An Guoqing, however, found it difficult to calm down. He considered himself a man of great secrets, and believed that no one in the world was more extraordinary than him. But after meeting Zhou Xuan, he began to have doubts. The longer they spent together, the more mysterious Zhou Xuan seemed. In Black Dragon Pool, the strange creature's destructive and damaging power was so strong that it was impossible for human beings to deal with it. After returning, An Guoqing watched the underwater footage taken by the miniature camera hidden in his headgear countless times. The suction cups on the monster's body had devoured the flesh and bones on the arms of Long Zhengjiang and his nephew, pulverizing them without any effort. This showed how terrifying the monster was, but Zhou Xuan seemed to be unaffected.
At the scene, An Guoqing was unable to see clearly because he was in a panic. However, when he watched the videotape after returning, he discovered that after Zhou Xuan struck the ferocious monster twice, it suddenly became like a machine that had been turned off, losing its ability to move in an instant. An Guoqing was horrified when he saw this!
Volume 1, Chapter 391: A Daring Adventure, The Seventh Window
Even An Guoqing himself had no confidence in dealing with that strange creature. It was absolutely impossible for him to destroy the monster's mobility with a single punch like Zhou Xuanhua did!
Of course, An Guoqing also guessed that Zhou Xuan might have just happened to exploit the monster's weakness. However, no matter what, An Guoqing had to reassess and re-evaluate Zhou Xuan.
With Zhou Xuan's unassuming diving ability, reaching a depth of 250 meters, even with the latest diving equipment, is something no ordinary person could accomplish. Even the Wolf brothers' abilities had reached their limit at 250 meters. Yet, Zhou Xuan appeared completely relaxed, indicating he could definitely dive further. This person, whom he had always considered the worst diver, had now become the most mysterious. Moreover, Zhou Xuan was An Guoqing's most obvious rival. The others were hired by him, merely working for money, but Zhou Xuan was different; what he needed was the Nine-Star Pearl!
An Guoqing wanted both the Nine Dragon Cauldron and the Nine Star Pearl; he couldn't do without either. Although his relationship with Zhou Xuan was one of cooperation, they were also adversaries. They hadn't yet reached the point of direct confrontation, but when that happened, it would likely be a matter of life and death. An Guoqing also discovered that although Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying were girls, their martial arts skills far surpassed those of his subordinates. Once they reached the Sky Window Dark River, the skilled divers he had hired wouldn't fight for him. Crucially, these two girls were also excellent divers, no less so than the people he had hired.
Of course, An Guoqing was unaware that Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying's diving abilities were secretly aided by Zhou Xuan. If it weren't for Zhou Xuan's assistance, their diving depth would not have been as great as the Wolf Brothers'.
Although Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying are both highly skilled in combat, An Guoqing is not worried. Even if the two of them attack together, he can handle them completely. However, he is most worried about Zhou Xuan. This person's mystery is getting stronger and stronger. An Guoqing can't figure him out at all. He thought he was an ordinary and simple person, but he later unleashed abilities that he could not have imagined.
An Guoqing couldn't help but be puzzled, because when he came into contact with Zhou Xuan, he used his internal energy to probe him, and there was no trace of Zhou Xuan having practiced martial arts. However, the abilities he was showing now were far more powerful than those of a martial arts practitioner. An Guoqing had to start thinking about how to re-establish the relationship between Yingzhu and Zhou Xuan.
Two weeks later, An Guoqing finally sent someone to pick up Zhou Xuan and the other two to set off.
An Jie wasn't there this time; instead, it was two of An Guoqing's former bodyguards who came in a minibus with the windows completely covered. As Zhou Xuan was about to get in, he suddenly whispered to Fu Ying, "Yingying, I think..."
Zhou Xuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yingying, you'd better not go!"
"Why?" Fu Ying paused, puzzled, and then pointed at Wei Xiaoyu, saying, "If she can go, why can't I?"
Zhou Xuan said solemnly, "Xiaoyu came from another time with me. If we find the Nine Star Pearl, she will have to come back with me. But you didn't come from that time, so there's no need for you to take this risk with us!"
Fu Ying hesitated for a moment, then bowed and got into the car. Zhou Xuan followed helplessly, advising, "Yingying, you'd better not go with us."
