"No matter what, Yuan Qi must have a Mud-Pellet Repository within his body!"
Xu Ying's eyes blazed with spirit light as he sprinted toward Yuan Qi. "Little Seven, stop healing—wait for me! What? You already healed? Not anymore!"
He thrust a finger from a distance, and a beam of sword qi pierced into the Qinyan Cave. Yuan Qi bled from a fresh wound.
"You're hurt again? So careless! Little Seven, use your spirit sense to feel the mysterious energy—that will lead you to your Mud-Pellet Repository!"
Yuan Qi finally stopped sobbing and followed Xu Ying's instructions, sensing the energy flowing into his body. Before long, the great serpent cried out in astonishment: "I have a Mud-Pellet Repository too! Could it be..."
He stood frozen, murmuring: "Could it be that I'm actually human? That I transformed into a serpent demon?"
Xu Ying considered this, unable to follow his reasoning. He ventured: "Yuan Qi, isn't it more likely that demons also possess hidden repositories?"
Yuan Qi caught on immediately, his expression turning solemn. "You mean to say this is a conspiracy by the human race? In our demons' age of pioneer civilization, we were the dominant force—we taught humans how to open their repositories and cultivate. Later, the humans used treachery to overthrow demon rule and dim our civilization. They destroyed our history, sealed our kind, and now claim only humans possess repositories! Ah Ying, you must be referring to this blood-soaked history of our people!"
Xu Ying shook his head. "I think there's a different reason why demons are unaware of their repositories—but it's certainly not what you described. Little Seven, your family has lived in the Qinyan Cave for over three hundred years. Have you ever wondered where the mysterious healing energy comes from?"
Yuan Qi had no answer.
Xu Ying smiled. "I'll take you to meet the senior who dwells in the stone chamber. He is the source of the mysterious energy. Even the Zhou family ancestor learned the secrets of the Mud-Pellet Repository from him."
He led Yuan Qi back to the Mud-Pellet Palace within the Qinyan Cave, stopping before a stone wall and opening it.
Yuan Qi was astonished. He had lived in the Qinyan Cave for one hundred and twenty years and never known this chamber existed.
"It's simple to find—just trace the mysterious energy back to its source, and you'll arrive here."
Xu Ying pointed inside. "The senior's remains should be here... Wait. Where are the remains?"
He searched the chamber wide-eyed. Last time he visited, the skeleton had been sitting right there. Now it was gone.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Two possibilities flashed through his mind: either the Zhou family ancestor had come, or the skeleton had walked away on its own.
Yuan Qi laughed: "Ah Ying, this is simple. The mysterious energy is still here—that means the skeleton must still be in the cave, just somewhere else. All we need to do is trace the energy back to its source, and we'll find him."
He glanced at his wound—it had already healed. Looking at Xu Ying's thigh, he considered adding another cut, but realizing he was no match for Xu Ying, he gritted his teeth and tore his own fresh wound open.
Xu Ying, who had been about to strike him again, was genuinely impressed. "Little Seven, why must you suffer? Let me help."
"You strike without restraint. I'd rather do it myself."
* * *
Yuan Qi activated his spirit sense, following the energy stream backward toward its origin. The Great Bell floated beside him, using its bell tone to steady his consciousness.
After a moment, Yuan Qi spoke: "Strange—I seem to have returned to where I started. I thought I was traversing boundless void into another realm, but I've circled right back here!"
Xu Ying tensed. Yuan Qi continued: "The source leads into the water. I'm following it deeper—the water is cold, very cold. Still descending... still descending. There's no light anymore... it's too deep. Still going—wait, I've hit bottom! I've touched something—smooth, enormous, with serrated edges. Like a giant shell..."
Xu Ying and the Great Bell exchanged glances. This was clearly not the skeleton they had seen in the chamber.
"Something huge, like a shell—what could it be?"
Before Xu Ying could ponder further, Yuan Qi's voice continued: "It's bigger than a table, two or three zhang across, the serrations are razor-sharp... Wait—there's another one below it, overlapping with the first, also enormous and smooth. And another one beside it..."
Xu Ying frowned, trying to identify what Yuan Qi had found. His gaze fell upon Yuan Qi's own body—the serpent stretched over ten zhang long, each scale the size of a bowl, layered across its entire body except the dragon horns on its head.
"Yuan Qi touched something that resembles scales... it IS scales!"
