Chapter 1587: Delicious
"Paper boat?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. "Even Saint pinnacle artifacts are unable to withstand the corrosion of the Yellow Water of the Netherworld, so how could they travel safely through it in a paper boat?"
The entire matter was simply too unbelievable.
Even Saint 9-dan pinnacle experts would not be able to destroy Saint pinnacle artifacts, and yet, such an artifact could not last long under the corrosion of the Yellow Water either. On the other hand, even ordinary mortals would be able to tear paper apart, so it was ridiculous to think that a paper boat would be able to float one across the river.
"To be honest, I don't know either. This is beyond my understanding as well. It's said to be a method that Kong shi came up with back then, but the art has long been lost. It's unlikely for even the Master Teacher Pavilion to have a record on it!" Wu Chen shook his head.
"Doesn't that mean that it'll be impossible for us to cross this river?" Zhang Xuan frowned.
Just by hearing the term, he could already imagine how troublesome it would be to construct the Netherworld's Bridge. At the same time, he had no idea how to construct the Netherworld's Boat either, so there was nothing more they could do, right?
Could they only wait there helplessly?
"If it was any other occasion, I would still be able to cross the river without much trouble... but without sufficient power and resources on hand at the moment, I fear that there's nothing much I can do!" Wu Chen remarked helplessly.
"This..." Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to Luo Ruoxin, only to see the latter shaking her head too.
"I do know of some methods that would allow us to cross the river, but with my current strength, it would be a little difficult for me to execute them."
"I see... I'll try to think of an alternative solution then!" Zhang Xuan said.
Considering that the group of four ahead of them had already crossed the river, if they continued wasting time, it was likely that the Master Amulet would be gone before they could even set their eyes on it.
Thus, after some hesitation, Zhang Xuan walked up to the river and placed his hand into the water.
"Are you insane!" Seeing the young man touching the water directly with his hand, Wu Chen nearly fainted from shock.
Was he tired of living?
Wu Chen was just about to rush over to drag the young man away when he saw a bizarre look surfacing on the young man's face. After which, the young man scooped a mouthful of water from the river and licked it with his tongue before gulping it down.
A brilliant gleam shone from the young man's eyes as he exclaimed in agitation, "It's actually quite delicious! Come, try some!"
"Try some?" Wu Chen nearly fainted on the spot.
As the name suggested, the Yellow Water of the Netherworld would send those who dared touch it into the cycle of reincarnation.
Yet, not only did that fellow touch it, he even drank it...
Did the young man really have to be so tenacious?
"Seriously speaking, aren't you over exaggerating?" Zhang Xuan said as he took another mouthful, and a feeling of invigoration consumed his body.
It was almost as if he was drinking the nectar of life!
The adolescent boy had described the water to be so treacherous that even Great Sages would avoid it like the plague, but when he touched it, he did not feel any of that at all.
He also activated the Library of Heaven's Path on it, and it was not as frightening as the adolescent boy had described.
Not only was it not dangerous, it was delectable with a nice texture to it! Was this an attempt by the adolescent boy to scare him?
"..."
Seeing how the young man was completely unaffected by the Yellow Springwater, not sustaining the slightest damage even when ingesting it directly, Wu Chen could not help but gape at the young man doubtfully.
Could he have really made a mistake?
As such a thought arose in his mind, he slowly walked over to the river and placed a finger in.
Tzzzzzzzzzz!
A heart-wrenching pain assaulted him, and he swiftly retracted his hand like a bolt of lightning. Even so, it was already charred black. Had he been even a split instant later, he might have lost his entire finger!
Clenching his jaws tightly together to bear through the pain, the adolescent boy took another look at the young man, who was splashing the water around merrily as if a little child, and he felt like bursting into tears.
The adolescent boy had absolute confidence in his strength. Even when taking the entire Master Teacher Continent into consideration, he did not think that there would be anyone who was a match for him. Even so, his finger still swiftly corroded upon contact with the water... yet the young man was actually completely fine?
This was illogical!
"No, that's not right... There's something wrong with your physical body and soul!" Wu Chen widened his eyes in a mixture of realization and astonishment.
