After returning to the inn from Shenfeng Academy, Chen Nan quickly packed his things and left, then checked into another inn.
The day after he left, Dongfang Fenghuang and the little princess led six or seven beautiful girls into the inn. They surrounded the room where Chen Nan had been staying and unleashed their magic—lightning, wind blades, flames…—which raged wildly until the room collapsed instantly.
The innkeeper and his staff were terrified, wondering why these students from the Divine Wind Academy were so angry.
When Dongfang Fenghuang discovered that no one was in the house, she turned ashen with anger. She asked the little princess, "Little troublemaker, didn't you say he lived here?"
Upon hearing the words "Little Trouble," the little princess said unhappily, "Don't call me Little Trouble, I hate that name. He did live here before, but who knew that this guy would be so cunning and run away first."
The girls nearby smiled upon hearing this; the little princess's name was so unique, and she was already quite famous. One girl said, "Little troublemaker, were you afraid your brother would get beaten up, so you sent him a message beforehand so he could escape?"
The little princess shrieked, "That scoundrel isn't my brother! I hate that guy so much, otherwise I wouldn't have come with Sister Phoenix to teach him a lesson. Also, my name isn't Little Trouble; you can call me Big Sister."
To the little princess's annoyance, all the girls giggled. One of them laughed and said, "You're only sixteen and you already want to be someone's older sister? Hehe, I think 'Little Trouble' sounds nice. Besides, everyone in the academy knows your name. You can't change it even if you want to."
Unable to find Chen Nan, the women had no choice but to compensate the innkeeper with a certain amount of gold coins before leaving.
That afternoon, when Chen Nan came here to "observe the enemy situation," he saw the scene before him and couldn't help but wipe a cold sweat, saying, "Women are truly terrifying. Luckily, I had the foresight."
The bright moon hangs high in the sky, its gentle light spreading far and wide.
The moonlight, like water, cast a hazy glow over the entire city of sin, making it appear as if draped in a light veil from afar.
In the dead of night, Chen Nan was wide awake. He pushed open the door, lightly leaped onto the roof, spread a straw mat on the tiles, and then lay down to gaze at the moonlit sky.
On this night of the full moon, he had a vague sense of unease. He had always firmly believed in his intuition. At first, he thought that something dangerous was about to happen, but as time went by, he dismissed that idea.
Rather than a feeling of unease, it was more like a tremor in his soul. Chen Nan felt something calling to him, a call that resonated with his soul, making him feel absent-minded.
This was definitely not the golden true energy that emanated from his body when he activated his family's profound martial arts. Instead, it resembled the faint holy light emanating from the hand bones of an ancient god. This holy radiance made Chen Nan feel extremely comfortable all over, but his heart was becoming increasingly restless.
At this moment, he could clearly sense the call, which was coming from the north of the city, the direction of the God War Ruins!
Chen Nan felt very confused. His body was emitting a mysterious "holy light". His intuition told him that this holy radiance was exactly the same as the light emitted by the divine bones. He vaguely felt that this was related to his resurrection from the ancient tomb of gods and demons.
An hour passed, and after a fierce internal struggle, Chen Nan could no longer bear it. He jumped up and headed towards the north of the city.
When he activated his family's secret technique, he found that the "holy light" on his body had disappeared, but the faint call still lingered in his heart.
After leaving the city, Chen Nan entered the mountains and forests. The mountains were very quiet at this time, with only the occasional chirping of night birds. The night breeze gently blew, and the fragrance of flowers and grasses permeated the forest.
He carefully sensed the call and swiftly traversed the mountains, startling the birds and beasts that roosted in the forest.
Half an hour later, Chen Nan arrived at the ruins of the Divine War, where he slowed his pace. Originally, this place was rarely visited, but recently, due to the rumors of the Divine Hand, cultivators from within a thirty-mile radius would appear every day, and it was only at night that this place was most peaceful.
Chen Nan crossed the mountains that had been broken by the ancient gods and arrived at the dried-up lake valley. The river had changed course, and the original lake had become a valley.
There were no tall trees in the valley, only some low shrubs and flowers. The unsettling call that had been emanating from this place was the source of his unease. He stood motionless in the center of the valley, opening his mind and body to merge with this world, and a holy radiance once again emanated from his body.
The moonlight was like water, and all was silent. A luminous figure stood alone in the middle of the valley.
