novelapdf Chapter 62 Going Against the Current
Chapter 62 Going Against the Current
The sound of water splashing did not travel far in the confined underground space before being completely swallowed up by the sound of the surging water.
A bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped my entire body, as if countless tiny ice needles were piercing my skin through my pores. The water of this underground river has been flowing near the yin veins of the earth for many years, and has long been tainted with a strong yin energy. If an ordinary mortal were to fall into it, he would probably be frozen into an ice sculpture in no time.
When Gu An entered the water, he did not struggle frantically like a typical drowning person.
He was like a lifeless piece of driftwood, his limbs naturally outstretched, sinking with the force of the water flow.
The spiritual power he had just cultivated using the "Life-Generating Wood Technique" was not used to ward off the cold, but instead was firmly locked in his dantian. At the same time, the incomplete Concealing Breath Pendant at his waist vibrated slightly, emitting a subtle fluctuation that enveloped his entire body.
[Turtle Breathing Technique: Deathly Silence Mode]
His heart stopped beating, and his body temperature dropped rapidly to the same temperature as the surrounding icy river water.
In the dark, swift current, Gu An kept his eyes closed, relying solely on his extremely sensitive sense of touch to perceive everything around him.
"Bang!"
His back slammed hard against a hidden reef at the bottom of the river.
Even with the buffer of the water flow, the enormous impact would have been enough to knock him unconscious in the past. But now, the "copper skin," tempered by the stomach acid of the Tai Sui and nourished by the spiritual energy of Yi Wood, has shown astonishing resilience.
Gu An only felt a slight numbness in his back, but he was not injured. He even had to consciously control his muscles to prevent his body from tensing up due to stress, so as not to disrupt this state of drifting along with the current, like a "dead thing".
The underground river's channels are extremely complex, sometimes wide and sometimes narrow.
In its widest parts, it resembles an underground lake, with a gentle current yet unfathomable depth; in its narrowest parts, it's like a narrow sliver of sky, with a swift, knife-like current that carries him wildly as he crashes against the rocks.
Gu An had no idea how long he had been drifting.
A quarter of an hour? Or an hour?
In the endless darkness and deathly silence, the concept of time became extremely blurred. He could only feel his physical strength being slowly drained away by the icy, dark water. Even with his copper skin and iron bones, his joints began to stiffen after being immersed in the low temperature for a long time.
Sudden.
An unusual fluctuation in the water broke Gu An's state of feigned death.
It was not a backflow from hitting rocks, but a kind of... dense, fragmented, and greedy stirring.
Gu An suddenly opened his eyes.
In the pitch-black underwater world, his vision was severely limited, but his keen senses captured a chilling scene around him.
fish.
Hundreds and thousands of strange fish, no bigger than a palm but with serrated fangs, were closing in from all directions.
They were a ghastly white color, without scales, and their skin secreted a sticky liquid. Their dead fish eyes emitted a faint phosphorescence in the darkness.
Ghoul Fish
A low-level demonic beast that lives exclusively in underground rivers, feeding on rotting corpses and drowning wild animals. Individually, its strength is negligible, but in such numbers, even a water buffalo could be devoured to bones in an instant.
If Gu An were truly dead, they would pounce on him without hesitation and feast; but now, although Gu An has no breath left, the trace of human blood and vital energy remaining on his body is like a beacon in the darkness for these hungry ghosts who have been eating carrion for years.
"Splash—"
Several bolder ghost fish took the lead in probing, opening their mouths full of sharp teeth and biting hard at Gu An's calf.
"Sizzle—"
The sharp teeth rubbed against the "copper sheet," producing a metallic scraping sound that made your teeth ache.
Gu An felt a sharp pain in his calf. Although it hadn't been bitten through, the feeling of being ground by countless fine teeth was disgusting.
To make matters worse, this bite revealed Gu An's "hardness" and confirmed the authenticity of the "meat".
Instantly, the fish that had been swimming around were thrown into chaos.
Countless pale white shadows shot towards Gu An like arrows released from a bow.
"court death!"
