Crash~
The turbid and icy sea water roared as it surged into the collapsed cavern.
The rubble and silt were swept along by the torrents, instantly filling the last remaining gap.
The secret entrance at the foot of the cliff on Daishan Island, in the blink of an eye, was left only with churning whirlpools and the muffled sound of water.
Assistant General Zhou commanded the Navy warships to stand guard and search the outer seas, with cannons bristling, evidently beginning to wrap up the operation.
However, Li Yan and others stood on the wet reef, doubts rising in their hearts.
"Sothing’s off."
Li Yan stared intently at the gradually calm sea, brows deeply furrowed, "Just now, after fierce battles, seemingly killing quite a few enemies and blowing up their ships, but the real key mbers of the Sea Demon Group—Chao Shengwan, Yakimaru, Long Cang, Andre, and that rfolk ’scale,’ none of their traces were seen! Not even the corpses."
Sha Lifei wiped the seawater off his face and spat, "Pah! These pirates are like rats, probably hiding below."
The silent observer Hai Qiao now spoke thoughtfully, "Brother Li’s concern is quite valid. The Sea Demon Group is cunning, entrenched here for years; surely they have an escape route. Those pirates are likely a smoke screen."
"In that case, we must dive down for a closer inspection."
Li Yan’s gaze sharp as he looked at Hai Qiao, "Brother Hai Qiao, you are skilled in Water Attribute Taoist Skills, willing to join ?"
Among those present, his water skills were the best, and the appearance of Hai Qiao just now clearly indicated he was adept underwater as well.
"I intend to."
Hai Qiao nodded, "Though my spells aren’t as wondrous as Brother Li’s, I can manage self-preservation. There’s no ti to lose, let’s go!"
The two stopped speaking further, each performing Mantras and Chanting Spells.
"Nuogao! Naive Taisu, Ren and Gui Essence. Internal corresponds to Kidney, above to rcury..."
As the spell was recited, an ethereal blue waterlight emanated from Li Yan, as if he rged with the sea, his silhouette flickered and he silently imrsed into the waves.
Hai Qiao separated the currents like a fish, closely following behind.
Sha Lifei, Wang Daoxuan, Lv San, and others nervously kept watch on the shore.
The elder Jing Xuanzi from Maoshan also endured the pain, tossed out the Spirit Talisman, enhancing the Divine Skills, sensing the Water Evil Qi’s movent underwater.
The underwater world was a chaos.
The silt stirred by torrents hadn’t settled, visibility was extrely low.
The collapsed massive rocks were jaggedly intertwined, forming a dangerous labyrinth.
Luckily, both were cultivators skilled in water, each casting Divine Skills to investigate, like two ghost shadows traversing the crevices among the rocks.
Li Yan’s Mysterious Water Escape almost rged him entirely with the water.
Occasionally rolling massive rocks were easily dodged by him.
anwhile, Hai Qiao demonstrated seasoned finesse, fluid movents, skillfully utilizing water flow to evade obstacles.
They ticulously searched the subrged cavern.
It appeared there was ample space below the collapsed cavern, corpses of ordinary mbers of the Sea Demon Group were scattered everywhere, either crushed by falling rocks or distorted beyond recognition by water currents, evidently killed while hastily escaping or resisting the collapse.
However, as expected, they did not find any trace of key mbers.
As they went deeper, the bottom of the cavern gradually beca clear.
Beneath piles of relatively neat, partially scattered rubble, suddenly exposed a corner of ancient stone foundation.
Li Yan gestured, and he and Hai Qiao together moved several loose large stones.
A modestly scaled, yet exceptionally primitive structured altar was revealed.
The altar was constructed with dark cyan stone strips, covered with thick seaweed and shellfish, yet the engraved patterns were still recognizable.
It was typically Qin Dynasty style!
Cloud Thunder Pattern, Taotie Pattern interwoven, carrying a grand, substantial aura.
In the center of the altar, a depressed round stone trough appeared, the wall smooth, seemingly had long contained so liquid or tribute.
The most striking feature was the corner of the altar.
Engraved with an indistinct but still recognizable ancient seal character — "Xu"!
Indeed the handiwork of Xu Fu!
Upon seeing this, Li Yan’s heart imdiately understood.
The dense Water Evil Qi above, even yet lingering, mirrored the recent sensation of fog over the sea.
It appeared that those Sea Demon Group pirates discovered Xu Fu’s ancient array and used it to conjure the bizarre white mist.
But such an extensive range, an underground array of certainly not small scale.
This is Daishan Island, still quite a distance from Japan.
And such a large array would surely require significant manpower, dependent on court forces.
The purpose of this altar, what truly is it...
Li Yan full of doubts, searched diligently, but the place was too damaged to find other clues.
anwhile, Hai Qiao had a discovery.
He signaled to Li Yan, then pointed towards a darker corner behind the altar.
Li Yan looked up, saw at the end of the mountain-like piles of rocks, faint traces of a narrow waterway.
It seed to lead deeper into the mountain or to another side of the island.
Unfortunately, this waterway was utterly blocked by larger scale collapse, rocks rugged, jaggedly interlocked, practically impossible to clear by manpower in short ti.
On the edge of the waterway’s stone wall, were fresh and erratic scratch marks, and so fragnted fabric pieces.
Indeed the waterway must lead to sowhere outside!
The two exchanged a look, judgnts already in mind.
They swiftly noted down the situation of the altar and the waterway, searched a mont longer, confirming no further valuable clues or survivors, decisively ascending.
Back on shore, Li Yan and Hai Qiao detailed their underwater findings to everyone present.
Upon hearing of Xu Fu’s altar and the hidden waterway, as well as the news of the Sea Demon Group’s core collective escaping, Assistant General Zhou’s face turned livid, and Sha Lifei was so infuriated he started jumping with rage.
"Damn it! The cooked duck flew away!" Sha Lifei was filled with helplessness, "Lord Zhou, quickly dispatch boats to seal off all surrounding seas; dig three feet of ground to drag this group of bastards out!"
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