Chapter 71: The Corpse of the Dragon Whale, Qjngxin

Wood

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation     Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The bronze door, with its dark, heavy material, was engraved with ancient patterns.

Yushou An stood before it, slicing open his palm and pressing it against the door. His mermen blood flowed out, reacting with the door like a living entity, spreading along the intricate patterns.

The dense engravings lit up, the bronze door emitting a glow that illuminated the seabed within a ten-zhang radius. Slowly, it began to open.

A massive suction force erupted. Yushou An, being the closest, was the first to be drawn in. Without resistance, he allowed the current to pull him through the door.

Seeing this, the others hesitated no more and approached. Lu Xuan, holding Cheng Lingzhu’s hand, entered side by side.

Behind them, the bronze door closed slowly, and they found themselves in a narrow, elongated corridor.

The corridor, filled with seawater and closed off on all sides, was about a Zhang in diameter, slanting downwards and extending far into the distance.

The corridor’s rocky walls seemed to contain a substance emitting a faint blue light. Though weak, the cultivators’ vision was sufficient to see clearly ahead.

“It’s beautiful,” Cheng Lingzhu commented, staying close to Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan, observing the blue specks on the walls, nodded: “Like stars.”

In the darkness, these spots of light, faint yet present, would gather together when someone approached and touched the walls, illuminating the dark environment.

The group didn’t talk much, swimming along the corridor for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. Yushou An, leading the way, paused and looked back.

Powerful tombs often had traps, and even though it was his ancestor’s, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t have deadly mechanisms.

“One, two, three…”

Yushou An counted, “Twelve. thirteen… fourteen.’

He suddenly tensed.

He remembered clearly.

Four mermen, plus ten humans, made fourteen in total.

But in his count, Yushou An hadn’t included himself! That meant their group now had an extra person!

“Be careful!”

Yushou An urgently warned everyone.

Almost immediately following Yushou An’s warning, a shadow in the group suddenly lunged at a nearby companion!

Its huge mouth opened wide, viciously aiming for the neck. The attacked cultivator tried to resist, but the shadow’s strength was incredibly powerful, pinning him against the wall.

“Crack! ”

The shadow’s ferocious attack missed. Lu Xuan, standing behind, held it by the neck with his pale hand, pulling the shadow back.

“This creature emerged from the wall,” Lu Xuan observed, holding the strange being. It had no eyes; instead, a massive mouth occupied most of its face.

Its fangs were hard and sharp, each tooth emitting a faint blue light.

Lu Xuan immobilized it with his spiritual power, shaking it slightly. The creature was very flexible, capable of morphing into various shapes. It had elongated and disguised itself as a human, appearing thin.

“Th-thank you, fellow cultivator.”

The young cultivator, Wang Sheng, was shaken. He was the weakest among them.

“Powerful tombs are full of mysteries. We must be cautious when exploring,” Lu Xuan said earnestly.

He had already noticed something adept at hiding its presence among them but didn’t act covertly to eliminate it.

First, Lu Xuan was confident in his strength; the tomb’s creatures couldn’t pose much threat to him.

Second, it was a lesson for the younger cultivators. A scare today would make them more vigilant in future explorations, reducing risks.

“These spots of light are not inanimate. They are beings dormant in the walls, sensing our presence,” Yushou An quickly realized.

The other cultivators looked around warily.

Sensing the group’s movements, the faint blue spots on the walls gathered more quickly. Some areas bulged, as if something was about to break through.

“We must leave this place now!”

Yushou An decisively led the group further into the corridor.

Lu Xuan rolled the slime-like creature into a ball and pushed it back into the wall.

The winding corridor, with its ups and downs, slowed their progress, but the wall creatures moved in a straight line within the rock.

The spots of light followed their path, spreading along the walls like faint blue light strips.

The cultivators, not taking any chances, moved quickly, finally reaching an exit after traveling several li.

With a splash, Yushou An emerged from a water pool, realizing they were in an underground cavern.

The cavern was enormous, its dome a thousand Zhang high, resembling a vast plaza.

The pool was situated on an elevated area, like a small cliff.

This tree was immensely tall, almost reaching the cavern’s dome.

It resembled a willow, but its leaves were pale red, with red veins sprawling across the trunk. Its countless branches, each thousands of Zhang long, hung down like willow strands.

Yushou An was astounded, recognizing the species of the tree. It was a common plant in the mermen nation known as Qingxin Wood, often cultivated by people.

However, ordinary Qingxin Woods were only about a Zhang tall. They were not even considered spiritual plants, and they were certainly not capable of growing this large. Moreover, the leaves of this tree were not usually pale red.

The cultivators emerged from the pool, equally shocked by the sight of the massive tree. Their astonishment grew as they approached the edge of the cliff.

Below the cliff was a deep, vast pit, filled with strange plants emitting a faint light.

With the help of this light, they saw a gigantic whale corpse coiled within the pit.

The whale’s body, over a thousand Zhang in length and pitch-black, occupied the entire pit.

Unlike ordinary whales, this one had two bony protrusions breaking through the skin on its head, and faint scales were visible beneath its skin.

It showed signs of transforming into a dragon. Rather than a whale’s corpse, it was more apt to call it a dragon’s corpse.

Despite being dead for untold years, the whale’s remains still exuded a profound and overwhelming presence.

The thousand-zhang tree had grown from the whale’s body.

Its roots penetrated deep into the corpse, absorbing its flesh and essence. The roots and tendrils nearly enveloped the majority of the whale’s body.

Near the whale, the roots turned a deep red, as if soaked in coagulated blood.

“Please, fellow cultivators, escort me to the belly of this whale.” Yushou An bowed, requesting assistance from the group. He had noticed a portal within the whale’s mouth.

“We understand.”

The cultivators grew serious. They took out weapons from their storage artifacts and followed Yushou An towards the whale’s corpse..