Book 03 Chapter 041: Water Deity Opening an Aperture

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Long Wanqing and Venerable Liu Nian instantly froze into ice statues.

Gu Hai’s expression changed. It was too late to try and save them. Ice statues? He did not dare to touch them lest he shatter them.

Furthermore, even Venerable Liu Nian could not block this cold energy with his cultivation, instantly freezing into an ice statue. No wonder the dragons stood guard here but did not do anything else.

It turned out that this huge ice block contained such strong cold energy.

“Hah…I just told them to wait for me and not to touch it.” Shangguan Hen’s voice suddenly rang out, carrying bitter amusement.

“Shangguan Hen, are you done?” Gu Hai looked at Shangguan Hen.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty. I have now reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Furthermore, I can drive some Divine Energy!” Shangguan Hen said excitedly.

However, Gu Hai could not bring himself to be happy. “Long Wanqing and Venerable Liu Nian are sealed in ice. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Your Majesty, rest assured. They are fine. They can last for two or three days without any problems.” Shangguan Hen smiled.

“Oh?” Gu Hai gave Shangguan Hen a bewildered look. To think that Shangguan Hen could smile at such a time.

“Your Majesty, this ice is not ordinary ice. Instead, it is a dead water deity,” Shangguan Hen explained.

“A dead water deity?” Gu Hai said in confusion.

“Yes, the divine of lifespan, blessings, divine, cultural, and spiritual! This is the deity of a water-attributed animal spirit race. However, this race already went extinct while its deity remained. Time wore it down before it eventually perished. Since this animal spirit race already went extinct, it means that this deity no longer has any consciousness, becoming a kind of treasure,” Shangguan Hen explained.

“Treasure?”

“Yes! Ordinary people cannot touch it. Although this deity is dead, it contains the boundless resentment of an entire race. A water-attributed deity manifests this resentment as ice. Hence, it does not give off much cold energy despite looking like a block of ice. Even the surrounding sea was not sealed in ice,” Shangguan Hen explained.

“A deity? It is useful to you, right?” Gu Hai looked at Shangguan Hen.

“Yes. I also have a deity in me. Only the prime of every race would understand what this is. However, this item is even more useful to Your Majesty. I have already obtained the snake head. This item should go to Your Majesty,” Shangguan Hen said with a smile.

“Oh?” Gu Hai said in confusion.

“Use this deity to refine your kidney aperture, forming a water deity palace. In the future, the nascent soul that Your Majesty forms will be several times stronger than others Your water-attributed techniques will also be several times stronger than others Shangguan Hen said.

“The kidneys are of the water attribute. Use this item to open the kidney aperture?” Gu Hai felt startled.

Earlier, Gu Hai ate a group of gigantic dragons. Right now, he found the energy in his body unbearable. However, he could not break open any apertures.

Furthermore, how vast was this hard ice? It could even encase one million bronze statues.

“Your Majesty, that is not how to collect a deity—furthermore, a dead deity. Although it is dead, it instinctually hopes to dwell somewhere. A person’s kidney aperture is the best place. I’ll help Your Majesty consume it and send it to your kidneys. It can help you open the kidney apertures and establish a water deity palace,” Shangguan Hen explained.

“Oh?” Gu Hai felt startled.

Then, Gu Hai saw Shangguan Hen close his eyes, and a green light appeared on his forehead as he extended a finger.

Buzz!

A ring of light containing energy came out of Shangguan Hen’s forehead and charged at the monumental block of hard ice.

Whoosh!

The moment the ring of light touched the hard ice, ripples appeared in the hard ice like it was water.

Soon, the ripples moved rhythmically, revealing a deep-blue clump of energy.

“Your Majesty, that is the essence of a deity. It will not freeze you. After you absorb it into your body, use your will to drive it into your kidneys. It will automatically open your kidney aperture!” Shangguan Hen called out.

Gu Hai sat down cross-legged, opened his mouth, and sucked.

Whoosh!

The deep-blue clump of energy entered Gu Hai’s mouth.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Frost instantly covered Gu Hai’s entire body.

Gu Hai did not dare to hesitate. He willed that clump of energy to his kidneys with all his might.

Buzz!

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out as the deep-blue energy blasted the kidney aperture open.

A large dantian-like space revealed itself to Gu Hai.

Whoosh!

The deep-blue energy suddenly rushed into the space. Then, a large amount of cold energy wrapped around Gu Hai’s kidneys, turning them icy-blue.

Whoosh!

All the cold energy on Gu Hai’s body rushed inside. The frost and cold energy that covered him promptly vanished.

Then, Gu Hai opened his mouth and sucked, the monumental block of hard ice dwindling quickly.

Shangguan Hen had already moved to the side, standing guard over Gu Hai.

