After Being Reborn, I Refuse To Be The Holy Son Of The Sect Anymore

Chapter 52:

Splash!

Lin Wangchuan dove headfirst into the pond, sending water splashing everywhere. Moments later, he surfaced, gasping.

“Senior Brother Holy Son, this water is freezing!” Lin Wangchuan exclaimed.

“I told you not to rush into the water,” Xiao Yang said helplessly.

Lin Wangchuan’s playful curiosity always got the better of him. If something intrigued him, he would act immediately without much thought. Despite the old fisherman’s warning about a water monster in the pond, Lin Wangchuan had jumped in without hesitation.

Of course, as sword cultivators protected by their sword aura, they weren’t particularly afraid of any so-called water monster.

“Haha… I just wanted to see what the water monster looks like!” Lin Wangchuan said before diving back into the water to explore its depths.

Xiao Yang shook his head in exasperation.

At that moment, he noticed a figure peeking at them from the distant forest.

“Hmph!” Xiao Yang snorted coldly but chose to ignore it.

Instead, he retrieved a box from his belongings.

When he opened it, a brilliant white light emanated from within.

Inside was a luminous pearl—the Star Pearl.

This pearl emitted a starlike radiance, bright enough to illuminate an area within a hundred feet as if it were daylight. Though not a spiritual artifact, Star Pearls were favored by cultivators as a source of light. For mortals, such pearls were invaluable treasures.

Xiao Yang had long prepared to retrieve the treasure hidden in the depths of the Thousand Dragon Pond. If not for the detour caused by Qin Fei and Jiang Ting, which led them through Nanshi Town, he might have postponed this task.

Qin Fei, you’d never imagine that while scheming against me, you’ve actually cut off your own path to sainthood.

With this treasure, Xiao Yang’s cultivation would surpass his progress from his previous life, allowing him to break through to the Saint Martial Realm even earlier.

This time, Qin Fei, how will you compete with me?

Xiao Yang took the Star Pearl from the box and threw it into the pond.

As it sank, the pearl’s light illuminated the dark waters, creating a radiant glow that descended deeper and deeper.

Xiao Yang enveloped himself in sword aura and leapt into the water.

“Mm?”

The coldness in the water was far more intense than on the shore. Xiao Yang felt the icy threads of the pond’s chill wrapping around him.

Without the protection of sword aura, anyone falling into this pond would be frozen solid and sink to their death.

The glowing Star Pearl continued to descend, illuminating the depths of the Thousand Dragon Pond.

The pond was deeper than he had expected.

Using the pearl’s light, Xiao Yang surveyed his surroundings. The pond narrowed at the top but widened as it descended, with the space below growing more expansive. The cold intensified with every foot downward.

After descending several dozen meters, the Star Pearl’s glow abruptly vanished, plunging the waters into darkness.

“Not good!” Xiao Yang’s heart skipped a beat.

In the next moment, a dazzling light erupted from below, accompanied by a surge of powerful sword energy that rippled through the water.

Xiao Yang immediately sensed the vibrations in the water. Lin Wangchuan had activated his flying sword, unleashing a radiant sword glow that lit up the pond like a miniature sun, far brighter than the Star Pearl.

Just then, a massive shadow darted past Xiao Yang, stirring up the still water into a violent current.

Xiao Yang steadied himself and noticed a glowing spot on the belly of the shadowy figure.

“There’s really a water monster here?” Xiao Yang muttered in disbelief.

And this monster had swallowed his Star Pearl?

Xiao Yang felt a twinge of frustration.

No matter how carefully he had planned, he hadn’t anticipated that the creature in the pond would swallow the Star Pearl.

Suddenly, he felt another disturbance in the water. A massive black shadow rushed toward him—a gigantic golden-scaled dragon carp.

Under Lin Wangchuan’s sword light, the carp’s shimmering blue scales and twin golden streaks extending from its eyes to its tail were clearly visible.

“A king among fish…” Xiao Yang thought, his heart trembling as he instinctively retreated.

Could this be the man-eating monster the old fisherman mentioned?

Before he could react, the enormous carp lunged at him, its gaping maw lined with sharp teeth clamping down on his waist.

Blood instantly clouded the water.

However, the carp quickly released him, swimming away as several of its teeth shattered.

The creature circled him, clearly agitated.

Ordinary mortals would have been bitten in half by such an attack, but Xiao Yang’s sword aura shielded him, preventing the carp’s teeth from penetrating. Instead, the carp had injured itself, losing over a dozen teeth and bleeding from its mouth.

Raising his hand, Xiao Yang extended a finger.

A golden sword beam shot forth from his fingertip, slicing through the water and piercing the carp’s head in an instant.

At that moment, Lin Wangchuan swam up from below.

Xiao Yang drew his sword and sliced open the carp’s belly, retrieving the swallowed Star Pearl.

Speaking underwater was impossible, so Xiao Yang gestured for Lin Wangchuan to wait outside while he explored further.

Lin Wangchuan nodded and grabbed the carp by its two “dragon whiskers,” dragging the massive fish toward the surface.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yang, clutching the Star Pearl, descended further into the depths.

At the bottom of the pond, Xiao Yang discovered a grim sight.

The floor was littered with bones, including several human skulls and the remains of massive beasts. Many of the bones bore signs of being gnawed.

The cold at the bottom of the pond was so intense that even his sword aura couldn’t fully shield him. Xiao Yang felt his blood nearly freezing and had to channel his cultivation technique to resist the chill.

For weaker cultivators, reaching the pond’s depths would be impossible.

Curiously, despite the frigid temperatures, the water hadn’t frozen, and there wasn’t a single shard of ice to be seen.

Searching the pond floor, Xiao Yang soon found a collapsed stone gate.

Beyond it lay a dark passage—the entrance to an ancient relic site.

Without hesitation, Xiao Yang stepped through the stone gate.

As he crossed the threshold, he passed through a water membrane.

Inside, no water was present.

An invisible force held the water outside, leaving the space beyond dry.

Holding the Star Pearl to light his way, Xiao Yang proceeded confidently into the passage, heading toward the treasure he sought.