This is your one and only chance

  Xue Dingyan was really lying in the grass nest, it couldn't be non-existent! As he walked closer, he could still hear the cat's unique breathing sound, which was very rhythmic and sounded like a soft snore. It looked like it was obviously asleep, but Ah Meng was a bit unclear whether this cat was really sleeping or not?

  Ah Meng had long been aware that Xue Dingyuan's origins were not simple, and even unbelievable, so although he was surprised, he wasn't too shocked. After all, some mysteries were still beyond his comprehension. But what about that bone? It was something Xue Dingyuan had picked up from the Iron Armored Beast King's lair, and yet it couldn't be sensed with the Puppet Eye Technique either.

  Xue Dingyan must know something, so he brought back this strange bone. Unfortunately, the cat can't speak, and even if it could, it wouldn't tell Amun voluntarily with its sulky look.

  Amon reached out and pulled the bone out from under the cat's paw, closed his eyes in the darkness, and once again used the puppet eye induction technique. This feeling was too strange, with the bone clearly in hand, the tactile sensation was extremely real, but in the puppet eye induction, the palm of his hand was empty, as if there was nothing!

  He opened his eyes again and suddenly swung the bone, a flame appeared in front of him, red tongues of fire rose up and gradually emitted bright yellow light, illuminating everything in the room. Amun continued to urge his magic power, the flames gradually turned white and finally became pale blue, looking very cold but containing scorching high temperatures.

  Amon flipped the bone in his hand again, and the flames surrounding his body rippled out like waves, forming a ring of fire. He raised the bone up and down once more, and the ring of fire extended upwards and downwards, forming a wall of flame that surrounded him three feet away from all sides. Amon carefully controlled this ring-shaped firewall so it didn't touch anything in the room, but still accidentally swept against the corner of the table.

  He shook his head and immediately retracted the mid-level fire wall technique he had used for the first time in his life. In just that instant, one corner of the table had been burned to ashes, and the intensity of the flames was imaginable!

  Amon took a deep breath, this bone can actually be used as a staff, and it's even better than his own staff! If he were to inlay his staff with flame spirits and equip three standard divine stones, he could barely achieve this effect by casting the fire wall technique. Moreover, this bone not only has an especially good auxiliary effect on fire elemental divine techniques, Amon also tried casting several mid-tier divine techniques that he should be able to cultivate in theory, all of which succeeded quickly.

  The sacred stone can serve as a medium for casting divine spells, and it can be inlaid into a staff or not. However, when inlaid into the staff in a specific way, its effect will be greater. On the other hand, the function of the sacred stone is not limited to being inlaid into a staff. For example, it can also serve as a medium for awakening power and creating various magical objects.

  This "bone" has a similar function to the divine stone, with no difference in attributes compared to standard divine stones, yet it can produce the effect of special divine stones, making it a kind of "universal special divine stone". Moreover, it can also be used directly as a staff.

  Amon suddenly remembered that the old madman had said that the divine stone also had a name called "God's Bones", which was the crystallization of the remains after the god's fall. This one root of bone-like strange thing, could it be the real divine bones? Amon had this question, but couldn't confirm it either.

  The sky was almost bright, he held the bone and pondered for half a day. Suddenly, he thought of something again and stretched out his hand to pick up his own staff. A divine technique master cannot use two staffs at the same time. Amun wanted to do another experiment to see if this bone could be used as a divine instrument? He was going to use his staff to cast a spell to stimulate it.

  He had just picked up the iron staff when he heard a meow, turned his head to see Xue Ding'an's body suddenly sitting up from the grass nest, shaking his head at him, clearly telling him not to do so. Then he raised one paw and pointed outside, meaning to let him go out. This cat was indeed not really sleeping, and seemed to know the secret of this bone, only reminding Ah Mon now.

  Was it going to take the bones out for testing, and couldn't do it in the house? Amun held the bones in his left hand and the staff in his right hand, just walking out of the thatched cottage, when he heard a lot of chaotic sounds coming from afar. In the woods between the mountains, it seemed like many animals were running around, and the village was also in chaos, with adult men picking up their weapons and rushing out of the village in groups, unaware of what had happened.

  At this time, Lin Ke brought two clansmen running over, Ah Mon asked a sentence: "What's going on, so chaotic?"

  "Ah, Amun! Perhaps the floodwaters have collapsed the mountain cliffs or a tributary of the Young Bottom River has been blocked by a landslide, and the water overflowing everywhere in the mountains cannot flow out, rising higher and higher, already submerging the mountain waist."

