The river at the Other Shore of Death paused for a moment beneath Lin Fan's feet, but he did not rush to withdraw his steps. He stood on the river, his Double Pupils slightly brightening, the purple-gold light piercing through the dark water and sweeping into the depths.
Then he saw it.
Below the area where the woman was, deep in the riverbed, several extremely ancient auras were slowly surging. The auras were heavy, cold, and carried an almost ghostly sense of decay, like a giant beast that had been sleeping for countless years turning over.
Every aura caused his Chaos Gods and Devils Body to tense slightly, a primal instinct for danger...
There are things below that far exceed the level of Quasi-Emperor.
He withdrew his gaze and glanced at the woman in the light blue dress.
This woman dared to venture into this waterway so rashly, either because she was overly confident in her abilities, or because she had no idea what lay beneath.
Just then, a crisp mechanical voice rang in his ear. [Ding! Detected high-level Daughter of Fortune — Jiang Li.]
[Name: Jiang Li ]
[Identity: Holy Maiden of the Jiang Clan of Emperor Pass ]
[Current Status: Separated from companion Gai Jiuyou by the mist, I venture alone into the Other Shore of Death to find the Nine Netherworlds Devil Stone, intending to disturb the sleeping Nine Netherworlds Devil Octopus below and seize the Nine Netherworlds Devil Stone. I will be pursued for three days and severely wounded. At the crucial moment, Gai Jiuyou will appear. Gai Jiuyou obtains the Nine Netherworlds Devil Stone and awakens his memories.]
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow. Gai Jiuyou? The Son of Fortune? That name sounded like someone who would fight him sooner or later.
He glanced at the river, Double Pupils lit up again.
Deep beneath the riverbed, a fist-sized, dark purple stone is embedded in the mud and sand, its surface etched with profound patterns, exuding an ancient and pure aura... The Nine Netherworlds Devil Stone!!
Beside the rock, a massive black outline was slowly shifting, like a mountain covered in silt slowly awakening.
The aura of Peak Quasi-Emperor carried a thick, inky, dark, and malevolent Sha Qi.
Lin Fan withdrew his gaze, glanced in Jiang Li's direction, then at the stone, a slight smile playing on his lips, " The Son of Fortune... isn't that my opportunity too?"
He couldn't possibly give Gai Jiuyou the Nine Netherworlds Devil Stone!
Without hesitation, he raised his hand, and a wisp of Chaos Qi, like an invisible thread, silently probed into the water, stirring the river. He didn't touch the stone directly, but simply let the Chaos Qi ripple gently underwater, like a pebble thrown into a fishpond, landing right near the Nine Netherworlds Devil Octopus.
The massive outline on the riverbed suddenly moved.
The silver thread trembled suddenly, and the woman in the green dress felt her wrist sink abruptly, pulling her towards the water's surface, where a black wave erupted.
"Um?"
Immediately afterwards, several twisted black silhouettes were rapidly approaching her from beneath the water's surface, moving at an incredible speed, like a group of startled predators who had caught a whiff of blood.
The aura emanating from those figures was ancient and cold, carrying a scent reminiscent of the depths of the underworld. Even a Quasi-Emperor would instinctively feel apprehensive in the face of such an aura.
What happened?
The woman in the green dress finally frowned slightly.
She made a hand seal with her left hand, and a pale blue law light pattern appeared in her palm. It flowed into the water along the silver threads, temporarily repelling the approaching black outlines.
But the thing underwater showed no sign of letting go at the other end of the thread in her hand; instead, it tightened its grip even more, like an enraged abyssal beast.
"Buzz!"
Beneath the surface, a shadow far larger than before was rapidly rising.
That aura seemed to have been suppressed for countless years, finally finding an opportunity to break free.
The water surface suddenly exploded, and several thick, black tentacles burst forth from the waves, like giant pythons traversing the sky, carrying a chilling storm, and slamming down towards the location of the woman in the green dress.
Nine Netherworlds Devil Octopus.
Peak Quasi-Emperor, its entire body was pitch black, and every tentacle was wrapped with intricate ancient patterns, like a dark cage that had been sealed for countless years finally breaking free of its shackles. Its appearance caused the temperature of the entire river surface to drop by several degrees, and the stone pillars on the distant bank were trembling slightly.
"Not good!"
The woman in the green dress reacted swiftly, flicking her wrist to draw silver threads from the water's surface, which then swirled around her in a silvery light. She leaned back, simultaneously striking the nearest tentacle with her palm, the power of laws weaving into a pale blue light screen that stretched across her front.
boom!
The light curtain collided with the tentacles, creating a ring-shaped shockwave that sent black water flying several meters high.
The woman in the green dress was thrown tens of thousands of feet away, landing steadily on the stone slab. Her wrists were slightly numb, but her expression remained calm.
But the Nine Netherworlds Devil Octopus clearly had no intention of giving her a chance to catch her breath.
The second and third tentacles emerged simultaneously from underwater.
They attacked from both sides, cutting off all her escape routes.
The fourth tentacle burst forth from the water directly beneath the stone slab beneath her feet, like a tongue emerging from the abyss, heading straight for her ankle.
Her silver threads spun rapidly, transforming into a net of light that blocked to the left and right. She lightly stepped on the stone surface with her right foot, trying to use the momentum to leap into the air and avoid the sudden attack from below.
But the Nine Netherworlds Devil Octopus had clearly anticipated her movements. Just as the woman in the green dress was about to take off, another tentacle silently reached out from behind her, bypassing her blind spot, and accurately wrapped around her left wrist.
Cold, sticky, heavy.
The binding force far exceeded that of an ordinary Quasi-Emperor. Even though she activated the law vibration immediately, the tentacle only loosened slightly for a moment before tightening its grip even more, entangling her silver threads and interrupting the transmission of laws.
Her body suddenly froze, her left arm was pulled forward and tilted, and her whole body tilted towards the water.
Just as her toes were about to touch the black water, a milky white flame, like a flicked lamp, flew silently from the shore and landed precisely on the black tentacle that was wrapped around her wrist.
There was no roar, no explosion.
There was only a very faint hiss, like a red-hot iron needle being inserted into lard.
The black tentacle, as thick as a giant python, disintegrated inch by inch from the point of contact, turning into wisps of black smoke and dissipating into the air, leaving not even a trace.
The woman in the green dress loosened her grip, immediately regaining her balance, still shaken.
Using her remaining strength, she retreated several feet and landed steadily on another piece of rubble floating on the water. She turned her head sharply, looking in the direction from which the flames had come.
On the shore, a figure in white was slowly withdrawing his right hand.
He stood on the edge of the riverbank, hands behind his back, expression indifferent, as if he had just casually tossed a pebble.
In the black river at his feet, a shadowy figure several times larger than the tentacle itself was rapidly sinking into the water, like a terrified beast that dared not show its face again.
Its escape created a huge vortex, at the center of which a fist-sized dark blue stone was slowly rising, radiating a cold and ancient luster, like a heart of the underworld compressed for countless years.
The figure casually raised his hand, Chaos Qi condensed into an invisible palm, gently probing into the water's surface.
A barely perceptible ripple spread across the water's surface. The invisible hand grasped the dark blue stone, then silently withdrew. The entire process took no more than two breaths, clean and efficient.