"If you transform into your true form and let us ride on your back, like a dragon swimming in the ocean, this resistance will certainly not affect you. However, your size is too large, making you a bigger target, and at higher speeds, the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm will be useless. The danger along the way will inevitably increase."
Long Shi's face darkened. He couldn't bear the thought of being forced to transform into his true form and be ridden by others.
Xiao Wenbing's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Senior Food King, are you saying that there are no particularly powerful creatures in the water?"
"Yes, creatures from the second and third levels generally don't come here."
"What if they come?"
"That means we were just unlucky. However, with so many of us, we should be able to escape as long as the opponent isn't too strong. After all, creatures of the Golden Roc's caliber are extremely rare even on the third level."
"Alright, in that case, let me lead the way."
"You..." The Food King was greatly surprised, looked him up and down, and asked, "Can you transform into an aquatic creature?"
Xiao Wenbing chuckled, then suddenly pointed a finger, and a small earthworm immediately swam out of the Heavenly Void Ring.
The Food King stared at the inconspicuous little animal. Although it looked unremarkable, it seemed to contain immense energy, which made him quite alarmed.
As soon as the earthworm touched the water, it began to swell rapidly, and after a short while, a giant creature hundreds of feet long appeared before everyone.
As the water rippled, the black scales shone even brighter, and the enormous snake head appeared even more ferocious. A powerful aura surged continuously from the snake's body, directly enveloping an area of several hundred feet.
"What a huge snake! Where did you get it from?" The Food King was astonished. He hadn't expected this kid to have such a fruitful trip to the Demon Realm. Glancing at Long Shi beside him, he muttered softly, "Even more imposing than the old dragon."
Long Shi's expression grew even uglier, but he couldn't refute it; this giant snake was indeed far more powerful than him.
A hint of desolation flashed in Shabir's eyes, but it vanished in an instant. His old friend of many years had become someone else's incarnation, and naturally, he felt uneasy, but it was all fate...
"Stop asking so many questions, let's go inside and hurry on our way."
The group climbed onto the giant snake's head, and the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm transformed, instantly forming its own space and firmly attaching itself to the giant snake's body.
Volume 5, Chapter 13: The Universe Ring as a Warning
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Its enormous body easily cut through the waves, moving swiftly through the water.
Strange creatures can be seen from time to time in these waters, but under the pressure of the giant serpent, they either scatter or lie motionless, and no creature comes to challenge this behemoth that is equivalent to an immortal.
After being refined by the Nether Water, the serpent's energy level was raised to a higher level, but most importantly, it was no longer hindered by the resistance of the water.
When traveling through water, it feels like soaring through the air, with resistance so small it's almost negligible.
The serpent did not go at its maximum speed, but reserved some energy to be ready to react at any time. After all, this was the underworld full of dangers, and being more careful meant being safer.
However, even at the current speed, it is at least ten times faster than when they were traveling through the Star Dou Illusionary Realm. The journey that used to take a year can be compressed into a month, which Xiao Wenbing is already very satisfied with.
"Senior Food King, it seems there isn't much trouble here."
Indeed, although the Food King described this place as fraught with danger, they hadn't encountered any trouble in the past ten days.
"Your snake is too big." The King of Food looked down at the unprecedented immortal-level avatar through the Starry Sky Illusion Realm and finally sighed helplessly.
"What?"
"Your snake is at the level of an immortal, and it's fast enough, so there aren't many creatures here that you can provoke." After this ten-day journey, the Food King's mood had improved considerably. It was great to have an immortal-level snake escorting him. Back then, when he traveled this path, he was always on edge and extremely cautious; he was nowhere near as glamorous as he was now.
To be honest, if he didn't have self-awareness, the King of Food would have actually gotten a giant snake like that to use as a mount.
Turning his head to glance at Long Shi, who was resting with his eyes closed, the Food King pointed with his finger and chuckled, "If it were this old dragon, countless creatures would probably have come up to take advantage of him long ago."
Long Shi opened his eyes wide and glared at him fiercely, but it had no effect whatsoever; the Food King remained unmoved. Indeed, in the cultivation world, there were very few who could truly defeat the Food King, and over the years, he had developed this unbridled habit.
