Chapter 71, Return with Regret

Translator: Raznick

 

“Come out!”

 

By the water pond, as Zhou Chun uttered a low cry, Zhou Jiahe’s spirit pet, the Green Scale Crocodile, emerged first from the water, opening its mouth wide to breathe. Shortly after, Zhou Jiahui’s spirit pet, the Swirling Water Turtle, joined the chaos, floating to the surface and slowly crawling ashore.

 

Waiting impatiently, Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiahui approached and communicated with their pets. They asked about the results of their underwater investigation.

 

Once both had finished speaking with their pets, Zhou Chun couldn’t wait and asked them, “How’s it? Could aunts please share the details?”

 

“It’s not so simple,” they replied.

 

“According to the Green Scale Crocodile, when it ventured deeper into the cave, it entered a large underground river. Along the way, it discovered clusters of what Zhou Chun referred to earlier as ‘strange fish’.

 

“And the underground river isn’t just home to that strange fish—it’s also filled with all sorts of ordinary fish, shrimp, and other demon beasts, including some incredibly powerful ones that even the Green Scale Crocodile perceives as a threat.”

 

Zhou Jiahe looked at Zhou Chun and spoke first about the intelligence gathered by her own spirit pet.

 

She turned her gaze toward Zhou Jiahui.

 

Zhou Jiahui, also opened her mouth to say, “My Swirling Water Turtle found a situation similar to what Sister He described. The only difference is that it mentioned the water quality in the underground river was excellent and my little turtle seemed quite fond of it.”

 

Zhou Chun listened and lowered his head in thoughtful silence.

 

After a moment of thinking, he looked up at them and said, “The Green Scale Crocodile is no ordinary creature. The demon beast that gives it pause must be incredibly powerful—either a second-grade demon beast or some specially strong example of a superior first-grade one. This makes the risks in there quite significant.”

 

“But regardless, whether it’s the Green Scale Crocodile or the Swirling Water Turtle, they are still just demon beasts. The intelligence they gather is too vague. My suggestion is that we three personally go down and take a look ourselves. What do you think, aunts? ”

 

Hearing Zhengchun’s words, Zhou Jiahe and her companion exchanged glances, both filled with hesitation. Unlike Zhengchun, they had lived long enough to train in Water Avoidance. It was precisely because of their longevity and vast experience that they understood just how dangerous it would be down below in beast demon infested waters. Sending them there now to take such a risk filled them with hesitation and concern.

 

“Zhengchun, are you sure you want to go down there and have a look? If anything dangerous happens, we might barely be able to protect ourselves, let alone help you…”

 

Zhou Jiahe looked him and spoke her worries. Zhengchun smiled and said, “Rest assured, Thirteenth Aunt. Although I don’t have a water spirit pet like you to protect me, I still have ways to ensure my safety.”

 

“Very well, if Zhengchun is determined and feels confident about it, then I have no objections.”

 

Zhou Jiahui nodded in agreement.

 

Beside her, Zhou Jiahui, not wanting the two to think she was timid, immediately replied, “I have no objections either.”

 

With that, the three of them activated Water Avoidance and boarded the Swirling Water Turtle’s back. The turtle carried them deeper into the water pond, toward a submerged cave, while Zhou Jiahui dispatched the Green Scale Crocodile to lead the way, driving away any strange fish they encountered.

 

Once the Swirling Water Turtle dove into the depths of the water pond and into the massive cave, an extraordinary underwater world came into view for Zhou Chun and his companions.

 

The waters within the cave were not pitch black, but instead teemed with glowing tiny fish and shrimp.

 

Though these creatures emitted only a faint light, it was enough for Zhou Chun and his team to see some of their surroundings with the naked eye.

 

However, to truly understand the extent of this underwater world, they relied on their Divine Sense.

 

The trio could now sense every strange and wondrous aquatic creature in this underwater realm.

 

An ordinary small lizard-like strange fish, scaleless, with rows of sharp teeth, had a tail flickering with blue light.

 

A large shrimp with very long pincers had brilliant eyes like blue sapphires.

 

There was also a fish resembling an eel with a narrow, long dorsal fin that swam very quickly.

 

However, these aquatic animals were just oddly shaped and not demon beasts at all. The Swirling Water Turtle’s aura kept them at bay.

 

Following the winding caves for nearly fifteen minutes, the Swirling Water Turtle carried Zhou Chun and the two into the underground river.

