510: Chapter 510 Underwater

"Open a new market town!!"

Yao Qian's hand on Liu Xuan's shoulder tightened slightly as she froze for a few breaths.

"No... that's not good!"

"I just wanted to find something to do, and a little bit of authority would have been enough. I can't manage a whole market town."

"Let's forget it. I'm afraid I'll mess it up for you, husband."

Land near the Biyou Pool was practically worth its weight in gold. One couldn't even imagine how much it would cost to open a single shop, let alone a brand-new market town.

Because the conditions Liu Xuan offered were too good, Yao Qian actually felt a bit afraid. Although she had a bit of vanity, she also had self-awareness; with Liu Xuan's favor, being a managing deacon would be quite good. How could she dare to dream of managing an entire market town?

Despite Liu Xuan's current doting on her, it was only because all his other women had stayed behind at the Liu Mansion in the Star Academy instead of coming here, not because he truly valued her that much.

For a major event like building a new market town at the Biyou Pool, she couldn't guarantee that Liu Xuan wouldn't hold her accountable if she messed it up.

"Don't worry, it won't be left entirely for you to manage alone. I will arrange a group of subordinates to assist you; they will help you."

Liu Xuan took out a blank Jade Slip and, while using his Divine Sense to record information inside, gave instructions to Yao Qian:

"In a moment, take this Jade Slip to True Lord Haoran's people. They will designate the territory for the market town and arrange manpower to assist with its construction. You just need to keep an eye on the process."

"As for the matter of the market shops, the people from the Liu Clan Merchant Alliance will handle it. Likewise, you don't need to worry about that."

Because of Liu Xuan's orders, the Liu Clan Merchant Alliance had not invested much power here at the Biyou Pool.

However, the more dangerous a place was, the higher the profits. Although the main branches of the Merchant Alliance had not flooded in on a large scale, some side branches were still doing business here.

Liu Xuan's sudden proposal to open a market town was not for the sake of making money, nor was it for the sake of this concubine, Yao Qian, but rather to consolidate manpower and gather intelligence.

A large number of personnel from the Lingshu Pavilion and Lingying Pavilion were converging on the Biyou Pool, and the market town was being built for them.

"Husband, you're not joking?" Yao Qian was both excited and apprehensive. "If the market town loses money, I won't be able to afford the compensation."

"I don't need you to compensate me!" Liu Xuan turned his head to look at the fishing line on the water's surface below. "You are just a minor Qi Refining Cultivator. No matter how much money is lost, it won't be blamed on you. I'm not the type to take my anger out on you."

"Thank you, husband!" Yao Qian took the Jade Slip Liu Xuan handed over and stood up excitedly. "I'm going to tell the sisters this good news right now!"

Yao Qian left, skipping with excitement. Before long, a burst of cheering rang out from the entire Fangcun Tower, and then a group of girls flew toward the edge of the abyss to find the General Affairs Hall of True Lord Haoran's lineage to handle the opening of the market town.

On Liu Xuan's side, he had been fishing for nearly half a day and hadn't seen even a trace of a fish.

"Didn't they say the bottom of the Biyou Pool connects to the Southern Border water vein and is a bottomless pool? Is there really not a single fish?"

Liu Xuan lacked patience and directly released his Divine Sense to conduct a large-scale search of the underwater depths. At the same time, he was curious about exactly how deep the Biyou Pool was; it couldn't possibly be truly bottomless!

Possessing the Great Formation Token given by Peach Blossom, Liu Xuan's Divine Sense could receive the formation's enhancement. His own Divine Sense strength was already no weaker than a True Lord at the Early Nascent Soul Stage, and after the enhancement, it was at least at the Middle Stage or even higher.

"Hmm?"

Liu Xuan discovered that the Biyou Pool really was unfathomable. His Divine Sense reached several thousand meters deep, yet he still hadn't seen the bottom.

Moreover, the underwater pressure was extremely high. The further down he went, the more difficult it became for his Divine Sense to probe. With his current Divine Sense strength, he actually couldn't reach below ten thousand meters.

