Chapter 2351

Zhu Yanyi said to Yan Aohan, "It seems we really have to brave this Scorching Canyon."

Yan Aohan smiled gently. "That’s good. Isn’t adventure part of life’s fun? Don’t you want to try?"

Zhu Yanyi smiled back. "Of course I do. I’m just curious. Since that’s the case, let’s go in."

Yan Aohan nodded and turned to Luo Gang. "You all be careful, too."

Luo Gang and the others were curious about the little spirit they had seen earlier, but they were not the type to pry endlessly out of curiosity. If Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan wanted to tell them, they would. If not, they wouldn’t ask.

Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan understood this well. That was why they didn’t mind letting the others see some things. After all, Luo Gang and the others were following them. It was fine for them to know a little bit.

The six of them entered one by one, moving very carefully.

They were not locals and didn’t know the taboos of this place. They had come to find the Water Spirit. They originally thought the heat would hold the spirit, but now they realized their assumption might be wrong. This place actually hid a Water Spirit. Just hearing that made them realize this place was not simple.

Yan Aohan walked in the lead, with Zhu Yanyi second. Luo Gang and the others followed behind.

Both Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan had spiritual sense. A quick scan told them the situation.

"Be careful. There is quicksand at eleven o’clock, left and up. It’s about one meter wide. Don’t step in it," Yan Aohan said while observing.

"Understood." Luo Gang and the others trusted Yan Aohan’s judgment completely. Although the area at eleven o’clock seemed covered in green plants and looked harmless, they knew better. If Yan Aohan said there was quicksand, there was quicksand. This trust came from the bottom of their hearts.

Zhu Yanyi looked ahead and said helplessly, "When did quicksand start disguising itself?"

Yan Aohan held Zhu Yanyi’s hand. "Be careful." He stepped over a small crack and continued, "You must know that all things have spirits. This quicksand has been here for a long time. With the Water Spirit here, it’s understandable that the quicksand has gained a spirit.

Don’t you remember what Marycia said? She said she thought she would die when she fell into the quicksand, but she didn’t. Not only did she survive, but the quicksand carried her out. Most importantly, she gained a surge of desert essence in her body. Of course, that was her luck.

It also shows that the quicksand here indeed has intelligence. Because it has intelligence, it won’t hurt people randomly."

"Still, falling into quicksand is troublesome. We can’t ignore its danger just because it doesn’t hurt people," Zhu Yanyi said calmly.

Yan Aohan nodded and led Zhu Yanyi forward.

"Are those the Star Stones people want to pick?" Li Yang pointed to something nearby.

Everyone looked where he pointed. Not far ahead, some stones were scattered around. These stones were glowing, looking like little stars.

"Maybe," Zhu Yanyi wasn’t sure. She looked at Yan Aohan. "Aohan, what kind of stones are these?"

Zhu Yanyi knew less about stones than Yan Aohan. Since Yan Aohan was a refiner, he knew many ores. Zhu Yanyi only used a few fixed types for medicine, so she didn’t remember the others.

Yan Aohan glanced at the Star Stones, a faint smile on his lips. "I didn’t expect to find Daoist Mystery Stones here."

Zhu Yanyi was slightly stunned. "What is that thing?" She had never heard that name before.

Yan Aohan said, "Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be right back." He flew over quickly. As he passed, he collected all the stones. It took about half a minute, and he returned.

She walked to everyone and took out a stone, handing it to Zhu Yanyi. "Touch it and see how it feels."

Zhu Yanyi looked at Yan Aohan in surprise but touched it anyway.

As she touched the stone, Zhu Yanyi was surprised to find patterns on it. These patterns gave her a familiar feeling. "This stone is strange. It seems to contain some Daoist mysteries."

Yan Aohan nodded. "Exactly. That’s why they are called Daoist Mystery Stones. Generally, these stones form in two ways."

"Which two?" Zhu Yanyi asked curiously.

Yan Aohan rubbed Zhu Yanyi’s head. "First, a cultivator’s planet was destroyed. The mystery stones fell here and formed these Daoist Mystery Stones."

Yan Aohan looked at the stone in his hand, guessing how it came to be.

"What about the other way?" Zhu Yanyi asked.

Yan Aohan looked at the stone for a while, then put it away. "The other way is that there was a war here, or this was a battlefield for cultivators. A war leaves countless traces. Over time, with wind and rain, these traces combine with heaven and earth spiritual energy to form these stones. That is understandable."

