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墨書 Inktalez
The lake was deep, with dappled light dancing over the ruins, resembling enormous white snakes.
On the black fine sand, collapsed walls and massive, thick stone pillars were scattered across the lakebed. Countless years had passed, yet strangely, no aquatic plants grew on the ruins; it was completely bare, presenting a slightly reflective gray-white color.
There were about ten stone pillars, relatively intact, each thick enough for five people to embrace and towering around a hundred feet high, all leaning toward the southwest; the architectural remains were shattered. Li Hong could barely recognize one of the tower's spires among the ruins, while other parts were completely destroyed, with the largest fragments no bigger than a table.
Li Hong circled to the northern side of the ruins and looked at the remnants that clearly leaned toward the southwest due to the wind, feeling a sudden chill in his heart.
This massive palace was brought down by someone!
Someone! Or perhaps a deity, struck this grand palace with a tremendous force, toppling it southwestward. Except for the foremost stone pillar, all other structures of the palace had been reduced to rubble.
Such terrifying divine power!
His heart raced as Li Hong swam to the stone pillar, wiping away the grime on its surface. His fingers felt cold and smooth; indeed, it was jade! High-quality white jade! Grabbing a handful of black fine sand, Li Hong leaped out of the water and stopped beside Chu Xi and Chuxiong in mid-air.
"Look," Li Hong handed over the black fine sand. "Does this look familiar?"
Emerging from the water, the black fine sand became clearer; each grain was uniform in size and glimmered with crystalline reflections.
Chuxiong looked somewhat confused. However, Chu Xi immediately recalled something and exclaimed in surprise, "It looks just like the sand from that black desert in the ancient Center of the Celestial Field's Restrictions!"
"Exactly," Li Hong nodded. "Experts have fought here before; even the Restrictions' Celestial Mansion Map was destroyed. The nearby mountains and trees are needless to say—they've all turned into this extremely loose black fine sand."
"Oh my! Are you saying that this Great Lake was created by 'someone' slapping it down?" Chuxiong asked incredulously, gesturing with his palm about the size of a fan toward the water's surface.
"Yes! There was never a Great Lake here before; it was flat land with a massive Celestial Mansion Map. But one day, two Ancient Gods fought, and one struck down with such force that the palace turned into ruins and a deep pit. Later on, this place was abandoned by the Ancient Gods and eventually became a Great Lake over time," Li Hong affirmed.
"I don't believe it," Chuxiong protested. "How do you know it was just one strike? To turn this place into what it is now would require at least two Heavenly Fusion Stage experts fighting for ten days or more."
Li Hong was taken aback. Indeed, the highest level in the current Cultivation World was the Heavenly Fusion Stage, but even a practitioner at that level could not possibly collapse a Celestial Mansion Map filled with advanced Restrictions in one strike. However, if it wasn't a single strike, how could the direction of the fallen stone pillars be so uniformly aligned? It was clearly caused by a blow from north to south!
The expressions of the two were Strange, and even Li Hong began to doubt his own judgment.
Chu Xi pondered and said, "I think he is right. The Ancient God’s cultivation must be much higher than our so-called Heavenly Fusion Stage. Causing such results with one strike is nothing. Think about it; they were able to create artifacts, palaces, techniques, and many other things that we cannot."
Chuxiong immediately accepted Chu Xi's reasoning and chuckled, "He? Now you don't even call him Senior Brother anymore; you just call him 'he'!"
Crimson Glow spread lightly from the center of Chu Xi's fair cheek, making her whole face resemble a morning lotus flower, with shimmering water reflected in her eyes. Chu Xi playfully scolded, "You always take the chance to tease me. The older you get, the thicker your skin becomes! You might catch up to the Southern Heavenly Gate in no time!"
Chuxiong scratched his head and laughed awkwardly; his bronze square face indeed looked quite thick-skinned under the golden sunlight.
However, Li Hong was not in the mood for jokes. He thought about Chu Xi's earlier words, and an uncontrollable idea began to rise in his mind.
He had heard quite a bit about the Ancient God legends from Yun Jiuzi. It was said that in ancient times, Spiritual Roots of beasts were everywhere, while humans were still primitive and uncivilized, being treated as food by these beasts. Suddenly, one day, the beasts began to decline, and a large number of human cultivators emerged, spreading civilization to every corner of Middle-Earth. It was said that behind all this was the Ancient God’s guiding hand. The current Ancient Divine Palace and Nine Great Caves were also creations of the Ancient God.
Although each of the Nine Major Sects of the Immortal Sect had their own Ancestors, these Ancestors likely took advantage of what was already there. They could not have created such miraculous places as the Nine Great Caves on their own.
Perhaps the Ancestors were actually lowly disciples of the Ancient Gods?! Maybe the Ancient Gods only passed down part of their techniques?! Could it be that the Ancient Gods were the true ancestors of human cultivators?
Li Hong felt there was a great possibility.
Chu Xi agreed, saying, "Senior Brother's analysis is correct. The Ancient Gods have many secrets; for example, their techniques, why they left Middle-Earth, and where they went? Did they all ascend? Why are they not mentioned in any scriptures? Why did they build these massive temples throughout Middle-Earth and then destroy them? These are all mysteries. Perhaps our generation can unravel these mysteries. There is likely an answer here; let’s continue forward."
She pointed toward a jade-like waterfall ahead.
"What about the Fire Ants?" It was only then that Li Hong realized those Fire Ant Flying Generals had disappeared.
