Chapter 999 - 967: Underground Cold Pond

"It is indeed possible to mine Ice Flood Dragon Stones."

Confirming the mining value, Chen Changfeng’s expression turned joyful.

Next, Lu Changfeng conducted a thorough investigation of the surrounding area.

Spending more than a day, constantly surveying the terrain and landscape, marking various locations, and finally reached a conclusion.

He called over Lu Zhiwei and others and discussed the results of this exploration.

"This Ice Flood Dragon Stone vein stretches across the land from north to south, about two hundred miles long and about thirty miles wide. According to my observations, this is a small ore vein that can be continuously mined for around ninety years."

Lu Changfeng explained the details, and as for whether there was an Ice Flood Dragon nearby, he hadn’t found that within this short period.

After learning the value of the ore vein, everyone was quite pleased. The value of a single Ice Flood Dragon Stone is just over one hundred Spirit Stones, and the ability to mine continuously for ninety years would be a massive fortune.

To determine whether there was a hidden Ice Flood Dragon, Lu Changfeng and Lu Zhiwei temporarily stayed on Red Mist Mountain for the next month, employing Divine Sense and various methods to examine a radius of ten thousand miles.

The focus needed to be on the area around the Ice Flood Dragon Stone vein.

This continued for a month, and Lu Zhiwei finally made a discovery.

In the western part of Red Mist Mountain, around three thousand miles away, she detected an underground cave where there existed a massive cold pond occupying half of the cave’s area.

The appearance of a cold pond underground is not uncommon.

The strange part is that the pond is exceptionally large, ample enough to accommodate several Flood Dragons, and the temperature is cold, perfect for Ice Flood Dragons to live.

Around the cold pond, Lu Zhiwei also discovered a peculiar stone named Flood Dragon Breath Stone.

The so-called Flood Dragon Breath Stone is a mineral formed after being long imbued with the breath of a Flood Dragon, with a tier better than Ice Flood Dragon Stone, reaching Tier Three Lower Grade level.

With the cold pond and the appearance of Flood Dragon Breath Stones, these indications confirm that there definitely lived an Ice Flood Dragon in this cave.

As events progressed to this point, Lu Zhiwei prepared to delve her Divine Sense into the cold pond for investigation.

Using Divine Sense for investigation feels quite intrusive for cultivators, provoking resistance at being examined this way.

Typically, only High-Tier Cultivators or those close to them would employ Divine Sense to inspect others’ cultivation aura.

For demon beasts, those Tier Four and Below don’t mind much about cultivators’ Divine Sense probing, as many can’t even sense it.

But Tier Five demon beasts have already gained enlightenment, with intelligence equivalent to children in their teenage years, forming their own thoughts.

Upon detecting cultivators’ Divine Sense, they feel their privacy being invaded.

Thus, deploying Divine Sense to probe a Tier Five demon beast is risky and highly likely to incite its wrath.

But this concerns the safety of Zhang Family on Red Mist Mountain and the millions of ordinary people within a thousand-mile radius, making it necessary to take this gamble.

If Ice Flood Dragons are found, Lu Zhiwei wouldn’t hesitate to drive them away or attack.

After notifying Lu Changfeng and others and preparing against possible threats.

The next day, Lu Zhiwei took Lu Changfeng, Song Minghui, Zhang Nianchuan, and several senior members of the Zhang Family to the vicinity of the underground cave over three thousand miles from Red Mist Mountain.

This underground cave is situated beside an underground dark river.

The dark river passes through areas with over a dozen cave openings, ranging in size with the smallest about one yard wide and the largest spanning a hundred yards.

The cave entrance discovered by Lu Zhiwei, suspected of hiding an Ice Flood Dragon, approached a hundred yards, resembling a pit sitting before them.

Due to the dark river’s enormous size, stretching at least a hundred thousand miles, flowing underground across Lingxi, eventually converging into Qingli Sea; thus, tracking Ice Flood Dragons along the dark river would evidently take too much time.

Luckily, Lu Zhiwei made a discovery here, estimating the Ice Flood Dragon might be in the cold pond within this underground cave.

"This is the place."

Setting foot here, perhaps inside the cave indeed harbors Ice Flood Dragons hidden and thriving, Zhang Renmo’s expression was fairly grave, his heart filled with tension.

"Senior, this place is merely over three thousand miles from our Red Mist Mountain, should Ice Flood Dragons truly reside here, we implore your righteous intervention to consider Zhang Family’s safety!"

Zhang Renmo’s tone carried a hint of plead, his gaze shifting to Lu Zhiwei and Lu Changfeng.

A three-thousand-mile distance, for Tier Five demon beasts, takes less than a day to traverse, leaving Zhang Renmo and Zhang Family cultivators intensely anxious.

If Ice Flood Dragons roam nearby, they had unknowingly become neighbors with such a threat for hundreds of years.

Not knowing allows peace of mind living.

Yet knowing equates to being stalked by a beast lurking in the dark, not sure when it might attack.

By then, Zhang Family’s strength would be insufficient to fend off the beast, only to become its prey.

"Why worry, Clan Leader Zhang? If there’s truly Ice Flood Dragons underground, whether Zhang Family sends for aid or even if commoners report, Cyan Mountain Sect would equally prioritize it and not stand idly by."

Lu Changfeng seriously replied, glancing at Zhang Renmo.

Beside him, Zhang Nianchuan and Song Minghui nodded silently, recognizing Cyan Mountain Sect’s commitment to the issue.

"Good, good, thank you, seniors."

Hearing Lu Changfeng, Zhang Renmo felt a bit relieved.

After a brief conversation among them, Lu Zhiwei urged everyone to prepare for action before slowly spreading her Divine Sense to probe underground.

The Divine Sense of Golden Core Cultivators can cover a maximum distance of thirty thousand meters.

Since Lu Zhiwei practiced the Profound Pure Jade Maiden Heart Scripture, her Divine Sense intensity exceeded same-tier cultivators by roughly double, exploring up to sixty thousand meters.

This time, after penetrating five or six hundred meters underground, she detected the cave and cold pond again.

With Divine Sense penetrating deeper, the scene within the cold pond vividly appeared in Lu Zhiwei’s view.

In the cold pond, the water was clear, not a trace of creatures until delving thirty meters where the water grew colder, Spirit Fish emerged.

Some Spirit Fish, sensitive to the presence of Divine Sense intrusion, avoided it and swam rapidly.

Continuing down another hundred meters, the water turned even chillier and dimmer at the pond’s bottom.

At this point, Lu Zhiwei’s expression tightened as she noticed a massive snake-like black shadow poised at the pond’s bottom, unmoving.

Due to the dim lighting, it was hard to discern the shadow’s form with just one’s eyes.

Yet with Divine Sense detection, upon contact, Lu Zhiwei identified the creature’s origin.

"Ice Flood Dragon!"

As soon as the words left her lips, the Ice Flood Dragon at the cold pond’s bottom, disturbed by Divine Sense, felt an impending threat, suddenly opened its eyes.