Undercurrents Surge, Deterrence's Aftermath

The river water washed over the enormous, cold corpse of the Cold Water Crocodile, making the earth-shattering slaughter that had just occurred seem like a mere illusion.

Dead silence.

A suffocating silence enveloped the riverbank, with only the monotonous sound of flowing water echoing.

Su Lie froze in place, his cloudy eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. His mouth hung slightly open, but no sound came out. He looked at the slender figure on the riverbank, as if gazing up at an insurmountable mountain, or perhaps a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Eighth Layer… No, that aura, it definitely surpassed the mid-stage of the Eighth Layer! It might even be… He dared not think further.

How could such a terrifying existence emerge from a small place like Qingyang Town? This "senior," no, this lord… Who exactly was he? Why did he appear here? And why did he intervene to help? A string of questions tangled in his heart like a messy ball of yarn, but more than anything, there was a deep-seated reverence and fear.

The guards were even more terrified, their faces pale, their hands trembling slightly as they gripped their weapons. They didn't even dare to breathe heavily, let alone look up at Lin Chen. They simply kept their heads down, their peripheral vision catching glimpses of the massive crocodile corpse, sending chills down their spines.

If that single finger from earlier had landed on them…

Inside the carriage, Su Ling'er clutched her mouth tightly to stifle a gasp. Through the gap in the carriage curtain, she could only see Lin Chen's back, yet she felt as though that back contained the power to swallow heaven and earth. The aura that had suddenly erupted and then quickly retracted seemed to momentarily halt the churning cold energy within her. Powerful, indifferent, mysterious… This young man, who was only a few years older than herself, instantly became incredibly unfamiliar and yet towering in her heart.

Lin Chen seemed oblivious to the commotion behind him.

He stood by the riverbank, his gaze calmly fixed on the corpse of the Cold Water Crocodile. In his deep eyes, there was no trace of excitement after defeating a powerful enemy, only a near-indifferent scrutiny.

He slowly raised his hand and pointed it at the massive corpse in the air.

No one saw any light, nor did they hear any sound.

But in the very next instant, the corpse of the Cold Water Crocodile began to… shrivel and dissolve at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Its hard scales lost their luster, turning dull and ashen; its immense flesh and blood seemed to be drawn out by an invisible force, rapidly shrinking; even its stark white bones appeared to be decomposed by some power, turning into specks of imperceptible dust that merged into the river water or dissipated into the air.

In less than a dozen breaths.

That Cold Water Crocodile, which had been ferociously powerful just moments ago, capable of annihilating the entire caravan, had… vanished into thin air!

Only the gradually spreading, increasingly faint bloodstains on the river surface proved that it had ever existed.

This scene was even more bizarre and horrifying than the instant kill from earlier!

Su Lie swallowed hard, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He could understand a powerful martial artist killing a demonic beast with a single strike, but this method of making a beast's corpse vanish into thin air… he had never heard of it! This was beyond his understanding of martial power!

He finally understood that this lord was likely not someone they could fathom.

"Let's go."

Lin Chen retracted his finger, turned around, and spoke calmly, as if he had just done something trivial. The suffocating pressure receded like a tide, becoming contained once more, but the intangible distance he exuded became even stronger.

"Yes… Yes! My lord!" Su Lie jolted, quickly bowing in response, his tone incomparably respectful, devoid of any previous familiarity.

He didn't dare to delay any further and immediately called out to the still somewhat dazed guards: "Quick! Hurry across the river! Everyone, stay alert!"

This crossing was entirely different from the atmosphere before.

The river water was still bone-chillingly cold, and the Yin cold energy still eroded their True Qi, but everyone gritted their teeth, enduring the discomfort, moving quickly and cautiously, fearing that any extra noise might disturb the "lord" walking at the very end.

They didn't even dare to look back, simply keeping their heads down as they hurried along, their steps becoming much heavier.