"When you are underwater, they retreat, but their intention is to move forward," Chuxiong said.
"It seems there are Ancient God ruins ahead! Let's keep going!"
The Lake Surface was quite vast, and the three of them flew slowly over it, gazing at the enormous ruins deep below, feeling a sense of reverence and awe.
The sound of water grew louder, deafening with a crashing roar. The waterfall looked even more spectacular up close, cascading down from a great height, splashing mist everywhere. The front half of the Gorge was shrouded in fog. A brilliant rainbow arched across the waterfall, resembling a colorful dragon drinking water as it plunged into the narrowing Deep Pool ahead.
It turned out that this lake was gourd-shaped, consisting of a Deep Pool connected to a Great Lake. The waterfall poured directly into the Deep Pool, with an immense volume of water cascading down like a fall of three thousand feet.
The giant rocks by the lake were slick from being washed by the water. The three of them paused on one of the boulders, looking down into the unfathomable depths of the pool. Li Hong said, "There's no path now, and we haven't discovered anything. How do we proceed? Could it be..."
At that moment, a warning signal arose. Li Hong abruptly grabbed both of them and shot up into the sky.
Water splashed everywhere as something emerged from the Deep Pool.
In an instant, it appeared to be a massive long white ribbon, swirling and flickering in the dark water. A huge back suddenly broke through the surface. It was broad enough for a horse to run on, looking soft yet wide and thick, covered in a shiny, slimy white substance.
Chu Xi trembled and exclaimed, "What is that thing!"
"A monster! Attack!" Li Hong shouted. Lingyi shot out instantly, piercing down towards the creature in the Deep Pool.
With an iridescent flash, Lingyi struck the creature's back skin. However, to their surprise, it seemed unaffected; Lingyi slid off the creature's back without penetrating it.
Li Hong gasped in astonishment, refusing to believe this oddity. He commanded Lingyi to charge down again.
At the same time, a Crystal Light and a burst of flame flickered as Chu Xi's Flowing Crystal and Chuxiong's Flowing Fire launched simultaneously, aiming for the exposed back skin of the creature emerging from the water.
Upon first contact, they were as astonished as Li Hong.
"What a tough hide!" Chuxiong exclaimed.
The monster's back was unpierced, but the combined sword energy from two Initial Golden Core experts and one Mid-Stage of Transformation expert caused it great pain. It thrashed its body desperately, and its massive tail shot out of the water towards the three in mid-air.
A foul wind rushed towards them as a wide, flat tail, about ten feet across and resembling a tough white belt, swung at them. The three remained calm and soared higher, avoiding the powerful swing of the tail.
The water splashed violently as the monster flipped over, raising its head high.
Its head was small, disproportionately so compared to its broad midsection, resembling a large shuttle. On each side of its small head were two long, sharp white horns, each about ten feet long, with a menacing black eye that radiated demonic energy. The eye could even move independently, turning to focus on Li Hong and the others from above.
"What is that thing?" Chuxiong asked in astonishment.
"I know," Chu Xi replied, her face slightly pale. "Slug."
"Slug? What kind of creature is that?" Chuxiong scratched his head in confusion.
"A Slug is what we commonly refer to as a Slug," Li Hong smiled. "But I've never seen one this big!"
Chuxiong gasped in shock, vigorously rubbing his scalp with his large hand, not even noticing that he was inadvertently wiping off his hair. He shouted, "This Southern Wilderness is truly bizarre! Ants can become spirits, and now even Slugs have evolved!"
"This isn't an ordinary Slug; it must be a variant. It's said that the belly of a Slug is the softest part, so to defeat it, we must strike from its underbelly," Chu Xi explained.
Her complexion was quite pale, and Li Hong grew concerned. He whispered, "Are you okay? Do you feel unwell? If you're not feeling well, you can stay back while my brother and I deal with it."
"I'm fine; I just... I just don't like such a large Slug," Chu Xi murmured.
"Ha ha, so you're afraid of the Slug! Xia Girl, you finally have something to be scared of!" Chuxiong laughed heartily.
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of iridescence appeared, and Chuxiong let out a startled cry as he fell into the water with the Giant Slug.
Chu Xi scolded, "Go into the water and hit its belly!" Tissot Silk once again created a swift iridescence, wrapping around the Giant Slug's large white flat tail.
Before Chuxiong's cries faded, he saw the Giant Slug's two ominous black eyes right in front of him. Despite being at the Golden Core Stage, he remained calm. Flowing Fire shot forth like a ribbon of light, piercing toward the glaring monster eye, but his body sank into the water like a stone.
With a nose full of fishy smell and a view filled with white foam, he summoned his strength and did not bother to recall Flowing Fire. Instead, he unleashed a powerful punch the size of a bowl against the Giant Slug's white belly.
The point of impact was soft yet incredibly resilient. With a muffled sound like a burst of leather, water splashed high into the air, even causing the thundering waterfall above to reverse and shoot upward.
Above, Flowing Fire struck one of the Giant Slug's monstrous eyes, blinding it and causing thick white slime to ooze out. The entire pool looked as if it had been filled with dirty milk from a large barrel.
The Giant Slug writhed in pain, its body suddenly contracting as it shook off Chu Xi's Tissot Silk. Its soft body coiled tightly around Chuxiong like a giant python, pulling him down into its thick midsection.
Bubbles gurgled up as the white ribbon-like Giant Slug wrapped around Chuxiong disappeared into the deep black waters of the Deep Pool.
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