12: Chapter 12 Seeking Evil in the Dark River, Remnants of the Water Mansion

The pull of the ancient ring on his left hand was like a guiding beacon, while the slight heat from the blood curse secret letter was like the tolling of an alarm bell.

However, Lin Ye did not immediately rush toward the destination where light and crisis intertwined.

It was just like working on a new project in his past life; he wouldn't dive headfirst into the core problem but would instead conduct peripheral research, accumulate data, and map out the boundaries first.

This dark river was long and deep, and the map from Outer Sect Deacon Zhou Yuan was merely a rough route. Since the ancient ring could sense Geng Metal Qi and Evil Qi, and he was in urgent need of resources and strength, why not explore along the river channel first?

Operating his Qi Concealment Technique to its limit, he completely suppressed the fluctuations of his spiritual energy, making him look like a lucky, injured servant who had stumbled into this place.

Choosing the main river channel that wound and twisted in roughly the same direction as the ancient ring's pull, Lin Ye began his "dark river sweep."

The underground dark river was not uniform. In some places, it was as wide as a hall with roaring water; in others, it was as narrow as a crack, requiring him to turn sideways to squeeze through; and in some places, it branched off, leading to unknown destinations.

Lin Ye moved slowly and carefully. Every time he reached a new river section or cave, he would first focus his attention to observe, confirming there were no dangerous auras (especially utilizing the few available daily peeking opportunities to cautiously observe the environmental "Opportunity"), before proceeding with the exploration.

The harvest was richer than he had anticipated.

First harvest: In a stone crevice by a branch river, he discovered several clusters of "Yin Moss" emitting a faint fluorescent glow. It was a low-grade spiritual plant that could be used to refine certain yin-attribute Medicinal Pills or feed specific Spirit Beasts. He carefully collected some, wrapped them in oil paper, and stored them in the space of the ancient ring.

Second harvest: While passing through a shallow area underwater filled with sharp stalagmites, the ancient ring transmitted a strong sense of yearning. He waded into the water to search and found seven or eight fist-sized, jet-black, heavy, and cold "Black Iron Ore" at the base of the stalagmites. Within the natural patterns on the surface of the Ore, there contained significant Evil Qi of metal. When he brought the Ore close to the ancient ring, wisps of gray-black Evil Qi were rapidly drawn out and absorbed. The cloud patterns on the ring became clearer and brighter to the naked eye, and the "sharp" nourishing sensation fed back to him grew stronger by a fraction. The Ore, having had its Evil Qi drained, turned into pure Black Iron Materials, which were of great value. He collected these "waste Ores" as well.

The third, and also the greatest harvest: At the end of an extremely narrow tributary that was almost completely submerged by the water flow, he barely squeezed through a hole and entered a completely enclosed, exitless small stone grotto.

In the center of the grotto, there was a skeleton that had long since decayed into dust, with several severely rusted weapon fragments scattered around it.

And when Lin Ye focused his gaze on this environment, two lines of text appeared in his field of vision:

[Location: Place where an anonymous Cultivator passed away]

[Residual Opportunity: The stone wall is inscribed with three Moves of an incomplete Sword Technique (requires comprehension); hidden between the finger bones of the skeleton is a 'Geng Metal Ring' (deactivated, containing residual weak Geng Metal Qi). Countdown: None.]

Sword Technique! Geng Metal Qi!

Lin Ye's spirits lifted. He first carefully inspected the skeleton and found a bronze ring between the finger bones that was almost rusted through and dull, with faint, intricate patterns visible on it. When the ancient ring made contact with this ring, it actually vibrated slightly, transmitting a "yearning" several times stronger than when it absorbed the Black Iron Ore!

He tried bringing the two rings close together.

Sss...

A wisp of faint, yet incomparably pure, pale golden Qi carrying an invincible intent overflowed from the bronze ring and was instantly absorbed by the dark silver ancient ring! The cloud patterns on the ancient ring lit up brightly, the dark silver color seemingly plated with a layer of extremely faint golden light, and the nourishing sensation and sharp intent fed back to Lin Ye suddenly increased by a level! The bronze ring then shattered completely, turning into powder.

"Geng Metal Qi... truly a great tonic for the ancient ring!" Lin Ye thought with joy. It seemed the recovery and growth of this ancient ring were closely related to high-quality metal Evil Qi, especially Geng Metal Qi.

