Yuan Ming glanced at the corpse of the flower leopard beast, without much movement, and continued to move forward.

Now, he returned to the familiar place, but everything had changed.

As a named disciple of the Biro Cave, he no longer needed to collect any blood food. The shackles were gone, and the terrifying experiences seemed to have become the past.

But he was very clear in his heart that although the Biro Cave had accidentally led him to the path of immortality, it was not his true home. One day, he would find a way to return to the Central Plains, to find his true self, and to find the mastermind behind all this.

Of course, before that, he had to become stronger.

Because only the strong could avoid being looked down upon, avoid being humiliated, and survive in the cruel environment, and have the capital for revenge.

This was what the Ten Thousand Mountains and the Biro Cave had taught him.

Half an hour later, the field of vision gradually became open, and with a fresh breath, a huge lake appeared in front, boundless and endless.

The lake water was a blue-green color, with lush reeds growing here, extending to the end of the field of vision, painting a vivid green in this world.

The lake breeze blew, and the rustling sound of the countless reeds gathered together, giving a sense of a flood sweeping the world.

“So this is the Qianlu Lake, the area is indeed not small!” Yuan Ming looked at the scene in front of him, feeling broad-minded.

Qianlu Lake was a lake within the Ten Thousand Mountains, with a vast area, about a hundred miles in size, named after the countless reeds growing in it.

Yuan Ming brought Huo Chan’er to the Ten Thousand Mountains not only to find a suitable place for her to play, but also for other purposes.

Every place in the sect required contribution points. Since he was going out, he also took a relatively simple collection task from the Execution Hall, to find the local specialty, the Bishui Stone, in Qianlu Lake.

This was one of the many long-term tasks in the Execution Hall, with no time limit. As long as he collected the Bishui Stone, he could exchange it for contribution points at any time.

Originally, Huo Chan’er, who was lying on Yuan Ming’s shoulder and dozing off, became spirited when she saw the vast lake, and came to the lakeside with a curious look, staring at the lake, her body eager to jump into the lake to play.

Yuan Ming was quite surprised to see this. Huo Chan’er was a fire attribute spirit beast, and he thought she would resist water, but he didn’t expect her to be like this.

“Shall I take you to stroll on the water later, okay?” He squatted down, scratched the back of Huo Chan’er’s ear with his hand, and smiled.

Huo Chan’er didn’t know if she understood, she glanced back at Yuan Ming, immediately turned her little head away, and focused her attention on the vast lake.

Yuan Ming no longer paid attention to her, he summoned the Qingyu Sword, glanced at several large trees nearby, and cut off the branches and trunks, leaving only the main trunk.

Then, he used the rope he brought from the sect to tie the several main trunks together, creating a simple wooden raft that was two or three zhang long.

“Let’s go.”

Yuan Ming picked up Huo Chan’er and put her on his shoulder, jumped onto the wooden raft, and used a long and straight tree trunk as a pole to row towards the center of the lake.

Many disciples of the Biro Cave had taken the task of collecting Bishui Stone. The ore in the lakeside area had long been completely mined, so they had to go to deeper areas to search.

Huo Chan’er hopped around on the wooden raft, occasionally lightly tapping the surface of the lake with her claws, immediately retracting them, enjoying herself.

Yuan Ming saw this and understood that although Huo Chan’er was not afraid of water, as a fire attribute spirit beast, she still had some aversion to water.

This was good, so he didn’t have to worry about Huo Chan’er jumping into the water and running away when he was searching for Bishui Stone.

The wooden raft soon reached a deeper area of the lake. After Yuan Ming looked around, he dived into the water and swam to the bottom.

With his current cultivation level, even without using the transformation of the toad, he could hold on for a long time underwater.

Half an hour later, he emerged from the water, but his hands were empty.

Yuan Ming turned his head to look at the wooden raft and saw that Huo Chan’er was still on it, his face relaxed. After a short rest, he dived into the water again, but after searching for a long time, he still couldn’t find a piece of Bishui Stone.

“This task is not as simple as it seems!” He muttered to himself, then turned over and jumped back onto the wooden raft, continuing to row towards the center of the lake. It was only after traveling several li that he stopped and dived into the water again to search, but still found nothing.

Although Yuan Ming was a bit frustrated, he wasn’t too disappointed. Qianlu Lake had been searched for many years, and there were not many Bishui Stones left at the bottom of the lake. If he found them too easily, he would find it strange.

He continued to swim deeper into the lake, changing locations three times in a row, and finally found the first piece of Bishui Stone.

The Bishui Stone was shaped like jade, with faint streams of air flowing inside, giving a cool and refreshing feeling when touched.

Yuan Ming looked at it several times, and put it into his storage bag.

As a water attribute ore, the Bishui Stone was also a common spiritual material with a considerable demand within the sect. However, its value was slightly lower than that of the Fire Jade. It took ten pieces to exchange for a contribution point.Although the value was slightly lower, Qianlu Lake was not as dangerous as the Tower Fire Mountain, so many sect disciples would take on this task in the past.

