Chapter 385: Dangerous Waters
Under water was darker than expected and the two couldn’t help but feel gloomy.
The more they sunk, the gloomier they felt.
"Azhen, this doesn’t feel right." Jiang Yue said.
He squeezed his husband’s hand the two became a little more vigilant.
"You are right, the atmosphere is not right. It feels like..." Yu Nianzhen began but then stopped, trying to recall where he encountered such a gloomy atmosphere.
"It feels a little like the Black Wind Abyss." He finally said.
"How is that possible? The Black Wind Abyss is one of the forbidden places in the Cangxing world. How can this place have the same aura?"
"I don’t know but we should be careful."
At this time, Jiang Yue looked beyond the water pearl barrier and was startled.
"What’s wrong?"
"There is blood."
Following Jiang Yue’s gaze, Yu Nianzhen turned to the right and saw a severed arm.
The arm was floating upwards and the severed end looked like it had been gnawed by a wild animal.
"Are there demonic beasts underwater?" Jiang Yue wondered.
"It’s possible." Yu Nianzhen answered but both frowned.
They had heard the retelling of the tomb discovery more than a dozen times.
However, none of the accounts mentioned demonic beasts or any kind of danger at the bottom of the lake.
"Is it possible they didn’t find the danger when they discovered the tomb?" Jiang Yue wondered.
Unfortunately, Yu Nianzhen was just as confused and he couldn’t satisfy his curiosity.
"XiaoYue, get ready to activate a defence formation at a moment’s notice." Yu Nianzhen said.
At the same time, he released Shanjiang and held it in his right hand.
"More body parts are floating upwards." Jiang Yue observed and pointed at a head.
The head was like the previous arm.
Its severed end looked like it had been forcibly ripped off or bitten off by a wild beast.
"Maybe there is a piranha underwater." Jiang Yue guessed.
Unfortunately, just after he finished speaking, a teeth-filled mouth rushed towards them.
The teeth were a metre long and their crowns looked like sharpened blades.
"I will deal with it." Yu Nianzhen said and immediately made to swing.
"Wait."
"What’s wrong?"
"Let me put away the water pearl." Jiang Yue said.
He didn’t know if the piranha could tear through the water barrier of the pearl but he had confidence that Yu Nianzhen’s attack would break the pearl.
In that case, it was best to put it away.
"Remember to fight the drag." Yu Nianzhen reminded.
Although they couldn’t fully resist the water’s drag, he didn’t want to be too passive.
They at least needed to resist so that they could partially control the speed of their sinking.
"I know."
A moment later, the water barrier disappeared and cold water rushed to their bodies.
In the blink of an eye, the two were frozen to the bone but they didn’t have the luxury of slowly adapting.
Seeing piranha that was quickly approaching, Yu Nianzhen forcibly circulated his qi to dispel the cold.
When he regained a little feeling in his body, he swung his sword and a silver sword light cantered towards the piranha.
Fortunately, the piranha’s mouth was still wide open.
The sword light disappeared into its mouth, pierced through its internal organs, and came out from its lower body.
"It’s a peak class three beast." Jiang Yue said as he dug out the piranha’s beast core.
"Aside from us and the three core formation realm elders, all the others can’t handle it."
"Let’s go." Yu Nianzhen took Jiang Yue’s hand and the two accelerated downwards.
When they were close to the lake bottom, the surroundings became brighter.
"Is there light at the bottom of the lake?"
"Seems like it."
However, the two were not assured.
From the beginning, they felt there was something wrong with the lake and the feeling kept growing stronger.
[It’s a good thing we set up a teleportation place outside the lake.] Jiang Yue transmitted.
"Mmmm." Yu Nianzhen agreed.
"Two fellow Daoists, are you fine?" A voice suddenly attracted their attention.
The two turned to the source and found one of the other formation masters.
"What happened?" Jiang Yue asked.
"We found a shoal of piranhas." The formation master said and sighed.
When they heard that, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen looked around.
At a glance, it was clear that the group had lost some people and a few others were heavily injured.
Jiang Yue was about to say something when a roar broke the silence.
"Why didn’t you say anything about the piranhas? What else have not told us?" A purple-robed young man questioned junior sister Wei.
However, junior sister Wei didn’t care about the young man.
She swam closer to Rong Yu and grabbed his sleeve.
"Brother Rong, you have to believe me. I told the truth about everything and didn’t hide anything. We didn’t see the piranhas when we fell into the lake last time."
"Is what you said the truth?" Rong Yu questioned.
"It’s the truth." Junior sister Wei vowed.
"I also didn’t see the piranhas when I came here last time." Someone said grudgingly.
Although he disliked junior sister Wei for involving the Rong family, he knew to judge the situation.
If the original team members didn’t back junior sister Wei, they would all be suspected of deceiving the Rong family.
At that time, they would be lucky to escape with their life, let alone have a share of the tomb’s treasure.
"If there are piranhas, there may be other things. Keep a lookout." One of the core formation realm elders said.
"We know elder." The Rong family disciples immediately took the order.
The other people also didn’t dare to be careless.
After all, they couldn’t rely on the Rong family to save their lives when the time came.
"Three formation masters, have a look at the formation." The third elder said.
Without a word, Jiang Yue swam thirty metres forward and stood in front of the tomb entrance.
"There are so many light corrals in this place." He admired as he looked around.
Light corrals had the same function as night pearls.
However, light corrals were rarer and few people had ever seen them.
The only reason Jiang Yue knew about them was because there were some in his and Yu Nianzhen’s ancient palace.
"The light corrals can be divided when we leave the tomb." The third elder said.
After all, the light corrals were the only source of light at the bottom of the lake.
If they were removed, the lake would be plunged into darkness which would make their exploration more difficult.
"Azhen..."
"Focus on the formation, I will protect you."
With that, Jiang Yue didn’t talk anymore.
He turned to the formation and began to study it.
In the same way, the other formation masters also began to examine the formation while everyone else guarded behind them.
Less than half an hour later, one of the formation masters turned around.
His eyes were bloodshot and his face was several shades paler.
"Formation master Li..." Someone called.
However, the formation master acted like he didn’t hear the person.
Instead, his lips curled into a brilliant smile and he turned to Rong Yu.
"Young master Rong, I have deduced a way to break the formation." He said proudly.
At this, Jiang Yue and the other formation master looked at the person.
They had also been seriously studying the formation but hadn’t found a way to break it.
In fact, the more Jiang Yue studied it, the warier he became.
Since he inherited the legacy of the white jade void tiger bone, he had encountered thousands of formations.
However, the formation in front of him was the scariest he had ever come across.
At the back of his mind, he even suspected its level was higher than the fifth level.
In that case, how could a third-level formation master break it so quickly?
Thinking of this, Jiang Yue looked at Yu Nianzhen.
The two looked at each other and a tacit understanding flowed between them.
"Formation master Li, have you really deduced a way to break it?" One of the Rong family asked excitedly.
"The level of this formation is not high. It’s only a mid-level-three formation." The person said proudly.
"Is that true?" One of the core formation realm elders turned to Jiang Yue and the other formation master.
"I am only an early-stage level three formation master. I haven’t been able to deduce the formation but I don’t think it’s a level three formation." The formation master said but his voice was lower towards the end.
"What do you know? If I say it’s a level three formation, it’s definitely a level three formation." The first formation master roared.
What he hated the most were people who doubted his mastery.
Even if the other person was also a formation master, he couldn’t help but be angry.
"What about formation master Jiang? What do you think?" The third elder asked.
