Chapter 78: Lotus (Fourth Update)
After the Feathered Sky Eagles had left, Su Jie came out again with Ning Xinyue.
The nearby ground looked devastatingly chaotic. Upon failing to find their target, the Feathered Sky Eagles had recklessly unleashed their fury, carpet bombing the area where Su Jie had been located, in a vain attempt to vent their frustration.
This time, Su Jie was smarter. He mined carefully, and by nightfall, he had gathered over a dozen pieces of Purple Dark Cold Iron Ore.
Such days continued for several more.
Until several days later!
In the dead of night, Su Jie and Ning Xinyue stealthily moved forward under the veil of darkness.
In Ning Xinyue's hands, she held the Tianxi Eight Diagrams Plate. Under Su Jie's pained gaze, she kept inputting Mid-grade Spirit Stones into it to conduct deductions.
The Tianxi Eight Diagrams Plate lit up with different colors before finally guiding the two to a specific direction, then stopped showing any further changes.
In front of Su Jie and Ning Xinyue lay a silent and deep pond.
This was Bihe Pond, with cold air emanating from its water, and the edges were covered with large patches of water lilies.
The pond's icy water emitted an intense cold, so much so that when Su Jie got close, a thin layer of Ice Frost formed on his eyebrows and eyes.
On the contrary, Ning Xinyue had a special constitution that made her completely unaffected by the cold, leaving no trace on her whatsoever.
"Are you sure this is the place? After fixing the position for so many days, there won't be any more mistakes, right?"
Su Jie looked at Ning Xinyue, expecting that beneath Bihe Pond lay the Exotic Treasure.
"Confirmed, it's right here."
Ning Xinyue firmly nodded her head, guaranteeing with certainty that there were no mistakes.
"I'll go down first to scout the path."
Rubbing his frozen hands, Su Jie said with an air of righteousness, ready to dive into Bihe Pond.
"No, let me go first. I'm not afraid of the cold because of my constitution. It won't be good if you encounter any accidents."
Ning Xinyue grabbed Su Jie, her face stern with a heroic expression as if ready to sacrifice herself.
"I'm stronger, it's better if I go."
"I have more treasures, I'm confident I can find the Exotic Treasure first."
The two went back and forth with each other, but eventually, Su Jie looked at Ning Xinyue's puffed-up face and could only say, "Fine, let's go down together then."
"Then we'll go down together."
Ning Xinyue nodded, and then they heard a splash—Su Jie had already jumped into the water.
"We agreed to go together, and you jumped the gun."
Without further ado, Ning Xinyue dived into Bihe Pond as well and quickly swam toward the depths.
The pond water was bone-chillingly cold, carrying an icy sensation that seeped into the bones.
Su Jie's limbs were numb from the cold, leaving him no choice but to summon the Thousand-Handed Centipede to carry him deeper into the pond.
The Thousand-Handed Centipede's constitution was strong, with high strength and speed, and it had greater resistance to the cold, making it much faster than Su Jie in the water.
Using the Xiao Qian brand submarine device, Su Jie quickly descended to the bottom of the pond.
At this point, they were over three hundred meters from the surface, surrounded by unknown underground rivers that seemed like endless Demon Caves, which made one's heart tremble with fear.
Ning Xinyue followed closely behind, swimming down. The Tianxi Eight Diagrams Plate in her hand no longer flickered, instead covered in dense purple clouds. Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire
"Where's the location?"
Using his Spiritual Power to transmit his voice through the water, Su Jie inquired about the exact position.
Ning Xinyue shook her head and communicated using the same method.
"I don't know. The Tianxi Eight Diagrams Plate can only locate this general area, maybe it's right beneath one of the underground rivers. Let's split up and search."
Su Jie nodded, casually pointed in a direction, and signaled that he would explore that way.
Then, holding the thousand-hand centipede, he dived into the underground river.
However, at this moment Ning Xinyue revealed a smile, like a little fox that had sneaked a chicken, carefully observing her surroundings. Once she was certain Su Jie had truly left, she quickly swam into action, heading toward the northeast direction of the underground river.
"Haha, such a fool. You believe whatever I say; the Exotic Treasure will be mine."
Ning Xinyue was extremely excited in her heart, with a smile on her face that she couldn't suppress, thinking about the Exotic Treasure soon to be in her hands.
"This temperature is way too abnormal."
Suddenly, Ning Xinyue felt the temperature of the nearby river water drop again. Within the river, wisps of silver-white halos emerged, resembling hidden ice crystals or congealed frost qi.
"Could this be the Qingliu Earth Spirit River?"
Ning Xinyue appeared to have realized something, her expression subtly changing.
The Qingliu Earth Spirit River is a river formed from the convergence of some kind of underground spirit veins.
Beneath the veins, rich spiritual energy abounds; not only does this energy create many spiritual material mines, but sometimes it also gives rise to spirit rivers.
"Legend has it that the Qingliu Earth Spirit River possesses the Ten Thousand Cold Qi, originating from the Source Sky Vein, rising from the earth spirit, it is extremely rare, capable of accelerating the cultivation speed of all Yin cold attribute cultivation techniques. I didn't expect to find it here, but it makes sense, that's why the Exotic Treasure appeared here, the environment is indeed very suitable."
With this revelation, Ning Xinyue understood that the Exotic Treasure might have formed under such unique conditions.
The confirmation of the Qingliu Earth Spirit River made Ning Xinyue even more convinced that she was heading in the right direction.
Therefore, Ning Xinyue kept feeding Mid-grade Spirit Stones into the Tianxi Eight Diagrams Plate to lock the position.
In the deep and dim underground river, after swimming for about fifteen more minutes, Ning Xinyue finally sensed a vast and unparalleled spiritual energy.
In an instant, Ning Xinyue narrowed her eyes and felt as though her field of vision had suddenly brightened.
Ahead in the dark river, it was as if an immortal gem nourished and illuminated all things, emitting a glow a million times more dazzling than any jewel.
"How beautiful!"
Ning Xinyue's mouth hung open as she saw a green lotus swaying gently in the tranquil and shadowy river water, moving with the current.
Its stem was straight, slender, and transparent, with eighteen lotus petals about to bloom, seemingly nurturing some kind of miraculous object from heaven and earth. Its light illuminated the entire dark river, like a deity showing off its splendor to the world.
Surrounding the lotus, influenced by it, grew a multitude of wondrous spirit plants and medicinal herbs.
There were lush grasses, sprawling vines, and many colorful flowers—all of which had sprung to life because they had been nourished by the Exotic Treasure Lotus.
As Ning Xinyue approached, she instantly felt a mysterious and profound aura permeating the space between heaven and earth, as if all the air was solidifying, and even the surging currents seemed to be subdued.
This was not pure spiritual energy but more like a special change in space; stepping into it felt like one's body and soul were being cleansed.
"My body..."
Ning Xinyue felt minor changes occurring inside her body as if her flesh and blood were being purified.
Although she was still hundreds of meters away from the Exotic Treasure Lotus, its immense and limitless power not only nourished all living beings but also further purified her physique.
"Indeed an Exotic Treasure."
"Indeed an Innate Spiritual Object."
Two voices sounded one after the other; the first was uttered by Ning Xinyue, the second came from behind her.
Ning Xinyue's expression froze on her face as she turned in shock and saw Su Jie appearing behind her, watching her with an almost smiling look.