"Buzz..."
A soft vibration sounded, and everyone looked over. Zhang Yaqi was also looking at the Qiankun Ring on her wrist with a surprised expression.
Xiao Wenbing stepped forward and came to Zhang Yaqi's side, asking cautiously, "What's wrong?"
"The Universe Ring is warning us; there's danger in this direction," Zhang Yaqi said softly, though her voice carried a hint of worry.
For a moment, no one spoke. Even the Food King, who had been relaxed just moments before, became tense.
The Universe Ring is a supreme treasure of heaven and earth. If even it can issue a warning, doesn't that mean the enemy ahead is no ordinary foe?
"What kind of enemy is that?" Xiao Wenbing asked in a deep voice. Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you decide on the best course of action.
Zhang Yaqi shook her head slightly. She smiled wryly and said, "The Qiankun Ring only sensed a powerful and incredible pressure, but as for what kind of creature it was, I have no way of knowing."
"A powerful pressure?" Xiao Wenbing frowned deeply, releasing his divine sense. After a long while, he had to give up in despair. Within the range of his divine sense, he did detect two or three small fish and shrimps, but he couldn't sense the so-called incredibly powerful pressure at all.
When they opened their eyes, Chabir and the others were also puzzled. No need to ask, they must have already used their divine sense to investigate, but they also found nothing.
"What do you think? Should we go straight ahead, or take a detour?"
After a moment's thought, the Food King said, "I believe in the Universe Ring."
Long Shi and Shabier nodded simultaneously. Although they didn't notice anything amiss, their confidence in the Qiankun Ring led them to choose the latter.
Looking around, Zhang Yaqi and Feng Baiyi remained silent, clearly having no objection to their decision. As for Die Xian, Xiao Wenbing shook his head, giving up the idea of asking her for her opinion.
“Alright, I’m a democratic person. Since everyone agrees to take a detour, let’s take a detour.” At Xiao Wenbing’s command, the giant snake immediately turned its head and swam to the side.
The giant snake swam further and further off course until it had swum a hundred miles to the side before the Qiankun Ring stopped vibrating.
"What is this thing, and why is it so vast?"
The group exchanged nods. The Qiankun Ring only stopped issuing warnings when the giant snake was a hundred miles away, indicating that the area within that distance was a place the Qiankun Ring considered dangerous.
I really don't know what kind of creature could cover such a vast area; it's a bit unbelievable.
"Food King, did you take this path before?" Long Shi suddenly asked.
The Food King nodded solemnly and said, "Of course, it's the same road both ways."
"Well, you're in luck."
The King of Food's expression froze, and he glared at the old dragon. But in his heart, he wondered if his luck was really that good.
This was a very long and circuitous route, delaying the journey by a full day before finally returning to the correct course. However, after passing this perilous situation, the journey was smooth sailing, and no further incidents occurred.
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
However, apart from Xiao Wenbing and the two women, the others were somewhat skeptical about the Qiankun Encirclement warning. Had the device suddenly malfunctioned?
Of course, they were unaware that three days after their departure, the place that the Qiankun Circle had sensed as dangerous suddenly began to tremble. Slowly, cracks appeared in the water's surface within a radius of hundreds of miles, and the surrounding soil and vegetation slid down. The immense pressure stirred up chilling undercurrents.
The surrounding water, mixed with silt from the bottom, had become murky, making it impossible to see anything inside.
Creatures within a radius of hundreds of miles seemed to be fleeing from something, desperately diving upwards.
Most monsters that can survive in the Dark Sea are enormous and possess immense power. Just then, a sea monster with many whiskers, tens of meters long, swam frantically upwards. However, a ferocious, hundred-meter-long monster fish lunged at it from its side at an even faster speed. Its huge, sharp back spikes slashed viciously across the unfortunate sea monster.
The monster's spines seemed to contain potent toxins. The sea monster let out a mournful cry, no longer able to twitch its enormous tentacles, and plummeted downwards.
