Chapter 837 – Whirlpool at the Bottom of the Lake

The clan leaders of the nine clans weren’t the only cultivators present; there were many regular people around too.

When the news of the Black Emperor Key spread, the fact that Long Chen had beaten Wu Guangyu to become the champion of the Martial Youth Competition was not shocking anymore. They were more concerned about the location of the Black Emperor Key.

Theoretically, anyone could get the key. This was due to the situation at Tianyi Water City.

Long Chen was currently standing next to Tianyi Lake.

Tianyi Lake was at the center of the Water District. There was more water than land in the Water District, as there were lakes everywhere. Tianyi Lake was the largest of them. Long Chen could not even see the other side of the lake when he stood on the edge, which showed just how gigantic it was.

It was as large as the gigantic tree beneath Heavenly Wood City.

At the center of Tianyi Lake, there was a city built on top of the water. This was the legendary Tianyi Water City. From afar, it looked like a pure white fortress. The miraculousness of its architecture and its elegance put it on the same level as Heavenly Wood City.

The water within a five-hundred-meter radius of the city was extremely calm. However, it was completely different beyond that. The rest of the lake spun quickly around the city, forming a gigantic whirlpool. While Long Chen stood on the edge of Tianyi Lake, water splashed out constantly, making it feel like it was raining.

The copious amounts of spinning water resulted in a very strong current. Those who had not reached the Earthly Martial Realm could not even stand in the lake; even Long Chen would likely be greatly affected by it. Long Chen knew that it was not going to be easy for Wu Lian and the others to find the Black Emperor Key within the whirlpool.

No one knew where the information came from, but someone saw the Black Emperor Key fall from the sky with their own eyes, and it had fallen into the whirlpool. Currently, many cultivators were squeezed within the lake in search of it. The nine clan leaders actually arrived a little late. However, most of the cultivators were searching blindly.

Furthermore, the longer those people stayed in the water, the higher their chances of getting injured from the current, or even death.

People were willing to die for riches. Although they saw other people dying, no one was discouraged.

The Black Emperor Key was extremely important to the nine clans, especially the Five Elements Alliance, who only had two people entering the Five Emperors’ Secret Realm despite having so many Heavenly Martial Realm cultivators. They had mobilized everyone available to search for the key.

Tianyi Water City was the Water and Wood clans’ base. Therefore, the moment the Black Emperor Key appeared, both clans entered the lake. The people of the Five Elements Alliance were very aggressive and had long warned all the other cultivators not to enter. However, there were too many of them to manage, and since the experts of the clan were away, they were unable to stop the outsiders.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

By the time the higher-ups returned, the place had descended into chaos. However, there was still no news of the Black Emperor Key.

The Five Elements Alliance was worried that outsiders would take away the Black Emperor Key, so they mobilized many experts to kill them or drive them away. This caused an even larger commotion, and many people died in the lake.

Fights were taking place on every corner of the lake. Initially, the Five Elements Alliance wanted the Divine Wind and Thunder Demon factions to work together with them to drive the regular cultivators away, but Wu Lian and Bai Lan ignored them and went off to search for the Black Emperor Key on their own.

The Five Elements Alliance was the most desperate for the key.

Bai Lan and Wu Lian did not want to form major grudges with the regular cultivators, as they made up a majority of the population in the Ten Thousand Nations Territory.

As a result, only the Five Elements Alliance dealt with those people. As the killing continued, the gigantic Tianyi Lake was starting to become red from the blood.

Those cultivators could only leave the Ancient Graveyard once their Ancient Tokens turned golden. Therefore, killing was inevitable in this place.

One by one, people started to die.

If they did not die now, there would be another round of killing in half a year, when the exit out of the Ancient Graveyard opened. There would be so much bloodshed that rivers of blood would form. The people who came to the Ancient Graveyard were ready to die.

Long Chen’s eyebrows were mildly furrowed as he watched.

As the Five Elements Alliance continued their aggressive massacre, those who had failed to find the Black Emperor Key no longer dared to enter the lake.

It was not worth it to die without having found anything.

The Five Elements Alliance took over the whole lake. Bai Lan and Lei Ji were probably in the water already.