 

Compared to the relatively calm water in the caves, the underground river’s flow was much more turbulent. Such a massive creature as the Swirling Water Turtle had to paddle hard to avoid being swept away by the currents.

 

“Are we going up or down?”

 

Zhou Jiahe drove Green Scale Crocodile to clear the way ahead, and gestured to Zhou Chun.

 

Zhou Chun thought for a moment and pointed upstream.

 

He left a token at the intersection of the cave and the underground river in case he forgot the route when he came back.

 

They went upstream for about fifteen minutes. While Green Scale Crocodile was clearing the way, he encountered a difficult opponent.

 

In the underground river that was more than thirty meters wide, a strange demon beast that looked like a suckermouth catfish and was covered with a bone shell was fighting fiercely with the Green Scale Crocodile.

 

The fighting styles of the two demon beasts were extremely fierce. They released mystical arts to attack each other while opening their mouths and going for a bite.

 

But the Green Scale Crocodile had an owner.

 

The Swirling Water Turtle carried Zhou Chun and the others closer. On its back was Zhou Jiahui, who immediately raised her hand and summoned an artifact—a golden hairpin—launching it toward the strange demon beast with force.

 

Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiahui similarly did not stand idly by; each summoned their own artifacts to join the assault on that strange demon beast. Together, the three made short work of the strange demon beast. Zhou Chun’s Shooting Moon Edge split its head open, killing it in the water.

 

Since none of them recognized the strange demon beast, Zhou Chun thought its corpse might have some use. He cut it into several pieces and placed each segment inside their respective storage bags. Then, they pressed on upstream to investigate the area further.

 

After traveling upstream for another half an hour, Zhou Jiahui exclaimed, as if she had made a discovery. She pointed toward a spot and signaled the Swirling Water Turtle to head that way. Soon enough, Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiahui understood what she had found.

 

It was another intersection similar to the one they had entered. Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately decided to venture inside to investigate. Shortly after entering the cave, however, they encountered a large group of fish.

 

Numerous strange fish attacked the leading Green Scale Crocodile, preventing it from advancing further into the cave. This only piqued the curiosity of the other three, who joined the fray and killed or dispersed the school of fish before continuing deeper into the cave.

 

However, not long after, the escaped fish quickly returned with over sixty of their kind. Among them were several that exuded an aura characteristic of a superior first-grade demon beast.

 

“Retreat!”

 

Without hesitation, Zhou Chun issued the order to withdraw immediately.

 

The three of them quickly switch to Green Scale Crocodiles, which were faster and more agile swimmers, and then have the Swirling Water Turtle use its large body to guard the rear, rapidly retreating back along the underground river.

 

After such a rather undignified escape, the trio finally returned to the underground channel. However, the poor Swirling Water Turtle was beaten to seriously injured and Zhou Jiahui had no choice but to put it back into the spirit beast pouch. Without the Swirling Water Turtle as their stable mount, and with all three having expended considerable amounts of spiritual power, they could only abandon this excursion down the underground river.

 

With a low gurgling sound, a large number of bubbles rushed from the calm water, and the Green Scale Crocodile’s mouth full of sharp teeth broke out of the water. On the crocodile’s back, Zhou Chun and his companions finally saw the light of day after spending two hours in the dark underground water world, and they all opened their mouths wide to breathe in the fresh air.

 

After taking several deep breaths of fresh air, Zhou Jiahe turned to Zhengchun and said, “Nephew, let’s end our trip here. Given the complex conditions of the underground river, it is impossible for us Qi Refining cultivators to stay there for long without an Foundation Establishment cultivator accompanying us.”

 

This time, the three of them were forced to retreat by that group of strange fish, indicating how dangerous the underground river was.

 

Moreover, there were no places to meditate and rest within a radius of fifty miles. They couldn’t even use their tactics of conserving energy.

 

Therefore, in Zhou Jiahe’s view, it was impossible to carry out the mission without a Foundation Establishment cultivator by their side.

 

Zhou Chun, on the other hand, could use the purification stone jar to solve the meditate rest issue, but he lacked a spirit pet for water battles and his own cultivation was only at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. He simply couldn’t venture alone into the underground river for exploration.

 

Hence, although he still felt somewhat unwilling and regretful inside, he wisely accepted Zhou Jiahe’s suggestion and agreed to return to the clan first to report their findings so far.

 

“Alright then, as the Thirteenth Aunt suggested, let’s return and inform the Clan Leader about our discoveries.”