The Flying Golden-Winged Centipede was dead, and the waterway it had been guarding was once again clear.
After confirming that the exit to this secret realm was still open, Nan Zhi summoned a fifty-meter-long red carp from the water.
The demon beast was a festive, brilliant red from head to tail. The eyes on either side of its head were as large as small cars, with distinct black pupils and white sclera. Beneath its gills was a single golden scale. Upon seeing Nan Zhi, it joyfully slapped the water with its tail.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
The red carp's long tail was incredibly agile; from a distance, it looked like a strip of soft red silk dancing in the water. Cold river water splashed everywhere, landing on the ground in blooming patterns.
It surfaced ingratiatingly, exposing its broad back. Its large eyes swiveled slightly, staring at the cultivator who had summoned it.
At first glance, the sight was somewhat terrifying.
Nan Zhi tilted her chin slightly, gesturing to the group.
Were they supposed to dive into the water on the back of a fish?
The water was so deep. If this demon beast went wild...
Many felt their hearts thumping with anxiety, but the moment they looked at Ma Guniang, their doubts vanished.
"Everyone else, move a bit faster,"
Qin Yue was the first to leap onto the fish's back. She turned around to urge the others.
The fish scales were enormous, each nearly half a meter wide. Stepping onto them didn't feel slippery at all; instead, it felt as stable as standing on solid ground.
They were actually riding a fish into the water!
The group couldn't hide their excitement as they carried the wounded and supplies onto the fish's back. Behind the red carp's head was a vast, flat triangular area with more than enough room for everyone to move around.
Liu Ruhe was still alive, though she was carried onto the fish on a makeshift stretcher.
Her soul had been damaged, which was why she remained unconscious.
Although the Locust God's remnant soul hadn't successfully snatched her body, the possession of a deity transformation stage cultivator was inherently domineering. Their divine sense was overwhelming.
If that remnant soul hadn't been acting on its own selfish desires, Liu Ruhe's soul likely wouldn't have survived at all.
The sampling boxes and the items taken from the stone room were placed in the center under guard. They couldn't take the bodies of their fallen comrades with them, so they held a simple funeral, cremated them, and packed the ashes to bring home.
With reddened eyes, the group looked back at the land. One emotional young soldier wiped away tears and choked out:
"Next time... next time, we will definitely..."
Next time they came, it would be with the full firepower of the Great Xia army to seize control of this territory.
They would surely avenge their fallen comrades.
No one asked stupid questions about the underwater oxygen supply.
Everyone present had witnessed Ma Guniang's methods.
They knew that a true immortal's spells were worth ten thousand soldiers.
Once everyone was aboard, Nan Zhi took Hongluo by the hand and drifted down from the heights, waving her wide azure sleeve.
Hum!
A hexagonal formation pattern flashed across the fish's back, and a hemispherical, transparent barrier immediately appeared over everyone's heads.
Over the past few days, she had gained some insights from rubbing the teleportation formation and studying the Insights into Formations left in the stone room. Creating a water-repelling shield was now second nature to her.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...
Everyone felt their bodies sink, realizing the red fish beneath them had begun to dive. They instinctively held their breath and sat perfectly still on the fish's back, afraid of distracting Ma Guniang.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...
Splash, splash...
As they fully submerged, the pitch-black river water climbed over their heads, bringing a sudden, intense sense of oppression.
Some people instinctively held their breath, only to realize the water was kept at bay by the large shield overhead. Not a single drop leaked in.
The air remained dry and fresh. The little girl standing beside Ma Guniang looked at them as if they were country bumpkins, then went back to brewing tea for herself.
A fire flickered to life. The orange flame swayed slightly, as if caught in a breeze.
A breeze?
How could there be a breeze underwater?
Many couldn't help but look around, reaching out to touch the air, but they felt nothing.
They didn't feel the crushing water pressure from being a thousand meters deep, nor the suffocating lack of oxygen from being underground.
In fact, as the red fish swung its silk-like tail to swim rapidly, they could even feel a warm, gentle breeze.
