151: The unusual movement in the abyss and the words appearing on the stone tablet
The wind, laden with moisture, rushed towards him, carrying the distinct salty, fishy scent of Chenyuan Lake.
Liu Shan landed on the reef by the lake; the rocks beneath his feet still bore cracks from the previous great battle.
The black-purple bloodstains of the Shadow Eaters had long since dried, yet a faint scent of decay still lingered.
The lake water was murkier than usual, and a massive whirlpool churned on the ink-green surface.
The center of the whirlpool glowed with an eerie black, resembling an entrance to Hell.
A muffled rumbling came from the bottom of the lake; every tremor made the reefs on the shore tremble, as if some gargantuan beast were about to awaken from the lakebed.
"What is going on..." Liu Shan frowned as he stared at the lake surface.
The Xu Seal within him was pulsing wildly, resonating with the vibrations from the lakebed.
The sense of unease grew increasingly intense, even overshadowing the pressure previously brought by the Blood Master.
He could feel that the Seal of Chenyuan Lake was loosening.
It wasn't being broken by an external force, but rather disintegrating from within, as if there were a problem with the core of the Seal itself.
Just then, a black column of water suddenly erupted from the center of the whirlpool.
The water column was mixed with countless tiny black scales, which emitted an aura similar to the Shadow Eaters but far more ancient.
The scales landed on the water's surface and transformed into palm-sized black fish.
These fish, equipped with sharp teeth, bit frantically at the surrounding water, quickly dyeing a section of the lake black.
"Are these... the guardians of the Ancient Ruin?" Liu Shan's pupils contracted sharply.
In the memory fragments of the Xuan Jin Dragon, there were records of these small fish—they were the lowest-level guardians of the Ancient Ruin's entrance.
They fed on Shadow Eaters, were extremely ferocious, typically only operated within the Ancient Ruin, and had never appeared in Chenyuan Lake before.
Their appearance meant that a massive breach had appeared in the Seal of Chenyuan Lake, and the power of the Ancient Ruin was leaking out!
The rumbling from the lakebed grew louder, and the whirlpool spun faster and faster.
More black fish swarmed out of the whirlpool, quickly occupying most of the lake surface, and even began swimming toward the shore, their sharp teeth glinting coldly in the sunlight.
Liu Shan did not dare to delay.
He immediately condensed his New Power, and the Three-colored Imprint on his forehead lit up.
A cyan-gold radiance transformed into a barrier, blocking the shore and keeping the black fish that were attempting to land within the lake.
The small fish frantically slammed against the barrier, producing muffled thuds.
The barrier was soon covered in tiny scratches; clearly, the bite force of these small fish far exceeded his imagination.
"I must find the cause of the Seal's loosening." Liu Shan's gaze turned solemn.
He knew that these small fish were just the beginning; if he couldn't repair the Seal in time, something far more terrifying would emerge from the lakebed.
He took a deep breath and made a bold decision—to dive to the bottom of the lake and find the core of the Seal!
This decision was extremely dangerous.
Not only was there immense water pressure at the bottom of the lake, but he might also encounter more powerful guardians of the Ancient Ruin, or even face the unknown entity causing the Seal to loosen directly.
But he had no choice.
The geological anomalies in Luoxia Valley had not yet been resolved, and the Seal of Chenyuan Lake must not have any further issues, otherwise, the Duan Yun Mountains would face a catastrophe.
"Qingxue, wait for me." Liu Shan silently vowed in his heart, then leaped into the murky lake water.
The icy lake water instantly enveloped his body, and the immense water pressure made his bones creak.
He circulated his New Power, forming a layer of cyan-gold protective shield around his body to resist the water pressure while also preventing attacks from the black fish.
After descending about a hundred zhang, the surrounding light was extremely dim.
He could only vaguely see some blurry shadows swimming in the water—evidently those black fish.
They seemed to fear the cyan-gold radiance on Liu Shan's body and dared not approach, merely circling him and emitting shrill hisses.
