Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

Anyone so insidious as to try and lead disaster to others deserved to die.

Su Chen felt not a shred of pity for killing such scum.

With a thought, he activated his Telekinesis.

The still-warm head was pulled from mid-air, hovering before him. Once three Runes were ejected from it, the head lost its support and plunged into the water below.

Without a closer look, he used precise control to move them into his backpack.

His body, wreathed in Wind Fluff and accelerated by Telekinesis, shot toward the woods to his left. This incredible mobility allowed him to swiftly circle around in a wide arc.

Su Chen had no intention of escaping.

Ever since the giant hippo had displayed its area-of-effect pressure attack, he’d had his eye on its Earth Element Rune. If he could combine that with his Telekinesis, the synergistic effect would be greater than the sum of its parts, creating absolute suppression.

Besides,

after he had escaped using Shadow Leap, the creature had clearly lost its target.

But the archery coach who had fallen into the water wasn’t so lucky. Hippos were known for their irritable and brutal nature. In a frenzied charge, it trampled him to death right there in the water.

And just like that, a simple radio signal had unexpectedly cost the three members of the Archery Hall their lives.

His two accomplices had never imagined that the figure high up in the branches would be killed by the hippo with a bizarre pressure attack.

However, before the bloody scene had even settled,

the surface of the water began to tremble violently without warning. High-frequency ripples spread from a distant part of the water, stacking layer upon layer. They formed powerful, ring-shaped waves that swept toward the hippo.

The Titan Python had arrived!

Or perhaps, it had been lurking in the depths all along.

The next instant,

an enormous snake’s head rose up a hundred meters away. A high-pressure, rapidly spinning ball of water condensed in its mouth. The water projectile tore through the air, transforming into a pillar of blue-and-white light that precisely struck the flank of the smaller hippo.

BANG!

Flesh and blood exploded as the creature’s spine snapped. The entire stretch of water was instantly dyed a deep crimson.

The two parent hippos let out a sky-shaking roar of anguish. The one that was already on a rampage suddenly shed its weight. Its body, once as cumbersome as a mountain, now shot forward like a heavy rocket.

Its Gravity Skill had reversed, turning into a Weightlessness Skill that drastically reduced its body weight. Buoyed by the power of the earth itself, it gained a mobility that completely defied its six-ton frame.

The regional lords of the river and the swamp were clashing once again.

’A perfect opportunity.’

Su Chen’s heart leaped. When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits.

If they both ended up grievously injured, he would be the one to benefit when he made his move.

However, he knew the commotion would soon attract a crowd, especially since the forces from the Archery Hall had been after the hippo in the first place. To avoid any new complications, he couldn’t afford to wait too long.

He had to act fast.

As the two hippos scrambled to attack the Titan Python, Su Chen moved like a phantom, sliding silently down the tree trunk until he hovered just above the water’s surface.

His gaze locked onto the scarlet pool of blood that had yet to dissipate. A thread of Telekinesis pierced the murky water, probing precisely into the mangled corpse. He retrieved everything: two Earth Element Runes and a serving of Spiritual Dust Sand.

The moment the Runes broke the surface, the giant hippo in the distance screeched to a halt. It wrenched itself around, changing the course of its charge. Treading on the waves with its four hooves, it barreled back in Su Chen’s direction.

But this sudden reversal left it wide open. The python’s tail, like a colossal bronze whip, swept in. Wreathed in immense water pressure, it brutally lashed the hippo’s flank.

BOOM!!

The Earth Armor covering its body instantly cracked in half. The immense impact sent its massive body flying, and it crashed through a nearby ancient tree.

The trunk snapped in two, and the treetop came crashing down, its branches landing squarely on the female hippo before she could regain her footing, plunging her completely beneath the water.

Just then, a patch of water suddenly buckled inward. The riverbed below it cracked, and even the air seemed to distort into ripples.

The Titan Python had intended to press its advantage, but the moment its body was exposed, a regional gravitational field crashed down upon it. Its Scale Armor was crushed, sending large fragments flying. The flesh beneath was forcibly squeezed and deformed, and blood burst from multiple wounds.

If it hadn’t reacted so quickly, twisting its tail to escape the core of the gravity field, its entire spine would have been twisted like a pretzel on the spot.

Using its natural flexibility in the water, the Titan Python dove completely below the surface and quickly began employing hit-and-run tactics.

But the blood spreading rapidly through the water constantly gave away its position. The huge, sturdy male hippo didn’t pause for a second. Rage had made it abandon all else, vowing to slaughter the giant serpent.

WHOOSH!!

The water was compressed again with extreme force, the pressure extending all the way to the riverbed. Under this intense gravitational pressure, more of the snake’s Scale Armor shattered, and a great gout of blood erupted.

The Titan Python knew it couldn’t escape easily. It raised its head again, and a high-pressure water cannon erupted. The violent, surging blast finally broke the hippo’s charge.

The next instant,

a surge of water roiled and instantly solidified into a cage, trapping the hippo. Tendrils of water wrapped around its limbs and torso like steel cables, immobilizing it for the moment.

However...

to hope this Water Prison Skill could trap the creature once and for all was pure wishful thinking.

The moment the prison fully formed, its surface was already covered in cracks.