Chapter 304: Not Right

As Zhou Yuan rushed into the mist pervading the Spirit Pool, the token in his hand suddenly trembled, then spontaneously combusted, quickly turning into ashes.

Zhou Yuan looked at this scene thoughtfully. In the instant just before, he had felt a wave pass over him, which then burned the token.

If he wasn't mistaken, it was likely due to the Spirit Rune barrier covering the Spirit Pool. Without the token, he would probably have been ejected directly.

Zhou Yuan and Yao Yao were now suspended above the Spirit Pool. Above their heads, continuous streaks of light flashed past, then dispersed in all directions around the Spirit Pool.

Zhou Tai, Zhang Yan, and the others had also dispersed after entering the Spirit Pool, clearly intending to search for Dragon Spirit Marrow independently.

Searching for Dragon Spirit Marrow was a rather private matter. Most people preferred to search alone to avoid potential disputes over uneven distribution later, which would be troublesome.

However, Zhou Yuan and Yao Yao clearly didn't need to do so. Their relationship was not ordinary, so they wouldn't have any disputes over Dragon Spirit Marrow. Moreover, Yao Yao didn't even need such a thing.

Her reason for coming to the Spirit Pool was not for any Spirit Marrow baptism; she was purely just bored and came for a stroll.

"Let's find a place and try searching for Dragon Spirit Marrow," Zhou Yuan said, smiling at Yao Yao.

Yao Yao had no objection. She lazily nodded, holding Tun Tun. Tun Tun, however, poked its small head out, its beast eyes staring at the Spirit Pool's water below, which continuously emitted mist, seemingly lost in thought.

So, source qi rose from beneath Zhou Yuan's feet, and he directly carried the two of them, darting rapidly in a random direction.

The Spirit Pool was extremely vast, with numerous towering peaks standing within it. These giant peaks stretched like natural barriers, forcing people to go around them. As a result, the mist-shrouded Spirit Pool resembled a colossal labyrinth.

Zhou Yuan and Yao Yao darted rapidly for the duration of an incense stick, then he slowed down and descended into a valley near the water.

On the green rock by the water, Yao Yao stretched out her slender hand to test the water temperature, then gently slipped off her silk socks, revealing her fair, slender calves.

Her jade-like feet dipped into the water, gently swaying. A trace of comfort appeared on Yao Yao's beautiful face; clearly, soaking her feet in the Spirit Pool made her very comfortable.

Zhou Yuan, standing nearby, couldn't help but glance over, as the sight of her slender calves and fair, jade-like feet swaying made his eyes dazzle.

"This place isn't bad. Zhou Yuan, you should work harder. If you become one of the top ten Chosen Ones, you'll get a small area in the Spirit Pool, and then I can come soak whenever I want," Yao Yao said, her bright eyes looking at Zhou Yuan, her red lips slightly curved.

Zhou Yuan was left speechless, feeling both amused and exasperated. So, in her view, the biggest benefit of becoming one of the top ten Chosen Ones was just being able to soak in the Spirit Pool?

"Then you can soak here for a bit. I'll go try the Spirit Pool," Zhou Yuan said, his gaze turning to the mist-shrouded water ahead, feeling a little eager.

Yao Yao nodded casually.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan no longer hesitated and immediately leaped into the water.

The moment he entered the water, Zhou Yuan felt his body become heavy, as if he had jumped into a swamp.

"The water in this Spirit Pool is formed from a Spirit Dragon Vein, containing immense natural power and being incredibly heavy. Swimming in it consumes a great deal of source qi." Zhou Yuan was well-prepared for this. With a thought, the "Heaven-Reaching Black Python Qi" coiled within his Qi Dwelling surged out, enveloping his body.

"Huh?"

The moment the Heaven-Reaching Black Python Qi appeared, Zhou Yuan suddenly gasped in surprise, because he felt that in that instant, the pressure in the water had significantly weakened.

The heavy feeling suddenly dissipated. Instead, Zhou Yuan felt as if he was a fish in water.

"What's going on?" This sudden change stunned Zhou Yuan. He hadn't heard from Senior Brother Zhou Tai that source qi could have such an effect, to even resist the pressure from the Spirit Dragon Vein.

Zhou Yuan frowned, lost in thought. After a good while, his gaze fell upon the "Heaven-Reaching Black Python Qi" wrapped around his body, and his heart stirred slightly.