  It has been raining in the northwest direction, and the rain clouds are piled up on the half mountain waist of the high peak. It is possible that a landslide formed by a collapse of a mountain body blocked the narrow valley mouth, forming a barrier lake. The water level has risen higher and higher, flooding the half mountain waist of this plateau, which was the direction where Ammon came when he arrived here.

  Amun looked around and said: "Even if the mountain collapses and blocks the valley outside, the flood can't reach here, what are you panicking about?"

  "We're not in a hurry, the animals in the low-lying forest are fleeing to the mountains to escape the flood, and we just happen to be blocking their way and hunting them. We can catch many prey at once! ... Thank you for teaching us how to make meat floss, it's a great way to preserve meat for a long time! ... I also plan to instruct our tribesmen to capture some young and gentle wild beasts and domesticate them in the village, so that we can eat meat more conveniently in the future."

  Amon waved his hand and said, "Then go quickly, this is a matter of great importance to the tribe's livelihood." Lin Ke responded with a sound and turned around, just about to leave, when Amon suddenly asked another question: "The floodwaters haven't reached the mountain waist, can we not get out from here?"

  Lin Ke: "The road you came from is definitely impassable now, but there's another road southeast to the lower reaches of the Youdi River that can bypass the mountain ridge. It's the same road that Mei Danzuo took... What? Are you leaving already?"

  Ammon shook his head and said, "No, I was just asking casually. Go ahead with your business, I'm fine."

  Lin Ke took his tribe and hastily left, Ah Mon carried the staff and held the bone towards the open space in the village, but found Xue Ding'e running lightly in front of him with a cat's pace. When he arrived at the square in front of the large cave, he saw Xue Ding'e crouching at the entrance scratching the ground with his paws. Ah Mon walked closer and was stunned after taking a look. —— This cat can't speak, but it can actually write!

  Xue Dingyan wrote in the script of Ah Meng, not worldly words but divine words. Whether it's knife writing or grass writing, there are two ways to write. Those who can write worldly words may not understand divine words, but those who understand divine words must be able to write worldly words. This cat can obviously write, but insists on writing divine words that Ah Meng can't quite understand, with a temper that is truly strange, as if disdainful of writing worldly words.

  Xue Dingyuan drew a few simple characters on the ground with his claws, then he seemed to not want to hear what Ah Meng was going to ask and turned around to leave with a swagger. Ah Meng wasn't completely unfamiliar with divine script, after all the characters were the same, it's just that the way they were written combined had specific forms. He read through it roughly, guessing and inferring, and understood the meaning of the line of words on the ground, which should be "Follow me, this is your only chance."

  On the indicator character expressing "I", a semicircular arc was also drawn.

  Ah Meng didn't have time to show too much surprise, because as soon as he looked up, he saw Xue Dingyuan had already walked far away, and hurriedly followed him quickly. Xue Dingyuan left the village and ran down the mountain, passing through the forest and turning to the other side of the plateau. In the forest, many animals could be seen running from time to time, and the sound of branches being trampled and broken could be heard by the ear. The panicked beasts were all fleeing to higher places to avoid the flood, but Xue Dingyuan was heading towards the low-lying area where the flood was coming from.

  Amun didn't know where Xue Dingrui was taking him, and he was a bit worried that it might accidentally get trampled by the running beasts, so he quickened his pace to catch up. However, it's not easy to catch up with a agile and nimble cat in the jungle, Xue Dingrui ran very fast, the speed was just enough for Amun to see, but he couldn't catch up all the time, instead, Amun himself almost got hit by the beasts that suddenly rushed out of the dense forest several times.

  They chased and ran all the way, gradually getting farther and farther away from the village. They went down through the floating clouds, and it was raining in the dense forest below, with the road under their feet becoming increasingly muddy. They ran around this plateau mountain for a long time, finally there was no more road ahead, only seeing the rolling floodwaters spreading at the foot of the mountain.

  Xue Dingyuan crouched on the mountain slope by the water's edge, his figure seeming to have a lion's shadow, looking very majestic. He didn't pay attention to Amun who was chasing after him, but instead gazed out at the distant floodwaters.

  Xue Dingyuan didn't run away, and Ah Meng finally let out a sigh of relief and slowed down his pace to walk closer. However, he found that the cat had written a few more lines on the ground, still in the mysterious script that Ah Meng couldn't quite recognize. Ah Meng guessed and deciphered some of the sentences: "Bones... are your fate... Key... ignite it in water... Boat... to the other shore."

  He asked in confusion, "If you want to tell me something, why don't you write it in a language I can understand? You drew a key and a boat. Are you referring to this bone? What door does the key open, and what kind of boat is it?"

