The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3058 Wasted Efforts
With a "click!", the two cylinders finally reached perpendicularity to the ground and instantly seemed to be locked into their slots, making a loud noise!
But the iron chain continued to pull slowly, making a cracking sound, and as the chain moved, it seemed that a shadow was about to emerge from the bottom of the lake.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Zhou Zixing couldn't help but stop outputting his innate power. When he tried to withdraw his hand, he found that his fingers and the etched patterns were stuck together as if glued on.

With a sudden tightening of his chest, he forcefully pulled his finger back, this time withdrawing his hand completely. He was also on guard; was it really true, as Qian Ying had said, that this etched pattern absorbed innate power without any danger? Yet, the fact that his finger had only been partially stuck together just now made him feel uneasy.

Especially after he stopped outputting his innate power, the iron chains that were just cracking stopped immediately and stopped making a sound. The movement underwater also stopped, and the movement of all the buildings on the lakeside stopped as well.

"What's going on? Why did it stop?" Qian Ying asked anxiously after hearing the silence. He hadn't been far from the lakeside and had seen the underwater movement, so he thought that perhaps this structure really was a way to cross the lake, but then the noise stopped.

This is like trying to pull down your pants but finding you can't – it's so frustrating!

At this moment, they didn't care about the power of a master of innate realm, nor did they care about saving face. In their desperation, they didn't bother with telepathy and shouted out loud.

"I don't know either. I just stopped outputting my innate power." Zhou Zixing shouted back helplessly after hearing Qian Ying's shout.

Qian Ying was a little anxious. If he didn't have to look after the two strange beasts, he would have liked to go forward and see what was going on. But now, because of the two strange beasts, he could only worry helplessly.

Zhou Zixing was also somewhat helpless. These patterns were absorbing too much of his innate power. In just a short while, the innate power in his dantian had already been depleted. If this continued, all the innate power in his dantian would be used up, and he would become a powerless old man.

If there's any danger at this time, you can only wait to die.

Furthermore, if all the innate power is absorbed, who knows what else it will absorb if there's no more innate power left? Also, sticking one's fingers tightly to it after absorbing innate power is quite problematic.

However, after thinking for a moment, Zhou Zixing placed his hand on the recessed area again, his fingertips touching the etched patterns, and continued to channel his innate power. Although the innate power in his dantian was almost depleted, there was still some left. He was doing this to see if the building truly required a continuous input of innate power to move. If so, he would discuss with Qian Ying about taking turns channeling the power, wouldn't that solve the problem?
Sure enough, as Zhou Zixing continued to channel his innate power, and the etched patterns continued to glow, the activity within the building resumed. The chains also began to creak and rattle as they continued to move.

I don't know what the iron chain is connected to, it's so difficult to roll it up and takes so long.

Upon hearing the noise, Zhou Zixing stopped channeling his innate power again, and the noise subsided once more. Just as he had predicted, the noise only continued when he channeled innate power. It seemed he could finally talk to Qian Ying.

Zhou Zixing dodged backward and saw the cylindrical object standing upright, along with the long iron chain. The chain passed through the head of the cylinder and then entered the lake again. A large shadow appeared on the lakebed. Although he didn't know what it was, he felt that the shadow was extending towards the opposite side of the lake.

"Huh?" Zhou Zixing looked up following the shadows underwater and saw that two cylindrical objects seemed to have been erected on the opposite bank, more than 500 meters away. However, he couldn't see them clearly because they were too far away.

Although martial artists have better eyesight than ordinary people, the opposite shore of the lake is somewhat blurry due to factors such as the fog.

However, Zhou Zixing speculated that it might be the same building as the one on this side. This also suggests that the two buildings, along with the underwater shadow, might form a bridge across the lake.

This conjecture somewhat cheered him up. A way to cross the lake had finally been found, but it required the activation of innate power.

Upon observing this, Zhou Zixing quickly turned and went to Qian Ying's side. Before Qian Ying could ask any questions, he recounted his feelings and discoveries.

"You mean your finger is stuck on like it's glued on, and you have to use force to pull it off?"

"Yes, based on my feeling, it will probably require about 80% of my strength."

"What? It takes you a lot of effort to get away? That's really strange. I've never encountered anything like this before. In my case, it only required innate power and there was no suction force. I just had to move my hand away. I never expected there to be something like this here."

