Three days later, Chen Xuanjun finally recovered from his injuries. The group drank another jar of Monkey Wine before they made their preparations to enter the Black Lotus Palace.
“I wonder if we’re too late.” Chen Xuanjun raised his head and saw a black palace lying at the center of the lake. There was no one else in the surroundings aside from them.
“I’m afraid that it won’t be so simple. I’ve been observing the palace for the past few days and heading to the Black Lotus Palace won’t be a peaceful journey. Many people died before they made it into the palace,” said Tang Tong.
Although they didn’t head to the Black Lotus Palace, they spent the past few days observing the situation.
“Let’s go.” Chen Xuanjun nodded at them and the group left for the Black Lotus Lake.
Tang Tong could feel a chill rising up his feet when he stood on the lake. He shivered, “C-cold…”
Lin Yun infused his origin energy into his eyes and saw wisps of black ice in the lake, which seemed extremely abnormal.
“The calmness of the lake is just a facade. Don’t lower your guards,” said Lin Yun. When they proceeded forward, the cold they felt gradually increased. After ten-odd miles later, their breath practically turned into ice whenever they exhaled.
It was impossible for them to resist the cold with their physiques. They had to circulate their origin energy to defend their vital spots. Otherwise, they might be frozen by the cold, and they wouldn’t even know how they died. There were a few corpses on the ground that had been frozen into ice.
“It’s the Blackgold Sect’s disciples!” Tang Tong and the other disciples instantly recognized the origin of those corpses.
Suddenly, the three corpses opened their eyes with a demonic glow in their eyes. The three corpses roared as they charged at Lin Yun. If it was someone else, they would be caught by surprise. However, Lin Yun was prepared for all surprises. He was cautious because the lake was calm, but the corpses had coincidentally drifted in their direction.
When the three corpses soared, Lin Yun clenched his fist and threw out a punch. His punch destroyed the three corpses and dozens of black fish suddenly shot out from the corpses.
“The Corpse Devourer Fish?” Lin Yun frowned since he instantly recognized the fish. These fish were an ancient breed and you could only encounter them in some secret realms or ruins. They were like parasites that hid in corpses.
The fish suddenly opened their jaws and breathed out ice threads that coiled around Lin Yun. The black threads instantly came crashing down at them before they could even react.
Xin Yan and the group’s faces changed. They all drew their swords, but they couldn’t use their swords to attack with the black threads coiled around them. The black threads continued to spread out and wrap around them. The fish opened their jaws up wide and pounced at them.
“Die!” Chen Xuanjun was the first to react. When he unleashed the Blazeyang Sword’s aura, the aura mented the black threads, allowing him to swing his sword and kill ten fish.
Everyone else also recovered from their initial panic. They were ultimately elites of the Sword Firmament Pavilion and they soon regained their freedom. It didn’t take long for them to kill all the fish.
But before they could even catch their breath, more Corpse Devourer Fish shot out from the lake. There were at least a thousand of them this time.
“Why are there so many?” Chen Xuanjun’s face changed. He now understood why so many people would die on the Black Lotus Lake.
Suddenly, a yell rang out and one of the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s disciples was bitten by a fish. It bit off a huge chunk of flesh, leaving a ghastly sight. No one could imagine how painful the wound was.
“Damn it. The attacks of the Corpse Devourer Fish are too horrifying!” exclaimed Tang Tong. The fish might be weak, but their attacks were ferocious.
While Lin Yun was killing the Corpse Devorer Fish, he started to examine the lake. He soon found hints on how to resolve the situation. There was a colossal shadow wandering a few hundred meters beneath the lake.
Is that the king? Lin Yun shot a sword ray into the lake, but the Corpse Devourer Fishking dodged it. Even if Lin Yun’s quasi-xiantian sword intent was powerful, it was useless if he couldn’t hit his opponent. Meanwhile, the Corpse Devourer Fish were endlessly coming out of the lake.
