Chapter 152: The Emerald Green

The village chief didn't know that Jiang Yu had guessed this was Three Waters Village, and he said hesitantly, "Are you the legendary cultivators?"

Jiang Yu nodded, while a demonic cultivator whispered, "Just pull someone to search their soul and ask, then we'll know; no need to waste words."

"If you dare to search, I dare to kill you." Beside the demonic cultivator, a Daoist cultivator clanged and thrust his sword half a foot out of its scabbard.

The other Daoist cultivators, regardless of what they thought inside, outwardly glanced disdainfully at the demonic cultivator twice.

Behind Jiang Yu, two more cultivators, impatient at the sound, brushed off and launched flying swords into the air.

But before they could fly a hundred zhang, bang—bang—bang, they lost their lift and crashed to the ground.

Even a respectable Foundation Establishment cultivator was smashed on the spot, his face blooming with peach‑blossom bruises.

Some cultivators snickered, but among the villagers some fled in fear, and the village chief's shouts could not bring them back.

Xia Bing sighed softly, telepathically told the cultivators not to disturb the villagers for now, and she herself walked slowly toward the villagers, "Excuse me, could you introduce the situation of a few villages to us?"

"I have excellent hemostatic medicine and qi‑tonic; give them to the wounded," she said, and as she spoke, a flash of light from her right hand sent two pill bottles, one blue and one white, drifting into the village chief's hand.

"Th‑thank you, Immortal," the village chief said, his heart also a little frightened, but with the whole village's old and young behind him, he had to stand firm and not retreat from the conversation.

Yet after applying it to the wounded, the wounds healed in an instant, unlike before when injuries from water monsters never seemed to cure.

Jiang Tu clicked his tongue twice: "So this place is void‑restricted; truly every corner has a pit, and no two pits are the same."

"Jiang Yu, pay attention to Guo Jue."

"Hm?" Jiang Yu didn't look but stepped a few paces to Guo Jue's side.

Then she was surprised to find a green bracelet made of a blue‑vine loop on Guo Jue's wrist.

The vine's tip twitched upward at her, and she telepathically said, "You discovered it quite quickly."

"You, senior?" Jiang Yu looked again; that wasn't a blue vine at all, but a jade‑green little snake, no wonder it coveted dragon tears.

Guo Jue, seeing her stare at his wrist, couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "Jiang Yu, is it the one that spoke in the Heavenly King Temple?"

"I don't know why it appeared on my hand, and it inexplicably formed a contract with me."

"It's that, probably doesn't want to be trapped here any longer." Jiang Yu handed over a spirit‑beast pill, hoping to ask the jade‑green little snake where the way out truly was.

Unfortunately, the proud little snake accepted the pill but only said that the surrounding restrictions were heavy, and the only exit was right before its eyes.

At this moment, Xia Bing also learned from the village chief that within a hundred‑li radius there are five villages, named after metal, earth, water, fire, and earth.

Moreover, for many years, no one from the five villages has ever left the hundred‑li area; their Three Waters Village relies on the great lake before them, providing abundant fishing and hunting.

However, every few decades, monsters appear in the water; although they cannot come ashore to harm people, they do injure the villagers living by the lake.

It is said that this great lake leads to the outside world, but anyone who truly dives to the lake bottom to seek a passage often disappears alive without a trace, or dies without a corpse.

The village chief's words dispelled Xia Bing's desire to re‑enter the village to investigate, and after giving him several hemostatic powders, he let him lead the villagers home.

After brief discussion, the cultivators decided to split into groups and go underwater again; at this point, no one suggested searching the village for any cultivator who had fallen into the village yesterday.

Jiang Tu complained, "You cultivators, you only think of yourselves, fearing that after entering the village your spiritual power will be lost again."

Jiang Yu replied, "This Three Waters Village does not restrict spiritual power or divine perception; those who enter this village mostly do not lose their self‑awareness."

"If you don't believe, use your divine perception to scan; you will definitely not see any cultivators in the village."

