Jiang Baiyu seemed to not notice, his expression calm. As long as he remained composed enough, he could make others doubt whether they were overreacting.

The pool was circular, with obvious signs of being artificially piled and sculpted. The water was clear, and when he looked down, he couldn’t see the bottom. The entrance was already quite large for a person, and for a monster, it was probably similar to the opening of a big water tank, allowing prey to be continuously fished out from this pool with minimal danger.

After walking around the pool, Jiang Baiyu found nothing unusual; it was just an ordinary round pool, completely unremarkable. Who would have thought that such a pool could connect to distant unknown places?

This was the entrance to return to the original place, very important.

Jiang Baiyu squatted down, carefully studying the materials used to build the pool. At first glance, it looked like dirt, but on a second look, he discovered something else. He reached out, dipping his hand into the pool, causing ripples to form on the surface, spreading out in circles.

The calm water would create ripples when something fell in, but it wouldn’t keep rippling indefinitely; after a while, the waves would settle down and return to normal. The pool, however, was different. When there were no foreign objects, it remained undisturbed, calm and clear, like a mirror embedded in the ground. When his fingers dipped in, the ripples spread out endlessly, showing no signs of calming down.

It seemed that as long as there was something foreign, ripples would keep appearing.

When Jiang Baiyu withdrew his fingers, the water surface quickly returned to calm.

He dipped his fingers in again, gently tapping the inner wall of the pool, and indeed, it looked ordinary but was hiding secrets.

The inner wall of the pool was very hard, a solid piece with no seams. With the water concealing it, it was hard to notice at first glance and easy to overlook.

Lou Yuzhu also squatted down, reached out, and tapped the inner wall of the pool, frowning in thought. “This thing should be the work of a weapon refiner…”

Jiang Baiyu asked, “A treasure shaped like a pool?”

He had heard of all sorts of treasures, but this was the first time he had heard of one shaped like a pool, and he was curious about the mental state of the weapon refiner.

Lou Yuzhu replied, “This natural structure is clearly the handiwork of a weapon refiner. If it were just a treasure, it would make sense, but why can it connect to other places and trap people inside? The monsters you mentioned probably aren’t the creators of the treasure; they might have coincidentally ended up here.”

Jiang Baiyu suggested, “Since it’s a treasure, why not take it with us? If we encounter danger we can’t handle, we can retreat immediately.”

Moving the spring water would be just the thing.

Not only could they return to the city and recover, but they could also summon new members.

But then came the problem: there were two of them on site, who would be responsible for taking the treasure?

Whoever was in charge of it would essentially claim it as their loot; otherwise, how could they split something in half?

Lou Yuzhu didn’t hesitate, “You do it. This thing is very important and should be kept by the strongest among us; that’s the safest way.”

Jiang Baiyu didn’t refuse and immediately began to channel energy into the pool.

The water surface remained calm, and light shone from the bottom, as if there were ambient lights installed inside, activated by the input of energy. It was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much energy Jiang Baiyu poured in, it absorbed it all but didn’t give any other reaction, as if it only knew how to shine, like a decorative light.

Seeing that he had already input more than half the amount, and the pool remained unmoved, Jiang Baiyu stopped his actions.

With the surrounding situation unclear, it was better to be cautious.

Lou Yuzhu remarked, “The legend of the Tianquan Forest has been around for a long time. This pool hasn’t been taken for many years; it really has its mysteries. It seems it won’t be easy for us to take it away.”

Jiang Baiyu sighed, “In that case, let’s take a look around first. If it can’t be easily taken, that’s a good thing for us. We don’t have to worry about wandering around and then finding the way home gone.”

Their goal was to explore and seek opportunities before the academy teachers arrived, so they naturally couldn’t waste time on meaningless things.

Since the pool couldn’t be taken, they decided to look for something else.

Suddenly, Lou Yuzhu coughed lightly, his gaze drifting. “That thing on your face… it’s better not to let the two junior brothers see it.”

Saying this, he handed over a jar of ointment and turned to look at the scenery in front of him.

Jiang Baiyu calmly took it, scooped out a piece of ointment, and applied it to his cheek. A wave of coolness washed over him, and the feeling of swelling and pain quickly disappeared; the effect of the medicine was indeed immediate.

After using it, he returned the remaining ointment to Lou Yuzhu and took the lead, “Let’s go.”

This wasteland was actually quite barren. Upon crossing the pool, the first thing they saw was towering ancient trees, which they instinctively assumed were deep in the mountains, but that wasn’t the case. Only a circle around the pool was a lush forest, with giant trees rising from the ground, while outside the area, life was bleak. The stones and soil were exposed, cracked under the sun, with a few wild grasses occasionally poking through the cracks.

In such a rich spiritual energy place, one would expect lush vegetation and clear waters, but reality was the complete opposite.

The reason was that although the spiritual energy was rich, it was also very chaotic, creating an overwhelming spiritual pressure that ravaged the land, making it impossible for any life to thrive in such an environment. The sparse plants that did grow looked malnourished, unable to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy to sustain their growth.