“Let’s see how long you can dodge my attacks!” Lin Yun sheathed his sword. Gathering his dracophant and origin energy, Lin Yun threw a punch into the lake. His punch caused a huge explosion and a colossal fish was blown out of the lake.
“Attack!” Chen Xuanjun and everyone instantly directed their attacks at the colossal fish. The fish was a lot slower in the air, so it was instantly penetrated by a few attacks. The pain made the colossal fish twist around in the air. When it returned to the water, the colossal fish no longer dared to show itself anymore.
When the colossal fish dropped back into the water, a pool of blood floated up to the surface. The blood naturally came from the Corpse Devourer Fishking. Because of this, the other smaller fish also no longer dared to show themselves anymore.
“This is only just the beginning, but we’re already in so much trouble,” sighed Xin Yan.
“This isn’t entirely bad news. This means that it wasn’t easy for others as well. I bet that there aren’t many that have reached the Black Lotus Palace, so we can catch up to them,” said Lin Yun.
“That’s right. But we have to be careful,” nodded Chen Xuanjun in agreement.
The group continued their journey, running into more corpses that were floating on the lake. Practically all of the corpses were controlled by the Corpse Devourer Fish, so battles were unavoidable any time they ran into the corpses..
But lucky, the group was now experienced. Lin Yun would begin by knocking the king out of the water and everyone would converge on it with their attacks. It was so much easier for them to deal with the Corpse Devourer Fish now, but it was only possible because of Lin Yun. If it was someone else, dealing with the fishking underwater would be a headache.
After all, not everyone had three cauldron’s worth of strength like Lin Yun did. In just half a day, a majestic palace appeared before them. The palace was situated at the center of the lake and enveloped in a saintly azure radiance. It was drastically different from what they saw previously.
“We might not be sure about the exact situation on the island, but there are quite a lot of people here. They seem to be in trouble,” smiled Chen Xuanjun. The Sword Firmament Pavilion’s group only needed an hour at most to rush over.
“Let’s go!” Everyone’s confidence was boosted and they quickened their speed. But when they took a few steps out, a demonic aura soared into the sky that caused everyone’s faces to change, including Lin Yun.
That was a beast in the Violet Palace Realm! They now knew why everyone hadn’t entered the Black Lotus Palace. So it turns out that they ran into a demonic beast in the Violet Palace Realm. Demonic beasts in the Violet Palace Realm were brutal, not to mention that they would only become more terrifying after demonizing.
But for some reason, this demonic beast was coming towards the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s group. It was normal for a demonic beast to stand guard, but shouldn't it be on the island?
Before they could ponder it any longer, the demonic aura began descending when it was two thousand meters away from them. The entire surface of the lake caved in and an ape covered in wounds appeared before them.
“An Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape!” Lin Yun’s eyes lit up. He had met an Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape in the past. It was a demonic beast with the bloodline of an ancient Demon Dragon. But the one he met was only in the Profound Martial Realm, while this one was in the Violet Palace Realm.
But judging from its wounds and weakened aura, this Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape was heavily injured.
Everyone looked at the Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape. They knew that the person who managed to injure it was powerful. After all, a beast in the Violet Palace Realm was practically an invincible existence in the Demonlotus Realm.
They couldn’t imagine who left the Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape in this state. After all, it made no sense for it to be so heavily injured, even if it was besieged.
Before Lin Yun could figure it out, the Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape looked at them and leapt over them. Right now, a decisive light flashed in Lin Yun’s eyes and he placed his hand on the sword hilt. He needed the beast core of a demonic beast in the Violet Palace Realm for the fifth stage of the Dracophant Battle Physique.
This Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape had a trace of the ancient Demon Dragon’s bloodline, which was a perfect match for the Dracophant Battle Physique. But just when he was about to attack, a few figures suddenly appeared before him.
He knew that the ones who injured the Indigo Thunderfiend Dracoape were going to appear, so he hesitated if he should launch his attack.