Chapter 1760: Mysterious River

Second, the strange plants growing out of the sea flood dragon’s body had long become one with it. They would wither and lose all of their potency the second they left its body.

Therefore, the only way to use the strange plants was to consume them on the sea flood dragon’s back. Taking them away was impossible.

Of course, such an action would make running away even harder than it already was.

If this was some other place, the trio might have succumbed to their temptation. However, this was Dong Ji, an inexplicably mysterious and dangerous place. If they infuriated the sea flood dragon, then the consequences would be unimaginable. It was simply unnecessary and not worth it to put oneself in grave danger just for some minor profit.

So, they had no choice but to suppress their desires and admire the garden of rare and anomalous plants in peace.

About an hour later, the group finally finished their tour across the sea flood dragon’s back and left. They did not linger.

It was one thing to bear the presence of these priceless plants for a short duration, and another to fight the temptation of stealing them for a long time. That was why they chose to leave as soon as they were done with their tour.

“I sense it!”

After leaving the Sea Dragon Flower behind, the group wandered aimlessly for a bit until suddenly, a strange sensation gripped Ye Qing. It was King Taishan sensing the evil suppressing spiritual treasure.

“Have you found a clue?” Feng Qingyou asked.

“I have. It’s down that direction.”

Ye Qing pointed forward and declared, “It looks like we’ll have to continue east.”

This also meant that they needed to venture deeper into Dong Ji and encounter more danger.

It wasn’t long before a river blocked the group’s way.

The river was incredibly vast and wide. It spanned from the north toward the south. The land to the north was higher, and the land to the south was lower. Logically speaking, the river should flow from north to south. In reality, it was the opposite. It was flowing from south to north; from lowland to high ground.

If that was all, it wouldn’t be an issue. The problem was that the river was bubbling and steaming like boiling water.

When the steam rose about halfway to the sky though, they abruptly condensed into thick, dark clouds as if they had encountered a terribly cold air current. Black thunder flashed, and silver serpents flailed wildly in the clouds, loud and deafening.

“What is this river, girl? How can we cross it?” Ye Qing asked Lingyu. It did not take a genius to know that this river was unusual.

Lingyu furrowed her brows and thought for a moment. However, she shook her head and said, “I don’t know. The books didn’t mention anything like it.”

“Do you know anything, elder?” Ye Qing looked at Old Man Turtle next.

Old Man Turtle also thought carefully before shaking his head. “I do not remember ever seeing this river. I believe it only appeared in the past couple decades or so.”

Ye Qing nodded. Dong Ji was chaotic, orderless, and everchanging. Destruction and birth happened at every moment. Therefore, it wasn’t all that surprising that this river would appear now even though it didn’t exist in the past.

Unfortunately, they must cross this river. It was because the evil suppressing spiritual treasure existed beyond it. It was either inside this river or on the other shore of the river.

Ye Qing tapped his finger and unleashed a wave of demonic thought. However, as soon as the wave reached the airspace of the river, the waters bubbled even harder than they already were and melted his demonic thought into steam.

At the same time, blacking thunder struck down from above and annihilated his demonic thought.

As if that wasn’t enough, the thunder somehow crept across his formless demonic thought and rapidly approached his mind.

Ye Qing could clearly sense the cold, yin, and all silencing power of the black thunder.

Right before the thunder would reach his mind, Ye Qing flicked a finger and destroyed it all.

“It’s the Kui Water Yin Demonic Thunder,” Feng Qingyou said.

The Kui Water Yin Demonic Thunder was one of the most yin and anomalous thunders in the world. It only harmed the intangible.

To use a human as an example, it would not hurt a hair on a human’s body, but would annihilate their spirit and soul into nothing. It was quite terrible to say the least.

Next, Ye Qing waved his hand and summoned a piece of paper. In the air, the paper swiftly folded itself into a paper boat.

When the paper landed on the water, it transformed into a real boat.

However, the moment the boat made contact with the surface of the water, the river started bubbling and steaming again as if enraged. At the same time, Kui Water Yin Demonic Thunder struck down from above.

In just the blink of an eye, the boat was overwhelmed and dragged to the bottom of the sea.

“The river seems to reject all things foreign.”

Old Man Turtle frowned. “It won’t be easy to pass through it by force!”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Be it the boiling river or the spirit-killing Kui Water Yin Demonic Thunder, both were deadly threats they could not ignore.

If the river wasn’t wide, then they could have just crossed it via brute force. However, they couldn’t see the shore from where they were standing. Therefore, the brute force method might not work as well as they hoped.

Besides, who was to say that there wasn’t other dangers besides the river and the thunder?

“Qingyou, you go south, and I’ll go north. Let’s see if we can skip this river.”

Ye Qing declared after mulling over their options for a moment. For now, he did not want to brave the river unless absolutely necessary. “Whatever we find, we’ll meet up here two hours later.”

Lingyu was going to say something, but Ye Qing interrupted her as if he could guess her thoughts, “Elder, Lingyu, stay here and wait for our return.”

“God it.” Old Man Turtle nodded.

Lingyu had no choice but to swallow whatever she was going to say and respond with a reluctant, “Fine.”

“Be careful.” Ye Qing nodded at Feng Qingyou before taking off toward the northside of the river.

One hour passed in the blink of an eye. Ye Qing let out a sigh as he stared at the massive, seemingly unchanged river.

With his strength and speed, one hour was enough for him to cross hundreds, even thousands of kilometers. However, not only did he fail to find anything resembling an endpoint, the river itself looked more or less identical to before.

“Sigh... I guess there’s no other option besides braving it.”

Ye Qing sighed and got ready to return when suddenly, he saw a boat in the distance. It was moving swiftly toward him.

“How is there a boat in the river?”

Ye Qing was puzzled. He waited for the boat to come closer.

The river was bubbling hard enough to create massive waves. The steam was so thick that there were gales constantly blowing toward the shore. Despite this, the boat sailed through it so steadily it was like they didn’t exist.

The Kui Water Yin Demonic Thunder seemed to ignore the boat’s existence as well.

When the boat came closer, Ye Qing finally realized that a boatman was steering the boat.

It wasn’t a human though. It was a set of clothes. A gray long robe to be exact.