The Demon King is back, leading adorable kids on an adventure around the world!

The path after leaving the stone chamber was easier to walk on than before, the ground was much flatter, and the ore overhead was getting brighter and brighter, illuminating the passageway.

Niannian walked ahead, glancing down at the sword at her waist every now and then, as if afraid it would disappear on its own.

Qiqi walked beside her, tilting her head to look at her:

"Sister Niannian, keep looking at it, it won't run away."

Niannian was a little embarrassed after being hit where it was right, and coughed:

"I'm testing its weight to see if it hangs securely."

Kiki said "Oh," but it was unclear whether she believed it or not.

Qianqian was walking towards the back of the group, and she slowed down as she passed an archway.

There was a whitish mark on the stone surface of the door frame, as if some liquid had been splashed on it and dried, and its color was lighter than the surrounding stone.

She gently rubbed it with her fingertip, smelled it, glanced at the depths of the passageway inside the archway, and then continued to follow the group.

The coordinates marked on the jade slip weren't too far; it took about half an hour to reach them.

At the end of the passage was a naturally formed fissure, wider than any we had seen before, and light could be seen below it.

Niannian lay on the edge of the crevice and looked down. The light was coming up from about three zhang below, illuminating half of her face.

"There's something glowing down there." Niannian lay there for a while, looking down. "It's not a rock, it's the water that's glowing."

Xiao Xiao also crawled over to look and saw a layer of fine, shimmering light floating on the water's surface, like crushed moonlight scattered across it:

"It's a spiritual spring with a very strong spiritual energy. Soaking in it once is more effective than meditating for several days."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Niannian was already bracing herself for a jump when Xiaoxiao grabbed her arm.

"Let's check if there's anything else underneath."

Niannian had no choice but to pull her foot back and squat on the edge, peeking out curiously.

Qianqian walked along the edge of the crack for a while, then stopped next to a protruding rock on the opposite side, squatted down and carefully examined the surface of the rock:

"There are claw marks here, something went down there, but it wasn't very big."

Niannian became even more excited upon hearing this:

"If something has gone down there, it means it can go down!"

Kiki lay on the edge of the crack and looked down:

"Sister Niannian, is this water hot or cold?"

Niannian reached out and touched the water; there was steam rising from the surface: "It's hot."

When Qiqi heard that it was hot, she wasn't afraid anymore. She slid down a gentle slope along the edge of the crack, splashing water as she landed and excitedly exclaiming "Wow!"

Seeing that she had already gone down, Niannian didn't hesitate any longer and slid down after her, falling into the water with a "plop," splashing water all over Qiqi's face.

Kiki exclaimed "Ah!" and wiped her face with her hands while keeping her eyes closed.

"Sister Niannian, you're so mean!"

Niannian laughed so hard she slapped the water's surface, then splashed a handful of water at Qiqi.

Xiao Xiao didn't rush down. She first walked along the edge of the crevice to confirm the extent of the pool before choosing a spot close to them to jump down.

Qianqian was the last one to come down. She entered the water very gently, making little splash. After standing firm, she first looked around.

The pool was not large, about two zhang square, and the water was not deep, only reaching waist level for a few people. The bottom was made of small pebbles and a layer of fine sand.

Xiao Jin jumped down last. As soon as he stood up, Qi Qi splashed a handful of water on his face.

Xiao Jin wiped her face: "Hey! Who splashed that?"

Qiqi had already hidden behind Niannian, peeking out half her head: "It wasn't me."

Xiao Jin didn't believe it and bent down to scoop up water to retaliate, but Nian Nian stepped aside, and the water splashed onto Qi Qi.

Qiqi closed her eyes for a moment after being splashed, then simply bent down and scooped up water to splash it back.

Niannian dodged and weaved in the water, splashing water everywhere.

Xiao Xiao stood in the middle of the pool, watching the three people frolicking in the water, and smiled quietly.

Qianqian has found an aquatic plant with a pale purple glow on the rock wall at the edge of the pool.

The leaves are slender with a layer of very fine hairs along the edges. The roots are embedded in the crevices of the rocks, and the stem is slightly curved.

She carefully picked the plant, examined it in her palm for a while, and then called out to Niannian:

"Niannian, this can be given to Xiaoxiao; it has a nurturing effect on wood-type spiritual energy."

Nian Nian stopped splashing water on Xiao Jin, turned around and ran over to look:

"What is this?"

Qianqian handed the plant to Xiaoxiao:

"Waterweed has a nourishing effect on the Tree of Life."

Xiao Xiao took it and examined it. The fuzz on the surface of the leaf, illuminated by the light from the spiritual spring, shimmered with a very faint pale purple sheen.

"I'll go back and study it further; the conditions here aren't quite right."

She put the Water-Nourishing Grass into her storage ring.

Kiki found a smooth, round stone in the water, held it up to the light, and saw that it was translucent with a pale blue tinge around its edges.

"Sister Niannian, look, doesn't this look like an egg?"

Niannian leaned over to take a look:

"It does look somewhat similar, but an egg isn't this shiny."

Qiqi was very satisfied and held the stone in her hand without putting it back.

Xiao Jin stepped on something at the bottom of the pool, bent down and fished it out. It turned out to be a dark metal piece about the size of his palm.

The edges show obvious signs of casting, resembling a fragment of some artifact.

"There are things like this underwater."

He handed the metal piece to Qianqian, who took it and examined it for a while:

"The edges have been melted, like scraps left over from the forging process. The material is similar to that of the previous key, so they may have come from the same batch."

Niannian leaned over to take a look, studied it for a while, but couldn't figure it out, so she handed it back to Qianqian.

"Keep it for now, it might come in handy later."

Niannian soaked in the pool for about fifteen minutes, then lay on a gentle rock by the edge of the pool, her chin resting on the back of her hand:

"Miss, do you think there's anything hidden at the bottom of this pool?"

Xiao Xiao was sitting on a rock on the shore, spreading out water plants to dry. After hearing Niannian's question, she thought about it carefully:

"After I went into the water, I scanned the bottom with my spiritual power. There were only pebbles and fine sand on the bottom of the pool, and no other unusual fluctuations."

Qianqian found some small minerals on the surrounding rock walls; they were light blue in color and had smooth surfaces.

"These ores can be taken back; they'll be useful when refining weapons."

She collected the ore, put it in a cloth bag, and showed it to Niannian.

Niannian took it and flipped through it: "This color is quite nice."

She handed the bag back to Qianqian, saying, "You keep it; you know more about these things than I do."

Niannian had soaked enough and climbed out of the pool. Her clothes were soaked and clung to her body. She wrung out the water from the hem of her clothes.

"I need to find a place to dry these clothes."

Xiao Xiao took a dry cloth out of her storage ring and handed it to her:

"Wipe it first."

Niannian took it and wiped her face and hair: "Shall we go inside and see?"

Qiqi also climbed up to wring out the water from the clothes. She wrung them out several times, and water dripped onto the stone slab. She turned her head and asked:

"Sister Niannian, are there any more pools like this inside?"

After thinking for a moment, Niannian said, "If we have any, let's soak it again."

Kiki's eyes lit up, and she quickly wrung out the wet clothes again:

"Then let's go quickly!"

Niannian chuckled and turned to walk deeper into the rift.

She walked for a while, then suddenly stopped, glanced back at the direction of the pool, and then turned back to continue walking.