Demons and monsters in a chaotic world: Starting from the Joyful Pavilion, the invincible path begin

Chapter 227: Delving into the Core, Fish is Precious Amidst Turmoil

Zhang Ping had no interest in dealing with Zhang Shuai's rambling, so he only mumbled a couple of words before turning around and going back to his room.

Only when he slammed the door shut did he finally release the tension he had been holding in, leaning against the cool wooden door to catch his breath. This trip hadn't exactly been a life-or-death situation, but the fierce battle with the nobleman had ultimately taken a toll on his mental and physical strength.

When the sword heart was imprinted later, although the powerful sword intent replenished the blood and qi in the body to the brim, the lingering dullness and fatigue deep in the soul could not be soothed by spiritual power alone.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the roar of the waterspout once again resounded through the heavens and earth on time.

Zhang Ping did not leave the boat, but stood quietly in front of the wooden window of the room. The cold wind, carrying the salty smell of the lake water and fine water vapor, rushed towards him, hitting his face with a biting chill, but it also dispelled some of his weariness.

Streaks of light from cultivators pierced the night from the top of the flying boat, disappearing like meteors into the thick, impenetrable fog in the distance. That darkness, like a colossal beast lurking in the abyss, silently opened its jaws, swallowing all light and life without even causing a ripple.

Zhang Ping watched the scene with a bored expression as his dark robe fluttered in the wind. With a slight tug of his finger, he heard a muffled click as the wooden window slammed shut, shutting out the wind, rain, roar, and fighting outside.

dong dong.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door.

Zhang Ping raised an eyebrow slightly, his divine sense silently sweeping across the room. When he saw who was outside the door, a barely perceptible hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He reached out and opened the door, and sure enough, he saw Mo Yu standing outside.

Her striking red outfit, with its clean lines, stood out against the dim light of the corridor, making her already handsome features appear even more sharp.

She leaned casually against the door frame, her gaze fixed on Zhang Ping's face with a hint of scrutiny.

"Captain Mo." Zhang Ping nodded slightly, several thoughts already swirling in his mind: Why would she personally come to visit?

"The next time the watersinks stop, the flying boat will head deeper into the Dragon Sucker Lake." The squid's voice was clear and direct. "I already notified you about this through the communication device in the room, but you haven't responded. I came to check."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ping suddenly turned around and looked at the disc-shaped spiritual artifact in the corner, which was covered with a thin layer of dust. He had indeed noticed it vibrating slightly a few days ago, but he took it as a routine notification and didn't pay any attention to it, not even realizing that a reply was required.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Mo Yu, his tone tinged with doubt: "Captain Mo, forgive my intrusion, but the Dragon's Breath has now reached its fourth wave, and the lake is teeming with monsters and fraught with danger. According to the rules of the Flying Pavilion, we should be making a safe retreat. Why are we suddenly venturing deeper?"

The squid didn't answer his question directly, but instead changed the subject, its tone calm yet carrying undeniable weight:

"If anyone is unwilling to travel, I will not force them; the boat ticket will be compensated at three times the spirit stones. However, after leaving the flying boat, you will need to travel to the next stop on your own."

Go there on your own?

Zhang Ping was slightly taken aback, but instantly realized that this was no different from simply kicking someone off the flying boat.

The triple compensation seems generous, but the current location of the flying boat is more than a thousand miles away from the edge of Dragon Breath Lake.

Flying alone on this lake teeming with monsters, one is practically a moving target; within half a day, one would become food for the flying monsters.

Weighing the two options, while following the airship deeper into the space would certainly mean facing unknown dangers, as long as one stayed inside the airship and was protected by a powerful array, the safety factor would ultimately be much higher.

He instantly understood why many of the streaks of light that left the flying boat over the past three days were heading in the opposite direction from the center of the lake. They must have been people who had taken the compensation and risked their lives to venture to the edge.

Once the thought was made up, Zhang Ping didn't hesitate for a moment. He looked up at the squid and said firmly, "I am willing to go deeper into the world with the flying boat."

