Chapter 381 - 355: River Bottom Skeleton
Chapter 381: Chapter 355: River Bottom Skeleton
To fight the buoyancy, Zhao Lin leaned against a large rock, pressing his body against it.
Just then, a dark figure skimmed low across the river’s surface!
The river water was murky, and Zhao Lin couldn’t see the figure above clearly, but his ultrasound traveled unimpeded, precisely pinpointing the figure’s trajectory.
’A Foundation Establishment cultivator!’
Zhao Lin’s heart went cold, and he immediately froze, not daring to move.
The person on the water’s surface was indeed that elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator. His Divine Sense’s detection range was drastically reduced underwater, so in order to find Zhao Lin, he flew close to the river’s surface, constantly scanning the water with his Divine Sense.
Another two hours passed...
Zhao Lin took out a Spirit Stone and began circulating his energy to recover his Spiritual Power.
To avoid alerting anyone, he deliberately concealed his aura and circulated his energy very slowly.
As wisps of Spiritual Qi entered his body, he gradually calmed down.
Zhao Lin began to ponder the reason why the Li and Tao families had ambushed him.
The reasons for killing someone were usually nothing more than revenge, wealth, or punishment.
But he was a complete stranger to both families and possessed no treasures worth killing for. The only reason he could think of was related to his recent message delivery.
’Are they trying to silence me to prevent the story of Li Yuanyou becoming a Yin Soul from spreading?’
’But that reason alone isn’t sufficient. If they wanted to keep it a secret, couldn’t they have just told me so?’
Zhao Lin had a general idea of the reason but was still puzzled.
’No matter the reason, I’ll settle this score sooner or later. The Li family and the Tao family of Three Mountains County... I’ll remember this!’
...
Time trickled by.
The sky gradually darkened, and it was pitch-black underwater.
Zhao Lin looked inward at the Spirit Cultivation Map in his mind and discovered a new magic in the eighth grid: Thunder Blade Skill.
Next to the Thunder Blade Skill was a four-petaled plum blossom.
’A Mastered-level magic?’
Zhao Lin was secretly shocked. This magic had shattered his Rock Armor in a single strike; he had assumed it was a Grand Completion-level magic, but it was only at the Mastered level.
The Thunder Blade Skill was incredibly powerful. He didn’t have any suitable Thunder Element magic of his own, so this would be the perfect one to learn next.
As he was thinking, Zhao Lin felt a tightness in his chest and numbness in his limbs. He knew it was caused by lack of oxygen and that he needed to get air as soon as possible.
But he couldn’t surface now. Who knew if someone was watching from above? Especially at night, when it was quiet, he would be exposed more easily.
Zhao Lin quickly thought of a solution. He formed a hand seal and cast the Water Manipulation Skill.
He controlled the scale of the magic, forming only a small, circular current around his body.
The current spun faster and faster, soon squeezing the air out of the water and forming an air bubble.
Zhao Lin took several deep gulps, feeling a wave of relief. He was surprised to find that the pain in his body was gone too.
He reached out and touched his left ribs, discovering the wound had completely healed.
With most of his Spiritual Power recovered, Zhao Lin decided to keep moving. The farther from Three Mountains County, the better.
After swimming submerged for a while, he suddenly noticed something shimmering on the riverbed.
’Huh?’
Zhao Lin was curious but worried the light might be the eyes of a Demon Beast or a lure like an anglerfish’s. He sent out an ultrasonic probe and, after confirming it wasn’t a living creature, carefully swam closer.
When he got closer, he was surprised to find it was a corpse.
The corpse looked old. The flesh had completely corroded and dissolved, leaving only a skeleton, its original appearance unrecognizable.
Around its neck was a pendant that emitted a faint green glow.
’A woman.’
Zhao Lin made this judgment because the deceased’s pelvic bone was clearly wider than the shoulder bones. The difference in body proportions between men and women was particularly obvious in this regard.
Besides, men rarely wore pendants.
After a moment’s thought, he took a pair of beast-hide gloves from his storage bag, put them on, and picked up a piece of the leg bone.
’A Foundation Establishment cultivator?’
Zhao Lin’s heart stirred. An ordinary corpse would decompose into fragments after a few years underwater, but while this corpse had no flesh or clothing left, its skeleton was perfectly preserved.
Holding it in his hand, he could feel that the bone was extremely hard.
When a cultivator breaks through from the Qi Refining Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm, they undergo a complete metamorphosis. Their bones become as hard as Gold Stone, allowing them to remain intact for much longer after death.
