70: Chapter 70 Spiritual Cave Spring

The moment the Ancient Grotto-Heaven opened, the first ones to grow restless were the Rising Beingss that had been dormant in the water for a long time.

The massive Eel took the lead, followed closely by that Sturgeon.

Then came the hundreds of aquatic creatures behind them, dense and packed, pouring into the beam of light like a black tide.

On the shore, Qian Hongye stood up straight.

This Fourth-stage Opening Apertures martial artist, the strongest person currently in the Qian Family, said in a deep voice, "Go," and stomped his foot violently. His entire body shot out like an arrow released from a string, tearing through the sky and heading straight for the center of the river.

More than a dozen Qian Family disciples followed closely behind him. Once they leapt into the water, they moved with the agility of fish, quickly blending into the vast army of aquatic creatures.

Those Rising Beingss in the water had no time to pay attention to these uninvited guests at the moment; they all scrambled and fought to swim toward the beam of light, fearing that if they were a step too slow, they would lose their chance.

What exactly was inside the Ancient Grotto-Heaven was not yet known, but being the first to enter was definitely better than being the last.

Even if one died upon entering first, it was still worth it.

Once the Qian Family moved, the people from the other major ancient families also entered the water one after another.

The Fourth-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Second Master Zhao, pinched a spell seal and chanted a mantra. The sword at his waist clanged as it left its sheath, rotating leisurely in front of him before lifting his figure. Like a stream of light, he broke through the water and headed straight for the entrance of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven's light beam at an incredible speed.

The other Zhao Family disciples followed behind Second Master Zhao, waiting for their Second Master to clear the path ahead.

The people from the other families did the same, letting their strongest combatants lead the way while the others followed behind.

On the shore, Gu Xiao looked at the scene on the opposite bank, which resembled dumplings being dropped into a pot, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "The higher-ups were right. These ancient families pretend to be obedient on the surface, but deep down, they all have ulterior motives."

He paused, then sighed in a low voice: "Tsk, I really envy these cultivators. Once they reach the Third-stage Object Manipulation stage, they can just find a broom to fly around on. I can only rely on my two legs to run and my two arms to swim."

Cultivators and martial artists were not the same.

Martial artists tempered their own bodies, relying on nothing external, taking it one step at a time, crushing mountains and rivers.

The path cultivators took was similar to the Taoist Internal Elixir school. First, they had to cultivate a sense of Qi, which was the First-stage Sensing.

Next was the Second-stage Qi Condensation, storing gaseous spiritual energy in the meridians within the body. At this stage, they could already walk on water, run on walls, and use some talismans and techniques to manipulate weapons.

The Third-stage Object Manipulation. At this stage, they would awaken their Spiritual Sense, using it like an invisible hand to control objects. They could ignore some physical inertia and achieve flight by manipulating objects, though the specific flight time depended on their own cultivation level.

And the Fourth-stage Foundation Establishment was to convert the spiritual energy in the meridians into liquid form, store it in the Dantian, and solidify the Dao foundation.

Although Gu Xiao said he was envious, he was actually just venting.

After the several major ancient families, independent cultivators, and aquatic creatures had all submerged into the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, the Jiantian Bureau immediately ordered the personnel who had been prepared to enter with their instruments.

The purpose of their trip was not to hunt for treasure, but to investigate the Ancient Grotto-Heaven and attempt to lock onto the coordinates of the second Ancient Grotto-Heaven.

With everyone who should and shouldn't have entered having entered the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, Fang Jingxuan found Gu Xiao and asked him to take Li Xiuyuan to wait at the entrance.

"Old Gu, you should take Li Xiuyuan to get ready."

Gu Xiao looked at Fang Jingxuan with a strange expression: "Team Leader Fang, Li Xiuyuan is gone. Do you feel it?"

"Huh?"

Fang Jingxuan didn't react for a moment.

But soon, he realized what it meant that Li Xiuyuan was gone.

Disappearing at this time, where else could he go? He must have gone in!

"Didn't I tell you to watch him?!" Fang Jingxuan's face changed drastically. Letting Li Xiuyuan enter the Ancient Grotto-Heaven was definitely outside the plan.

Originally, this trip by the Jiantian Bureau was just to have Li Xiuyuan guard the entrance of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven and prevent him from entering.

"You think too highly of me. How could I stop him?"

Gu Xiao's reasoning wasn't sound, but he was confident. This remark left Fang Jingxuan speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

There was some truth to this; Gu Xiao was only a Third-stage Martial Artist, and if Li Xiuyuan had a strong attitude, he really couldn't stop him.

But no matter how Fang Jingxuan looked at it, he felt that Gu Xiao had intentionally let Li Xiuyuan in.

"Explain it to the higher-ups yourself. I can't handle it."

Fang Jingxuan felt his head swell and turned to walk away quickly.

Gu Xiao took out a cigarette behind him, lit it, and looked at the entrance of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, saying: "Disobeying orders to let you in, you must bring something out."

In fact, on the way here, Gu Xiao had already talked to Li Xiuyuan.

He knew very well that Li Xiuyuan would definitely not honestly stay at the entrance, so he told Li Xiuyuan that he could turn a blind eye and let Li Xiuyuan enter.

It was just that it would be best if Li Xiuyuan could bring something out to give an account.

...

...

The moment Li Xiuyuan passed through the beam of light, the scene around him changed suddenly.

A thick, extreme amount of spiritual energy wrapped around him, and immediately, boundless water surged from all directions.

It was not the water of the Yangtze River, but something colder, carrying an indescribable, ancient aura.

Li Xiuyuan did not struggle at all, letting his body sink in the water. His White Flood Dragon body was actually more at ease in the water.

It seemed that after entering the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, he had been sent to a body of water.

Li Xiuyuan first stabilized his posture, then spread out his Spiritual Sense. This place seemed to be a huge lake, as deep as an abyss. Light penetrated from above the water surface, dim and hazy, as if separated by thick clouds.

There was extremely rich spiritual energy in the water. This spiritual energy from thousands of years ago was purer than the outside world. With every breath, he could feel the spiritual energy seeping into his body through the gaps between his scales.

Li Xiuyuan opened his eyes, and just as he was about to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy, he suddenly discovered that there was a more intense fluctuation of spiritual energy about three miles to the southwest.

The pure spiritual energy in the water was seeping out from that place. If the spiritual energy seeping out already had such astonishing purity, what would it be like at its center?

The White Flood Dragon's tail lashed out violently, adjusting its posture as it broke through the water and headed away.

That was a spiritual cave, located in a sunken basin at the bottom of the lake. In the very center was a huge spring eye, and milky white spiritual liquid was gurgling out from the spring eye.

"The purity of the spiritual energy here is truly incredible. It's actually so dense that it has condensed into a tangible substance."

Li Xiuyuan noticed the spiritual energy gushing out from the spiritual cave's spring eye and was greatly astonished.

Around the spiritual cave, more than a dozen aquatic creatures were fighting in a melee. They were biting and colliding with each other, fighting fiercely for ownership of the spiritual cave, and blood had already dyed a large area of the water red.

Just as the aquatic creatures had fought each other to the point of losing their minds, an aura that made all the aquatic creatures tremble suddenly descended.

The melee stopped abruptly. All the aquatic creatures shifted their gazes, looking in unison at the white figure that had appeared not far away.

Scales covered in frost-white, a pair of pale golden vertical pupils that didn't take any living being seriously, and that massive body that made all living beings suffocate.

All the aquatic creatures began to tremble uncontrollably. The extreme pressure from their bloodlines made them lack even the courage to look directly at Li Xiuyuan!