Chapter 531

First there was Pangu, then heaven; this poor Daoist was still before Pangu; the karmic fire red lotus refines the golden elixir, where dragon and tiger rise, turtle and snake coil…

Wu Tie cultivated the supreme Daoist method of transforming one qi into three purities, taking over two months, then spent several more days to fully stabilize his avatar, also consuming large quantities of elixirs to replenish his original's expended vital energy. Sensing the violent heavenly tribulation outside and hearing the Nine Dragon Coffin master's angry roar, he hurriedly emerged from his underground seclusion, barely arriving in time.

Relying on the Yin-Yang Two-Qi Vessel, he forcibly stored the Nine Dragon Coffin; Wu Tie's avatar, the Yin-Yang Daoist, vanished without a trace. In the void, only these four lines of Daoist verses drifted down slowly. In the high heavens, the tribulation clouds wildly circled and swirled, but they could find no target on which to vent their rage.

The tribulation clouds persisted in the high sky for a full hour, then accompanied by a heaven-shaking thunderclap, they reluctantly dispersed slowly. This tribulation cloud spanning ten million li was formed from the primordial energy of the boundless heavens and earth; the moment it dispersed, the surrounding seas of the coffin-shaped great island were stirred into towering primordial-energy tides, unleashing an earth-shaking tsunami roar.

Visible to the naked eye, various strange lights converged into a frenzied surge, howling as wave after wave washed over the island.

This great island was originally the matrix that nurtured the Nine Dragon Coffin; now that the handsome Daoist has seized the coffin, the island instantly lost all its numinous qualities. Layers of soil, sand, and rock were shattered by the primordial-energy tides; the island rapidly fractured and collapsed, while towering waves tens of thousands of feet high rose around it, and the island could be seen slowly sinking into the seabed.

The fugitives barely surviving on the island each exerted their utmost, employing divine abilities and secret arts, transforming into streaks of light, clusters of lightning fire and thunder, and flows of yin wind and cloud, fleeing swiftly from the collapsing island.

Hu Tu and Hu You, faces flushed with panic and defeat, fled back to the great warship, standing before Old Master Hu, looking bewildered and clueless.

How did that handsome Daoist appear?

Where did he come from?

From what quarter does he hail?

What is the meaning of those four lines he left behind, which resemble poetry yet are not quite poetry, seemingly containing some extremely profound implication?

Especially Hu You and his junior peers, they had never even heard the name Pangu. These primordial mythic matters, in the Divine State of Great Jin, are absolutely taboo, on par with the Nine Turns Mysterious Technique—strictly forbidden. Perhaps the imperial clan's secret library in the Wenhua Hall might hold some fragmented records, but the Hu family, skilled only in slaughter and arson, does not read.

"Father?" Hu Tu asked timidly, his face twitching violently.

Old Master Hu drew a deep breath, held it for a while, then slowly exhaled. Looking at Hu Tu, he murmured in a low voice: "It's not your fault, nor Hu You's... this fellow... the aura on this island is extremely yin and evil, yet also extremely yang and proper, yin and yang giving birth to each other... he seems to be an innate spirit born of this island itself."

He cracked a smile and said in a deep voice: "This is an incident, a pure accident. I will inform the ancestor of the situation here... uh, we will continue advancing into the southeastern deep sea. Our next target remains in the deep sea."

Old Master Hu spoke as if light-hearted and carefree, but in truth his heart was trembling.

This time, to obtain the Nine Dragon Coffin, they invoked the gods to send down a divine tribulation, which cost the Linghu clan a huge price. They had thought that with the Nine Dragon Coffin they could rely on it to subdue the next innate supreme treasure in their plan.

But the Nine Dragon Coffin was taken by someone, and Old Master Hu still lacks a trump card capable of countering those innate supreme treasures. Inevitably, the next target will also require invoking the gods to act.

But those greedy gods, each one more avaricious than a leech—having them act once incurs a cost... Old Master Hu vaguely knows some of the price Linghu Qingqing must pay to summon them, an astronomical figure that makes him feel heartbroken.

"Examine every fugitive carefully, see if any suspicious person has slipped among them." After pondering for a while, Old Master Hu ultimately issued this order.

He would rather believe that the handsome Daoist is an innate spirit born of the heavens and earth on the island ahead, than believe he has any connection to the fugitives. The Hu family's fugitives—could they bring other fugitives here? Their lives are in Old Master Hu's hands, and their bodies bear his restrictions.

These fugitives could not possibly threaten the Hu family's grand scheme.

But what if?

Old Master Hu waved his hand; a group of Hu descendants, leading a large contingent of Fox-Tail elites, surrounded the fugitives who had fled the island like wolves and tigers, using various secret treasures and divine abilities to examine each one carefully.

Wu Tie's Daoist attainment is extremely high, and he carries the unpredictable Nine Turns Mysterious Technique; his foundation is the Supreme Daoist Scripture of the Primordial Beginning, which encompasses all heavenly and earthly mysteries. Although the Hu family's secret treasures and various detection arts are clever, they can do nothing against him.

