Everyone on the stone platform stared, their eyes fixed on the commotion beneath the black water pool.
The black water pool was churning with turbulent waves.
A mournful wailing could even be heard, as specters swarmed towards Kongming beneath the water.
Only a faint golden glint could be seen deep within the black water.
Worried about the abnormality, no one dared to descend.
Several minutes passed.
Suddenly, a muffled thud came from beneath the black water pool.
With a "rumble," a surge of black water shot into the sky, causing those nearby to retreat.
Seven or eight specters were swept onto the stone platform by the black water.
The area was shrouded in thick fog, obscuring the sun.
Yet, as soon as these wicked ghosts reached the stone platform, they were instantly scorched by the intense yang energy, letting out piercing shrieks before vanishing into nothingness.
Aside from the explosion, a series of dragon roars echoed from all directions.
Immediately after, a spectral image of a green dragon, clutching a green bead, emerged from the black water.
It ascended into the sky.
"Dragon's Gall!"
Senior Bai Daozi and Yun Long, Yun Hu exclaimed in unison.
Hearing "Dragon's Gall," I narrowed my eyes.
Without any hesitation, I clasped my hands together and uttered a low growl:
"Heaven and Earth, unlimited; the cosmos borrows my power, decree!"
In an instant, the three peach wood swords from the scabbard on my back flew out with a "swish, swish, swish." I pointed my sword fingers, directing them towards the Dragon's Gall.
As long as the Dragon's Gall, which powered the Azure Dragon's phase, was shattered, a path to survival would appear.
My speed of action was the quickest among everyone present.
Even Senior Bai Daozi was a tiny bit slower than me.
At this moment, her hand crackled with lightning as she unleashed a punch:
"Lightning Strike Fist."
"Crack!"
An arc of electricity shot towards the spectral image of the Azure Dragon.
Although my reaction was the fastest, the speed of my sword control was naturally not as fast as Senior Bai Daozi's lightning fist.
The lightning directly struck the spectral image of the Azure Dragon.
The spectral image of the Azure Dragon let out another roar, but it continued to circle around.
It clearly hadn't struck a vital point, but it did shatter an outer light shield.
I controlled the three swords, aiming them directly at the green bead within the dragon's mouth.
"Decree!"
The three swords flew through the air with a "swish, swish, swish." The spectral image, carrying the bead, dodged continuously.
Without the protection of the light shield, the three swords struck the green bead after several exchanges.
With a "crack," it shattered.
The spectral image of the Azure Dragon vanished, and the bead, like shards of glass, fell back into the black water.
The formation platform beneath us began to tremble.
Finally, with a "creak, creak, creak," it started to crack.
Pieces of the stone platform also began to emerge from the black water.
"The path to survival has appeared!"
"Brother Qin, you're amazing!"
"Such incredible sword control!"
"..."
Everyone praised me.
Meanwhile, Kongming, who had gone into the black water, climbed ashore at this moment.
When he went in, he was surrounded by golden light, and the black water couldn't touch him.
But as he emerged, his clothes were still stained by the black water, and a scratch had appeared on his face.
"Kongming!"
"Hurry up and get ashore!"
"..."
Everyone pulled Kongming onto the stone platform.
However, the evil spirits in the black water began to show their heads.
Due to the weather, they could not come ashore and could only stare at us with wide eyes.
Senior Bai Daozi looked at the continuously cracking stone platform and the now-returned Kongming.
She immediately gave the order:
"Let's go, leave this place and head to the next phase."
With that, she led us charging forward.
Just as I retrieved my three peach wood swords, the evil spirits in the water simultaneously opened their mouths and spat out black qi.
The black qi converged, forming a dense smoke.
It actually turned the surroundings dim.
"This is bad, these evil spirits want to block the sun and emerge from the water to attack us."
A fellow Daoist deduced.
Everyone was alarmed and didn't want to linger here.
They quickened their pace, charging forward.
However, the black mist converged too quickly. In a short while, the sky above was covered by the black qi.
The surroundings became dim, as if it were night.
The evil spirits in the water no longer held back.
They climbed out of the water one after another.
Some lay on the surface of the water, some stood on it, and some, as soon as they emerged, let out a roar and lunged at us with sharp claws.
"Everyone, be careful!"
The group warned each other, taking out various spiritual artifacts to deal with the specters.
They continued to rush forward while fending off the specters.
There were Bagua mirrors, bronze mirrors, talismans, and more.
The battle resumed.
But this time, with my spiritual energy restored, I was no longer just a spectator in the back.
My ability to control swords was my strongest asset.
I brought my sword fingers together and uttered a decree.
The peach wood swords flew out again, hacking at the surrounding specters.
These specters were not strong.
They were only at the White Robe level, and they couldn't withstand my flying swords.
With me at the center, the area within ten meters in front and behind became relatively safe.
The main reason was my potent offensive capabilities, striking from a distance.
Even if these vengeful spirits got close, many fellow cultivators would step in.
The specters that appeared suffered heavy casualties, their wails incessant.
However, this did not stop our advance.
Of course, there were still unfortunate fellow cultivators who, for various reasons, were ambushed by the vengeful spirits in the black water, but they were few.
After about ten minutes, we broke out of the black mist area.
The evil spirits then disappeared.
Observing our surroundings, our team's numbers remained the same, and everyone was safe.
Li Cong praised me at this moment:
"Brother Qin, your sword control is truly magnificent!"
"Yes! You're so powerful!"
Gu Qian Yue also added.
I smiled:
"Everyone is very capable, but don't let your guard down, we are still in a dangerous area."
I reminded them, not daring to be careless.
Life is precious, and I didn't want to die in this place.
Continuing to press forward, we noticed the temperature around us rapidly dropping.
It wasn't a chilling cold, but a biting cold.
Frost even appeared on the surrounding swamps.
"What kind of place is this? It's even freezing!"
Old Mo grumbled.
Yun Long, who was at the front, explained:
"We have entered the region of the Black Tortoise phase. We don't know what monsters and foul things will appear here."
As soon as he finished speaking, an ice spike shot out from the adjacent swamp with a "whoosh."
Fortunately, I was quick to react, raising my hand and flicking a talisman.
"Decree!"
The talisman light shone.
With a "boom," an ice spike exploded.
"What was that!"
"Be careful of the swamps, those are ice spikes spat out by the Ice Monsters from the Hidden Buddha region, I've seen them before."
A stranger's voice echoed from a distance.
Ice Monsters?
This was the first time I had heard of them, as each region, due to its unique climate and terrain, gave rise to various exotic creatures.
As we moved on, everyone became more vigilant.
Occasionally, ice spikes would appear.
However, the Ice Monster itself did not reveal itself.
Even now, I still didn't know what it was.
Finally, after nervously rushing for more than twenty minutes, we reached the next phase.
The Black Tortoise phase.
It was another stone platform, but this one was covered in frost.
At a glance, apart from white mist, everything was a vast expanse of white.
The surrounding swamps were all frozen, emitting wisps of cold air.
They looked solid, but everyone knew that as soon as someone stepped on them,
The ice crystals would shatter, and they would fall into the swamp.
There was a way to proceed: break the Black Tortoise phase and find the path to survival...