Zhu Yanyi was stunned for a moment, then asked seriously, "Which one do you guess it is?"

Yan Aohan shook his head slightly. "No matter which one, if combined with the Water Spirit, neither is good news."

Yan Aohan thought more deeply than Zhu Yanyi. "If it’s the first case, a cultivator’s planet was destroyed, and these stones fell here, trapping the Water Spirit, what does that mean?

It means this place could have been a beautiful grassland or ocean. It was destroyed by the fall of an alien planet. Not to mention that, if another cultivator’s planet was destroyed, it means that planet was not far from here. If someone uses special means to come here and attack us, we will have big trouble."

This planet was good in many ways, but its weakness was that its martial power was too weak compared to cultivators. If real cultivators came to attack, it would be a catastrophic disaster.

Zhu Yanyi pondered slightly. "What if it’s not because of an outer planet’s destruction, but because of a war here?"

"If so, what was the purpose of that war? Did they trap the Water Spirit to catch it, destroy it, or save it? There are even more mysteries," Yan Aohan stated his guess directly.

Zhu Yanyi pondered slowly, then said, "It probably isn’t that scary."

Yan Aohan looked at Zhu Yanyi for a while, then said, "I hope it’s just my guess. I hope trapping the Water Spirit was just an accident, with no other factors. Otherwise, wife, the road ahead for you will be even more dangerous."

Whether it was cultivators from an outer planet or remnants of a war, if either guess was true, it meant there might be other cultivators in China. They didn’t appear because they knew this plane couldn’t withstand their presence. But that didn’t stop them from waiting in the dark for an opportunity. Once the time was right, they could invade or control this planet.

As a native, Zhu Yanyi already owned this planet. If foreign cultivators wanted to take it, they had to defeat her. Thus, Zhu Yanyi’s situation would become more complex, busy, and dangerous. That was why Yan Aohan said this.

Zhu Yanyi pondered briefly, then smiled. "It’s okay. It gives me some pressure."

She smiled at Yan Aohan. "Pressure creates motivation, right?"

Yan Aohan was stunned by Zhu Yanyi’s words, then said, "You took all the good and bad words. I don’t know what to say."

"No need to say anything. Let’s hurry and find Little Water. That’s the real business," Zhu Yanyi made a funny face.

Yan Aohan raised an eyebrow and accepted his wife’s request, starting to search for the Water Spirit.

Finding a spirit with an aura completely opposite to this place was not easy, especially in a place full of traps.

Yes, in their eyes, this Scorching Canyon was a place full of traps. Whether it was quicksand or poisonous scorpions, these were all natural traps.

"This place feels very unharmonious," Zhu Yanyi said to Yan Aohan, confusion in her eyes.

Yan Aohan felt the same. The feeling was too obvious. In their eyes, this Scorching Canyon had an unfathomable feel.

First, there were the Daoist Mystery Stones. Then, there was the layout.

Yes, the unharmonious part was the layout. Generally, East is Wood, South is Fire, West is Metal, North is Water, and Center is Earth. But here, it showed South Water and East Fire. This was not a random layout.

"I feel like this layout is like a child playing house," Zhu Yanyi said seriously.

Yes, it felt like a child playing house. Because children don’t understand anything, they place things randomly. Random placement means no rules. Without rules, it looked unharmonious to Yan Aohan and Zhu Yanyi.

"South Water and East Fire is an impossible layout," Yan Aohan thought. He walked to the south. The so-called "water" was actually a hot spring.

"There is water here, and it’s a hot spring. Is it related to this layout?" Zhu Yanyi asked. "The south is originally for fire. Having water on top of fire makes it a hot spring. Doesn’t that make sense?"

"You know what, your guess makes sense," Yan Aohan nodded seriously.

Zhu Yanyi thought for a moment. "Could the Water Spirit be in this hot spring?"

"Master, Little Water is down there," Xiao Mu poked his head out. Because there was little vitality here, Xiao Mu didn’t come out fully, just his head. "I can feel it. Little Water is at the bottom of the lake. But the water here is strange. Little Water probably can’t last long."

Hearing this, Zhu Yanyi looked at Yan Aohan. "Shall we go down and check?"

Yan Aohan had no objection. "Since that’s the case, let’s go down and see."

Considering safety, Yan Aohan told Luo Gang and the others to guard here. "Be careful. Hide well. This place is not as simple as it looks."

A place with Daoist Mystery Stones was definitely not simple in Yan Aohan’s view. But finding the Water Spirit was the most important thing now.