A chill of horror ran through him. "Bell Master—pull Yuan Qi's spirit sense back immediately! Something immense lurks at the bottom of the Qinyan Cave!"
The Great Bell acted without hesitation, sending a bell tone that rippled to the cave's depths, catching Yuan Qi's spirit sense and wrenching it back.
In the instant the bell tone touched Yuan Qi's consciousness, it also brushed against something else. The Great Bell used the echo to perceive the other's form.
Stacked scales, perfectly arranged, with serrated edges of extreme sharpness—each scale two and a half zhang wide. At one point, the scales abruptly ended.
Where the scales vanished, an eye—over ten times larger than any scale—gazed幽幽 at Yuan Qi's spirit sense, as though observing what this small creature intended to do.
"Run!"
The Great Bell dragged Yuan Qi's consciousness back, its bell tone ringing frantically. "The thing at the bottom has awakened!"
Yuan Qi's spirit returned to his body. "I still have a lot of books at home—"
The Great Bell dove into Xu Ying's skull first. "Your home is about to vanish, and you're worried about books? Ah Ying, run!"
* * *
Xu Ying burst from the Mud-Pellet Palace. Yuan Qi, forgetting everything else, charged after him. As they passed the pool before the palace, the water surged upward—a massive, rounded shape beneath it, as if something colossal were pushing the surface up as it rose.
When they dashed past, the water level had already surpassed the Mud-Pellet Palace and was approaching the cave ceiling. The churning waves struck from behind, driving them forward like a gale at their backs.
Behind them, the corridors and bridges exploded apart.
The colossal creature was rising from the depths!
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi sprinted over a stone bridge. A deep, prolonged roar resonated from below—the frequency so low it made their very organs tremble.
They ran along the bridge. Below, a massive body glided through the water, growing closer and clearer.
"Jump!" Xu Ying shouted.
One human, one serpent, leaped forward into the water, shooting through the great fissure at full speed.
Behind them, the surging flood submerged the inner cavern completely. Then the fissure itself burst apart, and Wuwang Mountain shuddered—as though the colossal creature had accidentally brushed the mountain while moving, shaking the entire mass.
Xu Ying's mind went blank. He swam with desperate intensity. Yuan Qi, a giant serpent, moved through water with incredible speed, but Xu Ying channeled the *True Cultivation of the Ba Snake*, using its supernatural power to command the water—his pace no slower than Yuan Qi's.
Behind them, the water level in the Qinyan Cave surged violently. Something enormous shattered the rock walls, pursuing them through the water at terrifying speed.
Since the Underworld's invasion, strange changes had swept the land. Wuwang Mountain had grown taller, the Qinyan Cave wider—but this creature was even larger than the cave itself, cracking the mountain as it passed, expanding the passage, shattering stalactites.
From within Xu Ying's mind, the Great Bell cried: "The thing below is probably the true master of the Mud-Pellet Palace. That skeleton was a decoy! He's far larger than the creature I'm sealed with in the well! Swim faster—it's gaining!"
* * *
At the base of Wuwang Mountain, the worried old man sighed and looked up.
"This time, even if I have to force the tea down his throat, I'll make him drink all ten bowls."
Suddenly, his expression changed. He looked toward the other side of the mountain. There, Zhou Heng, the Governor of Yongzhou, approached with a procession of imposing figures.
Zhou Heng held a position of great authority—a regional military governor—yet here he walked on foot, not daring to fly.
He was a large man, three times wider than any normal person, panting from exertion—but he didn't dare breathe too loudly, wearing a careful smile as he guided the way forward.
He possessed extraordinary powers—he had survived the white-robed Nuo Immortal's pursuit. With a thought, he could soar through the sky or burrow into the earth. Yet he dared not use any supernatural ability.
All because the person he accompanied was neither riding a carriage nor flying with magic.
Even the Emperor himself would not command such caution from Zhou Heng. Only one person could elicit this behavior: the Zhou family ancestor.
The ancestor was a young man—black hair and white brows, his features still sharp with youthful vitality, showing none of his three or four hundred years.
The worried old man detected him from afar. Their eyes met. The worried old man's expression grew even more sorrowful, and he abandoned his plan to approach the Qinyan Cave.
* * *
A moment later, the Zhou family procession arrived. At the foot of Wuwang Mountain, they found the worried old man seated formally before a table, two chairs, a teapot, and two cups.