To all appearances, he is just an ordinary cultivator who practices a common fire-and-lightning dual-attribute method, using it to break through the Embryonic Storage realm as a common martial practitioner. Thus Wu Tie passed the inspection easily, arousing no suspicion.

Beside the three great warships, the enormous ultra-long-distance spatial gate withstood the primordial-energy tide from the dispersing tribulation clouds; after many days of labor by the Hu family's formation masters, the gate was finally completed.

The immense spatial gate slowly opened, and turtle-shell boats streamed out continuously; the second and third armies of fugitives that the Hu family has gathered over millennia rushed to reinforce.

Alongside them appeared numerous squadrons of standard warships.

These warships, in size, shape, and appearance, are identical to the standard vessels used by the Great Jin military; however, the warships privately built by the Hu family, in materials and in the formations, restrictions, etc., they employ, are several times stronger than the military's standard warships.

The warships secretly stockpiled by the Hu family, when facing the Great Jin military's standard warships, can at least achieve a kill-loss ratio of one to twenty.

As the supreme commander of the Great Jin military, Linghu Qingqing has siphoned off the state's most advanced technology, finest material inventions, strongest casters, runemasters, formation masters, and so on into her own coffers, leaving Great Jin only the leftover scraps.

Old Master Hu rallied morale, summoning the Fox-Tail elites and the affiliated fugitives who had come to aid, delivering an impassioned, highly persuasive speech that drove his subordinates' spirits to the utmost. Afterwards he bestowed generous rewards; even Wu Tie, who had earned no merit this time and merely paddled along, received a chest of heavy gold ingots and ample cultivation resources.

Led by the three great warships, hundreds of standard warships and hundreds of turtle-shell boats surrounded the massive fleet, which departed this sea region at top speed toward the southeastern deep sea.

Along the way, Old Master Hu maintained constant contact with Linghu Qingqing through secret treasures and arts.

Wu Tie hid among the fugitives, silently observing Old Master Hu's expression over these days. At first, Hu's face was black as if someone had spat a mouthful of dog blood on him; after two days, his complexion improved considerably, becoming gleeful and pleased; finally, he seemed to have borne considerable pressure, his expression turning stern, the corners of his eyes drooping, wearing the miserable look of someone owed thirty thousand taels of gold.

Obviously, Linghu Qingqing rebuked him and also imposed great pressure on him.

Without sparing consumption, the fleet burned vast quantities of essence crystals each day, racing across the sea like wind and lightning for over two months; with these specially crafted warships capable of traveling tens of thousands of li in an hour, the fleet covered an enormous distance to the southeast, passing many islands, before a breathtaking coral reef island appeared ahead.

The multicolored coral reefs resembled gemstones, their surfaces smooth and round, layered in concentric rings upon the sea surface. The portion of the reefs above water is not large, only a few zhang high, but they twist and stretch out, extremely long, extremely long.

These elongated coral reef islands have graceful lines; viewed from above, countless reefs trace a colossal natural sigil across the sea surface. In the four directions—southeast, northwest, northeast, southwest—the gigantic natural sigil spans a full million li in length and width.

The surrounding sea surface was as smooth as blue silk, without a ripple.

Beneath the sea, the naked eye can see streams of heavenly and earthly primordial energy silently flowing into this gigantic natural sigil formed by the coral reef islands, continually being devoured by the sigil.

At the core of the gigantic natural sigil formed by the coral reef islands lies an enormous blue hole.

It is a water-filled pit a hundred li in diameter, of unknown depth. Because this cylindrical pit is exceedingly deep, from above the blue hole appears deep blue, growing darker the deeper one looks; after gazing long, the deep blue turns to black‑purple, then pure black, evoking an immense, creeping dread as if one's soul might be swallowed whole.

Here there seems to be little danger; within the gigantic sigil formed by the coral reef islands, the seawater is only several zhang deep, and below lies a beach of multicolored coral sand where countless small fish, turtles, seahorses, shells, shrimp, etc., frolic and chase.

On the beach grow countless multicolored sea anemones, each blossom trembling gently, slowly swaying with the current, exquisitely beautiful, like a fairyland. Compared with the island where the Nine Dragon Coffin lay, this sea area is practically a paradise of tranquility and harmony.

"The gods say that an innate supreme treasure is also nurtured here… and the danger is not great; the greatest difficulty is merely how to fish that treasure out." Old Master Hu frowned, pointing at the enormous blue hole beneath the sea, and said in a deep voice: "This blue hole is a hundred li in diameter and reaches a depth of a million li; the treasure lies at the extreme bottom of the sea… gentlemen, who dares to go down and try?"

Old Master Hu said in a deep voice: "No need to salvage the treasure; merely ascertain the seabed conditions, and I will reward him with a set of ten Grand Dao precious elixirs, helping him comprehend a Grand Dao principle to the utmost perfection of the Embryonic Storage realm!"

