I Become a Martial Arts God in the Chaotic Demon World-Chapter 360

"Old Yan, what exactly is in the Smoke Wave Lake that makes you so cautious? Do you know who the owner of the Jade Pendant is?"

Yan Xuankong replied irritably, "How could I possibly know what's inside the Smoke Wave Lake?"

"You were once the Garrison Commander of Southern Mountain, managing the area for so many years, and you actually don't know what's inside the Smoke Wave Lake?"

Yan Xuankong snorted lightly and said, "Kid, the waters of Smoke Wave Lake are deep, and it's not as simple as what you can see.

There are many forbidden areas in this world that ordinary people can't explore, each of them extremely dangerous, with nearly all who enter meeting their deaths.

Smoke Wave Lake can be considered one of these forbidden areas, though it's a somewhat special case.

Strictly speaking, only the deep waters of Smoke Wave Lake are considered forbidden territory. The periphery with its calm waves at most harbors some demons, but it's not enough to be called a forbidden area.

Moreover, the entities residing in the deep waters haven't emerged to cause trouble over the years, so this forbidden area has not been closely guarded or sealed off by the Demon Cleansing Bureau.

It was only this time that the idiot Cui Zeyuan ventured into it and brought out something he shouldn't have, which then caused all this trouble.

Let me put it this way, even at my peak, I wasn't afraid to enter the depths of Smoke Wave Lake, but I didn't feel assured that I could come through unscathed.

So, to avoid unnecessary trouble, even if I needed to cross the lake, I would make a detour.

Remember, don't ever be tempted by greed, just return the item and leave."

Han Zheng said, "I understand. I'm not as greedy and insatiable as Cui Zeyuan.

But do you know what the owner of the Jade Pendant that Cui Zeyuan took away might be? The ghost spirit of an ancient strong being or a resurgence of some ancient strong being?"

"I'm not sure about that either, but it's definitely not an ordinary ghost.

As for it being a revival of an ancient strong being, I don't think so.

The boundary between life and death has not been broken by anyone from ancient times to the present, except for the legendary gods and Buddhas.

No matter how extraordinary or unparalleled you are in this world, you can't stop the passage of time; in the end, everyone returns to the dust.

Even if the three souls and seven spirits of those strong beings are powerful, their divine souls may persist for a while nourished by spiritual energy after death, but that's merely an obsession at best, not true immortality.

While some obsessions may grow strong for certain reasons, even becoming different beings, they no longer have anything to do with their former lives, existing independently.

But regardless of which type, something capable of causing such a commotion is definitely not trivial."

Aside from warning Han Zheng to be careful, Yan Xuankong didn't have much more advice to offer.

Han Zheng could only follow Cui Zeyuan's original route, traveling by boat to the deeper waters of Smoke Wave Lake.

After entering the deep waters, what used to be a clear and sparkling Smoke Wave Lake now had an undercurrent of blackness.

It was like an abyss, fathomlessly dark, and the surroundings were eerily quiet; there were no fish to be seen underwater, no birds in the air, only the sound of lapping waves.

And somehow, even the temperature around them had silently dropped, gradually becoming chilly.

Originally, Cui Zeyuan and his companions had their boat shattered by an enormous underwater beast before falling into the water and finally being swept into an underground river by a whirlpool.

But at the moment, Han Zheng saw no such beast, let alone any whirlpools.

Han Zheng continued to control the small boat and explored the surroundings, when suddenly Su Wuming said, "It's getting foggy!"

Han Zheng immediately looked around, and sure enough, thick fog had begun to rise without notice, also suppressing their perceptions.

At the same time, a sound suddenly emanated from underwater, and both of them looked down only to see a vortex rising from below like a dragon twister in the water, causing their small boat to spin wildly along with it.

Han Zheng and Su Wuming exchanged looks and leaped into the water, protecting themselves with their True Yuan.

The underwater vortex looked terrifying but wasn't very powerful; at least an Innate Realm Martial Artist with True Qi protection should withstand it.

Han Zheng and Su Wuming were carried downward by the whirlpool, into the dark and deep waters, barely able to see any light, as if they were in the vast universe.