The carriage, personally guided by Su Lie, crossed the deepest part of the river as smoothly as possible. Inside, Su Ling'er's body still trembled slightly from the cold, but her gaze kept drifting through the carriage curtain's gap towards the silent figure at the rear of the procession, her eyes filled with an unreadable complexity.

Finally, the caravan reached the opposite bank without any further incident.

Leaving the icy river water, everyone felt as though they had walked through the gates of hell. Many were trembling, not just from the cold and the depletion of their True Qi, but from the thrilling events of moments ago and the immense pressure emanating from Lin Chen.

"My lord, we… we've reached the other side." Su Lie approached Lin Chen, his posture even lower, reporting cautiously, "There should be a sheltered hollow not far ahead. Should we… rest for a bit?" Seeing Lin Chen's indifferent expression, he quickly added, "Mainly… Miss…"

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the carriage, seemingly not lingering, and he simply responded with a faint "Mm."

With permission, Su Lie felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He immediately directed everyone to find a relatively dry, wind-sheltered spot among the rocks to prepare for a brief rest and recover their depleted True Qi and stamina.

The guards silently built a small campfire, took out their dry rations and water skins, but few had the appetite to eat. They simply sat around the fire, conversing in low voices, their gazes occasionally darting towards Lin Chen, who sat alone on a rock, eyes closed, meditating.

Su Lie hesitated, but ultimately did not step forward to disturb him. He knew that any words of thanks now would seem pale and powerless, and might even provoke the other party's displeasure. The thoughts of this lord were beyond his comprehension. The only thing he could do now was cooperate as much as possible and pray for a safe arrival at Yin Wind Ravine.

Beside the carriage, Su Ling'er was helped out by a female attendant. Her small face was still pale, her lips even tinged with purple, clearly indicating that the Cold Water River had exacerbated the cold energy within her. She took the hot water bottle handed to her by the attendant but didn't immediately warm herself. Instead, she stared blankly at Lin Chen's back not far away.

Lin Chen was indeed meditating, but more importantly, he was processing the battle and his gains from earlier.

Refining the Cold Water Crocodile yielded more benefits than he had anticipated. Not only did the pure energy from its flesh and blood, along with the Demonic Core's energy, further solidify his mid-stage Body Tempering Eighth Layer cultivation, showing faint signs of breaking through to the later stage, but more importantly, he had extracted a trace of extremely pure Dao Rhyme fragment of Water Yin Cold from the Cold Water Crocodile's Origin!

Although this sliver of Dao Rhyme was weak, it slightly strengthened the Origin of the Myriad Dao Furnace and gave him a vague understanding of water and ice-attribute powers. While he couldn't directly utilize it for now, this understanding held immeasurable benefits for refining higher-level powers of the same attribute in the future or for deducing related cultivation techniques.

As for exposing his strength… Lin Chen wasn't too concerned.

This was the depths of Luofeng Gorge, a place rarely visited by humans. As long as the people from the Su Family weren't fools, they wouldn't dare to leak his information carelessly. Even if they did, by the time they left the gorge, he would likely have long since departed.

What concerned him more was Su Ling'er's condition.

The Yin cold energy from the Cold Water River earlier had clearly resonated with the "strange illness" within her, intensifying her suffering. Did this mean her illness was related to some kind of Yin cold attribute power? Perhaps even related to the environment deep within Luofeng Gorge?

The Purple Cloud Mushroom, said to grow in Yin Wind Ravine where Yin energy is extremely heavy… Could it really counteract the cold energy within her?

Lin Chen opened his eyes, his deep gaze fixed on the deeper parts of the gorge, where the mist was thicker and the wind seemed to carry a mournful sound, exuding a subtle ominous aura.

The path ahead seemed even more perilous.

But he did not retreat; instead, a faint sense of anticipation arose within him.

The more dangerous a place, the greater the opportunities it often held.

Whether it was the potentially existing Purple Cloud Mushroom or the powerful demonic beasts that might be hidden deeper within, for him, who possessed the Myriad Dao Furnace, they were all… sustenance!