Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Return with Regrets

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“It’s come out!”

By the edge of the pond, accompanied by Zhou Chun’s low call, Zhou Jiahe’s Spirit Pet, the Azure Scale Crocodile, emerged first from the water, opening its mouth wide to breathe.

Soon after, Zhou Jiahui’s Spirit Pet, the Spiral Water Turtle, also surfaced, creating ripples in the water as it leisurely climbed onto the shore.

Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiahui, who had been waiting for a while, immediately approached their Spirit Pets and began communicating with them to inquire about the results of their underwater reconnaissance.

After a while, when the two of them had finished their exchange with the Spirit Pets, Zhou Chun looked at them impatiently and repeatedly asked, “How was it? Can the two aunts please share the details?”

“The situation is a bit complicated.”

“According to the Azure Scale Crocodile, after it followed the cave deeper in, it did enter a subterranean river with a strong current and indeed found many of the strange fish that you, Nephew Zhengchun, mentioned.”

“And it’s not just those strange fish in the underground river—there are also many ordinary fish and shrimp, as well as other Demon Beasts, among which even the Azure Scale Crocodile felt the presence of dangerous and powerful Demon Beasts.”

Zhou Jiahe looked at Zhou Chun and was the first to relay the intelligence gathered by her Spirit Pet.

Then her gaze shifted towards Zhou Jiahui.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiahui also spoke up, “The situation my Spiral Water Turtle scouted is not much different from what Sister He said. The one difference is that it mentioned the water in the underground river is of very high quality, and it liked it very much.”

After listening to what the two of them had said, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but lower his head and ponder.

After thinking for a while, he looked up at the two women and said, “The Azure Scale Crocodile is not weak. For it to sense danger from a Demon Beast means that, even if it’s not a second-order Demon Beast, it must be one of those specially powerful top-grade first-order Demon Beasts. With that said, the risks inside are indeed not small.”

“However, whether it’s the Azure Scale Crocodile or the Spiral Water Turtle, they are after all only Demon Beasts, and the intelligence they’ve gathered is too vague. My suggestion is that the three of us should go down and take a look ourselves. What do you two aunts think?”

Go down and take a look ourselves?

Upon hearing Zhou Chun’s words, Zhou Jiahe and the other woman couldn’t help but glance at each other, both hesitant.

Unlike Zhou Chun, because they had lived long enough, they had managed to cultivate the “Water Avoidance Technique,” a spell.

But precisely because they have lived long and seen much, they are all the more aware of how dangerous the water teeming with Water Demons is.

Now that they were being asked to venture into such a place, how could they not hesitate and worry?

“Nephew Zhengchun, are you sure you really want to go down for a look? If we really encounter any danger down there, we might be too busy taking care of ourselves, and you…”

After hesitating for a long while, Zhou Jiahe still looked at Zhou Chun and said her concerns in a low voice.

Zhou Chun heard this and immediately laughed, “Thirteenth Aunt, don’t worry. Although I don’t have underwater Spirit Pets to protect me like you do, I also have ways to ensure my own safety.”

“Alright, since Nephew Zhengchun, you’re assured, then I have no objections,” Zhou Jiahe nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiahui, unwilling to let the others think she was cowardly, promptly followed suit, “I also have no objections.”

So the three of them, after bolstering themselves with the “Water Avoidance Technique,” sat on the Spiral Water Turtle’s back, which carried them down towards the depths of the pond and into the cave, while the Azure Scale Crocodile was driven by Zhou Jiahe to clear the way and drive away the strange fish.

Once the Spiral Water Turtle plunged into the great cave at the bottom of the pond with the three of them on its back, a fascinating underwater world unfolded before Zhou Chun and his companions’ eyes.

The depths of the cave, surprisingly, were not pitch dark; many small fish and shrimp capable of emitting light lived there.

With the faint light emitted by these small fish and shrimp, Zhou Chun and the others could barely make out some of the scenery with their naked eyes.

However, to truly sense the details of the surroundings, they still had to rely on Divine Sense.

Under the detection of Divine Sense, all kinds of strange aquatic animals in this underground water world became visible at a glance.

Strange fish that looked like ordinary lizards, without scales, full of sharp teeth, and with tails that flickered with a blue glow at the tip.

A type of shrimp with two long pincers, eyes sparkling like sapphires, emitting bright blue light.

And fish akin to eels, with a long, narrow fin on its back, swam very quickly through the water.

These aquatic animals, despite their peculiar appearance, were not Demon Beasts.

The aura emanated by the Spiral Water Turtle kept them well at bay, all scurrying far away.

