Blazing Hot Pool, Swordsman by the Water's Edge

At the bottom of the passage, Lin Yu climbed out of the bubbling pool of water onto a protruding rock, then wiped his face.

"In martial arts novels, aren't pools in places like this usually cold pools? How come this place has turned into a hot spring?"

Lin Yu said with a hint of helplessness.

Calling it a "hot spring" is a stretch; it's basically a boiling pot of water.

When he first fell into the water and felt the water churning, Lin Yu thought it was some kind of Underground spring —but he didn't realize something was wrong until the Talismans on his head was rapidly depleting.

There is no spring here; the water is bubbling because it's too hot and has boiled.

There are likely some kind of magma veins passing through the area underground.

This Fire Hell not only has Three Days in the Sky in the sky, but the ground is also incredibly hot!

Therefore, the airflow in the cracks of the stone slabs was not circulating air, but mostly boiling water vapor...

No wonder this room is less insulated than the others—it's so hot, yet they still have a heater inside.

Chen Yongde's nephew is quite a ruthless man. He slept on a heated bed for so many years in the Fire Hell. Lin Yu couldn't help but speculate that this might be why he hadn't returned for several years.

"This Prison Mountain Realm is truly full of surprises!"

Lin Yu the [Water Prayer Necklace] to dry the water stains on his clothes and skin, and sighed.

Although the pool of boiling water wouldn't harm Lin Yu, with the [Water Prayer Necklace] and wearing Li Nian's Soft Clothing, Lin Yu was almost completely unharmed.

However, being burned like that still left Lin Yu in a somewhat unpleasant mood.

And...

With a hot water pool in place, the three bodyguards on top were indeed unable to get down.

With their skill level, they would probably be severely burned the moment they jumped down.

Of course, it's the same without them.

Lin Yu quickly adjusted his mindset, then stood up Torch to illuminate the surroundings.

The space below is surprisingly large – in the pool, at intervals, there are stones protruding from the water, seemingly intentionally left as diving platforms.

Lin Yu did not follow the path of the stones; instead, he jumped directly into the pool again.

This time, however, using the [Water Prayer Necklace]'s ability, Lin Yu stood directly on the water's surface—he could manipulate the water beneath his feet, compressing its density and lifting it upwards to Living Foot force and strength to support him.

Lin Yu could do this before, but using the "Water Control" ability of the [Water Prayer Necklace] consumes Mental Power.

Before Lin Yu's Mental Power was honed during this period, he did not possess the intensity and precision to support his continued achievement.

He is now walking on the water as if it were flat ground.

Lin Yu did this not because he had a sudden inspiration, nor because he wanted to imitate crossing a river on a reed or condensing chakra under his feet on the surface of boiling water.

It is because...

Lin Yu could sense that in the darkness ahead, something powerful yet weak was silently watching him.

This must be the slight fluctuation that Old Zheng had detected earlier.

Now that they're close enough, Lin Yu can feel the other person's presence.

Therefore... Lin Yu's water walking was part of a preemptive performance.

He walked briskly on the water and soon felt the water temperature gradually decrease and the boiling intensity lessen.

They hadn't gone far when the white light of the Fear Torch reached the "shore."

Lin Yu leaped lightly and jumped from the pool onto the shore.

This is a naturally formed underground cave. The rock walls on the shore are similar in shape to the caves we saw before, all of them are huge rocks with crevices filled with sand, gravel, and soil. However, since it is located next to an underground pool, this place is more humid.

And there, leaning against the stone wall, sat a burly man wearing tattered armor.

The middle-aged man was muscular and hunched over a long black iron spear. He had disheveled hair and a stubble beard, and looked like a wounded beast.

He opened his eyes, looked at Lin Yu had walked not far in front of him, and spoke in a deep voice.

"I knew I wasn't wrong. You are indeed a master... Even with my faint and weak sense of Qi Mechanism, you were able to pinpoint my location."

Lin Yu shook the Torch: "So you deliberately let me find you... Who are you, and why did you do this?"

The burly, bearded man struggled to prop himself up with the barrel of his spear, then said, "I am Chen Yuanye, the 'Broken Door Spear' of the Ming Zhen Martial Arts School. I am a disciple of Bai Shiying, the Grand Elder of the Ming Zhen Martial Arts School, who was known for his 'spear that conquers eight towns and his fist that governs three mountains.' I am also from Chen Family Fortress."

"A year ago, I was ordered by my sect to investigate a Yaomo that was causing havoc in the surrounding villages and towns. Since the location of the investigation was very close to Chen Family Fortress, I decided to go home first to rest and recuperate."

"But to my surprise, after returning home, I discovered a strange thing... I found that many houses in the fortress were inexplicably empty, and a caravan of only six people and horses arrived."

"This was a bit unusual, so I started investigating. At night, when the temperature wasn't too high, I went to other villages in the surrounding area to inquire about the situation... That's when I learned that strange 'disappearances' were being reported one after another in Chen Family Fortress."

"I caught up with the caravan that only had six people left. After investigating, the caravan members belatedly realized that many of their members were missing!"

"This horrified me, so I sent a letter to the nearest Daoist temple, which is also one of Daoist temple largest in Fire Hell, called Deqing Temple, to find out what was going on."

"But the reply from the Daoist priests at Deqing Temple was even more bizarre... They said that Deqing Temple had investigated Chen Family Fortress many times and found nothing unusual!"

"Those who disappeared were actually dragged away and killed by Yaomo in the middle of the night—they've already dealt with the Yaomo behind it several times."

"Deqing Temple's view is... although it sounds like some kind of conspiracy, it really seems to be just a coincidence of several events."

"As for the rumors and gossip, they are nothing more than ignorant villagers spreading misinformation."

"But I don't accept this, so I took my leave of Deqing Temple and decided to investigate on my own. Once I find the evidence and return it to my sect, I'll ask my Senior Brother and even my master and uncles for help. Then, by using the name of Ming Zhen Martial Arts School to get Deqing Temple's assistance, I can naturally resolve the gloom surrounding Chen Family Fortress."

"But..."

A wry smile appeared on Chen Yuanye's face.

Although he didn't finish his sentence, Lin Yu could understand just by looking at the guy's desperate struggle for survival by the underground pool.

"It seems you've suffered a crushing defeat, Brother Chen."