Chapter 283: Seas Change to Mulberry Fields
Qin Mu lifted this yellow essence, turning it over and examining it. Other yellow essences poked their heads out from under leaves, grass, crevices in rocks, and beneath the sand. Seeing the giant lifting their companion, they let out startled cries and, lacking any sense of loyalty, burrowed even deeper to hide.
Qin Mu scrutinized it closely. The yellow essence's two legs were formed from many twisted roots intertwined. It wore a skirt woven from grass around its waist, and its face bore root-like whiskers. In its hand, it held a spear made from a bamboo branch, the tip gleaming brightly—a peculiar piece of metal. Qin Mu was taken aback. He pinched this tiny, needle-like spear and carefully examined the metal at its tip.
He couldn't identify what kind of metal it was forged from, but what was strange was that the metal still bore traces of runic imprints. Judging by the attire of these yellow essences, it was impossible for them to be proficient in things like runes or spells.
So where did the metal on the spear come from?
Perhaps it had fainted. The yellow essence trembled violently, and suddenly a green leaf bud popped out of its head with a soft sound. It was too nervous, and the bud grew very quickly.
Qin Mu laughed. "Stop playing dead. I won't eat you. I just have some questions to ask you."
The yellow essence mustered its courage and opened its eyes. Seeing Qin Mu's smile, with his gleaming white teeth, it let out a mournful cry and fainted again.
A cacophony of war cries erupted from the island. A hundred or so yellow essences charged over ferociously, clearly a rescue force. But when they saw Qin Mu holding their companion, these yellow essences immediately turned around and fled.
Qin Mu was stunned and shook his head. "So disloyal..."
He flicked the leaf on the forehead of the yellow essence in his hand, and it woke up again. Qin Mu released his grip, using his primal energy to levitate it, making it float before the three of them. "Don't play dead anymore. If you do, you'll really die. I ask you, why are there so many yellow essences on this island?"
The yellow essence trembled with fear. "I don't know! You'd have to ask the Ancestor!"
Qin Mu frowned. "Where did your spearheads come from?"
"I don't know. You'd have to ask the Ancestor."
Qin Mu had no choice but to set it down. "Take us to see your Ancestor."
This yellow essence landed on the ground and headed into the island. A small head poked out from the grass nearby, shouting angrily, "Traitor!"
Qin Mu reached out and grabbed the yellow essence in the grass as well. "You lead the way too. Take us to see your Ancestor."
This yellow essence immediately wilted and, crestfallen, became a traitor, walking into the island alongside the other traitor. The first traitor suddenly puffed up with pride, as if being the first to surrender was something glorious.
"There are too many yellow essences on this island."
Si Yunxiang was astonished. As they reached the island's interior, they noticed something peculiar. Houses hung from the trees here, very small, about the size of bird nests. They were woven from green vines into the shape of houses, dangling beneath the branches. From a distance, they looked like large green apples.
As they approached, the doors of these tree-houses opened, and many yellow essences stood behind them, peeking out curiously, creating a strange, arboreal world.
On the ground, there were also many houses built by yellow essences using small stones, forming a city. But even the city was only about an acre in size.
The two yellow essences walked dejectedly into the city. The yellow essence soldiers guarding the city stared blankly at the three giants, Qin Mu and the others, too shocked to speak, let alone fight back.
"There must be tens of thousands of yellow essences here!"
Si Yunxiang was deeply shaken and whispered, "Chief, if we could capture these yellow essences and sell them, we'd be wealthier than a nation!"
Qin Mu stopped outside the city, not entering, and shook his head. "Why would we do that?"
Si Yunxiang was puzzled. "Survival of the fittest. Isn't that the rule of the Great Ruins?"
"Saintess, the survival of the fittest in the Great Ruins is a bit different from what you think."
Qin Mu explained, "Although the beasts in the Great Ruins hunt and eat the weak, once they are full, they don't engage in unnecessary killing. That is survival of the fittest. It doesn't mean that anything weaker than me must be killed and eaten. These yellow essences are intelligent beings; they have even built their own civilization and nation. Coming to their territory is an exchange between civilized beings. Where is the rule that says you must destroy their nation and exterminate their kind as soon as you arrive?"
Si Yunxiang fell into thought.
After a while, they saw many yellow essences escorting a carriage from a magnificent mansion in the city, driving to the city gate. On the carriage sat an old woman with white hair and a pale head. She tremblingly rose from the carriage to greet them. "It has been a long time since we've seen outsiders. The little ones are a bit flustered. This old woman offers her greetings."
"Elder, you are too kind."
Qin Mu returned the greeting respectfully. "My foolish siblings and I are passing through this precious land and have disturbed your people. Please forgive us."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang saw that this old yellow essence woman was only about a foot tall, pitifully small, but Qin Mu followed all the formalities without any negligence. They couldn't help but smile.
Nevertheless, the two women also greeted her according to the rites.
The old yellow essence woman said, "My humble home is too small to accommodate the bodies of three giants. I cannot invite you in. Please forgive me. Are you three passing through?"
Qin Mu smiled. "We are passing through and planned to rest. We were intrigued by the peculiarities of your nation, so we disturbed you. May I ask, Elder, why are there so many yellow essences here?"
