"Have you not noticed that this place isn’t suitable for humans to live in for long periods of time?"
"I have, but what’s the issue with it being a temporary stop for someone else?"
"So, where will those people go from here?"
Hua Yiyou stared at Feng Yuan and questioned him, glancing at the various-sized openings around them. Feng Yuan said curiously,
"How would I know? I’m not an archaeologist, why should I study this stuff?"
"You suspect they travel through the lake?"
Wei Dongcheng gazed thoughtfully at the lake shimmering with a yellow glow and said, Hua Yiyou nodded and replied,
"The openings on the sides are too far from the ground; it’s more likely they use the lake. I just thought ordinary people might not be able to hold their breath underwater for too long."
As he spoke, Hua Yiyou bent down, dipped his head into the lake water, and after a moment, he rose up, touching his face where the glowing water was and said,
"Indeed, as you said, you can breathe freely in this water."
"Shall we, try going into the water?"
Feng Yuan suggested, looking towards Xiao Ji. As expected, Xiao Ji glared back at him angrily. Feng Yuan walked over, picked up Xiao Ji, and while stroking him said,
"It’s not just water, and what’s there to fear when I’m going down with you..."
Listening to Feng Yuan trying to persuade Xiao Ji, Agunas’s phantom flicked its tail dismissively. Mo Ling watched Mo Li, waiting for a decision. After a moment of silence, Mo Li looked at Mo Ling and said,
"Let’s go have a look then, there might be something unexpected down there."
"Are we really going into the water?"
Guo Huai said with a somewhat troubled look. Understanding Guo Huai’s concerns, Feng Yuan patted his back and said with a mischievous grin,
"It’s not like we’re going to mutate, and besides, wouldn’t it be fun to become a superhero?"
"Come on now, relax. The Zhuo Ya people probably mutated because of long-term exposure to Liquid Energy, and even that mutation is reversible, otherwise we’d still be hearing about the ’Yu Huo’ clan or something like that," Feng Yuan continued, looking towards Wei Dongcheng, who nodded in agreement. Wei Dongcheng added,
"That’s true. Even now, the Zhuo Ya people only suspect that their ancient ancestors received a blessing from a Divine Lord, granting them this power. They mostly don’t believe in controlling Fire Power natively."
"What else? Humans are not Spirit Beasts. That Liquid Energy isn’t about changing their essence; they can control fire only because they’ve greatly enhanced their perception of Fire Energy through long-term exposure, which is similar to the way humans gain strength through training."
"It’s not like the descendant directly inherits the strength just because the ancestor mastered it," Wei Dongcheng said.
"You’re right about that, but..."
Mo Li noticed Zi Mo swaying uneasily and felt puzzled. Feng Yuan glanced at Zi Mo and said,
"Probably not used to the spatial compression by the White Wolf Deity; after all, that move wasn’t originally intended for living creatures."
Just then, in order to allow Zi Mo to enter the narrow passage, the White Wolf Deity used spatial compression on Zi Mo to reduce its external size. Seeing Zi Mo seemingly uncomfortable, Mo Li hesitated for a moment and said,
"Maybe we shouldn’t go?"
Zi Mo sniffed sharply and nuzzled Mo Li as if to reassure him not to worry. Feng Yuan glanced at Mo Li and said,
"Even if we go back the way we came, it would have to undergo spatial compression again. It might be better to go through the lakebed; what if the passageway is spacious?"
"So you’re sure there’s a passage at the lakebed?"
Guo Huai looked at Feng Yuan skeptically and said. Feng Yuan pointed to Little Green Snake which had just poked its head out of the water,
"It has just been there to scout."
Little Green Snake swam ashore, shaking off the luminous droplets and hissing at Feng Yuan, while Agunas’s phantom translated,
"It says there’s definitely a passageway underwater that leads somewhere else, but it didn’t check where specifically. The passageway seems long, and where it has explored, it’s spacious enough that Zi Mo won’t need to reduce its size to pass through."
