The old man closed his eyes, pressed his palms together, and shifted his hand seals.
The ten talisman puppets, as though receiving an order, plunged into the water simultaneously.
In the blink of an eye, they vanished without a trace.
Boom— Almost immediately, the once-calm surface of the lake erupted like a volcanic blast. A colossal column of water shot skyward, powerful ripples rippling outward from the point of detonation.
Sensing that something was wrong, the old man swiftly grabbed Chu Feng and Zhao Laoba and retreated at high speed, severing his connection with the ten talisman puppets in the same motion.
He was still a fraction too late. Even after cutting the link, a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth.
By the time he landed, he could not even stay on his feet — he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"Senior!"
Seeing this, Chu Feng and Zhao Laoba rushed forward to help him up.
But the old man waved them off, signaling that he was fine. He then swallowed a few pills, sat cross-legged, and began his recovery.
However, Chu Feng noticed that the pills the old man had consumed also contained the power of bloodline essence — and different kinds at that.
"Senior is injured, and the two of us are far too weak to lend him any help. Better to let him recover in peace."
Zhao Laoba pulled Chu Feng aside, then continued: "Looks like there's some formidable monster inside that lake. Otherwise, there's no way even someone as powerful as Senior could be hurt."
He looked at Chu Feng. "Young friend Chu Feng, do you think my analysis holds up?"
"It's probably accurate."
Chu Feng was inwardly exasperated. Isn't this obvious to anyone with eyes? Does it even need analyzing?
"However, that might not be the only way out. Why don't you stay here and watch over Senior? I'll go look around."
With that, Zhao Laoba prepared to take to the air in search of other clues.
But at that moment, the old man — who had been sitting with his eyes closed in recovery — spoke up.
"This place is extraordinarily dangerous. Don't go wandering off. Wait until I've recovered, and then we can take a closer look."
Even as he spoke, his eyes remained shut, and his voice was noticeably weak.
"Senior, what if whatever is in the lake comes out and attacks us?" Zhao Laoba asked.
The old man did not respond. Clearly, he was unwilling to spend even the energy needed to speak.
Why was that?
His injuries had to be far more serious than he let on.
He had said he was fine, but the damage from that incident was clearly no simple matter.
In Chu Feng's view, though, this might not be a bad thing. After all, compared to this place, the old man was just as dangerous.
Chu Feng was convinced that regardless of whether the old man belonged to an ancient race, he was undoubtedly a practitioner of dark and heretical arts.
The number of innocent lives on his conscience had to be staggering.
In fact, Chu Feng suspected the old man had prevented Zhao Laoba from leaving simply because he was afraid Zhao Laoba would die and go to waste. He probably intended to refine Zhao Laoba into that same kind of special essence blood as well.
As for himself — Chu Feng was in even greater danger.
He was a Bloodline of the King inheritor and had obtained the Origin of the Vein. Even ordinary martial cultivators coveted what lay within his body, let alone someone who practiced dark arts.
The more Chu Feng thought about it, the more alarmed he became.
The treasures of the God's Era could wait. He needed to get away from this old man as quickly as possible.
With that in mind, while the old man was occupied with his recovery, Chu Feng began carefully observing their surroundings.
Before long, he discovered that the clue was hidden on the towering mountain peak.
The peak did not have any obvious talisman patterns etched onto it. However, the cracks and the markings on the rock faces could be assembled to form talisman patterns.
Once the patterns were pieced together and arranged in the correct sequence, the clue could be found.
And this was not difficult to see at all.
Even Zhao Laoba spotted it quickly, though rather than quietly observing as Chu Feng had done, he tugged on Chu Feng's arm and pointed toward the peak: "Young friend Chu Feng, there are clues on that mountain! Let's observe it together."