Yuan Ming continued to venture deeper into Qianlu Lake, occasionally diving into the water to search for something, but never staying too long each time.

Although he could stay underwater longer by transforming into a toad using the Fur Coat Technique, it would accelerate the backlash of the technique, making it more harm than good.

Half a day passed in the blink of an eye.

Yuan Ming paddled his wooden raft forward, his gaze sweeping around, his brows furrowed.

After a busy morning, he had only found seven or eight pieces of Bishui Stone.

This didn’t matter much, as it was just a side task. However, during his search, he had already ventured deep into Qianlu Lake.

The lake was astonishingly large, with mist occasionally rising from the depths. Coupled with the absence of the sun today, he could no longer discern his direction.

“Fire Glutton, they say that spirit beasts have a much sharper sense of direction than humans. Can you tell which way to go?” Yuan Ming looked at the fire marten.

The Fire Glutton, who had been lively at first, was now lying on his shoulder, calling out weakly, its spirit seemingly low.

“Could it be that this little guy can’t stay in this damp place for long?” Yuan Ming tried to communicate again, but received no response.

He took out a piece of Fire Jade to feed it, but the Fire Glutton just glanced at it and looked away.

“Could it be sick?” Yuan Ming couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

If something happened to the Fire Glutton, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to the Three Cave Master.

After a moment of contemplation, he put the Fire Glutton into the spirit beast bag.

In the past, the Fire Glutton would scream and shout when put into the spirit beast bag. This time, however, it made no reaction, lying quietly in the bag without any movement for a long time.

Yuan Ming quickly paddled the raft, choosing a direction and moving quickly, trying to leave this place.

The surrounding water and reeds quickly receded. After half an hour, there was still no sign of the shore, and the mist on the lake became even thicker, limiting his visibility to about seven or eight zhang.

“It seems I’ve gone the wrong way.” Yuan Ming stopped the raft, about to turn back.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak…” Suddenly, the Fire Glutton in the spirit beast bag started to make noise, bouncing around inside, looking like it wanted to come out, a stark contrast to its previous listlessness.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming was both surprised and delighted. He slapped the spirit beast bag and let the Fire Glutton out.

The Fire Glutton ran to the front of the raft in a few steps, half-standing and looking forward, squeaking incessantly.

“Do you want to go ahead?” Yuan Ming was taken aback, asking somewhat uncertainly.

The Fire Glutton turned its head and nodded at him repeatedly.

Yuan Ming looked ahead, hesitating.

Going further would mean entering the central area of Qianlu Lake, where the humidity would only be higher. It would be more harmful than beneficial for the Fire Glutton to go there. But its unusual insistence on going there made him wonder if there was something special.

Yuan Ming silently recalled the records he had read in the Gui Cang Pavilion about the habits of spirit beasts. After considering for a while, he decided to trust the Fire Glutton’s judgment and continued to paddle the raft forward.

As a spirit beast with a rather pure bloodline, the Fire Glutton wouldn’t risk its life for no reason.

Even if they encountered any danger, he could simply put this little thing into the spirit beast bag, transform into a toad using the Fur Coat Technique, abandon the raft, and escape.

As the raft continued to move forward, the surrounding mist became denser and denser, limiting his visibility to only four or five zhang.

Suddenly, the water surface began to ripple, constantly hitting the raft, making a “whoosh” sound.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately stopped the raft. Waves without wind must have a reason.

At this moment, the water under the raft suddenly surged violently, forming a vortex several zhang in size, exerting a strong pulling force.

The raft was immediately sucked in, spinning around. The rope tied to it snapped with a pop, and the already unstable raft disintegrated.

Yuan Ming’s face darkened. He grabbed the Fire Glutton, put it on his shoulder, and leaped up.

A green light flashed across his arm, and the mysterious incense burner appeared, floating in the air.

Yuan Ming grabbed the incense burner with one hand and held the paddle with the other, suspending himself in mid-air.

The incense burner was very sensitive to the Drive Object Technique. With a slight push, it could float up. He had come up with this idea during his previous practice, using it to levitate.

Over the past half month, Yuan Ming had practiced many times and had already mastered this skill. However, his magical power was not deep enough, and the incense burner was not a proper flying artifact, so he couldn’t stay in the air for too long.

At this moment, a large black object, like a tentacle, emerged from the water below with a “sizzle”, blue arcs of electricity flickering on it. It lashed at the already disintegrated raft.

The originally sturdy tree broke with a crack and flew in all directions.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming felt a chill in his heart. He then chased after a flying piece of broken wood, lightly landing on it, standing steady, and quickly paddling forward.

With only one piece of wood, he moved quickly and soon left the giant vortex far behind.

(End of Chapter)