A thick golden stream surged across the land, eventually turning into a waterfall plunging into a dark cavern beneath the cliff.
The winding golden stream came from inside a mountain belly. The mountain belly had split open with a hideous, gaping maw, like the enormous mouth of a demonic beast, faintly emitting billowing heat. The golden stream flowed out from that savage opening, as if the beast were panting out a hot tongue.
When the stream first flowed out from the mountain belly, it was a red, scorching current. Only halfway through its course did it gradually cool into golden liquid.
The temperature here was extremely high. Standing on the cliff, Old Master Wu and the two demons flanking him could feel waves of heat rolling toward them, their clothes stirred by the hot air.
The cliff here and the entire mountain were the only visible patches of earth and stone as far as the eye could see. Their charred black colour stood out starkly in this golden world.
At this moment, in the light of a new day’s dawn, the scene gave people a bizarre and unreal sense of imagery.
Suddenly, both demons turned to look back, and Old Master Wu was no exception.
A massive commotion like mountains roaring and seas surging faintly came from afar.
Wu Dao asked in alarm, “What is that noise?”
Old Master Wu closed his eyes slightly, tilted his head and listened intently for a moment, then tapped the ground with his blue halberd. “Nothing. The Immortal Palace has descended from the sky into the water.”
Wu Dao was bewildered. “Descended into the water?”
Old Master Wu said, “It is not just land animals that are about to advance. There are also those in the sea. Since it has fallen, it means there are animals in these waters advancing to the next level.”
So that was it. Great Manor Lord Wu and Third Manor Lord nodded slightly.
Wu Heyun stared again at the mountain belly’s split ahead and asked, “Old Ancestor, what is this place?”
Old Master Wu said, “When I came in years ago, I did not dare to run around too much. This is my first time here too. Back then, I did hear people from the Immortal Palace mention that this place is the hub that drives the entire Immortal Palace’s array formations. The Heavenly Spring might possibly be here. Come, let us go in and search.”
He did not fly over directly. Instead, he leaned on his blue halberd and walked forward carefully step by step, his expression revealing a rare caution.
The two excited manor lords noticed this. Wu Dao probed, “Old Ancestor, is there some problem?”
Old Master Wu said, “Do you think my brother and I did not want to look around everywhere when we came in back then? It was not that we did not want to, but we were nervous and afraid to stay long. This is an immortal’s cave dwelling. Do you think ‘immortal’ is just empty talk? The people who lived here indeed possessed the ability of eternal life. There is no guarantee that no living people remain. Back then, my brother and I were essentially stealing while guarding the place, guilty as thieves. We came in haste and left in haste.”
Wu Heyun said in alarm, “Old Ancestor, do you mean the immortal might have left living guards here?”
Old Master Wu said, “Whether guards were left behind, I do not know. But you have all heard the news that the Mirage City and Little Cloud Grotto both have guardian mountain beasts. Who dares guarantee that Golden Ruins would be the exception? Being careful is never wrong. All of you, stay alert.”
At the end of the day, the two brothers were merely gatekeepers for Golden Ruins back then. They did not truly understand much about the internal situation of Golden Ruins.
“Yes,” the two manor lords responded, already looking around in fear.
The rapidly rising water level poured from the canyon into the great fissure. Those hiding in the fissure kept climbing upward.
Only when the group was nearly forced out of the ground did the surging water level finally stop rising.
In other words, the deep chasm canyon with its great height difference was almost completely filled with water.
Looking at the turbulent, swaying water before them, Rat Old Lady, clinging to the fissure wall, sniffed and suddenly said, “It smells like seawater.”
More or less, everyone had sensed it. They all wanted to reach out and taste it, but none dared touch it, fearing there might be something wrong with this sudden influx of water.
There was only one bold person who did what even Wu Hei and the Iron Mask Man dared not do.
They saw Nan Zhu subconsciously scoop up some water with one hand and cup it to his nose to sniff.
By the time Yu Qing noticed, it was already too late. Nan Zhu had already stuck out his tongue and licked it. Yu Qing was truly speechless. Did he not know about the mutations that happened to Old Master Wu in this place? He really wanted to kick this damn fatty into the water. And Little Shishu had said this fatty had more jianghu experience. Could someone with jianghu experience do something like this?
Not only him, but everyone else, including Wu Hei and the Iron Mask Man, noticed Nan Zhu’s action. They were all stunned by Nan Zhu’s courage and stared at him blankly.
“Pah.” After licking, Nan Zhu spat, shook the water from his hand, looked up to see everyone staring at him, and immediately nodded, saying, “That’s right, it tastes like seawater.”
He was no stranger to the taste of the sea. When he had transported the immortal peach trees from Little Cloud Grotto to Youjiao Port, he had drifted on the sea for several months.
Since he had confirmed it, well, the others could only be speechless, nothing more.
Looking at the swaying seawater beneath their feet, the Iron Mask Man asked in alarm, “Brother Wu, what is going on?”
Seeing everyone staring at him, Wu Hei said, “The Immortal Palace should have already sunk to the seabed. There must be something in the seabed advancing to the next level.”
“Advancing?” The Iron Mask Man grew even more alarmed. “What do you mean by advancing?”
