When Ye Yunfei looked carefully, he found the area beneath the lake water was dark and obscure, containing weird energy and laws. His Soul Power simply could not penetrate to perceive what lay below.
"It was really incredibly fortunate that you managed to pick two Soul Lotuses here back then. If it were now, forget picking two Soul Lotuses, getting close to that small lake would be difficult for you." After observing for a while, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but remark to the green-robed elder.
"Yes, I was indeed very lucky back then," the green-robed elder replied with a nod, his heart secretly shuddering as he felt the weird aura emanating from the small lake.
"However, no matter what, I have to give it a try," Ye Yunfei said to himself. If he couldn't obtain the Soul Lotus, there would be no way to thoroughly cure Ji Yue's Soul Body! Therefore, even if the small lake was filled with danger, Ye Yunfei wouldn't give up.
"Brother Su, look, it seems those five Soul Lotuses in the lake haven't bloomed to their fullest brilliance yet. I estimate that when these five Soul Lotuses reach their peak bloom, that terrifying existence at the bottom of the lake will definitely make its move to pick them," Situ Kong'er suddenly said.
"Yes, these five Soul Lotuses indeed haven't bloomed to their fullest brilliance yet," Ye Yunfei agreed after sweeping his gaze over the five lotuses in the lake.
Splash, splash, splash...
At this moment, the water in the small lake suddenly began to churn, a whirlpool appearing at the lake's center.
"That presence at the lake bottom seems to have detected us. Let's fall back a bit," Ye Yunfei said upon seeing this, sending a Sound Transmission to Situ Kong'er and the green-robed elder.
Whoosh!
Ye Yunfei brought Situ Kong'er and the green-robed elder into a rapid retreat, moving away in an instant. Not long after, Ye Yunfei reappeared on top of a mountain peak in the distance, gazing from afar at the small lake.
"Brother Su, how should we act?" Situ Kong'er asked.
"Nothing for now," Ye Yunfei answered.
"Since there really isn't a plan, let's just charge straight in," Situ Kong'er said, gritting his teeth.
"The existence at the bottom of that small lake is extremely terrifying; we probably can't defeat him. Charging in head-on isn't a good method. We can only rely on clever tactics," Ye Yunfei said, shaking his head.
"Hmm? This area has exactly eighteen mountain peaks, which actually matches the Eighteen Asura Killing God formation!" Ye Yunfei surveyed the terrain of this area, discovering a total of eighteen mountain peaks surrounding it, causing his heart to stir. *The Eighteen Asura Killing God formation is an extremely sinister grand formation in geomancy studies. Once laid out, its power is frightening,* Ye Yunfei thought to himself.
"Kid, my subordinates might be able to lend a hand here," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm spoke up at this moment.
"Although your subordinates are numerous, their individual strength is too weak. To that terrifying existence at the lake bottom, they probably wouldn't even be worth a glance," Ye Yunfei answered with a shake of his head.
"That may be so, but at the crucial moment, they can be used to divert attention," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said.
"We'll see when the time comes," Ye Yunfei replied.
*If necessary, we'll also have to rely on the Time Reversal Art. So, I should first raise my level of Time Energy,* Ye Yunfei thought to himself after some consideration. With that, Ye Yunfei entered the Phantom Tower and took out a large quantity of Time Crystals. Ancient Desolate Emperor had left behind a huge amount of Time Crystals on the third level of the Heaven Dao Tower, and Hun Lao had given a portion to Ye Yunfei. Ye Yunfei had consumed about one-third of them previously while cultivating the Time Reversal Art, leaving two-thirds remaining. Now, Ye Yunfei took out all the remaining two-thirds of the Time Crystals, piled them around his body, and began refining and absorbing them.
One month later, all the Time Crystals had been completely refined and absorbed by Ye Yunfei. His level of Time Energy had greatly increased!
"Brother Su, look!" Situ Kong'er's shocked voice suddenly reached Ye Yunfei via Sound Transmission. Ye Yunfei emerged from the Phantom Tower and looked out. In the distance, atop a ridge, stood a young woman dressed in palace attire, surrounded by over a dozen people—some maidservants, some guards—each with deep, unfathomable auras.
"Brother Su, look, those four White-Haired Flying Corpses are carrying that sedan chair here too!" Situ Kong'er then pointed in another direction to Ye Yunfei. Indeed, on a patch of grassland in the distance, four White-Haired Flying Corpses carried that small red sedan. Ye Yunfei detected a strange thread of Soul Power sweep towards his location from within that red sedan. Evidently, the being inside that little red sedan had also taken note of Ye Yunfei's trio.
Following that, Ye Yunfei saw other powerful figures arriving silently, standing around the perimeter of the small lake, their gazes all fixed on the five Soul Lotuses within it, their intentions very clear.
Within a dense forest in the distance, a dwarf with a big head and small body stood, his gaze piercing. High up in the sky, a great roc eagle shone brilliantly gold all over, as if forged from solid gold, shimmering arcs of golden lightning wreathed around its body, so dazzling it was hard to look at directly. A stocky, brawny man had his arms covered in blue scales, a full head of long hair, and his lower body was actually a serpentine torso dozens of meters long, with four sharp claws beneath his belly. Ye Yunfei recognized with one glance that this brawny man's true form was a flood dragon!
"Experts from the Corpse World are here too!" Ye Yunfei saw over a dozen elders exuding billowing corpse aura standing in the distant sky, restless, poised to charge over and snatch the five Soul Lotuses at any moment.
Powerful figures congregated around the small lake, the formidable auras they radiated making this stretch of heaven and earth oppressive, as if on the verge of congealing.
"Quite a few terrifying powerhouses have come. It seems these experts are all interested in those five Soul Lotuses. The competition has just gotten fiercer now," Ye Yunfei couldn't help but frown as he spoke. Originally, just dealing with the dreadful existence in the lake bottom was troublesome enough. With this many powerhouses added to the mix, it would be even more difficult!
"Young Master Ye, once those five Soul Lotuses bloom to their fullest, most mature stage, they will make their move to snatch them," the green-robed elder said.
"Yes," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"The fact that I was able to pick two Soul Lotuses back then was truly too fortunate!" The green-robed elder couldn't help but sigh again at the current display.
"Yes, Senior, your luck back then is something truly enviable," Ye Yunfei said with a bitter smile.
"Brother Su, things have become much more difficult now," Situ Kong'er said, feeling a bit overwhelmed as he looked at the strong experts around them. If not absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to clash with those formidable figures—it was too perilous.
"We have no choice but to go all out this time. I'll go and gather more Earth Dragons first. More Earth Dragons will give us a bit more strength," Ye Yunfei pondered, then instructed Situ Kong'er and the green-robed elder to enter the Phantom Tower. With a flash, he himself burrowed underground, took out the Geomancy Whip and the Geomancy Measuring Board, and began searching for and collecting Earth Dragons.
"So many Red Dragons!" Very soon, Ye Yunfei discovered a large number of Red Dragons underground. The earth energy within the Land of Life and Death was too rich; the Earth Dragons that formed there were naturally of exceptionally high quality.