Chapter 148: Instantly Slaying the Grandmaster—The Might of the Thousand Mountains Army!

Chapter 148: Instant Kill of a Grandmaster, The Might of the Thousand Mountains Army!
Chapter 148: Entering the Water Mansion, The Nine-Layer Trial!

Underwater.

"You cannot escape."

Bai Xuan’s expression was indifferent. He carried the Dao-intent of water within him; with a single thought, the seawater surged, moving with extreme speed.

At this moment, a tortoise shell materialized in his palm, covered in tiny blue runes that instantly leaped into the air.

Pushing aside the water pressure, it accelerated his speed even further, growing faster and faster!

Reaching a life-and-death juncture, Scale Monarch let out a wild roar. The blood and Qi throughout its body erupted, accelerating its circulation like the roaring of mountains and seas. Its underwater movement speed increased dramatically, breaking through the water in an instant to widen the distance.

"I am a born Sea-Apostle, naturally possessing extreme speed in the water!"

Scale Monarch’s voice reverberated, carried along by the raging waves, "You cannot catch up to me!"

Unlike mindless entities like the Shark King, it was a truly terrifying monster-beast powerhouse cultivated over hundreds of years through imperial sacrifices.

Capable of driving the Qi-and-blood martial arts, its power was close to invincible. Even if it was no match for Bai Xuan, its speed remained at the absolute ultimate!

"Speed?"

Bai Xuan, however, remained calm.

Yet, after plunging through dozens of layers of water ripples in a single breath, Bai Xuan frowned.

He could see everything before him changing, the water ripples surging overwhelmingly.

"Let’s stake it all!"

Those surging water ripples intertwined, each thread possessing terrifying power. If they fell, they could easily sweep away everything and destroy an entire sea area.

With Swimming mastered, what he had acquired was the ability to traverse any oceanic abyss without fear of obstruction; even these water ripples could not stop him.

"Swimming, open for me!"

With a single step, he traversed space, about to break free from these water ripples in an instant and escape into the distance.

These water ripples were immensely vast, nearly shrouding the entire sea area, blocking the water completely. No one could bypass them to descend beneath ten thousand meters!

"There are broken weapons, armor, and even magical artifacts everywhere here."

"This is... the Water Mansion!"

With the ability to swim, it would take him at most a quarter of an hour to pass through.

However, the next moment, the water ripples across the entire sea area inverted. In a flash, it felt as though the heavenly abyss had turned upside down. A radius of hundreds of miles roared and surged, resembling a massive mouth that violently swallowed Bai Xuan whole!

Swish, swish, swish!

The water ripples vanished, and the vast expanse of water returned to normal. The seawater continued to flow, and schools of fish swam past, as if nothing had happened.

Just as Bai Xuan's confusion arose, he saw the water ripples stirring and rapidly unfurling.

Even with Swimming at the consummate level, one could only step across seven or eight layers at a time.

"Tree of Longevity, add points for me!"

"It is a heritage!"

Scale Monarch plunged headfirst into the water ripples and vanished.

"No."

With a step, swish, he crossed seven or eight lines of water ripples, plunging deep into the water.

Hundreds of skeletal remains were scattered everywhere here, marked by countless traces, all having perished a very long time ago.

Bai Xuan frowned.

Bai Xuan’s gaze sharpened.

Seeing this, Scale Monarch’s human-like form was terrified, "What kind of speed is this?"

Bai Xuan took another step.

Bai Xuan calmed his mind, his gaze sweeping across the great hall.

At this moment, amidst the vast seawater, all restrictions were powerless to resist. With a single step, he crossed nearly a thousand meters downwards, drawing close to Scale Monarch.

This was undoubtedly the heritage of the Water Mansion. Aside from this, no such powerful entity could possibly exist in this sea area.

"Where did that Scale Monarch go?"

"Trying to escape?"

A thought stirred in Bai Xuan’s mind, and the Tree of Longevity manifested instantly. Over the past three months, he had accumulated a full eighteen points of Fisherman's Dao-intent, and this was the moment to use them.

Before him lay a vastly spacious hall, nearly a thousand meters high and tens of thousands of meters in circumference, with surging water ripples upon its vaulted ceiling.

...

Bai Xuan raised his head.

In an instant, the branches and leaves of the Swimming skill grew wildly, and a figure emerged, traversing tens of thousands of miles. Even amidst the crisscrossing water and fire, the inundation of myriad miles, and the raging currents, the figure traversed it all effortlessly, passing through in an instant without a single drop of water touching them!

Boom!

Bai Xuan’s figure flashed.

Instantly, everything calmed down.

"What?"

Yet that Scale Monarch lacked the consummate power of Swimming and could not pass through. Where had it gone?

