Chapter 57: Sudden Change

Plop!

After hearing Tang Jinbiao’s reasoning, the group desperately swam towards the Black Hole emanating the faint glow. Sure enough, they encountered no danger along the way, and the water surface gradually grew calmer.

Within a quarter of an hour, they had swum over two li, covering nearly half the distance.

“Brother Biao, what if there’s some kind of treasure inside?” Tang Bi, swimming at the very front, turned his head and shouted loudly, the sound of their splashing making normal conversation impossible.

“No idea! Let’s get there first!” Tang Jinbiao shouted back loudly.

“Brother Biao, let’s have a race! Whoever reaches it first gets to be leader for a day, how about that?” Tang Bu, the youngest, proposed as he swam.

“Good! Good!”

“I agree! I agree!”

“Haha… haha… ah!”

“I Bought a Watch Last Year, stop laughing when you talk!”

Tang Bu’s suggestion immediately drew agreement from Tang Hu and Tang Xing. Tang Bi clearly approved too.

“Fine! We’ll race! Whoever reaches it first gets to be leader for a day!” Tang Jinbiao, feeling thoroughly exhilarated, also agreed.

“Charge!”

“Haha, I’ll be first!”

I’ll be first! Watch my eyes – God-Slaying Gaze!”

“Haha… haha…”

Hearing Tang Jinbiao’s agreement, the young lads felt a surge of adrenaline, unconsciously increasing their speed.

In the blink of an eye, they had pulled ahead of Tang Jinbiao by four or five meters.

“Fuck! Damn it! I’m going to destroy the world!” With a start, Tang Jinbiao immediately gave chase after seeing his companions rush off immediately.

…

Hum! Hum! Hum!

They swam relentlessly towards the center of the lake. The soft Dragon’s Roar never ceased, sounding every dozen breaths. As they drew nearer to the center, the Dragon’s Roar gradually grew louder.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Black Hole, which had seemed only palm-sized from the shore, gradually expanded as they approached – from palm-sized, to basin-sized, to a winnowing basket-sized. By this point, they were only four or five hundred meters away from it.

…

“Haha, damn it, I’m the best in the world! Witness God-Slaying Gaze!”

At that moment, Tang Bi took the lead. Having entered the water earlier than the others, he was now more than ten feet ahead.

“Brother Bi, wait for me!”

Following close behind was Tang Hu. Yet at this crucial moment, shamelessly addressing Tang Bi as “Brother Bi.”

Dedede!

The moment he heard Tang Hu call him “Brother Bi,” Tang Bi’s body trembled uncontrollably. He whipped around and roared furiously, “Damn it! You’re the brother, your whole damn family are brothers!”

After cursing, Tang Bi sped up again, swimming even harder towards the front.

“Haha, Brother Bi! Dumplings are the tastiest, sisters-in-law the most fun! Haha, Brother Bi!”

Seeing Tang Bi react, Tang Bu—currently in third place and the skinniest looking—immediately began shouting too.

“I Bought a Watch Last Year!”

The lead Tang Bi strove even harder.

“Haha… haha… haha… Dumplings are the tastiest, sisters-in-law the most fun!”

Tang Xing, behind Tang Bu, mindlessly joined the chorus.

“Ah!”

But just as Tang Bu joined in, he suddenly felt a sharp crack on his head.

“I’ll eat your sister’s dumplings! I’ll play with your sister-in-law! Damn it! So this is why you little shts call me ‘Brother Biao’ all day, every day!”

Tang Jinbiao, genuinely the weakest in terms of strength, had naturally fallen behind. Hearing Tang Bu’s taunt, he nearly exploded with fury.

“Ah! Brother Biao’s here!”

“Brother Biao’s coming!”

“Brother Biao!”

“Haha, Brother Biao! Dumplings are the tastiest, sisters-in-law the most fun! Brother Biao!”

Seeing Tang Jinbiao’s rage, the young lads paddled with renewed frenzy.

“I Bought a Watch Last Year! Brother Biao your ass!”

Tang Jinbiao desperately followed, lagging. Already outmatched and hampered by the water, his efforts were futile. He could only curse angrily from behind.

…

A distance of four or five hundred meters vanished as quickly as the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Soon, they reached the edge of the Black Hole.

“Haha, haha, I’m the best in the world! I’m number one!”

The first to arrive was naturally Tang Bi. Reaching his destination, he instantly stopped, turned, and roared triumphantly.

“Damn it! Who else?! Who else?!”

Tang Bi seemed possessed by the Demon King himself, defiantly bellowing the same “Who else?” on this Platform Stage that Tang Jinbiao once had.

“Fk right off!”

“Damn it!”

Just a few breaths later, the remaining few followed closely behind.

Hum!

At that very moment, the group suddenly felt the lake waters beneath them churn violently. Then, a tremendous Dragon’s Roar burst from the depths, shattering the water’s surface and echoing into the sky.

“Hurry back!”

The instant Tang Jinbiao, slightly trailing behind, sensed the water’s turbulence, his expression changed drastically. He shouted loudly.

“Bad news!”

“Brother Biao!”

The others panicked instantly. Without a second thought, they swam frantically back toward Tang Jinbiao.

Hum!

After the Dragon’s Roar faded, the churning waters swiftly calmed, returning to stillness before long.

Plop!

