Zhou Qiucheng was suppressed inside the Exquisite Tower, his eyes fixed in a solemn gaze towards the center of Jinling City where blue light pierced the sky: "I need time!"
Putting aside Zhou Qiucheng’s matters, and Shen family’s matters for the moment, Zhang Chen, Tushan Qing, and Hu Li the Immortal entered the tomb together, instantly plunging into darkness, unable to see even their own hands, the entire void akin to a sealed chamber.
The darkness is not frightening; what’s frightful is the three of them rapidly descending in the darkness, a sensation of weightlessness hard to describe.
"Be careful! The ancient tomb is full of traps, do not fall hastily." Tushan Qing exclaimed in panic.
"My Space-Time Divine Techniques actually failed." Hu Li the Immortal shouted in surprise, filled with chaos.
"Below is Weak Water, which can drown all under heaven and earth. Even though you are an Eleventh Tier existence, you can’t fly over Weak Water, which is harder to cross than a feather!" Zhang Chen spoke calmly in the darkness.
His Water Control Technique can sense distances of four to five thousand meters, easily mastering the flow of water underground through his perception. The next moment, Weak Water rose into the air and then froze into cold ice, forming a stone platform, lifting the three to have a place to stand.
"Good technique!" Though Hu Li the Immortal couldn’t see the scene in the dark, he could feel Zhang Chen’s magical power fluctuations and couldn’t help but praise:
"Weak Water is so formidable, yet you’ve mastered the power to control it. I underestimated you."
"Stop the nonsense, I’ve heard enough of the praise to make my ears calloused. Can you conjure some light?" Zhang Chen retorted to Hu Li the Immortal indignantly.
Tushan Qing, listening to the conversation between Zhang Chen and Hu Li the Immortal, secretly pondered with surprise: "Zhang Chen and Hu Li the Immortal must know each other and have a deep relationship; otherwise, the two should have become rivals upon entering the tomb, and should have been fighting fiercely by now. How did Zhang Chen establish a connection with Hu Li the Immortal? Moreover, Zhang Chen seemed to speak with Hu Li the Immortal on equal footing?"
Seeing a darkness so profound he couldn’t see his own hand, Tushan Qing spoke: "So dark!"
All around was pitch black, nothing was visible.
Hearing Tushan Qing’s words, Zhang Chen asked Hu Li the Immortal: "Do you have any means?"
Hu Li the Immortal nodded in response: "I certainly have means, such trivial brightness isn’t challenging for me."
Hu Li the Immortal extended his hand, revealing a swirling green light that transformed into a green sphere, which then radiated brilliant light breaking the darkness before them.
"What a strange flame, it’s actually green?" Zhang Chen saw the green flame, and a thought flashed through his mind.
The green flame illuminated Zhang Chen’s face filled with confusion, and Hu Li the Immortal explained:
"This flame is born of the undead, specialized in burning souls, harming the body, it doesn’t burn wooden structures, but exclusively consumes blood, flesh, and souls. Once it latches on, it will burn until everything turns to ash."
Hu Li the Immortal held the basketball-sized green flame.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen nodded; he wasn’t afraid no matter how potent the flame was, for he possessed the Fire Extinguishing Pearl, rendering him fearless of any flame under heaven and earth.
Using the firelight to survey their surroundings, he saw an endless underground sea before him, emitting a strange twisted Qi mechanism under the green flame, appearing eerie and fearsome.
"This Weak Water is vast, the entire underground space completely filled with Weak Water. How did the Shen family ancestors enter here without dying?" Zhang Chen voiced his doubts.
Weak Water is Innate Strange Water, not to mention Shen family ancestors; even a Twelfth Tier expert would drown once falling into it.
"Looks like we have underestimated the Shen family; they must hold a great secret." Hu Li the Immortal, unable to comprehend the intricacies, commented.
Listening to this, Tushan Qing pondered: "Either the Shen ancestors had the ability to control Weak Water, or they possessed the power of resurrection, drowning in Weak Water but entering the tomb’s depths, then coming back to life where Weak Water didn’t reach."
His speculation was reasonable, and Zhang Chen nodded in agreement, acknowledging the Shen ancestors were not ordinary.
"This whole underground space is filled with Weak Water, where do we search for the tomb’s entrance?" Hu Li the Immortal asked Zhang Chen, knowing Zhang Chen’s prowess in controlling water flow, given he once flooded Prince Pingbian’s million-strong army, which was no secret.
Instead of responding to Hu Li the Immortal, Zhang Chen closed his eyes to sense the water flows throughout the underground space, using them to locate the tomb.
After a moment, Zhang Chen opened his eyes, contemplating: "This Weak Water is interesting, running endlessly in cycles, seemingly contained in a great array, transformed into circulating live water."
"At the center of this Weak Water is a crucial place, all Weak Water flows towards here. If the Shen ancestors fell into Weak Water, following its cycle, they would be swept to that critical spot. If they had the ability to resurrect, it wouldn’t be impossible!" Zhang Chen whispered to himself, increasingly speculating on how the Shen ancestors obtained Creation in the tomb.
