Chapter 150: Found?

In an instant, the apple-sized droplet transformed into a pool of water. The water was a deep, tranquil emerald, so fathomless that its bottom was completely invisible. Before Lei Xiang and the others could even react, they were pulled right into the lake by a suction force emanating from the depths.

Remaining calm in the face of danger, Lei Xiang released the Blue Lotus Dish, which bloomed with nine stone lotus petals. A hazy white silver light enveloped all three of them. After entering the emerald lake, even with the blue light in his eyes, Lei Xiang still could not pierce through the water. This exploration was truly becoming more and more interesting.

The three of them plummeted straight down. Three full hours passed, yet there was still no sign of stopping. Lei Xiang and his companions had discussed this for a long time, but no good solution had come up. Judging by this rapid speed of descent, they must have already plunged at least one hundred thousand meters deep into the lake. Could this possibly be a bottomless lake?

Suddenly, the surrounding lake water began to churn, and the turbulence grew increasingly violent. In a moment, the water on one side vaporized, and immediately after, the water on the other side turned into steam as well. When the last wisp of green steam rose, the lake water completely vanished from around them, and they found themselves inside a massive cavern. The walls on all sides were covered in foul-smelling slime that dripped continuously, and right before their eyes stood a towering pestle-shaped mountain.

How could there be a pestle-shaped mountain inside a cavern?

That pestle mountain was even slowly rising upwards, which was simply incredible. After a brief discussion among the three, Tian Rui and Yang Jian used their senses to probe further. The results of their perception were surprisingly consistent: the directions all pointed downward. Lei Xiang did not retract the Blue Lotus Dish; with its protection, they felt a slight sense of safety in this unknown and perilous place. After agreeing to take turns feeding the Blue Lotus Dish with their spiritual power, the three of them continued their downward journey.

After walking at least three li and passing through a long tunnel, they arrived at another "cavern." This cavern did not have any pestle-shaped mountain, but instead contained countless vine-like objects that coiled and intertwined, completely filling the space. They cautiously threaded their way through them, all the while dodging the dripping slime, making their progress extremely slow.

After about two days, they finally reached yet another cavern. This one was relatively spacious, with several red rivers flowing across it. The red rivers emitted a heavy, pungent stench of blood, and the banks were strewn with countless human and animal bones. It seemed that many living creatures had once inhabited this place; for some unknown reason, they had all perished, and perhaps this river had been dyed red by their blood.

Suddenly, a violent crashing sound came from the rear left. The rhythmic banging caused the walls of the cavern to shake, and foul-smelling slime rained down like a storm. Could it be an earthquake? Or a flash flood? Without taking the time to investigate the cause, Lei Xiang hurriedly called out to the others, summoned their respective magical artifacts, and flew away from the area.

After flying for about another day, the crashing sounds finally faded away, but muddy, narrow paths appeared ahead of them. These paths were entirely enclosed, resembling mountain tunnels, and their walls were greasy, making flight completely impossible. They had no choice but to struggle forward step by step.

Lei Xiang felt a surge of anger in his heart. He had originally only come to help Tian Rui out with a favor—to search for that "thing" she kept mentioning—yet who would have thought they would end up in this godforsaken ghost place? Leaving aside the dangers, the stench and disgust alone were simply unbearable. They had long since activated their breath-holding techniques, but the foul odor still invaded their sea of consciousness. It was so overwhelmingly foul that it bypassed the respiratory system entirely and was absorbed directly through the skin.

Finally, Tian Rui stopped at a fork in the road and shouted joyfully, "Found it, we've found it! Look, this is the path. Along this road, we will reach our destination."

Looking at the winding path they had traveled all the way here, and then gazing at the seemingly endless, downward-stretching path ahead, Lei Xiang agreed to turn off here. Changing directions might perhaps change their mood, so the three of them turned into the spiraling, downward path. Fortunately, this branch path was completely straight and lacked the mud and foul stench of the previous routes.

After walking for another two hours, the view suddenly opened up before them. There was no annoying slime, no nauseating stench, and no endless darkness; they had finally arrived at a human town.

Lei Xiang looked up at the sky and then down at the ground beneath his feet, shaking his head helplessly. Although they had walked out of that muddy, repulsive place, they had walked right into this strange city without sun or moon. Furthermore, the spiritual Qi here was exceptionally thin; he truly wondered how long it would take for cultivators here to ever achieve mastery.

