Chapter 5585: The Secret of the Lake
Xing Yue attacked ruthlessly, her hatchets tearing through space like weapons of a wrathful guardian deity.
“If you can withstand three attacks from me without dying, I’ll acknowledge that you’re a nine star heir!” roared Xing Yue.
Long Chen sighed dramatically. “I don’t need your acknowledgment. Honestly, I never thought I’d fall so low. Bullied by a group of trash... But everyone faces hard times, right? Just wait until I condense heaven vein dragon qi—I’ll show you what a real expert looks like.”
“He’s trying to run! Kill him!” shouted Xia Feng.
In an instant, Xia Feng fired a ray of divine light at Long Chen, while Yan Tong and others unleashed their own attacks. They had been waiting, ready for his escape attempt.
“If I want to leave, can the likes of you stop me?” mocked Long Chen.
With a hand seal, Long Chen crushed the earth beneath him, and a torrent of astral water burst out. The moment all the attacks struck the water column, Long Chen vanished.
“He’s going underground!” someone yelled.
They attacked the ground furiously, creating explosions of dirt, rock, and water. However, despite their efforts, Long Chen had already disappeared.
“There were no spatial fluctuations! He can’t have gone far! Search!” shouted Xia Feng.These people immediately started a wide-scale search. But even then, they couldn’t even find a trace of Long Chen.
…
What they didn’t realize was that Long Chen had cleverly used his thunderforce to direct his astral energy into the distant astral lake.
When Long Chen’s astral energy entered the lake, he immediately sensed an incredibly vast reserve of astral energy. If given time, he could control the entire lake. But time wasn’t on his side. Instead, he channeled the lakewater to create an underground passage.
When Xing Yue had attacked, Long Chen drew upon the lakewater, not to block their strikes but to distract them while he slipped away.
The lakewater contained an incredibly vast astral energy, and thanks to Long Chen’s astral energy, it released shocking power when he drew it out. Just like that, Long Chen smoothly escaped down the underground channel.
Within the underground waterway, Long Chen moved like a fish in water, racing through the current. Above, his enemies continued to bombard the ground, but Long Chen was long gone.
Despite his success, blood trickled from his lips. The shockwaves from their combined attacks had left him injured. This time, it really had been dangerous.
“You trash, just you wait,” Long Chen muttered, seething with anger.
If he were a six-vein Heaven Saint, would they still dare to act so arrogantly? At the same time, he realized why the Heaven Saint realm was such a major dividing line.
In the past, even a rank-one Divine Emperor’s presence had been enough to suffocate him. But now, he realized that individuals like Xia Feng, Yan Tong, and Xing Yue could rival a rank-one Divine Emperor even with an ordinary Heaven Saint cultivation base.
Then there were cultivators like Fantian De and Li Changgeng. Their heaven vein dragon qi radiated an intensity far surpassing even Xia Feng’s. It was clear that not all heaven veins were created equal.
Through careful observation, Long Chen discerned that a heaven vein wasn’t just a reservoir of karmic luck, Heavenly Dao energy, or Doyen energy. It also encapsulated the power of laws, the essence of the five elements, and other, more enigmatic forces.
In this realm, some people’s heaven vein dragon qi resembled a straw, while for others, it was as resilient as a steel wire.
The most terrifying individuals had dragon qi akin to millions of fused steel wires—unyielding, durable, and immensely powerful. Hence, even amongst Heaven Saints with the same number of veins, the disparity in strength could be as vast as the heavens and the earth.
That was why Long Chen could have fought across realms easily, but now, as a Heaven Saint, he couldn’t even beat six-vein Heaven Saints.
If this new generation ascended to the Human Emperor realm, Long Chen feared he wouldn’t even have the courage to challenge them. The benchmarks of the old era had become obsolete, replaced by the terrifying standards of this new age.
While feeling anxious, Long Chen sped toward the center of the lake. Suddenly, a sensation of mortal danger struck him, and his hair stood on end. He felt like an ancient desolate beast had just set its sights on him.
Long Chen was shocked. There was actually a terrifying existence hidden within the lake. At the same time, an irresistible call echoed in his mind, drawing him deeper.
“There is something off with this lake,” Long Chen muttered.
As Long Chen’s astral energy gradually merged with the lakewater, he realized that this lakewater not only contained astral energy but also something sinister.
These two forces were clashing and restraining each other. As they fought, they formed a powerful suction force drawing in the energy of heaven and earth.
The astral lake was like a giant spirit-gathering formation that concentrated the power of heaven and earth. This was why so many experts had given up searching for treasures and just cultivated here. They stayed at the shore. After all, the sinister energy grew stronger the further in, making the center perilous.
Ignoring the sinister energy, Long Chen pressed onward. He was being drawn by something, and the sinister killing intent also piqued his curiosity.
Without bothering to heal, he rushed to the lake at full speed, and for two hours, he swam through it without reaching its center.
At this moment, it seemed that some powerful lifeform noticed him, and a wave of willful suppression tried to force him back. However, it couldn’t suppress Long Chen and only made him more curious. He had to figure out what was going on.
The further he went, the stronger the will grew. The lakewater turned black because of the sinister energy, and the void itself seemed to twist with malice.
Without hesitation, Long Chen dove into the depths of the black lake.
The water rippled as he entered, and suddenly, the world around him shifted. Long Chen found himself in a strange space, face-to-face with a sight so terrifying it defied comprehension.