Chapter 118: Chapter 53: Ten Thousand Li Water Vein Godspeed Talisman
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The riverbed cavern was a clutter of jumbled rocks.
As the terrain gradually descended, the surrounding space became oddly more spacious.
The originally disorderly river stones on both sides also started to show signs of being neatly cut, slowly revealing traces of man-made work.
Ling Yunpo moved forward cautiously, the Green Duckweed Sword swaying slowly above his head, taut as a spring ready to shoot out at the slightest disturbance.
Of course, he hoped there wouldn’t be any disturbances, so he could hold Senior Sister An’s hand a little longer.
But it seemed the river spirits and water monsters didn’t understand the concept of spoiling the mood. After about ten minutes of walk, shadows suddenly darted out from cracks in the corner rocks like green lightnings.
However, the Frostfall Sword was faster, striking before the enemies could, nailing one to the rock wall.
Only then did Ling Yunpo make out that it was a long, narrow water snake, with a triangular head and red tongue, twisting its body in pain.
“Junior brother must be careful, these creatures are very skilled at ambushes; I almost got caught off guard…” An Zhisu spoke softly.
Although there were no signs that she had been “almost caught off guard,” Ling Yunpo obligingly nodded, saying,
“Fair point, indeed. These demons are too vicious and treacherous, Senior Sister should also be careful.”
The water snake nailed to the wall suddenly stopped struggling. It was unclear whether it had lost its last breath or if it was simply passed out from the humans’ conversation.
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An Zhisu pulled out the Frostfall Sword and, with another swift stroke, decapitated the snake’s head, allowing them to continue onward.
As they ventured deeper, the surrounding environment changed from haphazard, roughly cut stones, to neatly stacked blue stone walls, creating an especially serene and profound atmosphere underwater.
Ling Yunpo’s expression grew serious and he readied himself for battle, holding the Green Duckweed Sword in front of him, wary of any potential attacks.
But every time a shadow flickered, Senior Sister An’s Frostfall Sword had already shot out.
By the time Ling Yunpo discerned the nature of the attacking monster, it had already fallen under Senior Sister’s sword.
Then Senior Sister An would turn back and say, “See, weren’t they difficult to handle?”
Ling Yunpo really wanted to reply, “I think Senior Sister is the most difficult one to deal with,” but, being a professional spy, he wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake; instead, he just obediently nodded, signaling that he had taken her words to heart.
As they continued fighting, Senior Sister An suddenly said with curiosity,
“It seems that there are fewer monsters inside than last time.”
“Perhaps they were intimidated by Senior Sister’s strength and fled in advance,” Ling Yunpo replied with a smile.
“If that’s the case, it’s a bit disappointing,” An Zhisu lamented. “I was hoping to show you the Water Viper.”
When they reached the depths of the underwater cavern, there was indeed no trace of Jiaolong.
While An Zhisu felt somewhat let down, Ling Yunpo’s spirits were undiminished as he eagerly pulled his Senior Sister towards the treasure room of the cavern.
Almost every cavern had a treasure room — more precisely, a “storage room” for a cultivator’s residence.
Magical treasures, Flying Swords, Elixirs, and the like, which were occasionally found and not regularly used, were too precious to be sold or thrown away, so they were all piled up in the treasure room.
Ling Yunpo quickly identified the location of the treasure room after some discernment.
After confirming with the Kunlun Mirror that there were no traps, he pulled Senior Sister in to start their search.
Most of what was piled up inside were Spirit Stones with dissipated spiritual energy, now defunct, heaped around like little mountains.
Ling Yunpo used the Green Duckweed Sword to shift aside the discarded Spirit Stones and uncovered a Water-Repelling Pearl from beneath them.
The Water-Repelling Pearl created a spherical water-free environment with a radius of about ten feet, isolating all water outside.
Considering cultivators can mostly retain their breath under water and don’t need to breathe, this magical treasure was both rare and of limited use. It was typically only effective in special environments, such as the deep-sea bed under immense water pressure…
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Ling Yunpo casually stored the Water-Repelling Pearl away and heard An Zhisu chuckle beside him,
“Junior Brother, what do you think of this?”
She used the Frostfall Sword to push aside the pile of stones and discovered a small, three-legged bronze cauldron inside.
Upon careful inspection, Ling Yunpo saw that the cauldron was about the size of two hands put together, its surface covered with patches of rust, clearly indicating that the Formation on it had lost its effect.
The cauldron also had a lid, which upon lifting revealed a Talisman Script inside…
Eh?
Those characters on the Talisman Script were ones Luo Yan had seen in the texts at Yuqing View; even in the Ancient Times, they were considered extremely rare—the “Godspeed Talisman of the Vast Water Vein.”
Once activated, this Talisman allows one to traverse from any water vein and leap to another unconnected water vein, making it an exceptional artifact for escaping.
Its only flaw was that it required the energies of Ren and Gui Waters to charge the Godspeed Talisman of the Vast Water Vein.
As mentioned before, Ren Water Essence is found only in the depths of Beiming, nearly inaccessible to ordinary Cultivators; the Gui Water Essence is an even stranger object, impossible to find.
Therefore, due to these stringent recharging requirements, the method to craft such Talisman Scripts was not passed down and had been completely lost by now…
However, Ling Yunpo was different. He had already obtained the Gui Water Essence from the Pavilion and had refined it into the Postnatal Five Elements Great Extermination Divine Light; he had also acquired the Ren Water Essence from the ancient Formation left in the Five Zhi Islands. Thus, he met the conditions for using this ancient divine Talisman.
“This Talisman Script looks rather mysterious, I’ll take it back to study,” Ling Yunpo found an excuse to claim the Talisman Script for himself.
An Zhisu had no objections.
To her, even if they had found the Supreme Immortal Swords Suming and Zhenmei, if her Junior Brother said, “Senior Sister, I want them,” she would probably give them to him directly.
What was an old Talisman Script with undecipherable directions in comparison?
Seeing Senior Sister An nod with a smile, Ling Yunpo reached for the Talisman Script.
But the moment he touched the script, the patterns within suddenly lit up, and amidst the flow of Spiritual Energy, it was already triggered!
Ling Yunpo: ???????
Wait a second! I didn’t activate it!
This thought flashed through his mind in an instant, and both Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu disappeared simultaneously.
The only things left at the scene were two small whirlpools; these were the surrounding water currents filling the void left by their vanished bodies.
Soon the stone chamber returned to tranquility, as if nothing had happened at all.
…
The third victim appeared.
The deceased was the second disciple of the Peak Master of Bi Yun Peak, a female sword Cultivator whose arms were severed before her death.
According to the disciples of Shushan, this sword Cultivator had a generous and benevolent character, almost never had conflicts with other disciples from different peaks, let alone Qingluo Peak.
Yet, the message left at the crime scene read, “For the greedy, sever both arms. Su Jian.”
After Real Person Jinghua inquired about the female sword Cultivator’s usual cultivation resources from the other disciples of Bi Yun Peak, he had a rough idea in mind.
The killer… so familiar with the secrets within the Various Peaks of Shushan, could not possibly be one of the Demons from the Demon Locking Tower, nor a figure from outside Shushan.
It must undoubtedly be one of Shushan’s own disciples. The only question was whether the person was operating from outside or among the people present here.
His gaze swept over the assembled crowd, and all disciples seemed somewhat uneasy, only the disciples of Xuan Stone Peak, who had regained their freedom, exchanged glances with grim expressions.