Chapter 63: Soul Confrontation

It's over, I'm really going to die here today.

Xu Chen wailed inwardly, and in the end, he was dragged deeper and deeper without any resistance, but then he slowly began to feel that something was not quite right.

Just a moment ago, he had tested the depth with a stone, and the water was at most seven or eight zhang deep, but right now he felt he had descended at least several dozen zhang and still hadn't reached the bottom; furthermore, his body was still accelerating downward, and his surroundings seemed to have fallen into a state of suspended spacetime, where not only could he not feel the water current, but he couldn't even hear any sound.

However, at this moment, his Divine Sense could no longer extend outside his body, so he could not be certain of the situation around him, and under the erosion of the Black Water, he had slowly begun to lose the ability to feel physical pain or changes in the outside world; he only felt that his Divine Sense had been completely enveloped by the roaring, churning Black Water, and the ink-black tide surged from all directions toward the Blue Light Treasure Bottle, seemingly intent on completely devouring his last trace of Divine Sense.

But then, something even stranger happened to him.

Under the impact and encirclement of the Black Water, it seemed as if the only thing left between heaven and earth was the treasure bottle emitting blue light, with a fist-sized blue ball of light suspended inside, keeping his consciousness in a state of extraordinary clarity.

At this moment, Xu Chen felt like a reef in an endless pitch-black ocean, swaying slightly under the impact of the gale and torrential rain, yet remaining safe and sound.

Seemingly sensing that the impact of the Black Water was ineffective, the black tide became increasingly violent, with low and irritable roars mixed within it, and things like black tentacles and vines stretched out from the black tide, winding toward the treasure bottle from all directions.

"Ga ga ga ga..."

Xu Chen could clearly hear the sound made by the contraction of the tentacles.

A large number of tentacles climbed and wound around the mouth of the bottle, seemingly having found a way to break through Xu Chen's defense, and thus they swarmed in to drill inside.

The Blue Light Treasure Bottle began to vibrate under the continuous attacks, and the Jade Bead seemed to sense the crisis and began to resist; the light of the treasure bottle grew brighter and brighter, releasing a blinding blue light to resist the attacks of the tentacles, and the black tentacles wrapped around the outside of the treasure bottle began to emit black mist and slowly disintegrate and disperse.

The emotion hidden within the black tide became even more enraged, continuously emitting earth-shaking, low roars, and the churning tide surged against the treasure bottle even more crazily, like a burst river or sea; the Blue Light Treasure Bottle vibrated violently within the Black Water, beginning to totter.

Xu Chen felt his Divine Sense being riddled with holes by the impact, and his soul's icy chill began to lose its defense.

He now had a very strange illusion, as if he himself were this Blue Light Treasure Bottle, only he could not feel the situation inside; he could feel the impact of the black tide and the attacks of the tentacles clearly, yet he was viewing this unprecedented confrontation from the perspective of a bystander, as if it had nothing to do with him—an illusion similar to a split soul.

But he knew that once the Blue Light Treasure Bottle was destroyed by the Black Water and the tentacles, his own Soul would be instantly swallowed by the black tide and then become food for these tentacles.

This was a confrontation purely on the level of the soul.

But this kind of confrontation was far beyond his current cultivation realm, and perhaps only a great cultivator who had begun to cultivate a Primordial Spirit after Spirit Transformation could participate.

But standing idly by had never been his character.

After all, this was a great battle concerning his own life and death; he needed to help the Blue Jade Bead and the treasure bottle win this defensive battle, otherwise, he would die in the Black Water today.

This godforsaken place was deep in a mine shaft dozens of zhang underground; if he died here, the entire Taiyuan Sect would never know, not even a trace would be left behind, and he would thus become a disciple of the Taiyuan Sect who had mysteriously disappeared.

But to help the Blue Jade Bead guard the treasure bottle, he needed to make contact with the Jade Bead.

And the Jade Bead was currently inside this illusory Blue Light Treasure Bottle, and it seemed only the mouth of the bottle could be entered, but his Divine Sense could not penetrate it at all.

But at this moment, Xu Chen could not afford to waste time, so he could only continue to drive his Divine Sense with all his might, squeezing into the mouth of the bottle frantically along with the black tentacles.

Seemingly sensing the movement of Xu Chen's Divine Sense, the black tentacles also became more frantic; dozens of tentacles like giant pythons roared and rolled over, continuously squeezing Xu Chen's Divine Sense, seemingly wanting to rush into the treasure bottle first.

Thus, both sides fought continuously at the mouth of the bottle.

Xu Chen felt his Divine Sense being entangled, torn, and crushed by the tentacles time and time again, yet he dared not give up in the slightest, exerting all his strength to fight for even the slightest opportunity.

Finally, under the powerful impact of the black tentacles, the blue light at the mouth of the bottle began to dim, and a large number of tentacles scrambled to drill inside, chasing the direction of the blue light toward the dazzling ball of light suspended in the pitch-black center.

Xu Chen also exerted all his strength, chasing after the tentacles, pushing his Divine Sense with all his might to rush toward the blue ball of light.

He knew that this might be his only chance to survive today.

Only by making contact with the Blue Jade Bead first and triggering that powerful blue light impact again could he possibly repel the unknown danger hidden within the black tide.

