Pang Jian's expression was dazed, unable to comprehend why this python on the brink of death had suddenly gone mad.
There was clearly no enmity between them, yet the python was putting on a show as if it wanted to kill him before its own death.
His heart cried out in distress, and he could no longer attend to the presence of that humanoid monster; he could only keep retreating, preparing to reach a place untouched by the snake bones.
Since the python's head was nailed down by the Phoenix Bone, as long as the snake bones could not reach him, he was safe.
Once he dodged this attack and waited for the Phoenix Bone to completely consume the python's head, the python would be thoroughly dead.
"Bang!"
A very light muffled sound came from the other end of the Phoenix Bone as Pang Jian rapidly withdrew.
Retreating with his head down, Pang Jian instinctively glanced back and was surprised to see the python's winding bony body being hindered by something at the bottom of the pool, with its speed noticeably slowed as it came toward him.
Soon, he saw a person hanging from the writhing ghostly white snake bones.
Pang Jian was astonished.
That enigmatic humanoid creature had suffered an unwarranted disaster due to the python's death throes as it twisted its bones, getting tangled up in the fleshless snake bones and whistled through the water as it was dragged along.
The creature, whose attention had been on the Phoenix Bone, obviously had not anticipated that the python, about to die, would cause such turmoil.
He struggled hard, hugging the thick fleshless snake bones, exerting his strength to pry them apart.
The creature, already devoid of spiritual intelligence and lacking a gleam of humanity in its eyes, still thought of this as an attack launched by the "Dark Giant Python" in its dying moments.
He gathered his inner strength to fight against the "Dark Giant Python," an alien force not of this realm, thereby also slowing the lashing of the snake bones.
Pang Jian took the opportunity to flee toward a region beyond the reach of the snake bones.
He secretly rejoiced, grateful that the monster had blocked an attack for him; otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to escape in time, and he might have been beaten or pierced to death by the snake bones.
Once he had escaped to a safe distance, he could still see the giant python with its eyes open, its pupils filled with endless hatred.
Pang Jian was utterly perplexed.
This was his first time entering Black Water Pool, his first encounter with such a huge python, so why did the python pick a fight with him even in its last moments?
...
The night's veil lifted.
The eternally somber daylight returned to the world of man.
The Dark Ghosts, who had been enduring the night, observed Black Water Pool again at daybreak and were surprised to find that the originally ink-black water had considerably receded in its dense blackness.
The color of the water changed from pure black to gray-black.
After watching closely for a while, they noticed that the previously calm and waveless surface of the water was now rippling with ripples, as if there was some great disturbance coming from beneath the water.
"There's something under the water!"
Even the dullest of people could guess there must be living creatures below through the abnormal movements of the water's surface.
Hong Tai, who knew about the existence of the "Dark Giant Python," initially wanted to observe the situation after dawn and then leave.
But at this moment, he hesitated and sought everyone's opinion, "As long as the Dark Giant Python remains at the bottom of the pool, all of us going down would face certain death. Plus, it might also burst out of the Black Water Pool and come ashore to hunt all of us."
"You should also think about it, whether we give up on these prey or continue to wait and see?"
Although he was asking for everyone's opinion, his gaze rested only on Jin Yang's face.
"I want to wait and see."
Jin Yang, unwilling to let it go and also startled by the anomaly in the water, released his "Cicada Wing Swords" again to observe the changes in the pool from different angles, saying, "I always feel like the black in the water is receding rapidly; perhaps before long, we'll be able to see clearly what's beneath."
"Hmm, the color of the water is indeed becoming lighter," Hong Tai affirmed.
Through his own python, he knew that the water's corrosive toxicity had weakened, and he guessed that the "Dark Giant Python" was probably gathering back its released Acidic Peculiar Supernatural Ability.
"We can wait, but everyone must be careful. Because when the water becomes clear and transparent, the Dark Giant Python might also swim out from the bottom of the pool," Hong Tai warned gravely.
Jin Yang nodded.
Next to the Dark Ghosts, Ning Yao, who was bound in the bright silvery net, showed an expression of utter dismay.
Barely sitting up in the net, she stared blankly at the gloomy sky, seemingly having given up struggling.
The people of Dark Ghosts, due to the many oddities of the Black Water Pool and the uncertainty of whether the "Dark Giant Python" might suddenly burst out, were no longer paying much attention to her.
Those who had lusted for her beauty, like Zhang Heng, had mostly died in combat.
"Pang Jian..."
Still not recovered from the shadow of Ning Yuanshan's death, and listening to the conversations of the Dark Ghosts, Ning Yao's slightly vacant gaze slowly drifted to Black Water Pool, and the image of a figure quietly emerged in her mind.
"Is he still alive?"
Having already lost hope, Ning Yao couldn't believe that after so many had died, Pang Jian could still be alive at the bottom of the pool.
So much time had passed, and Pang Jian, who had just begun to comprehend the existence of "Qi," how could he possibly survive without asphyxiating?
Furthermore, there was the acidic toxicity in the water, which could act at any time; even Jin Yang had taken a hit. Shouldn't Pang Jian be nothing but bones by now?
Miss Ning helplessly pondered.
Thinking that she was destined for a fate worse than He Ziren's, she was prepared to bite her tongue and commit suicide before that moment arrived.
While everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, the ripples on the surface of the pool persisted for a while before gradually subsiding.
