Fleeting Shadows on the Lake

Thinking of the Divine Wind Bear, Lei Mo had already submerged into the Seti Sea. Yes, that is correct; Lei Mo had named it the Seti Sea.

The Seti Sea was vast; only by standing thousands of meters in the air could one barely glimpse the edges of this lake.

Releasing his spiritual energy to observe within the water, Franklin deployed all his Saint-level souls, though these souls were limited by Franklin's own position, restricting their effective radiation range.

Even so, this was far beyond what Franklin could achieve before becoming a god, covering a radius of roughly several hundred kilometers.

After his physical body gained insights into the Law of Destruction and ascended to the Saint realm, the range of Lei Mo's own spiritual energy radiation had also reached a hundred-kilometer radius.

To have such a detection range at the Saint level—in three words: it was absurd!

However, spiritual perception was clearer and more nuanced. The Rune Souls were only responsible for rough inspections; Lei Mo would only focus his own perception if there were doubts, which was far less exhausting.

The Seti Sea was immense, and Saint-level Magic Beasts were not easy to find, so he could only take his time.

Logically, the habitats of Saint-level Magic Beasts should have distinct characteristics, such as a large empty area surrounding them, though perhaps aquatic Magic Beasts were different.

A day passed, three days passed, half a month passed. Lei Mo began to miss Rachel, but he had to continue his search.

As a Saint, he no longer feared oxygen deprivation. Lei Mo could sustain himself by absorbing law energy or elemental energy, so he remained submerged in the Seti Sea regardless of whether it was day or night.

Holding Franklin in his hand and carrying the Totem Pillar—which had been reinforced with additional Gravity Runes—on his back, he sank to the very bottom of the lake.

Walking along the lakebed, he felt leisurely and at ease. Knowing that haste would not bring results, Lei Mo stopped rushing.

Suddenly, something streaked past his eyes. Lei Mo perceived it carefully with his spiritual energy, but he only caught a blurry shadow moving at high speed.

He commanded the Rune Souls to give chase. Lei Mo himself was not in a hurry; the souls lacked combat power, but it was impossible for them to be shaken off.

"What on earth is this thing?"

A transparent fish? Lei Mo mused.

Even with spiritual energy probing, he could not see its full form.

Shortly after, the Rune Souls transmitted information to Lei Mo: the shadow had dived into a cave at the bottom of the lake.

Lei Mo hurried toward the location marked by the Rune Souls.

It was a pool-like cave, situated on the mountainside of the lakebed's mountain range, hidden beneath a massive boulder.

The diameter was only two meters, making it incredibly inconspicuous for such a massive lake.

With Franklin as his reliance, Lei Mo followed closely behind the Rune Souls and dived in rapidly!

One hundred meters, two hundred meters—eight hundred, one thousand, two thousand, three thousand, five thousand meters. Lei Mo began to feel the immense water pressure!

Suddenly, the pressure lifted, and the area ahead was vast and devoid of water.

It was a valley-like place, lush with vegetation and fresh air; he felt no water pressure at all.

The water elemental motes in the air were so dense that Lei Mo could feel them even without meditating.

He did not know if the fluctuations of the Water Laws had become clearer, but since Lei Mo had no affinity for the Water Laws, he had no way to judge.

"Where is that shadow?" Lei Mo asked the Rune Souls directly.

Ever since his soul had descended into the Soul Space, Lei Mo could communicate with and control these souls through Franklin's Soul Space, though not as skillfully as Franklin himself.

"Lost it!"

These Saint-level Rune Souls were also bewildered. They had never lost a target before. This place was truly strange; the distance their divine sense could probe was less than a hundred meters.

No wonder they had lost it. This valley-like place must have been several thousand square kilometers, and with a divine sense range of only a hundred meters, it would be a miracle to keep track of anything.

"Let's go, let's inspect it!" Lei Mo did not recall the Saint-level souls and walked toward the depths of the valley.

In the valley, there were mountains, trees, and grass, but not a single river.

In less than half a day, Lei Mo had circled the valley, yet he discovered nothing unusual.

It was just an ordinary valley, if not for the fact that it was hidden at the bottom of a lake!

He wondered where the light came from.

He felt no darkness; it was definitely not due to night vision, as the place was quite bright.

Lei Mo looked up. The top of the valley was several thousand meters high, dotted with seven-colored specks of light, which were likely the source of illumination.

"Impossible! Where would a height of several thousand meters come from?"

Lei Mo had first dived over a thousand meters into the lake, then dived another five thousand meters from the cave entrance at the bottom. Where could this height come from?

Lei Mo was a bit startled. This was the bottom of the lake, the bottom!

For no reason, Lei Mo felt a touch of fear. Fear stems from the unknown, after all; there was no shame in that!

Not daring to fly up to inspect it himself, he arranged for a ninth-rank human soul to do it.

Yes, it was one of the three ninth-rankers Lei Mo had killed.

After living in the space for a period of time, they were no longer as dull as they once were.

He stared at the ninth-rank soul, watching it drift and float, moving very slowly.

If not for being in a soul state, a ninth-ranker would not even have the ability to fly!

It drifted—and drifted—until it floated high into the air, into those seven-colored rays of light, and then vanished.

Yes! It simply vanished, without a sound, without a scream, without the slightest movement.

Lei Mo gently stroked his chest and let out a sigh of relief.

It never hurts to be careful!

Lei Mo thought to himself.

Forget it, the sky is too high-level; it's not something someone of my strength can investigate. I'd better look at the valley itself and worry about the rest once I'm stronger!

Having made his decision, Lei Mo stopped agonizing over it.

He unleashed all his Saint-level souls, along with millions of ordinary souls.

The valley was densely packed with the phantoms of Tauren; Lei Mo had never released so many souls at once before.

Feeling somewhat stunned, Lei Mo steeled his resolve—this valley was definitely strange!

Franklin was already a Lowgod, and a Lowgod who ignored soul attacks at that, so what was there to fear?

Lei Mo cheered himself on.

"Master!"

Franklin's voice rang out.

"I've discovered a small pool!"

"That is indeed strange. There isn't a single stream or river in this entire valley, so where would a small pool come from?"

Lei Mo said.

Franklin's detection range here was a little over a kilometer; its scouting work alone was worth hundreds of Saint-level souls.

It was even more thorough in its investigation, so it was no wonder it was the first to find something unusual.

Arriving at the edge of the small pool, the water looked deep and emerald green, giving one a hair-raising sensation.

He dispatched a Rank 9 human soul, ordering it to dive down rapidly while constantly monitoring its status.

This time, it didn't take thousands of meters; it reached the bottom of the pool after only a few hundred.

The space at the bottom was only a few hundred square meters and pitch black.

Listening to the description from the Rank 9 soul, the scene at the bottom of the pool naturally took shape in Lei Mo's mind.

To play it safe, Lei Mo dispatched hundreds more Saint-level souls, covering almost every inch of the space at the bottom of the pool.

The suspected transparent Magic Beast had nowhere to hide; it was a jellyfish-like or spherical Saint-level Magic Beast.

Its strength didn't seem high. After being startled out of the pool, Lei Mo slammed it into the ground with his pillar.

Then, with a "pop," it bounced back up, and Lei Mo slammed it into the ground with his pillar once more.

After repeating this several times, Lei Mo began to understand.

This thing wasn't strong, but it was bouncy and rubbery, like a rubber ball—no matter how hard he slammed it, it remained unscathed. This was interesting!