87: Chapter 87 Eighth-Order Beast King
The alchemy furnace was still descending steadily, and soon, it reached the bottom of the lake.
"Where do we go from here?" At this moment, Lu Mengmeng didn't know which way to go.
"Look over there!"
Su Xiaoxiao suddenly raised her flashlight and pointed towards the front left. The beam pierced through the murky lake water, illuminating a crimson current that looked like blood.
"It might be the blood left behind by those people earlier. Let's head over there and take a look." Lin Mo decided decisively.
Lu Mengmeng's four Devil Vines flailed like the tentacles of an octopus, and the alchemy furnace swiftly swam in the direction Su Xiaoxiao had pointed.
The scenery at the bottom of the lake was beautiful, with little specks of light drifting by from time to time, like a galaxy in the sky.
Lin Mo, however, had no heart to appreciate the scenery; his gaze was locked firmly ahead.
The water pressure there was noticeably stronger, and the lake water had turned from deep blue to dark green.
A huge black rock could be vaguely seen, shaped like a giant open mouth.
"Slow down."
Lin Mo said in a low voice, gathering his Soul Power, ready to deal with any sudden situation at any time.
The alchemy furnace slowly approached the cave entrance.
"Could this be the Spirit Spring Cave?"
"I guess that must be it; look, there's still some blood floating over there." Lin Mo pointed at the cave entrance.
"Let's go in..."
Just as Lin Mo finished speaking, a powerful current suddenly surged out from the cave, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
"Ah!"
Lu Mengmeng hurriedly controlled the tentacles to stabilize the furnace body, clinging tightly to the edge of the rock with her four claws to avoid being washed away.
"There's something inside!" Mu Liuli pointed in terror at the shadows of the cave entrance.
Everyone looked up abruptly and saw a pair of vertical pupils as large as lanterns hanging in the darkness, glowing with an eerie light, staring at them without blinking.
A chill instantly shot through their bodies; everyone froze in place, forgetting even to breathe.
"Damn it, there really is a big guy hiding in here..." Lin Mo cursed under his breath.
He immediately channeled his Soul Power into the Pill Furnace, and the furnace glowed with a sudden burst of golden light, standing ready to meet any surprise attack.
However, just when everyone's hearts were in their throats, those vertical pupils just hung there quietly, showing no signs of attacking, as if they were just two lamps embedded in the darkness.
It was as if big question marks appeared over everyone's heads.
What was going on?
Was this beast asleep?
Or was it plotting something?
They maintained the "if the enemy doesn't move, I don't move" stance, standing in a stalemate for a full few minutes.
Finally, Lin Mo couldn't hold back anymore and said to Lu Mengmeng, "Mengmeng, try moving a little."
Lu Mengmeng bit her lip and tremblingly used the Devil Vines to move the furnace one meter to the left.
Almost at the same time, those vertical pupils shifted to the left as well, firmly locked onto them the whole time.
The six of them were startled by this action, and cold sweat broke out on their backs.
Three minutes later, without waiting for Lin Mo to speak, Lu Mengmeng gathered her courage and moved the Pill Furnace to the right again.
Sure enough, those vertical pupils also turned to the right.
"Huh?"
Everyone noticed something was wrong.
It seemed like the beast... was just staring at them and had no intention of attacking?
"Let's go in!" Lin Mo suddenly made a bold decision, his eyes flashing with a probing light.
"Th-that's not a good idea, right?" Teacher An Nuolan quickly stopped him.
"This monster clearly isn't low-level; what if it attacks us the moment we go in?"
"It's fine." Lin Mo shook his head, his gaze fixed on the vertical pupils.
"I suspect that as long as we don't violate its taboos, it shouldn't attack us."
"And..." He paused, "I guess it might have mistaken us for its own kind or some other beast."
He deduced this conclusion based on the beast characteristics analyzed by the AI in his brain, combined with the situation in front of him.
"Oh..."
Lu Mengmeng was half-believing, cautiously controlling the four Devil Vines to drive the Pill Furnace as it slowly moved toward the cave entrance behind those vertical pupils.
