The Soul of the Mountains and the Spirit of the Waters

They fell for about three seconds.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind swept through.

The two, holding hands, were tossed and tumbled through the air.

Chen Feng squinted against the wind as his body flipped, catching sight of the mountain behind him—with a dark, pitch-black cave.

That raging wind was blowing straight from that cave.

The howling around his ears drowned out all other sounds.

All he could see was Gu Qianqian grinning widely, her two rows of small white teeth sparkling in the sunlight.

The pair were carried by the storm wind, blown toward a massive pond in the distance.

Once they moved away from the wind’s source, Chen Feng finally caught a faint sound from Gu Qianqian.

Though the wind still roared loudly,

he heard her shout loudly:

“Master, we’re about to go down!”

By now, they were directly above the pond.

The wind died down, and their bodies began to fall.

Looking down at the water below,

Chen Feng faced a huge problem.

His dignity as a master was being severely tested.

But when life and death hung in the balance,

Chen Feng suddenly realized he wasn’t one to care about saving face.

He shouted to Gu Qianqian:

“I can’t swim!”

Gu Qianqian replied:

“Don’t be afraid, Master!”

“I can’t swim either.”

Hearing his disciple say not to be afraid, Chen Feng’s anxious heart eased just a little.

Then came the next sentence, nearly breaking his composure.

You can’t swim either?

And you say not to be afraid?

Is the water shallow?

Wouldn’t that mean we’re going to crash down and die?

Before plunging into the pond,

Chen Feng caught sight of a huge turtle on the shore, looking up at them.

Its shell wasn’t patterned like a normal turtle’s.

From above, the shell’s markings formed a Bagua diagram.

Beside the turtle stood a bird covered in colorful feathers, yet shaped much like a red-crowned crane, also watching them.

Behind the turtle and crane stood a towering tree.

Its branches were heavy with fruit.

Each fruit was about the size of a ping-pong ball, fiery red in color, and emitting a faint golden glow.

Zhuguo!

Chen Feng was stunned.

This rare treasure of nature, he had only seen in textbooks and on TV.

Never had he imagined encountering so many Zhuguo at once.

This single tree bore at least tens of thousands of Zhuguo.

Zhuguo were incredibly precious to the outside world.

They grew only in remote, unfrequented deep mountains and marshes.

The Kunlun Mountains had the most; other ranges also had them, but nowhere near as many.

Every time the Kunlun Mountains opened, a batch of Zhuguo would appear.

It was said these fruits could grow on various plants.

Their shapes sometimes differed,

but all shared one common trait: fiery red fruit with a golden glow on the surface.

According to historical records from those who had harvested Zhuguo,

a single tree bore at most nine fruits.

The scene before Chen Feng’s eyes clearly exceeded his understanding.

“No wonder it’s a dragon vein; treasures abound here,”

Chen Feng thought to himself.

There was no time to ponder further; before hitting the water, he covered his mouth and nose.

*Splash!*

Two massive splashes erupted in the Jade Pool.

At that moment, Chen Feng had only one thought: we’re done for.

His cultivation as a top-tier martial artist had kept him from blacking out on impact.

But even top-tier warriors needed to breathe.

He struggled to open his eyes, hoping to see how Gu Qianqian was doing.

In his mind, he recalled the breathing exchange techniques shown on TV.

When things get urgent, you have to improvise; there’s no time to worry about the details.

Survival comes first.

He flailed through the water, trying to reach Gu Qianqian for a breath exchange, but something felt off.

They were both sinking.

Before long, they reached the bottom.

There stood Gu Qianqian firmly on the lakebed, speaking to Chen Feng.

“Master, wait here a moment.”

“The Mountain Spirit and Water Soul will guide us out.”

Mountain Spirit and Water Soul?

What?

Water can talk?

He could hear voices?

Chen Feng was stunned.

He was standing on the bottom too.

There was something strange about this water.

It glowed faintly with a soft light.

The plants around them didn’t look like underwater flora.

They resembled terrestrial plants.

Chen Feng even spotted a ginseng root.

Its fiery red fruit stood out vividly.

But now wasn’t the time to focus on ginseng.

He slowly released his grip and cautiously asked,

“Water can talk?”

The answer became clear as soon as he spoke.

“Master, this isn’t water. This is the Eternal Spring of the Jade Pool.”

Eternal Spring?

Chen Feng had never heard of such a thing, but the name alone told him it was extraordinary.

And he realized he could breathe.

Though the air he inhaled didn’t feel like normal air.

With every breath, a wave of indescribable comfort swept through his body.

His fatigue vanished.

He felt more energized than ever.

Gu Qianqian stood there calmly, as if nothing had happened, waiting.

Soon, a milky white koi fish, bigger than a city bus, swam toward them.

“No way!”

“The legendary Mountain Spirit and Water Soul is actually a giant koi?”

“Could it be planning to swallow us?”

Just as Chen Feng prepared to attack,

the massive koi stopped beside Gu Qianqian.

It nudged her gently with its head.

“Master, let’s go.”

“The Mountain Spirit and Water Soul isn’t just a koi; it can transform into anything.”

“This is the soul of the Dragon Vein, innate and spiritual, able to see into the heart’s desires.”

The koi opened its huge mouth, and Gu Qianqian simply walked inside.

Chen Feng’s eyes widened.

This encounter was beyond belief.

It was like a dream.

He followed her in.

Inside the koi’s mouth, Chen Feng could still see the outside world.

The entire Jade Pool shimmered with a soft glow.

The lakebed was anything but dark.

He saw the koi swimming swiftly.

Suddenly, a massive black cylinder appeared ahead.

As dark as ink.

Not even the glowing water could pierce its shadow.

The koi spat them both into the black cylinder.

Chen Feng was instantly swallowed by darkness.

He couldn’t see a thing.

Only Gu Qianqian’s voice broke the silence.

“We’re about to leave the Dragon Vein.”

The next moment, Chen Feng felt himself rapidly ascending.

The sound of splashing water filled his ears.

He opened his eyes to find himself floating in a black pool.

Then he saw Gu Qianqian slowly rising and standing up.

This wasn’t water?

You could actually stand in it?

Chen Feng tried standing too.

The black surface was soft beneath his feet.

He wobbled but didn’t sink.

He thought of something.

Asphalt!

But he knew this was definitely not asphalt.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have surfaced from there.

He would have died inside.

Chen Feng realized that he was still in a valley.

But compared to the Jade Mountain Yaochi he had been in before, this valley was worlds apart.

The entire valley was bleak and desolate, devoid of any vegetation.

Near a black pool of water lay countless bones, densely scattered.

Judging by the massive skeletons, they were all dinosaur bones.

Chen Feng picked up one.

He found the bone had severely decayed, losing any medicinal value.

“Such a pity. This used to be worth five thousand yuan per gram,” he muttered.

Beside the pool stood many enormous stone tablets.

Each tablet was seven or eight meters tall.

Strangely, they were engraved with various martial arts techniques.

But Chen Feng didn’t linger.

He couldn’t learn any of them, so there was no point in looking.

He simply followed Gu Qianqian out of the pool.