Master Wei Jian: Clearly the genuine article (meaning Lin Yu)

After Lin Yu cleared his name, Master Wei Jian expressed his full understanding.

"Those who live in the martial world sometimes have no choice in their actions, so there's no need to worry too much about the details... You two are both innocent and have a clear conscience. I am aware of this matter and will certainly not speak recklessly."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked across the stone slab pontoon bridge, and soon they reached the middle section of the bridge.

Although they didn't feel much when they first stepped onto the stone slab bridge, now that they were at the end of the bridge, all three of them felt an unusual chill lingering around them.

"It's so cold," Qin Siyu shrank her neck, breathed on her hands and rubbed them together. "Senior, do you still have Killing Intent towards me? Why do I feel a chill down my spine?"

Master Wei Jian shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not because you, young hero, harbor any Killing Intent towards you, because I also felt the evil chill seeping into my body, a bone-chilling cold..."

Qin Siyu thought for a moment and said, "What if you, senior, also want to kill the master?"

Lin Yu sighed helplessly, "My Killing Intent isn't that strong... Besides, I feel cold myself."

Qin Siyu said again, "What if, senior, you actually want to kill yourself?"

Lin Yu reached out and grabbed Qin Siyu by the back of the neck. "You're right, I've indeed become bloodthirsty—I'll drown you right now."

Qin Siyu was originally about the same height as Lin Yu, but with Lin Yu pressing down on the back of her neck, she felt much shorter. "Oh, senior, I was just joking."

Lin Yu released his grip, and Master Wei Jian leisurely spoke up, "I think... this chill should originate from the surrounding water."

"Master, you sensed it too?" Lin Yu looked at Master Wei Jian and agreed, "The water surrounding this Royal Palace... it certainly doesn't seem like ordinary water."

Qin Siyu rubbed her neck and said, "Of course! Ordinary water left underground for who knows how many years would have stank by now."

Master Wei Jian added, "However, although I can sense that the cold air is coming from the water, I don't know exactly why."

"That's easy, let me just take a sample," Lin Yu said, extending his hand. The previously calm black water, which only rippled when they stepped on the stone slabs, began to churn. Soon, a portion of the water detached from the surface, forming a water sphere in mid-air, which slowly floated towards Lin Yu's hand. "Let me see... what's so strange about this water."

As Lin Yu spoke, Master Wei Jian exclaimed, "I wanted to say this earlier, young hero, your 'Water Control Technique' is truly beautiful... I've never seen such Fang Techniques skill before, it's truly an eye-opener."

Qin Siyu didn't dare to reply at this moment, because she felt that this was not Fang Techniques technique mastered by Lin Yu.

She was terrified that if she asked how he did it, Lin Yu would blurt out, "It 'Innate Divine Ability."

As Lin Yu manipulated the water sphere, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"This water sphere... is really rather strange."

While it's true that Water Control Witchcraft and the [Water Prayer Necklace] consume less energy when controlling purer water, special water containing abundant energy and impurities will exponentially increase the difficulty and energy consumption of Water Control Technique...

However, because Lin Yu's current Witchcraft skills are already at the level of a senior High Shaman, a direct disciple of Lu Gu, and with the assistance of the [Water Prayer Necklace], a sorcery artifact personally crafted by Sutu, even the "Dark Flow Waters" in the Abyss of the Night Valley Realm or the extremely dense and heavy seawater inside [Azure Sea Sky Dome] does not feel so complicated for Lin Yu to manipulate.

However, pulling the fist-sized water sphere out of this frigid water made Lin Yu feel an unusually heavy drain on his energy.

With just a little Mental Power probing, Lin Yu understood why the water sphere was so difficult to control.

After all...

Based on what Lin Yu actually perceived, "Mental Power perception" could even be described as "a perfect match for his expertise."

What lies hidden within this cold, dark water sphere...

It is "Soul Power".

More accurately, it's the "soul".

Lin Yu's Mental Power only penetrated a little deeper into it, but he heard the wails of more than ten native Living Beings of the Prison Mountain Realm.

These souls are not whole, but they are not particularly fragmented either.

They are scattered in the water in the form of "Three Hun and Seven Po", emanating emotions and fragmented thoughts with their incomplete and lingering will.

Rather than saying that individual souls are trapped in this water, these souls themselves seem to "dissolve in the water." Their Three Hun and Seven Po are like free-floating ions, dispersing, freely aggregating, and dispersing again, forming a mental activity that is almost like a dream or delusion.

Lin Yu couldn't even judge whether these souls were dead or alive—although there was no doubt that they were no longer related to the life to which the previous soul belonged, they had existed and suffered in this water for at least a thousand years, and were still constantly generating fluctuations similar to "thought" and "emotion," so they might not be excluded as a new kind of life.

A thousand words can be summed up in one sentence.

"This is unbelievable... this water seems to be 'alive'."

Lin Yu murmured.

"Alive?"

This bizarre statement startled Master Wei Jian.

Lin Yu looked at Master Wei Jian, nodded, and briefly explained what he had felt to Master Wei Jian and Qin Siyu.