"Stop your rambling!" Fu Ying said coldly. "I just wanted to see the underground river with the skylight. It's none of your business. I have nothing to do with you. Just pretend An Guoqing invited me!"
Zhou Xuan had no choice but to shut up. Seeing that they had stopped arguing, the two bodyguards closed the car door and both sat in the front, one driving and the other in the passenger seat.
This time, the car was heading towards Poxin Village. Zhou Xuan felt inexplicably nervous. It seemed that An Guoqing was really determined to explore the skylight this time.
On the way from outside the city to Poxin Village, An Guoqing and his group were waiting. They had brought two Hummer SUVs. As soon as Zhou Xuan's car arrived, they set off immediately without stopping.
Looking out the car window, it seemed that there were quite a few people inside the Hummers. There were three vehicles, two Hummers and one minibus, heading towards Poxin Village.
Upon reaching Sanmenhai, the driver did not drive towards the sunroof, but instead headed towards the mountain road on the right. The road was very remote and became increasingly dangerous. Eventually, the road was halfway up the mountain, with a steep slope on one side and a cliff on the other. Because the road was dangerous and the bends were sharp, the car drove very slowly. Half an hour later, the driver stopped the car.
Everyone got out of the car. Zhou Xuan then saw that, in addition to An Guoqing, the Wolf brothers, Zhang Ya Ge, and four bodyguards, there was also a blond, blue-eyed foreigner in his thirties who got out of the Hummer. His eyes were like arrows, as if they could pierce people.
An Guoqing introduced to Zhou Xuan: "Xiao Zhou, this is Roger from the United States. He is a legendary figure in the diving world. Mr. Roger can dive to a depth of more than 160 meters with his bare hands, which is almost an impossible depth in human history!"
Zhou Xuan smiled and nodded to Roger, saying, "Mr. Roger, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Zhou Xuan, and I'm Chinese!"
Roger wasn't enthusiastic; he simply nodded casually and said, "Hello!"
Roger's Chinese was surprisingly fluent, though his tone was somewhat cold. Zhou Xuan could tell that Roger wasn't arrogant, but rather cold; perhaps it was an innate characteristic of highly capable people.
If someone can dive to a depth of over 160 meters with their bare hands, that is indeed extremely rare, but Zhou Xuan was not surprised. This Roger must have practiced internal martial arts, and his aura was very solid. Although he was far inferior to An Guoqing, he was still slightly stronger than Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu.
Zhou Xuan's special ability is to detect the aura within the bodies of people who have practiced martial arts. Ordinary people who have not practiced martial arts also have an aura, but it is very weak.
As for diving ability, Zhou Xuan possesses supernatural powers. During a test in the American sea, he dived to an astonishing depth of over 200 meters. This record was conducted privately and is not known to the outside world. Otherwise, once it were known, Zhou Xuan would have been listed as the person who has dived the deepest in the world freehand.
Of course, this is only the reason why Zhou Xuan did not dive any deeper. If he had dived further, Zhou Xuan's record would have been even more amazing. However, Zhou Xuan could only dive deeper now because his current ability allows him to breathe oxygen molecules in the water through his skin pores, which is similar to the function of a fish. Although the amount of oxygen molecules he can absorb is not as much as a normal person's breathing capacity, it still allows Zhou Xuan to stay underwater for a longer period of time.
After getting out of the car, An Guoqing's bodyguards and entourage each carried suitcases filled with diving equipment from the car, and then began to walk along a side path.
The path is a very narrow stone slab path halfway up the mountain. You have to be very careful. If you accidentally fall off the cliff, you will never be found again!
It took the group more than an hour to cross the mountain. After reaching another mountain, Zhou Xuan saw a huge funnel-shaped sinkhole in front of them.
This sinkhole is large only at the top, which is several thousand square meters in size. The top edge is covered with vines, while the four walls below are all steep and smooth cliffs, barren of any vegetation. At a depth of two or three hundred meters, the sinkhole is only six or seven meters wide. The bottom seems to be curved, and the bottom cannot be seen with the naked eye.
An Guoqing picked up a stone the size of a bowl and threw it down. The stone made a loud noise when it hit the rock wall. After entering the dark and narrow cave at the bottom, it took a long time before a dull sound of water could be heard. It seemed that there must be water down there.
