The giant snake remained motionless.
Why aren't you sticking your tongue out anymore?
"Lord Xiao, why are you still holding the divine sword in your hand?"
"This... I'm protecting you."
※※※※
After using its innate abilities to search, the serpent solemnly declared that the area was filled with a very rich aura of treasure, and that there must be a supreme treasure there.
Having determined their location, Xiao Wenbing and the others did not delay any longer. They used their divine techniques to fly into the water.
At this moment, each of them possessed immense power, a far cry from their first visit to the underworld.
However, at Xiao Wenbing's suggestion, they did not unleash any overwhelming power, but instead focused on conserving their divine power, simply expelling the seawater ten meters away from their bodies to facilitate passage.
Although they had tried their best to control it, even that little bit of divine power that spilled out was enough to make the nearby sea boil.
Those advanced creatures that had lived hidden in the sea for countless years fell silent, trembling with fear. They dared not even entertain the thought of interfering.
It's important to understand that these are merely creatures from the first level of the underworld, which, while extremely powerful for cultivators, are no different from insects before the gods.
So when they sensed that little bit of overflowing divine power, they kept burying their bodies in the seabed in order to avoid getting into trouble.
Xiao Wenbing and the others naturally had no time to pay attention to these creatures. Following a certain route, they finally found the hidden cave where Keris had come before.
The entrance to the cave was not unusual; if they hadn't known the secret beforehand, Xiao Wenbing and the others might not have been able to find it successfully.
Ten feet inside the cave entrance, a bright light gradually became clear. This light was extremely strange. It seemed to contain a magical power, forcefully blocking the immense water pressure from reaching it.
Xiao Wenbing and the others strode in. The light remained unchanged, and there was no obstruction between the water and the light. They entered with ease.
After surveying the area from the air, Xiao Wenbing asked, "Great Serpent, what is it that can keep the seawater out?"
After a moment's thought, the giant serpent said, "There should be many such treasures, but the vast majority are called water-repelling pearls. These kinds of treasures can usually be found inside the bodies of aquatic immortal beasts that have achieved a certain level of cultivation."
Xiao Wenbing nodded secretly. Among his group, if judged by experience, the giant snake was indeed the best.
Its millions of years of arduous cultivation had not been in vain. In comparison, both Shabir and the Food King paled in comparison. As for himself and the two women, Zhang and Feng, they were even less impressive.
"Brother Orochi, do you think there are any water-repelling beads here?" the Food King suddenly asked.
The giant serpent paused, then said, "There should be, otherwise, how could it prevent the seawater from entering?"
"But why can't I find it?" The King of Food looked around the cave, but couldn't find anything related to the bead.
The giant snake glanced at him disdainfully and said, "You're no good. Watch me."
A long, bright red snake tongue emerged again, and a series of loud hissing sounds immediately filled the cave.
Perhaps to snakes and insects, such a sound would be like heavenly music, but to Xiao Wenbing and the others, it was comparable to the wailing of ghosts in Youdu.
A moment later, the giant snake retracted its long tongue, then suddenly leaped high into the air and said, "Lord Xiao, we've struck it rich!"
"Get rich?"
“Exactly!” The giant snake gestured with its hand, pointing to the ubiquitous stone walls around it, and said excitedly, “These, these, these are all…”
Xiao Wenbing's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "You mean these are all water-repelling beads?"
"That's right, this cave is a water-repelling pearl, the entire cave is one..."
Xiao Wenbing and the others looked at each other in disbelief. Such a large water-repelling pearl was simply too exaggerated.
If even a single inner core is this size, how big would this monster be when it's alive? I'm afraid even ten Turtle Gods combined wouldn't be much bigger.
With a whoosh, the giant snake arrived at the rock wall, its hand as sharp as a knife, and dug deep into the mountainside. When it pulled out, it had a stone the size of a head in its hand.
The giant snake licked it again with its long tongue and said with certainty, "That's right, the entire stone wall is covered in it. My God, what kind of monster is this? I've never even heard of it before!"
