Since the Golden-Winged Flying Centipede was dead, the waterway it guarded naturally became clear once more.
After confirming that the secret realm's exit was still open, Nan Zhi summoned a fifty-meter-long crimson carp from the water.
This carp demon beast was crimson all over, every single scale gleaming with a festive red. The fish eyes on either side of its head were as large as small cars, with starkly contrasting black and white. It had a speck of golden scales beneath its gills, and upon seeing Nan Zhi, it joyfully slapped the water with its tail.
“Splash! Splash! Splash!”
The carp demon beast's long tail was incredibly agile, looking from a distance like a piece of soft red silk in the water. Cold river water splashed everywhere, landing on the ground and forming bursts of spray.
It surfaced in a pleasing manner, revealing its broad back. Its large eyes rolled slightly, staring at the cultivator who had summoned it.
—At first glance, it was actually a bit terrifying.
Nan Zhi slightly chin-nudged toward it, gesturing to the group.
She wanted them to ride the fish and dive?
In such deep water, what if this demon beast went wild...
Many felt their hearts thumping with anxiety, but the moment they looked at Ma Guniang, all their doubts vanished.
“The rest of you, hurry up.”
Qin Yue was the first to leap onto the fish's back, turning around to urge the others.
The fish scales were massive, each about half a meter wide. When they stepped onto them, they didn't feel wet or slippery at all; instead, it felt as stable as walking on dry land.
Riding a fish into the water!
The group could hardly contain their excitement as they carried the wounded and their supplies onto the fish's back. Behind the red carp's head, there was a vast, flat triangular area, giving everyone more than enough room to move around.
Liu Ruhe was still alive, though she had to be carried onto the fish's back on a makeshift stretcher.
Her soul had been damaged, which was why she remained unconscious.
Although the Locust God's remnant soul had not successfully performed soul-snatching on her, being possessed by a Deity Transformation stage cultivator's divine sense was inherently overbearing.
Had that remnant soul not possessed its own selfish motives, it was likely that not even a shred of Liu Ruhe's soul would have survived.
The sample boxes and the items retrieved from the stone room were placed right in the center, guarded by designated personnel. Since they truly couldn't carry the bodies of their fallen comrades back, they had held a simple funeral, cremated them, and packed their ashes to bring home.
—With slightly reddened eyes, the crowd gazed back at the land. An emotional young soldier wiped away his tears and choked out:
“Next time... Next time, we will definitely be able to...”
The next time they came, it would be under the cover of Great Xia's rabbit army unleashing overwhelming firepower to seize control of this territory.
They would definitely avenge their fallen comrades.
No one was foolish enough to ask about the underwater oxygen supply.
Everyone present had witnessed Ma Guniang's capabilities.
They knew that a true immortal's spells could rival an army of ten thousand.
Once everyone was gathered, Nan Zhi finally flew down from above, holding Hongluo's hand. With a wave of her wide green sleeve:
“Buzz!”
A hexagonal formation pattern flashed across the fish's back, and a semi-spherical transparent water-repelling shield immediately materialized over everyone's heads.
—Over the past few days, her rubbing of the teleportation formation had yielded some insights. Combined with her repeated study of the formation insights left in the stone room, creating a water-repelling shield now came to her as easily as breathing.
“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...”
Everyone felt their bodies sink, realizing the red fish beneath them had begun to dive. They held their breath and sat perfectly still on the fish's back with absolute trust, careful not to distract Ma Guniang.
“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...”
“Splash, splash, splash...”
Once they were fully submerged, the pitch-black river water closed over their heads, bringing a heavy, oppressive sensation.
Some instinctively held their breath, only to realize that the river water was completely blocked out by the large dome above them, not a single drop leaking in.
The air remained dry and fresh. The little girl accompanying Ma Guniang gave them a look as if they were making a mountain out of a molehill, then went back to brewing tea for herself.
The fire lit up, its orange flames flickering slightly as if caught by a breeze.
Wind?
How could there be wind underwater?
Many couldn't help but look around, reaching out to touch the barrier, but they felt nothing.
They felt none of the water pressure from being a thousand meters deep, nor any of the suffocation of lacking oxygen deep underground.
