Indeed, breaking through the realm is not so easy, but Hu Li the Immortal is filled with confidence regarding the merging of past and present cultivation.
With the physical body of the Innate Water God slain, Zhang Chen also withdrew the Nine Bends Yellow River Array. At this moment, Zhang Chen and Hu Li the Immortal watched Tushan Qing, who was licking blood off the ground, and found it somewhat unbearable to watch.
Yet Tushan Qing felt no shame, and instead wore a face full of pride: "To rise in the mortal world and ascend to the Supreme Realm, one must cherish every opportunity and never miss a chance to strengthen oneself. Every drop of divine blood I devour today may be the key driving force for my future breakthrough to higher levels!"
After Tushan Qing finished consuming the last drop of blood, the three of them stood within the mausoleum, surveying the entire tomb, which was surrounded by Weak Water, making it hard to discern any creation.
"This Weak Water is indeed a good thing. If it can be collected and taken back to guard the cave, it would be an unparalleled divine artifact. Unfortunately, my strength is limited and I cannot transport this Weak Water." Hu Li the Immortal looked at the vast, shimmering Weak Water with a hint of regret in his eyes.
Upon hearing Hu Li the Immortal’s words, Zhang Chen swept his gaze over the Weak Water before him. Though he holds authority over the water element, even he cannot collect the Weak Water.
Weak Water, if in small quantities, is useless—other cultivators could simply fill it in with stones or mountains—but only by gathering a sufficient amount can its true power be realized.
To Zhang Chen, Weak Water is somewhat of a chicken rib!
"Let’s go! We have already harvested the greatest opportunity and creation. Next, we should seize the chance to sneak out amidst the battle outside." Hu Li the Immortal urged.
At his words, Zhang Chen nodded, and the group exited the inner coffin, then proceeded along the passage outward.
"Actually, there is still one hidden concern. Inside the tomb, we only saw the physical body of the Innate Water God, but did not see the soul of the Innate Water God. We do not know where the soul of the Innate Water God has gone, nor if it is still alive. If the soul of the Innate Water God is still alive and learns that we stole its physical body, it might cause trouble in the future." Hu Li the Immortal, walking behind Zhang Chen, had a serious look in his eyes.
"Countless ages have passed since ancient times; who knows if the Innate Water God is still alive? Would we not have stolen its creation if the Innate Water God were still alive? In the future, we will just need to be more alert—that Innate Water God only has its soul remaining; how much power can it really have?" Tushan Qing said dismissively beside him: "Even if we can’t defeat him, we can still run away without a problem."
Just as the three were discussing future strategies, while passing through the whirlpool, and returned to the first layer of the mausoleum, just as they emerged against the whirlpool, a crack suddenly opened in the void ahead, and a dazzling divine light rushed in.
"Someone’s coming!" Hu Li the Immortal saw the figure coming in from outside, stood still, gathered his qi mechanism, and assumed a vigilant stance.
"It’s Zhang Xiaohua!" Zhang Chen immediately recognized the identity of the newcomer.
He was too familiar with Zhang Xiaohua; just by seeing the figure enveloped in divine light, he already recognized who it was.
"Old Tiger, it’s time to fulfill your promise and help me hunt down Zhang Xiaohua!" Zhang Chen turned to look at Hu Li the Immortal.
"Zhang Xiaohua has already stepped into the Eleventh Tier. Defeating her is easy, but killing her is as difficult as climbing to heaven. Unless there’s overwhelming superiority, otherwise if she wholeheartedly escapes, there’s still no problem." Hu Li the Immortal said with a worried face: "However, she entered the mausoleum first; the first thing she faces is Weak Water. If she doesn’t have the power to resist Weak Water, we don’t need to act as she’ll drown by herself."
"Zhang Xiaohua obtained the divine position of the Water Virtue Star Monarch; she has authority over all water flows. Weak Water may not drown her! We need to be prepared in advance..." Zhang Chen said, with a shrewd glint in his eyes: "I have a strategy; how about tricking Zhang Xiaohua into this Crystal Altar, trapping her inside, and using Water Bears to strangle her."
Although Zhang Xiaohua is at the Eleventh Tier, she still cannot shake the power of the altar, not even Hu Li the Immortal can move the altar, let alone Zhang Xiaohua.
If she wants to enter the mausoleum, she must follow the path dug by Zhang Chen. Once Zhang Xiaohua infiltrates, they can seize the opportunity to trap her inside, then release the Water Bears, making sure Zhang Xiaohua dies without a burial place.
"What a ruthless strategy! But Zhang Xiaohua isn’t a fool; she won’t easily fall into the trap. We need to act convincingly to make her believe it, without letting her spot any flaws." Hu Li the Immortal said.
Time goes back to a quarter of an hour earlier; Zhang Xiaohua was engaged in battles outside. She has Eleventh Tier cultivation, and even though Zhou Qiucheng was restraining her, she was still displaying great divine power, causing the Shen Family to retreat step by step.
"Killing ordinary disciples of the Shen Family, however many, is not as effective as slaughtering a Tenth Tier deity of the Shen Family. If I can massacre a Tenth Tier deity of the Shen Family, perhaps the nourishment of their blood will be enough to open the Shen Family Mausoleum." Zhang Xiaohua scanned the slaughter of the Shen Family, setting her gaze on Shen Liang. The next moment, she stepped across the void, and slapped directly toward Shen Liang.
