"Jiang Li, I'm heading south!"
Liu He, clad in a gray combat uniform, split from Jiang Li and moved toward the southern part of the lake to investigate.
"I'll go west. Keep in contact."
The beast beside him leapt into the lake, diving westward into the rock strata.
Splash!
After a nod, Jiang Li plunged into the lake himself, diving deep beneath the surface. As he glided along the sloping lakebed toward the east, his spiritual power spread out instantly.
"My current spiritual coverage exceeds ten thousand square meters, with a radius of at least five kilometers, yet still no sign of the Muya Crystal…"
Jiang Li hovered in the depths, frowning in thought.
He was certain — the evolution of those four beasts into Emperor-level creatures was ninety-nine percent because of the Muya Crystal.
"Looks like I'll have to go deeper into the rock layer."
Gripping Zhuxian tightly, Jiang Li slashed toward the lakebed. The water and rock split apart as he tunneled downward.
Six hundred meters.Fifteen hundred meters.Twenty-five hundred meters.
With terrifying force, Jiang Li carved a path straight through the eastern lakebed, leaving behind an undersea tunnel and a whirling vortex.
"An underground river?!"
Breaking through the rock, Jiang Li shot into a massive cavernous tunnel. Water streamed beneath him, and the entire passage was filled with a faint, fragrant rice-like scent.
"Muya Crystal!""Finally found it!"
His eyes lit up. Determining the direction, Jiang Li transformed into a streak of white lightning, flying along the underground river.
"So this is the tunnel carved out by the beast emperors…"
Emerging from the massive tunnel, he found himself facing an even broader underground river — several kilometers wide.
A huge fish lunged at him. Jiang Li swung Zhuxian casually, and a crimson arc flashed. The king-level beast was cleaved cleanly in half, its body falling into the river and stirring up waves.
The stench of blood spread quickly with the current.
The once-calm river suddenly grew violent. Nearly a dozen aquatic king beasts appeared within Jiang Li's spiritual field.
"Hm? Someone else has entered?"
Jiang Li's spiritual sense enveloped the entire river — clearly, other parliament members had followed his route down here.
"Too bad the Muya Crystal isn't my goal."
A sweep of his mind revealed more than a dozen white crystals at the river's source — the very treasures responsible for the beasts' evolution into emperors.
He immediately transmitted everything he saw to Thor and Hong, then blurred forward, weaving through the horde of beasts. Zhuxian swung, stabbed, and sliced — each crimson arc like a reaper's scythe, reaping king beasts one after another.
By the time Jiang Li struck down the fifth, the others were finally terrified. They howled in panic and fled into the depths.
"Muya Crystal?!""It's actually Muya Crystal?!"
Both Hong and Thor could hardly sit still after receiving Jiang Li's report.
From their study of ancient civilizations, they knew much about the universe — and even in that vast expanse, Muya Crystal was considered a treasure.
"That explains why four beast emperors appeared!"
Hong's heart settled. Exiting his aircraft in a flash, he spotted Thor doing the same. Smiling, he said, "Looks like Jiang Li told you too?"
Thor raised a brow and chuckled. "Heh, you could at least call me 'second brother.'"
After exchanging a glance, neither of them mentioned the Muya Crystal again.
This thing's origins were too significant — and they weren't the only ones who knew of it. If word spread, human greed alone could trigger a bloodbath.
"Hong and Thor just dove back under the lake?""They must've found something!""Let's go down too!"
Seeing the two descend again, the surrounding factions quickly concluded that there must be something below powerful enough to tempt even them.
Soon after, Hong and Thor followed Jiang Li's trail into the massive underground tunnel. With their strength, it was child's play to slaughter a few king-level beasts.
"That kid actually found an underground river two thousand meters below the lake?"
Thor sounded surprised.
Was it luck?Or could his spiritual sense really penetrate that deep?
"You can't judge Jiang Li by common sense," Hong said, glancing toward the intersection where the rivers met. "Split up and search."
"Alright."
In an instant, both men turned into streaks of light — one heading south, one north.
Within seconds, several other beyond-war-god-level beings also dove into the tunnels, surging into the underground world.
Meanwhile —
Jiang Li had already followed the underground river through the rock layer when a strange psychic fluctuation entered his spiritual range.
His eyes brightened slightly, lips curling into a faint smile.
"This energy signature… is Babata calling to me?"
"Target locked.""Signal confirmed. Beginning retrieval."
In the depths of the earth, invisible waves spread upward, passing through every obstacle.
Jiang Li continued descending along a winding corridor, now nearly ten thousand meters underground.
"Hm? Liu He?"
His communicator lit up.
"Jiang Li," Liu He's voice came through, slightly breathless. "The HR Alliance just found Muya Crystals. By the way — do you know what they are?"
"I do," Jiang Li replied calmly.
From his earlier deductions, he knew there were plenty beneath the lake. Even if Hong and Thor said nothing, the other parliament members would discover them soon enough.
"Good. Then get over here to the south — we're about to fight the HR Alliance!"
Jiang Li couldn't help but smile. So that was it — Liu He was calling for backup.
There weren't many parliament members Liu He feared. If it was someone from the HR Alliance… it was probably the so-called world's number one psychic, Easter.
"If I take action, people will die," Jiang Li said with a grin.
"Then forget it," Liu He muttered, realizing it wasn't worth it.
He'd only been testing the waters. With the Muya Crystals in play, spiritual masters had a huge advantage in locating them — and when it came to spiritual power, who on Earth could compare to Jiang Li?
Ending the call, Jiang Li continued descending along the unseen pulse.
Twelve thousand meters.Fifteen thousand.Fifteen thousand six hundred…
Boom!
Jiang Li swung Zhuxian in a fierce strike. A thunderous roar filled the darkness as the backlash traveled up his arm, forcing even his powerful body to tremble slightly. He stepped back over ten meters.
"Hm?"
His eyes narrowed.
A rustling sound echoed from the dark, and suddenly, a passage wide enough for two people appeared. At its end was a door made of strange white metal, reminiscent of a spaceship hatch — only larger.
"The Falling Ink Star!""Finally found you."
Jiang Li raised his brows. Stepping into the metallic corridor, he immediately noticed clusters of white-glowing Muya Crystals piled along the floor. The rich rice-like fragrance filled the air.
The scene reminded him of how ordinary people lured birds — scattering grains of rice to bait them into cages.
"Heh, fine. Just this once, I'll play the bird."
With a thought, Jiang Li swept the crystals into his combat suit's pouch.
A quick count — two hundred and forty-seven pieces.
After stowing them away, he advanced deeper into the corridor. At the next intersection, a wave of invisible pressure weighed heavily on his chest.
To his right, a massive corpse leaned against the metallic wall.
The oppressive force was emanating from it.
Jiang Li's gaze sharpened. The corpse's once-blood-red eyes were now dull, yet within those lifeless pupils, he still felt a tremor in his soul.
He knew — that feeling came from the vast gulf in life level and power.