Urban Martial Saint

Diving so deeply, Ye Qing hadn’t seen Wen’er at all, which made his heart hang in suspense. After such a long time, the hope for Wen’er’s survival was getting slim. Was this girl going to die here?

With a mix of unwillingness and anger, Ye Qing sped up and dove a few more meters down, only to suddenly notice a stone cave about two meters wide in the side wall. The cave stretched inward with no visible end, and from the outside, it appeared pitch black, leaving its extent unknown. Finding such a cave in the river embankment was strange in itself.

Ye Qing had fought with those men for less than two minutes, but when he turned back, Wen’er was already gone. Given the speed of swimming in this water, it shouldn’t have been possible to disappear so quickly. Thus, Ye Qing had already suspected that person must have taken Wen’er somewhere, eluding his eyes. Now, seeing this cave, Ye Qing immediately thought, could Wen’er have been dragged into this cave by that person?

At this moment, Ye Qing couldn’t think too much and dashed straight into the cave. With Wen’er’s whereabouts unknown, Ye Qing’s only course of action was to find her quickly. The earlier he found her, the greater her chances of survival. So, Ye Qing couldn’t afford to waste any time. If Wen’er had likely been dragged into this cave, he had to enter first, regardless of what dangers lay within.

Inside the cave was pitch black, but for Ye Qing, the darkness was no issue. His eyes could see in the dark, making navigation quite convenient. What surprised Ye Qing the most was the glowing Qing Mang on his right wrist; he could sense this light was emanating from the prayer beads on his wrist. But why was this jade-white prayer bead emitting this Qing Mang? Moreover, the sudden surge of strength in his right arm—could it be related to the Qing Mang and the prayer beads?

Ye Qing recalled the content he saw on the stele in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master. According to Guiguzi’s words, after absorbing the power of the Primal Mysterious Body, he would be the Holder of the Taoist Sovereignty. But at the time, Ye Qing had puzzled over what it meant to be the Holder of the Taoist Sovereignty. Now, seeing this situation, a thought crossed Ye Qing’s mind: could this string of prayer beads be the Taoist Sovereign?

If these prayer beads were indeed the Taoist Sovereign, it would explain why they were directly wrapped around his wrist. Yet, Ye Qing still couldn’t grasp what the Taoist Sovereign was or its purpose. Could it offer him strength at crucial moments? Feeling the force he used to hurl those people away, Ye Qing knew this strength far exceeded any acme. If these prayer beads truly provided such power, it was a good thing, granting him strength to confront enemies in the future.

As Ye Qing pondered, the situation in the cave suddenly changed. The cave, initially straight, shifted upward after Ye Qing swam about ten meters, ascending toward the water’s surface, indicating he was floating up.

Though he hadn’t found Wen’er, sensing the cave’s upward trajectory made Ye Qing’s heart skip a beat. Could it be that above this cave lay a hidden realm?

The cave was steeped in darkness, and the water quality hampered vision. Though Ye Qing could see in the dark, the water obstructed a clear view of distant situations. His only option was to accelerate his pursuit to save Wen’er alive. However, after swimming such a distance, Ye Qing’s hope was dwindling; with the nature of those water monsters, Wen’er was likely already divided into fragments, consumed by others!

Suddenly, Ye Qing felt a disturbance in the water flow to his left, as if something was charging at him. Unflinching, Ye Qing reached out to grab the stone wall to his right to steady himself. In that moment, Ye Qing felt something slick, like a serpent’s body, coil around his waist, pulling him leftward. Fortunately, his grip on the wall prevented him from being dragged away. Instead, Ye Qing leveraged his hold on the wall to tug the creature from the darkness.

In this short time, Ye Qing discovered another pitch-black cave to his left. Some octopus-like limb emerged from the cave, wrapping around his waist, intending to drag him in. However, Ye Qing’s pull thwarted this attempt, drawing the limb’s owner from its lair.

The limb extended about three to four meters long. Ye Qing expected its owner to be a massive creature, yet when the cave expelled a creature roughly a meter long, he finally saw the full form of its owner.

This creature resembled an octopus, with eight such limbs around its body. Each limb waved freely in the water, appearing much like a giant octopus. Yet, its body did not resemble an octopus at all, but rather a bizarre entity akin to a tortoise, complete with a tortoise shell, a snake-like head, and limbs extending from under the shell.

Upon emerging, the water monster appeared furious, immediately wielding its remaining seven limbs to grab at Ye Qing. Ye Qing, aware of the monster’s great strength from their prior bout, knew it rivaled those pale-faced men. An average Peak Master encountering this monster underwater would be hard-pressed to survive. However, the monster was unfortunate to encounter Ye Qing. It extended eight limbs to crush Ye Qing, but Ye Qing’s robust body was impervious to even a Famed Instrument’s damage, much less these limbs.

The monster tried several times yet failed to breach Ye Qing’s body, visibly perplexed at Ye Qing’s resilience, uncertain of what to make of it. But Ye Qing seized the moment, gripping one limb tightly and tearing it off.

Though the monster’s body was equally resilient, Ye Qing’s right arm strength was now as formidable as it was dreadful, beyond what the monster could resist.

The monster cried out painfully and hastily withdrew its remaining limbs from Ye Qing. Yet, Ye Qing wouldn’t give it a chance, catching two more limbs and swiftly tearing them off.

With three limbs severed, the monster began to thrash about, clearly suffering despite Ye Qing’s inability to hear its cries. It promptly recognized Ye Qing’s might, fleeing terrified into the cave without lingering for a second, seemingly afraid of Ye Qing.

Looking at the caves and the water source above, Ye Qing hesitated. Here were two paths; was Wen’er carried upwards or into this cave? With Wen’er’s fate uncertain, a wrong choice could seal her doom.

A momentary hesitation, Ye Qing knew he couldn’t waste time here. So, he made a resolute decision to chase the water monster into the cave. With the monster guarding this spot, the pale-faced person might not have taken Wen’er above; Wen’er might have been taken by the monster instead.

With that thought, Ye Qing pursued the water monster. The monster initially swam quickly, but after losing three limbs to Ye Qing’s attack, its injuries slowed its pace considerably, allowing Ye Qing to catch up.

The cave wasn’t deep; Ye Qing chased the monster for about ten meters before reaching its end, emerging into a wide river channel. The surface was close by, and Ye Qing’s legs propelled him off the riverbed, breaking the surface within breaths.

As soon as he resurfaced, Ye Qing heard a shout and, immediately, weapons descended upon him from above.

Such an assault startled Ye Qing, who quickly ducked back underwater. He had no idea what was happening above, but those weapons were real. Despite having a Vajra Indestructible Body, taking such beatings wasn’t suitable. So, he dove to dodge the attacks first.

However, the weapons showed no sign of relenting. Wherever Ye Qing swam, the weapons followed relentlessly, hacking and slashing at him. Their intent was clear: if he surfaced, he’d be chopped into fragments by the people above.

Underwater, avoiding the weapons, Ye Qing’s mind wrestled with a thought. He clearly saw the weapons descending were modern ones. Humans were likely wielding them. In other words, those attacking him weren’t monsters but humans?

With this realization, Ye Qing had a thought. If they were monsters, communication would be futile. However, if humans, a conversation might be possible!