They were like turbulent river waters, recklessly washing everything away.

The further they went, the more desolate the scene became, and they could even see bones, the remains of some enormous creature.

Eventually, it turned into a Gobi desert, filled with rough stones and bare rocky mountains, with the wind blowing sand everywhere.

Suddenly, the two heard a commotion, very intense, accompanied by a series of roars that echoed far in the wind.

They exchanged glances, and without needing words, they decisively moved toward the sound.

Hiding behind a rocky mountain, they cautiously peeked out.

The moment they saw the scene, their pupils shook.

In the distance stood a young man dressed in luxurious clothing, every gesture exuding grace and poise, with an aura so powerful that one glance made it clear he was no ordinary being.

What he was doing confirmed this.

Countless monsters surrounded him, each one massive, capable of turning him into a pancake with a single blow. Despite being surrounded, he remained unfazed; the size difference didn’t become a disadvantage. Instead, he moved swiftly among the monsters, efficiently reaping lives.

His fighting posture was incredibly beautiful, a visual feast.

As his companions fell one by one, the monsters finally began to feel fear, but the battle wouldn’t end just because they wanted it to.

When the fight finally concluded, the scene was a mess, and in the next moment, the young man suddenly turned his head, his gaze flying toward the place where the two were hiding.

Jiang Baiyu and Lou Yuzhu instinctively pressed their bodies against the rocky mountain, trying to avoid his gaze.

But since that person could so accurately find their location, it proved they had already been exposed; it was just that he was too busy dealing with the monsters to pay them any mind. Now that the monsters were gone, it was naturally their turn.

To spy without drawing attention, they held their breath and focused, but Jiang Baiyu and Lou Yuzhu weren’t foolish enough to blatantly expose their presence.

They had two options: either go with the flow and make contact with him, or quickly slip away to avoid the risk.

Before they could think it through, they suddenly sensed danger and leaped aside.

A gigantic monster came crashing down from the sky, landing heavily with a dull thud. Its crimson eyes scanned the ground full of corpses, letting out an angry roar. The sound waves spread out, a magical sound that instantly made their blood surge and their spiritual senses go haywire.

This attack was many times more powerful than the monster that had been kicked in the head by the person earlier.

Even with a protective barrier around them, the two were still shaken, their heads spinning and their vision darkening.

In the next second, the giant monster’s attack came crashing down, its palm slamming toward them, capable of turning them into pancakes.

Damn it, they were mistaken for accomplices!

In this critical moment, Jiang Baiyu reacted exceptionally quickly. With a blink of his eyes, they transformed into starry eyes, pulling Lou Yuzhu, who was dizzy from the magical sound and disordered spiritual energy, out of the way just in time.

The giant monster’s attack followed closely behind, chasing after them.

The real culprit was completely unharmed.

Without hesitation, Jiang Baiyu ran toward that person; the giant monster was originally attracted by him.

He would deal with the monster he had summoned himself!

The young man raised his hand, delivering a sharp strike without any regard for Jiang Baiyu and Lou Yuzhu, aiming straight for the giant monster’s life. If Jiang Baiyu hadn’t reacted quickly, the two would have been done for right then and there.

This battle had nothing to do with them, yet they were inexplicably caught in the middle, bearing double the danger.

Whoever wanted to be the punching bag could take that role!

Jiang Baiyu decisively threw Lou Yuzhu forward, just as the giant monster’s palm was about to come down again, swapping places with the young man ahead.

The star chain wrapped around the rapidly flying Lou Yuzhu, catching him, while on the other side, he summoned the roasted wings circular ring.

In the next second, the giant monster let out a deafening scream, its palm pierced by countless rays of light, its entire body exploding into fragments, turning to dust.

The young man’s figure instantly moved, appearing right in front of Jiang Baiyu.

Jiang Baiyu immediately launched a starburst attack, taking advantage of the interruption of the young man’s skill to attack without hesitation.

He had always used the appearance of the roasted wings effect, but today he suddenly wanted to show off.

He changed the appearance to the most eye-catching blazing sun, twelve bright little suns, with faint glimpses of golden crows spreading their wings inside. Each one connected together, forming a circular ring, with two of them having particularly different shapes, their surfaces adorned with mysterious patterns. Thus, this appearance was humorously dubbed the “Twelve Members of the Demon Emperor Family, Golden Crow Skewers.”

As he swung the sect weapon, the hollow circular ring revealed a large golden crow flickering in and out.

Jiang Baiyu stared with his starry eyes, commanding the golden crow ring to slam into the young man, trapping him within the twelve blazing suns, while the illusion of the large golden crow soared into the air, circling once before diving back into the hollow ring.

The purely showy effect turned into reality, bringing immense destructive power.

The young man, however, did not disappoint with his display of strength and high status, forcibly breaking free from the restraints and lunging at Jiang Baiyu with a sword.

However, trapped in the starry web, his own strength suppressed, his movements slowed to a crawl, every action feeling as heavy as lead.

Jiang Baiyu grinned, swinging the golden crow ring to smack the young man right in the face.