Qinghe Pier.
Qinghe Pier was an ancient pier of Yu State City, left over from the previous Zhou Dynasty. Anyone entering Yu State from the eastern canal had to cross Yu State River, so numerous piers emerged along the river.
Salt transport ships coming from the East Sea also mostly unloaded and loaded goods at the docks within Yu State City here, and passenger ships from far away were moored along the river.
Thanks to the bustling activity at the pier, a small town gradually formed here. This pier was originally called Toubaidu, but it was later renamed Qinghe Pier, and the town that developed here was called Baidu Town.
At this time, Qinghe Pier was bustling with people and traffic, incredibly lively.
An Jing stood at a corner of the pier, watching the passing merchant ships.
The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the water's surface in shimmering waves.
"This should be the place."
An Jing circulated his inner strength to envelop his body, holding his longsword in his arms, and leaped into the river like a swimming fish.
"Splash! Splash! Splash!"
The river water was icy cold and refreshing.
An Jing's body swayed as he rushed towards the bottom of the river.
The river water was clear, with schools of fish swimming around him.
An Jing did not use his inner strength, and his visibility was only about ten feet. The farther he went down, the less sunlight there was, and the darker it became.
Then, a tremendous water pressure attacked him.
The most direct impact was on his ears, An Jing felt his hearing gradually diminishing.
Next was the surrounding environment, a giant darkness encroached, allowing him to see less and less, until he could only see about three feet around him.
Additionally, the water pressure was constantly squeezing his internal organs. If someone with shallow inner strength dived more than thirty feet, they probably wouldn't be able to handle it because they still needed to breathe.
The most important thing was an unknown fear.
Suddenly, he found what seemed to be a trench ahead, bottomless in depth.
It's known that piers are generally shallow and cannot be very deep, so clearly others were unaware of this trench.
Could it be down there?
An Jing's heart stirred, and he swam towards the trench.
At first, An Jing could gauge how far he had dived. After about seventy feet, he lost the sense of judgment.
He could only feel himself still diving, but with increasingly slower speed, and couldn't tell the specific depth.
The Daluo Heart Method was continually operating within him, resisting the surging water pressure, and he could still hold on.
Suddenly, An Jing felt his foot seemed to touch something. He looked down.
Below was an abandoned ship, covered in underwater plants, and he was stepping on the bow.
"I've reached the bottom!"
Seeing the wrecked ship, An Jing knew he had reached the bottom of Qinghe Pier.
Next, he needed to find the giant stone described by Jiang Sanjia.
Standing on the riverbed, An Jing swam forward.
Thirty fathoms deep in the riverbed, moving underwater was far more challenging than on land, but this was only challenging for ordinary people.
"Whiz! Whiz!"
An Jing's inner strength surged, attempting to disperse the surrounding water to create a vacuum.
Some sea creatures around, sensing the anomaly, frantically fled in all directions.
Remember, this was sixty fathoms deep, nearly a hundred meters, with exceptionally high water pressure. For An Jing to forcibly use his inner strength to raise a light shield was extremely difficult.
"Whew!"
An Jing exhaled, "My inner strength won't support this for long, I'd better find the Bodhi Bead quickly."
At such a depth, the water pressure was terrifyingly high, and every breath took an immense toll.
Thinking this, An Jing walked around, searching for the giant stone.
At the bottom of the river, besides some wrecked ships and creatures that never saw the light of day, there were also some decaying white bones and chaotic debris.
Despite forcing out a light shield with his inner strength, An Jing's speed was not fast.
"Hmm!?"
Suddenly, a gigantic black stone appeared in front of him.
An Jing's heart moved, and he slowly approached.
The black stone was enormous, like a mountain, making one marvel.
"Could this be the giant stone Jiang Sanjia mentioned? But why does it feel strange?"
Circling the black stone, An Jing's heart began to thump wildly.
A premonition!
Truly skilled individuals have a premonition of danger. Some called it a premonition, others called it the sixth sense, but it was all about predicting danger in advance.
An Jing circled the black stone, finding it increasingly peculiar.
"Are these scales?"
The black stone had dense, regular patterns that appeared hard and glossy. Moreover, from the black stone, An Jing could sense a malevolent aura.
Malevolent aura!
The last time he sensed such Qi, it was five years ago at the ancient battlefield of Lengping.
That was killing aura!
A sky-high killing aura!
Lengping was the site of the greatest battle between Yan Country and the Zhou Dynasty.
It was said that it was the battle that established the Great Yan, resulting in the deaths of over seven hundred thousand soldiers on both sides. Lengping became a bloody sea of corpses, a veritable hell on earth.
The stench of blood reached as far as thirty miles, and for ten years, one could seemingly still hear the battle horns on full moon nights.
Though that battle had been several centuries ago, standing on Lengping's city walls, An Jing could still feel the sky-high killing aura.
Because underground, seven hundred thousand souls were buried.
Every year, the grandest festival in Lengping was Qingming Festival, when countless people burned paper on the streets for the buried soldiers' souls, praying for the safety of the living.
The Qi he sensed this time was different from before. The ancient battlefield's Qi had dissipated, or rather, it had been buried underground.
But the Qi before him was palpably real.
That powerful impact felt completely different from standing on an ancient battlefield.
The more An Jing thought, the more he felt uneasy. His hand instinctively touched the black stone, and an icy sensation transmitted into his body.
Simultaneously, a surge of malevolent Qi invaded his body.
"Not good!"
An Jing wanted to circulate his inner strength to resist this malevolent Qi, but it was too late. That icy cold malevolent Qi directly rushed into his Dantian.
Though only a trace, the malevolent Qi was extremely violent.
The Daluo Heart Method belonged to the level of True Martial, not Supreme Yang martial arts, making it extremely difficult to completely eliminate this malevolent Qi.
After adjusting his breath for dozens of breaths, An Jing only temporarily suppressed the malevolent Qi. Completely eradicating it would take at least an hour.
Malevolent Qi devoured and strengthened itself. The longer it stayed in the body, the greater the damage.
But he didn't have the time here to eradicate this malevolent Qi.
"Let's find the Bodhi Bead quickly....."
An Jing's eyebrows slightly furrowed, taking a few steps forward, searching for Wuding Sanren's corpse.
A True Martial-level treasure could stir up a bloody storm in the Jianghu.
"Why haven't I found it yet? Could I have been tricked by Jiang Sanjia?"
An Jing murmured, frowning.
But in the next moment, the scene before him left him completely stunned.