As for whether this profound decision was an order from the Flying Pavilion headquarters or Cuttlefish's own initiative, he didn't care. The former was highly unlikely; with such a major disturbance at Dragon's Breath Lake, news from the outside world couldn't get in at all. It was most likely that some spiritual object that Cuttlefish was determined to obtain had emerged from the depths of the lake.

None of this concerns him. As long as he doesn't encounter anyone above the Divine Realm, he is absolutely confident that he can escape unscathed.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Yue Shan finally returned to the flying boat. His injuries were not light, and his robes were still stained with undried blood and lake mud. However, his eyes were surprisingly bright. Anyone with eyes could see that he must have had a very fruitful trip.

He even knocked on Zhang Ping's door and handed him a freshly prepared ribbonfish, its flesh still carrying the chill of the lake water and emitting a delightful aroma. After that, he didn't go out again, but instead stayed in his room meditating and recuperating.

But Zhang Shuai, that kid, is like a restless wild monkey, always running off the airship. Each time he goes out, it's never for long. When he comes back, he spreads out a tattered cloth on the deck, lays out a bunch of odds and ends, and sets up a stall with a lot of shouting and yelling.

There was an incident in between when a cultivator came to the stall with red eyes, saying that a spiritual artifact on his stall was his own brother's natal spiritual artifact, and that he must have stolen it by murdering him for money.

Zhang Shuai, however, was not intimidated at all. He stubbornly insisted that the thing was taken from the stomach of a demon beast and challenged the beast to a duel if he dared. The man uttered a few harsh words and ultimately had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

The next day, a set of the cultivator's standard magical artifacts was prominently displayed on Zhang Shuai's stall. When someone inquired, he grinned and said that it was freshly pulled from the stomach of a demon beast the night before.

After this incident, his reputation on the airship was completely ruined.

Even when Lian Yueshan chatted with Zhang Ping in private, he couldn't help but mutter to himself that he really couldn't believe that this reckless guy was actually from the Zhang family of Haiyuan. His blatant behavior was even more arrogant than those tribulation cultivators.

This was the day before the airship was to venture deeper into the ocean.

A streak of light, carrying immense pressure, broke through the misty water and sped from afar, landing steadily on the deck.

"It's Elder Duan!"

The deck was already crowded with people, and the noise was mixed with the smells of street vendors. When someone saw who it was, they exclaimed in surprise.

This was Duan Yu's first return since leaving the boat. However, compared to the refined and composed demeanor of a superior he had displayed when he departed, he now appeared utterly disheveled.

His robes were torn in many places, stained with dark brown blood and mud, his hair was mostly disheveled, and his usually gentle face was now so gloomy it could drip water.

The moment he landed, the previously noisy deck fell completely silent.

Many people noticed his injuries and also noticed that the nobles who had left the ship with him were not with him at this moment.

Where the person went is self-evident.

"This Dragon's Breath Lake is truly dangerous..." Someone in the crowd couldn't help but lower their voice and mutter softly.

Before he could finish speaking, Duan Yu's icy gaze swept over him instantly. The cultivator froze in fright, immediately shrank his neck, and buried himself in the crowd, not daring to even breathe.

Zhang Ping stood in an inconspicuous corner at the back of the crowd, calmly watching the scene unfold.

He could see clearly that Duan Yu's aura was disordered, indicating that he was genuinely angry and was about to vent his anger on the cultivator who had spoken.

Just as tensions were about to rise, Mo Yu appeared at the railing of the second deck, looking down at Duan Yu with a casual glance, without saying a word.

With just one glance, the tense atmosphere instantly dissipated. Duan Yu's expression changed, but in the end, he simply flicked his sleeve and turned to walk into the cabin. The moment the cabin door closed, a protective array of light rose up, blocking everyone's view.

Zhang Ping, who had witnessed everything from beginning to end, had a cold sneer flash across his eyes.