Facing Zhang Xiaohua’s terrifying palm infused with divine power, Shen Liang’s gaze was full of calm, quickly deducing in his heart and concluding: "Can’t block it! Completely can’t block it!"
However, Shen Liang still stood in place without moving, only to see the blue light around him twist and actually transform into a crack. The aura from within the mausoleum transmitted out of the crack, and this crack stood between Zhang Xiaohua and Shen Liang.
Zhang Xiaohua saw the crack in the mausoleum and a look of hesitation appeared in his eyes. If he continued to pursue Shen Liang, Shen Liang was not just a puppet standing there waiting to be killed; he would certainly escape. Then, chasing and escaping together with Zhou Qiucheng’s restraint would result in unknown amounts of time being wasted. Now Shen Liang actively opened a space passage, he could directly enter the mausoleum through the space passage, saving him a lot of time. Besides, his main purpose of dealing with the Shen Family was to enter the mausoleum to seize the creation of the Innate Water God.
And Hu Li the Immortal had already entered the mausoleum many days earlier. If he delayed any longer, wouldn’t it be a wasted effort if Hu Li the Immortal occupied the first opportunity and took everything?
Thinking of this, he said nothing more and directly rushed into the crack.
After a spinning dizziness from the array, he just felt himself enter an endless dark void. In the next moment, Zhang Xiaohua felt a strange void power from beneath his feet, as if he had lost the power of divine techniques, and fell straight downward.
Zhang Xiaohua hurriedly performed divine techniques, trying to transform into escape light and rise airborne, but his escape light seemed to lose its function. Although he was clearly flying upwards, the escape light lost control, doing a free-fall downward.
"Damn it, what kind of ghost place is this?" Zhang Xiaohua was greatly shocked at this moment, a look of horror in his eyes.
Then, accompanied by a ’splashing’ sound, Zhang Xiaohua fell into the Weak Water.
"It seems that Zhang Xiaohua does not have the power to control Weak Water. I wonder if that Weak Water has drowned Zhang Xiaohua or not." Tushan Qing looked at Zhang Xiaohua falling into Weak Water, cursing with curiosity.
Zhang Chen was silent at this time too, his eyes fixed on the surface of Weak Water. Just below, Weak Water churned, and Zhang Xiaohua actually emerged from the Weak Water surface, standing on the surface without sinking.
"Indeed, Zhang Xiaohua possesses the divine position of the Water Virtue Star Monarch. Although he cannot mobilize Weak Water, Weak Water cannot drown him either." Zhang Chen turned his head to glance at Hu Li the Immortal and Tushan Qing: "Next, we’ll put on a good show for Zhang Xiaohua."
After saying this, Zhang Chen led the way back into the whirlpool passage!
Hu Li the Immortal and Tushan Qing followed closely, retreating toward the mausoleum in the center of the altar.
Now, Zhang Xiaohua stood on the surface of Weak Water, looking at the river beneath him, a hint of lingering fear in his eyes: "Fortunately, I possess the divine position of the Water Virtue Star Monarch. Otherwise, I might be drowned by Weak Water. Although Hu Li the Immortal’s cultivation is exceptional, he likely doesn’t have a means to counter Weak Water. He should have drowned in Weak Water by now, right?"
A cold smile appeared in Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes: "Serves him right! Wanting to enter the mausoleum first to seize creation without considering if he has the fate for it."
Saying this, Zhang Xiaohua surveyed the entire tomb chamber, looking at the mighty flow of Weak Water and the large whirlpool rotating at the center of Weak Water, he walked straight toward the whirlpool, then descended with it, his figure appearing in the underground world, seeing the magnificent altar.
"Is this the innate grand mausoleum of the Ancient Water God?" Zhang Xiaohua looked passionately at the altar, his eyes showing a blazing intensity, then he made his way to the front of the altar, and at first glance saw figures seemingly moving inside the transparent Crystal Stone platform.
"That’s Hu Li the Immortal’s group! And Zhang Chen!!!" Zhang Xiaohua recognized the opponent’s identity in one glance, his entire person filled with overwhelming joy: "Good, good, good! Didn’t expect Zhang Chen to be hiding here. Truly, the path to heaven is not taken, while the door to hell is self-offered! Very good indeed! Seems like today I can not only gain the creation of the Innate Water God but also avenge the old feud."
Zhang Xiaohua reached out his hand to touch the platform’s Crystal Stone, intending to destroy the Crystal Stone to open a passage, but regrettably, the Crystal Stone was incomparably hard, and even Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t move it.
"Such a hard Crystal Stone! How did Hu Li the Immortal and Zhang Chen get inside?" Zhang Xiaohua withdrew his hand, secretly thinking: "There must be a passage mechanism unknown to me."
Zhang Xiaohua circled the altar, swiftly swimming through the water, observing the entire altar for flaws, and indeed, before long he detected a passage on the altar.
"Found it! This Water God creation is mine for sure!" Seeing the entrance, Zhang Xiaohua was overjoyed, immediately soaring into the air, his hands sticking to the Crystal Stone platform, climbing towards that passage entrance like a gecko.
Because there is Weak Water below, he cannot wield divine techniques to fly, and can only crawl like a gecko.