In fact, as the red fish swayed its silk-like tail and swam rapidly, they could even feel waves of gentle, warm breeze.
Qin Yue would swear that if the dome above their heads were to disappear, they would instantly be crushed and popped by the immense water pressure.
—Just like a human skin balloon filled with bloody water.
The water was pitch-black, so dark that one couldn't see their own hand in front of their face. Terrifying, muffled wails echoed from all directions, but in the air above them, a single night pearl shone brilliantly.
It wasn't fluorite, but a fist-sized bead that emitted a soft, pearly-white light.
Occasionally, water ghosts drifted past the water-repelling shield, but they seemed entirely blind to the people on the fish's back, merely making "gurgling" sounds as they blew out strings of bubbles.
The thing that used to attract them had vanished, leaving these creatures trapped in the waterway, drifting aimlessly with their pale eyes wide open.
“Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash—”
The red fish swung its giant tail, swimming upstream along the long waterway.
...
“The flow of the river in this secret passage is also strange, as if it's upside down. Fortunately, the time it takes to return will be cut in half.
Although a Spirit Beast Talisman was wasted, this red carp is still of some use.”
Nan Zhi took the teacup handed to her by Hongluo, lost in thought.
Currently, the means of self-preservation she held were neither too many nor too few, but when fighting others, relying on formations could give her an extra edge or two.
If one were a master of formations, they would only need a single exquisite formation to trap an opponent inside, draining their spiritual energy until they died of exhaustion.
As for that Purple Quality book, 《Five Elements Techniques》, it was truly worthy of being squeezed out of the Locust God.
A medium-sized Water-Repelling Curse plus a simple defense formation, combined with a red carp, essentially gave her a manned submarine...
The next time Nan Zhi went exploring, she would be completely confident in entering the water.
As for spiritual energy consumption?
Nan "The Perpetual Motion Machine Whose Mana Bar Is Always Full" Zhi indicated that such a thing didn't exist.
As long as she chugged enough potions, the consumption rate would never catch up to her.
Supporting the formation with spiritual energy didn't consume much mental energy, but she had to divide her attention to keep an eye on the underwater demon beasts, which prevented her from focusing on her cultivation.
Thus, Nan Zhi began to take stock of her harvests from this secret realm.
First, excluding the books and formations, there were seventeen separate dharma treasures she had picked out.
One Deity Transformation-grade, three Nascent Soul-grade, five Foundation Establishment-grade, and eight Qi Refinement-grade dharma treasures. It was a massive harvest.
If she found an opportunity to refine them in the future, they might prove highly useful.
Next were the cultivation manuals and books, as well as an offensive formation: the “Hundred Ghosts Thousand Cries Killing Formation.”
The name didn't sound like anything a righteous sect would use.
Ma Guniang was a member of the Demon Suppression Division, and the Mountain Lord followed the path of body tempering, so neither could use it openly.
Nan Zhi silently stuffed it into a corner of her inventory, intending to use it on her next cover identity.
As for the teleportation formation diagrams she had rubbed, she wasn't particularly skilled in this field. Moreover, the teleportation formation was incredibly profound, so she could only set it aside for now.
Then there was her level and cultivation.
By slaying the Locust God and its spirit beast, the Golden-Winged Flying Centipede, along with some stray experience points from killing demon beasts earlier, Nan Zhi had leveled up nine times in one go. Her cultivation had risen from the late stage of Foundation Establishment Level 1 to the mid stage of Foundation Establishment Level 2.
The further she progressed, the more Upgrade EXP she would need, and the slower her cultivation speed would become. That was a certainty.
Yet Nan Zhi didn't feel the slightest bit of dissatisfaction.
If one were to truly calculate it, her speed of cultivation could be described as "terrifying."
In less than a year, she had already stepped into Foundation Establishment Level 2. In the future, as long as she didn't court death, she could steadily advance straight 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 establish their foundation, remaining filled with regret even on their deathbeds.
But in the end, they simply had no affinity with the Great Dao.
If anyone were to find out about this, she would surely become a thorn in the side of many.
She really needed to create a few more cover identities.
Nan Zhi sighed silently.
Rate on N.U.
