Feng Qingqing picked up a black sword with a ferocious aura by the red pool. Picking it up meant risking being pricked by the energy thorns.
“What is this sword? Seems powerful.” She flicked the blade twice with her finger and got two cuts on her fingertips.
The invisible sword energies caused minor injuries.
“It’s a sword embryo, a copy of a divine sword. Inside is a sword soul. It’s as powerful as a tenth-ranked spirit treasure.” The fruit dragged a bag with two demon corpses over for her.
“Oh?! That’s good stuff, I have to take it!” Her eyes brimmed with excitement and immediately put the sword into her spatial stone.
She heaved a sigh of relief after glancing over at Feiyun. He was still occupied with fighting Lord Xueshuang and didn’t see her.
Lord Xueshuang was wounded by Xiao Tianyue on top of being decapitated by Feiyun. Though she had created a new head, her energy was depleted so she couldn’t suppress him.
‘The situation is unfavorable, let’s get out first.’ She thought.
She was confident in killing him after regaining her peak state. However, the moment she wanted to leave, the pond started splashing chaotically. A red wave of energy emerged and alarmed her.
She had become frozen after touching this red energy before and didn’t want it to happen again.
“Little half-demon, big sis will kill you next time!” She turned into a white ray and rushed out of the vicinity.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Feiyun activated his crimson wings and became faster than her.
However, he heard Qingqing’s cry for help: “Bro! Something’s dragging me into the pond!!!”
“Splash!” He then heard a splash.
She struggled in the pond while shouting: “Laoshi! Give me a hand!”
She was being pulled deeper into the pond.
“I don’t have hands…” The fruit said helplessly.
Feiyun gave up on chasing Lord Xueshuang and rushed back towards the pond.
He faced the red energy before making it to the pond. A chilling force began assaulting him, seemingly on the verge of freezing his blood. An ice layer began forming on his skin.
“Break!” His bones activated and turned into eighteen fiery sparks to force the chilling force out.
“Where are you, Qingqing?!” As he drew closer to the pond, the chilling force became stronger and the light became blinding.
“She’s down there!” He saw a red ball next to the pond.
It turned out to be the fruit. It became frozen at this point and shivered while stammering: “I… I don’t have… hands…”
“Then wait here!” He took a deep breath and became blazed; his armor fully activated and roared.
“Splash!” He jumped into the pond.
The moment he touched the liquid, his entire body froze along with his mind.
The ashes of the saints began activating and gave him back his freedom. They still had remnant auras of the saints and possessed unimaginable power. He then put a Nirvana pill in his mouth, just in case.
No one could predict what’s inside this dangerous pond. Thus, he might face a death tribulation here.
The fourth tribulation was arduous and harder than the three previous times combined. This pill would only increase the chance of success, not guarantee it.
“The seven-colored springs can help the probability rate.” He then recalled what the fruit said before and took out one drop of the silver moon liquid. He surrounded it with Buddhist energy and moved it down into the vessel in his dantian.
Without a life-death process, he could still take it out of his body instead of wasting it. These sacred waters were precious. Even just one drop wasted would hurt him.
After ample preparation, he dived into the red pond. The saints' ashes were lit up in order to stop the cold.
“Another shell?” He then noticed a shell mark on a boulder down there.
The turtle went down here too?
What a tenacious turtle. Even Xiao Tianyue and Lord Xueshuang were trapped by the chilling force yet the turtle had no problem bypassing it.
The bottom of the pond was huge, resembling the bottom of an ocean. Could the pond be a passage towards another area?
As he was ruminating, he suddenly saw an old man walking at the bottom.
“What the hell?” The guy was only a few miles away so Feiyun could see his gray hair.
He slowly walked closer and suddenly stopped while being one hundred meters away. He realized that it was a walking corpse.
His body had rotted along with his robe. The bones have turned black. Nonetheless, an eternal will from the ancient era kept the corpse walking.
It occasionally looked up and sighed or just maintained silence for a long period.
How strange. This human cultivator was extremely strong when he was alive. Feiyun didn’t dare to get close because the aura emanating from the corpse was horrifying.
He was actually stronger than Feiyun’s previous life, not far from becoming a saint. This cultivation allowed his corpse to last this long.
How did such a powerful cultivator die? What was he searching for down in this pond? Who was he?
Feiyun was sure that he could find the name of this man in the ancient scrolls from the immemorial period.
This corpse shouldn’t be underestimated. Just one strand of soul could unleash untold devastation.
Wait, even a saint’s corpse can’t last this long. Is it because of the red pond? The water is sustaining this corpse and the bones from the monarch.
While Feiyun was thinking, the old man suddenly appeared before him. The empty eye sockets seemed to be staring straight at him.
Feiyun couldn’t move and felt as if his soul was leaving his body.
Too fast! Feiyun didn’t blink at all and still couldn’t see the old man’s movement.
“A… half-human.” The old man had no tongue and teeth. His voice was extremely hoarse and deep.
There was still a strand of soul within the corpse – something truly unbelievable.
Feiyun gritted his teeth and tried to stop the mighty aura from crushing his body.
“Wh-who are you, Senior?” Feiyun struggled to speak.
“Di Zhong, Di Zhong, Di Zhong…” The old man repeated. [1]
Is this his name or a place? Feiyun had no idea.
The immemorial period was too long ago with plenty of masters. Only the fruit seemed to know all of these characters. The top wisdom masters right now in Sixth Central might not have the same knowledge.
“Is Di Zhong your name?”
The old man didn’t answer. He pondered for a while before speaking: “Your presence is welcome. Though you are only a half-human, you can still obtain my legacy.”
“Legacy?”
“A power I’ve been researching since time immemorial. I’ve finally understood it now. It can stop the Everlasting Law. Unfortunately, it’s too late now since I’m dead. This strand of soul will disperse soon too. If I had known back then, I would be the winner, the winner…” The old man sighed; his voice was filled with unwillingness.
Because he couldn’t accept defeat, he continued to search for a method to defeat his opponent until the present.
This obsession kept this strand of soul going for so long.
1. Di is imperial, Zhong is a burial mound or eldest child/senior. The meaning requires more context
