whoever obtains the Dragon Scale, will enter the Inner Sect from the Outer Sect, be personally taught by the Family Head, and could be ranked as an Elder upon completion of training and could even propose marriage to the Family Head."

"Junior Sister Wan'er is my goddess, the strongest genius of this generation of the Lin Family, to marry her, besides hunting the Dragon Scale, I can't think of any other way to win Junior Sister Wan'er's favor."

"So, no matter what, I must capture the Dragon Scale."

The young man beside him looked at his senior brother, who had eyes gleaming at the mention of Junior Sister Wan'er. This senior brother bore another surname. Though the Divine Sword Manor bears the Lin name, it doesn't imply all members are part of the Lin Family.

Besides the main Lin Family line, accounting for about thirty percent of both the hillside and hilltop populace, there are descendants of several generations of Lin Family servants, bearing the Lin name but considered to be only servants themselves.

These account for a large portion, about half the population, and additionally, those external geniuses accepted by the Lin Family.

Typically, these would be granted positions as Guest Elder, where their descendants also could live and thrive here.

Among them, this fellow aspiring to catch the Dragon Scale and marry Lin Wan'er belonged to the second-largest surname in the manor outside of the Lin Family, the Lu Family.

The Lu Family boasted the position of the first Minister Elder at Divine Sword Manor, second only in strength to the Family Head of Lin, numbering between two to three hundred people. Within the Divine Sword Manor, the Lu Family was the second-largest family.

While the young man beside him, with a face showing helplessness, was surnamed Bai, the son of another Minister Elder. Compared to the Lu Family, the Bai Family was more deficient, amounting to only a dozen or so across three generations.

"Bai Yutang, we're sworn brothers, I'd go through fire and water for a brother, not afraid of anything, even less a fish. Moreover, capturing the Dragon Scale, splitting the spoils 50-50 has benefits for us both, I just want Lin Wan'er, the rest is yours."

Bai Yutang rolled his eyes, 'risking life for brothers, stabbing brothers for women.'

Poor choice of friendship.

Forget it.

Anyway, the Dragon Scale is cunning, it's not just a matter of wanting to catch it, besides if it's unmanageable, we can still run.

"Alright, you've got me scared."

"Hehe, that's the spirit, brother, start the formation for me, let me handle the Dragon Scale."

The bamboo raft began paddling quickly in the direction where the sound previously came, while the Dragon Scale in the lake didn't stop, continuously splashing and churning large sprays of water.

Soon, the parachute and wingsuit were broken, letting the Dragon Scale free itself, and having been tricked, it was vengefully spiteful, diving into the lake and darting towards Li Feng swimming to the lakeshore.

The Dragon Scale was extremely fast, like an arrow shot from a bowstring on the lake, slicing the lake surface like a sharp sword as it closed in on Li Feng. With a sudden twist of its tail, it leaped majestically out of the water.

Like a javelin, it aimed at Li Feng several meters away.

Relentless ghost.

"Quick, this is a great opportunity."

Having already rowed within thirty to fifty meters, Lu Ziyue and Bai Yutang's eyes lit up seeing the Dragon Scale leap from the water.

"It seems the Dragon Scale is chasing someone?"

"Forget who it is."

"Sword, come."

Lu Ziyue yelled, and the sword on his back instantly unsheathed.