Chapter 277: Sunken Yin Stone (Part One)
The Yin Qi in the Blackwater Pool did not decrease with the Evil Spirit man's disappearance. After entering the pool, Yang Haoran found that everything was exactly as before.
This proved that the strangeness of the Blackwater Pool had nothing to do with the Evil Spirit man, so his presence or absence would not affect the Blackwater Pool in any way.
The Evil Spirit man had already been devoured by Zhong Siyu. But whether there were other dangers beneath this Blackwater Pool, Yang Haoran couldn't be sure. Thus, after entering the Blackwater Pool, he remained vigilant.
The cigarette in his hand was still burning, but the smoke it formed was forcibly expelled from the protective barrier. Furthermore, this barrier also had the function of filtering oxygen from the water.
Of course, even without oxygen, it couldn't suffocate Yang Haoran. After all, his body had been completely transformed by the modifications. Unless his physical body suffered a devastating blow, or his soul was forcibly extracted from his body, otherwise, it would truly be difficult for him to die.
Yang Haoran took a drag from his cigarette, then slowly exhaled. His Ghost Eye, like a black gemstone, carefully scanned his surroundings, hoping to discover something.
Due to the unique nature of the Blackwater Pool, he couldn't grasp its true depths. Therefore, he wasn't eager to immediately sink to the bottom of the pool. Instead, as before, he let his body slowly descend.
A moment later, Yang Haoran tossed away the cigarette butt in his hand. The butt touched the protective barrier and was immediately expelled by it. The instant the cigarette butt met the water and extinguished, he seemed to realize something, and his expression subtly shifted.
"The Yin Qi in this Blackwater Pool is intense, and the deeper I go, the heavier it gets. Could this be the Place of Extreme Yin I've been desperately searching for?"
A Place of Extreme Yin, as the name suggests, is a location where Yin Qi is exceptionally dense. Not all places with heavy Yin Qi can be called a Place of Extreme Yin. For a true Place of Extreme Yin, the Yin Qi must reach a terrifying level to be considered as such.
Yang Haoran's initial understanding of a Place of Extreme Yin came from Xu Meijing. Later, he read many books, and coincidentally, some of these books contained records of Places of Extreme Yin. Thus, he gained a more comprehensive understanding of this unique existence.
In order to forge the Soul-Refining Cauldron, Yang Haoran had, for a time, searched for a Place of Extreme Yin. During that period, he would guide deceased spirits by night while simultaneously searching for a Place of Extreme Yin. This was because only in a Place of Extreme Yin could Sunken Yin Stone possibly form, and Sunken Yin Stone was the sole material for forging a Soul-Refining Cauldron.
However, during that period, he gained nothing. Let alone Sunken Yin Stone, he hadn't even found a trace of a Place of Extreme Yin.
The reason he hadn't even found a trace of a Place of Extreme Yin was because Places of Extreme Yin were rare; they couldn't be found just by wishing for them. It also required a certain amount of luck.
Underworld Office agents possessed a strong sensitivity to Yin Qi. It was easiest for them to search for Places of Extreme Yin. However, this ease was only relative. Just as a clever housewife cannot cook without rice, if there was no Place of Extreme Yin nearby, even possessing a unique sensitivity to Yin Qi would be useless.
Besides this reason, there was another main one: Yang Haoran had only spent a period of time searching for a Place of Extreme Yin. After that, due to the appearance of Spirit Mediums, all his energy had been focused on preserving his life and figuring out how to take his opponents down before he died. Thus, he simply had no time or opportunity to search for a Place of Extreme Yin.
Afterwards, he was busy refining the Death God Seal within his body, busy purifying impurities from his body, and busy practicing talisman drawing. Similarly, he had no time to search for a Place of Extreme Yin. So, this matter had been dragged out until now.
And now, the intensity of the Yin Qi contained within the Blackwater Pool far exceeded his imagination. He had never seen Yin Qi so potent anywhere. This couldn't help but make him think of a Place of Extreme Yin.
Although excited, Yang Haoran still didn't let down his guard. After another two minutes, he finally sank to the bottom of the pool.