Continuing like this through the convoluted cave for about half an hour, the Spiral Water Turtle finally carried Zhou Chun and his companions into the underground river.

Compared to the relatively calm water inside the cave, the currents in this underground river were much more turbulent.

Even the enormous Spiral Water Turtle had to vigorously move its body to avoid being swept away by the rushing water.

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“Shall we go up or down?”

Guiding the Azure Scale Crocodile to break the path, Zhou Jiahe gestured to Zhou Chun to ask.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun pondered for a moment, then pointed upstream.

He then left a marked token at the junction of the cave and the subterranean river to avoid forgetting the route when they returned.

Traveling against the current for roughly half an hour, the Azure Scale Crocodile leading the way encountered a thorny opponent.

In the underground river that was dozens of feet wide, a bizarre Demon Beast clad in bone armor, resembling a scavenger, was fiercely battling the Azure Scale Crocodile.

The fighting styles of both Demon Beasts were robust, casting Spells to attack the other while biting at each other with open mouths.

But the Azure Scale Crocodile had an owner.

At this time, with Zhou Chun and the others arriving on the Spiral Water Turtle outside the battle zone, Zhou Jiahe immediately waved her hand and launched a golden hairpin Magic Artifact at the bizarre Demon Beast.

Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiahui also did not just stand by; they each launched Magic Artifacts and joined the attack on the bizarre Demon Beast.

With the combined forces of the three, the bizarre Demon Beast could not even escape and was beheaded in the water by Zhou Chun’s “Moon Blade Meteor Wheel.”

Since the three of them did not recognize the bizarre Demon Beast, Zhou Chun thought its body might have some value, so he cut it into several pieces and stored them in each person’s Storage Pouch.

Then they continued upstream to explore the area.

After another three-quarters of an hour traveling upstream, Zhou Jiahe suddenly appeared animated, as if she had discovered something.

She pointed toward a certain direction, signaling the Spiral Water Turtle to head that way.

Soon, Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiahui also understood what she had found.

Directly ahead, there appeared another cave intersection similar to the one they had entered through.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately made the decision to enter that cave and investigate.

No sooner had they delved into this cave than they encountered a large group of bizarre fish, similar to catfish.

About a dozen bizarre fish were attacking the Azure Scale Crocodile in front, preventing it from going deeper into the cave.

This piqued the curiosity of the three following, who immediately joined the fray, killing or dispersing the group of bizarre fish, and then continued deeper inside.

However, it wasn’t long before the previously escaped bizarre fish rapidly returned with dozens of their kind, and amongst them, three or four emitted the aura of a top-notch, first-order Demon Beast.

“Retreat!”

Without any hesitation, Zhou Chun immediately gave the command to retreat.

They quickly switched to the faster swimming and more agile Azure Scale Crocodile as their mount, allowing the Spiral Water Turtle with its massive body to cover their rear as they swiftly made their escape into the underground river.

After a rather embarrassing escape, the three of them finally returned to the river tunnel.

But the poor Spiral Water Turtle had been beaten to severe injuries, and Zhou Jiahui had no choice but to temporarily store it in her Spirit Beast Pouch.

Without the steady mount of the Spiral Water Turtle, and since all three of them had expended a lot of Mana, they could only regretfully end their expedition into the subterranean river.

Gurgle, gurgle!

The calm waters suddenly bubbled vigorously, and then the mouth of the Azure Scale Crocodile, filled with sharp teeth, surfaced first.

After spending an hour in the dark underwater world atop the crocodile’s back, Zhou Chun and his companions were finally back in the daylight, each of them gaping to breathe in the fresh air.

After taking a few deep breaths of fresh air, Zhou Jiahe turned to Zhou Chun and said, “Nephew Zhengchun, we should probably end our expedition here; given the complex situation in that underground river, we Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators simply cannot stay there for long without the company of a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator!”

This time the three of them joined forces and were still driven back by a swarm of those bizarre fish, which highlights the dangers lurking within the underground river.

Moreover, there wasn’t a spot suitable for meditation or rest within two hundred miles, and they couldn’t even effectively use tactics that relied on consumption.

So in Zhou Jiahe’s view, without the company of a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, the task was simply unfeasible.

Zhou Chun could use the Purification Stone Pot to solve the problem of meditation and rest, but he didn’t have a water-combat Spirit Pet, and his own Cultivation Level was only at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement; he couldn’t possibly explore the underground river alone.

Therefore, though he still felt somewhat unwilling and regretful, he rationally agreed with Zhou Jiahe’s suggestion and promised to first return to the Zhou Family to report the results of their expedition.

“Let’s do as cousin thirteen suggests, and report back to the Clan Leader about what we’ve discovered,” he said.