Next, he looked at the stone wall of the grotto. It was covered with chaotic markings, like a madman's graffiti. But when he calmed his mind, used his Qi Refining first-layer spiritual sense to perceive them, and mobilized the increasingly clear sharp intent of the ancient ring on his left hand to "touch" those markings—

Hum!

A portion of the chaotic markings seemed to come alive, rearranging and combining in his "eyes" to evolve into three continuous figures holding swords, filled with killing intent and determination!

First Move: [Severing Flow]! The sword strikes like cutting off a river, moving forward without hesitation, emphasizing instantaneous explosion and decisiveness.

Second Move: [Hidden Edge]! The sword aura is restrained, drawn but not released, accumulating power in an unperturbed manner, hiding a fatal strike.

Third Move: [Shattering Jade]! A desperate strike where both jade and stone burn, a counterattack in a hopeless situation, using oneself as the price to erupt with lethality far exceeding normal levels. The Move is incomplete, containing only the starting stance and the intent.

There were no specific spiritual energy circulation paths; it was more like a Legacy of "Sword Intent," emphasizing the intent rather than the form. But for Lin Ye, who currently only knew the superficial Qi Induction Technique and had no means of attack, this was no different from providing charcoal in snowy weather!

He immersed himself in the Concept of the stone carvings, using his finger as a sword, repeatedly imitating and pondering those three incomplete Sword Intent Moves within the grotto. With the assistance of the ancient ring's sharp intent, he seemed to be able to more clearly feel that determination to cut through everything, the forbearance of hiding the edge in the scabbard, and the tragic intensity of Shattering Jade without regret.

He did not know how many times he had practiced, but until his spirit was exhausted, those three Sword Intent Moves were barely etched into his mind. Although he was far from mastering them, he already had a rough prototype.

"It is time to leave." He memorized the stone wall markings, bowed to the pile of decaying bones, and then returned the way he came.

This exploration took the better part of a day. His ancient ring had recovered quite a bit, he had mastered an incomplete but practical offensive Sword Intent, and he had also harvested Yin Moss and Black Iron Materials. More importantly, he had a more intuitive understanding of the dark river's environment and the distribution of the branch paths.

Strength was quietly accumulating.

When Lin Ye returned to the main river channel and prepared to continue moving toward the core direction sensed by the ancient ring, he suddenly heard a different sound of water.

It was not the usual gurgling sound of flowing water, but a rhythmic "swish—swish—" sound, as if a giant creature was churning in deep water, low and powerful, coming from the depths of a certain branch path ahead.

At the same time, the sense of pull from the ancient ring on his left hand suddenly became urgent and intense, even carrying a hint of... an imperceptible tremor?

And in his bosom, that corner of the blood curse secret letter instantly became scorching hot!

He immediately darted behind a giant rock, activated his Qi Concealment Technique to the limit, and held his breath.

A few breaths later.

Splash!

The water in the dark branch path ahead surged violently, and a massive, semi-transparent shadow emitting a faint blue light slowly rose from the deep water, revealing a small part of its body.

It appeared to be a... creature almost in the shape of a Dragon, formed from pure water and blue radiance! Its body was slender, with scales and claws faintly visible, and a pair of hollow eyes emitting a chilling coldness scanned the river channel aimlessly.

Just by being grazed by the peripheral vision of that gaze, Lin Ye felt a bone-chilling cold, and his spiritual energy circulation became somewhat sluggish!

[Water Essence of Gui (Weakened/Sleeping)]—a line of pale blue text flashed across his field of vision.

The monster that was the Guardian of the "mystic yin true water"! It had actually left the water pool and was patrolling the nearby river channel?!

The Essence did not seem to have discovered Lin Ye, who had completely concealed his Qi. It lazily swayed its body, slowly sank back into the water, and swam toward another branch path, the "swishing" sound of churning water gradually fading away.

Lin Ye's back was already soaked with cold sweat.

The aura of this Essence definitely surpassed the Qi Refinement Stage! Even in its weakened and sleeping state, it was absolutely not something he could contend with right now.

Going directly to the mystic yin true water pool was equivalent to courting death.

He lowered his head and looked at the ancient ring on his left hand. The ring's strong pull still pointed toward the depths of the branch path from which the Essence had patrolled.

And in his bosom, the scorching heat of the blood curse secret letter had not subsided; instead, after the appearance of the Essence, it faintly pointed in another direction—that was an inconspicuous area on the dark river's stone wall, covered in thick moss.

There, it seemed there was something resonating with the blood curse?