Chapter 633: Winning Without Bloodshed Is the Best Strategy

It was a hidden cave entrance, with most of the cavern covered in a layer of faintly glowing blue luminescent moss. Standing at the entrance, one could clearly hear the muffled sound of flowing water emanating from within, while the air was thick with heavy moisture and the mixed scent of humus that never saw sunlight.

Su Ming did not enter immediately. Instead, he stood still for ten breaths, confirming that no spirit race members were in the vicinity. Only then did he use his Ruo Shui spiritual energy to reinforce an additional waterproof membrane on the inner layer of his life essence coat. Turning sideways, he squeezed through the narrow opening like a slippery loach.

The moment he entered the underground river, the surrounding light dimmed instantly.

The water inside the cavern was bone-chillingly cold, and countless tiny bioluminescent microorganisms floated on the surface. As the current churned, waves of faint blue cold light rippled across the water.

Su Ming submerged most of his body in the water, leaving only his shoulders and head exposed. Using the current's push combined with the water-controlling methods of the Like Water Art, he drifted silently forward through the underground river like a weightless fallen leaf.

He waded forward for roughly two hours.

Suddenly, the previously swift current began to feel viscous, as if a large amount of oil had been poured into clear water.

Su Ming's gaze sharpened instantly, and his forward motion came to an abrupt halt in the water.

"They're here." Lin Yu's voice echoed in his Consciousness Sea, carrying a note of warning.

About ten-plus zhang ahead of Su Ming, the water's surface began to churn eerily. Then, a group of serpentine spirit beasts formed entirely from pure water elements slowly emerged from beneath the surface.

"Liquid Serpents." Su Ming recited the name of this spirit beast silently in his mind.

They were only about the thickness of an adult arm, with bodies that were semi-transparent. In waters without light, they could blend almost perfectly into any current. A dozen or so Liquid Serpents coiled and interwove across the water's surface, their pupil-less, sickly white eyes all swiveling in unison to "stare" at Su Ming's location.

Ying, nestled in the crook of Su Ming's neck and protected by the water membrane, immediately sensed this icy hostility.

"Cheep..." A faint threatening sound rumbled in Ying's throat, and her wings spread slightly as the "Edge" rune's killing intent hidden within her bloodline threatened to burst forth.

"Don't move." Su Ming pressed down on Ying's fluffy little head, transmitting a stern message through his mind.

"These things are companions of water spirits. They have no vision and rely entirely on sensing life essence fluctuations in the water to distinguish friend from foe." Su Ming watched the slowly approaching Liquid Serpents with a calm gaze. "If we make a move here, the spiritual energy fluctuations will instantly transmit through the water veins and cause unnecessary trouble."

"Winning without bloodshed is the best strategy."

Su Ming ignored Lin Yu's teasing. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Not only did he refrain from using a single trace of Ruo Shui spiritual energy to prepare for battle, but he instead focused all of his mental power on the layer of life essence coat covering his body.

With the aid of the observation micro state's vision, Su Ming began meticulously fine-tuning the fluctuation frequency of his life essence coat.

He gradually suppressed the "wood-attributed" vitality within the life essence coat that originally belonged to the plants of Gloomlight Forest, then perfectly simulated and integrated the "water-attributed" life essence aura of the surrounding underground river into the rhythm of his coat.

In just three breaths.

Su Ming's presence in this underwater world underwent a wondrous transformation. He no longer seemed like an intruder from outside, but rather like a clump of "water spirit essence" that shared the same fluctuation source as the Liquid Serpents, only larger.

The group of Liquid Serpents that had already swum to within less than one zhang of Su Ming suddenly stopped moving all at once.

Their sickly white eyes rolled about confusedly on the water's surface, while their long bodies twisted irritably in the water. In their perception, the aggressive target from moments ago had suddenly vanished, replaced by a familiar aura of the same origin as the underground river itself.

The serpent group circled and hesitated around Su Ming for a full half-incense stick's time before finally seeming to confirm that there was no prey here. With a "splash," they dispersed back into pools of transparent water, merging into the viscous current and disappearing from sight.

Watching the serpents disperse, Ying poked her head out and tilted it in confusion.

"Well done." Lin Yu couldn't help but praise. "Resolving a crisis with zero consumption. You've truly mastered the Way of Survival."

Su Ming smiled faintly without responding, continuing to drift forward with the current.

The further he went, the more the underground river's terrain sloped downward.

The water's speed increased accordingly, and a thunderous roar echoed from ahead in the cavern.

Su Ming knew that a drop-off lay ahead.

Sure enough, the water plunged sharply downward ahead, forming a bottomless underground waterfall. The cascading curtain of water crashed into a valley floor of unknown depth, sending up a sky-full of water mist. Under the illumination of the cavern's bioluminescent microorganisms, this mist resembled a brilliant blue river of stars, beautiful and lethal all at once.

Su Ming took a deep breath, leaped forward, and plunged without hesitation into that massive curtain of water.

During the rapid descent, the wind roared past his ears. Su Ming did not completely lose control. He calmly opened his eyes, and as he passed certain protruding rock faces, he continuously used his water spiritual energy-wrapped feet to gain purchase on the stone.

Each touch skillfully dissipated a portion of his falling momentum.

"Boom!"

With a dull splash, Su Ming landed steadily in a deep pool at the base of the waterfall.

He surfaced from the water, wiped the droplets from his face, and looked around.

This was a naturally formed, enormous karst cavern.

Unlike the narrow darkness above, the walls of this cavern were covered in vast expanses of soft, glowing fungal mats. These mats radiated a gentle, luminous blue halo, illuminating the entire massive underground space like a legendary underwater dragon palace, filled with a sacred and tranquil atmosphere.

Just as Su Ming was about to climb onto the shore.

Within the Xuantian ring, Lin Yu's soul body's glow suddenly condensed slightly.

"Stop." Lin Yu immediately lowered his voice, carrying a rare tone of solemnity. "Ahead, there's the aura of spirit race members."

Su Ming's footsteps froze instantly, his entire body anchoring like a rock in the shallow water.

"Is it the Dark Current Sect?" Su Ming asked rapidly in his Consciousness Sea, his body already prepared to burst into flight.

"No." Lin Yu perceived carefully for a moment, his voice relaxing somewhat but still wary. "It's not the bloodthirsty, sinister fluctuation of the Dark Current Sect. This aura... is very peaceful, very steady, carrying an ancient scent of wood and grass."

Lin Yu paused briefly before making his judgment: "We should be on the right path. This must be a patrol outpost that Greenwood Court has arranged on the outskirts of the underground river."

Hearing this, instead of relaxing, Su Ming tensed his nerves to the maximum.

He immediately slowed his breathing and once again focused all his concentration on the life essence coat covering his body.

This time, what he needed to achieve was not deceiving those brainless spirit beasts, but deceiving spirit race guards with extremely high intelligence. He adjusted the fluctuation frequency of his life essence coat, the brightness of its glow, and even the subtle "breathing" rhythm of the coat to a perfect state that was completely synchronized with the surrounding cavern environment and those glowing fungal mats.

Only after everything was prepared did Su Ming slowly step onto the shore with soundless footsteps.

Rounding a massive stalactite pillar, the end of the cavern came into view.