However, as the saying goes, "the mountain looks close but the horse runs to death"; looking at the blue ball of light suspended not far away, Xu Chen felt his Divine Sense gradually becoming unable to keep up, his speed getting slower and slower, gradually as if he had fallen into boundless, viscous mud, where every step forward required all his strength.

And the black tentacles were the same; their speed seemed a bit faster than his, but they also became slower and slower. Finally, Xu Chen's Divine Sense could no longer move forward, and the black tentacles, under the illumination of the blue light, were likewise trembling and churning powerlessly, yet they could not advance even a fraction.

"Woo~~~"

A low roar seemed to come from beyond the nine heavens, resonating like sound waves from the direction of the bottle mouth, echoing throughout the entire Jade Bottle.

Under the vibration of the sound waves, the black tentacles erupted with terrifying power and extended forward again.

Xu Chen already felt an incomparable icy chill at this moment, as if his soul had been thoroughly frozen, and he gradually began to lose contact with his Divine Sense.

"No, I must survive; as long as there is a glimmer of hope, I must not give up."

In a daze, Xu Chen mustered his last remaining strength to feel the rhythm of the sound wave vibrations, then began to imitate the movement method of the black tentacles, condensing his Divine Sense into a thin, weak vine, desperately squeezing forward, drilling forward.

This method actually worked; he felt his Divine Sense finally move again.

"Then let's add a bit more force; I will survive, ah~~"

Xu Chen's soul let out a silent roar that only he could hear. Under his drive, his Divine Sense condensed to be thinner and thinner, and stronger and stronger, eventually slowly catching up to the black tentacles, then slowly surpassing them, getting closer and closer to the blue ball of light.

Until the end, he felt his Divine Sense had become as thin as the tip of a needle, finally arriving at the edge of the familiar Blue Jade Bead, and then, using his last bit of strength, he fiercely stabbed it into the ball of light.

"Bang~"

Following an extremely faint sound that echoed in the Jade Bottle, Xu Chen's Divine Sense felt as if it had hit an outer wall, then passed through it. Suddenly, his vision cleared; in the boundless pitch-black, a blue starry sky rushed toward him. Those scattered blue light spots were like distant nebulae slowly rotating and moving, appearing near and far, boundless and endless.

"What is this?"

Just as Xu Chen was astonished, suddenly a mass of Blue Starlight swept over like a tide, enveloping this wisp of his consciousness. Instantly, his vision was filled with brilliant blue light, and at the same time, an incomparably powerful force completely awakened his soul.

In an instant, Xu Chen, who had been sinking to the bottom of the boundless black water, struggled fiercely and opened his eyes.

He discovered that he was no longer in the Black Water; before him was a strange stone cave, and all around him were thick, drifting, and churning black mists.

However, this black mist could not block his Divine Sense, so he could clearly see the environment of the stone cave.

It was a water pool several zhang square, with the surroundings built of giant stones into an octagon; on each of the eight corners stood a lotus-shaped stone platform over a zhang high, though most of the platforms had already collapsed and crumbled.

In the pool, a black lotus the size of a washbasin was floating on the water surface, trembling violently and emitting roars similar to a Demon Beast; the terrifying sound resonated in the stone cave, and it seemed as if the entire stone cave was trembling and shaking violently.

Within the Black Water, a large number of things like roots and vines were churning violently, and many stretched out of the water, frantically rolling and dancing all around, smashing a large amount of rock in the stone cave into powder.

And outside his own body, there was a faint light shadow of a blue treasure bottle enveloping him completely; the roots and vines of the black lotus struck the treasure bottle's light shadow frantically, flashing clusters of Blue Starlight, but they could not penetrate it at all.

"What is this place? And what the hell is this lotus-like demon thing?"

Xu Chen was instantly completely bewildered.

However, he also knew that he must have used the power of the Blue Jade Bead to escape from the Black Water, at least temporarily out of danger.

Moreover, from his brief observation, he knew that he should no longer be in the mine pit deep in the Spirit Fox Cave, but in another completely different space.

If his guess was correct, there should be an Illusion Array or something like a Teleportation Array beneath that mine pit.

And this lotus-like demon thing before him seemed to have been trapped here by someone using an Array, but because too much time had passed, the Array had broken, causing the demon thing to lose control.

Could this be something left behind by the Taiyuan Sect a long time ago?

Xu Chen was incomparably shocked.

But now is not the time to consider these things; instead, he must find a way to escape from here.

This black lotus is full of eeriness and possesses an incomparably powerful aura; even with the protection of the Blue Light Treasure Bottle, if he cannot escape, he will sooner or later be trapped to death here.

Therefore, Xu Chen used his Divine Sense to shroud the entire stone grotto, and in an instant, a wave of bitterness and chill rose in his heart.

This stone grotto seems to have been completely excavated by human hands; apart from the pool of water, there is no exit at all, making it a complete dead end.

Xu Chen did not give up, repeatedly scanning the stone grotto with his Divine Sense.

Although he does not understand the Array well and his knowledge only skims the surface, he knows that if such a completely sealed stone grotto was artificially excavated, there must be a way to leave.

Since this demon lotus cannot break through the Blue Light Treasure Bottle for the time being, he is still safe for now.

"Eh, what is that?"

Hard work pays off; just as he was striving to find a way out, his Divine Sense suddenly flickered slightly when it swept over a position on a fractured stone wall, and he felt a trace of Spirit Qi fluctuation.