Su Changqing laughed brightly.
Then he leaped down from the mountaintop. Beneath the blazing sun and amid silvery waterfalls, he plunged straight into the emerald pool.
The water of the emerald pool was surprisingly cold.
The pool was a hundred zhang deep. Su Changqing dove down, searching for traces of Profound Heaven True Qi.
He had already explored every other part of the mountain and saved quite a few people. Only this place had yet to be visited.
Within the dark, frigid water, a glimmer of light gradually emerged.
"When Great Emperor Zhenwu ascended, legend said that he stood atop a Nine Heavens Black Tortoise, pointed toward the Ninth Heaven, held the Profound Heaven Demon-Slaying Sword, and ascended to immortality, stunning the world."
"Black Tortoises favor water. As expected, it's here."
A faint smile touched Su Changqing's lips as he approached the light.
That light was actually a deep well beneath the pool!
Su Changqing looked toward the well's mouth. Within it, something as black as Profound Water flowed, carrying strange shimmering light.
This water was jet-black and entirely incompatible with the pool water outside, yet it formed a seamless whole.
"Profound Heaven True Water?"
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed slightly as he stood outside the well.
"No wonder Jiang Tianfeng cultivated Profound Heaven True Qi, and Ye Tian achieved the Black Tortoise Phenomenon. So that was where it all came from..."
But now, it was all his.
Su Changqing sat cross-legged beside the well and refined the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art.
An unceasing stream of Profound Heaven True Water transformed into a thin current and flowed into his body.
The true water condensed into Profound Heaven True Qi, filling the sea of qi within him.
In an instant, Su Changqing turned into a golden man, striding through the emerald pool's shadowy depths.
The Indestructible Vajra Divine Art began operating on its own. The pool water roiled, and waves a hundred zhang high surged up, shaking all of Mount Zhenwu.
Profound Heaven True Qi fused with the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art.
A phenomenon never before seen in the world gradually appeared over Mount Zhenwu.
Outside Mount Zhenwu, a procession slowly approached. At its center was an eight-bearer sedan chair with a red canopy and golden decorations.
"Chief, this place is deserted. Everyone from Tianfeng Village on Mount Zhenwu is dead."
Two figures hurried over and reported with cupped hands.
A hand extended from the sedan chair, crystalline as jade, and drew aside its curtain.
He slowly stepped out, revealing a handsome face and skin like congealed snow. Yet he did not appear effeminate; there was instead a restrained heroic spirit about him.
Several dozen eunuchs in black robes stood around him.
His name was Yu Huatian.
A chief under Li Lianying of the Western Depot.
His delicate brows and eyes remained fixed on the body lying on the ground, cleaved in two.
The two eunuchs beside him hurriedly turned the corpse over.
Qing Jiang's eyes were wide open, filled with desolation and unwillingness. Blood had stained the earth red.
Yu Huatian remained silent for a long while.
"Qing Jiang was ambushed from behind. He had no chance to retaliate and was hacked to death with a single blade!"
The attacker must have been ruthless, merciless, and swift.
Two more eunuchs emerged quickly from the dense forest and knelt before Yu Huatian.
"Chief, we searched Mount Zhenwu. On the main road leading to the summit, we found Jiang Tianfeng's body. His left arm had been broken, and his chest had been cut open by a single slash."
"Jiang Tianfeng is dead too?" Yu Huatian's eyes narrowed as he spoke softly.
"Leave."
"Chief, Eunuch Li ordered us to kill Su Changqing here," a eunuch nearby hurriedly said.
Yu Huatian swept him with an icy glance. His hand flashed out like a ghost and seized the young eunuch by the throat.
"Chief..."
The young eunuch pleaded in a hoarse voice, but soon fell silent.
"I, Yu Huatian, am never threatened by others!"
Yu Huatian tossed the corpse to the ground and said coldly.
"This man ambushed and killed Qing Jiang, then slaughtered Jiang Tianfeng. Even I might not be capable of that. If we surround and kill him, how many of us will die?"
