"Found it!"
The moment he found the lake, Xiao Yan was overjoyed and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Even the Spiritual Strength that spread out from there fluctuated slightly.
"Roar!"
Because of this slight fluctuation, Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength, which had spread over the lake, suddenly trembled. Xiao Yan, who was in the mountains and forests, heard a deafening roar from a beast once again. At the same time, the power that had spread over the lake was also forcibly dispersed by this roar.
In the mountains and forests, Xiao Yan, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly turned pale, and a solemn look immediately appeared in his eyes.
"As expected, this guy's strength is indeed far beyond that of an ordinary One-Star Dou Di!"
Recalling the words of the old man in black robes, Xiao Yan's expression tightened slightly. However, he then slowly clenched his fair hands into fists, and a determined look appeared in his black eyes.
Even though Xiao Yan's strength is not at its peak at this moment, he is determined to try anything to obtain the Soul-Congealing Fruit!
"Call..."
Xiao Yan exhaled deeply once more, slowly rising from his cross-legged position. He turned his gaze towards the direction of the lake; if he wasn't mistaken, the Soul-Congealing Fruit was indeed there.
Immediately afterward, Xiao Yan lightly touched the tree trunk with his toes, and his Dou Qi burst forth from his feet. Xiao Yan's figure was like an arrow released from a bow, and he flew rapidly into the depths of the mountain forest.
In the mountains and forests, Xiao Yan's figure was like a ghost, darting through countless towering ancient trees with lightning speed. Even when he passed by some human Dou Di powerhouses, they could only see a blurry black light flash past their eyes, unable to distinguish what it was.
The Ancient Forest was so vast that even with Xiao Yan's incredible speed, after traversing for more than ten minutes, he was still quite a distance from the lake.
This surprised Xiao Yan, and he couldn't help but marvel at the owner of the ruins.
Such a grand gesture... one can only wonder just how powerful the owner of this ruin truly was.
Along the way, Xiao Yan Xiao Yan many fierce auras, and on several occasions, he even brushed past some huge and ferocious-looking magical beasts. If it weren't for Xiao Yan's amazing speed, he would probably have inevitably had a fierce battle with them.
"Laugh..."
However, at a certain moment, Xiao Yan, who was flying at high speed, suddenly stopped, frowned, and turned his head to look behind him.
With his powerful Spiritual Strength, Xiao Yan was able to sense that somewhere in this forest, some of the Dou Di experts he had previously passed were also flying towards his current location, and there were quite a few of them. Judging from their appearance, they must have been attracted by Xiao Yan.
"Damn it, they really are a pack of wolves, biting as soon as they catch something. Looks like I need to speed things up."
Cursing inwardly, Xiao Yan suddenly turned around, his body trembled, and the speed of his internal Dou Qi circulation increased even more. With a step, he instantly unleashed the Heavenly Severing Steps, his figure flashing as he transformed into a gentle breeze, whistling through the mountains and forests, leaving the group of people behind him far behind.
Time flew by as Xiao Yan traveled at breakneck speed. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yan had already covered nearly half an hour using the Heavenly Severing Steps. And it was only at this moment that, under the probing of Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength, that lake reappeared.
"Found it!"
This time, Xiao Yan was not as overjoyed as before. Instead, he tried his best to suppress his emotions and flew forward at high speed. At the same time, his Spiritual Strength carefully spread towards the lake, cautiously passing through the void above the lake and approaching the small island in the center of the lake.
Before even getting close, Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength already sensed an extremely pure and surging Soul Power. Upon sensing this force, the long-dormant Soul Bead in Xiao Yan's mind immediately reacted, trembling a few times before slowly calming down.
"As expected, it's the Soul-Congealing Fruit!"
Unable to contain his joy, Xiao Yan shouted with delight as he rapidly approached the lake.
However, at this very moment, Xiao Yan suddenly discovered that on the land surrounding this lake, there was actually...
There was actually a huge monster corpse there!
"This... this is..."
Upon seeing this, Xiao Yan was immediately startled. His rapidly advancing figure stopped high in the sky, and at the same time, his dark eyes were filled with deep horror as he looked down at the enormous corpse of the demonic beast.
This demonic beast was clearly a giant python. Its body was covered with jet-black scales harder than steel, and strange patterns appeared on its surface. Although it had been dead for some time, an invisible pressure still emanated from its body, which was enough to show just how powerful it was when it was alive.
"This magical beast is actually a Dou Di level!"
Xiao Yan's expression suddenly hardened, and he felt a deep sense of unease. A Dou Di- level magical beast had actually died outside this lake. Moreover, Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength had clearly been attacked by some kind of magical beast earlier. This meant that the corpse of the magical beast before him was either killed by the owner of this lake and left here as a deterrent, or it was the original owner of this lake, and now it had been killed here instead!
The fact that a Dou Di- level magical beast could die without any resistance meant that, regardless of whether it was the former or the latter, Xiao Yan was certain that an even more powerful magical beast was lurking beneath this lake!
"Gurgle..."
Thinking of this, even with Xiao Yan's composure, he couldn't help but swallow. At that moment, Gu You inside his body chuckled for some unknown reason, leaving Xiao Yan completely bewildered.
"Damn it, the monsters underwater are probably at least at the Late One-Star Dou Di! This time, no matter what, we have to fight with all our might!"
With a heavy heart, Xiao Yan silently warned himself, and with a thought, the still-injured Xiao Yan Northern King appeared beside him.
After several days of recovery, the two handprints on the Northern King's chest had fully healed, but the crack that had been blasted out by the Dou Technique had not yet healed. If the Northern King were to fight, this puppet that had followed Xiao Yan for many years would probably be destroyed here.
Despite his reluctance, Xiao Yan knew that to gain something, one must always make a sacrifice. Perhaps this time, the price he would have to pay was the Northern King.
Even after summoning the Northern King, Xiao Yan was still somewhat uneasy. Immediately, with a thought, nine avatars coalesced from the void beside him, then merged back into one. The avatars' strength was greatly enhanced after the fusion, reaching the Late Five-Star Half-Emperor. Although it was unlikely to significantly aid Xiao Yan Xiao Yan, more power meant more security, which was extremely important for him at this moment.
After a few breaths, Xiao Yan, leading an avatar and accompanied by the Northern King, arrived at the lakeside.
Looking across the lake, Xiao Yan stared at the delicate little tree on the island in the center of the lake. Especially after seeing the milky white fruit growing on the tree, his emotions surged even more.
At that moment, the calm lake in front of Xiao Yan suddenly churned with waves. A huge black shadow gradually rose from the bottom of the lake and finally broke through the water. The first thing to emerge from the water was a single horn that looked like lightning, followed by a huge snake head, and then a huge body that emerged from the water.
This magical beast, like the dead one on the shore, was also a serpentine creature. However, unlike the other, although it was clearly a snake, it had a single horn on its head that looked like lightning, and its belly was covered with patterns resembling those of a giant whale.
However, the moment the demonic beast appeared, the solemn expression that had just appeared on Xiao Yan's face turned to astonishment upon seeing the beast before him. This was because the demonic beast before him was the very one that Xiao Yan had previously believed to be dead outside...
" Ancient Whale Serpent!"