When Teng Qingshan vanished from the sight of the Sun Shooting Divine Mountain Venerable, 'Wang Kehou,' many Xiantian experts in the pitch-black lake water continued to search diligently; the two cauldrons were simply too immense. No one wanted to give up. Only when 'Wang Kehou' and the Snow Eagle Sect's 'Wu Xiu' brought back the news did everyone reluctantly abandon the search.
“That Qin Lang, is he really Teng Qingshan?” Numerous experts gathered together.
“How could this Teng Qingshan, a mere seventeen-year-old brat, possibly kill the Xiantian Solid Core 'Iron Vulture' so easily?”
“Seventeen years old, killing a Xiantian Solid Core—that’s absolutely impossible.”
“Hmph, what’s impossible? According to our Sun Shooting Divine Mountain’s intelligence, that Teng Qingshan slew a Xiantian Void Core master when the Azure Lake Island attacked Yanjiang City. At the very least, he is already a Xiantian master. Island Master Gu, am I correct?” Wang Kehou looked towards Gu Yong.
Among the several dozen experts present, the cultivators from Mani Temple, the Ying Clan, the Beast King 'Wu Hou,' and the Sun Shooting Divine Mountain were all in relatively good spirits.
They had all gained significantly.
But the Snow Eagle Sect, Hongtian City, and Azure Lake Island were feeling quite uneasy. They had expended energy traveling a great distance only to gain nothing from the treasure, and in the end, they lost one or two Xiantian masters. Of course... the Snow Eagle Sect and Hongtian City were still somewhat better off. Their losses weren't catastrophic; it was merely a matter of psychological imbalance.
But Azure Lake Island was different!
The treasure map belonged to them; the treasure was supposed to be securely in their grasp. Yet, they had now lost eight Xiantian experts! And not a single cauldron.
Facing Wang Kehou of the Sun Shooting Divine Mountain’s taunts, Gu Yong snorted coldly: “Since many people saw it was Teng Qingshan, why ask me? Esteemed sirs... my Silver Dragon Army is still stationed above. Forgive us, but we must take our leave!” With a flick of his sleeve, Gu Yong immediately prepared to depart with the Azure Lake Island contingent.
“Island Master Gu, you all know about this underground lake now. The treasure has been retrieved; why bother with the detour to go back?” The Beast King 'Wu Hou' smiled gently.
Gu Yong and his group stopped, but their expressions were far from pleasant.
The Azure Lake Island members all carried a bellyful of pent-up rage.
“A detour?” Gu Yong and the others stared at the Beast King 'Wu Hou.'
Wu Hou smiled and relaxed his hands. The two cauldrons, restrained by his Xiantian True Essence, floated beside him. Wu Hou himself soared upwards toward the lake surface, where a solid layer of rock lay.
Facing this rock layer, Wu Hou swung his fist.
“Boom!” “Boom!”... Explosions reverberated continuously as massive chunks of shattered stone blasted outwards, splashing into the lake water. Each punch Wu Hou threw easily gouged out a pit two or three zhang deep. He gripped the adjacent rock, continuously climbing upward, only to strike again.
Just like that, he bored straight up.
The lake water followed the nascent tunnel, rising slightly, but after ascending eight or nine zhang, the ascent halted.
“This Wu Hou, he truly is…” All the experts present were stunned speechless.
The lake water was over a hundred zhang deep to the surface.
To blast out a hundred-zhang deep passage wasn't simply a matter of smashing through. Due to the nature of the rock strata and soil, once a pit was created, the surrounding rock and earth were highly likely to collapse inward. Thus, this was an extremely difficult and troublesome undertaking.
Even a Xiantian Golden Core expert blasting a path would likely find the tunnel completely sealed by the time he climbed from the bottom to the surface.
Therefore, they would have to blast a new path every time they emerged. If seven people needed to leave, seven masters would likely have to blast a channel. Furthermore, Xiantian experts couldn't fly, and if the surrounding rock walls collapsed severely, there wouldn't even be a handhold, leaving them to fall back down.
It was extraordinarily inconvenient.
The Beast King 'Wu Hou' was clearly both skilled and audacious to attempt this maneuver.