"Ye Tian's affairs are for Ye Tian to handle himself. What do they have to do with our Western Depot?"
Yu Huatian sneered, narrowing his eyes as he turned to leave.
Ye Tian had released the Imperial Guard's mission to wipe out the bandits of Mount Zhenwu for no other reason than to make Li Lianying kill Su Changqing.
Then he could sit back and watch the tigers fight.
How could Yu Huatian fall for such a petty scheme?
The victor was king, and the loser was a bandit.
Though he offered Li Lianying counsel and strategies, he was hardly wholehearted in his loyalty.
Why would he go and risk his life against such a domineering man for no reason?
Only a fool would do that.
Yu Huatian turned and was about to enter the sedan chair when the mountains suddenly trembled, as if some primordial beast were about to emerge.
Rubble tumbled down in torrents, as though an earth dragon had turned over. Surging waves of force shot straight into the heavens.
"Could there be some strange creature on the mountain? How could an ordinary beast be so terrifying?"
"Go!"
Yu Huatian's expression changed instantly. He did not enter the sedan chair, instead tapping his toes lightly and retreating at top speed.
Several dozen Western Depot agents followed close behind, dodging the falling rocks.
Deep beneath the pool, Su Changqing had become a golden man. With his eyes closed and mind focused, his power surged as he practiced and sought enlightenment in the shadowy water.
First came fists and kicks, then the Frostsnow Long Saber and the Purple Blood Soft Sword.
The unceasing Profound Heaven True Qi allowed him to break through his own restraints.
Almost instantly, he broke through the ninth layer of True Qi!
First layer of the Xiantian Realm!
A Xiantian expert could condense true qi to protect himself. Even every strand of hair would be filled with true qi.
Unafraid of water or fire, Invulnerable to Blades and Spears, and difficult for ordinary means to injure!
A huge phantom, a giant beast phantom black as ink, slowly emerged behind him.
The terrifying Black Tortoise had four limbs, a Prominent Head, and black tortoise armor covering its body as it roared toward the heavens.
Only after half a day did everything gradually settle.
Beneath the dark, frigid pool water, Su Changqing suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze tightened, and he instinctively prepared to rise to the surface for air.
Then he froze. It seemed that he no longer needed to breathe.
He had now surpassed Ye Tian and become the first to reach the first layer of the Xiantian Realm.
The Xiantian threshold had blocked countless prodigies. Crossing it depended entirely on one's talent and fate; no matter how diligently one cultivated, it was difficult to break through.
Acquired and Xiantian—only one word apart, yet they had stumped countless Imperial Guards.
In the Xiantian Realm, one could become a Qianhu even within the Imperial Guard.
One could even stand alongside experts such as Jin Yichuan and Zuo Qianhu.
Commanding nearly a thousand Imperial Guards, one would be capable of trampling the martial world and wiping out small sects.
Though this journey had been perilous, he had seized Ye Tian's fortuitous opportunity.
"It seems I've also condensed the Black Tortoise Phenomenon."
Su Changqing vaguely recalled just how terrifying the phenomenon he had condensed was.
The True Martial Demon-Quelling Great Emperor truly was a man of the heavens.
Su Changqing was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and swiftly returned.
He noticed that the pitch-black Withered Well had long since run dry of Profound Heaven True Water.
Faintly, he could see some of the scene beneath the well. The depths below were extremely strange.
It seemed as though primordial beasts were roaring below, their cries shaking the eight directions through the deep water.
Su Changqing had originally wanted to go down and take a look, but an incomparably terrifying sensation suddenly arose within him, making every hair on his body stand on end.
There was a saying called the Twelve-Character Mantra.
"If a small matter can be put off, put it off. If a major matter can be avoided, avoid it."
Su Changqing naturally had no such curiosity. He turned and left at once.
Let the floodwaters rage to the sky. If he did not touch it, could it really come looking for him...?
Before you continue