"I don't believe this. Is it really bottomless?"

Liu Xuan withdrew his Divine Sense, rose from his lounger, and took a step forward, his figure instantly appearing on the water's surface.

Looking down at the water's surface—emerald green on the top layer and deep black further down, so profound that the bottom was invisible—Liu Xuan felt no fear at all.

'Kunpeng, True Dragon, Supreme Good Myriad Transformation Scripture... Speaking of which, the water is actually my home turf!'

Fine scales formed beneath his skin as the Five Elements rotated within Liu Xuan's body. His Golden Core turned a deep black, and a surge of pure Water-attribute mana surrounded him.

"It feels like I've come home!"

Upon entering the water, the dense Water-attribute Spiritual Qi actively merged into his body. The sense of pressure he had felt during his Divine Sense probe completely vanished; instead, he felt that his perception was several times sharper than it was above the water.

If he weren't worried about being sensed by the great formation, he would have really wanted to completely release his true form and have a good swim.

Having a Physical Body cultivated through the Kunpeng Swallowing Heaven Body Refining Method with true dragon essence blood, Liu Xuan had never fully released this body's state at its peak.

With the water currents surrounding him, Liu Xuan's body slowly sank toward the depths of the water, soon reaching the previous limit of his Divine Sense perception, near the ten-thousand-meter mark.

There was almost no light here, and his vision was filled with darkness, but his Divine Sense perception was unaffected and could still clearly sense the surroundings.

"The Spiritual Qi is even denser!"

The Biyou Pool Spiritual Vein was right under the water. It was a special water vein, and its core was located at a depth of over ten thousand meters.

Here, one could already see dense Formation runes forming chains that extended underwater. The great formation was linked to the Spiritual Vein, which was not as simple as just being on the surface; it needed to be connected to the entire core. The closer to the core, the more runes there were.

Liu Xuan did not touch these Formation runes but continued to dive deeper, passing the core of the Spiritual Vein, wanting to see what the situation was at the bottom.

At thirty thousand meters underwater, the Spiritual Qi began to grow thin, and the temperature became extremely low.

At around thirty-five thousand meters, Liu Xuan finally reached the underwater land. The entire ground appeared deep black, and the chilling aura was dense to the extreme.

"If one didn't have a treasure to protect their body, an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator would probably run out of mana before long if they stayed here."

The underwater pressure was secondary; the main issue was that the chilling aura was too overbearing. Ordinary Magic Treasures wouldn't be able to withstand it for long.

Liu Xuan spread his Divine Sense to scan the area. The underwater area was much larger than the surface area of the Biyou Pool, and he couldn't see its edge at all. Some Undercurrents flowed into the distance like great rivers, their ultimate destination unknown.

After searching around for a bit and finding nothing unusual, Liu Xuan returned to the Fangcun Tower the way he came.

"The bottom of the Biyou Pool connects to the Southern Border water vein, which matches the information I knew. There are no problems. The only strange thing is... there aren't many fish."

Logically speaking, the bottom of the Biyou Pool was a confluence of water currents and had a Rank 4 peak-grade water vein providing Spiritual Qi, so there should be many aquatic creatures.

"Could they have all gathered to the north?"

The north was Demon Lord Cangyuan's territory. Liu Xuan didn't dare to rashly probe over there, but he took a distant look, and it seemed there were indeed traces of Yao Beast activity.

"Regardless, the Rank 4 peak-grade water vein is already controlled by the great formation. Whether Demon Lord Cangyuan has truly defected or only fake-defected doesn't affect the overall situation. Whether there are Yao Beasts underwater is also just a minor issue."

"Could it really not be a Demon Court conspiracy? Could it really just be an accident?"

Liu Xuan was confused. All sorts of signs indicated that the Biyou Pool was completely falling into the hands of the Beast Taming Sect, and there was no possibility for the Demon Court to turn things around.