Hiss, hiss!
Wisps of "dragon qi," or rather "evil qi," still rose from the great pit the Old Mountain Lord had left behind.
When Fang Shu slipped inside and burrowed down through the earth, he abruptly discovered that the evil qi around him was growing denser.
Any other cultivator would have recoiled at such a sight and retreated again and again. To him, however, it was an increasingly welcome sight.
"With so much dragon qi, whatever lies hidden here must at least rival what was in the small secret realm, right?"
Anticipation filled Fang Shu's heart.
He continued descending.
Only after sinking an unknown number of thousands of feet did he notice that the wisps of dragon qi had become almost tangible, forming a watery mist.
Coming back to his senses, he realized he had entered an underground lake. Water mingled with dragon qi, steaming in dense clouds. Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, he found that the lake was bordered by a layer of compact rock. A few ancient characters remained on it, but geological erosion had long since reduced them to illegible fragments.
Although Fang Shu could not recognize the characters either, he immediately guessed, "Could this place be a formation ward that was damaged somehow, allowing the dragon qi inside to leak out?"
At once, his gaze toward the depths of the dragon qi grew more wary.
According to his spiritual sense, every part of this mysterious underground lake remained intact except for the opening through which he had entered.
That meant some of the wards inside might still retain a measure of their power.
If he charged in recklessly, one careless move might leave him caught in a predecessor's deadly trap.
Fang Shu's gaze shifted slightly. With a wave of his hand, he released gu insects,