The Long Journey to Immortality

Even if the three of them descended just twenty or thirty meters, they would find themselves in the same situation as they had been in the cave, lacking light and unable to see clearly.

Yi Qiyan muttered, "This environment is quite harsh. I never expected that the underwater scene would be like this."

Wen Erya was also somewhat surprised. "It seems that fighting underwater is not an easy task. If we encounter powerful monsters that originally inhabit the water, it might be quite difficult to deal with them."

Han Lu once again "conjured" a feather to try and use it for lighting, but the not-so-bright light was far from satisfactory.

“Using feathers for lighting won’t work here.”

For those who need to see over long distances and move over large areas, the light that can only illuminate a small cave is not enough.

As she spoke, Han Lu cast another spell, summoning several small orbs radiating white light.

These small balls, attached to the inside of the "bubble," acted like headlights, illuminating the surroundings for the three people and allowing them to see the underwater conditions within a range of about fifty meters.

The three of them lowered their heads simultaneously and looked down into the lake.

"Just how deep is this lake?" Seeing that it was still a deep darkness, Yi Qiyan couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that there is a 99% chance that a large number of powerful demonic beasts and spirit beasts are hiding here, as well as a large number of spirit pearls."

Danger also means opportunity.

Although Yi Qiyan was not a disciple of the Zhengyi Sect, she could guess that the Golden Core elders responsible for "hiding" the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls would definitely store more Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls in dangerous areas in order to differentiate the teams of different levels.

“Yes, that’s right,” Han Lu agreed with Yi Qiyan’s statement, “Everyone should be careful.”

Wen Erya tossed a large fish that had accidentally wandered into the bubble and was thrashing about at her feet back into the lake. She then reinforced the bubble slightly to prevent it from becoming full of fish when the three of them moved around in the lake.

"Junior sister, which direction do you think there will be demonic beasts and the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl?" Wen Erya posed a difficult question.

As the team leader, Han Lu had to make some unfounded decisions.

"Let's go there," Han Lu casually pointed in a direction. "Anyway, the lake is the same for us everywhere. We'll find something if we wander around."

The secret realm has only been open for a short time, and it's still largely unexplored territory, so there's really no need to worry about which way to go.

Following the direction Han Lu pointed, the three of them used water-avoidance magic to travel through the water at about one-third of their flight speed.

At a moderate pace, according to Han Lu's estimate, it would take the three of them about six or seven hours to search the lake thoroughly.

The secret realm is only open for thirty-six hours. Whether it is worth spending this time searching for the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl is something the three of them cannot say for sure, but it is the only thing they can do at the moment.

As they moved slowly forward, the three of them kept an eye on their surroundings, and even deliberately made some noises in an attempt to attract nearby monsters to come and cause trouble.

They had seen many traces of large aquatic monsters hunting for food, but they had never seen the monsters themselves.

They spent about half an hour at the bottom of the lake, the monotonous scenery repeating itself over and over again. The three of them gained nothing, but they did get to know many strange fish that lived in this lake.

The joy they had just felt from obtaining the three Spirit Beads vanished, and the atmosphere inside the bubble became somewhat somber. All three of them were holding their breath, eager to "catch a big fish" and bring back the cheerful atmosphere to their lives.

Suddenly, Wen Erya noticed something amiss and abruptly asked, "Junior Sister, Yi Qiyan, have you noticed anything strange?"

Wen Erya didn't keep them in suspense and continued, "Have you noticed that there are fewer ordinary small fish around?"

The two looked around and realized it was true, so they nodded in agreement.

Han Lu translated Wen Erya's implied meaning: "Senior sister is saying that there might be some demonic beasts or spirit beasts around here that feed on ordinary fish, which is why small fish and shrimp are so scarce here?"

Even large-sized demonic beasts and spirit beasts still need to overeat every now and then before they reach the Transformation Realm, and Han Lu's reasoning is based on this.

"Junior sister is clever," Wen Erya said with a smile.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Yi Qiyan said. “If we search this area carefully for a while, we’re sure to make a great discovery.”

Based on this, the three searched the area carefully and indeed found something.

Wen Erya, holding a handful of bloody fish scales, said excitedly, "Look, there are quite a few fish scales floating in the water, still covered in blood. They must have just been eaten and vomited up."

"The monster that just ate must not have gone far."

"Keep searching!"

As more and more evidence emerged, the expectations of the three men grew ever higher.

Sure enough, after another fifteen minutes, the three of them finally found their target, who was fast asleep in the nest, with the help of Han Lu's beast eyes.

This monster resembles an octopus, but it has over a hundred tentacles and is many times larger than an ordinary octopus.

None of the three recognized the species of the monster, but based on the results of their examination of its eyes, they could determine that the octopus was probably at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

However, cultivation level is one thing, and none of Han Lu, Wen Erya, or Yi Qiyan could say for sure how much combat power they would have in an underwater fight.

After all, this is the home ground of aquatic monsters like octopuses.

"What should we do?" Han Lu used her divine sense to tell her two teammates the information she had found. "As for the whereabouts of the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl, I haven't been able to find it. It's most likely that it was bound by an array by the Golden Core elders in the sect and placed in the octopus monster's nest."

"We'll go straight in, take down the octopus, and then try to seize the Spirit Pearl that might be inside."

"How about we sneak in and steal the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl while the octopus monster is asleep?"

Han Lu gave her teammates two options.

Wen Erya said, "Let's probe the situation first. If there's no Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl in this octopus's nest, then there's no need for us to provoke this underwater behemoth and waste our time."