Liu Shan ignored them and continued to descend.
He could feel the resonance of the Xu Seal growing stronger; the source was at the deepest part of the lakebed, the very place where the Xuan Jin Dragon had suppressed the Shadow Eater King years ago.
After descending another few dozen zhang, his feet finally touched the hard ground.
This was the silt layer at the bottom of the lake; the thick silt was mixed with many white bones, the remains of unknown creatures.
Standing in the silt was a massive black stele—it was the very stele engraved with ancient runes left behind by the Xuan Jin Dragon all those years ago!
The runes on the stele were flickering, emitting a faint red light that echoed the Three-colored Imprint on Liu Shan's forehead.
But unlike before, many tiny cracks had appeared between the runes, clearly the root cause of the Seal's loosening!
"It really is here!" Liu Shan felt a surge of joy and hurried toward the stele.
Just as he was about to reach the stele, the silt suddenly churned violently, and a massive tentacle shot out from the silt with a sharp sound of breaking through the water, lashing fiercely toward him!
This tentacle was as thick as a water barrel, its surface covered in black scales.
At its tip was a massive eye flashing with crimson light—clearly a more powerful guardian of the Ancient Ruin!
Liu Shan's pupils contracted, and without thinking, he dodged the tentacle's attack.
The tentacle struck the spot where he had just been, causing the silt to splatter everywhere and revealing even more white bones beneath.
"Roar—!"
The owner of the tentacles let out a muffled roar, and more tentacles shot out from the silt, dense and thick like a black forest, surrounding Liu Shan completely.
Only then did Liu Shan see its full form—it was a massive octopus-like creature, its body hidden in the silt, revealing only countless tentacles and a single huge eye located in the center, which was staring intently at him, filled with hostility.
The power of this guardian far exceeded any Shadow Eaters he had encountered before, and it was even approaching that of a Shadow Eater King!
Liu Shan did not dare to be careless and immediately condensed his Three-colored Light Blade, preparing to fight.
Just then, the stele at the bottom of the lake suddenly erupted with intense red light, and all the runes lit up simultaneously.
From those tiny cracks, black liquid actually seeped out, as if the stele were bleeding!
Even more eerily, the ancient runes on the stele, which had originally been blurry, began to become clear at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even some new runes that Liu Shan had never seen before began to emerge!
These new runes were forming a sentence—
"Ruin Master... return... Ancient Ruin... opening..."
Liu Shan's heart constricted violently.
The Ancient Ruin is opening?!
Could it be that the reason for the Seal's loosening wasn't external attacks, but rather... the appearance of him, the Ruin Master?
The stele seemed to respond to his thoughts; the red light became even more dazzling, and those new runes began to flicker, emitting a powerful suction force that pulled not only at Liu Shan but also at the surrounding giant guardian!
The guardian let out a terrified roar, attempting to break free from the suction, only to find its tentacles being devoured bit by bit by the red light, turning into black liquid and flowing into the cracks of the stele!
Liu Shan was also firmly locked by the suction, his body flying uncontrollably toward the stele.
He could feel the Three-colored Imprint on his forehead resonating intensely with the stele, as if it were about to be sucked away by it!
"No!"
He struggled to resist, only to find all his power draining away rapidly, his body getting closer and closer to the stele.
The runes on the stele flickered faster and faster, and that sentence became clearer and clearer:
"Ruin Master... return... Ancient Ruin... opening..."
The immense suction completely engulfed him; Liu Shan's body slammed into the stele and was instantly wrapped in red light.
Before losing consciousness completely, he saw the cracks on the stele healing rapidly, but the healed stele had changed color from black to an eerie dark red, and the runes on it had completely transformed into new patterns filled with an unknown aura.
The rumbling at the bottom of the lake reached its peak.
On the surface of Chenyuan Lake, at the center of the massive whirlpool, a gate made of black stone slowly rose, its surface engraved with the same dark red runes as the stele.
The Gate of the Ancient Ruin had truly opened.