Chapter 208

Chapter 208

Hearing Wu Qijie's order, Qiao Leshui nodded with a grim face.

No one dismissed the eyes that Qiao Leshui had seen as an illusion or a mistake.

This was Tianzhi Plain, once an ancient battlefield filled with countless negative energies, grievances, and obsessions... These malevolent energies, nurtured in the unique environment of Tianzhi Plain, gradually took shape. They could transform into various monsters, lurking in different parts of the plain, harboring great malice towards all living beings that entered.

There was no safe place on Tianzhi Plain, and they couldn't be sure what lurked in this lake.

Wen Qiao looked toward the other side of the lake; the two fluffy creatures perched on her shoulders also peered over, their cute, furry appearance lacking any intimidation, resembling pets cuddling with their owners.

The boat glided silently across the lake, moving towards its center.

The reflections of everyone on the boat rippled on the lake's surface, creating an illusion as if their bodies were being crumpled by an invisible hand.

On the vast lake, there was only one small boat and its five occupants, the air heavy with a suffocating atmosphere.

Suddenly, Wen Tutu let out a loud shriek, hurling the spirit fruit in its paws into the lake.

Following Wen Tutu's attack, Wen Qiao saw the eyes that appeared in the lake. Those icy eyes stared at the people on the surface without any emotion. The spirit fruit sank instantly to the bottom upon impact.

Everyone turned at the sound, but the eyes vanished too quickly for them to see anything.

"Wen Miss, did you discover something?" Wu Qijie asked.

Wen Qiao replied, "It wasn't me who discovered it; it was Wen Tutu first. It was indeed eyes, and they moved very fast, disappearing instantly when startled."

Wu Qijie's gaze fell on the two small fluffy creatures on her shoulders.

At first glance, they seemed like harmless pet demons, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the seemingly harmless demon rabbit was actually a mutated beast, and the black-and-white bear cub... should be a metal-eating beast.

Whether mutated beasts or metal-eating beasts, they were far from cute; they were vicious.

Wu Qijie hadn't expected such powerful beasts to accompany an unknown female cultivator. Although they appeared to be in their infancy, they were already formidable. This contradicted his earlier assumptions about their identities; these two were definitely not ordinary wandering cultivators.

At that moment, the female cultivator took out a top-grade spirit pill and fed it to the demon rabbit, seemingly rewarding it for spotting the eyes in the lake first.

Who would feed a top-grade spirit pill to a beast? Certainly not a wandering cultivator.

Soon after, Wen Tutu spotted the eyes in the lake again, and this time even Wu Qijie saw them clearly.

The eyes in the lake resembled human pupils, staring coldly through the clear water at the people on the boat. Their emotionless coldness made one feel as if they wanted to drag the people into the depths, turning them into companions.

That feeling sent chills down their spines.

These eyes didn't stay visible for long, disappearing instantly upon discovery.

The depth of the lake was uncertain, and the seemingly short water plants formed a dense web at the bottom, concealing the eyes as soon as they sank.

Neither the eerily calm lake nor the eyes within it allowed anyone on the boat to act rashly.

"What are those eyes?" Qiao Leshui asked, somewhat horrified, always feeling as if they were being watched whenever the eyes appeared.

Naturally, no one answered him.

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou stared at the lake, while Su Wangling closed his eyes to rest. Wu Qijie occasionally glanced at Su Wangling, lost in thought.

As the boat moved forward, the frequency of the eyes appearing increased. Initially, only one or two could be seen occasionally, but as they approached the center, the eyes began to appear more frequently, no longer hiding, just gazing up at the people on the boat.

Qiao Leshui swallowed nervously and whispered, "It seems like there are more and more eyes."

No reminder was needed; everyone had noticed that the number of eyes in the lake was increasing. Looking around, it seemed as if the entire lake was filled with eyes, staring up from different angles, making one feel uncomfortable under their cold gaze.

"I feel like we're being watched," Qiao Leshui murmured, unable to ignore the constant presence of those eyes.

"It's not just a feeling; it's real!" Wen Qiao confirmed.

Ning Yuzhou, looking at the eyes in the lake, mused, "It seems they have self-awareness."

Self-aware entities?

Everyone's gazes met the eyes in the lake, and even Wu Qijie, the most experienced among them, shuddered.

After staring for a while, Wen Qiao felt a chill run through her body. She glanced at the others on the boat and suddenly noticed that Su Wangling, sitting in the middle, had closed his eyes, though she couldn't tell if he was resting or sleeping.

In this environment, it was impossible to sleep.

Her gaze fell on his pale, almost translucent face, and she realized he must be resting given his current condition. She and Qiao Leshui both wondered why Su Wangling, in his poor health, had come here personally despite the dangers of Tianzhi Plain.