Such is the way the powerful act recklessly. They can vent their anger on lower-level cultivators at the slightest provocation. A person who usually appears gentle and refined is most likely to reveal their true colors when they are in a sorry state.

"Pah, what a piece of trash, what a shameless old man!" Zhang Shuai craned his neck to look at the tightly closed hatch, curled his lip and muttered a curse under his breath, his face full of disdain.

Zhang Ping, standing to the side, twitched his lips but didn't reply, too lazy to bother with this troublemaker.

The following day, with a deafening roar, the airship, which had been hovering at the edge of Dragon Breath Lake for nearly half a year, finally started up again and sped towards the depths of the lake's center.

The flying boat weaved through the towering waterspouts, its hull trembling slightly. Standing by the window, Zhang Ping could clearly feel the spiritual energy in the surrounding world growing increasingly dense at a visible speed. Taking a deep breath, he could feel the pure spiritual energy flowing into his meridians through his throat, accompanied by a slight tingling sensation.

"Look! So many flying boats!"

Two weeks later, the flying boat officially entered the core area of ​​Longxi Lake.

A violent hurricane suddenly swept through the surrounding area, and the water vapor in the sky condensed into fist-sized water clumps in the gale, turning into a torrential rain of blood that slammed heavily onto the airship's protective array, stirring up continuous ripples and producing a dense crackling sound.

But the terrifying wind and rain could not stop the cultivators from looking.

Through the transparent array light screen, Zhang Ping could clearly see that in the distance, in the vast expanse of the sky, flying boats of various shapes and sizes were speeding towards the center of the lake, just like them.

The sky above the core area had long lost the darkness of the outside world, replaced by an eerie crimson. The entire sky was illuminated by a thick, bloody hue, a crimson half-moon hung obliquely in the sky, crimson clouds churned in the gale, and even the rain falling from the sky was tinged with a shocking red.

Waterspouts, piercing the heavens and earth like the bodies of giant dragons, plunged into the depths of the crimson clouds. Ferocious, gigantic monsters flapped their sky-covering wings, weaving between the waterspouts, preying on the water beasts swept high into the sky by the waterspouts. Their mournful roars pierced the wind and rain, clearly reaching the airship.

Countless flying boats of all sizes carefully navigated between the waterspouts and the hordes of monsters, like schools of fish swimming upstream, heading headlong into the crimson depths.

A hundred boats vying for position, none could be more spectacular than this.

Even someone as composed as Zhang Ping couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the magnificent yet perilous scene before him.

Zhang Shuai and Yue Shan, standing to the side, were completely stunned, staring blankly at the scene outside the window, their breathing becoming much softer. The entire deck fell into a deathly silence once again, with only the sound of wind and rain pounding against the array and the distant roar of the waterspout.

Just then, the figure of the squid reappeared on the second deck. Her voice, imbued with spiritual power, pierced through the raging wind and rain, clearly reaching every corner of the airship:

"Gentlemen, in the center of Dragon's Breath Lake, the tomb of an ancient powerhouse has emerged! An unparalleled opportunity is right before your eyes! Whether you dare to make a move depends on the steadfastness of your Dao hearts!"

The words fell like a thunderclap, instantly creating towering waves on the entire airship!

Ancient tombs of powerful beings?

Those who can be called ancient powerhouses are at least terrifying beings at the Overlord Body Realm! Such figures are so rare that even living people might never see them in their entire lives, let alone in a tomb! The number of Overlord Body Realm experts they hear about in daily life can be counted on two hands!

Now, we actually have the chance to compete for the opportunity left behind by such a being?

"Opportunity knocks, don't hesitate to seize it!"

"An opportunity to reach the Invincible Body Realm! I'll risk it all!"

The deck erupted in chaos. Every pair of eyes burned with a fierce fervor, greed and fanaticism almost overflowing.

Only Zhang Ping, standing in the corner, felt a chill run down his spine.

The tomb of a powerful expert in the Overlord Realm?

This is no chance, it's clearly a den of dragons and tigers!

It really proves the old saying—the more expensive the fish, the bigger the storm!