Zhang Yaqi smiled slightly and said, "The world is vast and full of wonders. It is not surprising that there are some creatures that we have never seen before."
The giant snake was taken aback at first, then fell silent, its gaze darting around the cave as if it were considering something.
Xiao Wenbing waved his hand impatiently and said, "Let's go down."
"Lord Xiao, wait a moment."
What?
"Let's think of a way to move this cave. Such a large water-repelling pearl is unique even in the realm of gods."
“No,” Xiao Wenbing said decisively. “The treasure is located at the end of this passage. If we move the cave, who knows if we will still be able to find the target.”
The giant serpent hesitated for a moment. It then said, "Lord Xiao, after we find the treasure, this cave..."
"If you can find the treasure, you can move this cave to your own divine realm." Xiao Wenbing casually snatched the water-repelling pearl from the giant snake's hand and put it into his own divine realm.
Now that he had a sample, the cave was no longer of any concern to him. If he wanted, he could create even a water-repelling pearl twice as large, it would just take a little more time.
The giant serpent glanced around reluctantly before following Xiao Wenbing and the others downwards. The deeper it went, the more astonished the serpent became. This cave was far larger than it had imagined. So, from what kind of monster had it obtained this inner core?
There were no side passages inside the cave, so they quickly reached the bottom. Suddenly, a massive Bagua (Eight Trigrams) diagram appeared before them.
Although they had seen this enormous Bagua diagram in Keris's consciousness, they could only truly appreciate its immense size and awe-inspiring nature when they saw it with their own eyes.
If the Bagua diagram drawn by the giant serpent on the sea was like a tabletop, then the current diagram is like a football field.
Not only that, but the overwhelming pressure constantly emanating from the array diagram still filled them with dread, even though they all possessed incredibly resilient divine bodies.
"Lord Xiao, is the treasure inside?" the giant snake asked hesitantly.
“That’s right, this is the place where Kairis went last time,” Xiao Wenbing said with certainty.
The giant snake asked suspiciously, "Lord Xiao, if I remember correctly, when Kairis came last time, he was only at the Supreme Realm."
“Yes.” Xiao Wenbing was taken aback, and his expression changed slightly.
Judging from the oppressive aura here, even they are finding it difficult to withstand, so how could a Supreme Being like Keris possibly continue forward?
Feng Baiyi stepped forward and stood at the edge of the Bagua formation. She stretched out her slender hand and flicked out a bolt of lightning.
This bolt of lightning seemed to possess a spirit of its own, constantly circling and advancing along the Eight Trigrams Formation. The lightning moved at an extremely fast speed, completing countless circles in an instant, reaching the very center of the Eight Trigrams Formation.
The center of the array suddenly went dark, and a dark hole appeared silently. The lightning bolt seemed to have noticed something and turned around to try to escape.
However, there was clearly a powerful suction force within the black hole, which even the speed and majesty of heavenly lightning could not break free from.
After trembling a few times, the thunderclap emitted a soft "boom" and finally exploded, all its energy disappearing completely into the black hole.
“This Eight Trigrams Formation is quite peculiar.” Feng Baiyi withdrew her hand and said, “The pressure it exerts is not uniform; it varies according to each person’s cultivation level.”
"How did you know?" Xiao Wenbing asked in great surprise.
"This is heavenly lightning, and the center of the array is a guiding technique."
Xiao Wenbing suddenly realized, "So that's how it is! No wonder that black hole felt so familiar; it turns out it was Feng Baiyi's signature technique, the Guiding Technique!"
The giant snake shook its large head and suddenly said, "Lord Xiao, I think this place is still very dangerous. Why don't we take back that cave and go back?"
Xiao Wenbing glared at the giant snake with displeasure and said, "Why have you become so cowardly and afraid of trouble now? Let me tell you, I'll hold up the sky for you if it falls. Let's go in now."
The giant snake muttered softly, "If the sky really falls, can you hold it up?" However, due to Xiao Wenbing's usual domineering nature and the presence of the roc, he dared not say it in public.
The secrets of this Eight Trigrams Formation have been discovered.