"Could it be... because of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture?"

The Heaven-Reaching Black Python Qi he cultivated originated from the Ancestral Dragon Scripture, and this Spirit Pool was formed from a Spirit Dragon Vein. Could this be the reason? After all, both names contained the character "dragon"...

Zhou Yuan thought for a long time but could only come up with this one possibility. Otherwise, he couldn't explain why the pressure in the Spirit Pool had no effect on him.

In the end, Zhou Yuan didn't dwell too much on these details. After all, it seemed like a good thing for him. Without that pressure, his consumption within the Spirit Pool would be far less than others, which would be a significant advantage.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan no longer delayed. With a movement of his body, he swiftly swam deeper into the Spirit Pool.

As he went deeper, he discovered that there was also a faint mist within the Spirit Pool itself. Fortunately, Zhou Yuan was able to discern directions using his Spirit perception.

After swimming for a while, Zhou Yuan's body suddenly paused. He sensed a subtle fluctuation.

It was near a pile of large rocks below.

He slowly descended, then landed on a rock. He stomped his foot, and the rock immediately cracked, as a thumb-sized beam of light slowly rose.

Zhou Yuan grabbed it in his hand and opened it curiously.

In his palm, a thumb-sized golden crystal floated. Inside the crystal was a drop of golden liquid. The liquid was extremely viscous, slowly wriggling as if alive, and a mysterious fluctuation emanated from it.

"Is this Dragon Spirit Marrow?" Zhou Yuan looked at the drop of viscous golden liquid. If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the most important component of the Spirit Marrow baptism: Dragon Spirit Marrow.

"But it's a bit too thin," Zhou Yuan said, scratching his head. According to Zhou Tai, even the lowest-grade One-Dragon Baptism would probably require dozens of drops of Dragon Spirit Marrow.

Zhou Yuan took out a jade bottle and put this Dragon Spirit Marrow inside.

However, as Zhou Yuan was collecting the Dragon Spirit Marrow, the water behind him subtly rippled. A faint shadow quietly passed through the jumbled giant rocks, and a hundred-zhang long, somewhat transparent giant beast appeared behind him.

The hundred-zhang beast's eyes were now staring at Zhou Yuan's figure with a hint of greedy longing, as if it had spotted something delicious. Then it suddenly opened its massive maw and lunged to swallow Zhou Yuan in one gulp.

*Rip!*

The moment its massive maw came down, a pen-shadow enveloped in golden source qi directly tore through the water. With astonishing force, it instantly pierced through its head.

Zhou Yuan turned around and looked at the somewhat transparent giant beast.

"Is this the water beast formed from the dragon qi emanating from the dragon vein?" Zhou Yuan watched the severely wounded but still struggling beast with great interest.

The water beast before him was about a hundred zhang long. According to Zhou Yuan's estimation, its strength should have barely reached the first layer of the Grand Purity Stage.

However, when Zhou Yuan looked into the water beast's eyes, he was slightly startled, because he found that the beast's eyes were staring at him with extreme greed. It continuously opened and closed its massive maw, as if impatient to swallow him.

"Aren't water beasts supposed to be mindless, acting only on instinct?" Zhou Yuan was a little confused, but the greedy, longing look in this water beast's eyes was quite obvious.

Was its instinct driving it to try and eat him? Senior Brother Zhou Tai hadn't mentioned anything like this.

Zhou Yuan frowned, but he was too lazy to think further. With the Heavenly Yuan Brush in hand, source qi suddenly surged forth from his body.

The hundred-zhang body of the water beast instantly exploded, water surging outwards, and a golden light rising from within.

Zhou Yuan grabbed it. The golden light transformed into a golden crystal in his hand—it was still a Dragon Spirit Marrow crystal, but it was several times thicker than the previous one, and the drop of Dragon Spirit Marrow inside was also richer.

Putting away this Dragon Spirit Marrow crystal, Zhou Yuan didn't linger. He turned again and continued his search.

And this time, it wasn't long before he stopped, because he saw the water ahead rippling and giant water beasts slowly emerging, surrounding him.

Zhou Yuan's brows furrowed deeply.

The reason for his deep frown was not the number of these water beasts, but because he found that the somewhat transparent eyes of these water beasts were all fixed on him with intense greed and longing.

Just like the previous water beast.

"Something's not right..."