After hearing what Lin Yu had experienced, the two Native of the Prison Mountain Realm were also initially shocked, but they quickly accepted the fact even faster than Lin Yu.

"So, why does this chilling, black water, imbued with the spirit of the dead, linger here? What was the mindset of the Great Rui royal family in placing this water as a pond beside the Royal Palace?"

Qin Siyu asked, puzzled, expressing her thoughts and questions.

Clearly, no one can give a definitive answer to this question at the moment.

However, Master Wei Jian also offered his own conjecture. "Perhaps the water here wasn't originally like this. It was created by one of the Yaomo after the outbreak of Yaomo here... Maybe the water itself just has some properties that allow it to store souls... There are quite a few of these kinds of special waters in the Prison Mountain Realm. I've used several kinds in my weapon crafting."

Master Wei Jian spoke, Qin Siyu sighed, "That's bizarre enough, pouring water that can dissolve souls around the Royal Palace... I certainly wouldn't do that if I were renovating my own house."

Master Wei Jian spoke up, "Perhaps it's just that the water has other properties—for example, the water from the Rong Mountain Immortal Pool Water has the effect of nourishing the soul, the gushing water from the nameless old well in Wind Prison can calm emotions and ward off evil spirits, and then there's the Cold Jade Spring Water from Nine Cold Mountain..."

Qin Siyu suddenly interrupted Master Wei Jian, saying, "Cold Jade Spring Water?! Can Cold Jade Spring Water dissolve a soul?!"

Master Wei Jian nodded. "Naturally, many effective methods for cultivating innate weapon spirits in weapons involve mixing in some Cold Jade Spring Water during the forging process... Weapons made this way are particularly prone to developing weapon spirits, and that's the reason."

"To be honest, although the Royal Palace is said to have been sealed inside Nine Cold Mountain later... since it's already inside Nine Cold Mountain, it wouldn't be surprising if this pool contained the Cold Jade Spring Water, a specialty of Nine Cold Mountain."

"After all, the Cold Jade Spring has existed on Nine Cold Mountain since ancient times. The earliest records of this spring in weapon-refining texts can be traced back to a thousand years ago."

Master Wei Jian was speaking, Qin Siyu quickly interjected, "Master, please enlighten me—how can I determine whether this water here is from the Cold Jade Spring Water?"

Hearing Qin Siyu say this, Master Wei Jian gently shook his head. "I can't do that... There are too many souls mixed in with this water now, which has completely masked its own fluctuations."

"Honestly... no matter what you need the Cold Jade Spring Water, it's unusable now that it's been possessed by a large number of souls... because it's been 'contaminated'."

As Master Wei Jian spoke, Qin Siyu had initially been somewhat excited, became slightly disappointed.

"Is... is that so? I thought we finally had a solution."

"I'm sorry, Master... because a relative of mine is suffering from Fire Poison, I specifically went to the Daoist Sect to ask for elixirs to remove the Fire Poison, but the Daoist Sect told me that they are still lacking Cold Jade Spring Water and Taiyin Moonlight Grass to refine elixirs that can remove Fire Poison..."

I apologize for my momentary lapse in composure due to my concern.

Upon hearing Qin Siyu's apology, Master Wei Jian waved his hand, "It's alright, it's alright, you meant well... However, in that case, even if it's the Cold Jade Spring Water, you really can't use it."

"This spring water, containing a large number of souls, is unsuitable for alchemy; it would probably explode as soon as it hits a pill furnace. Even if it doesn't explode, medicine made from this material would contain Remnant Soul and wouldn't be fit for human consumption."

"Even if the Fire Poison can be cured, it will only be another form of torment that plagues you..."

Master Wei Jian shook his head. "Unless someone can completely remove the souls from these things, it's better for you to search for the Cold Jade Spring again... Moreover, it's uncertain whether anyone can even separate the dissolved souls from the water... Hmm, what?"

Master Wei Jian stopped mid-sentence and looked down at Lin Yu's hands.

"Young hero... what have you done?"

In Lin Yu's hands appeared a jet-black smoke ball containing strong soul fluctuations, and a pure, translucent water ball with a texture like jade.

Lin Yu calmly replied, "Oh, I extracted my soul from this water sphere... I think I extracted it completely."

"Master Wei Jian, could you please take a look and tell me if this water... is it from the Cold Jade Spring Water?"

As Lin Yu spoke, it took Master Wei Jian quite a while to come to his senses.

"Oh, oh... this... um, ah..."

He examined the cold, clear water sphere in Lin Yu's hand closely and said, "This... really is Cold Jade Spring Water."

"Young hero, how did you do that?"

Before Lin Yu could explain how he did it, Qin Siyu's voice came from the side.

"Senior, I have no way to repay your great kindness. The only way I can express my gratitude is by repaying you with my body and doing good deeds for you... Speaking of repaying you with my body, Master Wei Jian, do you still stand by what you said about being a matchmaker?"

Faced with Qin Siyu's enthusiasm, Lin Yu's reply was brief.

"Roll."