Chapter 83: Exploring the Bottom of the Water Pool

Lin Yifan continued to descend, and the dive suit's spotlight cut a faint beam of light through the pitch‑black deep water.

As the depth increased, the water pressure rose, and the suit's pressure‑resistance function began to take effect.

Yet even so, Lin Yifan could still feel the oppressive pressure of the surrounding environment.

"The water is already over 60 meters deep—this is really a water pool dug by humans?" Lin Yifan's shock grew, and he involuntarily began to doubt whether his earlier assumptions were correct.

He kept descending while carefully observing the surrounding rock walls.

Then he suddenly noticed that, starting around the 62‑meter depth, strange markings appeared on the Water Pool's rock walls.

The markings were crooked and twisted, somewhat like pictographs but more abstract, resembling some ancient symbols.

Perhaps due to water erosion, some symbols were already blurred and hard to discern.

The deeper he went, the clearer the markings became, and a faint glow emanated from them, like a guiding light in the dark water.

Lin Yifan's doubts multiplied, and an indistinct sense of danger began to hover beside him for no apparent reason.

It felt as if something were watching him!

Alertness rose in Lin Yifan, and he slowed his descent slightly, his eyes scanning around for the source of the threat.

Yet he discovered nothing at all!

The bottom was silent, and Lin Yifan was almost forgetting how long he had been descending.

Fortunately, the diving gear had a timer, allowing him to clearly gauge how long he had been underwater.

Finally, he reached the pool's bottom!

The moment his feet touched the ground, Lin Yifan finally exhaled, for even in water the sensation of having no ground beneath feels empty.

And at that instant, it was as if a switch had been flipped.

The previously pitch‑black bottom, which had no light except the wall markings, suddenly burst with a dazzling flash!

Having lingered in darkness for so long, the sudden light made Lin Yifan's eyes instinctively blink.

When he opened his eyes again, a bright scene lay before him.

And now he finally knew what was emitting the light!

They were small stones set into the pool's floor, each no larger than a fist, yet their brightness could rival an 80‑degree incandescent lamp.

The entire pool bottom lacked sand or mud; it was paved with smooth marble slabs, and the glowing stones were embedded in them.

Looking further, the pool's opening was clearly less than a two‑meter diameter circle, yet the bottom stretched as large as a football field.

Under the illumination, the occasional fish, drifting aquatic plants, and the sedimented pebbles on the marble tiles were all laid bare.

But what truly caught Lin Yifan's eye was a massive stone structure at the pool's center.

Lin Yifan stared in stunned amazement at the scene before him,

The structure resembled the wreckage of some building, its overall shape a ruined Pyramid.

It tapered from a broad base to a narrow top, each upward step a platform, yet oddly the apex was missing a portion.

Lin Yifan hurried toward the Pyramid's summit, swimming upward swiftly.

To his amazement, from the moment he approached the Pyramid, he suddenly realized the tip was truly far, far away!

It felt like standing at the foot of a celestial ladder, gazing up at the heavens.

His heart tightened, yet he quickened his pace, swimming rapidly toward the base.

At that moment, Lin Yifan noticed that the structure's surface was also entirely covered with marble, but the marble bore unique markings.

The markings were essentially identical to those on the cliff wall, clearly from the same civilization, except their glow was purple rather than green.

Lin Yifan kept climbing toward the summit, noticing the markings grew darker with height.

At the highest point, the color had become deep violet!

Yet when he reached the very top, he suddenly saw that the apex was broken off!

Upon closer inspection, he realized the broken tip was intentional, as a small plate‑like object sat there, seemingly meant for an offering.

Unfortunately the plate was empty, with only a few grains of sand upon it.

Lin Yifan frowned, but his primary goal remained to explore the entire Water Pool.

Now that he had reached the bottom, he wondered how much of the exploration was complete.

He opened the quest progress.

【Special Treasure Chest Quest Phase 4 (Total Five Phases): Explore Water Pool (a suddenly appearing mysterious water pool whose bottom seems to hide many secrets; please explore thoroughly. Exploration Area: 15%) (Countdown: 4 hours 13 minutes)】

Only 15% of the Exploration Area?

Lin Yifan's brows knit into a deep frown; he was already at the bottom, and although the bottom was sizable, the light made everything fully visible.

So how could the Exploration Area be only 15%?

How is that even calculated!

If it's only 15%, what does the remaining 85% entail?

Do I have to feel every single slab?

Lin Yifan was baffled, but with the matter at hand, he had to figure out a way to finish the task.

He carefully recalled his earlier exploration, noting that before reaching the bottom he had constantly monitored the quest progress.

So it was certain that before arriving at the bottom, his Exploration Area had remained at 0%.

This confirmed one thing: the quest's exploration metric was the pool bottom itself!

Thus, as long as he thoroughly explored the bottom, completion would eventually come.

Lin Yifan encouraged himself and resumed the exploration.

The summit held nothing, so he didn't waste more time, yet he wanted to verify how the exploration metric was calculated.

He shifted his position while watching the quest progress.

The most accurate indicator: each time his body touched five marble slabs, the quest progress increased by 1%.

So his guess was correct; the metric for this mission is the Marble at the bottom of the pool.

Lin Yifan forced himself to stay calm, spent a full one and a half hours touching every Marble on the entire bottom of the pool with his body.

When he opened the mission progress again, he saw the Exploration Area had reached 95%.

"How is it still missing 5%!"

Lin Yifan's brows were about to knit into a furrowed line, as every explorable spot on the pool bottom had already been explored.

Even the places without Marble on the floor he hadn't missed, yet the progress was still short by 5%!

This was driving Lin Yifan crazy, but at that moment he suddenly recalled something.

It was the plate at the top of the tower; whatever was on the plate had already vanished.

Could the remaining 5% of Exploration be on the thing that disappeared from the plate?