Chapter 446: Ancient Strange Beasts

These "cocoons" were gray-white, their surfaces covered in vein-like patterns, pulsing faintly; the large ones were as big as houses, the small ones still several zhang in size.

Through the semi-transparent cocoon walls, faint silhouettes of twisted, bizarre creatures could be seen curled inside—some fish-like but not fish, some beast-like but not beast—all exuding an ancient, cold, slumbering aura.

Farther away, at the end of the waterway, it seemed to connect to a much larger underground space, where the energy fluctuations and spatial distortions grew stronger, and faint points of幽blue light flickered like ghostly flames in the night sky.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the strange sight ahead and the intensifying energy fluctuations—

Sudden transformation!

Directly beneath the mechanical fish, from the ink-black, bottomless water, a vast, abyssal mouth erupted without warning, lined with spiral-shaped razor teeth!

The mouth's diameter exceeded three zhang, its edges writhing with countless tiny, leech-like tentacles, emitting a terrifying suction force that, like a black hole, swallowed the mechanical fish and everyone on its back in one gulp.

This attack came too suddenly, too fast!

It was as if the giant mouth had been lurking deep beneath the water, patiently waiting until the group was fully within its strike range before launching this lethal blow!

Even Elder Han and Elder Wan had been distracted by the toxic mists and the strange phenomena ahead, failing to detect it in time!

"Watch out!"

Elder Mo was the first to react, roaring in horror.

But it was too late!

The terrifying suction instantly engulfed the mechanical fish and the surrounding water, causing even the two elders in midair to freeze momentarily.

The mechanical fish, like trapped in mud, could not escape even with full power—it was dragged downward by an irresistible force, along with its terrified passengers, straight into the bottomless abyssal mouth!

In the instant the giant mouth appeared, Chen Mu's body hair stood on end, a fierce sense of danger surging through him—he nearly abandoned the fish and fled immediately—but in a flash of lightning, he saw the same shock and fury flash across Elder Han and Elder Wan's faces; yet they did not flee, instead simultaneously fixing their gazes on the deep interior of the mouth, where a faint, dark-golden glow pulsed slowly, like a heart!

Was that the entrance to the ancient relic's core?

Or something else?

A sharp gleam flashed in Chen Mu's eyes—he did not flee, but instead channeled all remaining energy from the mechanical fish into the defensive patterns and thrusters at its head and back.

"Hold steady!"

Imitating Liu Xianbo's voice, Chen Mu roared—the mechanical fish's scales suddenly bristled, erupting in blinding blue light to form an elliptical energy shield, while its rear thrusters fired in reverse, attempting to slow its descent.

Elder Han and Elder Wan also acted simultaneously!

Elder Han flung a silver net from his sleeve, which instantly expanded, trying to catch the falling mechanical fish.

Elder Wan spat out a mouthful of essence blood, forming a grotesque venomous skull that slammed hard against the side of the giant mouth, attempting to disrupt its consumption.

Boom!!

The giant mouth closed.

Terrifying energy collisions erupted underwater, sending a towering column of water skyward, temporarily dispersing large swathes of the toxic mists.

The mechanical fish, its passengers, Elder Han's silver net, and Elder Wan's venomous skull—all were swallowed into boundless darkness and terrifying suction…

……

Chen Mu felt as if he had fallen into a bottomless, directionless abyss, one driven solely by the will to devour.

The mechanical fish's blue shield shattered like foam the moment it touched the darkness; ear-splitting metallic groans echoed from all sides—the fish's structure was enduring unimaginable pressure.

Wang Qi and the others on his back let out brief cries of alarm, then were drowned by violent forces and weightlessness, their voices rapidly fading.

In the instant the shield shattered, Chen Mu leapt from the cockpit!

True Qi surged wildly through his body, barely extending a chi shield of one chi around him to resist the omnipresent tearing and crushing forces.

His gaze flashed like lightning; in absolute darkness, relying on his acute perception of energy fluctuations and the faint spatial resonance of the Star Token, he struggled to discern direction.

He saw Elder Han's silver net glowing faintly in the dark—but it held for less than a breath before being shredded into countless specks of light by invisible forces.

Elder Wan's venomous skull didn't even stir a ripple before vanishing into the darkness.

The figures of the two Heavenly Palace elders flickered dimly in the distance—they too had suffered heavy impacts, each using their own methods to stabilize themselves, their faces grim.

Elder Mo and the others were completely undetectable—likely dead.

This was not a creature's digestive tract!

Was this a spatial trap?

Or perhaps a "gateway" connecting to another dimension?

He did not know how long he had fallen—perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.

The darkness around him began to thin; ahead, faint light appeared.

Not dark gold—but a pale blue luminescence, as if rising from the deepest ocean depths.

Thud!

As if piercing a thick membrane of viscous water, the pressure around him suddenly lessened.

Chen Mu tumbled from midair, his feet touching solid ground.

Cold, slick, covered in fine sand and some kind of slime.

He stabilized his stance, alertly scanning his surroundings.

This was no longer absolute darkness, but a vast, naturally formed underwater cavern.

The ceiling and walls were embedded with countless strange minerals emitting pale blue luminescence, bathing the entire space in an eerie, dreamlike blue glow.

The air was unnaturally cold and damp, thick with the heavy stench of the sea and a deeper, more ancient life force.

At the cavern's center lay a vast, bottomless pool of幽blue water, its surface like solidified sapphire, utterly still yet radiating a chilling, heart-stopping energy.

Along the pool's edge lay scattered enormous, peculiar bones—humanoid, beast-like, and many unnameable—translucent as jade, untouched by time, clearly belonging to beings far from ordinary.

Most striking of all, floating directly above the pool, was a mass of dark-golden light!

The glow was about the size of a millstone, constantly shifting shape—sometimes pulsing like a heart, sometimes rippling like water; at its core, something seemed enclosed, indistinct.

But Chen Mu clearly sensed a vast, ancient will, steeped in water-element energy and majesty, emanating from the light.

The spatial distortion and intense energy source he had felt earlier originated from here!

Yet Chen Mu's gaze was immediately drawn to the massive shadow coiled beside the pool.

It was a creature too difficult to describe accurately in words.

It lay coiled there, like a small mountain, most of its body submerged in the deep blue pool, the exposed parts covered in thick, dark blue scales nearly black, their edges glowing with faint golden patterns, each scale the size of a washbasin, shimmering with a metallic luster.

Its head resembled a dragon's, yet more ferocious, crowned with two curved, spiral-patterned dark golden horns, and beneath its jaw hung long, deep blue whiskers like steel needles.

Its aura was profound as an abyss, vast as the sea; though it seemed to be in a state of stillness or sealing, its power not yet fully awakened, even the mere natural pressure it emitted made Chen Mu struggle to breathe!

An ancient monstrous beast!

And an extremely powerful one at that.

It was very likely the guardian of this Hanhai Sect branch ruins, or an ancient entity sealed away along with the ruins to this day.