Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 278 Undersea Spring
Spells are small arrays, arrays are large spells.

This is a widely acknowledged fact in the spiritual practice community.

In theory, any secret technique can be set up in the form of an array, and in theory, an array can also be modified into a corresponding spell.

Therefore, every spell has a flaw, and every formation has a way to be broken.

The question is, can you crack it within the limited time and environment?
Often, formations are like a magic array that clearly presents the way to break it right in front of you, but you just can't break it.

Just like the protective formation of the Qinghe Sword Sect, it is not particularly ingenious from any angle. Any cultivator with some skill in formations can see where the formation's core is. As long as you dismantle the core while braving the rain of swords, you can definitely break the formation.

As long as it can withstand the rain of swords from the Qinghe Sword Sect... no one has tried this simple and unpretentious method of breaking the formation to this day.

The same troubles Chen Ye is facing now are similar.

With a little deduction, one can guess that the way to break the formation must be at the bottom of the sea, but the poisonous water gives you absolutely no chance to go into the sea.

However, every creature has its counter. When Chen Ye took the water-repelling bead and walked towards the sea, the highly toxic seawater was blocked, and even the sand under his feet dried up at a visible speed, indicating that the poisonous water was being expelled.

Looking at the scene before her, Pang Duoduo couldn't help but say, "This treasure is amazing!"

Mo Suixin asked curiously, "Master, couldn't you use magic to isolate the seawater before, even though it only lasted for a short while?"

Mo Suixin grew up with Pang Duoduo, who was the head of the Burning Incense Sect and could confidently say, "What treasures haven't I seen?" She had never seen Pang Duoduo show such a shocked expression before.

“It’s different. If I were to use magic, I could naturally control my own magical power without harming myself. But this magic weapon… he was just holding it in his hand, not actually refining and controlling it. But this magic weapon has a spirit. It doesn’t just flush out the poisonous seawater, but flush out all water that is harmful to us, while our blood remains completely unaffected.”

Hearing Pang Duoduo say this, Mo Suixin also realized what was going on.

If one is not careful, even a cultivator can be injured by their own spells. It's not like you can learn Palm Lightning and strike yourself without getting hurt.

But just by holding this water-repelling bead in Chen Ye's hand, this treasure could tell on its own which kind of water was harmful.

It's as if this baby has its own consciousness.

In the cultivation world, there is a saying called "self-generated spiritual energy," which refers to a magical artifact that develops a trace of intelligence and has a certain degree of autonomous action. However, such magical artifacts are extremely rare, almost legendary.

The water-repelling pearl before them was not simply a naturally generated spiritual aura; it seemed to be a living being.

That's why Pang Duoduo was shocked. This was not a magic weapon that mortals could refine. Perhaps it was a treasure that only the ethereal immortal realm could possess.

Chen Ye was not surprised to hear this. Anyone who had seen the Ruins of Return would know that it was not a palace that mortals could build, but must be the cave of immortals.

Deep within the Ruins of Guixu lies a formidable creature resembling the ancestor of the Flood Dragons, likely no different from a True Immortal. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to scatter and flee countless sea beasts throughout the Ruins of Guixu with a single roar.

However, now is not the time to think about that. Chen Ye tightened his grip on the water-repelling pearl and said to Pang Duoduo and Mo Suixin, "Please come closer. We don't know how wide the protective range of this water-repelling pearl is. If the protective circle suddenly shrinks, we'll have time to react."

According to the tests conducted during the Guixu era, this water-repelling pearl can expand the seawater in the deep sea by more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), enough to accommodate an entire dragon.

However, only a space of about three or four zhang (approximately 10-12 meters) had been opened up. Chen Ye didn't know what was causing this, so he had to remind the two to stand behind him to avoid any accidents.

Pang Duoduo didn't stand on ceremony. She pushed Mo Suixin behind Chen Ye and even whispered in her ear, "The opportunity has come. Hug him from behind now, and I guarantee this kid will be head over heels for you."

Mo Suixin blushed instantly and lowered her voice to say to Pang Duoduo, "Master, what time is it now! You still have the mind to joke!"

Pang Duoduo said helplessly, "What's the difference? We were waiting to die at Qingguan Mountain, and we're waiting to die now. Don't end up crying in your bed later."

Mo Suixin was too lazy to pay attention to her unreliable master, but she still subconsciously took a few steps closer, almost stepping on Chen Ye's heels.

Chen Ye, however, did not notice the whispers between the master and apprentice; he was completely focused on sensing the changes around him.

The light from the water-repelling pearl was very stable. The barrier it created pushed back the highly toxic seawater, preventing the three of them from getting a single drop of it. Moreover, Chen Ye felt no resistance when he walked into the sea, and he had no idea where the pressure of the seawater had been transferred.

Immortal treasures are truly extraordinary.

As they continued their journey, the three of them ventured deep into the ocean.

The azure poisonous water looked even clearer than real seawater, and the visibility at the bottom of the sea was excellent, so the three of them quickly saw the skeletons that were everywhere on the seabed.

