Chapter 1280 - 647: Underground Lake
A burst of red light flooded the scene, causing everyone to see a red haze and instinctively close their eyes. Suddenly, the tunnel went silent; not a sound of buzzing insects or crackling fire was heard, and even human breathing ceased — everyone subconsciously held their breath.
Once the long tail of the Fire Phoenix had swept past and the fiery figure vanished at the end of the tunnel, everyone finally came back to their senses.
The passage before them was utterly empty, leaving nothing behind, even cleaner than if it had been meticulously cleaned, save for the bright blue flames still roaring. These flames were quite formidable, able to use Black Stone as fuel and continue burning. If there’s any difference from before, it’s probably the stone walls, now reddened by the high temperature, looking like they just came out of a steel furnace, the smooth stone surface molten and dripping down the walls.
The high temperature brought by the Fire Phoenix completely vaporized all the beetles upon first contact, leaving not a trace of wings or limbs!
Boss Kun swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. Even if he had a way to deal with these man-eating beetles, he certainly couldn’t do it as swiftly and cleanly as Changtian had, almost annihilating them completely. What he didn’t know was that Changtian had held back due to concerns, not going all out.
This person’s abilities were no longer like those of a mortal, but rather like the land immortals of legend.
Meanwhile, outside the passage, within the stone room, there was still a faint sound of wings fluttering, presumably from the few remaining beetles that hadn’t yet flown into the tunnel, lucky enough to escape death. Seeing their companions perish tragically and with flames still burning fiercely in the tunnel, they didn’t dare to pursue.
"Let’s go." Changtian turned around and said lightly. With the residual power of the Divine Fire still in the air, everyone instinctively turned and quickly left.
The tall Heavenly Master approached and said in a deep voice, "That was impressive, what kind of technique was that?" Everyone else perked up their ears. Such divine skills might be achievable by Heavenly Masters skilled in deep spells, but certainly not with such ease.
Changtian glanced at him without speaking. The man didn’t take offense, rubbing his head and chuckling twice, while Ning Xiaoxian laughed and said, "In my early travels to the North, I obtained a strange treasure from the deep mountains that can release a Fire Phoenix, that’s all."
The North is mountainous and sparsely populated; if someone were fortunate enough to find a strange treasure there, it wouldn’t be surprising. Boss Kun and others voiced an "oh," though whether they truly believed it was another matter altogether.
Changtian immediately glared at her; others only thought he was annoyed she had easily revealed his secret, not knowing that their private transmission was about something else.
Ning Xiaoxian was quite astonished that Changtian was willing to alter his appearance and join mortals in exploring the underground palace. For such a character to do so, there was likely only one reason: this group of mortals had something useful or suspicious about them.
The passage wasn’t very long, and after walking several hundred meters, a faint moisture could be detected by human noses. It seemed there was water ahead!
The Heavenly Masters’ spirits were lifted, and strength returned to their bodies.
Suddenly, Boss Kun stretched out his hand to stop the tall and robust Heavenly Master Yuan Hou, saying, "Watch your step!"
Reminded by him, Yuan Hou instinctively glanced down and instantly took a sharp breath: the mouth of the passage appeared to have been sliced from above, and if he took one more step, he would tread on nothing and fall into the dark water below, two or three meters deep.
Before stepping out of the passage, the whole scene opened up. It was clearly a vast underground lake, about the size of seven or eight football fields, much larger than the human sacrifice pit they first entered. However, the ceiling was relatively low, reaching about twenty-two meters from the passage, and many stalactites hung from above, having grown into the water over the years.
Ning Xiaoxian took a sharp breath, "The owner of this underground palace is truly grand, even digging out such a large lake. With mountains, water, and monsters, is this meant to be a kingdom on its own?"
Changtian shook his head and said, "This Underground Lake should be naturally formed, at most utilized by those who built the underground palace."
How could it be utilized? This question arose in everyone’s minds. Incorporating this Underground Lake into the palace design surely wasn’t just for good feng shui, was it? "Fourth" listened intently for a moment and suddenly said, "This water is living water; listen, you can hear the sound of tides rising and falling."
Everyone listened carefully, and indeed, the water below lapped against the stone wall, bringing the familiar sounds of tides ebbing and flowing. At that moment, some people were moved to tears.