The Yin Qi at the bottom of the pool had become viscous. It was invisible to the naked eye, but Yang Haoran's Ghost Eye saw it clearly.
Besides the viscous Yin Qi, other things existed at the bottom of the pool: skeletons, rocks, decaying tree trunks, some unknown vegetation, and various debris. However, there was no fish or shrimp to be seen.
It was normal for there to be no fish or shrimp here. With such heavy Yin Qi, ordinary fish and shrimp simply couldn't survive. If one could see fish or shrimp here, that would be strange indeed.
The bottom of the pool was utterly silent and immensely oppressive. Everything Yang Haoran's gaze could perceive was black. This included all the debris submerged at the bottom, without exception; everything was black, as if coated in a layer of pitch-black ink.
Being in such a deathly silent environment could easily evoke deep-seated fear. However, Yang Haoran felt not even a hint of fear; the excitement on his face was even more intense than before.
At this moment, he was certain in his heart that this was absolutely a Place of Extreme Yin. He just never imagined that this Place of Extreme Yin would be underwater.
Discovering the existence of a Place of Extreme Yin had already made Yang Haoran very excited. But this was merely a secondary reason. The primary reason for his intense excitement was:
The Yin Qi here gathered without dispersing, and it settled at the bottom. This indicated a high probability of Sunken Yin Stone being present here.
Because once a Place of Extreme Yin formed Sunken Yin Stone, the phenomenon of Yin Qi gathering without dispersing and settling at the bottom, as seen now, would occur.
Of course, it wasn't impossible for other special reasons to cause the Yin Qi here to exhibit this phenomenon. However, in Yang Haoran's view, this possibility was small. The highest probability was still the presence of Sunken Yin Stone in this place.
Filled with inner excitement, Yang Haoran immediately began searching the bottom of the Blackwater Pool. If he truly found Sunken Yin Stone at the bottom of this pool today, then this trip would be incredibly profitable for him!
Even before he had sunk to the bottom of the pool, his expression had changed, and his emotions had grown excited. This was precisely because he had already made this speculation in his heart.
However, at that time, Yang Haoran wasn't yet certain in his heart. But even just a certain possibility was enough to make him excited.
After reaching the bottom of the pool, although he couldn't be absolutely certain his conjecture was correct, he was at least ninety percent confident that Sunken Yin Stone should be present here.
If his analysis was wrong, and there was no Sunken Yin Stone here, then it could only mean that fate had played a huge joke on him.
It was precisely because he had such strong confidence that the excitement Yang Haoran displayed now was even more intense than before.
Instead of encountering danger, he had discovered that this place was highly likely to contain Sunken Yin Stone. How could Yang Haoran not be excited?
There was a lot of debris at the bottom of the water. It wasn't an easy task for Yang Haoran to find the Sunken Yin Stone. But at this moment, he was filled with excitement and motivation, not minding the slightest bit of trouble.
His Spirit Power transformed into two large hands. They turned over skeletons, moved aside scattered rocks, and pushed aside some unknown vegetation. Yang Haoran searched meticulously, missing no corner.
However, an hour later, Yang Haoran froze.
He had spent a full hour conducting a carpet search of the entire pool bottom. But the Sunken Yin Stone he sought was nowhere to be found.
Yang Haoran's brows furrowed deeply. At this moment, not only had his excitement completely receded, but a hint of disappointment and doubt had even arisen in his heart.
"Could it really be that my analysis was flawed?"
With the facts laid bare before him, Yang Haoran couldn't help but begin to doubt the correctness of his analysis. But then he shook his head, rejecting this thought in his mind.
"If my analysis was flawed, then I should have found other strange phenomena here. But I haven't discovered anything else peculiar about this pool. So how should the phenomenon of the Yin Qi gathering without dispersing and settling at the bottom be explained?"
Thinking this, Yang Haoran felt that perhaps he had overlooked something. Although he knew this possibility was slim, at present, he couldn't think of any better explanation besides this one.
Thus, he decided to search the bottom of the pool once more. Perhaps he might make a new discovery.
Just as he was about to act, Yang Haoran's expression suddenly stiffened. At that moment, he remembered a very important question.
"How could I be so foolish? There's clearly a better way, why am I searching inch by inch?"
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