Twenty minutes later, the terrain opened up dramatically.
Before them, a vast lake spread out like a mirror, reflecting the sky and clouds. The entire area was suffused with a soft, gentle glow.
The lakeside grasses shimmered with a faint golden fluorescence, beaded with dewdrops, each one refracting a tiny rainbow.
An almost sacred stillness cloaked the entire lake region.
Gazing into the distance, they could even make out an island hidden at the lake’s heart.
"Bright Butterfly."
Delight filled Yu Ziyuan’s eyes as she watched several Bright Butterflies skim across the water, scattering motes of faint light with each flutter of their wings.
"I want to try and tame one to support the team."
As a Two-Star Summoner, one of her class traits was the ability to form contracts to tame magical beasts.
"If you’re looking for support, we should pick a powerful Bright Unicorn," Su Chen said, his gaze drifting toward the Unicorns on the distant shore. "Besides, that particular beast isn’t part of the existing set of Light Element summoning Runes."
It was powerful and rare, which naturally made it an ideal target for a contract.
"Then I’ll be counting on you, boss!" Yu Ziyuan said, bowing with a beaming smile, her hands clasped together above her head in a plea.
In contrast to the icy Yan Ruoruo, this biology major had more of a ’sweet girl’ vibe. Her figure was slender and poised, and her long, wavy chestnut hair was casually tied back.
Her light-colored combat gear had even been personally modified, with the waist specially tailored, making her look like a fashion model.
That impression wasn’t far off, either. The highly educated woman also ran her own beauty-focused social media accounts, boasting several hundred thousand followers across all platforms. She was something of a minor influencer.
There was a trick to taming one.
The simplest, most effective method was to knock it unconscious.
Severely injuring a powerful magical beast would only enrage it, provoking it into a fight to the death.
Of course, this was easier said than done.
The Bright Unicorn was considered a regional lord. Though gentle, peaceful, and herbivorous by nature, it was by no means weak. In fact, it shared its habitat with the other great lord of the lakeside region: the Bright Giant Rhinoceros.
Without a sound.
Using his Ghostly Traceless Shadow Leap, Su Chen instantly appeared in the tree shade behind it.
The Unicorn was extremely alert. It spun around, head thrown back, as the spiraled horn on its forehead erupted in a blaze of incandescent white light. A condensed beam shot toward him.
However, Su Chen simply waved his hand. A curved wall of water materialized from thin air, precisely deflecting the incandescent beam. The blast shot into the lake, sending waves rippling across the surface.
Before the Unicorn could ready a second attack, Su Chen raised an eyebrow.
’Gravitic Bind!’
In that instant, his Gravity Skill and Telekinesis Rune flared in unison. An invisible force, heavy as iron chains, coiled around the creature, forcibly crushing the three-meter-tall, sacred being to its knees.
Its four hooves sank deep into the mud. Its radiant aura flickered, but it was unable to break free by even an inch.
Just then, a cool, aloof figure materialized silently beside him.
Yan Ruoruo was in position.
’Mind Impact!’
An invisible psychic spike pierced straight into the Unicorn’s Sea of Consciousness.
After the two consecutive assaults, the creature was finally knocked unconscious.
A swirl of Wind Fluff carried Yu Ziyuan to the ground. She landed, panting but visibly thrilled. "Thanks, thanks! You two work together so seamlessly."
"Go ahead," Su Chen said. "Afterward, ask it where to find a Water-Splitting Pearl. That’s one of the main reasons we’re doing this."
"Right."
Not daring to delay, Yu Ziyuan hurried forward and pressed her fingertip to the center of the Unicorn’s brow. A Soul Contract materialized, glowing like a brand, before sinking into the creature’s Sea of Consciousness.
The Unicorn’s body trembled, and the glowing horn on its forehead flickered as if in instinctual resistance.
Ten seconds later, the unequal contract was finally seared into the depths of its soul.
"I love you, Ruoruo!"
Yu Ziyuan pumped a fist in excitement before throwing her arms around Yan Ruoruo. She nuzzled her head affectionately into her friend’s shoulder like a kitten, then turned to thank Su Chen again.
She wasted no time. After Su Chen used a Healing Skill to forcibly rouse the Unicorn, she immediately began communicating with it through their newly formed summoning link.
Soon.
The Unicorn trotted forward to lead the way, though it instinctively tried to keep a fearful distance from Su Chen. After a few hundred meters, it brought them to a bend in the shallows, half-hidden by reeds.
The creature stopped and began digging at the mud with its forehooves. Soon, it unearthed a giant clam, which it then expertly crushed with a single stomp, revealing a perfectly round, lustrous pearl.
"That’s the Water-Splitting Pearl." Yu Ziyuan then explained how to use it.
As a Summoner, she also had access to optional, unlockable class traits like Animal Communication and Plant Communication, which proved incredibly convenient.
Su Chen levitated the pearl into his palm with a thought and walked to the edge of the lake.
He followed her instructions, channeling a wisp of his Spiritual Power into the pearl. A soft, blue halo immediately radiated outward. As if parted by an invisible hand, the lake’s surface began to recede, the water slowly pulling away.
"It works."
Su Chen was inwardly pleased. ’This will be a great help.’
As long as he kept channeling Spiritual Power into it, he could maintain the water-parting effect.
Yu Ziyuan had the Unicorn keep searching. After some time, it had unearthed over a dozen giant clams from the mud, but they only managed to find one more Water-Splitting Pearl.
But they did find something else of interest.
The lakebed was home to a type of oxygen-bubble algae. Its leaves were covered in crystalline sacs, and it was the Unicorns’ least favorite food. Biting into one of the sacs would cause the compressed, high-purity oxygen inside to erupt violently.
"This is a hundred times more intense than Coke and Mentos," he remarked, standing in the middle of the channel of parted water. He reached down and plucked a whole leaf from the lakebed.

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