  Xue Dingyuan did not respond to his words, but instead solemnly raised a front paw and pointed it at the distance. Ah Meng followed the direction of the cat's finger and looked up to see a familiar mountain peak, which was another high peak he had seen on the road he came from. At that time, Ah Meng didn't know which way to go, and it was Xue Dingyuan who led him onto the plateau where the Holey Moley tribe lived.

  At this moment, looking at the mountain peak from a high place again, Amun understood that it was impossible for him to climb up at that time. The cliff wall exposed above the water was cut off vertically, and there was no place to set foot or climb. Although it was very far away, you could see the white waves rolled up by the flood hitting the rocks. The cloud layer in mid-air near the cliff was torn apart, and the airflow near the mountain wall was extremely intense and complex, even birds found it difficult to fly safely.

  Xue Dingyan didn't move or say a word, still pointing with his claws at the distant mountain peak across the floodwaters. At this time, the torrent in the mountains was slowly calming down and no longer rushing in one direction. Huge whirlpools were surging up from the water, a sign that the water level had risen to its highest point. The rain was still falling, the wind in the mountains had no fixed direction, blowing wildly in all directions, whipping up waves on the surface of the water.

  Amun understood Xue Dingrui's intention, which was to throw the bone into the water to stimulate it. He suddenly remembered the old madman's reminder that Xue Dingrui was the only guide who could lead him to find Bell's whereabouts. Was this cat guiding the way? Was Bell on that high mountain in the distance?

  Now that it has come to this, even if there is only one possibility left, Amun cannot help but try. He decisively threw the bone onto the water's surface, but didn't know how to activate it. With a wave of his staff, he used the same power as when communicating with and activating the divine stone.

  That bone floated lightly on the water, suddenly spinning to meet the wind and unfolding into a narrow crescent-shaped large "ship". This "ship" can't be seen with the naked eye, it can only be perceived when spiritual power is activated, there is an invisible space on the water, the outline is the shape of the ship.

  Just as Amun was stunned, Xue Dingrui had already jumped lightly onto the boat, as if treading on the surging floodwaters. It still raised its front paws, pointing in a direction far away. Amun didn't come back to his senses until after a while, holding his staff and walking onto this invisible boat.

  No rudder, no oars, and no sail, Xue Dingyuan pointed in a direction, clearly telling him to move forward in that direction.

  It took Ah Mon some time to get used to manipulating the "ship" with his staff, just as the old madman had told him - not to call for wind and rain, but to communicate and operate on the various powers of nature. His staff was inlaid with Wind Charm Dance and Azure Water Heart, which was suitable for controlling air elements and water elements, and navigating the ship forward on the floodwaters in the storm.

  Amon struggled to control the invisible ship, even with the help of his staff, he had used all his strength and was almost at his limit, just to keep it stable in the whirlpools and waves, slowly moving forward in the direction Xue Dingyuan pointed. He couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. In fact, Amon wasn't aware that being able to control this "ship" was a miracle in itself.

  Ge Lie once manipulated the Azure Vessel to traverse the floodwaters, a precious artifact given by Old Man Crazy that only great divine masters could activate and use. Yet this bone transformed into an invisible large ship was actually controllable by a third-grade magician. As a divine artifact, it is often the case that the higher its rank, the more wondrous its effects, the higher the requirements for its user. Conversely, when exerting the same effect, the lower the requirements for its user, the rarer and more precious the artifact becomes.

  Amon still doesn't quite understand these things, and other third-class divine artisans can't possibly have a staff like his.

  The intangible giant ship swayed forward in the wind and waves, and Xue Ding suddenly turned his head to look at the floodwaters. Amun also heard a mournful roar immediately after, turned his head to see that several huge wild beasts were floating with the floodwaters and struggling in the whirlpool. Amun actually recognized them, they were the Iron Armor Beast King and those few large iron armor beasts he had fought before.

  Ironclad beasts are skilled at diving and swimming, but after all, they are reptiles, not fish. The water pool where they live is flooded by the mountain flood, and being swept away by such a vast amount of water is also life-threatening. After struggling for so long, they are exhausted, and their expertise in earth elemental magic has almost no effect on escaping in the endless waters.

  The iron-clad beast king seemed to have discovered that a shapeless space battleship was passing by on the water surface in the distance, and it let out a mournful howl, struggling in the water, swinging its long tail back and forth, as if seeking help.

  "Can I save them?" Ah Meng asked Xue Dingyan who was rushing towards the bow of the ship.

  Unexpectedly, Xue Dingyuan, who had always been dismissive of Ah Meng's words, nodded slightly at this moment.

  **