"Then let’s go. Are you coming along?"
Wei Dongcheng glanced at Bai Ling, who had returned to his side,
Holding the nervous Xiao Ji, Feng Yuan stepped directly into the lake. Although he felt the sensation of coming into contact with liquid, a warm energy soon surged into his body. However, this energy was far too weak compared to Feng Yuan’s own power, so everyone became tense when they sensed it.
"Don’t worry, it’s just Fire Power, and it’s very weak."
Guo Huai shouted dissatisfiedly. He felt that the power was fully comparable to the energy Pu Pu usually lent him. Feng Yuan glanced at Guo Huai and said,
"There won’t be any problems, right..."
Mo Ling said worriedly. Although she would also accumulate power in her body during combat, sometimes even more than the power currently around her, this energy was not under her control. Feng Yuan smiled and replied,
"No, would I let you all get into the water if there were?"
"Who knows, maybe you want to play a prank..."
While they spoke, Feng Yuan gradually submerged into the water. The lake bottom was bowl-shaped, concaving towards the middle. Entering the water, Feng Yuan opened his eyes to look around. The glowing lake water completely obscured his vision. The yellowish light in front of him, though not dazzling, blocked his sight completely. Sighing, Feng Yuan shouted,
"You’d better hold hands when you come down! You can’t see clearly underwater."
Hearing Feng Yuan’s words, Guo Huai and Mo Li looked at each other and asked,
Mo Li took Guo Huai’s hand with one hand and Mo Ling’s with the other, saying,
"I don’t need to. I presume it’s just the light obscuring the view, it won’t affect me."
Yao Yin waved her hand and said. Except for Mo Ling and Yao Yin, everyone else held hands and slowly entered the water. As Yao Yin had guessed, the light in the water completely blocked their vision. She used her Divine Sense to feel around and Feng Yuan was ahead, seemingly not worried about the others not being able to follow.
After testing and finding that he would not choke on water, Guo Huai shouted angrily,
"Feng Yuan! Where are you?"
The next instant, an icy rope-like object latched onto Guo Huai’s wrist. Just when Guo Huai was about to react, Feng Yuan’s voice came through,
"If you’re afraid of getting lost, follow the rope."
Yao Yin sensed that the rope which hooked Guo Huai’s wrist was a rope of icy blue energy. She found it strange that Feng Yuan would use Water Power in the midst of Fire Energy.
"I have a feeling something’s not quite right. Have you done something?"
Sensing the energy around him beginning to change, Guo Huai shouted worriedly. In Yao Yin’s perception, the power of the rope shifted instantly from water to space. That power was definitely spatial, although Yao Yin was not very clear about such high-level forces.
Feeling the icy sensation on his wrist suddenly disappear and replaced by a sense of vast emptiness, Guo Huai knew that the disturbance had been caused by Feng Yuan.
"Hey! What on earth are you doing?"
"Hehe~ I forgot we’re in Fire Liquid Energy here~"
Feng Yuan’s embarrassed voice came through. Agunas’s phantom flicked its tail in a speechless manner as it watched in the direction of Feng Yuan. Due to the interference from the Liquid Energy, Agunas’s phantom kept deforming in the water. Feng Yuan walked to the bottom and said with some confusion,
Little Green Snake hissed at Feng Yuan, seemingly saying that the entrance was not here. Little Green Snake, which possessed various sensing abilities, was not much affected by the Liquid Energy. Sensing Little Green Snake’s movements through his spiritual power, Feng Yuan pulled the rope in his hand and said,
"Seems we’re not there yet. Let’s keep going~"
Guo Huai somehow reached Feng Yuan’s side and, with a strong jump, wrapped his arm around Feng Yuan’s neck and said fiercely,
"Can’t we just walk hand in hand?"
"Tch, so many complaints."
Feng Yuan’s hand turned the rope into black energy that dissipated, then he grabbed Guo Huai’s sleeve and said,