The Power of Divine Blade Slash

With Huang Shaojie's current inner strength, even holding his breath underwater for an hour would not be a problem.

Commander Li and Xiao Qiuyue waited by the well, watching Huang Shaojie dive to the bottom and waiting for him to come back up.

The well was over ten meters deep. Although the water was very clear, they still could not see what was happening at the bottom from where they stood.

Huang Shaojie plunged straight down to the bottom.

He believed that if there was a hidden passage, its entrance was most likely at the bottom of the well.

The farther down it was, the harder it would be to observe from above.

Moreover, when ordinary people went down a well to investigate, they would rarely start from the bottom. They would most likely begin at the top and work their way down, but by then they probably would not be able to hold their breath any longer.

The well was roughly four or five chi in diameter, and its walls were built from blue bricks.

If there was a mechanism, it had to be one of those bricks.

But in a well more than ten meters deep, with thousands upon thousands of bricks lining its walls, how could one possibly hold one's breath at the bottom and find the single mechanism brick among them?

If he tried pressing every brick, it would take at least several hours underwater to test all ten thousand of them.

Huang Shaojie guessed that the banner officer had only felt around the bottom of the well for a while before coming back up after finding nothing unusual.

After diving to the bottom, Huang Shaojie did not reach out and randomly press the bricks. Instead, he used the Insight Technique to carefully inspect the bricks in the well wall.

No matter how exquisitely crafted the mechanism was, Huang Shaojie's Insight Technique would surely reveal what was different about that brick.

His gaze swept around the bottom of the well, then gradually moved upward. Only after examining nearly two meters of the wall did he spot a brick that was somewhat different.

Unlike the other bricks, which fit together seamlessly, this one had a faint crack around it.

Ordinary people would never notice such a tiny gap, much less at the bottom of a well.

But beneath Huang Shaojie's Insight Technique, it was as plain as day.

Huang Shaojie reached out and pressed the brick, but it did not budge in the slightest.

Strange. Had he misjudged it?

That was impossible!

Huang Shaojie channeled true qi into his palm and pressed down hard.

Crack, crack, crack—

The well wall withdrew inward, revealing a hidden passage two chi square.

Huang Shaojie surfaced and wiped the water from his face.

"Did you find the hidden passage?"

The moment Xiao Qiuyue saw him emerge, she hurriedly asked.

At a depth of over ten meters, neither she nor Commander Li could see what Huang Shaojie had been doing at the bottom.

Huang Shaojie smiled. "I've already opened the hidden passage. Do you want to go down and take a look with me?"

Though he possessed four Peerless Divine Skills, unless he had no other choice, he would not risk entering the hidden passage at the bottom of the well alone.

If there were mechanisms and traps inside, going down by himself would surely mean nine chances of death out of ten.

"The hidden passage was really at the bottom of the well?"

Commander Li was both shocked and delighted. He immediately nodded. "Of course we'll go together. More people means more support."

Commander Li called over a banner officer and told him to have several men guard the well. If anything went wrong, they could summon help in time.

Then Commander Li and Xiao Qiuyue both removed their outer garments and jumped into the well.

The three of them dove down to the bottom, with Huang Shaojie entering the hidden passage first.

With the Indestructible Vajra Technique and the Full Moon Scimitar in hand, he was confident that he could protect himself even if something unexpected happened.

Xiao Qiuyue followed close behind, while Commander Li brought up the rear.

After entering the hidden passage, they swam for over ten meters and emerged into a large pool.

The three surfaced in the pool and saw another hidden passage ahead.

This passage, however, no longer contained water.

They climbed out of the pool and looked toward the passage.

It was about two meters tall and one meter wide. Darkness filled its depths, and there was no telling where it led.

Yet Huang Shaojie could see everything within it clearly.

"I'll take the lead again!"

Holding the Full Moon Scimitar, Huang Shaojie was the first to enter the passage.

Xiao Qiuyue drew her longsword and followed behind him.

Commander Li held his Embroidered Spring Blade and followed last.

The three traveled several hundred meters through the twisting passage before coming upon another pool.

"Could this pool lead to the exit of another well?"

Seeing the pool, Huang Shaojie could not help but speculate.

"We also emerged from a pool when we came in. It seems that is probably the case."

Xiao Qiuyue agreed with Huang Shaojie's guess.

She wore a set of close-fitting white undergarments, now completely soaked through and clinging to her body, displaying her perfectly curvaceous figure in full.

Though the passage was dark, Huang Shaojie could see every detail with perfect clarity.

Huang Shaojie took a deep breath and forced his gaze away from Xiao Qiuyue's full breasts.

This was not the time to admire beautiful women.

He turned and jumped into the pool.

Xiao Qiuyue and Commander Li jumped in after him.

Huang Shaojie dove three or four meters down and saw a passage two chi in diameter at the bottom of the pool.

After swimming through the passage for more than ten meters, the three came upon a stone wall.

Huang Shaojie swept the stone wall with the Insight Technique and quickly found the mechanism.

He reached out and pressed one of the bricks.

Crack, crack, crack—

An opening appeared in the stone wall.

Huang Shaojie crawled through it and found that he had indeed entered another well.

Xiao Qiuyue and Commander Li also crawled through the opening and arrived at the bottom of the well.

Huang Shaojie surfaced, then sprang upward from within the well, soaring several zhang into the air before landing in a small courtyard.

Xiao Qiuyue and Commander Li also leaped out of the well in quick succession.

"Who are you?"

Their emergence from the well alerted the guards in the residence. Four or five men dressed in black fitted garments rushed in with blades in hand.

Commander Li drew his Embroidered Spring Blade and shouted, "We are the Imperial Guard! You Japanese pirates, throw down your weapons and surrender at once!"

The faces of the black-clad guards changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Baka! The Imperial Guard's lackeys actually discovered the hidden passage beneath the well! Kill them all!"

The leader of the black-clad guards let out a strange cry, waved his hand, and charged forward with the other guards, their blades raised.

Huang Shaojie drew the Full Moon Scimitar and unleashed a Divine Blade Slash.

A flash of light swept through the air.

The charging Eastern Ocean Samurai suddenly stopped. Then their bodies split diagonally into two halves.

Their upper bodies slid down, their eyes filled with terror as they watched their lower halves slowly collapse.

With a single slash, he had dealt with five Eastern Ocean Samurai.