Qin Yue could swear that if the thing above their heads disappeared, they would all be instantly crushed by the immense water pressure.
They would pop like leather balloons filled with blood.
The water was pitch black, making it impossible to see one's own hand. Terrifying, muffled moans echoed from all directions. The only light came from a single night pearl floating in the air above them, glowing brilliantly.
It wasn't fluorite; it was a pearl the size of a fist that emitted a soft, pearly white light.
Occasionally, water ghosts would drift past the water-repelling shield, but they seemed completely oblivious to the people on the fish's back. They made gurgling sounds as strings of bubbles rose from their mouths.
The things that attracted them had disappeared, leaving these creatures trapped in the waterway, drifting aimlessly with their pale, wide eyes.
Splash, splash, splash—
The red fish swung its massive tail, swimming upstream through the long waterway.
...
"The flow of the water in this secret passage is also strange; it's as if it's upside down. Fortunately, this means the return trip will take half the time."
"Though I wasted a Spirit Beast Talisman, this red carp is quite useful,"
Nan Zhi thought contemplatively as she took the tea cup handed to her by Hongluo.
Currently, she had neither too many nor too few means of self-protection. However, when it came to battling other cultivators, she could gain an edge or two by utilizing formations.
A master of formations could use a single exquisite setup to trap someone and slowly drain their spiritual energy until they died.
As for that purple quality 《Five Elements Techniques》, it was truly a reward worthy of squeezing the Locust God dry.
A mid-sized Water-Repelling Curse combined with a simple defensive formation and a red carp effectively gave her a manned submarine...
Next time Nan Zhi went on an underwater exploration, she would be fully prepared.
As for the consumption of spiritual energy?
Nan "The Perpetual Motion Machine with a Forever Full Blue Bar" Zhi declared that such a problem didn't exist.
As long as she used enough pills, her blue bar's consumption would never catch up to her.
Supporting the formation with spiritual energy wasn't very taxing on her mind, but she had to stay alert to the demon beasts in the water, which prevented her from focusing on cultivation.
Instead, Nan Zhi began to take stock of her harvest from this secret realm.
First, aside from the books and formations, there were seventeen separate dharma treasures.
One at the deity transformation stage, three at the nascent soul stage, five at the Foundation Establishment stage, and eight at the Qi Refinement stage. It was a massive haul.
If she found an opportunity to refine them in the future, they would surely be of great use.
Next were the cultivation manuals and a set of offensive formations called the "Hundred Ghosts Thousand Cries Killing Formation."
The name didn't sound like something a righteous person would use.
Ma Guniang belonged to the Demon Suppression Division, and the Mountain Lord followed the path of body tempering; neither could use it openly.
Nan Zhi silently tucked it into a corner of her backpack, planning to use it for her next cover identity.
As for the rubbings of the teleportation formation, she wasn't an expert in that field. Furthermore, the teleportation formation was incredibly profound, so she could only set it aside for the time being.
Then there was her level and cultivation.
By slaying the Locust God and its spirit beast, the Flying Golden-Winged Centipede, combined with the scattered experience from killing other demon beasts recently, Nan Zhi had jumped nine levels. Her cultivation had risen from the late Foundation Establishment Level 1 to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Level 2.
The further one progressed, the more experience was needed to level up, and the slower the cultivation speed would become. That was a certainty.
Yet Nan Zhi wasn't the least bit dissatisfied.
If one truly calculated it, her cultivation speed could be described as "terrifying."
In less than a year, she had already reached Foundation Establishment Level 2. In the future, as long as she didn't do anything reckless, she could move steadily forward toward the Great Dao.
Xu Zi had mentioned before that some people spent their entire lives stuck at the Qi Refinement Great Circle, unable to reach Foundation Establishment, dying with deep regrets.
In the end, they simply lacked the fate for the Great Dao.
If anyone found out about her progress, she would certainly become a thorn in many people's sides.
"I really need to create a few more cover identities,"
Nan Zhi mused silently.
Rate on N.U.
