The two walked about two li along the direction the sea beasts had retreated, the terrain changing from a gravel beach to a low-lying reef area.
The moonlight fell upon the sea, lighting up the tide and making it possible to see the spot where those dark shadows had finally vanished.
It was a patch of dark water. The color beneath the surface was deeper than elsewhere, looking as if something was stretching open its mouth at the bottom of the sea.
Bai Qingxue came to a stop on a flat reef, facing that stretch of water.
The night wind blew in from the sea, carrying a damp, salty scent and fluttering Bai Qingxue's silver-white hair.
Bai Qingxue closed her eyes, and her spiritual sense extended outward like a silent thread close to the sea's surface, passing through the layers of churning tide to probe beneath the dark water.
After a few breaths, Bai Qingxue opened her eyes.
“There's something down there.”
Ning Qinghan was crouching on a reef not far away, her bare feet resting on a rock made smooth by the seawater.
Her toes curled slightly, and the fine sand clinging to her instep gleamed in the moonlight.
Hearing this, she raised her head, looked at Bai Qingxue's profile, and said,
“For you to say there's 'something' there, it must not be small.”
“Spiritual energy is gathering on the seabed,” Bai Qingxue said. “And it isn't flowing naturally. It feels like it's being gathered by something and drawn in the same direction.”
Ning Qinghan stood up, brushed the sand from her hands, and walked over to Bai Qingxue's side. “So, were those sea beasts drawn there, or driven out?”
Bai Qingxue did not answer.
She unfastened the Frost Moon Chant from her waist. Her fingertips slid along the smooth surface of the flute, her finger pads feeling the slight coolness lingering in the jade under the night wind.
Then, Bai Qingxue brought the flute to her lips and blew a long note.
The melody of the Song of Returning to the Source slowly unfurled in the night wind. However, instead of dispersing in all directions, it condensed into a fine line, plunging straight into the sea.
The sound of the flute pierced through the layers of seawater like a hook sinking into deep water, touching the edges of the gathering spiritual energy.
The Song of Returning to the Source was originally meant to gather spiritual energy. At this moment, Bai Qingxue reversed its properties, using it like a hand reaching into the deep water to sense the pathways of the spiritual energy's flow.
They converged from all directions, gathering at a certain point on the seabed before vanishing, as if swallowed by something.
“There are traces of a formation array,” Bai Qingxue said, lowering the flute.
“Something was set up beneath the seabed quite some time ago, and there is a protective layer covering the outside. Those sea beasts weren't driven out; they were pushed out by the aftermath of the formation array.”
Ning Qinghan tilted her head to look at her, her gaze lingering on her face for a moment.
“So there's a formation array at the bottom of the sea. The sea beasts were living there peacefully, but they couldn't stay because of the disturbance from the formation array, so they fled to the shore.”
“More or less.”
“What is the formation for?”
Bai Qingxue stared at the dark stretch of water. “I don't know.”
Ning Qinghan sat down at the edge of the reef, her bare feet dangling above the seawater, her toes less than half an inch from the surface.
Propping herself up with her hands at her sides, she tilted her head up to glance at Bai Qingxue. “Are you going down?”
Bai Qingxue did not answer.
She raised the Frost Moon Chant again, and the melody of the Song of Returning to the Source rang out once more. This time, it was more drawn-out than before, carrying a steadily deepening force. Fine ripples began to surface on the water, as if stirred from below by something invisible.
The surrounding spiritual energy began to gather toward Bai Qingxue, channeled by the flute's music into the sea like water pouring into a dry riverbed.
The Song of Returning to the Source wove through this spiritual energy, seeping thread by thread into the protective layer of the formation array. It squeezed through the crevices, slowly drawing away the spiritual energy that maintained the protective barrier.
A muffled hum echoed from the depths of the sea. The surface bulged violently before sinking back down, as if something had rolled over beneath the water.
A column of turbid water erupted from the sea, spraying gravel and silt into the air, dispersing into a fine, dark curtain of rain under the moonlight.
The leakage of spiritual energy grew more intense, like a roof slowly collapsing after its pillars had been pulled away.
The sea churned for a while before gradually calming down. The dark patch of water grew slightly lighter in color, as if a corner of the veil covering its surface had been lifted.
Bai Qingxue lowered the flute. Her breathing was slightly heavier than usual, but her breath remained steady.
“The protective layer of the formation array has loosened,” she said. “It should be hollow underneath.”
Ning Qinghan stood up, walked to the edge of the reef, and looked down for a moment. The moonlight shone on her insteps, and the reflection from the water's surface lined her silhouette with a silver edge. “Then let's go down and take a look.”
As Ning Qinghan spoke, she had already crouched down at the edge of the reef. She reached out to test the water temperature, but the moment her fingertips dipped into the sea, she quickly curled them back.
“You're coming too?”
“Why wouldn't I?”
Ning Qinghan withdrew her hand and shook the water droplets from her fingertips.
She tilted her head to look at Bai Qingxue, the moonlight shattering into tiny specks of light within her deep blue pupils.
“Wait for you on the shore? If you can't make it back up, who's going to collect your corpse?”
Hearing this, to Bai Qingxue gripped the Frost Moon Chant and lightly tapped her fingertips against the flute. A thin film of ice spread along her arm, covering her entire body.
The ice armor gleamed with an eerie blue luster in the moonlight, clinging tightly to the contours of her body like a second skin.
Ning Qinghan stood up, looked at Bai Qingxue clad in her ice armor, then looked down at her own bare feet and said:
“Is it cold down there?”
“Cold.”
“Then what should I do?” Ning Qinghan tilted her head, her tone carrying a hint of deliberate distress. “I'm just a weak woman, and I don't have that ice armor of yours to protect me.”
Bai Qingxue glanced at her, refusing to play along.
Right after, Bai Qingxue turned around and leaped into the sea.
The moment the ice armor came into contact with the seawater, it lit up. The eerie blue glow pierced through the dark green water, clearly outlining the trajectory of Bai Qingxue's descent into the deep.
The sinking light in the water looked like a firefly cast into the sea, growing smaller and more distant.
Ning Qinghan stood at the edge of the reef, watching the eerie blue light sink deeper and deeper until it was slowly swallowed by the dark green seawater.
Ning Qinghan looked down at her feet. A few grains of sand, kicked up by the splashing sea, clung to her insteps, sparkling under the moonlight.
She let out a soft breath.
“Fine then,” Ning Qinghan muttered to herself, her voice so low it seemed only she could hear. “It's not like it's my first time going into the sea anyway.”
With that, Ning Qinghan leaped into the water.
The moment she entered the water, her spiritual power naturally enveloped her body, keeping the seawater half an inch away.
Although Ning Qinghan's robes did not get wet, the chill seeped through the outer layer of her spiritual power. It was cold and distinct, creeping deep against her skin as if some invisible force were testing her boundaries.
Immediately after, Ning Qinghan sank toward that eerie blue light.
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