Chapter 81

Although Xiao Hu had not yet woken up, his body had somehow grown much larger, and his fur, like an inflated balloon, continued to emit a "crackling" sound, slowly expanding outward.

A swirl of spiritual energy gathered around him, continuously converging, and his massive body seemed to absorb the spiritual energy from the air like a sponge!

"Could he be about to break through to the Qi Master realm? Reach the Qi Master level?"

Seeing Xiao Hu's current state, Nie Yun couldn't help but understand what was happening, feeling his mind struggling to keep up.

Humans understand the principle of inclusiveness and the convergence of rivers into the sea, making it not difficult to become a grandmaster. However, how could a beast, with its low intelligence and no cultivation techniques or spells, possibly break through to the Qi Master realm?

Although this world does have beast-type Qi Masters and even Supreme Beasts, these beasts all had excellent innate conditions and reached their levels upon adulthood. Xiao Hu was just an ordinary tiger-headed beast. Even if he had undergone a mutation, Nie Yun thought that reaching the peak of the Armored Warrior realm would be the limit. He never expected that Xiao Hu could still break through!

Rumble!

Standing there for about half an hour, suddenly, a sound like popping beans came from within Xiao Hu's body, as if a hundred rivers were converging into the sea, generating a strong current. His aura suddenly surged!

"Indeed, it's the Qi Master realm, but... it seems to be... not stopping!"

Feeling the current aura of Xiao Hu, Nie Yun knew that he had successfully broken through to the Qi Master realm. However, what surprised him was that even after reaching the Qi Master realm, Xiao Hu showed no signs of waking up. The spiritual energy in the air continued to pour down, and the intensity even increased.

"Could he reach the peak of the Qi Master realm? What's going on? Even if his parents' essence and his body were a perfect match, it shouldn't have advanced so quickly!"

Nie Yun felt like he was about to go crazy.

Logically, even if both the male and female tiger-headed beasts were mutated, their essence, though precious and extremely compatible with Xiao Hu, should have only allowed him to reach the Qi Master realm. Now, he was still advancing. What was going on?

"Could it be related to the special aura in the Yu Chang short sword?"

A thought struck Nie Yun, and for some reason, he thought of this reason.

Xiao Hu's family had mutated after drinking the spring water diluted with the Huang Yan Spirit Stone. At that time, the dagger was also in the pond. Could it be that the special aura in the dagger, which allowed his nameless technique to function, coincidentally escaped and caused the mutation?

"Very likely!" Thinking about it, Nie Yun couldn't help but nod.

In his previous life, he was known as an old antique, well-versed in many things, but the nameless technique and that special aura were something he still couldn't figure out!

"Whatever, thinking too much is useless. Since Xiao Hu won't wake up for a while, I'll go back to the pond and see if I can find anything. If that aura really merged into the water, it might make my nameless technique function again!"

With this thought, Nie Yun couldn't resist and immediately left the cave, heading back to the pond.

The cave was not far from the pond, only a few hundred meters away. The silver moon hung high, and the sky was full of stars, indicating it was already deep into the night.

When he fainted, it wasn't completely dark yet. Now it was deep into the night. Could it be that he only slept for less than a night?

After some calculation, Nie Yun shook his head. It wasn't less than a night; it had already been a day and a night!

This time, he slept for quite a long time!

Arriving at the pond, he saw the clear water under the moonlight. Nie Yun took off his clothes and, like a fish, dived into the water.

Splash!

The water was slightly cold, but as a strong Armored Warrior, this cold was nothing to him. He swam straight down and soon reached the place where he had seen the corpse.

"Feel if there's that aura in the water..."

Muttering to himself, he extended his palms and tried to activate the nameless technique to draw the special energy from the water. However, he was disappointed when he tried.

It seemed his guess was not correct. There was no sign of that aura in the water, not even the scent of the Huang Yan Spirit Stone...

Wait, the scent of the Huang Yan Spirit Stone?

Nie Yun was taken aback and his eyes widened.

That's strange. This pond has no outlet, it should be a dead spring. Why did the water, which was pale yellow after I absorbed the Huang Yan Spirit Stone, turn clear so quickly?

Logically, even after the Huang Yan Spirit Stone disappeared, the water should still be pale yellow.

It's like throwing a lump of salt into the water. Even if you take out the salt, the water is already salty. Without an outlet, it won't turn clear again!

Thinking about it, Nie Yun realized he had overlooked something. He extended his arms and began to search the bottom of the pond carefully.

"Hmm? There's a current here..."

After a thorough search, Nie Yun indeed found a slow current in a small corner at the bottom of the pond.

"What is this?"

Following the direction of the current, a black metal handle emerged from the mud. If not for a closer look, it would be hard to see what it was.

Forming an armor of true qi around his body, Nie Yun carefully extended his hand and gripped the handle!

Boom!

A loud rumble echoed underground, and the muddy ground revealed a small opening just large enough for one person to enter.

"This..."

Seeing the opening under the mud, Nie Yun was puzzled. After a moment of hesitation, he crawled inside.

If it's a blessing, it's not a curse; if it's a curse, it can't be avoided. Since he was here, he had to see what was inside to ease his mind.

Whoosh!

As soon as he entered the opening, Nie Yun felt a lightness and his breathing became smooth.

"There's no water here? This is too strange!"

Inside the opening, there was not a drop of water, as if an invisible membrane blocked the entrance, preventing any water from entering.

But... if no water entered, how did the current at the bottom of the pond form?

Even with his extensive knowledge from two lifetimes, Nie Yun still found it hard to believe and imagine.

However, although he was surprised, he wasn't overly shocked. After all, there are countless paths, and the secret techniques developed by humans and beasts are innumerable. Even in his previous life, the well-informed Bai Xiazi couldn't know all the secret techniques in the world!

Inside the opening was a large stone door. The stone door fell heavily, blocking the way. The surrounding area was a small, enclosed room.

Approaching the stone door, Nie Yun gently pushed it, but it didn't budge. He gradually increased his strength.

"Can't push it open, what is this?"

Increasing his strength to the maximum, Nie Yun was shocked to find that the stone door remained immovable, showing no signs of opening.

Unable to push it open, Nie Yun was about to use a martial skill to break it when his eyes fell on the top of the stone door. He saw a line of writing that he had not noticed before. His eyes immediately widened, and he shouted.

"Can't be, it's actually, actually..."

PS: What is it? Can you guess? If you guess correctly, there's a reward! If someone guesses correctly in the book review section, I'll update four times today, hahaha! Also, I'm on the Sanjiang page on Qidian. Please vote for me. Even if we don't expect to be the top, we can't be the worst. Let's try to be the last! Thank you!