Chapter 717 Exploring Blackwater
The Great Zhou Empire’s Border, Blackwater.
Atop a mountain, Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao peered down at a land that was still engulfed in chaos even after so many years. The chaos had never stopped even after the Black Venom King had been subdued by him.
Evildoers from many countries hid in Blackwater because they were hunted everywhere else. This was a place where evil was sheltered and wrongdoing was accepted, a place that constantly reeked of blood.
However, although there were many factions hiding in Blackwater, none had dared to infringe upon the Great Zhou Empire’s borders for the past few years. After all, they had learned a lesson from seeing the Black Venom King subdued.
With the Great Zhou Empire’s recent triumph over the Great Wu Empire, the factions of Blackwater were now even more afraid of creating trouble.
“This energy is very terrifying.”
Zhou Yuan was wearing a grave expression. To think that these energy fluctuations would still linger after so many years. If his speculation was correct, it most likely was left by the ancient thunderbolt punishment.
When he first came to Blackwater, he hadn’t even reached the Qi Nouris.h.i.+ng stage, and was thus unable to detect this energy. But now that he had reached the Divine Dwelling stage he could naturally vividly feel the terrifying remnant power.
“Blackwater is said to be extremely vast and stretches all the way from the northern part of the Cangmang Continent to the edge of the continent. Only the most outer regions of Blackwater are inhabited while the central area is dominated by the residual thunderbolt punishment. It is a place that ordinary people do not dare to even approach.”
Zhou Yuan gazed towards the depths of Blackwater and said, “This time, we’ll have to venture into the deepest region.”
Carrying Tuntun, Yaoyao looked ahead and felt a surge of nostalgia, “Silver Shadow was also obtained there.”
Zhou Yuan nodded, “Unfortunately, Silver Shadow’s hasn’t been able to keep up with my cultivation.”
After reaching the Divine Dwelling stage, Silver Shadow was unable to provide a substantial increase in power like before.
“That"s because Silver Shadow can only reach the level of the Alpha Origin stage.”
Yaoyao stroked Tuntun’s soft fur as her red lips curved in a smile. “But you shouldn’t underestimate Silver Shadow. It is one of the greatest creations of the ancient Battle Puppet Sect. I’ve also mentioned before that it has the ability to grow.”
“But you"ve studied it for so many years and still haven"t discovered how to enable its growth properties.” muttered Zhou Yuan.
A rare flush spread across Yaoyao’s beautiful and fair face. Clenching her teeth, she glowered at Zhou Yuan. “You, you really think I can do everything?”
She was slightly annoyed and humiliated, because she had always shown a perfect image all these years and it seemed that there was nothing she couldn’t do. But with the Silver Shadow, a product of the wisdom of countless ancestors of an ancient sect, although she had made some progress over the years, she still hadn’t fully understood how to enable its growth properties.
Seeing Yaoyao"s rare irritation turned into anger, Zhou Yuan dazedly stared at her. She was too beautiful right now.
It was quite some time later before he snapped out of it and remarked, “So beautiful.”
He knew that only he was blessed enough to see Yaoyao in such a state.
Yaoyao shot a glance at him, combing her fine black hair as she snappily said, “Are you going to go or not?”
“Come on, let’s go.”
Zhou Yuan chuckled as golden Genesis Qi swept out with a wave of his robe. It rolled Yaoyao and him up, before turning into a beam of golden light that sped towards the depths of Blackwater.
Two humans and a beast pa.s.sed through the outer regions of Blackwater in two hours.
And as they ventured deeper and deeper, it grew harder and harder to find any signs of life. The entire land was desolate and lifeless.
The thunderbolt punishment appeared to have destroyed the vitality of the land. There was no presence of any life even after so many years.
As the day came to an end, Zhou Yuan and the others were unable to find any living things. In addition, they could feel an extremely violent atmosphere of destruction the deeper in they travelled, an atmosphere that was many times stronger than the outer regions.
Moreover, it seemed to possess the power to infect one’s heart, making one gradually go crazy. Fortunately, both Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao weren’t weak and were able to protect themselves with Genesis Qi, preventing the atmosphere from affecting them.
However, as the night fell, the violent rumbling of thunder began to boom from the sky of Blackwater.
Not a single thundercloud could be seen in the clear sky, but the rumbling continued endlessly, as though it originated from ancient times.
And when that maniacal thunder sounded, even Zhou Yuan’s face turned solemn. The effect of the atmosphere had rapidly strengthened in the night.
After which, Zhou Yuan did not dare to venture further ahead at night. He found a mountain cave for them to rest in and sealed the cave entrance before setting up a protective Genesis Runes. Only by doing this were they able to withstand the invasive atmosphere.
Having experienced the night thunder, Zhou Yuan grew more and more afraid of Blackwater.
After spending the night in the cave, Zhou Yuan and gang set off once again. They carefully explored the deeper regions of Blackwater.
....
Three days later.
Atop a barren mountain in the depths of Blackwater. Zhou Yuan gazed at the endless dead land before him in frustration. They had made no progress at all.