“That man is a lunatic,” Ying Haojiang sneered. “Let’s go, we’ll take the original route. We’d rather spend extra time than blast a path out.” The Ying Clan masters, taking their two cauldrons, swam back the way they came.
“We’ll go too,” the long-browed old monk stated, and the Arhat masters of Mani Temple followed suit.
“Island Master Gu, shall we go together?” Wang Kehou of the Sun Shooting Divine Mountain called out with a smile.
“No need, we can manage ourselves,” Gu Yong replied grimly, immediately leading his subordinates towards the bottomless pit with swift purpose.
Everyone could see that Gu Yong was furious at the moment, though he was actively suppressing it.
The Azure Lake Island contingent moved with great speed, too annoyed to chat with the other sects, swiftly swimming onward.
“Island Master, I still don’t understand how Teng Qingshan could possibly have reached the Xiantian Solid Core realm.” Zhao Danchen’s eyes were icy. He couldn't grasp it… in truth, regarding Xiantian True Essence, Teng Qingshan was only at the ‘Void Core’ level. A Void Core master, yet capable of killing a Solid Core expert.
The Azure Lake Island members simply couldn't fathom it. It wasn't entirely their fault; who would have thought there was a cultivation method like Internal Martial Arts?
Whether in his past or present life, Teng Qingshan had devoted the vast majority of his energy to Internal Martial Arts. His internal strength was merely a byproduct of that practice, and reaching the peak of the Houtian realm was thanks to the 'Vermillion Fruit.' Teng Qingshan's true reliance remained Internal Martial Arts—a system fundamentally different from these Xiantian masters.
“Of course I don’t understand! I don’t understand where this bastard sprung from!” Gu Yong ground his teeth, making no attempt to hide the murderous intent in his eyes.
The word 'bastard' coming from Gu Yong’s mouth would likely shock many, as he was usually a very composed man. But the other four Xiantian experts from Azure Lake Island were equally enraged, a furious fire burning in their hearts, an unresolved anger lodging in their chests!
“Eight Xiantian masters dead! My Azure Lake Island has lost forty percent of its Xiantian experts!” Gu Yong ached with loss!
“And not a single cauldron!”
He felt even greater agony over the cauldrons containing the Spirit of the Northern Sea!
“These nine cauldrons should all belong to us, Azure Lake Island,” the woman ground out through clenched teeth.
“Hmph…” Zhao Danchen couldn't help but sneer, “But we didn't get a single one. Originally, with these nine cauldrons, Azure Lake Island’s strength should have increased dramatically. In one or two centuries, our power might have doubled, enough to rival the Emperor Yu Sect or the Ying Clan. But now, instead, we’ve lost forty percent of our Xiantian masters.”
“And worse, we’ve benefited our rivals,” General Lan’s eyes were also reddened with anger.
Not only had their strength failed to increase, but it had sharply declined. Moreover, if they couldn't obtain the treasures, their opponents grew stronger. In terms of overall calculation, Azure Lake Island's losses this time were catastrophic—far exceeding just the forty percent of masters.
“Enough!” Gu Yong roared.
Zhao Danchen and the other four looked over... Gu Yong’s face was so grim it looked ready to drip ink. Gu Yong was an ambitious man, and as Island Master, no one felt the loss of personnel more acutely than him. At the same time, his hatred for Teng Qingshan grew deeper. Gu Yong had never hated anyone this much! He felt a primal urge to consume Teng Qingshan’s flesh and drink his blood!
“It’s clear now,” Gu Yong said darkly. “Teng Qingshan grew up in Great Yan Mountain, so he must be extremely familiar with it. That’s why he could easily locate the entrance to the bottomless pit!”
“He did this deliberately to target my Azure Lake Island. That shout Elder Hu gave before he died... clearly, Teng Qingshan was the primary culprit behind the deaths of the elders. Even if he didn't strike directly, he must have deliberately provoked the massacre.” Gu Yong had guessed correctly; in the Heavenly Flood Palace, if Teng Qingshan hadn't shouted out, Elder Hu and the others would have had one breath of time to escape to the next fork in the path, allowing them to flee. But Teng Qingshan watched constantly, shouting quickly, preventing Yuwen Liufeng, Elder Hu, and the others from escaping in time.
