The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-206

The Golden Dragon Turtle’s eyes glowed green as it disdainfully scrutinized the humans before it. The arrogance and contempt in its eyes were very obvious.

“Go. Quickly!” Zhao Danchen hastily added.

The twelve innate experts immediately retreated towards the source of the painful scream that had just sounded. Soon, they found a body sinking into the mud at the bottom of the lake. It was obvious that the dead Elder Lian was blasted twenty-three Zhang away by the ball of air. Through this, they could tell that the impact force of the ball of air was shocking. Fortunately, it was a ball of air that did not possess a very concentrated force.

If it were saber of air or sword of air, the force of impact definitely had the power to kill an innate expert.

“Elder Lian is dead!” Gu Yong cried out with a deep voice.

“Junior Martial Brother!”

“Martial Uncle Lian!”

A few elders knelt beside the corpse. Some of these Law Enforcing Elders spent more time with their martial brothers than with their family. They learned martial arts together since they were young and grew up together, making the relationship between some martial brothers very deep. The loss of Elder Lian anguished many elders.

“It’s a claw wound. The claws instantly slashed through Elder Lian’s head!” Zhao Danchen said as he scrutinized Elder Lian’s head. “The shape of the wound is not orderly. Thus, it was a claw that slashed through the head.”

“It should be a demonic beast with sharp claws. The size of the body shouldn’t be big.” Gu Yong said deeply.

In their eyes, a human in the bottom of this lake would have to use the Innate True Origin to form an air bubble. Thus, a human would be easily spotted even from far away and wouldn’t be able to cause Elder Lian to only emit a painful howl.

Secondly, humans usually killed with weapons like sabers, swords, etc.

Also, the wound was not neat, and it looked like wounds caused by claws.

“What demonic beast is this! Island Lord, find that demonic beast and kill it to avenge Martial Uncle Lian!” A muscular man wearing a black cloak roared.

“I can’t tell by just looking at the claw wound,” Gu Yong responded, “Plus, the outer world has probably never seen the demonic beasts that inhabit this underground lake. The dead have passed away. We can only avenge him if we have the chance, but we cannot be careless anymore. We can’t let the demonic beasts ambush us! At the bottom of the lake, the demonic beasts make no sound. They have been underwater for years, and they can see very far away in a pitch-black environment, while we can’t.”

The elders were shocked.

In such a dark environment, a demonic beast could swim to them silently and launch a sneak attack against them! If a person was alone and careless, he could be killed easily.

Gu Yong scanned the crowd and said, “Elders, we must remain careful in the bottom of this lake at all times. We’ve been here for a while; it’s time to go back up for a change of air. Spend some time to think of how….we can enter this Heavenly Flood Palace. Let’s go back to the entrance of the pit first.”

Immediately, the twelve innate experts turned away with Elder Lian’s body.

After Teng Qingshan watched the twelve “lanterns” leave, he turned and cast a glance at the Heavenly Flood Palace ten Zhang away. In Teng Qingshan’s eyes……. This Heavenly Flood Palace was like an enormous azure-colored object lying at the bottom of the lake, something that could move the hearts of men. As for the Golden Dragon Turtle at the entrance of the palace, its green eyes were actually looking towards Teng Qingshan.

“It saw me!” Teng Qingshan was secretly surprised.

Teng Qingshan himself could see the Golden Dragon Turtle. Thus, this Golden Dragon Turtle, which could see in the dark, could see Teng Qingshan as well.

“Roar~~” The Golden Dragon Turtle emitted a soft roar and remained in front of the palace entrance.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan felt…..

This Golden Dragon Turtle seemed to treat Teng Qingshan with kindness instead of the hostility it had towards the men of Qing Hu Island

“This Golden Dragon Turtle is an unbeatable and terrifying demonic beast! It is even stronger than the Purple Radiance Flood Dragon. Since it guards the Heavenly Flood Palace, it should be the most powerful demonic beast. I should avoid it no matter what, otherwise, I won’t even be able to regret if It killed me with one move,” he thought. Teng Qingshan did not have the audacity to provoke this kind of demonic beast, which was even more terrifying than the Purple Radiant Flood Dragon.

Teng Qingshan immediately dashed away, following the twelve men of Qing Hu Island.

Actually, whenever Teng Qingshan recalled the time he dived into the Jade Frost Pool, he would feel a sense of fear.

The Teng Qingshan from back then had lived in Teng Jia Village since his birth and knew too little about the Nine Prefectures. As the saying went, the ignorant one had no fear! When his Strongest Plan succeeded and he reached the Grandmaster Realm, he thought he was strong enough that he had the audacity to provoke the Purple Radiant Flood Dragon. Fortunately, he managed to leap down the cliff fast enough, else he might have truly been killed by the Purple Radiant Flood Dragon.

Teng Qingshan followed silently, keeping a distance of fifty Zhang away from the men of Qing Hu Island. By maintaining this distance, the Qing Hu Island’s men definitely wouldn’t be able to notice him.

The speed of Qing Hu Island’s innate experts in the water was so much slower than their speed on land.

Teng Qingshan’s body seemed to have no bones. His legs were moving gently along with the waves, while his hands borrowed momentum occasionally. His whole body swam rapidly like a fish. Just Teng Qingshan’s ability to dive underwater was ten times better than the innate experts’. The innate experts purely wasted their Innate True Origin as they dove underwater.

One hour had passed as they swam horizontally.

“Whosh!”

Qing Hu Island’s innate experts burst out from the water surface and advanced along the tunnel that could lead to anywhere. Teng Qingshan popped his head out of the water and watched the men of Qing Hu Island make a turn after they advanced to a distance of over ten Zhang away.