Bai Xuan knew that these water ripples were emitted by the Water Mansion—a manifestation of its spiritual light, far more subtle and terrifying, a hundred times more powerful than those pillars of light soaring into the sky.

In the center of the great hall stood a majestic stone tablet exuding an ancient aura.

Bai Xuan understood in his heart.

Even...

Bai Xuan reached out and grabbed a weapon on the ground. Outwardly, the weapon appeared to be a curved saber with a faint glow, clearly a divine weapon.

However, when Bai Xuan squeezed it with his fingers, with a crisp *crack*, the curved saber shattered and fell away in pieces.

This curved saber had already rotted away, countless years having passed.

"I'm afraid it has been at least several thousand years, or even longer!"

Bai Xuan’s gaze swept across the hundreds of skeletons in the hall. Most of them had decayed, but some remained unrotted, likely having arrived within the past few decades.

Some of the corpses still retained terrifying residual Qi and blood, enough to make even Bai Xuan feel a pang of dread.

"Grandmasters are one thing, but there are also corpses of Divine Manifestation experts."

Bai Xuan spotted a corpse that was still radiating light, its brow majestic and faintly bearing a pair of horns.

This body remained unrotted after death, emitting a terrifying undulation—a manifestation of the integration of true blood, will, and Dao-intent.

"Collect them all."

Bai Xuan released his Qi and blood, gathering the weapons and Divine Manifestation corpses from the ground one by one.

Most of them still had storage rings, though some had rotted and could no longer be activated.

These were not true Sumeru-芥子 (mustard-seed containing Mount Sumeru) items, possessing only partial spatial containment capabilities. Over time, without spiritual light to nourish them, the runes had collapsed.

"Hmm? This one is not bad."

Bai Xuan grabbed a hexagonal ring from the air. Its spiritual light remained constant, faintly containing a space the size of a great hall.

This was an extremely formidable storage ring, approaching the level of a true mustard-seed spatial object.

The corpse of its owner had already turned to dust, utterly unable to resist the passage of time.

"He should be a Dao-Entering powerhouse."

Bai Xuan guessed in his heart.

Although such powerhouses possessed unparalleled battle prowess and could even live long lives, their physical bodies were relatively weak and would quickly turn to ashes.

The storage ring also verified Bai Xuan’s conjecture; most of the items inside were talismans, the majority of which had also lost their spiritual light, leaving only a few true talismans that endured without fading.

However, Bai Xuan possessed quite a few true talismans of his own and didn't have much need for these.

In the hands of a Dao-Entering powerhouse, these items were immensely powerful, but in his hands, they held little significance.

Bai Xuan gathered all the treasures in the great hall one by one.

"A total of sixty-four divine weapons, nineteen magical artifacts, four precious treasures... and even a set of divine weapon armor."

Bai Xuan counted them one by one.

Most of the weapons and armor here were of little use, but there was a long sword, pale as autumn water, whose power was exceptionally magnificent. With a thought, Bai Xuan could sense that it contained might far exceeding that of a furnace.

This was a mid-grade divine weapon, and its power was naturally terrifying.

Yet...

"Such a familiar sword intent."

Bai Xuan’s expression held a hint of a sigh.

A trace of sword intent still lingered within this sword, and Bai Xuan recognized it well—it was the Jade Sword intent of the Nine Swords Sect.

Sword intent is like a person; everyone's is unique, and Bai Xuan would never mistake it.

"So the final journey of this person's life ended here."

Bai Xuan sighed with emotion and put away the long sword.

The divine weapon armor was also exceedingly formidable. Thin as cicada wings, it seemed woven from some kind of sharkskin, its protective scales extremely thin and light. Once it touched the skin, it began to expand, wrapping around him like a second layer of skin.

This divine weapon armor likely did not originate from the craftsmanship of the East Sea.

He injected his Qi and blood into it, and with a low roar, the armor merged with Bai Xuan, clinging tightly to his skin like an extra layer of defense.

Having done all this.

"This place is truly magnificent."

Bai Xuan walked through the hall.

All the heritages he had seen before were basically guarded by a heritage spirit, accompanied merely by an island or an oceanic volcano.

Here, however, was a magnificent hall that was far from reaching its end. Sweeping his gaze across, Bai Xuan could see a passage at the far end sealed by a stone door. When he pushed against it with force, it didn't budge an inch.

At the same time, Bai Xuan casually looked through the last words left behind by the deceased in the storage rings.

"There are also letters and jade slips left behind in this storage ring."

Bai Xuan flipped through them.

Countless small characters flickered on a jade slip, carrying a faint sense of regret.