Governor Zhou Heng stepped forward, but a gentle voice came from behind: "Heng'er, step aside. He is an old acquaintance of mine."
Governor Zhou Heng froze. The Zhou family ancestor's old acquaintance?
The white-browed youth said: "Go to the Qinyan Cave and invite Young Master Xu. I will meet with my old friend."
The group bowed and continued toward the cave.
The white-browed youth walked forward, sat before the worried old man, lifted the teapot, peered inside, then poured a cup for the worried old man—without pouring one for himself.
"The teapot contains Soul-Bewildering Brew. The world believes I narrowly escaped calamity and found a way to break free without retreating to the Viewing-Birth Terrace. They never suspected that I was indeed forced to go there."
The white-browed youth smiled. "On the Viewing-Birth Terrace, I pierced through the mystery of life and death but could not escape. It was only after meeting you—and following your footsteps—that I found my way out, avoiding death."
The worried old man's brow remained furrowed. "Young Master Zhou, your fortune is deep, your willpower extraordinary, your Dao-heart lofty. You are one of the few not bewitched by the Soul-Bewildering Brew. Without drinking it, you crossed the Bridge of the River Nai."
The white-browed youth laughed. "Last time we met, you were borrowing tea on the Bridge of the River Nai. This time, your teapot still contains Soul-Bewildering Brew. What matter could be so important that you return again and again to borrow tea?"
The worried old man said: "A small matter."
The white-browed youth smiled: "A small matter."
The worried old man sighed: "Not so small, surely? Your remaining lifespan is nearly spent. This cannot be trivial."
Their gazes locked.
* * *
Inside the Qinyan Cave, the Zhou family Nuo shamans scouting ahead called out: "Lord! The fugitive Xu Ying and a giant serpent are charging toward us!"
Zhou Heng chuckled. "A young brat? He'll be caught in no time. Stand aside—I'll apprehend him myself!"
Behind him, the Zhou family experts dispersed.
Zhou Heng held his breath, concentrating—and sure enough, he sensed Xu Ying and Yuan Qi hurtling toward them. His spirit surged, and he was about to strike—
Then he saw what followed Xu Ying.
A torrent of floodwater filled the entire Qinyan Cave. Within the water, something colossal crashed through, shattering the cave in its wake.
The sight froze even the blood of a Nuo shaman of Zhou Heng's caliber.
The thing in the water was far larger than the cave itself, shaking the mountain, splitting rock. Its aura crushed Zhou Heng's composure instantly—an overwhelming terror, like a mountain falling upon his Dao-heart.
Zhou Heng turned and fled without hesitation. No one had imagined the corpulent Governor could run so fast.
Behind him, the entire Zhou family contingent bolted.
* * *
The white-browed youth and the worried old man stared at each other.
Then a deafening explosion shook the earth. The Qinyan Cave blew apart. Wuwang Mountain heaved. Bodies were hurled from the shattered cave entrance, tossed skyward by the blast.
The mountain split, floodwater erupted from within, and a roar pierced the heavens. Where the cave had been, a new peak was rising from the earth.
Xu Ying, Zhou Heng, and the others hit the ground and scrambled away. Looking back, they saw a mountain peak bearing down on them—the dorsal fin of the creature tunneling through the earth.
The white-browed youth's eye twitched. He rose, landing between the fleeing group and the approaching fin, his voice ringing clear: "Rain Granny, protect Young Master Xu and lead him away. I will face this creature alone."
Among the fleeing crowd, an old woman—stooped and ancient—cackled and soared toward Xu Ying's retreating figure. "Young Master Xu! The Zhou family bears no ill will!"
She drew a silk kerchief from her sleeve and flung it forward. It flew toward Xu Ying, growing larger with each passing moment, until it blanketed a hundred acres of forest.
Xu Ying sprinted beneath the kerchief—but the trees and rocks were growing larger at an impossible rate.
He realized: they weren't growing. He was shrinking.
"Zhou family Nuo sorcery—Sowing Beans to Create Soldiers! But reversed! This old woman is powerful!"
His body shrank to the size of a bean. Rocks he could once stride across became towering cliffs. Shrubs became mythic trees.
The white-browed youth watched the approaching creature and smiled. "I should probably call you Teacher, shouldn't I? When I entered the stone chamber, I even kowtowed to your dried bones."