Just then, the Spirit Cultivation Map in his mind began to flicker, seeming to take great interest in the skeleton.
’It really is a Foundation Establishment cultivator!’
Zhao Lin’s heart pounded. The Spirit Cultivation Map could deduce the magic a person knew in life from their skeleton. Since this person was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she must have had some impressive skills.
’Forgive me.’
Zhao Lin bowed to the skeleton, then placed the bones into his storage bag piece by piece, not missing a single one.
The Spirit Cultivation Map could "trace" the magic a cultivator had mastered in life from their skeleton. The more complete the skeleton, the more magic the Spirit Cultivation Map could trace.
The pendant was just ordinary jade with not a trace of Spiritual Qi, but he took it as well.
’I wonder how far I’ve swum?’
Zhao Lin glanced upward, then continued to move along the river bottom, determined not to go ashore until he was certain it was safe.
His enemies were surely still looking for him. And even if he ran into other people, there was no guarantee it would be a good thing.
Boats traveled back and forth on the Feituo River, most of them headed for prefectural cities and market towns.
As long as he followed these boats, he was bound to reach a safe, inhabited area.
...
"What did you say? He got away?"
Li Chenglin thought he had misheard. He questioned Tao Huang and Li Yuanzhi, who stood before him in the hall, with disbelief.
To hunt down and kill Zhao Lin, the two families had dispatched one Foundation Establishment cultivator and three Late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
For such a lineup to fail to kill a mere Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator... if word got out, it would be a complete joke.
"Did someone pass by? Was it inconvenient to act, leading you to accidentally let him escape?"
Li Chenglin thought for a long time; it was the only reason he could come up with.
"There was no one else..."
Tao Huang answered with his head lowered, his face full of shame.
After speaking, he remembered something and quickly added, "But I did injure him."
"Then was he carrying a high-level treasure?"
"No."
"Was he wearing some kind of indestructible inner armor?"
"No."
Li Chenglin’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He asked in a low voice, "Where is your maternal grandfather?"
Tao Huang quickly replied, "Grandfather was tied up by the Hongyan Talisman and couldn’t break free. He’s searching along the river now."
Li Chenglin’s brow furrowed as he looked at Li Yuanzhi.
"What do you have to say? And by the way, why isn’t Yuanlie back?"
"Yuanlie... is dead!"
Li Yuanzhi said with great difficulty, his eyes immediately turning red.
"Dead?"
Li Chenglin’s face went pale, then flushed crimson. He roared, "What in the world happened? Does he have three heads and six arms or something?!"
"Martial Uncle, although this person’s cultivation is only at the Qi Refining Third Layer, he has mastered three Mastered-level magics simultaneously."
Tao Huang took a deep breath and spoke quickly, "The Void Trapping Skill, the Rock Armor Skill, the Water Manipulation Skill, and a Concealment Talisman. On top of that, his Body Technique is incredibly fast. We couldn’t catch him even with the Divine Movement Skill."
Li Yuanzhi nodded as well. "That’s right. Yuanlie was killed in a surprise attack after he mistakenly entered the black fog of the Hidden Escape Skill."
The two of them, speaking one after the other, recounted the entire process.
"That’s not right! Even if he used the Hidden Escape Skill, Yuanlie shouldn’t have been caught completely off guard. How could it have been a one-hit kill?"
Although Li Chenglin was furious, his mind remained calm, and he immediately pointed out the problem in their story.
"My cousin rushed into the black fog and was dead within two breaths. There were five finger holes on the top of his head."
"Right. It wasn’t magic. It was martial arts."
The two answered one after the other.
"A Martial Cultivator is that powerful?"
Li Chenglin’s expression grew so dark it seemed water could drip from it.
Failing to kill Zhao Lin was one thing, but a nephew of the clan had actually died. How was he going to explain this?
Furthermore, Zhao Lin was only at the Qi Refining Third Layer but had already mastered three Mastered-level magics. Making a bitter enemy of such a person would surely lead to disaster in the future!
"This won’t do! Send people to search for him. Even if we have to turn the Feituo River upside down, we have to find him!"
Li Chenglin shot up from his chair and said sternly, "Yuanzhi, notify Zhenyuan Hall immediately. Have them dispatch five speedboats to patrol the river, and take two teams to search along both banks."
Then he turned to Tao Huang. "Nephew Tao, this matter started because of you, so don’t think you can stay out of it. Doesn’t your Tao family have an Honored Guest Elder who excels at Tracking Techniques? Have him come and help as well."
"Yes!"
Li Yuanzhi and Tao Huang replied in unison.