Suddenly, an incredibly large hand caught its falling body.
The sea monster with many whiskers curled up, trembling incessantly. Although its size was not as large as the serpent's incarnation, it was still several tens of feet long when fully stretched out. Yet, even such a huge body appeared extremely small in that giant hand.
Two thick beams of light slowly emerged from the muddy water, shining like two suns in the water.
A breath brimming with vital energy was exhaled onto the many-bearded sea monster. Instantly, all the toxins within the monster's body were neutralized.
It was unclear where the power came from, but once the sea monster regained its strength, it immediately escaped the enormous hand that seemed capable of covering a mountain at the fastest speed it had ever traveled, and swam swiftly into the distance.
"Strange, where is this? After sleeping for so many years, could it be that I've drifted to another level again, like last time?" Accompanied by a suffocatingly majestic sound, a rumbling voice echoed from the mud and sand: "Is this the fifth level, or the fourth? Hmm, no. Why are all the creatures here so weak? Heavens, could it be that I've actually arrived at the first level? Oh no, I need to hurry back, otherwise, if someone catches me red-handed, that won't be good."
A deafening roar echoed incessantly, shaking the area for miles around. Suddenly, the tremendous noise ceased, and from the mud and sand came that deafening sound again: "What is that aura? It's so familiar. Strange, how could it appear here? Hmm... there's also the aura of creation, order, and destruction? What's going on? Their auras are so weak, it can't be. Let's go take a look, hmm. Let's go take a look..."
The silt in the water seemed to pause for a moment, and then, as if drawn by a mysterious force, slowly fell down.
The immense pressure had vanished without a trace, and the water had returned to calm, as if everything that had just happened was merely a fleeting dream.
However, a huge crater, spanning hundreds of miles in circumference, suddenly appeared underwater, a truly shocking sight.
At this moment, Xiao Wenbing and the others had already ridden the giant snake and were three days away from that dangerous forbidden area. Just when they thought they would definitely arrive safely without any danger, a powerful undercurrent suddenly came from the bottom of the water. The force was so great that even the giant snake's incarnation could not resist it. It had no choice but to desperately dive down, almost touching the bottom of the water, before it could barely stabilize its body.
After a long while, the water finally calmed down. Xiao Wenbing and the others exchanged glances, still shaken, and noticed the fear in each other's eyes. Even Feng Baiyi and Zhang Yaqi were no exception.
While the power contained in this sudden flow of water was difficult to resist, what truly horrified everyone was the immense, unimaginably powerful pressure that accompanied it.
It was a power that even the power of a god would pale in comparison to. In that instant, they had only one thought in their minds: to escape as quickly as possible, to get as far away as possible.
"White Robe, Yaqi, what is this?" Xiao Wenbing asked softly, his throat dry.
The reason he asked the two women was because he had discovered that this strange energy had some similarities to the power of the gods, but it also seemed to be different.
Here, only three people have truly come into contact with divine power. As for the others, even Shabir is just an immortal, not to mention Long Shi and the Food King.
“I don’t know, it seems…” Zhang Yaqi paused slightly, exchanged a glance with Feng Baiyi, and suddenly said, “It might be divine power.”
"The power of a god?" Xiao Wenbing said with a wry smile, "Senior Food King, could there be another god here?"
The King of Food was speechless for a long while before saying, "How should I know?"
“That direction.” Shabir, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, immediately attracting everyone’s attention. He said, “That direction is where the Universe Ring is warning us.”
Everyone felt a chill and looked up together, but the water was completely dark, and they couldn't see anything at all.
Volume 5, Chapter 14: The Mad Swarm of Bees
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Faintly, the voice of the Mirror God suddenly echoed in his mind: "Wen Bing..."
Xiao Wenbing was overjoyed. How could he have forgotten about the Mirror God? After all, the Mirror God came from the realm of gods. When it comes to understanding the gods, who could surpass the Mirror God?
"Mirror God, what is it? What was that power just now?" Xiao Wenbing asked impatiently.
The Mirror God sighed mysteriously and said in a guiding tone, "I was just about to tell you that it is the power of the true god."