Beneath the nether water lay an endless gloom where divine sense could not reach.
The light of the Heaven-Burning Sparrow scattered within it, providing a visible range of no more than ten feet.
It was strange; while the surface shimmered brilliantly at night, the depths were pitch black.
Originally, Xu Xian had planned to find the Spirit-Sealing Seal and take it back to the Wendao Sword Sect to suppress the wisp of yin qi within Yao Xiaoxiao.
Now, it seemed such a thought was somewhat of a pipe dream.
Unless he was incredibly lucky, searching every inch of a thousand-mile lakebed would take god knows how long.
Fortunately, the Little Book Spirit was a spirit, and though it was affected by the Ruoshui, it could still move through it freely.
However, while the Pupil of Insight could previously leave Xu Xian's side by a mile and investigate everything within five miles, it could now only move a hundred meters away, with a warning range of less than half a mile.
Finding it was not necessarily impossible, but it would take a great deal of time.
At least there was a possibility.
For now, Xu Xian intended to sink to the lakebed first and mine enough Shadow Soul Stones to build the third floor of the Sword Tower and break through to the seventh stage. At that point, the Little Book Spirit's detection range would increase, making any future search much easier.
"It is quite deep down here, Master."
"No rush."
...
Continuing his descent, Xu Xian controlled the Heaven-Burning Sparrow to maintain a steady speed, silently calculating the time to estimate the depth of the Nether Pool.
It was out of caution, but also curiosity.
Ten miles...
A hundred miles...
Two hundred miles...
Three hundred and twenty, three hundred and twenty-nine...
Xu Xian saw light. Below him was no longer endless darkness, but a faint blue shimmer spreading across the bottom.
The youth's heart tightened.
"Are we at the bottom?"
The Little Book Spirit could not wait and dove down ahead of him toward the light source.
The shared vision suddenly vanished. Xu Xian grew alert and was about to call out to the Little Book Spirit when its voice echoed in his mind.
"Good heavens, Master, come quickly! There is a whole new world down here."
Inside the Shadow Soul Stone Mecha, Xu Xian subconsciously frowned, and the Heaven-Burning Sparrow in his hand accelerated.
The light drew closer until he suddenly burst through the water's surface.
In an instant, the world spun, and his stomach churned.
Xu Xian felt his vision sink as a force suddenly grabbed his descending body and yanked him backward.
Bang!
He fell heavily to the ground.
Thud...
As the discomfort faded, Xu Xian regained his senses and controlled the mecha to stand up. The Little Book Spirit's visual sharing synchronized with his mind once more.
He was instantly stunned.
He slowly looked up, then down, his gaze gradually sweeping across his surroundings. His throat bobbed as he uttered two words.
"Good god!"
...
In the Nether Capital, over an hour had passed since the explosion in the outer city and Bai Mang being taken away. The night grew deeper, and the light from the nether water grew brighter.
The descendants of the demon gods were incredibly frustrated upon learning that their respective demon gods had returned empty-handed. They knew that Bai Mang was likely doomed.
Not all of them cared about Bai Mang's life, but they felt indignant. After four months of brown-nosing, they had gained nothing in the end; it had truly been a futile effort.
Huang Xiao, in particular, looked ready to cry. His heart might not be broken, but he was certainly devastated.
As for Chi Ji, her face had been clouded with worry from start to finish.
After returning to the Nether Capital, the High Priest, in her official capacity, mobilized all the enforcement squads of the Demon Court and the secret forces of the Nether Religion.
She sent them out to establish defenses along the southern bank of the Nether River and the mouth of the Nether Pool.
Short on manpower, she summoned the ten demon gods again, intending to borrow their Demon God Guards to blockade the entire Nether Pool.
"Jin Qing, you have truly gone mad. Blockading the entire Nether Pool with one person every hundred meters? Are you joking?"
Facing the skepticism, Jin Qing said with absolute certainty, "Bai Mang is not dead. He is in the Nether Pool."
They had just had an unpleasant encounter, and their anger had not dissipated. One of them immediately questioned her with a cold face,
"He is not dead just because you say so?"
Jin Qing did not bother wasting words and produced her evidence.
She told them that Bai Mang had previously set up over two hundred teleportation formation nodes in the Nether Capital.
Such nodes were common and relied on the creator's aura to remain active.
In other words, as long as they were not manually destroyed and the creator did not die, the nodes would continue to exist.
Conversely, if the creator died, the formation would dissipate.
An hour had passed since Bai Mang had fallen into the Nether Pool and vanished.
Yet those two hundred nodes were perfectly intact, which was enough to prove that Bai Mang was still alive.
The ten demon gods' expressions shifted rapidly upon hearing this.
He was actually still alive?
Then how did he disappear?
Compared to his miraculous survival, they would have preferred the fact that he was dead.
Jin Qing said, "I do not know how to explain it to you, but the fact is that Bai Mang is still alive. Moreover, he must have anticipated that I would test him, so he beat me at my own game and put on this performance. I am certain he has a way to cross the Nether Pool, and he will definitely leave the Nether Capital."
The demon gods fell into silence.
Thinking carefully, there were indeed many irrationalities in this matter, especially since their sons and daughters had said similar things upon their return.
They said it was strange, but could not put their finger on what exactly was off. They just felt that Bai Mang had been captured far too easily.
Furthermore, looking back at Bai Mang's reaction and words before he was thrown down, they had seemed normal at the time.
Looking at it now, it was indeed a bit too theatrical.
Chi Ming was the first to speak up. "Fine. The Crimson Demon Guards are at your disposal."
"Thank you!"
Then the Azure Demon and the Blue Demon agreed as well. The remaining demon gods eventually compromised, choosing to lend their palace guards and agreeing to let Jin Qing mobilize the garrisoned troops and city guards stationed outside the Demon Abyss.
All to blockade the entire Nether Pool.
Resentment aside, the interests tied to Bai Mang were far too great; they had to prioritize the bigger picture.
That night.
The guards of the ten demon god palaces, the enforcement squads of the Demon Court, and the city guards were all mobilized, surrounding the entire Nether Pool so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.
Even the stone-salvaging teams of the Demon God Palaces were called into action.
Not only that.
The demon race army stationed outside the city also marched out to blockade the exit of the Nether Pool and set up defenses along both banks of the Nether River.
To ensure nothing went wrong, Jin Qing ordered the blockade of the three mouths of the Nether Creek and wrote a letter to the Blazing Fortress.
From this moment on, not a single person or even a fly would be allowed to fly out of the Demon Abyss.
Even though the news of Bai Mang's disappearance was kept from the public, the massive commotion and troop movements still caused panic among the demons of both the inner and outer cities.
Speculation ran rampant that a war was about to break out in the Demon Abyss.
Some even guessed that the Wendao Sword Sect was invading.
For a time, the entire city was abuzz with rumors, and the entire race was unsettled!
Rate on N.U.