"Regret, regret... I can confirm that this 'Cangming Province' Water Mansion is likely a very ancient heritage, possibly the origin of the True Dragon's Dao."

"It is extremely ancient, its origins untraceable, likely dating back to before the establishment of our human civilization."

"The nine trials: ordinary geniuses can complete at most six; elites from the ten provinces and various seas can probably only complete seven; eight marks a top-tier genius, who could be designated at the 'True Emperor' level within the Great World."

"However, what the heritage spirit demands is the completion of all nine trials. That final trial is simply beyond the imagination of ordinary people... If one can pass it, they could be designated at the 'Yuanyuan' level among the hundred prefectures of the Great World, gaining the opportunity to cultivate in the Four Supreme Academies!"

"Pity that I am still far from that level. Father, Mother, Sister... I'm sorry, I am going to die."

The writing on the jade slip came to an abrupt halt.

"The Great World! This inheritor received the Water Mansion's heritage within the Great World?"

A jolt of surprise rippled through Bai Xuan's heart.

"Just how ancient is this Water Mansion?"

Everything mentioned by this inheritor was exceedingly ancient, dating back an unimaginable number of years, making its origin impossible to fathom.

Who knew how many years had passed since this Water Mansion plunged into the East Sea?

"One must be considered a top-tier genius even within the Great World to leave the Water Mansion?"

Bai Xuan’s gaze turned grave.

Yet, a faint fighting spirit also surfaced within him.

Looking at this expanse of skeletal remains alone told him that it was utterly impossible to leave here without completing the final trial.

The difficulty was terrifyingly high, and countless people had died with everlasting regrets.

However—

"I must win."

Bai Xuan’s heart was as firm as iron. Spear intent manifested, ringing crisply and shaking the hall.

He would not fall here; with the Dao Tree of Longevity by his side, what were geniuses to him!

He walked to the center of the great hall and saw rows of broad characters emerging upon the stone tablet.

"This is the Chi Mansion. Only those who show promise of inheriting the True Dragon Dao may leave."

"This is... one of the nine mansions."

"When all pillars stand, those who complete all trials may behold the Chi Shadow."

Bai Xuan’s gaze narrowed.

He saw that as the characters appeared on the stone tablet, nine colossal stone pillars emerged from the void behind it!

...

Inside the Water Mansion.

In another location.

Rumble!

Scale Monarch materialized, only to find itself in another massive hall, feeling somewhat bewildered.

"Where is this..."

It raised its large, ferocious head, its figure flashing as it stood before a stone tablet, seeing the characters and the emerging colossal nine pillars.

Scale Monarch was stunned for a moment before overwhelming joy surged within it.

"To think it is this place! The heritage here is rumored to conflict with the Sea God, but if I can acquire it, it will definitely wash away the Sea God's blood on my body."

This Scale Monarch was overjoyed, "Sea God? What is that?"

Its faith was extremely shallow, and it discarded it without the slightest hesitation. After all, it was a sea beast lacking any concept of morality, propriety, righteousness, or shame, and it didn't care about such things at all.

What it truly pursued was power, and within the North Sea Empire, absolute power was the only way to conquer everything.

At this moment, understanding the writing on the stone tablet, it hesitated not a moment before stepping into the first pillar. A faint shadow flickered upon the stone pillar.

"Hmm?"

Stepping into it, Scale Monarch found the environment shifting before it into an unimaginably spacious courtyard, protected on all sides by intertwined water ripples.

Opposite it stood a stone tablet.

Upon the tablet were endless celestial phenomena changing—clouds rolling and unrolling, thunder, rain, and dew—its patterns extremely ancient and arcane.

"The test here is comprehension!"

"Comprehend the secret art, the *True Method of Dragon Breath*, from the stone tablet until it reaches the introductory stage to pass this barrier."

"The True Method of Dragon Breath?"

Shocked, Scale Monarch began to comprehend the stone tablet.

However, being a sea beast, even though its intelligence far surpassed ordinary monster sharks, it still struggled to comprehend. In the blink of an eye, three days passed, and with a flash, space shifted, returning it to the grand hall of the Water Mansion.

"How could this be?"

Scale Monarch was utterly baffled.

It then chose the second stone pillar. Entering this time, the scene was a spacious arena, from which a vast aura emanated.

"This is... combat! I understand this."

It breathed a sigh of relief.

This was a spacious arena, half submerged in seawater while the other half remained uncollapsed, with massive rocks extending for a full several thousand meters.

Opposite it, a terrifying giant snake phantom emerged, flicking its tongue. Deep runes were faintly engraved upon its scales, and its Qi and blood rapidly swelled, reaching the two-seas level and roaring!

Boom!

Scale Monarch lunged forward to battle, engaging in fierce combat with this giant snake!