Although they had considered underwater combat during their training preparations, the three of them had not sought out any large bodies of water for actual combat training and did not know their actual capabilities in underwater combat.

Wen Erya's idea was clearly to play it safe.

After all, the secret realm has only just begun, so there's no need to rush. If something goes wrong, it could ruin the entire "exam".

They had originally planned to simply seize it and use the monster to test their strength, but after hearing Wen Erya say that there might not be a "Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl" inside, they abandoned that idea and instead supported Wen Erya's plan.

Seeing that the three people in the group were of one mind, Han Lu didn't hesitate and spoke decisively.

"Okay, senior sister, give me that talisman, I'll go scout ahead."

Chapter 522 Luring the Fish Out of the Cave

Having experienced dealing with the plague years ago, Wen Erya did not ask Han Lu to give various reasons to explain why she was the one to do this job.

With just a word of "be careful," Wen Erya, who possessed the vast majority of the cultivation wealth of the Southern Dynasty royal family, generously took out a talisman worth nearly ten spirit stones from her storage bag and handed it to Han Lu.

The talisman is called "Ninefold Clear Shadow Talisman," and it is a talisman used for concealment, stealth, and hiding one's aura.

This talisman can not only conceal one's form, but also one's aura, making it impossible for ordinary Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts to detect the cultivator who has affixed it.

Because this talisman requires nine rune drawings on a single sheet of paper, its production is quite difficult, which is why it commands a relatively high price among Foundation Establishment realm talismans.

There were quite a few of these talismans in Wen Erya's storage bag; they were among the good things she had specially prepared for this exploration of the secret realm.

"Junior sister, this talisman will only be effective for half an hour. Be careful later, there's no need to rush. If we are discovered and a fight breaks out, we will come to help immediately."

Wen Erya had already come up with a backup plan.

After applying the talisman, Han Lu felt a cool sensation flowing from the area on her waist where the talisman was applied into her entire body, as if it had painted her originally white skin with ink to a serene light blue.

Knowing that the talisman had taken effect, Han Lu quickly recited the incantation and cast the water-repelling spell on her own.

After using her Beast Eyes to scan the area again and confirming that the giant octopus was still fast asleep, Han Lu left the bubble that the three of them had been maintaining and ventured alone into the giant octopus's nest.

Because she had used her divine sense to scan and scout ahead, Han Lu already had a clear understanding of the situation inside the nest.

Without being delayed at all, she saw the enormous creature that she had not seen with her naked eye before.

In the small cave, the sleeping octopus occupied nearly 70% of the space.

Looking closely at this mountain-like monster, even with her true spirit bloodline, Han Lu still felt a little scared and made up her mind not to wake it.

Using the talisman for cover, Han Lu supported herself through a small bubble, avoiding the flowing water, and slowly walked through the cave.

In less than half a minute, he had explored the entire small cave.

Naturally, she knew perfectly well whether or not there was a Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl in the cave.

In just five minutes, Han Lu returned to the large water bubble and was immediately bombarded with questions from Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan about the specific situation inside the cave.

Han Lu had already prepared her speech. After the two finished asking their questions, she replied, "There are five Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls inside, protected by a magic array."

"That formation seems to have more than just the effect of shielding divine sense. It will probably take some effort to break it."

Although she wasn't an expert in formations, Han Lu had learned some basic concepts from books, so she still had a decent eye for them.

Listening to Han Lu's report on her return, Wen Erya had a clear understanding of the situation.

"It seems there's no way to steal the Spirit Pearl quietly; a great battle is inevitable."

Wen Erya couldn't imagine that the commotion the three of them made while breaking the magic array in the cave would be completely ignored by the octopus monster.

Yi Qiyan put it more simply and directly, "Instead of killing the octopus, the three of us just need to scare it away."

"It would be best to lure them out and fight them."

The cave was cramped and didn't seem like a good place to fight this octopus.

"Lure it out? That's easy." Han Lu already had an idea. "You two get ready, I'll take care of luring the octopus out."

"After we lure it out, what then?" Wen Erya asked, already considering several options. "What method will we use to deal with it?"

After a moment of contemplation, Yi Qiyan suggested, "Let's use the third tactic? If that doesn't work, we can adapt to the situation. After all, it's just a monster at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Even without considering the methods, suppressing it with sheer power shouldn't be a problem."

This idea is too simplistic, but with the added advantage of the three players' significantly stronger combat power compared to other teams participating in the competition, it is still a good tactic and a good approach.

Han Lu had no objection, but Wen Erya talked for a few more minutes before agreeing with Yi Qiyan's idea.

The three of them used water-avoidance spells to spread out slightly, preparing for battle.

White threads flew out from Han Lu's body, and a secret technique temporarily connected the thoughts of the three of them.

"I'm starting."

After sending a message through a secret technique, Han Lu immediately used her weapon-controlling skills to lift up a massive boulder weighing thousands of pounds that was originally embedded in the bottom of the lake.

With a swift movement of her arm, the boulder, under Han Lu's control, crashed violently against the rock wall outside the cave.

A head-on collision resulted in a loud bang, and then, with Han Lu casting her spell again, the boulder, whose edge had already been chipped off, once again became a drumstick.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

……

Clearly, Han Lu intended to use this method to set an alarm clock for the sleepy octopus, hoping that it, which might be grumpy in the morning, would swim out of its burrow to find her, the rascal who disturbed its peaceful sleep.

After ramming the boulder ten times, which Han Lu was controlling, into dozens of small pieces, she stopped what she was doing and stared at the cave, waiting for the octopus inside to respond.

Three breaths later, there was not a sound.