Chapter 71: Another World

“Finally… I finally got the Water-repelling Pearl!”

Ye Rong’s voice was almost distorted with excitement. Everyone said the drop rate for the Water-repelling Pearl was quite high, but when it was his turn, it just wouldn’t drop.

Without the Water-repelling Pearl, Ye Rong’s grinding time had to be scheduled according to Shinai Zuigao’s availability, leaving him no say in his own plans.

Finally, at noon on the second day, another Water-repelling Pearl dropped and was assigned to him according to the established order.

In a day and a half, the six of them had collected a total of four Water-repelling Pearls. Combined with Shinai Zuigao, who already had water-repelling magic treasure, only Lingding Yang now lacked the ability to fly his sword into the water. This made Lingding Yang look at Ye Rong with a somewhat unfriendly gaze, as if blaming him for taking his Water-repelling Pearl.

“Better behave properly. If you dare to have any crooked ideas, I wouldn’t mind doing something to harm a fellow disciple of the Righteous Path once.”

Ye Rong’s Karma Points had already exceeded sixteen thousand. Killing one or two people and losing three to five hundred Karma Points didn’t bother him at all.

According to Qingcheng Sect rules, when a disciple’s Karma Points turned negative, a warning was issued, and all sect benefits and treatment were suspended. If Karma Points fell below negative ten thousand, the disciple was directly expelled from the sect, and all Qingcheng-related Dao Scrolls they had cultivated were deleted.

When negative Karma Points reached one hundred thousand, the Heavenly Tribulation would arrive. As for the Heavenly Tribulation for positive Karma, it required a full one million positive Karma Points.

The Heavenly Tribulation was a severe test for players. The consequences of failure went without saying, but once successful, the rewards were incredibly generous.

For players of the same level, whether they had passed the Heavenly Tribulation or not created a vast difference in strength, like the distance between cloud and mud, representing a gap in realm and tier.

“Why think that far ahead? That’s something players around level seventy or eighty at least need to consider. Thinking about it now is purely worrying unnecessarily!”

During the Closed Beta, many players who reached the critical point of one million positive Karma Points before they were fully confident would randomly kill other players, willingly using this method to lower their Karma Points and delay the arrival of the Heavenly Tribulation.

This alone showed a glimpse of how terrifying the Heavenly Tribulation was.

The Black Carp Inner Elixir, which could permanently increase the upper limit of Qi Value, didn’t drop from every Black Carp. After slaying them for a day and a half, the six of them had only obtained two or three. There was also the Inner Elixir of a Black Fish Monster, which could permanently increase Qi and Blood by 2 points, but its drop rate was equally very low.

As the sky grew dark, Pudu Taoist and Changkong Wuhen had matters to attend to in the real world and needed to log off first. Ethereal Green Robe said he was returning to his Sect to resolve some important business. Shinai Zuigao naturally followed Ethereal Green Robe. The remaining Lingding Yang snorted, summoned his Sword Light, and left without a word.

In the blink of an eye, only Ye Rong remained on the surface of the Tuo River.

“Why not take advantage of being alone to search for the Water Mansion at the bottom of the Tuo River?”

This highly tempting thought arose, took root, and could no longer be suppressed. After slaying the Black Carp in front of him, Ye Rong turned over and plunged into the river.

He removed the Black Dog Nail, freeing up that Talisman Slot, and equipped the newly acquired Water-repelling Pearl. A gentle force pushed the surrounding river water away. The Water-repelling Pearl was a special type of Magic Treasure, with no tier and no level requirement for use, but it reduced Sword Flight Speed in water by half.

The Fluorescence Microscopy Technique could be used ten times per day. As soon as Ye Rong entered the river, he activated it, effectively more than doubling his field of vision.

The strongest Aquatic Demonic Creature Ye Rong and the others had seen that day was a giant catfish three to four meters long. Even Pudu Taoist, the highest-level among them, saw a row of question marks when looking at it, indicating the giant catfish’s Level was already above 51.

Once players passed level fifty, they underwent an essential change, a qualitative leap in strength. The most important point was gaining an additional Weapon Slot. Monsters were the same; once they passed Level 50, they underwent astonishing changes, and their intelligence, or so-called AI, increased significantly.

Moreover, once monsters crossed the fifty-level threshold, many were promoted to Elite Tier, with ordinary-tier monsters making up less than half.

As soon as that giant catfish appeared, the six of them ran as far away as possible, afraid that being even a step slow would cost them their lives.

Ye Rong dived all the way down. He had memorized the safe route from the previous day and now followed the old path from memory. Even though there were still many Aquatic Demonic Creatures along the way, if he took a different route, he would encounter monsters of a different Level entirely.

At the bottom of the Tuo River, even level one hundred Flood Dragons were not unheard of.

Bold and reckless, Ye Rong was lucky. He managed to dodge any dangers he encountered along the way promptly.

This was thanks to the Fluorescence Microscopy Technique. He could often detect the movements of the aquatic monsters in advance, allowing him to choose the best direction to evade.

“What a huge stingray!”

Ye Rong saw from a distance a very fast Monster, its head also crowned with a string of question marks, charging towards him. He quickly hid in a dense patch of waterweed nearby, concealing himself.

This stingray was over five meters long, with a slender tail and a flat body shaped much like a disc. This Monster was extremely fierce; during its charge, it bit and swallowed any creature it encountered without even chewing.

“Oh no, this guy seems to be coming straight for me!”

Ye Rong cried out in despair. Trying to compete with a fish in movement speed in the water was utterly unrealistic. He desperately retreated backwards, hoping to bury himself deeper in the waterweed and avoid being discovered by the stingray.

Splash!

Ye Rong’s foot slipped, and he tumbled backward into the waterweed, disappearing from view.

When the stingray swam over, it circled the waterweed twice in confusion, seemingly puzzled by its prey’s sudden disappearance. Angrily, it spat out a jet of water that shot over thirty meters before its force was exhausted. It shook its body, moved over, and swallowed all the fish killed by the water jet.

“Where… is this?”

Ye Rong rubbed his arm. He had tumbled down, bumping into things all the way, his vision went black, and then he arrived in this strange place.

The water was clear, with strangely shaped reefs scattered around. The ground was covered with fine, clean, glutinous-colored sand. The entire space was roughly several dozen acres in size. The only connection to the outside was a narrow Water Eye, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. If Ye Rong hadn’t been fleeing the stingray in panic, he would never have found this place no matter how much time he spent.

“It feels so dead and silent, not even a single small fish or shrimp…”

The underwater environment was beautiful but severely lacking in vitality. After doing a general inspection, Ye Rong walked forward.

The glutinous-colored sand seemed to pile up thicker towards the center. At the very center, it formed a small mound with a stone stele as tall as a person stuck into it. However, judging by the sand accumulation, the part of the stele visible above the sand was only a portion of its full appearance, likely less than half.

Ye Rong approached the stele, squatted down, and gently reached his finger towards its surface.