Wouldn't it be easier for Wu Qijie alone to find the divine tree?

Suddenly, Qiao Leshui exclaimed, "Look, are they getting closer to us?"

Wu Qijie's expression changed slightly as he carefully observed and said sternly, "They are indeed getting closer."

He scanned the surroundings. On the vast lake, except for the giant tree in the center that seemed unreachable, there was nothing but water and eyes. Even if they wanted to avoid them, they didn't know where to go.

What do these things intend to do?

At that moment, Su Wangling, who had been silent, spoke, "Those are the eyes of the Thousand-Eyed Demon! Be careful, it's coming."

As soon as Su Wangling finished speaking, a splash echoed, and black hair burst out of the water, lunging towards the boat.

Wu Qijie summoned a long knife, its blade gleaming like snow, slicing through the black hair. The severed strands floated back into the water.

Due to Wu Qijie's attack, the eyes in the water, which had been staring coldly, suddenly turned angry.

"They still dare to glare at us," Qiao Leshui said angrily. "Can't we retaliate?"

Speaking of which, he took out a stack of talismans, arranged them in a row above his head. The talismans emitted crackling thunder sounds; they were all thunder talismans, specifically designed to counter evil spirits.

The eyes in the lake turned to glare at him, as if they wished they could bite him to death.

It seemed that Wu Qijie's attack had enraged the Thousand-Eyed Demon in the lake. More and more black strands broke through the water's surface, attacking the people on the small boat.

Wu Qijie stood at the bow of the boat to face the onslaught, slicing through the hair with each strike, cutting it into pieces that fell back into the water.

Without realizing it, countless black strands appeared in the originally clear lake water, drifting gracefully. Everywhere one looked, the view was dominated by these black strands, making the dark blue lake appear as if it were covered with a black carpet.

Wen Qiao took out several thunder talismans and said to Qiao Leshui, "I'll stay here; you go to the center of the boat."

Qiao Leshui understood her intention upon seeing Su Wangling sitting there and hurried over to guard him, throwing thunder talismans outside the boat. The sound of crackling thunder echoed as the hair fell limply back onto the lake's surface.

Wen Qiao stayed beside Ning Yuzhou, using both thunder talismans and her sword to cut the emerging strands back into the lake.

After a while, they noticed that no matter whether the strands were cut or repelled by the talismans, they would quickly regrow once they returned to the lake, seemingly unaffected.

Qiao Leshui and Wen Qiao switched to fire talismans.

Perhaps because the strands were soaked in water, the fire talismans had little effect, only managing to burn a few strands, causing minimal damage.

More and more hair broke through the water, attacking them. The sky filled with flying black strands, creating an impressive sight. From afar, it looked as if a monster with countless strands of hair was using its hair as weapons.

Wu Qijie continued to slash with his blade, each strike powerful and sweeping, cutting through the strands effortlessly like slicing vegetables.

However, no matter how smoothly he cut, the strands seemed endless, causing no real harm. Wu Qijie realized that the monster in the lake was not simple; merely cutting the strands was not enough.

With so many strands, Wen Qiao and Qiao Leshui began to struggle. Their cultivation levels were lower than Wu Qijie's, and after continuous fighting without any apparent effect, their moods soured.

The eyes in the water seemed to sense their distress and revealed a look of triumph.

Seeing this, Qiao Leshui couldn't bear it anymore and threw another batch of talismans, including some aimed at the eyes in the water.

Unfortunately, the eyes disappeared too quickly, and the talismans activated in the water did not harm them.

"Isn't this the Thousand-Eyed Demon? Why are there so many strands?" Qiao Leshui was on the verge of breaking down.

Su Wangling's voice came, "These aren't strands; they are the Thousand-Eyed Demon's body."

Qiao Leshui didn't care whether they were strands or body parts; they were just too difficult to deal with, as if the entire lake was filled with these strands, impossible to eliminate.

Wen Qiao remained steadfast at the stern of the boat, protecting her husband.

Wen Tutu joined the fight, tearing apart any strands that approached, shredding them into tiny pieces.

She loved shaving fur, and now with so much hair, she continued to shave.

Seeing the strands turn into fluffy pieces falling back into the water, Wen Qiao thought that if the Thousand-Eyed Demon were a person, it would surely be bald from Wen Tutu's shredding.

While they were busy, Su Wangling's voice sounded again, "Earth-grade talismans have little effect on the Thousand-Eyed Demon; at least Heaven-grade talismans are needed."

Neither Qiao Leshui nor Wen Qiao had Heaven-grade talismans. After all, Heaven-grade talismans were too expensive for Qiao Leshui, who was poor, and Wen Qiao never considered buying them since her husband could draw talismans.

They exchanged glances and looked at Wu Qijie.

