228: Chapter 227 Blood Token

Jiang Hanzhou's gaze swept across the surface of the sea, his brows furrowing slightly.

He could perceive that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in this sea area was indeed severely disordered.

At times it surged violently on the left, and at others it was as silent as still water on the right; two completely different states alternated without any discernible pattern.

More importantly—

The seawater was very cold.

Even from a height of a hundred zhang, he could still perceive that bone-chilling cold welling up from below. It was a temperature much lower than normal seawater, as if a massive iceberg were buried beneath this sea area.

Zhou Lie took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice:

“We've arrived. Fishing Ground No. 4 is exactly thirty li below.”

He controlled the qing ting boat to descend slowly, finally hovering three zhang above the sea surface.

The three of them leapt off the flying boat and stood upon the sea.

The moment their soles touched the seawater, a bone-chilling cold surged up from beneath their feet, causing the expressions of all three to change slightly.

Liu Ningshuang looked down at her feet. Beneath the sea surface, countless fine ice crystals could be seen drifting slowly. Those ice crystals shimmered with a ghostly blue light under the sunlight; though beautiful, they exuded an eerie aura.

“This temperature...” she murmured softly, “is at least twenty degrees lower than normal seawater.”

Zhou Lie squatted down and reached his hand into the seawater.

A moment later, he withdrew his hand, his expression grave:

“More than that. It gets colder the further down you go. At a depth of thirty zhang, it could probably freeze a Cultivator at the Viscera Burning Realm to death.”

He stood up and looked at Jiang Hanzhou:

“Junior Brother Jiang, what should we do?”

Jiang Hanzhou was in no hurry to answer.

He simply closed his eyes, using his Divine Sense to carefully perceive everything around him.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the Heart Blade vibrated gently, capturing and identifying every fluctuation, even those so subtle they were almost imperceptible.

Disordered spiritual power.

Bone-chilling cold.

A faint, flickering...

He suddenly snapped his eyes open.

Dragon Qi.

An extremely weak fluctuation of Dragon Qi was coming from deep within the seabed. That fluctuation was extremely faint—so faint it was almost undetectable—but it definitely existed.

More importantly, the direction of that Dragon Qi fluctuation—

It wasn't from one place, but two.

One was directly below at a depth of about three hundred zhang; its aura was heavy and stable, like a slumbering behemoth.

The other was to the southeast, about five hundred zhang away; its aura was eerie and active, like a slithering venomous snake.

The two strands of Dragon Qi were completely different.

Jiang Hanzhou's pupils contracted slightly.

He suddenly remembered what Master Xue Mu had said—the movement of the ancient flood dragon remains was because the remnant flood dragon soul within the remains showed signs of awakening.

If that heavy and stable Dragon Qi was the aura of the ancient flood dragon remains itself...

Then what was that other active and eerie Dragon Qi?

He took a deep breath and looked at Zhou Lie and Liu Ningshuang:

“I'm going underwater to take a look. You two stay above to provide support.”

Liu Ningshuang frowned:

“Going down alone is too dangerous.”

“I have the Dragon Blood Power protecting my body, so I do not fear the freezing cold,” Jiang Hanzhou said. “If something really happens, I can escape quickly. With you two up here, you can support me instead.”

Liu Ningshuang was silent for a moment before nodding:

“Be careful.”

Zhou Lie took out a crimson jade talisman from his sumeru pouch and handed it to Jiang Hanzhou:

“This is a communication talisman from Red Fire Peak. If you encounter danger, crush it, and I will come down immediately to assist.”

Jiang Hanzhou took the jade talisman and put it into his sumeru pouch.

Then, he took a deep breath, and the great water-fire cycle within his body suddenly accelerated!

A layer of alternating red and blue light abruptly surfaced around his body!

Within that light, the blazing fire and the enduring tide perfectly blended together, forming a unique protective barrier that enveloped his entire person.

He took a step forward and sank into the sea.

The moment he entered the water, that bone-chilling cold surged toward him frantically!