At this moment, Chen Nan felt an absolute emptiness in his heart. Even with his eyes closed, he could sense every blade of grass and every tree around him. He saw two birds sleeping peacefully, their necks intertwined in a tree; he saw a mountain rat peeking out of its burrow; he saw a wild fox watching him warily from the shadows…
Although his eyes were closed, the surrounding scenery was vividly transmitted into his mind. In the extreme stillness, he merged with this world, and he could sense everything around him.
Finally, he discovered the source of the call—it came from beneath his feet. A faint ripple emanated from the ground, and in a daze, he seemed to hear a woman's cry: "I...want...to...see...the...day...again..."
Chen Nan suddenly woke up, but when he tried to catch the faint sound again, there was no sound at all, only a faint fluctuation entered his heart.
"Underground... that fluctuation actually came from underground!" he muttered to himself, looking down.
Chen Nan drew the long sword from his back, concentrating all his strength into the blade. In the hazy moonlight, the long sword shone with a dazzling light, as brilliant as a blazing sun. He then forcefully slashed it down onto the ground.
With a loud crash, sand and gravel flew everywhere, and a huge crack appeared in the center of the valley. Suddenly, a clear spring gushed out of the crack, rising more than two meters into the ground, and the cool water sprayed down onto the ground.
Chen Nan was startled and quickly retreated, but what surprised him even more was yet to come.
The huge crack he had cleaved with his long sword was slowly widening, and the surrounding soil was sinking. It was as if an earthquake had occurred in the valley, and the entire surface began to shake. Chen Nan was shocked and quickly ran out of the valley.
He stood at the edge of the valley, watching in astonishment as the changes within it unfolded. The entire valley was slowly crumbling, with crisscrossing cracks appearing throughout, the broken soil constantly collapsing downwards, and springs continuously gushing from the cracks to the surface.
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Upon closer inspection, Chen Nan discovered that beneath the surface lay a layer of fractured rock, and five feet below that layer was an underground lake. With a single strike, he created a breach in the underground lake, causing the water below to surge up. This triggered a chain reaction, causing the nearby fractured rock and soil to collapse, ultimately shattering and collapsing the fractured rock layer above the underground lake.
In a short time, the dried-up valley turned into a lake, and the water level continued to rise, causing the birds and animals living nearby to flee in panic.
Chen Nan glanced at the river that had changed course not far away and understood that the underground lake must have been formed thousands of years after the river changed course, and the river must have had a secret passage connecting it to the underground lake.
Half an hour later, the water level in the lake stopped rising and gradually calmed down, revealing a beautiful little lake in the original valley. The lake was as smooth as a mirror, the moonlight as clear as water, and a gentle breeze carrying the fragrance of wildflowers stirred the air. At this moment, the mountains and forests were tranquil and beautiful.
Chen Nan felt a surge of excitement, the call originating from the bottom of the lake!
From the deepest part of the lake emanated a holy light, the faint glow seemingly emanating from a piece of white jade. He knew that it was the ancient god's left hand, which many cultivators had been searching for for days, and that what had summoned him here must be the mysterious treasure within the ancient god's left hand!
Chen Nan couldn't visually estimate the depth of the lake, and he didn't know if he could safely dive to the bottom. The mysterious object in the ancient god's hand was indeed alluring, but the dark, lightless lakebed gave him a sense of danger, making him hesitant to jump into the lake.
He threw a huge rock into the lake, which splashed up a large amount of water and created ripples, but the lake remained still. Still somewhat uneasy, he thought of catching a mountain beast nearby and throwing it into the lake, but the huge noise from the sinking of the rocky strata in the valley had already scared away the birds and animals in the vicinity, and he circled around without catching anything.
Looking at the dark lake bottom, Chen Nan hesitated for a moment. Finally, he took off his outer clothes, put his long sword on the ground, and jumped into the lake with two gleaming daggers in his hands.
The lake water was icy cold, and the light in the lake was very dim. He could only vaguely see the scenery within a range of three or four zhang. Fortunately, the divine bones at the bottom of the lake were emitting a faint light, giving him a clear target.
Chen Nan descended with effort and soon arrived at the boundary between the original lake valley and the underground lake. The water was already six zhang deep here. Although he could feel some pressure, he was not seriously injured.
After entering the underground lake, he could vaguely see the surrounding scenery. It turned out to be an underground cave filled with stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowers, curtains, waterfalls and other karst formations, all in various shapes and forms, beautiful and magical.