Wu Qijie continued chopping the strands like cutting vegetables and said, "Don't look at me; I don't fancy using talismans in battle."

Although talismans were prevalent in the Flying Star Continent, and cultivators often used them in battles, many cultivators preferred not to rely on them. For example, Xiong Yan, a physical cultivator, relied solely on his strong body.

Compared to using auxiliary items, they believed more in their own strength.

They then looked at Su Wangling, thinking that as the young master of the Spirit Jade Fort, he should have Heaven-grade talismans.

Though Su Wangling didn't open his eyes, he seemed to know they were looking at him. He silently took out two Heaven-grade talismans and tossed them to Wen Qiao and Qiao Leshui, saying, "I cannot fight; please do the honors."

Qiao Leshui thought that even though Su Wangling couldn't fight, he had Wu Qijie to protect him. Just like Ning Yuzhou, who was also non-combatant but had a powerful fiancée to protect him.

If one day the fiancée couldn't protect him... they'd deal with it then.

Upon receiving the talismans, they felt the immense power within, far surpassing Earth-grade talismans.

Talismans, like spirit pills, were categorized into Yellow-grade (beginner), Mystic-grade and Earth-grade (intermediate), and Heaven-grade and above (advanced). A single grade difference meant vastly different effects and power. Heaven-grade talismans were far more lethal than Earth-grade ones.

Activating the Heaven-grade talismans with their spiritual energy, they struck the lake directly.

A loud explosion echoed, and the lake water churned violently, causing the small boat to sway. Fortunately, the boat was an Earth-grade spirit artifact, able to withstand such turbulence.

The Heaven-grade talismans indeed made a difference; the strands in the lake visibly decreased, and the eyes disappeared.

Wen Qiao and Qiao Leshui looked at the lake with joy, thinking the Thousand-Eyed Demon might retreat. Suddenly, the eyes reappeared, glaring at them with even greater anger.

Along with the eyes, more black strands emerged, though fewer than before.

"Are they coming again?" Qiao Leshui's scalp tingled.

As he spoke, a rumbling sound erupted, and even more hair broke through the water from all directions, forming a black wall around the small boat.

This was a trap, like catching fish in a barrel.

Surrounded by the black hair walls, the eyes in the lake seemed even more triumphant.

Wu Qijie frowned, feeling that this situation wasn't sustainable. He sheathed his blade and asked Su Wangling, "Young Master, can you see the Thousand-Eyed Demon's weakness?"

Wen Qiao and the others looked at Su Wangling in the center of the boat, puzzled by Wu Qijie's question.

Su Wangling opened his eyes, gazed at the lake for a moment, and said, "The Thousand-Eyed Demon's weakness is its eyes. Find the demon's eye and you can kill it. Its demon's eye is at the bottom of the lake, but it's best not to leave the boat."

As if this effort had drained him, Su Wangling closed his eyes slightly, his face appearing even paler.

Jiao Le-shui listened in a daze and subconsciously asked, "Why can't we leave the boat?"

Su Wangling still had that calm yet weary look on his face. With his eyes closed, he softly said, "This water is formed from extreme yin energy, not ordinary lake water."

Hearing this, the few people on the boat looked at the surrounding rippling lake water with serious expressions.

This Thousand-Eyed Demon actually dwelled in this water condensed from extreme yin energy. Clearly, it was no ordinary demon. Its strength wasn’t particularly strong; even Jiao Le-shui and Wen Qiao could easily cut its hair. However, as long as its demonic eye hid at the bottom of the lake, cultivators couldn’t enter the water and thus had no way to deal with it.

Wu Qijie could kill it, but he couldn’t just jump into the lake to find the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s demonic eye, could he?

As they were looking at the hair strands surrounding the boat in distress, Ning Yuzhou, who rarely spoke, asked, "Young Master Su, is there any other way?"

Su Wangling suddenly opened his eyes and stared straight at him, weakly saying, "Yes, we can use strange fire! The Thousand-Eyed Demon fears strange fire greatly."

Wen Qiao’s heart stirred, suspecting whether Su Wangling was deliberately speaking to her husband.

Ning Yuzhou indeed had strange fire, but it was only refined, not tamed. He had never used it in front of others, and even Jiao Le-shui didn’t know about it, let alone the others.

Wu Qijie complained, "Strange fire isn’t something you can get easily. Where do we have strange fire?"

Jiao Le-shui was also distressed. Could they only be trapped here by this Thousand-Eyed Demon forever?

At this moment, a wisp of blue flame flickered, and the fiery aura of strange fire dispelled the surrounding coldness.

Jiao Le-shui stared in astonishment at Ning Yuzhou, who had a wisp of strange fire dancing on his finger. Wu Qijie was somewhat surprised and couldn’t help but glance at their young master, lost in thought.