The old woman replied, "It should be a matter of the local water and soil. When this old woman woke up, I was beside a spring. Suddenly, I gained intelligence and began to multiply, leading to more and more children."
"A spring?"
Qin Mu was surprised. "Elder, could you lead us to see it?"
The old yellow essence woman smiled. "Of course, there's no harm in that." She then ordered the other yellow essences to drive the carriage out of the city and led them to a spiritual spring in the center of the island. The spring was not large—a deep pool only about six or seven zhang in diameter—but it was bottomless. Many yellow essences were drawing water here, and no matter how much water was taken, the pool's level never seemed to decrease.
Qin Mu took a little spring water and opened his Azure Sky Divine Eye to examine it. His expression turned serious. The water contained a strange power, quite extraordinary.
The yellow essences on the island must have been drinking this water for years, which allowed them to become spirits, and they also had no demonic aura.
"This spring is no ordinary thing." Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang also noticed its peculiarity, thinking to themselves.
Qin Mu stood up. "I noticed your weapons are somewhat unusual. May I ask where you obtained them?"
The old yellow essence woman said, "These things were picked up by the children. They were washed out from the spring."
"Washed out from the spring?"
Qin Mu looked at the deep pool, pondered for a moment, and said, "Elder, we would like to go into the pool to take a look."
"Although you are giants, you must be careful. This pool is unfathomably deep. It has drowned countless of my children."
The old yellow essence woman quickly called for people. "I'll have them prepare a long vine rope. Tie it around yourselves and go down. If you can't hold your breath, come back up along the rope."
"No need."
Qin Mu took a deep breath. The wind howled around them as an immense amount of air was drawn into his lungs. Then he leaped into the pool. Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang also quickly inhaled and jumped in.
The three of them each activated their techniques. Ling Yuxiu cultivated the Nine Dragons Imperial Art, her body moving like a flood dragon. Si Yunxiang activated the Creation Divine Art, swimming like a fish through the water, diving toward the bottom.
The pool water was bottomless. They dove for a long time, the surroundings growing darker and darker, yet they still hadn't reached the bottom. The pressure was also increasing.
Suddenly, light appeared ahead. The walls of the deep pool gradually widened, and large, basket-sized luminous pearls hung on the stone walls, emitting a faint glow.
"These are even bigger than the luminous pearls in the imperial palace!" Ling Yuxiu exclaimed in surprise.
The further they went, the more luminous pearls there were. They descended another several hundred zhang, feeling the pressure so heavy it seemed it would crush their lungs. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their eardrums buzzed. Diving any deeper would likely be life-threatening. Qin Mu was about to call the two women back and return the way they came when, at that moment, they saw a large cauldron.
They had finally reached the bottom of the deep pool.
At the bottom sat a massive cauldron, over ten zhang in both length and width. A faint current of water flowed out from the cauldron. But the area around the cauldron was completely empty, with no water, and there was even air, bright as day.
Qin Mu swam through the water curtain, and his body immediately began to fall. He quickly landed on his feet.
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang also swam out of the water and landed on the ground, their clothes soaking wet.
Qin Mu glanced over. Si Yunxiang quickly crossed her arms over her chest, but she saw that Ling Yuxiu seemed oblivious. She nudged her with her shoulder and whispered, "He's looking at you!"
Ling Yuxiu finally realized and hurriedly turned her back, using her primal energy to shake the water off her clothes.
Qin Mu withdrew his gaze, thinking to himself, "It's not like I haven't seen it before. When she slept at my place last time, I saw it. Her chest muscles are bigger and whiter than mine, but that's nothing special. She's not as strong as me."
The three dried their clothes and looked around. They seemed to be at the bottom of the sea. Outside was pitch-black seawater. They could see black smoke rising from chimneys on the seabed, occasionally spouting magma. Strange sea creatures, attracted by the light here, swam over, revealing enormous bodies—unknown monsters.
In front of them stood a row of ornamental columns, emitting a tranquil glow. Further ahead, they could see white mist, with the faint outline of a massive palace appearing within it.
Beneath their feet was white marble, laid out very smoothly. Rubble was scattered around.
Around the large cauldron behind them were more columns, likely the remains of a grand hall.
The water current rose from the cauldron without connecting to the seawater. The yellow essences on the island had gained their intelligence and become spirits by drinking the water that flowed from this cauldron.
"I've seen a place like this before."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. "In the Great Ruins, there is the Surging River Dragon Palace. Its layout is similar to this, but smaller. That was the residence of the Surging River Dragon King, a place where the Dragon King managed the river."
"Could this also be a dragon palace?" Si Yunxiang was a bit excited.
"It's not a dragon palace."
Ling Yuxiu shivered and whispered, "I don't sense the aura of a dragon. On the contrary, I sense an extremely unfriendly presence toward dragons... There might be a god here!"
"Even if there is a god, it's a dead god."
Qin Mu walked forward and waved his sleeve. Countless pieces of rubble flew up and landed to the side, revealing a fallen stone tablet. The characters on the tablet were very ancient, reading "Qushan Temple."
"Qushan God?"
Qin Mu frowned. "Is there a mountain god at the bottom of the sea?"
Si Yunxiang shook her head. "It's impossible to have a mountain god at the bottom of the sea, unless this place was once land..."