The depths of Blackwater was a dead land, and there was nothing that stood out.
“It really isn’t easy to find clues about the Cangxuan Saint Stamp.” Zhou Yuan smiled bitterly at Yaoyao.
Yaoyao scrunched her brows and pondered for a moment as she gazed at the dead land, “There really is nothing special in Blackwater, except for this deathly silence...
“The only thing that"s out of the ordinary is....”
She turned to Zhou Yuan and said, “It might be the sound of thunder at night.”
Zhou Yuan’s brows furrowed again and his gaze drifted off in thought. That night thunder was filled with madness that could invade one’s mind and turn one crazy. They had spent their nights hiding in the mountains to s.h.i.+eld themselves from the night thunder.
Blackwater was incredibly terrifying at night, but if they wanted to discover its secret, did they have to search for it during the darkness?
Zhou Yuan"s eyes flashed in thought. A moment later, he cast away his hesitation as he gritted his teeth, “I won’t hide tonight. Let’s see if we can notice anything from the night thunder.”
Yaoyao nodded. They had no choice but to try this.
Zhou Yuan sat down and gazed at the sunset. The night wasn’t far.
Time quickly pa.s.sed.
When the sun finally and the sky darkened again, Zhou Yuan heard the mysterious deranged rumbling of thunder once again.
Boom!
Thunder reverberated throughout land like a roaring crazed beast of destruction.
The golden Genesis Qi around Zhou Yuan"s body violently shuddered. It was not particularly effective at blocking out the thunder’s effects. Zhou Yuan could already feel a hint of craziness slowly emerging in his heart.
His eyes filled with redness and his breathing became labored as a destructive impulse arose within him.
“The night thunder can penetrate the Genesis Qi and affect the Spirit. It needs to be countered with Spirit power.” A clear voice sounded beside him. It was naturally Yaoyao.
Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the irritable feelings as he closed his eyes.
Spirit light began to flicker between his brows.
“Primal Chaos Divine Grindstone Visualisation Method.”
Zhou Yuan’s consciousness immediately fell into the familiar domain of primal chaos. The Primal Chaos Divine Grindstone slowly descended, accompanied by an ancient power to contend against the night thunder.
The two forces were stuck in a deadlock. Only after a long while did the Primal Chaos Divine Grindstone grow stronger and stronger and slowly overwhelmed the thunder.
The irritable feeling in his heart gradually faded.
Zhou Yuan’s eyes shot open, restored to its clear and bright appearance as he gazed into darkness. The night thunder continued to ring faintly, but upon a closer listen it wasn’t as distant as before.
“Do you hear anything?” Yaoyao asked.
Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment, then his eyes took on a strange look as he exclaimed, “The thunder, I seemed to have found its source!”
Now that he had dampened the effects of the thunder, he was finally able to distinguish its source!
“Go!”
He roared as he dashed towards the source of the thunder.
The two streaked across the darkness.
But the thunder seemed to flutter without leaving traces, making it extremely difficult for Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao to track it down. They were barely able to keep up with their strong Spirit sense...
But even with Yaoyao sharing the burden, Zhou Yuan began to feel the s.p.a.ce between his brows throb with pain. It was a sign that his Spirit was exhausted.
Fortunately, their tracking finally came to an end after two hours.
Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao landed on a huge strangely shaped boulder and surveyed the area. It was complete darkness, and even the ground was black like a black ocean.
Zhou Yuan stared at the ground in front of him. With a wave of his sleeve, a beam of golden Genesis Qi whizzed out and struck the ground.
Boom!
Genesis Qi fell as the earth quaked violently.
The ground began to crumble as a pillar of dazzling light emerged from its depths. Thunder seemed to resound throughout the entire world.
Zhou Yuan was dumbfounded as he watched the ground continue to collapse, creating a gigantic pit. Countless lightning flashed in the deep pit, which appeared to be a bottomless pool of lightning….
Thunder roared, and even the slightest noise made Zhou Yuan’s scalp turn numb as he felt the destructive energies.
“It is the power left by that thunderbolt punishment back then. They have gathered here and are most likely the reason why there is still no life in Blackwater even after so many years.
“They are destroying the vitality of the land and will eventually kill it off forever.” Yaoyao slowly uttered as she stared at the pit of lightning.
Zhou Yuan did not respond. His body suddenly shuddered as his face contorted in pain.
“What’s wrong?” asked Yaoyao.
Zhou Yuan blinked. The Saint Rune in the depths of his pupils spun crazily as though attempting to burn his eyes.
He extended his hand and saw the Earth Saint Rune force its way out of his flesh, causing blood to flow.
In his Divine Dwelling, the Heavenly Punishment Saint Rune was emitting violent cries.
Shock emerged like a tide on Zhou Yuan’s face.
He looked at Yaoyao, his hoa.r.s.e voice trembling, “The Saint Runes are reacting...”
Yaoyao sucked in a deep breath.
Had they found the location of the Cangxuan Saint Stamp?!