Teng Qingshan then continued following. When he walked out of the water, he suddenly prostrated himself and stuck his ear on the ground.

“They probably turned left and went twenty Zhang…. Twenty-five Zhang.. thirty Zhang. Yes, they stopped.” Teng Qingshan stood up and advanced stealthily. “Someone might be ambushing at the turning point.” Teng Qingshan thought when he arrived at the turning point and leaped up lightly, thrusting his hand into the ceiling of the waterway. His hands, feet, and stomach stuck onto the rocky ceiling like a lizard.

As he was on the top, Teng Qingshan could see the turning point of the tunnel clearly.

Teng Qingshan had overestimated the men of Qing Hu Island. The experts of Qing Hu Island did not think that someone would follow them, nor did they suspect that the being that killed Elder Lian was a human. Therefore, no one ambushed him at the turning point.

Thirty Zhang away…..

The twelve experts of Qing Hu Island were resting as they sat on chairs.

“They really know how to enjoy themselves,” Teng Qingshan sneered.

Qing Hu Island’s men had already sent chairs, tables, food, and sweet wine to the bottom of the Bottomless Pit. Gu Yong and the others could rest without climbing up to the ground.

However, the twelve men of Qing Hu Island were not in a good mood to drink.

Elder Lian’s death and the existence of the Golden Dragon Turtle caused the experts to feel a sense of irritation.

Gu Yong opened his mouth and said, “Elders, since last night until now, sixteen hours have passed. We haven’t rested well. Let’s go back up later. First, let’s deal with Elder Lian’s body and then rest after eating our meal. We can enter the underground lake again during the evening.”

“So what if we enter the underground lake again? The Golden Dragon Turtle is at the entrance of the Heavenly Flood Palace.” The muscular man dressed in black said with a deep voice.

“The Golden Dragon Turtle! The records say that it is extremely strong and its three breaths of air can blast a True Dan Innate Expert twenty Zhang away. This is just the strength of its breath. If it slashed with its claw, even a Golden Dan Innate Expert would die.” The white-haired elder dressed in a white cloak sighed.

“Of all demonic beasts, the Golden Dragon Turtle possesses the greatest defense. Even if it remained still and allowed us to attack, we wouldn’t be able to bring any harm to it.”

Everyone was feeling slightly dejected.

There was the existence of the Emptiness Realm among both humans and demonic beasts. Of course, since ancient times, the most powerful demonic beast found could only be compared to an Emptiness Realm Expert. Yet, none of the demonic beasts could reach the level of Emperor Yu and Heavenly Emperor of Qin Mountains.

The demonic beasts that had reached the Emptiness Realm were also called——Godly Beasts!

People would normally treat the demonic beasts that had reach this level with respect and would not wish to offend them.

“Today, the Golden Dragon Turtle only reminded us and exhaled a few breaths of air. The next time…… Once the Golden Dragon Turtle gets mad, it might really attack.” Yu Wenliu frowned as he said, “The Dragon Turtle is a slow demonic beast with strong defense. However, that description was talking about the azure-colored Dragon Turtle, which is over ten Zhang long and appears like a small hill! When the azure-colored Dragon Turtle evolves into the Golden Dragon Turtle, it’s size would become three to four Zhang and its speed would become faster. It might not be as fast as those swift demonic beasts, but it wouldn’t be slower than us.”

If the Golden Dragon Turtle did not have the slow-speed weakness, it would indeed be an invincible existence.

Zhao Danchen sneered, “If we really do fight, none of us would survive.”

……

As Teng Qingshan listened to the nervous and helpless men from Qing Hu Island, he secretly sneered and thought, “So what if you guys obtained the Treasure Map with great effort? Just the Golden Dragon Turtle made you guys helpless! It would be best…..to get your Emptiness Realm Expert here and have him fight the Golden Dragon Turtle!”

Teng Qingshan really desired to see that scene.

The battle between an Emptiness Realm Expert and a Golden Dragon Turtle. One wouldn’t be able to tell who would die and who would live.

If Qing Hu Island’s Emptiness Realm Expert died, Teng Qingshan would be very happy……However, Qing Hu Island was not dumb to the point that they would wager their most important support.

“Island Lord, Island Lord!”

At this moment, shouting sounds were heard.

Teng Qingshan immediately turned and looked.

Holding onto a vine, a figure leaped to the ground.

“What’s going on? Why are you so flustered?” Gu Yong furrowed his brows and asked. The other eleven innate experts also stared at this young disciple.

The young disciple hastily answered, “This morning, Qing Hu Island’s messengers arrived at the Great Yan Mountain and notified us of a rumor which stated that the reason the army of Qing Hu Island is stationed in the Great Yan Mountain was because they are digging up Emperor Yu’s Treasure!” Carrier pigeons could send messages from cities to cities.

The great army of Qing Hu Island also brought carrier pigeons.

However, the main locations of Qing Hu Island did not have any trained pigeons that could travel to Great Yan Mountain. They could only deliver messages by horses, so the speed would be slower.

Gui Yuan Sect discovered this last night, while the army of Qing Hu Island only learned about it this morning. They could only notify the others when the Island Lord Gu Yong and the rest came out of the pit.

“What!” Gu Yong’s facial expression changed drastically.

“Who talked about it?” The normally calm Zhao Danchen yelled as he glared at the disciple fiercely.

The young disciple was startled and hastily answered, “It was spreading throughout the world. Probably everyone knows.”

“Everyone knows…..” Gu Yong muttered. The fact that everyone knew shocked him. As for the other innate experts, they could no longer remain calm.

……

“It’s spreading throughout the world? Everyone knows?” Hearing this shocking news, Teng Qingshan, who was stuck to the rocky ceiling, felt surprised.