The flesh and blood had all turned to dust, leaving only stark white bones and tattered clothes.

Stepping on it makes your bones feel as soft as dough; they crumble at the slightest pressure.

It seems that this Azure Dragon Lord doesn't like eating bones, so he only absorbed the life force of flesh and blood, leaving behind these bones scattered all over the ground.

"Senior Pang, we've reached a depth of about twenty zhang at the bottom of the sea. Which way should we go?" Although they knew that the flaw in this world lay at the bottom of the sea, they couldn't just search for a needle in a haystack. At this crucial moment, they still had to rely on Pang Duoduo, an expert in divination.

Pang Duoduo didn't waste any words this time. She did some quick calculations, and a breeze suddenly blew up from the seabed, stirring up the bone powder that had just been crushed.

The bone powder surrounded Pang Duoduo, dancing gracefully as she made her calculations.

Immediately, Pang Duoduo flicked her right hand, and all the bone powder fell to the ground.

Chen Ye examined the traces left by the bone powder carefully and then said, "Kan trigram, due north... no, there are no east, west, south, or north here, it should be based on spiritual energy... so it should be the right side!"

Chen Ye pointed to his right, and Pang Duoduo nodded, then said, "You solved it so quickly. Is this the way of divination that my disciple really taught you?"

"That's true. I'm a rogue cultivator and I've never studied divination before."

Pang Duoduo exclaimed in surprise, "Then you really have talent."

"Thank you for your praise, senior."

Pang Duoduo shook her head and said, "I'm not praising you, but it's a pity. I guess you won't be able to use your talent. It's a waste."

Chen Ye asked curiously, "Why do you say that, senior?"

Pang Duoduo explained, "You are the leader of a sect, and the Yellow Springs Sect will eventually become a major righteous sect. Your own karma is too great. The most taboo thing in divination is that one's own karma is too strong, then there are too many variables, and almost nothing can be accurately predicted. My senior brother who is the sect leader is actually very talented in divination, but after he became the sect leader of the Incense Burning Sect, he has never been able to predict accurately again."

"I didn't know there was such a saying. That's a real pity."

Chen Ye was very interested in divination; the ability to know the past and future with a simple calculation was truly fascinating.

But what Pang Duoduo said is probably true. Right now, Huangquan Sect is not big enough, so Chen Ye is not seriously affected.

Once the Yellow Springs Sect becomes the leader of the righteous path, Chen Ye might even be deceived by this little bit of perception.

However, Chen Ye quickly came to terms with it, saying with a self-deprecating smile, "There are gains and losses, which is quite reasonable."

"You seem to have a pretty good attitude about it."

Chen Ye's nonchalant attitude was beyond Pang Duoduo's expectations. Even Lu Xingzhou sighed for several days after realizing that all his learning had been in vain.

Chen Ye could only respond with a smile. He couldn't explain to Pang Duoduo that he had a special experience and was more open-minded than others.

The three walked and talked, and despite the extremely dangerous situation, they felt like they were on a picnic or adventure.

After walking for about an hour or two on the seabed littered with skeletons, the three of them finally saw something unusual.

"That's...the spring from this sea of ​​poison?"

Chen Ye was a little unsure how to describe it. Before him was a deep cave entrance from which the venomous liquid, which looked just like seawater, gushed out, even forming several whirlpools at the bottom of the cave.

"The tides of this poisonous seawater must be controlled by this spring. This Azure Dragon Lord really wants to digest and absorb us. It seems I was wrong before. This Lord doesn't need the complete Dragon Pearl. Even if it's smashed into powder, it's the same."

Chen Ye had previously tried to use the Flood Dragon Pearl to threaten the Azure Flood Dragon Lord, but he acted without hesitation. This was because Chen Ye was already inside him, and it didn't matter whether he could kill him or not. He had already swallowed him, so even if he rotted, he would just rot inside him.

"Senior Pang, what should we do now?" Chen Ye asked.

The spring is right here, but it's clearly not a place where you can get out.

Pang Duoduo thought for a moment, then said, "Let's get closer."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye slowly approached the spring.

The water-repelling bead remained effective; the barrier that isolated the poisonous water was completely unaffected by the spring. It wasn't until Chen Ye walked to the spring and the barrier enveloped it that the entire world trembled.

Beyond this small world, in the depths of the true ocean, the Azure Dragon Lord, who had been dozing comfortably, suddenly opened his eyes, his expression one of extreme pain.

The Azure Dragon Lord's throat twitched as if he were about to vomit something, but he tightly pinched his mouth shut, forcibly swallowing the urge to vomit.

But doing so caused his stomach to cramp violently. The enormous creature rolled around wildly on the seabed, but it could not alleviate the indescribable pain.

The Azure Dragon Lord had always indulged in a life of unrestrained eating and drinking, eating anything that flew in the sky, swam in the sea, walked in the mountains, and even clouds and rocks. He always had a big appetite, but this was the first time in his life that he had gotten an upset stomach.

(End of this chapter)