"It seems we'll have to be twice as cautious," Lin Tian said quietly, a grave look between his brows. "Among those new old monsters the Zhao family brought, one of them has actually reached the Innate Realm. That was truly unexpected. If they realize it and dive in to pursue us, we'll be in serious danger in this underground river."
The Purple Lightning Python let out a long breath, its voice carrying a trace of undisguised frustration. "They can't catch up."
Lin Tian was taken aback. "Why are you so sure?"
"When you were unconscious, I tried going back to scout the way. I discovered that this underground river is incredibly small—it's just a closed water vein no more than a dozen li long," the python replied, its tone low.
"What!" Lin Tian's heart jolted. He had planned to rest briefly, then dive back in with the python. With its swimming skill and strength, they would fear no battle in the water. But now, to learn that this was a closed water loop—with its source a mystery and no exit in sight—changed everything.
If they couldn't get out, then naturally, those outside couldn't come in. But since the Zhao family knew of a treasure appearing once every century, they clearly had studied this place. There might be a way for them to break the formation and enter.
"I don't believe there's no way out," Lin Tian said in a deep voice. "Otherwise, sending people in here would be suicide for the Zhao family. We have to find the treasure or the way out before they do—otherwise, it's a dead end for us."
The python nodded slightly and coiled itself up again to recover. Though it was heavily injured, it had devoured Zhao Deyi, a high-stage Qi Transformation cultivator, and the massive vital energy it had absorbed had yet to be fully refined. Now was the perfect time to build its strength. Even recovering just ten percent would give it more of a fighting chance against a powerful foe.
Lin Tian didn't disturb it. He moved to the side and began practicing the martial techniques from the Martial Path section of the Lingwu Scripture. After his life-and-death battle, he felt a faint sense of breakthrough. Sure enough, after practicing three times in a row, he successfully completed an entirely new movement. The tail-strike technique he had comprehended while fighting the Six-legged Crocodile had also become even more fluid.
Though his martial skills were a rough mixture—honed in the wild through battles with fierce beasts, then patched together with the killing arts an old man had taught him—they were simple, efficient, and targeted vital points. Now, even without traps or mechanisms, Lin Tian was confident he could kill those outer disciples of the Heavenly Silkworm Sect who had once hunted him.
His physical strength had risen slightly by five jin, now totaling eighty jin of force—about 2,400 catties. At the same time, his second spiritual root had fully stabilized, raising his mana to nearly twenty jin. In the Spirit Gathering Realm of the Daoist path, the number of spiritual roots determined one's mana capacity. He could now use his mana alone to lift objects weighing up to 600 catties. While controlling a longsword magic weapon this way would be slower, it could still cleave through solid wood.
Especially that Life-Death Shuttle—since killing the Zhao family's early-stage Qi Transformation disciple and tearing a piece of flesh from under Zhao Kun's feet, its aura was no longer dull but instead radiated a fierce, bloodthirsty edge. Lin Tian knew this artifact was likely no weaker than a low-grade flying sword.
Half an hour later, the python opened its eyes. Its ghostly green pupils in the darkness looked like two clusters of ghostfire.
"Your cultivation has improved again?" Lin Tian asked, a little surprised.
"Nothing worth celebrating," the python replied coldly. "If we can't get out of here, we're both dead."
"True," Lin Tian sighed. "If we don't find the treasure the Zhao family covets soon, once they start searching underwater, we might not even get the chance to run."
"Follow me," the python said, sliding into the underground river first. "Earlier, I found several strange spots underwater—maybe they're clues."
Lin Tian followed close behind. Without the python to carry him, his movements were clumsy, let alone searching for anomalies.
Soon, the man and snake located five spots in the dozen-li-long closed river where the vital energy flow was abnormal. Strangely, these five points corresponded exactly to the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—with perfectly balanced attributes. Such a pattern could never form naturally; it had to be deliberately arranged.
An astonishing possibility flashed through Lin Tian's mind, and his expression changed sharply. "This is actually a Five Elements Dragon-Trapping Formation!"
"Dragon-Trapping Formation?" The python froze. Though it had inherited remnants of an ancient great serpent's knowledge, the information was fragmented, and many ancient secret arts were incomplete.
Lin Tian lowered his voice. "A formation used by ancient mighty ones to imprison true dragons!"
The python was shaken to its core. As a serpent with traces of the Teng Snake bloodline, it knew well the terror of the dragon race—even the lowest flood dragon was equivalent to a human at the Void-Shattering Realm.
"But…" Lin Tian looked toward the whirlpool in the water. "This formation isn't complete—some of its patterns look like a teleportation array. I suspect what's trapped here isn't a true dragon, but a flood dragon. Still, even a flood dragon that's been imprisoned for thousands of years, with its aura greatly weakened, would have the might of a grandmaster. If we wake it, we'll suffer a fate ten times worse than facing that innate expert outside."
A chill ran through Lin Tian's heart as he spoke. The might of a flood dragon was something he could never withstand. But the python's eyes only burned hotter—the pull of its bloodline made it feel a natural closeness to dragonkind.
Just as the two were hesitating, the underground river beneath their feet suddenly shook violently!
"What's going on?" Lin Tian's heart tightened.
"Not sure… could that innate Zhao family member have broken in?" The python's snake eyes glimmered coldly.
Lin Tian shook his head. "An early-stage innate couldn't cause such a commotion—only someone at the peak stage could shake this entire underground waterway." He thought of the residual force of Ning Qianru's sword strike—if it had been an innate peak, shaking a space five or six li across would be no problem.
And right now, this tremor… seemed only to be the beginning.