The Pill Furnace inched closer, and the vertical pupils followed its movement the whole time, yet there were still no signs of any attack.
In the darkness, one could vaguely hear the sound of water flowing over rocks, as well as a low, humming sound similar to breathing, coming from deep within the cave.
Everyone's hearts were tightly clenched; they didn't know if the beast would suddenly attack them once they took that step inside.
However, when they got closer and saw the true appearance of the beast, they were instantly dumbfounded.
"Oh my god, is it really that coincidental?" Lin Mo suddenly realized.
"Th-th-this is an octopus?" Lu Mengmeng blinked her big eyes blankly, looking completely confused.
"To be precise, it's an Eighth-Rank Beast King, the Nether Overlord Squid!" Teacher An Nuolan's face turned pale, her tone firm and decisive.
"Oh, my god, an E-Eighth-Rank Beast King!" Mu Liuli's voice trembled.
"A-are we going to die?"
Su Xiaoxiao's face was equally pale, and her small frame began to tremble slightly.
An Eighth-Rank Beast King, what did that represent?
It meant that even if their Dean came, he would only meet his death.
Even if an Eighth-Rank Soul Master came, they wouldn't necessarily be able to escape alive, let alone while in the water.
Lu Mengmeng's little face was deathly pale; she was scared out of her wits by this situation.
Subconsciously, she controlled the Devil Vines, wanting to move the alchemy furnace out of the cave.
But as soon as she retreated one step, a huge tentacle as thick as a water bucket suddenly stretched over and tightly wrapped around the Pill Furnace.
"Ah! We're going to die! Mommy, I want to go home!" Lu Mengmeng screamed in fright, tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's over, it's over, we're really going to lose our lives here this time..."
Lin Mo was also filled with regret, cursing himself for his greed.
He didn't finish his proper mission and insisted on coming to the bottom of this lake for some adventure; now he was really done for.
He had even prepared to perish together with it, channeling his Soul Power to the core of the Pill Furnace, ready to detonate it at any moment.
But the tentacle didn't send them into the giant mouth as expected; instead, it slowly lifted the Pill Furnace in front of those huge vertical pupils, as if it were carefully examining them.
Following that, another slightly thinner tentacle reached over, gently poked the Pill Furnace, fiddled with the four Devil Vines wrapped around the furnace body, and even weighed it, as if it were checking the weight.
"Huh?"
Lin Mo was stunned.
He actually read a trace of... disdain from those vertical pupils?
"It, it seems to be looking down on us for being thin and weak?" Lu Mengmeng was also dumbstruck, her face full of disbelief.
"Uh... don't tell me it really mistook us for its own kind?" Niu Dachun scratched his head and said in a muffled voice.
The giant beast, which looked like an Overlord Squid, weighed the Pill Furnace and the Devil Vines for a moment longer, then suddenly lashed out with its tentacle.
"Ah!"
The Pill Furnace, like a pebble being thrown, flew deep into the cave and landed heavily on a patch of soft sand.
...
After a long while, the six of them finally recovered from their dizziness.
"Hmm... if I'm not mistaken, that Overlord Squid really did mistake us for weak members of its own kind."
Lin Mo rubbed his dizzy head, looking at the scene before him.
"It threw us here, probably wanting us to take some water vein spirit crystals?"
Everyone followed his gaze.
They saw a small opening like a spring not far away on the ground, bubbling away.
Scattered around it were several water vein spirit crystals, identical to the one they had before, glowing with a warm luster.
The six of them looked at each other, all falling into self-doubt.
Wasn't this development a bit too bizarre?
"Th-then what do we do now? Should we really take them?" Su Xiaoxiao asked in a low voice, twisting the corner of her clothes with her fingers.
"Take them, why wouldn't we?"
Lin Mo came back to his senses, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "Since it's been so 'generous,' wouldn't it be a waste of its good intentions if we didn't take them?"
"Then... how many should we take?" Mu Liuli looked at those spirit crystals, her eyes lighting up.
"Whatever, just take as you see fit."
"Thanks to nature for the gift!"