There is a fixed guiding spell at the center of the array. Once something approaches the center of the array, even if it is not a living being, it will still be absorbed into the guiding spell.
The same happened to Keris and the others; after entering the Eight Trigrams Formation, they were sucked away by the guiding spell.
However, since she was able to come out alive, it means that she was not certain to die inside.
Moreover, although gods and supreme beings differ by only one rank, their strength is worlds apart.
If even the supreme beings can escape from a place, there's no reason why it could possibly trap gods.
"White Robe, can you sense which plane this guiding spell will take us to?" Xiao Wenbing asked.
Feng Baiyi remained silent, only slightly closing her eyes. Xiao Wenbing and the others knew that she was currently using her divine sense to track the heavenly lightning bolt from before, so they did not disturb her further.
After a while, Feng Baiyi opened her beautiful eyes, her face full of surprise.
"What's wrong?"
“If my senses are not mistaken, that bolt of lightning should have reached the lower levels of the Underworld.” Feng Baiyi sighed. “The energy of the lightning is limited after all, and it has already dissipated. However, the places it flew over are no different from the Underworld, except that the creatures there are much stronger.”
“The lower levels of the underworld…” Xiao Wenbing slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing, “No wonder there’s a vast ocean everywhere here, with nowhere to land. I was wondering how those people got down to the second level of the underworld, but it turns out they used this method.”
He exchanged a knowing glance with Zhang and Feng.
At this moment, they were certain that this underworld was inextricably linked to the God of Destruction.
Both the wall of chaos in Keris's memory and the channeling passage before him illustrate this point.
Therefore, upon entering this place, the giant snake and the others felt uneasy. However, Feng Baiyi and the roc were completely unaffected, instead appearing energetic and spirited.
"Lord Xiao, what if we get separated by this damned guiding spell after we go down?" The giant snake knew it couldn't dissuade Xiao Wenbing from going down to investigate, so it racked its brains to find a way to ensure everyone's safety.
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback, recalling that Keris had been alone after regaining his memories. He couldn't help but nod slightly; this possibility was very high.
After a moment's thought, Xiao Wenbing reached out and pointed, taking out six points of light. These points of light immediately transformed into a small, shiny sword about three inches long.
These small swords are condensed versions of the Heavenly Dao Divine Sword that Xiao Wenbing painstakingly cultivated.
After absorbing the divine power of heaven and earth, he is now able to wield five thousand divine swords simultaneously. At this point, each divine sword can unleash one percent of the divine power of the Heavenly Dao Divine Sword.
Although it's only one percent, five thousand of them together are equivalent to fifty Heavenly Dao Divine Swords.
Fifty incredibly powerful divine weapons—this is Xiao Wenbing's greatest asset in daring to oppose the gods.
The condensation of divine artifacts is no easy task. The amount of rare and precious materials required to condense a single divine artifact is calculated in the millions of tons.
Generally speaking, after breaking through space and arriving in the God Realm, newly ascended gods will stay in the God Realm for hundreds or thousands of years, after which they will have completely transformed their divine bodies, and their divine domain will also expand to a certain scale.
At this point, the gods will create avatars and travel to various planes to search for suitable rare and precious materials for forging divine artifacts. If they are lucky, after a thousand or so years, they may be able to find all the materials needed to forge a lower-level divine artifact.
While the materials for a divine artifact are indeed hard to come by, its forging is even more complicated.
The difficulty of successfully forging a qualified divine artifact is so great that even the gods dare not be careless in the slightest.
The process of condensation goes without saying, but just the time it takes is enough to make most immortals blush with shame.
The condensation time for ordinary low-grade divine artifacts is over a thousand years, while that for mid-grade divine artifacts is estimated to take tens of thousands of years. As for high-grade and super divine artifacts, even the condenser cannot predict in advance when they will be condensed.
Moreover, the appearance of a divine artifact will inevitably bring about a heavenly calamity.
After countless years of refinement, it is common for things to fall apart at the very moment of completion; almost every deity has had such a heartbreaking experience.