A set of ten Grand Dao precious elixirs, each enabling ten percent of a Grand Dao principle to integrate into the divine fetus.

Ten of them allow an Embryonic Storage cultivator to perfect an entire Grand Dao principle.

As soon as Old Master Hu finished speaking, he saw silhouettes tumbling down like dumplings, "plunk plunk" leaping from the turtle-shell boats, each employing divine arts to dive toward the blue hole's bottom.

Wu Tie stood at the bow of the turtle-shell boat, gazing down at the abyss-like blue hole that seemed able to swallow a person, and involuntarily shook his head.

A blue hole a million li deep?

Leaving aside whatever hazards may lie inside the blue hole, just speaking of its water depth of a million li… the water at the bottom is likely compressed into a substance as solid as steel plate; an ordinary cultivator can descend at most one‑tenth of that depth before being crushed to death by the terrifying pressure.

These several thousand fugitives only cared for Old Master Hu's bounty, giving no thought to whether their bodies could endure it, thus embodying the term "fugitive" to the fullest.

Black Tiger poked his head out and approached; in the Nine Dragon Coffin battle his luck had been good, and he managed to survive to the end. In the entire Green Willow Manor, only about a hundred twenty fugitives remained alive, losses exceeding sixty percent.

"Xiong Kuang, you're not going down?" Black Tiger glanced at the blue hole and clicked his tongue.

"I come from Hanmo Prefecture; I don't know how to swim." Wu Tie gave Black Tiger a sideways look: "Even a sea of fire, I would charge into. But this water… what do you think the conditions are like under a million li of water?"

Black Tiger rubbed his chin and muttered: "My cultivation isn't enough for a million li of seawater… tsk, even a Diamond Iron Man would be crushed to pulp."

The two chatted, and on the sea surface below, bloodwater had already surged up. Soon, dozens of cultivators spat out blood mouthful after mouthful, wretchedly floated to the surface, swaying as they set up escape lights, and with difficulty flew back to the turtle-shell boat.

The water here is extremely heavy; at a depth of one chi below, the pressure equals that of a depth of one zhang in ordinary rivers, lakes, and seas. Is the water here a million li deep? That would match the depth of ten million li in an ordinary deep sea! Without a water-controlling secret treasure, death is certain! A burly man stood trembling at the bow, spitting blood while shouting loudly.

Hu Lao Ye's face instantly drooped.

At a place where the water is one chi deep, the pressure equals that of a depth of one zhang in ordinary rivers, lakes, and seas?

This Blue Abyss, according to the news relayed by the various gods, has a water depth of one million li……Isn't that, the pressure equals that of an ordinary deep sea of ten million li?

Goodness, Hu Lao Ye's father, hey—unless it's a true deity, who could dive into this deep sea and retrieve the treasure below?

"Father, unless we have a state-protected divine artifact for protection, otherwise none of us here can dive into the Blue Abyss!" Hu Tu lowered his voice, carefully saying to Hu Lao Ye: "Here, there really is no other risk, but this water is just too deep, too deep!"

Hu Lao Ye drooped his eyelids, speaking slowly: "Now, what I can think of, what I might possibly get my hands on, the only state-protected divine artifact–level treasure……"

Hu Tu's eyes lit up: "Black Heaven Cauldron?"

Hu Lao Ye slowly nodded: "Naturally it's the Black Heaven Cauldron. To obtain the treasure deep in the Blue Abyss, we……"

Before Hu Lao Ye's words had finished, a figure flashed in the void, and an extremely handsome Daoist appeared out of thin air before the great ship. The Yin-Yang Daoist, with his right hand loosely supporting a Nine Dragon Coffin that had transformed into a length of three chi, his whole body exuding misty cold qi, pointed at the Blue Abyss below and burst into loud laughter.

"The aura here is extraordinary; there must be a supreme treasure nurtured…… This treasure is fated with me, so this humble Daoist will not stand on ceremony."

The Yin-Yang Daoist laughed loudly; his Nine Dragon Coffin spewed forth ten thousand zhang of cold light, emitting boundless yin qi, which formed a huge barrier enveloping his entire body, like a massive sphere, with a 'whoosh' it plunged into the Blue Abyss, and then, with cold light flashing all the way, it swiftly sank beneath the water.

Hu Lao Ye and Hu Tu's faces suddenly turned ashen.

The Nine Dragon Coffin is absolutely a state-protected divine artifact–level treasure; the Yin-Yang Daoist holding the Nine Dragon Coffin can certainly descend to the depths of the Blue Abyss and obtain that supreme treasure nurtured by the spiritual cavern and blessed land deep under the sea.

"Second time again, second time again…… Daoist, Daoist, you, you, you deserve to die!"

Hu Lao Ye, furious, lifted his head and let out a piercing whistle, his heart feeling as if it would burst.