"Listen, it sounds like water flowing!"
Yuan Gaowu, the sect leader of Kunlun Sect, led his senior disciple Geng Hong and others to the forefront. Lu Chenzi, the sect leader of Kongtong Sect, followed with his disciples. Zhang Boyun, the sect leader of Cangshan Sect, followed with his disciples. Yan Changjian of Shenjian Sect led his disciples Meng Yan and He Yunxia, and they all clearly heard the sound of water flowing from below the dark cave.
"We've reached the underground river. Let's hurry down and take a look. Everyone, mind your footing..."
Yuan Gaowu held the Qimen Bagua disk in his hand. According to its guidance, he led his disciples, each holding a weapon and a flashlight, through the cave with strange rocks and uneven terrain, following the direction of the underground river's sound...
Zhou Ruoxi, tailing Jin Xuan and Xu Hai's team, followed by Senior Sister Lu and Junior Sister He, trailed behind Zuo Qi Elder of Wudang Sect and Celestial Master Lin Yiping of Longhu Mountain. Zhang Xian'er and Ziqing stayed by her side. Qi Xiu and Chong Ling'er, Zhang Xingyue and Zhao Xuyan, all shone their flashlights around the dark cave...
"This cave is so big..."
Chong Ling'er shone her flashlight towards the cave ceiling. The vast cave had a height of over twenty meters. The cool temperature inside was very comfortable. Seeing such a magical cave made everyone forget the dangers hidden in the darkness...
"Ah..."
Suddenly, a scream came from the front. A disciple of Huashan Sect, holding his foot, squatted down and cried out in pain. He instinctively pulled off something that had bitten his left foot. When everyone found the object with their flashlights, Geng Hong exclaimed, "It's an Alxa pit viper! It's highly venomous!"
"Ah, what do we do?"
Lu Chenzi of Huashan Sect, seeing his disciple bitten by a poisonous snake, became anxious. "Sect Leader Yuan, do you have any medicine? Hurry and treat my disciple."
"Sect Leader Lu, don't worry, we have medicine."
Yuan Gaowu immediately had a disciple beside him take out a bottle and pour out three black pills. He said, "This medicine was specially researched and formulated by us based on the Alxa pit viper. It can suppress the snake venom and save his life."
"That's great, give it to him quickly..."
Lu Chenzi was excited to hear that there was an antidote and urged the disciple to take it, as long as it could save his life.
Yuan Gaowu looked at the others in the team behind him and reminded them again, "There are definitely many snakes around this underground river cave. Everyone must be careful where you step and only proceed after confirming it's safe."
"Everyone, be careful where you step..."
The people at the back of the team echoed the warning. Seeing that the Huashan Sect disciple was fine, Yuan Gaowu and the others continued down towards the underground river...
The sound of flowing water grew louder. About ten minutes later, led by Yuan Gaowu and his group, Zhou Ruoxi, Zhang Xian'er, Ziqing, and the others finally arrived at the bank of an underground river tens of meters wide. Looking at the swift-flowing underground river, everyone shone their flashlights around, searching for anything else...
"What's happening, Sect Leader Yuan? Where is the snake demon located?"
Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, Yan Changjian, and Elder Liao came over and watched Yuan Gaowu use the Qimen Bagua disk to search for the snake demon's location. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Strange, the snake demon's aura has disappeared by the time we reached the underground river!"
This remark made everyone present exchange glances. Meng Yan of Shenjian Sect pointed at the underground river, "Could the snake demon be in the underground river?"
Everyone's flashlights involuntarily shone on the swift-flowing underground river. Could the snake demon that Yuan Gaowu mentioned be below?
Meanwhile, Zhou Ruoxi, Senior Sister Lu, and Junior Sister He, on the other side, shone their flashlights around other areas of the underground riverbank. Suddenly, Chong Ling'er shouted from the front, "Look, there seems to be a door here!"
Yuan Gaowu, Yan Changjian, and Lu Chenzi all turned to look at Chong Ling'er. Zuo Qi Elder and Celestial Master Lin Yiping and Zhou Ruoxi's group arrived first...
Indeed, by the underground riverbank, there was a door six meters high and over three meters wide. Looking at the chisel marks on the stone wall, someone said, "This is a man-made door!"
"Man-made...?"
Elder Liao, Elder Feng, and Sect Master Tan all looked closely. Li Feiyu of Xingyi Sect exclaimed, "Sect Leader Yuan said that the Divine Serpent Clan originated from Kunlun. Could this be the original nesting ground of the Divine Serpent Clan below this cave?"
