Mystery of the Lake

 Unable to find any answer despite touching the tablet, Ryker decided to give up for now. He might find the answer in the near future. At least he hoped so. After all, what he saw was just too mysterious and terrifying. 

 After all, a large battle that decimated a large swath or area is not something he had witnessed, despite knowing it was possible when someone's cultivation realm got strong enough.

 He began to exit the mine, already getting what he could find. His gain at the time had been substantial, from a large number of Genesis Crystals and Stone to some of the precious stones which he did not know what they could do but likely something valuable.

 He would need to ask the more knowledgeable people about it. Besides crystals and minerals alone, he was able to find a large number of ores, all of them Grade 3 and above. He even found several pieces of Condensed Iron that possibly reached Grade 7.

 Of course, he needed to check it out with some blacksmiths first but he was able to gain a lot during the trip. With that said, he still needs to take a look at the mysterious lake. He wondered if it was just a beast or something else.

-x-

 The distance between the mines and the lake was not too far so he was able to get there in a short time. As it was near noon, he could already see some mist forming near the lake. He used his divine sense first to see if he could find anything.

 Unfortunately, there is something blocking his divine sense, stopping him from finding out more. He decided to walk around the lake, to see if he could find any more information.

-x-

 After circling the lake 10 times, he found nothing. Apart from that, he could see the mist still remained, so the most either remained most of the time or it would only be let out if it sensed anything getting close.

 He decided to wait until the next morning. Maybe he could determine it more after a night of observation.

-x-

 Similar to his previous scouting, he didn't find anything helpful, only that he knew he had wasted a lot of time scouting. Unable to find anything just by observing it, he knew the only way for him to continue was by entering the mist. 

 Knowing the danger of doing it, he thought about any other option before finding that there was none. With no other options, he began to walk into the mist. Preparing himself for whatever he could possibly find.

-x-

 He was not prepared when he somehow found himself in another space. From the look of things, he had somehow found either a treasure trove or a secret realm, judging by how big the place he was currently at.

 He wondered if the other people investigating found themselves here before dying in the danger of the current area. As he walked into the secret realm, he could see some rare herbs and spiritual fruits.

 He decided to walk towards it and grabbed some of them. After all, one could never get enough wealth. As he grabbed it, he began to feel something wrong. He felt his energy being drained, his body getting heavier and heavier.

 Realizing the possible danger he was in, he tried to sense for any qi nearby. He quickly feels water qi near him, despite there being no source of water. Deciding to question it later, he used his mastery of Law of Water to cause some explosion along with the water forming a protective barrier around him.

 The explosion must surprised the one that made the trap as the 'secret realm' dissipated, showing that he was still in the lake. A look around him showed that he somehow reached the middle of the lake and on top of a small island.

 He began to look for the being that created the illusion. Despite his best efforts, he found nothing. Frowning, he still could feel himself getting drained, albeit a bit harder due to him protecting himself.

 Feeling something moving near his feet, he looks down and almost jumps, as there are some kind of vines moving around, trying to grab him. Realization dawned on him as he began to fly away, not daring to land on the island.

 When he got far enough, he created several large fireballs and threw them at the island. The 'island' sensed the incoming projectile and quickly showed its true self. It was a large flower, though calling it large is an understatement.

 The 'island' is merely the center of the flower. Around it were several petals, all of them slightly bigger than the 'island'. As for its body, it is more of a hill than a tree, its size is very impressive.

 The plant beast looked at him, at least that's what it seemed to do from the way the tendril near its top seemed to be pointing at him. The creature began to unleash countless vines toward him. 

 Watching as the vines moved towards him, Ryker frowned as he took his sword out and slashed at the incoming vines. As he slashed at the vines, he could feel something wrong. Was he in another illusion?

 He unleashed a burst of qi but nothing changed, just him effortlessly beating fending off the creature. His eyes widened as he realized what was wrong. Even though the creature possessed an intimidating size and was able to create illusion, that's the only thing it could do.

 Its combat prowess could be described as pitiful, though for everyone else, they would likely die unless they were already a Genesis Source expert. The previous Genesis Source expert must have fallen into the illusion and slowly found himself getting devoured by the strange plant.

 Already assessing the plant's combat skill, he began to launch a series of attacks. While the plant was surrounded by water, it seemed to only possess a small attainment of the Law of Water. At least from how it created the mist. 

 Though it is likely it created the mist using illusion. If that was the case, the fight will get even easier. Using his mastery of Law of Water, he began to remove the water around the creature. Despite the water around it being removed, the creature still continued its pointless assault.

 As the water is removed from the center of the lake, Ryker soon finds himself staring at an underwater grave. Countless skeletons, from beasts and humans, lay on the lake bed, showing the number of victims it had found during its reign of terror.

 No more, he thought to himself, as he began to create the largest fireball he ever made. Realizing the danger, the plant created some vine on top of itself. Smirking slightly, he slowly condensed the flame into a sword, filling the sword with sword qi at the same time.

 He then moved towards what could be called the flower stem, targeting a part that likely held the beast's core. Before it could react to his presence, he willed the sword to stab the creature, the fire sword piercing and burning it at the same time.