Here, Chen Nan's heart skipped a beat. He sensed danger approaching, but the water was pitch black and hazy, making it difficult to spot anything unusual.
The ancient god's severed left hand did not sink to the bottom of the lake, but hung on a stone flower more than ten feet above the lake bottom. The fluctuations that drew him out of the City of Sin came from there.
Chen Nan struggled to dive down, and when he was less than half a zhang away from the ancient god's hand bone, he felt a chill run through his body. With the light emitted by the god bone, he could see the scene at the bottom of the lake.
Water snakes crawled all over the rocks and soil that had fallen from the original lake valley, and even more water snakes swam out from the soil and rocks. Countless water snakes danced on the bottom of the lake, as dense as weeds.
The sight in the water terrified Chen Nan. Although he knew that water snakes would not attack people unless provoked, he could not imagine the consequences if he accidentally swam into a group of water snakes.
The cave was about five zhang deep. When he carefully swam to the area with the stalactites, he already felt immense pressure.
The divine bone emitted a faint glow, appearing somewhat eerie against the dark lake bottom. A thin, transparent thread, like silkworm silk, was wrapped around the white, jade-like hand bone. Threaded on the thread was a jade ruyi the size of a thumb, crystal clear and dazzling, clearly a top-grade jade. There was not a trace of carving on it, as if it were perfectly formed by nature.
Chen Nan gently removed the jade ruyi from the divine bone and hung it around his neck. He could hardly contain his excitement; the mysterious jade that two ancient gods had fought so fiercely for had actually fallen into his hands.
He wanted to take the divine bone with him, but then he thought that if everyone knew that the ancient god's treasure was with it, and if people found out that he had found the divine bone, he would face endless pursuit, so he didn't touch it.
Just then, a strong sense of unease washed over him, and he felt a tremendous sense of crisis.
In that instant, Chen Nan noticed a ripple in the lake above his head. He hurriedly looked up and saw a water monster that was neither fish nor snake rushing toward him like an arrow. The monster was about ten feet long, with a single horn on its head, a snake's body and a fish's tail, and it was opening its blood-red mouth to bite him.
Chen Nan hurriedly dodged to the side. The water monster's sharp, sword-like teeth grazed past him, but its snake-like body suddenly coiled around his waist and abdomen.
This was his first time fighting in water, but it didn't affect his performance. He slashed his left-hand dagger at the giant mouth of the returning water monster, while his right-hand dagger fiercely slashed at the snake coiled around him.
Blood gushed forth as Chen Nan's two daggers inflicted fatal wounds on the water monster. His left-hand dagger was deeply embedded in the monster's upper palate, while his right-hand dagger severed its body. The blood blurred his vision. The water monster writhed violently and sank to the bottom of the lake, where it was instantly submerged by the water snakes.
He dared not linger and hurriedly swam upstream. But just then, another water monster appeared behind a cluster of stalactites. This water monster was as thin as a bucket and three zhang long. It looked much fiercer than the previous one. In the darkness of the lake bottom, the water monster's eyes were as bright as lamps, but they also exuded a chilling aura.
Chen Nan did not dare to make any rash moves, and coldly stared at it while holding two daggers.
The water monster didn't charge at him, but instead opened its enormous maw and spewed out a bolt of lightning. Although he dodged the lightning, the water was conductive, and the powerful current made his whole body numb. In an instant, he lost the ability to move.
The water monster twisted its serpentine body, its long tail lashing out at Chen Nan, whipping him horizontally three zhang (approximately 10 meters) through the water. Blood gushed from his mouth; unable to defend himself, the powerful lash had inflicted severe internal injuries.
The intense pain in his chest and abdomen restored sensation to his numb body. Just as he was about to move, he suddenly noticed four or five more water monsters, each over three zhang long, swimming rapidly towards him from a distance.
Chen Nan felt a chill run down his spine. One of these water monsters was already difficult for him to deal with, let alone so many. There was simply no hope of defeating them.
Blood was spilling from his mouth, and his body remained motionless. Several water monsters, smelling the blood, rushed towards him at high speed, all with their gaping maws revealing gleaming white teeth, which was extremely frightening.
Just as the gaping maws of several water monsters were about to touch Chen Nan's body, he quickly sank down and swung out two daggers with lightning speed. Blood gushed out, and the two water monsters were severely injured.