“Regardless of the future threat Teng Qingshan poses, or what happened this time...” Gu Yong’s gaze was sharp, “Teng Qingshan must die! And he cannot be allowed to die easily! Otherwise, the souls of our deceased elders will never rest in peace!”
Zhao Danchen and the other four nodded in agreement.
...
The various factions—some joyous, some disgruntled, some grief-stricken—all made their way towards the location of the bottomless pit.
Meanwhile, at another bottomless pit location.
On the walls of the submerged tunnel, there were dense clusters of small holes, resembling wasp nests. In one of the higher holes,
“Hoo!”
Teng Qingshan leaned against the cave wall, finally allowing himself to completely relax.
From arriving at Teng Family Village last night until now, only one day and one night had passed. Yet, in this single day and night, so much had happened. During this time, Teng Qingshan had dared not slacken even slightly... his nerves had been stretched taut until this moment, when he could finally release the tension.
He had rushed to Teng Family Village last night, evacuated the village early this morning, then infiltrated the lake bottom to find the Azure Lake Island personnel, and subsequently rescued his father! After ensuring his father was safely returned, he had turned back and rejoined the army of Xiantian experts.
Mingling within the crowd of Xiantian experts, using their presence to his advantage, he explored the Emperor Yu Treasure alongside the Azure Lake Island contingent.
The entire process was not long, but it had been fraught with extreme peril!
“Azure Lake Island, you treated my father’s life and the lives of his people as meaningless, slaughtering indiscriminately. This time... retribution has arrived at your doorstep. I wonder if you are enjoying the sensation,” Teng Qingshan sneered. “Eight Xiantian masters dead; I suspect you didn't even manage to secure the Emperor Yu Treasure, did you?”
Teng Qingshan had planned the kicking of the six cauldrons; five were sent in other directions, and only one was kicked towards the direction where the Palace and Azure Lake Island personnel were located.
Teng Qingshan knew that the long-browed old monk, the Beast King 'Wu Hou,' and the experts from the Palace were all in that vicinity. If the Azure Lake Island members tried to seize it, they were likely to suffer heavy casualties. As for the other cauldrons, it was impossible for Azure Lake Island to obtain them.
Thus...
The moment Teng Qingshan kicked the cauldrons, the grim fate of Azure Lake Island was sealed.
“Hmm, this time I lost the human skin mask, but the other losses aren't too significant,” Teng Qingshan observed the Reincarnation Spear. A large piece of metal had chipped off the spear shaft, leaving that section only two-thirds as thick as the rest of the shaft. “Looks like I’ll need to use Star Pattern Steel to smelt and repair it.”
“This Spirit of the Northern Sea... keeping it inside the cauldron is too conspicuous. It will be easily exposed once I leave.”
Teng Qingshan extended his right hand and pressed it into the cave wall beside him. The hard rock yielded easily, allowing him to grasp a chunk the size of a large wine jar. He then roughly carved this piece of rock, hollowing out the inside to form a crude stone jar. Teng Qingshan manipulated the rock as casually as a commoner handles clay.
“Done,” Teng Qingshan smiled at the stone jar, then picked up one of the cauldrons nearby and lifted the lid.
“Swish-swish~~” The ‘Spirit of the Northern Sea,’ flowing like fine wine, poured into the stone jar. After emptying the entire contents of the first cauldron, it filled the jar only to about two-tenths of its depth. Teng Qingshan then followed the same procedure, pouring in the Spirit of the Northern Sea from the second cauldron, even using his Xiantian True Essence to sweep up the residual liquid clinging inside.
After all, a single drop of the Spirit of the Northern Sea was incredibly precious.
Finally, all the Spirit of the Northern Sea was transferred into the stone jar, yet it didn't even fill it halfway.
Teng Qingshan held the stone jar—something he had risked his life for. His Master would surely be thrilled to see it. Looking at the crude stone vessel, Teng Qingshan laughed: “Haha, even though you look ugly, you are far more precious than the lives of every Xiantian expert from Azure Lake Island.”