An Guoqing then introduced, "Everyone, this is the entrance to the seventh sky window we are going down to today. Because the terrain here is too dangerous, most people don't come here. The tourism bureau has not developed this area, so there is no safety guarantee and it is not suitable for large groups of tourists. We will have to climb down more than 300 meters with ropes to reach the bottom of the cave. Those who go down will need to carry their own diving equipment, while the others will stay up and wait for us to come out."
There were eight people going down: An Guoqing, Roger, the Wolf-Daniel brothers, Zhang Ya Ge, Zhou Xuan, Wei Xiaoyu, and Fu Ying. Each of them carried a suitcase containing diving equipment. An Guoqing's men set up pulleys and ropes on the cliff and used the ropes to lower the heavier boosters down.
Roger was actually at the very front, with his condom fastened and his backpack slung over his shoulder as he descended the cliff. Next came the Taifu brothers, followed by An Guoqing, Zhang Yage, and finally Zhou Xuan, Wei Xiaoyu, and Fu Ying.
The cliff has an incline of about 60 or 70 degrees. Wearing a safety rope is like walking on a cliff. Going down is not strenuous, but walking is not easy.
When you reach the neck of the cliff that is out of sight, there is a tiny foothold on the cliff face where you can stand for a moment. This place is about 250 meters away from the cliff edge you come down from. The space here is so small that it is only six or seven meters in diameter, about eighteen or nineteen square meters in area. The area gets smaller and smaller as you go down. The bottom slopes to the left. From the top to the bottom, the entrance of the sinkhole is like a V-shaped funnel.
As they descended further down from the neck, everyone took out searchlights and wore them on their foreheads. It was very dark inside, and there were still thirty or forty meters to go before reaching the very bottom.
An Guoqing had previously invited people to explore this place, including himself, so he was quite familiar with the terrain. When they reached the bottom, the area was slightly wider, about twenty square meters. Nearly fifteen square meters were rock, and there was only a circular water cave, about five or six square meters in size and more than two meters wide. Because the water cave faced the cave entrance above, the dry rock sloped inwards, so when stones were thrown down from the top, they would just fall into the water cave and would never land on the dry rock sloped inwards. There was just enough room for eight people to stand after they reached the bottom, and it wasn't too crowded.
Coming down from there, a distance of 300 meters, took almost two and a half hours.
Everyone was a bit tired. Going down from the cliff to the bottom of the cave was an extremely strenuous task. An Guoqing contacted the people up using a walkie-talkie, and then everyone started changing into their diving suits.
The temperature here has dropped to only eleven or twelve degrees Celsius, and the water temperature is only about five or six degrees Celsius. Although it is cold, it is much warmer than the water temperature in Black Dragon Pool.
After resting for about twenty minutes, everyone changed into their diving suits. There was an iron stake driven into the rock face. An Guoqing said, "This is the one we drove in before, to attach the guide line."
Previously, when exploring this underground river through the skylight, the waterways inside were complex, with many branching channels and rapid currents, like a maze. It was easy to get lost. Getting lost in an underground river can be fatal, as human life is extremely fragile in deep underground water.
Therefore, An Guoqing and his team would always use a guide line when diving here. This line was made of extremely thin and tough super-strong plastic, several times thinner than a hair, yet capable of catching fish weighing ten kilograms. Each coil was 500 meters long, but An Guoqing's expedition team had only reached 200 meters before losing their lives. That place had become an insurmountable barrier for them; once they crossed that line, none of them ever returned!
After everyone had changed into their diving suits, An Guoqing instructed, "Everyone, use your walkie-talkies to communicate. Keep your distance to each other no more than five meters. Ideally, stay very close together. Remember, this place is completely different from Black Dragon Pool. While Black Dragon Pool is dangerous, it's not like this place. There are too many waterways here, and the depth exceeds 150 meters. Previously, we could only detect up to 200 meters; we never ventured beyond that. Everyone must be careful. The danger here is different from Black Dragon Pool. It's a maze of underground rivers and waterways, over 150 meters deep, with rapid currents. When you enter the water from here, there are five forks at 30 meters. We've detected each one, but they seem to converge at 200 meters. That place is a hurdle we cannot cross. Our main task today is to overcome this hurdle!"