Qian Ying controlled her expression and explained the similar situations she had encountered before, adding that they were all safe and reliable, and that she would not absorb any other energy besides innate power. In short, she explained and extricated herself from the situation.

Whether Zhou Zixing believed it or not, what he said was true. He said that he hadn't completely absorbed the innate power and that he still needed to absorb something else. No, absolutely not. What he said was true.

Zhou Zixing glanced at Qian Ying's expression. Although he was completely unconvinced, his face conveyed the message that everything she said was correct and that he believed her.

Ha ha!

After the two old foxes probed each other for a while, Zhou Zixing recounted his observations and subsequent experiments. "It seems you might be right. Now I'll go and experiment to see if we can build this bridge." Qian Ying nodded after listening and observed the scene across the lake in the direction of the building.

But what he saw was the same as what Zhou Zixing saw: everything was blurry and unclear. However, the two cylinders were clearly visible.

Since this barrier is the same as the ones he encountered when doing missions before, it can be activated by inputting innate power, and Zhou Zixing just inputted innate power without any problems, so he doesn't mind continuing to input innate power into it.

“Then you stay here and watch over these two strange beasts, and I’ll go over and continue channeling my innate power into that hollow. What do you think?” Qian Ying said to Zhou Zixing. They had already come over, so they decided to switch roles.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Zixing shook his head and said, "No. Elder Qian, I have already exhausted my innate power. If these two beasts suddenly attack and escape after you leave, I will not only be unable to stop them, but I may even be attacked and injured by them."

Upon hearing this, Qian Ying patted her forehead and said, "Look at me, I got a little excited after hearing what you said. I didn't expect that you had just exhausted yourself and therefore couldn't take care of these two dead animals on your own."

“Yes, that pattern absorbs far too much innate power. I think we should prepare properly and take turns inputting innate power.”

"Alright, then I'll wait for your reply. But if we both need to input our innate power, what will happen to these two strange beasts?"

"Anyway, this matter can't be done in a short time, so let's go back to the canyon tonight and bring all the martial artists over. That way, we'll not only have helpers, but we can also do other things."

“That’s possible, but what will happen to these two strange beasts if we go back to the canyon?” Qian Ying asked hesitantly, pointing at the two beasts.

"This..." Zhou Zixing was also somewhat helpless, unable to think of a good solution for the time being.

Should we kill these two strange beasts here? Or should we release them and summon them back if needed after they return?
Just as the two were having a headache, they heard a cracking sound and felt a tremor under their feet.

"what happened?"

"what happened?"

The two asked each other questions and turned to look in the direction of the sound.

Then they saw the previously towering pillar gradually tilt towards the lake, and then, just as it had stood upright, it slanted back into the water, returning to its original position. The iron chain did the same, beginning to reverse its course.

The cylinder stood up slowly, but returned to its original state very quickly. Under the watchful eyes of the two people, it was back to its original state in less than half the original time.

The shadow that had been underwater disappeared with the sound, and the pillar that stood on the opposite bank also vanished.

Zhou Zixing didn't say anything to Qian Yingduo, but instead slipped behind the building to check if the small dent was still there. He then saw that the spot where the dent had appeared had been restored.

Furthermore, to Zhou Zixing's dismay, the inserted unicorn had already withdrawn slightly, indicating that it could be removed.

Zhou Zixing reached out and grabbed the base of the unicorn, pulling it directly out of the crater.

Qian Ying saw Zhou Zixing standing behind a building, holding the unicorn horn, and called out, "Elder Zhou, why did you take out this unicorn horn?"

Zhou Zixing, carrying the unicorn, flashed to Qian Ying's side, put the unicorn on the ground, and then recounted what had just happened in the building.

"You mean, the previous commotion was completely reversed without your innate power input?"

"That's one way to put it. It means that if we want to build this bridge, the two of us will have to continuously input our innate power."

The two looked at the building and sighed. It seemed they should return to the canyon and bring the person over first.

But just as the two were discussing, the horn on the side of the original beast's huge head, which had been lying on the ground, moved instantly and attached itself to the beast's forehead, just as it had when it left. The base of the horn was instantly covered by scales, and it was restored to its original position.