The underwater view was hazy and distorted. Fish living in the glaciers sensed the ripples spreading through the water and, as if startled, flapped their tails further away.
Even in Lan Che's icy ocean, the light grew dim as they descended into the depths.
Five hundred meters passed...
Eight hundred meters...
One thousand meters...
Thirteen hundred meters...
The spiritual power, deployed in a 360-degree, no-blind-spot sweep, detected no abnormal fluctuations.
Tang Sui was beginning to doubt if their direction was even correct.
The deeper they descended, the colder the icy ocean became, with even the surface of the barrier freezing over with a layer of frost.
Fine wisps of black mist seeped from the surface of the black and red barrier, the faint cracking sounds completely indistinguishable amidst the turbulent undercurrents.
The melting frost did not dissipate the gloom on Tang Sui's brow; instead, it deepened the shadow of worry, causing her beautiful brows to furrow even tighter.
"We should be over two thousand meters deep now, but my spiritual power still hasn't detected any active energy fluctuations. If we go any further, it'll be hard to even detect life signs."
After descending a few hundred more meters and engaging in a fight with a Barracuda, Tang Sui watched as the creature, which she had just beaten into a useless fish a moment ago, erupted in a blue light and became lively again. She stopped descending, watched the Barracuda flee her sight in distress, and then lowered her head, gazing thoughtfully into the dark, icy abyss below.
"Like the Ice Scale Dragon, they've also gained a similar ability of 'backlight' [huiguang fanzhao], just not at a very high cultivation level," Tang Sui mused.
"I don't think there's any need to descend any deeper," the Fox Mask suggested termination.
Rarely, the Ape Mask agreed with the Fox Mask's sentiment: "Although the Douluo Continent is larger than the original Blue Star, it is undoubtedly a sphere, and the underground should be interconnected. Any deeper and we'd truly be going through the Earth's core."
The Fortune God chimed in: "Yes, although the spirit beasts detected by spiritual power were all at least ten thousand years old, there were no more powerful spirit beasts. The usual rule that precious treasures are guarded by formidable beasts doesn't seem to apply here. There should be no point in going any deeper."
The masks began to chatter amongst themselves. As Tang Sui listened to their back-and-forth, she suddenly spoke, "Xiao Hei, can you reconstruct the original versions of the map we got from the village chief and the terrain and spirit beast distribution map that Hao Te told us about?"
The Black Mask gave a hum. Wisps of black mist materialized from thin air, stretching into fine threads before Tang Sui. In just a few seconds, two versions of the maps, complete with text, were outlined.
One on the left and one on the right, like a pair of contrasting references. The hand-drawn version was extremely detailed, while the map described verbally had large blank areas.
Tang Sui overlaid the two maps in her mind. She raised her hand, her fingertip touching the demon power map of the hand-drawn version, at the edge of the glacier area. She then looked at the verbally described map and asked doubtfully, "Strange, why is the glacier border on one map larger than the other? Is it because the other map is verbal, and thus somewhat abstract?"
The Black Mask denied: "No. It was abstract at first. But after you departed from the Purple Scale Scorpion's territory, I measured and integrated Hao Te's verbal map based on your travel route and distance."
Therefore, the final version presented to Tang Sui was the result of the Black Mask's continuous refinement and organization.
If it were true artificial intelligence, such measurements would be incredibly easy.
But precisely because the Black Mask was not a sophisticated electronic intelligence, Tang Sui understood how much effort the Black Mask had poured into this small map.
Though her body temperature and blood, due to her bloodline, were lower than that of ordinary people, Tang Sui still felt a wave of warmth.
Tang Sui's lips curved upward, her gaze falling on the map, which had been corrected countless times by the Black Mask. Her finger moved to the glacier's edge on this version, which was significantly shorter than on the hand-drawn map. Her eyes held a deep implication as she said, "In other words, over the passage of time, the area of the glacier has actually shrunk."
But this was not the Blue Star, which had issues of global warming, but another world with "abundant spiritual energy"...
A bold idea surfaced in her mind.
Tang Sui's exquisite face turned serious, showing a solemn expression. "Is there a possibility that these glaciers, which were originally in the memories of the elderly residents of the snow plains, were not as large as remembered at first, and have been continuously expanding over time?"
The Black Mask also realized: "You mean, the expanded area of the glaciers, as perceived normally, actually contains the power of Qing Nü Fang?"
Tang Sui looked at the dimly lit icy ocean that enveloped her. "It's not impossible. Otherwise, why would the spirit beasts we casually captured just now possess the same abilities as the Ice Scale Dragon?"
"Whether it is or not, can't we just catch a few more lucky ones?" Da Fei Chu said impatiently.
Tang Sui smiled, "You're right."
"Buzz—"
As soon as the words fell, the dark golden mask impatiently emerged from the void. Its black and gold vertical pupil swiveled, as if searching for a nearby target.
"Go,"
Tang Sui's cherry lips parted, uttering two cold syllables.
The masks flying around her, their black-gold vertical pupils focused, and in the next second, masks as thin as cicada wings shot out like arrows, disappearing into the deeper parts of the icy ocean.
Tang Sui closed her eyes, and six different scenes appeared simultaneously in her mind.
The reason for six was that not all masks were deployed; some remained by her side.
After floating in the sub-zero icy ocean for quite some time, accompanied by the gushing of bright red blood in the ocean in one of the frames in her mind, the Lao Mask's slow voice sounded:
"Thirty thousand year Red-tailed Whale, shows healing reaction."
Then came the Fortune God's delighted voice: "Twenty thousand year Seven-colored Scalefish, shows healing reaction."
Da Fei Chu, with obvious disdain: "Nine thousand year Lantern Sturgeon, no healing reaction. This is two kilometers horizontally."
After a while, the practical results from the Fox Mask and the Ape Mask also came in.
Tang Sui gave a hum. A black and red halo appeared in her clear blue eyes, and the surrounding space began to distort. The masks that had tested kilometers away instantly returned, emerging from the dark vortexes that rippled through space as if they had teleported.
She looked around and made her conclusion: "Thus, the area covered by Qing Nü Fang's power is within one to one-and-a-half kilometers horizontally."
"The vertical depth is uncertain, but the location you are in is undoubtedly where the power is most concentrated," the Black Mask added to Tang Sui's unfinished conclusion.
Tang Sui smiled, "Yes. So we are quite lucky, and it wasn't a wasted trip. It's just that the spirit gathering formation we're preparing to set up later might cause quite a stir." Sudan Novel Network
"Then let's clear the area,"
As the last syllable faded, Tang Sui's demeanor changed. The terrifying power hidden within her slender body suddenly surged, erupting with powerful waves that stirred the already turbulent water even more violently.
Like a lion king awakening from slumber, she let out a challenging roar that served as a declaration. The terrifying aura it emitted caused the spirit beasts lingering in the nearby waters to flee in alarm.