But Jiang Hanzhou was well-prepared.

Inside his body, the Pure Yang True Intent burned wildly, and the Lihuo True Flame circulated through his Meridians, isolating and neutralizing that cold layer by layer.

The Tidal True Intent was as continuous as water, channeling and guiding the influx of freezing power layer by layer, letting it circulate once through his body before venting it from his feet into the deeper seawater.

The freezing cold entered his body but was forcefully neutralized by the water-fire cycle.

He stabilized his form and began to dive downward.

Ten zhang.

Thirty zhang.

Fifty zhang.

The further he dove, the colder the water became and the dimmer the light grew.

At a depth of fifty zhang, sunlight could no longer penetrate, and the surroundings were pitch black. Only the layer of alternating red and blue light around him flickered slightly in the darkness, illuminating the scene within three zhang of him.

Below, a massive shadow was faintly visible.

That was the seabed.

He continued to dive.

Eighty zhang.

One hundred zhang.

One hundred and fifty zhang.

Suddenly—

His figure came to an abrupt halt.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the Heart Blade vibrated violently!

That was a warning!

He closed his eyes, spreading his Divine Sense into the surroundings.

After three breaths, he opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.

To the southeast, about fifty zhang away, two faint auras were moving slowly.

Those auras were not Yao Beasts, but—

Humans.

Peak of the Viscera Burning Realm.

He withdrew the light around him, blending into the darkness, and quietly dove toward that direction.

Fifty zhang.

Thirty zhang.

Ten zhang.

He saw them.

Two figures, dressed in dark gray wetsuits, were lurking behind a coral reef. Daggers hung at their waists, and they held some kind of Formation Plate for detecting Spiritual Qi. They were staring in a certain direction deep on the seabed, talking in low voices.

Jiang Hanzhou focused his hearing to listen closely.

“...The Third Protector said to keep a close eye on that thing. If there's any movement, send word immediately.”

“I know. But this sea area is too cold; I'm almost frozen stiff. When exactly is that thing going to wake up?”

“What's the rush? The Great Island Master said the timing isn't right yet.”

“Timing, timing, it's 'timing' every damn day. We've been guarding this place for three days and haven't even seen a ghost of a shadow...”

“Shut up! Someone's approaching!”

Jiang Hanzhou's pupils contracted slightly.

The next instant—

The two of them turned around simultaneously, and the Formation Plates in their hands suddenly lit up!

They had seen him!

“Who goes there—!”

Before the words even fell, Jiang Hanzhou moved!

He took a step out, his figure like a bolt of lightning!

Within his body, that great water-fire cycle operated frantically! Tidal True Intent and Pure Yang True Intent surged out at the same time, converging in his palm!

Alternating red and blue flames erupted with a roar!

But he did not use this strike.

Because his faster method was the Heart Blade.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, that dark-gold short blade vibrated gently!

An invisible blade light shot out from between his brows!

That blade light was formless and immaterial, yet it was as fast as a flash of lightning. Carrying the power of the fusion of ice and fire, it slashed straight into the Sea of Consciousness of those two men!

The moment the blade light slashed in—

The bodies of those two men suddenly stiffened!

A trace of unspeakable confusion and trembling flashed in their eyes—the instinctive reaction to one's Divine Soul being slashed.

Though it was only for an instant.

That instant was enough.

Jiang Hanzhou closed in on them, both hands striking out together!

His left hand grabbed one person's throat, and his right hand grabbed the other's throat, his five fingers suddenly tightening!

Crack!

Crack!

Two crisp sounds rang out, and the necks of those two men snapped accordingly!

Their bodies slumped down limply, devoid of any further breath.

Jiang Hanzhou let go of his hands and looked at the two corpses, his eyes showing no emotion.

Peak of the Viscera Burning Realm.

In front of him, they didn't even have a chance to resist.

He squatted down and searched the two bodies.

A moment later, he pulled out a palm-sized token from the bosom of one of the men.