"Forget it, maybe I'm overthinking it. The Silver Dragon King is still in a deep sleep and won't appear at all. I've just been reading too much fanfiction. At this point, the Silver Dragon King is at least tens of thousands of years away from awakening. He's probably healing his injuries. How could he possibly appear out of nowhere?"
Jun Yi shook his head, sighed as he looked at the Lake of Life before him, and turned to walk away into the distance.
Suddenly, Jun Yi noticed a slight fluctuation of Divine Power in the center of the previously calm Lake of Life. This fluctuation was extremely weak, yet it was clearly transmitted to his perception range.
"What's going on? Is there someone at the bottom of the lake?"
As he spoke, Jun Yi focused all his Divine Power on sensing the Lake of Life, but found no other person or Soul Beast present. Who released that Divine Power fluctuation just now?
"Never mind, I'll just go down and take a look."
With that, Jun Yi leaped into the lake and quickly slid towards the bottom.
When Jun Yi arrived at the bottom of the lake, he was immediately stunned. The bottom of the entire Lake of Life had dropped by nearly five meters, revealing a huge cavity below.
At this point, the bottom of the Lake of Life had become a deep pit thousands of feet deep, and the surrounding soil was dark green, making it look extremely eerie and terrifying.
Jun Yi hurriedly extended his Divine Power to investigate. He was suddenly surprised to discover that a distorted halo had appeared in the center of the Lake of Life, resembling a giant vortex that completely isolated everything outside. Jun Yi sensed a terrifying Divine Power within it, a Divine Power powerful enough to instantly annihilate Jun Yi. Even more terrifying was that this Divine Power was completely sealed off; even Divine Power could not penetrate it. Only Jun Yi, relying on his keen intuition, determined that this was the location of the center of the Lake of Life, and he guessed that the aura he had just felt emanated from there.
"This... this must be where the Silver Dragon King and those Ferocious Beast slumber, right? With my current strength, if I were to disturb their slumber rashly, I might be torn to pieces on the spot. The other Ferocious Beast are alright, but it's mainly Di Tian's at risk."
Floating in the lake, Jun Yi shook his head and decided to leave first. He was too weak at the moment, and it wouldn't be too late to come back and awaken them when he became stronger.
After saying that, he swam back to the shore. The moment Jun Yi swam ashore, two 100,000-year-old Soul Beast were already waiting on the shore.
"Human, how did you get here? Why didn't we notice you at all?"
The one who spoke was the Sky Azure Bull Python, with a bull's head and a snake's body. Its bull's head was at least four meters in diameter, and its large, lantern-like eyes shone brightly. Connected to its enormous, blackish-blue snake body, which was several times thicker than a water vat, it opened its blood-red maw and spoke in human language to Jun Yi.
"Awooooo!"
The Titan Giant Ape pounded its chest frantically, seemingly expressing its rage. For tens of thousands of years, they had guarded this place, and no creature had ever dared to venture here. For a strange human to intrude into this forbidden zone was an utter disgrace! Hence its fury.
"Huh? What's going on? How did you two suddenly appear?"
Jun Yi looked at the two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with curiosity. He hadn't sensed their presence at all; they seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
"Humans, we've always stayed here. But you, a mere Soul Ancestor, how did you end up in the Lake of Life?"
The Sky Azure Bull Python's voice carried a hint of doubt and threat. It harbored a natural hostility towards any human who dared to set foot in this place, and even though the human in front of it only had the Soul Power fluctuations of Soul Ancestor, it was still wary of them.
"Oh? You've been staying here all this time??"
Jun Yi stared wide-eyed at the two Soul Beast, his eyes filled with disbelief. Was he blind, or were they blind? He had even been here for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and hadn't noticed them at all.
"Looks like you don't want to talk anymore, huh!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python glanced at the Titan Giant Ape beside it, and the Titan Giant Ape understood, charging directly at Jun Yi and swinging its enormous fist at Jun Yi.
"Could it be that our perceptions have been altered just now?"
As Jun Yi pondered, he casually unleashed the ROOM space, directly controlling the Titan Giant Ape and lifting its feet off the ground, causing it to float in mid-air. With its massive body off the ground, the Titan Giant Ape lost its foothold and could only flailing its arms and legs in the air, raging helplessly.
" Da Ming, can you confirm that you didn't detect my presence just now?" Jun Yi asked the Sky Azure Bull Python again.
"Hmm? How do you know my name?" The Sky Azure Bull Python looked at the human in front of it with some surprise, a cold glint flashing in its eyes, and muttered to itself, "Does he know Sister Xiao Wu?"
"Let's put that aside for now. Are you sure you didn't sense my presence just now?" Jun Yi asked again.
"No, I only sensed your presence the moment you left the Lake of Life," the Sky Azure Bull Python replied.
Upon hearing this, Jun Yi immediately formed his own deduction. "That must have been the work of the Silver Dragon King. Perhaps the moment I released the Ice Dragon King's aura, my Divine Power and perception were already controlled by the Silver Dragon King, which is why I didn't sense a single Soul Beast on my way here. Not only that, she must have also altered the perceptions of all the Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest, making them unable to detect my presence, thus allowing me to arrive at the Core Circle without any hindrance."
"But that doesn't make sense. If she's gone to all this, why doesn't she show herself? And why did she reveal my presence the moment I left the Lake of Life? What exactly is her purpose?"
Jun Yi's face was full of confusion.
"Human, judging from your puzzled look, you also don't know how you came to the Star Dou Great Forest. Then answer me first, how do you know my name?"
The Sky Azure Bull Python's question brought Jun Yi back to his senses. "It's a secret, I don't want to tell you."
"Human, are you playing me?"
An angry expression appeared on the face of the Sky Azure Bull Python. Azure currents flowed across its head, and its two large, bell-like eyes were fixed on Jun Yi. Its body erupted with a terrifying aura, and arcs of electricity danced on its horns, as if it were ready to launch a Thunderous Might attack on Jun Yi at any moment.
"I really don't want to tell you, but I can tell you something about Xiao Wu."
Jun Yi calmly observed the Sky Azure Bull Python before him, knowing that the Soul Beast's weakness was Xiao Wu; if Xiao Wu were mentioned, it would be unable to move.
"Do you know anything about Sister Xiao Wu?"
Sure enough, the Sky Azure Bull Python's aura weakened instantly upon hearing the name " Xiao Wu ".
"Not only do I know about her, but I also know her current situation is very dangerous."
(End of this chapter)