Seeing the group swimming toward him, Tang Jinbiao didn’t stop; he continued swimming toward the patch of lake water shimmering with an eerie glow.

“Brother Biao, run!”

“Brother Biao, something’s in the lake bottom!”

Still visibly shaken, the others cried out to Tang Jinbiao heading toward the light. Yet even as they pleaded, Tang Jinbiao was already standing upon the water’s surface, laughing maniacally.

“Haha! Damn it! Who else dares!?”

Tang Jinbiao stood as if atop solid ground. His entire body was visible above the surface, with the water merely lapping at his ankles. Roaring defiantly, he stood firm.

“Huh…?”

“Eh? What just happened?”

“The water was churning wildly moments ago! How did it calm down in a blink?”

Witnessing Tang Jinbiao switch into what seemed like the Demon King’s Roar Mode, the others were utterly dumbfounded.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

Suddenly, as they stood stupefied, the lake water surged violently again. Like boiling water about to erupt, bubbles churned with terrifying intensity.

“Bad news!”

“Brother Biao, go! Now!”

Sensing danger once more, the group frantically swam outward again.

Hum!

Another Dragon’s Roar ripped through the air. Like a colossal fish breaching the surface, the sound erupted skyward, scattering in all directions.

“Ah Hu, aaaaaah—!”

Yet, as the Dragon’s Roar echoed, Tang Jinbiao’s desperate scream pierced through it.

Chi chi chi!

Just as the shout rang out, the group suddenly felt an intense white light burst forth from behind them. Almost immediately, their vision blurred completely, obscuring the scenery before them, and Tang Jinbiao’s cry abruptly cut off.

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…

As the radiance intensified, a mighty Dragon’s Roar resonated once more from the lake’s depths, causing the waters to churn violently.

“Ah!”

Tang Hu and the others shut their eyes the moment the blinding light struck them. Yet scarcely had they closed their eyes when the colossal Dragon’s Roar blasted them unconscious. Each let out a pained shriek before slipping entirely into oblivion.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Both the brilliant light and the Dragon’s Roar vanished in an instant, fleeting as a blink. Similarly, Tang Jinbiao—who’d been standing atop the water moments earlier—disappeared without a trace. Even the lingering resonance of the dragon’s roar ceased abruptly. The eerie glow emanating from the depths vanished too, leaving the lake appearing utterly ordinary, indistinguishable from its daytime appearance.

…

Yet it wasn’t over so simply.

…

A hundred miles away within the Tang Family compound, Tang Zhantian wore a stern expression as he continuously fed various medicinal herbs into a cauldron before him, seemingly refining an exceptionally precious Elixir. Nearby, an elegant middle-aged woman sat quietly, toying with a verdant green bronze sword, her eyes clouded with longing.

This woman was Tang Jinbiao’s mother, whom he had never met—Wang Wanyu!

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…

Abruptly, as Tang Zhantian reached the critical juncture of his refining process, a wave of dragon cries echoed directly into his mind—unexpected, piercing through walls and the Residence’s protective Restrictions without warning.

“What?!”

Tang Zhantian froze at the sound. In that moment of distraction, the herbs within the cauldron poofed explosively into acrid smoke, releasing a foul stench.

“My child!”

Wang Wanyu, her face etched with thoughts of her son, tensed instantly. She lifted her head, her gaze locking onto Tang Zhantian as she spoke.

…

Inside another secret chamber of the Tang Family, the Great Elder sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. Deep furrows creased his brow as he absently turned a jade-green bronze sword in his hands, muttering persistently. “To refine a Spirit Artifact into an Innate Spiritual Treasure… what manner of skill is that?”

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…

As the Great Elder murmured, troubled, the same Dragon’s Roar pierced the Restrictions and echoed within his consciousness.

“What?!”

Startled, the Great Elder’s milky, aged eyes snapped open, seeming to penetrate the thick chamber walls and gaze across the hundred miles.

Swoosh!

In a flash, his form transformed into a streak of eerie light. He vanished from the room, reappearing in the sky above the estate.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

No sooner had the Great Elder emerged than several others materialized simultaneously mid-air. Recognizing their faces, a flicker of surprise crossed the Great Elder’s mind.

“You!”

The arrivals were unmistakably other Elders of the Tang Family, including both the Third Elder and Tang Zhantian alongside his wife.

“Your respects, Great Elder!”

“Elder Brother!”

The Elders quickly acknowledged the Great Elder, offering salutations.

“Enough. No delays. Hurry onward—trouble likely stirs!” The Great Elder’s expression darkened slightly as he glanced toward Tang Zhantian and Wang Wanyu. Without another word, he streaked across the heavens as a beam of eerie light, racing directly toward the Azure Dragon Pool.

“Understood!”

The other Elders wasted no time, transforming into streaks of light themselves—their ‘Escape Lights’—and rushing in pursuit.

…

“Wanyu, could someone have triggered the Restriction Ni’er left behind?” Tang Zhantian stared into the distance, a sense of disquiet coloring his words.

“That was Ni’er’s presence just now—and Biao’er’s too! Tian, we need to go. Hurry!” Wang Wanyu, though strikingly beautiful, was paled with unspoken fear, looking drained of vital energy.

“Mhm, Wanyu, calm your heart. We lost Ni’er already—Biao’er cannot come to harm. I have you.” Clasping Wang Wanyu tightly, Tang Zhantian too transformed into a beam of Escape Light, surging after them.