"There's something wrong with my physical body and soul?" Zhang Xuan stopped his merrymaking and turned a doubtful look toward the adolescent boy.
Even though his body had been tempered by the Heaven's Path Golden Body and was comparable to Saint pinnacle artifacts, it was still nowhere close to that of Great Sage 4-dan Sempiternal realm cultivators. Considering how the adolescent boy would challenge even Yang shi to a battle, it was likely that he had already reached this level.
To be honest, he was not really able to make sense out of the bizarre turn of events.
"I can sense the presence of lightning within your body and soul. It is the lightning energy that's keeping the corrosion of the Yellow Springwater at bay!" Wu Chen said.
"Lightning?"
"Indeed. The Yellow Water of the Netherworld is hidden deep underground, cold and eerie. On the other hand, lightning is the element of absolute yang, the manifestation of the authority of the heavens. In the face of the heavens, the demons and specters of the netherworld would dare not step out of line," Wu Chen exclaimed in disbelief. "But how can your body and soul harness the Power of Lightning without crumbling?"
While cultivators would have to face the lightning tribulation from the Leaving Aperture realm onward, they could only take a passive role in the process, gritting their teeth and praying for the lightning tribulation to be over as soon as possible.
There were indeed experts in the world who had successfully cultivated lightning attribute cultivation techniques, but even they were unable to infuse lightning into their very body and soul without sustaining permanent damage!
This was especially so for one's soul.
Even after metamorphosing into a Primordial Spirit, it still remained extremely vulnerable to lightning, just like how fire would always remain the nemesis of ice.
The young man before him had not reached Great Sage yet, but his body and soul were charged with the Power of Lightning. It was this Power of Lightning that protected him against the corrosion of the Yellow Springwater!
"I see..." Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in realization.
He had spent his last two months absorbing the lightning energy within lightning tribulations in order to achieve breakthroughs, so his body and Primordial Spirit were already suffused with the Power of Lightning. If the Yellow Water of the Netherworld was indeed fearful of the Power of Lightning, it was understandable why he possessed such strong resistance against its corrosion.
"Since lightning energy is able to oppose the corrosion of the Yellow Springwater, won't we be able to cross the river easily as long as we summon lightning here?" Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up as an idea crossed his mind.
As long as they could summon something that the Yellow Springwater feared, they would be able to curb it and cross the river with ease!
"Summon lightning?" Hearing those ridiculous words from the young man's mouth, Wu Chen could not help but shake his head in disapproval. "You are putting it too lightly. Lightning is the authority of the heavens. While it's possible to summon a lightning tribulation by making a breakthrough, who of us here will be able to make a breakthrough right now? Taking a step back, even if we successfully summon a lightning tribulation here, we will already have our hands full dealing with it, let alone channel its powers to help us cross the river!"
There were times that the young man displayed incredible acuity for things, seeing through the very nature of things without being restrained by prior ideas. However, there were also times where he seemed like a complete amateur, showing an absolute lack of common sense!
Lightning was the retribution that the heavens brought upon cultivators... Just how naive did one have to be to even conjure the notion of using it to cross the river?
Seeing that this was what the adolescent boy was worried about, Zhang Xuan replied with a smirk. "Don't worry, that isn't a problem at all..."
With a flick of his wrist, a saint beast flew forth from his storage ring and circled in the sky, emanating a frightening aura.
Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast!
"I have just checked on it, and the water in here should be able to help you achieve a breakthrough. I'll point out the flaws in your cultivation right now, so use the Yellow Springwater here to stimulate the acupoints that I mention. With that, you should be able to push for a breakthrough to the next realm..." Zhang Xuan looked at the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast flying above him and issued his instructions.
The Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast harnessed the cold attribute of the netherworld, too. Absorbing spiritual energy of a similar attribute to it would help to accelerate its cultivation, and the Yellow Water of the Netherworld happened to be one such source. While the corrosion would also deal significant damage to it, as long as it was utilized carefully, it could potentially achieve unexpected effects.
Perhaps, it might even successfully push for a breakthrough to Great Sage!