The water deity’s energy filled the kidney aperture, strengthening Gu Hai’s kidney as it constructed a water deity palace.

Rumble…!

The hard ice strangely melted into energy that poured into Gu Hai’s body.

——

At the ritual array Gu Hai laid on the sea surface:

“Ha!” Fang Minghou shouted.

Boom!

The cloud beast general holding down Fang Minghou exploded.

“Young Master An, be careful!” Fang Minghou sent a palm strike at the cloud beast holding Lu An.

Boom!

That cloud beast general exploded as well.

“Huff! Huff! Huff! I finally got out. Fang Minghou, hurry! Quickly break the ritual array and leave this place!” Lu An said with fear in his voice.

After all, the scene of Gu Hai massacring the dragons still lingered in his mind.

Boom!

Fang Minghou extended his hand to attack the nearby fog.

Crack!

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the ritual array.

“Young Master An, follow me. I saw Gu Hai control the ritual array from here earlier. I managed to open a hole, but I don’t know how long it can last,” Fang Minghou called out.

As Fang Minghou spoke, he immediately pulled on Lu An and jumped out of the hole.

Whoosh!

The instant the two flew out of the hole, the hole closed.

After the two escaped the ritual array, they stood on the sea and looked at the large ritual array before them in horror.

The sea appeared very calm, covered by a seemingly unremarkable foggy ritual array. Who could have expected this ritual array to hide such horrifying dangers?

“Let’s go. Fang Minghou, let’s immediately leave this place,” Lu An said fearfully.

“No. Young Master An, wait here. I’ll go down and take a look.” Fang Minghou narrowed his eyes while shaking his head.

After speaking, Fang Minghou entered the sea with a murderous gaze.

——

On an island in the distance:

One hundred gray-clad men gathered in the place. The one leading them was Sima Changkong.

“Milord, look. It is that foggy ritual array,” someone said.

“Oh? Hey! Those two…” Sima Changkong frowned slightly.

“It is Fang Minghou and Lu An? They came out of the ritual array? Something happened over there?” the gray-clad man monitoring the place exclaimed.

“Fang Minghou went around the ritual array and entered the sea?”

——

Fang Minghou showed a murderous gaze and a ferocious expression as he plunged to the bottom of the sea. Soon, he reached the trench. As he approached carefully, he took out a saber.

Rumble…!

Rumbling came from the depths of the trench. Fang Minghou quickly arrived at the bottom and saw the scene inside.

Fang Minghou had seen the hard ice inside before. However, half the boundless, hard ice had already disappeared. Furthermore, the hard ice seemed to be melting into energy that entered Gu Hai’s mouth.

“How can this be? Won’t one die from touching this hard ice?” Fang Minghou said in shock.

Venerable Liu Nian and Long Wanqing are already frozen. This leaves only that, what’s-his-name, Shangguan Hen or something. That Golden Core Realm cultivator?

A ferocious look flashed in Fang Minghou’s eyes. This is a great opportunity.

“Who is it?” Shangguan Hen suddenly raised his eyebrows as he turned his head.

Fang Minghou did not hesitate. He held up his saber and charged over. As he swung his saber down, a golden manifested saber swung down on Shangguan Hen.

Boom!

The manifested saber was ferocious and powerful. An ordinary Golden Core Realm cultivator could not block it. Fang Minghou believed that this saber strike would kill Shangguan Hen.

“The profound snake constantly changes, advancing courageously!” Shangguan Hen chanted coldly with a glare.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a lush-green ring of light appeared at Shangguan Hen’s forehead. As it expanded, it suddenly turned into a translucent, thirty-meter-long, green snake.

The moment the green snake appeared, it dyed the surrounding sea green as it clashed with the golden manifested saber.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

The golden manifested saber gave off sizzling sounds, strangely getting eroded.

The green snake shrank, but it instantly charged towards Fang Minghou.

“What?” Fang Minghou’s expression changed as he threw a palm strike.

Boom!

The green snake exploded while Fang Minghou fled in horror.

Bang!

The horrified Fang Minghou leaped out of the sea.

“Fang Minghou, what’s wrong? Why are you all green?” Lu An exclaimed.

“Go! Young Master An, quickly go! Argh!” Fang Minghou screamed in horror as boils broke out on his face.

Whoosh!

Fang Minghou pulled on Lu An, and they immediately shot off towards the horizon.

Blargh! Blargh!

Fang Minghou vomited blood as he flew, showing a horrified expression.

“You got poisoned? What poison is it? It’s so intense that you actually cannot resist it with your cultivation?” Lu An exclaimed.

“Quickly leave! Quickly leave!” Fang Minghou fainted amid his horror.

Lu An shivered as he fled into the distance while carrying Fang Minghou.

——

Far away, Sima Changkong and others felt shocked as they watched the two flee.