His people had the same reaction.
Wu Hei could not be bothered to explain further. He was not speaking for them to hear, but for those who could understand. He casually brushed them off, “I am not sure either. We will know when we see.”
Day had broken. They dared not poke their heads out, nor did they dare rashly touch the seawater below. They could only continue clinging to the fissure walls and watch.
Later, the seawater in the great canyon finally gradually calmed, becoming as still as a mirror.
Yet this calm did not last. Suddenly, a wave surged, and everyone tensed simultaneously. Except for Little Hei, almost all of them had the same alertness. Something had entered the water.
For something to cause such a disturbance in the water surface of such a massive canyon, its size was imaginable.
Before long, they indeed saw enormous creatures twisting their bodies as they passed through the great canyon’s waters. Unfortunately, the water surface was too turbulent for anyone to see clearly what was passing beneath. Moreover, some strange changes seemed to be occurring underwater.
In the end, it was Nan Zhu who had more guts. He actually tiptoed and quietly squatted into the water. By the time everyone noticed, he had already submerged his head underwater.
Yu Qing was instantly furious. He wanted to shout and curse but dared not, fearing he might alarm the monster in the water.
Then a small creature emerged from the water. It was Datou, flapping his wings to escape the water surface.
When Qiao Qie’er died, Yu Qing had given Datou to Nan Zhu to boil water. Afterward, Datou had stayed on Nan Zhu. Now, he was forced to flee from Nan Zhu’s body.
Everyone looked up at Datou fluttering into the sky, but were quickly drawn to Nan Zhu’s head emerging from the water.
Nan Zhu exposed his head, then stretched out a hand pointing downward, and said softly to everyone, “Quick, come down and look.” With that, he sank back into the water.
From his manner, it seemed he had made some major discovery. The others could not help but exchange glances.
Later, Mu Aotie also submerged to investigate.
“Hmm.” The Iron Mask Man tilted his head slightly at his subordinates.
Immediately, two cloaked men were forced to sink into the water.
After a while, the two gave their response, indicating they felt nothing abnormal. Only then did the Iron Mask Man also submerge to see what was going on.
After that, it was one after another. Almost everyone dove underwater, leaving only Yu Qing and Wu Hei with his son.
“Down, down, down…”
Little Hei probably thought diving was fun, fussing on his father’s body, his desire to play in the water very obvious.
Seeing him fussing endlessly, Wu Hei’s face darkened. He grabbed his son by the back of the neck and pressed him straight into the water, then dove down himself.
In the end, only Yu Qing was left looking left and right. He did not hold out long before submerging himself too.
Once underwater, away from the turbulent surface ripples, the underwater scene immediately became clear, and the visual impact was felt at once.
Yu Qing immediately saw the golden creatures that made him feel rather uncomfortable.
A huge fish tail passed by, and before long, a snake appeared. A massive golden serpent happened to swim past the fissure, like some kind of sea snake with a chicken-comb-like whisker growing on its head. It moved slowly through the canyon like a giant dragon.
Even more bizarrely, both sides of the great canyon seemed to be emitting strands of golden mist, like ethereal ribbons connecting to the serpent’s body, as if performing some kind of empowerment. Watching carefully, one could gradually feel the serpent’s body becoming visibly larger.
After the serpent’s long body passed, various fish of different sizes appeared one after another. A fish the size of one finger grew to two fingers under the empowerment of the golden mist. An arm-sized one slowly grew to the size of a person.
Seeing this, everyone gradually understood what was meant by “advancing.”
Suddenly, an even more massive shark appeared, with fierce fangs, an ancient build, certain parts of its body looking as if clad in saw-toothed armour. Its ferocious aura was unmistakable, its body terrifyingly huge, the width of the great canyon almost unable to contain it.
But as it swam, it seemed to fall asleep. Later, it drifted motionlessly and peacefully toward the canyon floor.
Unlike what they had seen before, this giant shark not only did not absorb the golden mist in the great canyon, but strands of golden mist drifted from its body and were absorbed by both sides of the canyon. Along with the mist, dense evil energy visible to the naked eye was also absorbed by the great canyon.
The sleeping shark’s body grew smaller and smaller, slowly falling toward the canyon floor. Because it was too deep below and the light too poor, everyone’s vision gradually failed to see clearly, leaving them unaware of the shark’s final fate.
However, the intense visual shock it brought them was indescribable.
Here, they had seen and comprehended another magnificent form of life and death.
Watching further, it was more or less the same thing. Having satisfied his son’s curiosity, Wu Hei took his son and left the water. The Iron Mask Man grew wary and immediately surfaced as well. Thus, everyone followed in a chain reaction and emerged one after another.
After surfacing, the Iron Mask Man looked at Ning Chaoyi and the others. Knowing he was not trusted by Wu Hei and could not get any straight answers, he prepared to find an opportunity to question Ning Chaoyi and the others in detail.
After everyone used their arts to remove the water vapour from their bodies, they quietly poked their heads out at the fissure’s ground level to observe the pavilion on that mountain.
In the air, the circling Datou suddenly flew down again. This time, he did not return to Nan Zhu, but landed on Yu Qing’s shoulder.