This was a vast depression, so expansive that even Mu Lin’s mental sensing ability couldn’t reach its full extent. He hadn’t expected the place to be like this. Looking at the terrain before him, he felt an indescribable sensation stirring in his heart. Thinking for a moment, to ensure his escape route was safe, Mu Lin surfaced from the sea and told Xiao Laipi to move the boat far away from the area before proceeding further.
On the boat, Mu Lin considered the vast size of the depression and realized that his investigation might take a long time. Not wanting to worry the women back home, he called Keli’er to explain the situation.
Once again diving back into the ocean depths, this time Mu Lin decided to first map out the entire terrain before focusing on detecting the mysterious energy. Transforming himself into a fish, he swam through the sea and took three full days to circle the entire depression.
The more he explored, the more convinced he became that he had discovered a place of great potential. Even on land, an area this large would make an excellent hiding spot—difficult for anyone to find. And this was in the deep ocean floor, making it even more concealed.
Back in the canyon, Mu Lin had accidentally broken through a certain energy barrier and obtained many floating stones. Because of that experience, he had developed a strong familiarity with that type of energy. If not for that prior knowledge, he wouldn’t have even noticed the faint traces of that energy drifting here.
The depth of the depression and what lay within remained undetectable even with Mu Lin’s formidable mental sensing ability, making him increasingly cautious. After all, he was currently only about 500 meters below sea level. He hadn’t tested deeper depths yet, so he wasn’t entirely sure whether he could safely dive even further. Therefore, rather than rushing into investigating the energy, he carefully tested each section bit by bit.
After some time experimenting and gradually adapting to the water pressure at the ocean floor, Mu Lin noticed that the pressure within the depression didn’t seem significantly different from that at around 500 meters deep. This struck him as odd—it suggested something unusual was indeed happening here. Suppressing his inner excitement, he began cautiously exploring the edges of the depression.
Mu Lin’s plan was clear: he needed to fully map the terrain before starting his treasure hunt. Otherwise, if danger struck here, it wouldn’t be as easy to deal with as it would be on land. So he returned to the yacht and equipped himself with a military-grade underwater satellite positioning device. With this, Xiao Laipi could track his exact location from the yacht.
As an extra precaution, Mu Lin also activated a positioning talisman on his body. This way, even if the satellite device failed, Xiao Laipi could still locate him using their established psychic connection.
Inch by inch, Mu Lin familiarized himself with the surroundings. Two months later, he finally reached the central area of the depression. As his map of the area gradually became more complete, the remaining unexplored central region was clearly defined. However, due to the energy barrier blocking his mental sensing ability, and his unwillingness to use his true spiritual energy recklessly at this stage, the center remained blank on his map.
This central region spanned about one square kilometer, yet such a relatively small area was radiating the familiar energy Mu Lin had sensed before. After scanning the surrounding terrain and confirming no immediate threats, he decided it was finally time to begin his treasure-seeking mission.
During this time, Xiao Laipi had grown extremely bored aboard the yacht. Given his current abilities, he could only dive down to about 100 meters and not for long durations. So he had stopped following Mu Lin and spent his days diligently cultivating his powers instead. Now that Mu Lin was ready to begin his treasure hunt, he felt it necessary to alert Xiao Laipi for safety reasons. If danger arose and Xiao Laipi wasn’t paying attention, it would ultimately be Mu Lin himself who suffered.
After formally notifying Xiao Laipi, Mu Lin checked his weapons and dove back into the depths. Arriving at the familiar yet mysterious central area of the depression, he began probing with his true spiritual energy.
The center was shrouded in a powerful energy shield, and Mu Lin dared not recklessly use his spiritual energy. Instead, he guided his energy along the seabed toward the central region.
His spiritual energy penetrated about 300 meters downward—nearly reaching his limit. Then, he began extending it horizontally toward the center. As he neared the edge of the shield, he slowed his energy’s advance. Suddenly, it was violently repelled.
He hadn’t expected the shield to extend so deep underground. Immediately, excitement surged within him—the more heavily protected something was, the more valuable it must be. This meant his journey hadn’t been in vain. Faced with such a treasure trove, how could he possibly leave empty-handed?
After resting briefly and replenishing his strength with food from his ring, Mu Lin recalled his previous experience obtaining floating stones. He realized he had no choice but to forcefully break through the energy shield.
He notified Xiao Laipi first, then extended his spiritual energy again. Based on his understanding, only by condensing his spiritual energy into a needle-like point and attacking from a single spot could he possibly breach the shield.
On the first attempt, his spiritual energy made contact with the shield but was quickly repelled. He hadn’t expected success on the first try and didn’t dwell on the failure. This time, he summoned nearly all of his spiritual energy from his golden core, ready to stake everything on this attempt.
The needle-like spiritual energy struck the shield and forcefully pushed forward. This time, it succeeded—his energy actually broke through the shield. Through his spiritual energy, he seemed to glimpse something inside, and a surge of excitement filled his heart. Just as he prepared to tear open the shield, without the slightest warning, a powerful energy surged along his spiritual energy and struck him directly.
The attack was so fast and fierce that before he could react, darkness overtook his vision and he spat out a mouthful of blood. From that single blow, he felt as though all his meridians were about to rupture.
Through his spiritual energy, he sensed another wave of energy approaching. This time, his soul nearly fled from his body. Without hesitation, he severed the connection between his body and his spiritual energy, abandoning the hard-earned power he had cultivated over the past decade.
He felt his spiritual energy rapidly absorbed by the shield, and a cold sweat broke out across his body. If he had hesitated even slightly, the second wave of energy would have shattered his very soul.
With no time to dwell on the loss, Mu Lin quickly ascended toward the surface. His only goal now was to escape this deadly situation as quickly as possible.
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