In that instant, he felt a powerful electric current once again render him unable to move, and at the same time, a giant tail lashed out at him. His body plummeted rapidly towards the bottom of the lake, and Chen Nan was terrified as he stared at the water snakes that resembled clumps of grass at the bottom.
A sharp pain brought him back to consciousness. More than a dozen water snakes had bitten him. Chen Nan felt a tingling sensation where he was bitten, and this numbness was rapidly spreading throughout his body.
He knew he had been poisoned. While spitting out blood, he forced himself to circulate his profound energy. A faint golden light emanated from Chen Nan's body, shaking off the water snakes that had bitten him. But then countless water snakes wriggled and buried him beneath them.
At this moment, water snakes crawled all over his body, from his arms to his hands and feet, causing goosebumps to rise on Chen Nan's skin. Although his protective inner energy prevented them from harming him, a chill still ran through him.
Through the dense swarm of water snakes, Chen Nan saw several water monsters biting the two wounded water monsters, blood gushing out. At the same time, more than a dozen water monsters swam towards them. In the darkness, a dozen pairs of strange eyes, as bright as lamplight, were cold and eerie, sending chills down one's spine.
In a mere instant, the two wounded and bleeding water monsters were torn apart and devoured by their companion, leaving not even a single bone behind. Chen Nan felt a chill run down his spine; this truly was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, and weakness meant death.
Although the water monsters kept peering into the lakebed, they had no choice but to retreat dejectedly in the face of the dense, tens of thousands of wriggling water snakes.
After a long while, the lake returned to calm. Chen Nan's family's secret martial arts continued to circulate, and he had already expelled the toxins from his body. However, his severe internal injuries could not be healed in a short time. He slowly bent his knees and squatted down on the ground, then pushed off the ground with both feet, and his body shot upwards like a golden arrow.
A dozen or so water monsters sensed the strong ripples in the water and quickly pursued him. Chen Nan was secretly anxious. He pointed two daggers at his shoulders, preparing to stab himself before losing consciousness and use the pain to regain feeling. At the same time, he pushed his profound internal energy to its limit, filling his body with protective true qi.
A powerful electric current surged towards him again. The instant Chen Nan sensed the current, he gently stabbed the dagger into his shoulder. The current was not as intense as he had imagined. He knew that the protective true energy emanating from his family's secret martial arts had played a certain role.
Despite the pain in his shoulder, the protective energy within him meant that Chen Nan did not lose his ability to move this time. However, the water monsters were far faster than him, and several of them caught up in the blink of an eye, opening their enormous, blood-red mouths to bite him.
Having no other choice, Chen Nan turned back to fight the water monsters at close range. Two sword energies erupted from his two daggers, piercing the bodies of two of the monsters and causing them to bleed profusely. However, he was also struck squarely by the giant tail of one of the monsters, making him feel as if his bones were about to break.
Fortunately, he was pulled upwards, and the powerful force propelled him quickly out of the underground lake. The wounded water monster was once again surrounded and attacked by his companions, and in the blink of an eye, he was reduced to nothing but bones and flesh.
When Chen Nan was only a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) from the lake surface, the water monster had already caught up. He threw his two daggers with all his might, and he vaguely saw blood gushing out. The water monster seemed to know that he was about to escape from the lake. This time, it did not attack its wounded companion, but charged towards him together.
In that life-or-death moment, Chen Nan unleashed every ounce of power within his body. His body shone with golden light, like a raging inferno, and the lake water around him began to boil. His body shot out of the water like a golden arrow and landed on the shore not far away.
The moment his body touched the ground, Chen Nan collapsed, completely drained of strength. He gasped for breath, greedily inhaling the fresh air.
Normally, he could stay underwater for half a day without needing to breathe, but today, in this life-or-death situation, he was injured repeatedly, and the constant strenuous exercise had prematurely exhausted his energy, almost causing him to choke on water.
It took Chen Nan a long time to catch his breath, and he stood up unsteadily.
"There's such a monstrous monster at the bottom of the lake! If I hadn't escaped quickly, I probably would have become an immortal this time!"
The lake has returned to calm, and the divine bones emit a faint glow from the dark lakebed. The water monsters have long since vanished without a trace.
"XXXX...you actually made me hurt myself..." Chen Nan cursed as he bandaged the wounds on his shoulders.
He rested by the lake for a while, then picked up his coat and longsword and headed toward the city of sin.