“Milord, should we give chase?”

Sima Changkong narrowed his eyes while shaking his head. “There’s no need. It would be useless. What exactly is under the sea? Fang Minghou is already in the Fifth Nascent Soul Stage. Nonetheless, he fled in such a sorry state after being down there for a while.”

——

At the bottom of the sea:

Shangguan Hen watched as Fang Minghou fled. Then, he said coldly, “Go on and flee. Fleeing is useless. I can already use some Divine Energy. No one can remove my Divine Snake Poison but me.”

Then, Shangguan Hen turned his head to Gu Hai again and continued to protect him.

The hard ice continued to melt into surging energy that poured into Gu Hai’s body. Now, only a tenth remained of the block of hard ice.

Gu Hai’s consciousness entered the space in the kidney aperture. This was a small space like the dantian. However, his dantian contained Spiritual Progenitor and appeared purple. This dantian-like space was blue, appearing like ice and water.

The kidney aperture opened. The second stage of the Golden Core Realm? Gu Hai thought excitedly.

Rumble…!

The hard ice had now completely melted and entered the kidney aperture. If there were no flesh around his kidneys, Gu Hai would be able to see his kidneys giving off a faint blue light, looking crystalline.

Gu Hai’s kidneys seemed to contain a boundless, vibrant lifeforce.

His genitals seemed greatly strengthened, as though he had inexhaustible energy.

[TL Note: In traditional Chinese medicine, one’s sexual prowess results from the kidneys. Any male genitalia disease is attributed to the weakening of the kidneys and is treated as kidney disease. Medicine for boosting the libido or sexual prowess also works by enhancing the kidneys.]

Boom!

After the kidney aperture opened, the energy that Gu Hai consumed earlier found a place to go to. It moved like a raging river into the kidneys. The moment it entered the kidney aperture, the cold energy in the kidney aperture altered it, turning it into clumps of ice-blue Veritable Essence.

The Veritable Essence gathered in the center, forming a liquid ball.

Gu Hai also sucked out the cold energy in the bodies of Long Wanqing and Venerable Liu Nian.

The two remained stiff for a while before coming to their senses.

“What happened earlier?” Long Wanqing asked in confusion as she shivered.

“You broke the ice? How did you do it?” Venerable Liu Nian exclaimed.

Shangguan Hen looked at the two and smiled faintly, but he did not explain. He just continued guarding Gu Hai.

Now, the two noticed that Gu Hai’s body glowed with a faint blue light. The earlier flushed complexion slowly faded.

“Is Gu Hai breaking through?” Venerable Liu Nian exclaimed.

Everyone waited patiently. At the same time, they turned their heads to look around the seabed.

Without the hard ice, the one million bronze statues were now exposed to the sea.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The large banner with the “silver moon” words that the frontmost bronze statue held started fluttering.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the bronze statue holding the large banner shook slightly, giving off a hollow cry.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The hollow cry seemed infectious, quickly spreading to the other bronze statues. Soon, all one million statues started shaking.

“This is?” everyone exclaimed.

——

Two million fairies flew about the vast Silver Moon Sea, moving rapidly.

When the bronze statues before Gu Hai shook, the two million fairies paused at the same time as though they had heard something.

Ding ding ding ding!

The fairies suddenly went into a frenzy. They flapped their wings and quickly flew to the southern region of the Silver Moon Sea, flying towards the bronze statues.

——

Fairy Waner continuously played her guqin to attract the fairies to an island.

The yellow fairy flew increasingly closer to Fairy Waner. It even closed its eyes as it danced in the air.

Fairy Waner’s heart pounded. As she played the guqin with her right hand, she extended her left hand towards the yellow fairy. There was just a short distance left.

I touched it. My fingertips touched it!

I succeeded! I’m about to capture Ensnaring Performance’s soul!

Buzz!

As Fairy Waner was about to grab Ensnaring Performance’s soul, a sound rang out, causing all the fairies to pause.

“Huh? What sound is that?” The yellow fairy’s eyes popped open.

“Ah! Me first! Me first!” The yellow fairy suddenly revealed an expression of wild joy. Then, its wings flapping rapidly, it sped south.

“What? No, don’t run!” Fairy Waner stumbled, failing to catch the yellow fairy.

She nearly caught Ensnaring Performance’s soul, but it managed to escape and fly away?

It was not just the yellow fairy. All the surrounding azure fairies also quickly flew away, revealing expressions of wild joy as they headed to the south.

“No! Who is it?! Who ruined my plan?! Ah! Bastard!” Fairy Waner leaped to her feet in frustration.

Whoosh!

Fairy Waner picked up her guqin and quickly gave chase. At the sight of Ensnaring Performance’s soul flying increasingly farther away, her heart bled.

Who did this? Who?! Fairy Waner felt like crying but could not.