"My divine perception has already been compressed back to three li, not as far as yours." Jiang Tu, now accustomed to the strange restrictions here.

The cultivators went underwater group by group, deliberately spacing the intervals.

Jiang Yu naturally paired with her senior brother and senior sister, while Guo Jue dragged Guo Ye, insisting on being in their group.

Qin Zhuo, Wen Xin, Feng Daoyou, and two other Heavenly Origin cultivators formed a group, making exactly four groups.

Jiang Yu's group was the last to go underwater; she found that, aside from herself, her teammates' water‑avoidance pearls were all top‑grade.

"Xia Shijie, where did you buy them?" She usually bought things at Neishi Hall and had never seen top‑grade water‑avoidance pearls.

Xia Bing laughed and telepathically told her, "At the Guiyuan Sect's market; they are near the sea and close to the Dragon Court, so water‑avoidance pearls are easy to obtain in top quality."

"Our Neishi Hall, aside from the sect's own top‑grade supplies, never purchases high‑end goods from outside."

"It is called a beautiful name, so that disciples, during the refining process, discover better treasures."

"So it's just being stingy!"

Jiang Yu refrained from excessive comment, staying in formation with her teammates underwater, carefully on guard for any more monsters.

Strangely, aside from the batch they slaughtered, there were no more monsters in the water, not even ordinary fish or shrimp could be seen.

At this moment, wandering aimlessly at the lake bottom was truly not a good job; even when occasionally meeting other small groups, they could not locate the source of the lake water.

So Jiang Yu tried a clever approach: "Jiang Tu, you are the Dragon King, the most formidable underwater; point us a direction."

Jiang Tu also couldn't make sense of it; he only felt the water plants were lush, "No clue; asking me is no better than asking Xiao Bi."

"Xiao Bi? That snake?" Jiang Yu's gaze fell again on Guo Jue's wrist.

When the other looked over, she proactively smiled and said, "Senior?"

"What? I didn't come here either." The emerald little snake replied irritably; it had been trapped in the Heavenly King Temple since it was an egg.

It was hard enough to encounter a group of cultivators to choose from, and now it's trapped again underwater.

Jiang Yu, hearing its tone, no longer hoped: "Jiang Tu, ask Xuantang Xingjun."

Unfortunately, when Jiang Tu entered the spirit‑sword space, the old Xuantang was as if vanished, with no sound at all.

So, it sent the spirit sword out: "Your divine perception has sunk; go find him and speak."

Unexpectedly, the moment the spirit sword landed in Jiang Yu's hand, it whooshed out of the water‑avoidance light shield.

Crack— another water‑avoidance pearl shattered, and Jiang Yu hurriedly grabbed another to use.

Jiang Tu: "…Jiang Yu is either destroying a magical artifact, or on the road to destroying one."

"What… what is that?!" Guo Ye shouted, and the emerald little snake exclaimed, "Dragon Chant Sword? You have a Dragon Chant Sword? Quick, chase it, it will lead us out."

Already chasing the sword, Jiang Yu heard its telepathic call, and her speed increased another third, "Xia Shijie, hurry and keep up."

Not only Xia Bing, but the cultivators wandering nearby also saw a sword light flash like lightning and all quickened their pace to converge.

Not only Xia Bing, but also the cultivators wandering nearby, upon seeing a sword light flash like lightning from their side, all sped up and gathered.

Soon, the sword light flew to a patch of water grass bubbling with pale blue bubbles; without waiting for Jiang Yu's command, it struck hard on its own.

Boom, splash.

The sword struck the water, piercing it and forming a vortex about a zhang across; instantly a third‑rank sea beast flew out from within.

Several cultivators attacked together to slay it, then they scrambled to jump into the vortex and disappeared.

Xia Bing frowned: "These people didn't even ask a single question."

Before her words had finished, the emerald small snake had already seized Guo Jue and leapt in; Guo Ye also shouted for his junior martial brother to jump down.

"Xia Shijie, jump quickly—I'll hold the rear." Jiang Yu wouldn't take no for an answer, shoving her inside.