The Rich Cultivator-Chapter 333. Ambush By Lake (1/2)

After arriving at the spatial passage, the massive Eight-foot Giant raised his hand and barked, "Hey! Stop right there! Where do you think you’re going?"

The Raptor came to a halt, confused. "But... Master called everyone. Didn’t he?"

"Then who’s going to guard the Azure Dragon’s corpse, huh?" Lady Fox narrowed her eyes. "You stay here. We’ll explain it to the boss ourselves."

Raptor hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. "Alright."

The two entered the spatial passage, leaving Raptor behind. He let out a low sigh and turned his gaze toward the distant lake, where a group of slaves were still struggling to drag the enormous Azure Dragon corpse across the shallow waters. He flew over with a crackle of energy, a lightning-infused whip in his hand, his presence immediately casting a heavy shadow over the weary workers.

Seeing him arrive, the slaves froze. The oppressive aura and the faint scent of burnt air from the whip was enough to make their knees tremble.

"What are you staring at? Get back to work—!"

Before he could finish, something shot from our if nowhere at high speed and crashed into him, sending Raptor flying through the air and plunging into the lake with a massive splash.

The slaves screamed and scattered, some stumbling into the shallow water, others hiding behind the corpse, too afraid to even breathe.

Lightning surged from within the lake, and a moment later, Raptor burst out of the water with a furious snarl. Another figure shot out along with him—a man clad in robes, surrounded by swirling wind, eyes sharp and focused.

Raptor’s eyes widened in recognition. "Itu awak!"

The Grandmaster didn’t understand the language, but from Raptor’s tone and expression, he could tell what was being said. He simply smirked and nodded. "Yes, it’s me."

This Grandmaster was the one with a Wind Domain—swift, unpredictable, and deadly. Raptor had been caught completely off-guard by the sudden ambush.

"Sekarang pusingan dua," the Grandmaster said proudly, repeating the translated phrase Tyler had taught him earlier: "Now, round two."

Raptor growled, his eyes flashing with anger. He shouted something at the slaves again, and they instantly resumed dragging the massive corpse, terrified of his wrath even mid-battle.

Suddenly, spikes made of sharp, compressed water surged from beneath the lake, targeting Raptor from below. He reacted instantly, cracking his lightning whip and slicing one spike clean in half while dodging the others with quick bursts of flight.

The surface of the lake trembled. A whirlpool began to form, growing rapidly in size and intensity as Water Domain energy surged. The water rose upward in a spiraling vortex, aiming to trap Raptor.

Unfazed, Raptor roared and slammed his whip into the air. The sky answered his call—thunder cracked, and clouds darkened, forming a swirling dome of storm above them. A bolt of blinding lightning surged from the heavens and smashed into the rising water vortex, evaporating it mid-air in a violent explosion of steam and light.

Another Grandmaster—the one with the Water Domain—emerged from the lake’s depths, coughing and slightly wounded from the earlier exchange.

"Injured my ass," he muttered under his breath, glaring at the sky. "How the heck is this guy still so powerful even after getting beaten before?"

The clouds continued to churn violently. The sky now looked like a hellscape of pure elemental chaos. Hundreds of ball lightnings orbited around Raptor’s domain, spinning like miniature moons. Each orb crackled with lethal power, zipping through the air in erratic patterns.

From the surface, Tyler and the rest watched the battle unfold from a safe distance. They stood on a floating sheet of ice conjured by the Ice Domain Grandmaster.

"We can’t use the array again," Tyler muttered, eyes narrowed. "He’s deliberately staying over the water to avoid land-based traps."

"Then what do we do now?" the Ice Domain Grandmaster asked, glancing toward the dragon’s corpse. Her gaze lingered on the enormous creature—its azure scales shimmered faintly, even in death.

"That dragon corpse... It might be a special kind," Tyler said thoughtfully. "I tried storing it in my spatial ring, but it didn’t work. It’s either bound to this realm or it has a natural resistance to spatial manipulation."

Tyler tried again, this time using a copper ladle embedded with spatial transfer runes. But the moment the ladle touched the corpse, the runes fizzled and dimmed. "Still no effect," he sighed. "Looks like it’s immune to even high-tier spatial magic."

Meanwhile, the battle raged on.

Raptor’s eyes turned colder, more vicious. With a furious cry, his body exploded into a thick cloud of demonic mist. The sudden burst of malevolent energy sent shockwaves across the water, raising violent gales and causing massive waves to slam against the lake’s edge.

The Wind Domain Grandmaster gritted his teeth, dodging the blast by leaping backward, only to be caught mid-air by the Rock Domain Grandmaster, who hurled him toward safety using enhanced strength.

The Water Domain Grandmaster dove back into the lake, rejoining the battle from beneath, using the depth and currents to his advantage.

But Raptor’s domain was getting more intense. The demonic mist began to swirl and grow, twisting the air into an oppressive pressure field. Waves surged to nearly ten feet high, and every crack of lightning that followed was enough to make the lake feel like a battlefield of gods.

"This is getting bad..." Tyler muttered, gripping the handle of his trident. "If he keeps this up, the Grandmasters might not hold him off much longer."

"We need to tip the balance," the Ice Domain Grandmaster said, forming jagged ice projectiles at her side. "If we can land just one critical blow, it might be enough to disrupt his domain."

"Alright." Tyler said, eyes fixed on Raptor. "Wait for my signal."

"Hmmm... I am not sure if this will work. But let’s try it..." Tyler muttered.

Tyler narrowed his eyes at the raging battle in the distance. The lake had become a battlefield of elemental chaos, and the sky above was a swirling maelstrom of lightning, mist, and wind. The Grandmasters were doing their best, but Raptor’s ferocity was becoming more overwhelming with each passing moment.

"It’s time to end this," Tyler muttered under his breath. He also looked at the slaves though they were still dragging the corpse Tyler could see they are paying attention here.

He ignored them and was ready to act.