A cold glint flashed in Gu An's eyes, and he no longer cared about concealing his aura.
In the water, his movements were restricted, and trying to evade such a dense encirclement using his agility was simply a pipe dream. But that didn't mean he was a lamb to the slaughter.
Within his dantian, the turquoise-green wood-based spiritual energy suddenly erupted.
However, this spiritual energy did not transform into a protective spiritual shield—that would have been an extremely wasteful and foolish approach. In this underground world where spiritual energy was cut off, every bit of spiritual energy was a lifeline.
Gu An's wrist twitched very subtly.
A dozen or so almost transparent threads exploded instantly in the water.
That was the finest Xuan Yin Silk, which he had carefully cultivated and specially treated in Youying Valley!
"Yi Wood, growth and development!"
Gu An thought to himself, "This is a low murmur."
The "Life Forest Wood Technique" excels not in attack, but in control and growth. Under the infusion of that pure wood-elemental spiritual power, the originally soft Xuan Yin Silk seemed to be given life, instantly becoming as tough as steel wire, and spreading and intertwining wildly in the water.
In the blink of an eye, an invisible net of death formed around Gu An's body, about three feet in diameter.
The ghoul fish that frantically pounced on them were completely unaware of the danger.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
A series of dull cutting sounds rang out in the water.
The hundreds of ghost fish at the forefront were like tofu that had run into a meat grinder, instantly cut into countless pieces by those sharp and tough Xuan Yin threads.
The pungent, foul-smelling blood instantly stained the water red.
But the smell of blood did not scare away the remaining fish; instead, it fueled their even more ferocious behavior.
The fish behind began to devour the corpses of their own kind, while charging towards Gu An with even greater ferocity.
Gu An's expression was cold and stern. He was unable to breathe underwater, and every move he made was depleting his lung capacity.
"receive!"
He flicked his fingers in quick succession, and the dark silk net contracted and strangled like a living thing, carrying a heart-palpitating rhythm, protecting his "wooden" body, and rushing out of the fish's encirclement at high speed with the current.
Using the recoil from the strangulation, Gu An leaped forward more than ten feet like a torpedo, finally escaping the swarm of disgusting ghoul fish.
However, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief...
A pressure ten times more terrifying than the group of ghost fish from before suddenly rolled in from the deep water ahead.
Gu An felt his hair stand on end. Almost instinctively, he twisted his waist in the water, curling up like a shrimp.
"boom!"
A huge black shadow, carrying immense water pressure, slammed into him, grazing his scalp.
That was a giant crocodile that was at least two zhang long!
Its entire body was covered in thick, black scales that gleamed like refined iron. A row of bony spikes on its back was as menacing as saw teeth. Its pair of scarlet eyes stared intently at Gu An, revealing a hint of mockery and cruelty.
Ironback Crocodile
[Level: Peak of Qi Refining Level 5]
【Characteristics: Immense strength, indestructible scales, king of naval warfare】
"Damn it, we've just escaped one danger only to fall into another!"
Gu An cursed inwardly. Although this Ironback Crocodile was only one level higher than him in cultivation, in the water, the beast's combat power was at least doubled. Even a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining would have to give way if they encountered it.
The crocodile was clearly attracted by the bloody smell of the ghost fish, but it didn't expect to run into Gu An, a more lively "snack".
"roar!"
The crocodile let out a deep roar in the water, its long tail suddenly swung, and its huge body became incredibly agile, instantly changing direction and opening its blood-red maw full of fangs to bite down on Gu An!
If this bite lands firmly, not only will copper skin be bitten in two, but even iron bones will be torn in two.
There's no way to avoid it!
The resistance of the water made Gu An's speed no match for the demon crocodile.
Just as that foul-smelling maw was about to close, a ruthless glint flashed in Gu An's eyes.
Instead of retreating, he advanced!
With a sudden push of his legs against the rocks behind him, he charged like a cannonball into the crocodile's arms.
"Clang!"
The crocodile slammed its jaws shut, but bit into nothing.
At the critical moment, Gu An's body slid down its jaw to its lower abdomen.