"Mr. Yan, Madam, be careful," Luo Gang said. She didn’t worry about their abilities. They all knew Yan Aohan and Zhu Yanyi were no longer ordinary people.

Yan Aohan smiled. "Don’t worry. We two will be fine. We are just going down to look for something. We’ll come up after we’re done."

"Just be careful. The water temperature is a bit high," Li Yang said, testing the water with his hand.

"Don’t worry. The water won’t touch us. We are invulnerable to water and fire," Zhu Yanyi smiled, revealing a little secret. She nodded to Yan Aohan, and the two quietly floated down.

Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan carefully floated into the hot spring. The moment they entered the water, their cultivator protection appeared. So the water temperature couldn’t hurt them.

The couple held hands and slowly floated to the bottom.

Probably because the temperature was too high, there was nothing at the bottom. Not even water plants.

"Strange. Although this is a hot spring, why are there no adaptive water plants?" Zhu Yanyi said casually.

Yan Aohan thought for a moment. "Wife, do you remember the Eight-Headed Snake?"

"I remember. Isn’t it now worshipped as the Dragon God in our home in Four Towns? Didn’t we secretly look at it last time we went back? It adapted pretty well," Zhu Yanyi said. Then her mind turned, and she understood Yan Aohan’s words. "You mean there are animals at the bottom of this lake?"

"I should say, animals with intelligence," Yan Aohan said.

"Xiao Mu activated the wood element, which also activated the vitality element. Thus, plants and animals will evolve gradually. Humans will also have different changes. But humans have evolved many times before, so this evolution is slower. Unlike plants and animals, they didn’t have intelligence before. But precisely because of that, they can feel the changes in the air of this plane better. So it’s understandable that plants and animals evolve faster."

Yan Aohan pointed to the lake bottom. "I see no small fish or shrimp, not even water plants. We know this lake is not dead. So my only guess is that there might be some animal here, one with intelligence."

Zhu Yanyi was slightly startled and said quickly, "Then let’s be careful."

Although they weren’t afraid of being ambushed, both Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan knew that caution was key.

Yan Aohan scanned with his spiritual sense and saw a black hole. The hole was not big, triangular, about two hands wide. From the outside, it looked pitch black inside, as if there was nothing. But Yan Aohan sensed life. "It’s here."

Yan Aohan found it, and Zhu Yanyi found it too. She went over, looked at the hole, and said, "We searched around, and there are no signs of the Water Spirit at the bottom of the lake. Could the Water Spirit be in this hole?"

"Very likely," Yan Aohan nodded, looking like it was indeed possible.

"What do we do? Blow up this hole?" Zhu Yanyi looked at Yan Aohan.

"Do you have explosives?" Yan Aohan knew Zhu Yanyi carried many miscellaneous items.

"No, but I have Thunder Pills given to me by Senior Brother Ouyang. They are much better than explosives," Zhu Yanyi took out a red, thumb-sized ball. "Look, it’s small and easy to carry."

Yan Aohan looked at it and nodded. "Indeed good. This thing is really good. It’s convenient to carry. It’s useful in emergencies."

Zhu Yanyi smiled. "I think so too. So I brought one hundred. Do you want any?"

"One hundred…?" Yan Aohan looked at Zhu Yanyi speechlessly. "Ouyang Tianyun gave you this to blow up a planet?"

Zhu Yanyi smiled. "How could that be? I thought it was for self-defense. I just never used it."

Yan Aohan glared at Zhu Yanyi. "In this plane, one Thunder Pill would blow a big hole for you."

Then, Yan Aohan faced the cave and flicked his finger slightly. To others, it seemed like no action. But Zhu Yanyi knew Yan Aohan had shot finger wind. So there was no need to think about anything else. It was definitely blown up.

Sure enough, the underwater cave made a muffled sound, then ‘pop’ and exploded. Then a muddy water burst out, and a black thing wiggled out. It was a large catfish.

The catfish was over one meter long, with a body width of thirty to forty centimeters. It was shiny black, obviously living very well here.

"It’s a catfish. They say catfish have very strong vitality. I didn’t know before, but now I do. But I also heard that among all fish, catfish are the dirtiest. They can survive in any environment. Even if thrown into a cesspit, they can live and jump around," Zhu Yanyi said to Yan Aohan.

Yan Aohan looked at the catfish. "Pity. Although it has some spirituality, it hasn’t opened its intelligence. We’ll kill it later and add it to Luo Gang and the others’ meal. It can help deepen their internal energy."