That's when Han Zheng suddenly spotted something that looked like two giant lanterns outside.

But with his perception suppressed, Han Zheng was unable to discern what it actually was.

As the lantern drew nearer, Han Zheng finally saw clearly that it was no lantern at all, but a giant beast several hundred yards long!

The creature had a head resembling a cross between a fish and a crocodile, with a mouth full of fierce teeth and a single horn with backward-facing barbs atop its head. Its body resembled that of a large fish, yet it had two front paws covered in scales, while the hind limbs were massive tail fins.

Han Zheng didn't sense any demon energy from the creature; it seemed to be a simple mutant beast rather than a demon.

But with such formidable size, it looked as though swallowing an Innate Martial Artist would take no effort at all.

Perhaps it was the conspicuity of the small boat on the lake's surface that drew the attention of this giant creature. It went straight for the boat, biting it to pieces in one gulp.

When faced with the whirlpool, however, the giant beast swam away to avoid it, as if it was very much afraid of it.

Han Zheng and Su Wuming followed the whirlpool down without resisting its force.

Through the whirlpool, Han Zheng could faintly make out some indescribable presences in the pitch-black lake bottom.

There were various strangely-shaped underwater giants, as well as some lights that defied description.

Through those lights, Han Zheng could vaguely make out what seemed like a city standing at the bottom of the lake.

But the next moment, Han Zheng and Su Wuming were caught in the underground river.

The lower half of this underground river was flowing water, with a space high enough for a person in its upper half. Both of them carefully proceeded forward, searching for the cave Cui Zeyuan and his team had once entered.

During their journey, they also encountered some demons and various other peculiar mutant aquatic creatures.

Like the demons that had besieged Smoke Wave Prefecture, these creatures showed no intelligence, with blood-red eyes as though under the influence of something.

Although these creatures would attack upon spotting Han Zheng and Su Wuming, as long as they shook them off quickly, the creatures wouldn't pursue further.

"Brother Han, have you noticed a force here seems to be affecting us?" Su Wuming suddenly asked with furrowed brows.

His unique fate granted him sharper senses.

Han Zheng stopped in his tracks, surveying the darkness around him and after a careful sensing, nodded and said, "I do feel something. It's like the faint frequency from some instrument, constantly eroding my mental state.

Even when I'm aware of it, I can't resist. It's as though the sound is resonating directly inside my body, and I can feel my body's blood qi trembling slightly in response to this frequency."

Su Wuming, in a grave voice, said, "We can't stay here long. We simply can't withstand this force. I even suspect the mutations of these demons and aquatic creatures are related to this influence." fгeewebnovёl.com

Han Zheng nodded, and the two accelerated their search. Finally, after half an hour, Han Zheng and Su Wuming found the cave that Cui Zeyuan and his team had first entered.

Upon entering the cave, it was quite dry inside, with a thick layer of dust over the bluestone bricks on the ground and a mess of footprints scattered about.

It was only then that Han Zheng could confirm that this was indeed the tomb chamber which Cui Zeyuan and his team had visited – they had not gone to the wrong place.

Han Zheng tapped gently on the tomb chamber's bricks, frowning slightly.

The bricks were not made of earthen stone but were forged from a mixture of materials that included a certain proportion of metal.

He could even faintly discern the presence of array fluctuations emanating from within.

But perhaps due to the long passage of time or material corrosion, the array signals were not very strong.

Walking along the corridor, Han Zheng also noticed that the walls were adorned with murals.

Li Chenghui had not mentioned these before.

Perhaps he hadn't deliberately omitted this detail but was too panicked at that time to pay any attention to these murals.

Now, Han Zheng took a close look at the contents depicted in these murals, but the more he looked, the more puzzled he became.

The style of these murals was not realistic but extremely abstract.

For instance, the figures were all distorted, with symbols on their bodies representing their identities, but Han Zheng couldn't make sense of them.

Suddenly, Yan Xuankong said, "The 'Divine Envoy Burial Map'! The entity buried in this tomb is no ordinary being."