"I’ve found the tomb entrance. Let’s go take a look!" Zhang Chen’s ice pillar below him twisted, transforming into an ice ship, carrying the three towards the center direction.
"If I make a move at this moment, you two will fall into the Weak Water and surely die without a burial place." Zhang Chen looked at the shimmering Weak Water and suddenly spoke.
Upon hearing this, a cold sweat broke out on Tushan Qing’s back, but Hu Li the Immortal calmly replied, "You still expect me to help you deal with Zhang Xiaohua, unless you don’t want Zhang Xiaohua dead, otherwise how could you act so greed-driven and delirious?"
Zhang Chen laughed upon hearing this and looked at the stiff-faced Tushan Qing: "It’s just a joke, Chai was frightened."
"This joke is not funny at all." Tushan Qing laughed dryly.
Hearing Tushan Qing’s words, Zhang Chen changed the subject: "You mentioned before, since the ancestors of the Shen Family, no one has been able to enter the Water God Tomb. I now know the reason—it’s because the Shen Family lacks a means to resist Weak Water, so they dare not enter, letting their bloodline dwindle, causing each generation of the Shen Family to be worse than the last."
"That’s the logic!" Tushan Qing said, "If it weren’t for you, both I and the ancestors of Hu Li the Immortal would have perished here in this sunless place."
The small boat glided gently, Hu Li the Immortal watched the retreating river water and suddenly spoke, "If I were one of the Shen Family, I would definitely find a way to deceive my enemies into coming in. By then, all problems wouldn’t be problems."
"That’s using the lives of Shen Family descendants as payment." Zhang Chen said.
Hu Li the Immortal stopped speaking upon hearing this.
Accompanied by the movement of the small boat, they soon arrived at the center, finding that the central direction was a large whirlpool, with all the Weak Water flowing down into it. Despite the outside water’s continuous influx, it couldn’t fill the whirlpool.
"This is the tomb entrance? Building the entrance here, unless there is a means to manipulate Weak Water, who could sneak in?" Hu Li the Immortal looked at the whirlpool, his voice full of resentment: "These old fellows, their methods truly malicious, leaving no crevice for the descendants to exploit."
Tushan Qing stared at the whirlpool in silence, seemingly contemplating something.
"Are we just going in like this?" Zhang Chen stopped the ice ship at the edge of the whirlpool, feeling uncertain of the decision.
"If the ancestors of the Shen Family could go in, why can’t we?" Hu Li the Immortal said.
Beside him, Tushan Qing hastily stopped him: "No! Absolutely not! It’s very likely the Shen Family’s ancestors went in after death; we are still alive, the situation is completely different, we mustn’t act recklessly."
Zhang Chen glanced at Tushan Qing, then at Hu Li the Immortal. Sometimes high cultivation doesn’t equate to good judgment.
Zhang Chen agreed more with Tushan Qing’s view; after all, no one knows what lies beneath the whirlpool.
Nonetheless, considering such an Ancient Great Tomb, there must be countless dangers inside. Thinking back to the curse inside the Empress Tomb, Zhang Chen believed these old fellows surely aren’t easy to deal with, not giving themselves any chance to exploit.
"What if we don’t go in? Are we just going to watch outside?" Hu Li the Immortal retorted to Tushan Qing’s words.
Tushan Qing turned to Zhang Chen: "Zhang, what do you say?"
Zhang Chen was also caught in a dilemma, then closed his eyes to sense the Weak Water. After some time, he opened his eyes and said, "The Weak Water from the underground space flows here, theoretically this should be the direction. If we don’t go in, no one knows what dangers lie below, or perhaps there aren’t any dangers. Unfortunately, I don’t understand great formations, otherwise, I could break this one first, and then we look for the opportunity to enter."
The only thing he could ascertain was that he didn’t sense water flow beneath the whirlpool.
That means, there might be no water flow below, and once inside the whirlpool, it might be safe beneath.
"What to do?" Zhang Chen asked, now the three had two choices: one to go in, the other not to go in.
"We’ll follow your lead." Tushan Qing spoke first, addressing Zhang Chen.
Hu Li the Immortal beside him looked at Tushan Qing in astonishment, then nodded as well: "Indeed, we are all following your lead. If you say go in, we’ll go in; if you say don’t go in, then we’ll probably have no choice but to retreat."
Hu Li the Immortal knew Tushan Qing well, the latter made such a choice, and Hu Li the Immortal chose to comply at such a crucial moment too, avoiding blindly taking the lead.
Knowing this place is perilous, even an existence of the Twelfth Tier might very well fall, he dared not act recklessly. Leaving aside other things, just the endless Weak Water at the first hurdle was enough to be overwhelming.
"Since you are choosing to follow me, there isn’t much option now but to dive down and take a look." Zhang Chen hesitated slightly upon hearing this, but a decision had already been made inside.
Things have reached this point; retreating isn’t an option, is it?