After Long Chen arrived, he put Xiaolang and Little Cat in the Primordial Realm. He kept a very low profile, and since not many people had met him before, no one recognized him. There were many cultivators like him in the lake anyway.

As he prepared to enter, he suddenly sensed Bai Lan and Lei Ji’s auras. Then both of them emerged from the lakebed, and based on their expressions, they had not found the Black Emperor Key.

Long Chen moved slightly, and they noticed him. When they recognized him, they were stunned for a moment, then approached immediately. Bai Lan asked, “Why did you come? Weren’t you returning to Heavenly Wood City?”

Long Chen said, “I came to help, and also to search for a water-type treasure in the Water District. Nothing much is going on in the Wood District, so after escorting them for a while, I came here. I’ve been searching for two or three days, but I haven’t found anything yet. What about you guys?”

Long Chen had previously asked for a wood-type treasure from them before, so they believed him.

He mentioned that he had been searching for two or three days so that other people would not suspect that Wu Guangyu’s disappearance had anything to do with him. Long Chen still did not know that Feng Zhilin had also disappeared, nor that the Divine Wind Faction was currently searching for both of them.

If Feng Zhilin had not gone missing as well, they would have guessed that Long Chen had killed Wu Guangyu.

Therefore, this was a good thing for Long Chen.

“Since you’re here already, let’s search together. We will also keep an eye out for water-type treasures. The two of us were initially working separately. Do you want to join us, or ...?” asked Bai Lan.

“I’ll work alone. Very few people here know me anyway,” said Long Chen with a grin.

Indeed, most people from the Divine Wind Faction knew him, but they weren’t here. Very few members of the Five Elements Alliance knew who he was, so they treated him as a regular cultivator.

“Alright. Be careful. If anything happens, just shout. We will hear you.” After that, Bai Lan left Long Chen on his own. Since the youth could defeat Wu Guangyu, he was assured enough to leave him on his own.

After a short chat, Bai Lan and Lei Ji entered Tianyi Lake’s whirlpool. Long Chen did the same.

Long Chen finally felt its power when he was truly inside it. It was indeed terrifying, and with his current strength, he had to work hard to stabilize himself so he would not be flushed away.

It was hard enough to stabilize himself, let alone search for something. The current was so swift that he could not see anything.

Finding the Black Emperor Key would require a lot of luck.

Maybe someone had already taken it.

Long Chen’s only advantage was the Five Emperor Seals. When Bai Lan previously took out his Emperor Key, they had a slight reaction, since both the seals and the keys came from the same source.

Based on the same faint sensation, Long Chen had a feeling that the Black Emperor Key was indeed somewhere in the lake. He had a high chance of finding the key; it was just a matter of time.

The competition for access to the Five Emperors’ Secret Realm is very intense. I’d rather the slots for the Black Emperor Key go to waste than let the Five Elements Alliance bring more people into the secret realm. Even Bai Lan is searching for the key. If I find it, I’ll take it away ...

After forming his plan, he started to move blindly within the lake, trying to figure out the key’s location through the sensation from the Five Emperor Seals in his hand. The stronger the feeling, the nearer he was to the Black Emperor Key.

Along the way, he encountered a lot of fights, but he ignored them.

After he wandered around the lake for a long time, he finally felt the sensation growing stronger.

“This way ...” He could even roughly sense which direction it was in.

It was beneath his feet.

I can’t believe that these people have been searching for days, yet I found it first. Many people have passed by this spot, but they aren’t searching carefully, so how could they ever hope to find it?

Long Chen continued to dive deeper. The lake was far deeper than he expected, and after descending a few hundred meters, he still did not see the bottom. However, the feeling in his hand was growing much stronger.

Is there someone down there?

After diving for a while, he suddenly noticed someone below. That person was not far away from the location of the Black Emperor Key.

What a coincidence! I have just arrived, but someone has already taken it away.

Long Chen felt disappointed. He had a feeling that this person was an expert.

However, he could still feel the Black Emperor Key, so it had not been taken away yet.

Heavenly Martial Realm masters were the only ones in the Ancient Graveyard who could scare Long Chen. There were quite a few of them in the lake, and Long Chen was worried he would come across one of them. That was why he was very careful. Still, he did not give up.