That was the only relatively soft part of the Ironback Crocodile's entire body—its white belly.
But the crocodile was clearly a veteran of countless battles, reacting with lightning speed. Sensing someone beneath it, it immediately began to claw and scratch frantically with its four powerful claws, while its body violently rolled in the water, unleashing the crocodile clan's signature technique—the Death Roll!
"Sizzle—!"
A sharp crocodile claw gripped Gu An's left shoulder.
The tattered servant's clothes were instantly shredded, and sharp claws sliced across Gu An's dark blue skin, producing a series of dull scraping sounds and leaving three deep, bone-revealing bloodstains.
The pain was excruciating!
If I hadn't practiced the "Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique," this arm would have been ruined just now.
But Gu An didn't even frown; he had been waiting for this moment to get close!
"die!"
Gu An gripped the broken "Cloud Piercing" sword, now only half intact, in his right hand, and poured all his Wood elemental power into it.
Although the broken sword is of the metal element, which is incompatible with the wood element, under the unique "wood nourishes metal" characteristic of the "Life Forest Wood Technique", the sharpness of the broken sword suddenly increased by three inches, transforming into a dark blue sword aura.
"puff!"
The broken sword pierced the relatively soft white belly of the crocodile from bottom to top.
There are no frills, just pure power and sharpness!
The sword has no hilt!
"roar--!!!"
The crocodile let out a piercing scream, its body convulsing and tumbling wildly in the water. The immense force flung Gu An around, leaving him disoriented, but he clung tightly to the sword hilt, letting the violent force spin him through the water.
Not only that, his left hand transformed into an iron clamp, gripping the edge of the wound on the crocodile's abdomen tightly, his fingers like hooks, tearing fiercely.
Blood gushed out like a fountain, instantly turning the surrounding river water black.
The crocodile struggled frantically for several dozen breaths before its terrifying power gradually subsided.
Only after confirming that the beast was completely still did Gu An release his numb hands, choking on mouthfuls of bloody river water, but he dared not relax for a moment.
The stench of blood here is too strong; it will soon attract something even more terrifying.
He endured the excruciating pain in his left shoulder and the suffocating feeling of his lungs about to burst, and deftly stuffed the entire crocodile carcass into his storage bag.
This is the corpse of a second-tier demon beast. Its skin can be used to make inner armor, its bones can be used to forge weapons, and its flesh is extremely nutritious. It absolutely cannot be wasted.
Having done all this, Gu An dared not linger for even a moment longer.
He took out the broken aura-concealing pendant, suppressed his aura to the limit once again, endured the cold that almost froze his soul, and used both hands and feet to swim desperately in the direction of the water flow.
……
This trip lasted a full day and night.
Gu An didn't know how he managed to persevere.
His spiritual energy had long been exhausted, and he was only mechanically moving his hands and feet by a will to survive.
Although the wound on my left shoulder was frozen and stopped bleeding by the cold river water, it had begun to turn white and ulcerate after being soaked for a long time.
Even a body with "copper skin" at its peak couldn't withstand the relentless erosion of Yin energy. His lips were already purplish-black, his eyebrows and hair were covered with a thin layer of frost, and his consciousness teetered on the brink of unconsciousness several times.
"Am I... going to die here?"
Gu An's consciousness became somewhat blurred, and his body grew heavier and heavier, as if filled with lead.
Just as he was about to close his eyes completely and let himself sink into this bottomless abyss.
A glimmer of light suddenly appeared above the pitch-black water ahead.
That was neither the cold light of a luminous pearl nor the phosphorescence of a demon beast's eyes.
That is……
The sunlight, carrying a hint of warmth and a touch of worldly clamor, is a gentle glow.
"exit!"
These two words were like a shot of adrenaline, instantly piercing Gu An's heart, which was on the verge of collapse.
The previously stiff limbs suddenly surged with strength from somewhere.
Gu An bit his tongue, using the clarity brought on by the excruciating pain to adjust his posture and launch a final sprint toward the light above.
We absolutely have to get out!
He still wants to build his foundation, achieve immortality, and trample those who plotted against him and wanted to eat him under his feet!