To their surprise, not only were there human cultivators in this strange city, but one hundred percent of them were cultivators, and all wore uniform attire rather than being rogue cultivators. These people cast strange glances at the three of them, yet none of them came over to initiate a conversation, leaving Lei Xiang and his companions completely helpless. Asking for directions was out of the question; they would just have to rely on themselves to search.

At this point, Yang Jian's senses had completely faded, but Tian Rui's intuition grew increasingly excited. Her face had turned flushed, her cheeks rosy just like someone who had just completed some primal human desire. Tian Rui hopped along in front like a young girl, leading the way. "This way, this way... Yes, right this way. I can sense that we are almost there."

Finally, they came to a halt in front of a wide gate guarded by stone lions. Tian Rui told them that the object she was looking for was inside this very estate. Lei Xiang's heart also relaxed a great deal; although this treasure hunt had been full of twists and turns, the danger had not been overwhelming, and moreover, they had finally found the destination. Perhaps this trip was about to come to an end. He raised his head to look at the grayish "sky"—which could not truly be called a sky at all, but rather a patch of pure nothingness devoid of a single ray of light. They relied entirely on the illumination stones of each household; for instance, on the hundreds-of-feet-high walls of the estate before them, a moonlight stone was embedded every five paces to ensure the place was lit as bright as day.

Lei Xiang's mood suddenly took a turn for the worse because he had a bad premonition, yet he could not pinpoint what was wrong. Therefore, he asked in a deep voice, "This place is neither in the sky, nor underground, nor in the water. Can anyone tell me where this is? Where are we right now?"

Silence!

Even Tian Rui, who had been in high spirits just a moment ago, suddenly wilted. She lowered her head and thought carefully. What Lei Xiang said made complete sense; although that item was right behind this wall, who knew what dangers lay behind it? They did not even know what kind of place this was. If they failed to obtain the item and lost their lives in the process, it simply wouldn't be worth it.

After secretly weighing the pros and cons for a long time, Tian Rui finally transmitted her voice to Lei Xiang, "First of all, I am certain the item is right here. Secondly, given your cultivation and mine, even against an existence like the Wisdom Tooth, what could they possibly do to us? At worst, we can just oil the soles of our feet and slip away. Besides, you and I still possess the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff and the Blue Lotus Dish; these two supreme treasures can rival any opponent in this realm. Finally, I've decided we should go in and investigate, otherwise, all the trouble we went through along this journey would be a complete waste of time."

Lei Xiang replied calmly via voice transmission, "Tian Rui, at this juncture, are you still unable to tell me what this item is?"

Tian Rui shook her head slightly. "I am truly sorry, Lei Xiang. This matter is of the utmost importance, and until I obtain it, I cannot tell you. Let's hurry inside quickly to avoid any complications arising from prolonged delays."

Lei Xiang gave a bitter smile and then transmitted his orders to Yang Jian, instructing him to go forward and knock on the door. Yang Jian did not hesitate; he stepped up and banged on the door, but ten minutes passed without any response. Could there be no one in the courtyard? Lei Xiang exchanged glances with Tian Rui, and together with Yang Jian, they raised the protective barrier formed by the Blue Lotus Dish, leaped over the hundred-foot-high wall, and drifted down into the courtyard as softly as four-ounce cotton, without making the slightest sound.

Looking around, the courtyard was so vast that it seemed to have no boundaries. Yet in such an enormous yard, there were only piles of what looked like "granaries," and nothing else—not even a thatched hut. Could this place be a grain storehouse?

Just as the three of them lifted their feet to investigate further, they suddenly felt their footing turn soft. The hard ground beneath them abruptly transformed into a pitch-black swamp. Seeing that they were about to sink in, rollers popped out from the soles of Lei Xiang's feet, instantly sliding him ten zhang across the swamp. He reached out and grabbed the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff, pushing it horizontally until the massively enlarged staff reached Tian Rui and Yang Jian. "Grab hold!" Once the two of them caught it, Lei Xiang channeled his spiritual power into his feet, causing his Wind-Fire Boots to burst into showers of sparks as he glided another seven or eight zhang. They only needed to slide ten more zhang to clear the swamp entirely.

Suddenly, with a loud "bang," the three of them collided with a transparent barrier and were all bounced backward. When Lei Xiang changed direction and charged again, the end result was still being repelled. They tried every direction, but breaking through was utterly impossible. Lei Xiang had no choice but to deploy the Blue Lotus Dish, enlarging it until it lay flat across the swamp surface. The three of them leaped onto it, glaring fiercely at the distant transparent barrier.