Its power was terrifying, but with a single exhalation from the giant snake, rolling sea waves were instantly whipped up, turning into layers of frost that cracked and froze it solid in a flash.

"What?"

Scale Monarch’s expression turned to one of shock. Immediately after, the giant snake spat out another mouthful of Qi and blood, which instantly transformed into roaring flames burning amidst the frost, scorching even Scale Monarch’s Qi and blood to the point of unbearable agony!

"Damned thing!"

Scale Monarch fell into a bitter battle, toyed with by the manipulation of water, fire, lightning, and wind. It took a full quarter of an hour, enduring all sorts of transformations, before it finally managed to slay the giant snake.

"This breath... How terrifying. Is this the True Method of Dragon Breath?"

Suspicion arose in Scale Monarch’s heart.

Raising its head, it felt an intense yearning, "Very good, very good. If I can comprehend all of this to the fullest, my strength will advance by leaps and bounds."

Having slain the giant snake, it exited, realizing that the Qi and blood level of the giant snake was likely on par with its own.

The trials here would adjust according to the challenger's strength and realm; relying purely on powerful Qi and blood was useless.

"Let's go check out the next pillar."

Following suit, Scale Monarch entered the next stone pillar, and as expected, it was another massive stone tablet heritage.

*The Cloud-Soaring Single Thought*?

Scale Monarch was even more bewildered.

It couldn't understand this vast array of cloud-scripts at all. Every single character was immensely complex, layered one upon another.

Three days later, it was kicked out again.

In the fourth stone pillar, Scale Monarch swept through once more. The heritage entity within this time was a giant dragon-fish that whipped up terrifying floods with its breathing, sweeping across the area.

This was merely a superficial change; in reality, it was an intangible divine mind controlling all things, soaring through the clouds in a single thought.

With just a single thought, terrifying giant force suppressed it from afar. Even with Scale Monarch's immense vitality, it fell into a hard-fought battle, taking more than half an hour to defeat its opponent.

This time, Scale Monarch learned its lesson and simply bypassed the fifth stone pillar, heading straight for the sixth.

The opponent here was even more terrifying: a bipedal giant python emerged, and with a movement of its body, it actually split into two figures, both possessing identical strength!

Rumble!

Scale Monarch fought bitterly, a life-and-death struggle, continuously condensing true blood. Fortunately, its strength was heaven-shaking, making it practically invincible in the East Sea with its incomparably tenacious vitality. After holding out for half a quarter of an hour, that duplicate figure dissipated, and it finally managed to slaughter its formidable foe and barely pass the trial.

"Terrifying, truly terrifying!"

Scale Monarch felt a deep sense of dread in its heart.

"I wonder what the eighth trial is."

Plagued by doubt, it finally couldn't help stepping forward toward the eighth stone pillar.

As it stepped inside.

In mere moments.

Rumble!

A massive corpse over twenty meters tall materialized within the grand hall, a trace of lingering bewilderment still frozen on its features.

Its entire body was shattered, its bones and Qi and blood blasted to pieces—it was thoroughly dead!

...

On the other side.

"This *True Method of Dragon Breath* is truly profound."

Bai Xuan sat cross-legged in the grand hall, comprehending the *True Method of Dragon Breath*.

The first stone tablet bore a faint mark of light, proving that he had achieved one victory.

A full six days had passed, and he was still here comprehending the Dragon Breath art.

"These nine stone pillars seem to be fully open. If the foundations ahead are not laid properly, rashly entering the later ones might lead to misfortune... Better solidify my foundation first."

Bai Xuan was extremely calm.

"Dragon breath... with every breath in and out, celestial phenomena shift and are contained within."

Bai Xuan comprehended for several more days. The Mountain and River Inner Elixir Technique circulated, and finally, with a single exhalation, boundless surging waves erupted amidst a terrifying might that shook the entire hall!

With another inhalation, swish, the surrounding temperature plummeted to an extreme. With a *sizzling* sound, the air nearly froze into solid ice, and all heat was swallowed up and devoured!

Bai Xuan was practicing this technique, gradually mastering the secret art!

"Such formidable power. The might of this secret art far surpasses the Flood Dragon Manifestation Diagram, and even exceeds the Dragon-Tiger Spear Technique."

A sigh of admiration escaped Bai Xuan’s heart.

This was a heritage from the Water Mansion, possessing infinite power that could shake the heavens and earth once unleashed.

Moreover, to truly unleash its full potential, one needed to condense true blood.

"It's time to test it out."

Bai Xuan finally stood up.

He had cultivated bitterly here for too long, finally mastering the *True Method of Dragon Breath* to a certain degree, and now it was time to test its caliber.