Ling Tian walked directly to the giant pit created by the explosion of the cloud-burst bomb. He took out a talisman from his embrace. This talisman was the Wind Riding Talisman.
Ling Tian then injected his true essence, activating the energy on the talisman, and leaped down.
The talisman released a gust of wind downwards, lifting Ling Tian's body and allowing him to descend slowly. The effect was comparable to a parachute.
Soon, Ling Tian landed at the bottom of the pit, which was over 30 meters deep.
Ling Tian activated his Heavenly Eye fully and quickly found his target. He then stepped on the scattered debris and approached a wall.
Beside this wall was a pile of rubble. On the other side of the rubble was an opening, through which one could enter the underground space below.
With a flash of thought, Ling Tian summoned the Ice Soul Giant Bear, which was three to four meters tall, and immediately gave it instructions. The giant bear began happily moving the stones.
With just a slight effort, the giant bear could shift massive stones weighing several tons. As for the smaller stones, a single swipe of its paw could clear a large area.
The Ice Soul Giant Bear even used its abilities to create a layer of ice on the surface of these stones, making them incredibly smooth and easy to move.
After a few minutes, an opening of over two meters appeared before Ling Tian. He walked forward, patted the Ice Soul Giant Bear, which was seeking praise, and then casually entered the cave.
The deeper he went, the more Ling Tian felt the temperature dropping. The cave walls had already formed thick ice shells, and damp, cold air continuously blew out from within. After walking over 100 meters into the cave, Ling Tian found that the entire passage was covered in ice.
Within this ice, some zombies were frozen. Ling Tian immediately understood that these zombies likely belonged to Shi Xiaoyue, the sect leader of the Corpse Refining Sect. He had probably intended to use these zombies to break through this frozen passage.
However, the damp and cold air was extremely potent, and it ended up freezing these zombies inside!
Ling Tian let out a wry smile. It seemed he would have to use the Ice Soul Giant Bear again.
With a thought, Ling Tian summoned the Ice Soul Giant Bear. At this moment, the bear's size had become slightly smaller than an ordinary bear.
Ling Tian pointed towards the frozen passage ahead. The Ice Soul Giant Bear immediately understood. It opened its mouth, and a visible stream of cold air was sucked from the ice blocks into the bear's mouth. Ling Tian saw that as the cold air was absorbed, the ice blocks began to melt rapidly.
Thus, the Ice Soul Giant Bear led the way, continuously absorbing the cold air from the ice, with Ling Tian following behind.
It took some time for these ice blocks to melt. After more than ten minutes, a passage over 30 meters long was cleared, and Ling Tian finally entered the underground cavern!
The cavern before him was more than three times the size of the mountain cave he had blown up. This cavern was entirely covered by water.
To Ling Tian's surprise, it was a cold pond, with a vast expanse of water dotted with many ice floes.
In the very center of the cold pond, there was a giant stone, ten square meters in size. On the stone, a formation was inscribed by some unknown entity. In the center of the formation, a glowing mass could be faintly seen!
Even more peculiar to Ling Tian was that next to the giant stone, hot springs were gushing out from underground. It was precisely the presence of these hot springs that prevented the cold pond from freezing over.
If one word could be used to describe this underground water body, it would be "ice and fire intertwined"!
Just as Ling Tian was about to walk to the water's edge, the entire pond suddenly began to churn violently, as if something was about to emerge from the surface.
Ling Tian quickly recalled the Ice Soul Giant Bear and then applied an invisibility talisman to himself, hiding behind a rock.
The next moment, something that made Ling Tian's blood run cold happened. A colossal creature suddenly emerged from the water's surface.
This thing looked like a giant snake, but it was much larger. Its cylindrical body was nearly two meters in diameter, and the part extending above the water was nearly 10 meters long.
The creature's body was covered in dense, fine scales, with a layer of disgusting mucus on the outside.
Looking further up at the monster's head, it was even more terrifying. The creature had no eyes on its head, only a gaping maw almost as wide as its body.
Notably, this maw was filled with three complete rings of jagged teeth.
And in the center of the teeth was a human face. This face looked exceptionally terrifying, and it was likely through the eyes on this face that the creature sensed its surroundings.
Looking further behind the creature's head, one could see that on each side of its head, there were seven round holes the size of watermelons. These holes continuously opened and closed, as if it were breathing!
Upon seeing this, Ling Tian immediately understood what this terrifying creature was. This type of organism is called a Lamprey.
Lampreys are fish found in the waters of Northeast China. These fish have a ferocious predatory method: they attach themselves to the bodies of other fish with their millstone-like mouths, then use their rows of serrated teeth to bite through the fish's body, gnawing on its flesh and internal organs.
These fish have two rows of seven breathing holes behind their heads. These breathing holes are the fish's gills, hence the name "seven-gill lamprey."
Ling Tian recognized this creature because it is also a medicinal ingredient.
Medical texts record that these fish are caught from spring to autumn, dried, or used fresh. Their functions and indications are: nourishing and strengthening; unblocking meridians and collaterals; improving vision. They are mainly used for facial paralysis, night blindness, and corneal dryness.
However, Ling Tian couldn't understand why this creature would appear in Longhu Mountain, which was thousands of miles away from the Northeast.
Furthermore, why was this Lamprey so enormous? Judging by the length of the part protruding from the water, its total length could possibly be no less than twenty meters.
Even in the deep ocean, it would be difficult to find such a massive aquatic creature. Why would such a monster appear in this small pond!
But soon Ling Tian could understand part of it. The water in this pond was very cold, similar to the water temperature in northern winters, so it was not strange for Lampreys to live here.
Additionally, this was a natural Yin gathering formation, with ample spiritual energy and Yin energy from heaven and earth to nourish this aquatic monster.
Judging by the creature's body color and the aura it emitted, it was also a Yin-loving creature.
However, Ling Tian could feel that this was a very dangerous creature; calling it "one bite, one little friend" would not be an exaggeration!