The pool's blackness had indeed faded a lot, but it had not cleared completely, indicating that the acidic poison was still present, so everyone could only continue to wait anxiously.
...
At the bottom of the pool.
```
Pang Jian, who had retreated all the way to the rock wall beside the pool, watched as the spiteful light in the depths of the python's pupils gradually extinguished.
The dying python, the more it struggled desperately, the faster it consumed its blood and flesh essence energy, and the faster the Phoenix Bone devoured it.
Pang Jian watched its massive head as bright olive-green scale armor disappeared and its skin and flesh slowly vanished inside the Phoenix Bone.
In the end, it was entirely consumed.
The humanoid monster, after a fierce battle, gasped violently at the other end of the Phoenix Bone, with chains of bubbles streaming upwards from its mouth.
He was covered with injuries too, but not a single drop of blood flowed from his body.
He kept gasping, creating more bubbles, his deep red eyes still fixated on the Phoenix Bone, waiting for that long-anticipated glimmer of Light Refining to take shape.
From beginning to end, it was as if Pang Jian didn't exist in his eyes.
"That's my luck as well."
Pang Jian didn't feel any resentment for being overlooked.
Noticing that the giant python had finally died and the peculiar changes inside the Phoenix Bone had not yet begun, he only thought about where he should go from here.
He surveyed his surroundings, seeking his way out, and then he was surprised to find a door that was wide open right next to the rock wall he was leaning against… a stone door.
This section of the rock wall was far from the Phoenix Bone, and the stone door was deeply hidden in the underwater world, blending in with a pile of sharp and rugged rocks.
Because the open stone door was too smooth and even, it stood out awkwardly among the surrounding jagged rocks, making it easy to notice.
"Man-made!"
With one glance, Pang Jian was certain the stone door was not naturally formed and couldn't help but move closer.
Holding the Dragon Pattern Spear, he entered the open stone door with some trepidation, and saw a narrow and deep stone passage inside, which seemed to lead through the mountain to the other side.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he went about ten steps into the stone passage and saw a small stone chamber at the bottom of the mountain…
In the stone chamber, there was a stone table and chairs, as well as a stone bed, with nothing else besides that.
Seeing the small stone chamber in the middle of the stone passage, as well as the stone table, chairs, and bed, Pang Jian's expression was as strange as could be.
Because the furniture in the stone chamber was arranged exactly like the one he lived in, it couldn't help but look familiar to him.
The stone chamber he was currently living in had been his home ever since his father left.
Before his father disappeared, because he and Pang Lin were still young, the two of them shared a room.
"This..."
A man-made stone chamber at the bottom of a water-filled pool, with such a familiar layout, made Pang Jian freeze in place.
Could it be that his father had been here before and carved out this stone chamber?
The stone chamber was obviously underwater, where ordinary people couldn't breathe and live, so how did his father manage to create a chamber at the bottom of the pool?
Pang Jian couldn't find the answer.
Nevertheless, this deep stone passage with no end in sight and the mysterious stone chamber gave him a glimpse of a path to life.
After some consideration, he did not rush to explore the end of the stone passage but exited and closed the open stone door first.
Only then did he notice that the back surface of the stone door was also rugged with broken rocks. When the stone door was truly closed, it looked no different from the surrounding protruding debris.
Apparently, the door could only be recognized as a smooth stone door when it was open.
This was a fairly simple method of concealment.
Pang Jian believed that if he entered the stone door and closed it from the inside, the Ghost Cultivators who later entered the bottom of the pool would probably not be able to find the stone door that blended in with the broken rocks.
At this moment, he could actually escape and leave, he could close the stone door and try to explore the end of the deep stone passage.
But recalling the acidic peculiar supernatural ability above Black Water Pool, which seemed to aid his cultivation, he chose to take the risk and stayed.
In front of the open stone door, he watched the somewhat blurred Phoenix Bone and the giant bones of the python.
The amber glint within the Phoenix Bone had not yet emerged to wander within the bones, likely because the value of the python's blood and flesh was significant and required more time to brew.
The humanoid monster's attention was entirely on the Phoenix Bone; it would not care about him at all.
So he still had time, he could still draw the dark acidic peculiar supernatural ability from Black Water Pool and continue his "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell" cultivation, continuing to refine his Spiritual Power within the vortex of his Spiritual Sea.
Hence, he re-entered his meditative state.
Time quietly slipped away again, and in the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
Whenever he could no longer withstand his hunger, Pang Jian would take out water-soaked dried meat to fill his stomach; the rest of the time, he was in cultivation.
He firmly seized this rare opportunity for cultivation.
...
Outside.
The waiting Dark Ghosts watched as the water in Black Water Pool gradually became less densely black day by day.
They finally witnessed the day when the water turned clear.
"It said that there is no more corrosive acid poison in the water," Hong Tai pointed to the python that belonged to him, looking at the clear water and said, "It's still too deep, I can't see the bottom of the pool, who among you will go down and see what's happening?"
His gaze drifted over the faces of the Dark Ghosts, but everyone was silent, no one dared to answer.
"Are you all so cowardly?"
Having had a plan all along, Hong Tai's gaze settled on Ning Yao, who was trapped in the silver net, and said, "Keeping Miss Ning until now was precisely to use her to test the Dark Giant Python. The blood and flesh of a young girl are the most delicious to it, it cannot resist such a delicacy."
As soon as he spoke, Ning Yao immediately felt a chill down her spine.
...
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