"Hmm, you know, that's quite possible."
Sect Master Tan and Sect Master Hu Yidao of Great Saber Sect nodded. Even Yuan Gaowu and Lu Chenzi agreed, "Perhaps this is indeed the earliest nesting ground of the Divine Serpent Clan."
"Hey, stop wasting time. We'll know if we go in and investigate."
Yan Changjian of Shenjian Sect gave them a look and waved his hand, leading Meng Yan, He Yunxia, and other disciples into the large door. Yuan Gaowu raised an eyebrow slightly and signaled his disciple Geng Hong and the others to quickly follow...
Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun also exchanged glances and led their disciples to follow. The sect leaders of Yingzhua Sect, Great Saber Sect, and Xingyi Sect, as well as Jin Xuan and Xu Hai of Shaolin, also followed...
Finally, Zuo Qi Elder and Celestial Master Lin Yiping exchanged glances with Zhou Ruoxi and cautioned, "Everyone be careful..."
With that, everyone walked through the large door. It was an ancient corridor with man-made marks on the stone walls and bronze oil lamps. Yuan Gaowu and his group shone their flashlights at the bronze lamp stands used for lighting the corridor. They had snake decorative patterns, and Yuan Gaowu stated with certainty, "It seems this is indeed the origin of the Divine Serpent Clan's nesting ground..."
"Great! Everyone go in and take a look. Perhaps the Divine Serpent Clan left behind many things!"
Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, and the others became excited upon hearing this. Hou Feiying of Yingzhua Sect and Li Feiyu exchanged glances, secretly rejoicing. If they could obtain some martial arts manuals from the Divine Serpent Clan, it would not have been in vain.
"Heh, you people are really optimistic."
Yan Changjian looked at Liao Haikuo, Feng Yimin, and the others with disdain and scoffed, "This isn't the Divine Serpent Clan's only lair. When they moved, they probably took all the good stuff. What good stuff would they leave for you to pick up?"
This made Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, Tan Song, and Hou Feiying exchange glances, knowing that Yan Changjian had a point.
"Let's all go in and take a look."
Yuan Gaowu said, holding the Qimen Bagua disk, and continued into the dark corridor. Their purpose this time was to find the snake demon that was about to evolve into a Flood Dragon. Discovering the original nesting ground of the Divine Serpent Clan was merely an accident.
Yan Changjian was right. Hundreds of years ago, the Divine Serpent Clan entered the Central Plains and changed locations several times. Finally, at the beginning of the founding of the nation, they were driven out of Huaxia and migrated to Thailand, thus breaking off contact with Huaxia.
Therefore, even if this was the Divine Serpent Clan's initial nesting ground, there would certainly not be any good items left for later generations to find.
After passing through the corridor, they saw a huge bronze door, eight meters high, four meters wide. The thick bronze door was carved with rough snake bas-reliefs...
Under the illumination of Geng Hong and his group's flashlights, the snakes in the bas-reliefs had grown dragon horns but no limbs, soaring through the clouds and mist, neither snake nor dragon...
"This is the Jiaoshe form that appears when a snake evolves into a Flood Dragon!" Yuan Gaowu said.
Lu Chenzi nodded and said, "Based on this calculation, the snake demon that created the Divine Serpent Clan at that time was already in the Jiaoshe form."
"Now, so many years have passed, isn't it about to evolve into a Flood Dragon?" Zhang Boyun's old eyes widened as he guessed.
Hou Feiying asked curiously, "How many years of history does the Divine Serpent Clan have?"
Yuan Gaowu said, "The exact year is unknown, but records show it's been almost three hundred years!"
"Almost, meaning not yet three hundred years. If that's the case, then that snake demon is indeed close to evolving into a Flood Dragon," said Zuo Qi Elder.
Celestial Master Lin Yiping raised an eyebrow. He said, referring to the unusual phenomena that appeared when they first entered, "It should be around this time!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present looked surprised and turned to look at Lin Yi Ping. Yuan Gaowu nodded and said, "It seems we must find and kill that snake demon before it evolves into a Flood Dragon and eliminate this menace for the people."
"Otherwise, if it evolves into a Flood Dragon, we won't be able to deal with it!"
Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, and Elder Liao all nodded.
"Open the door and let's go in and see."
Yan Changjian shouted. Many young disciples went forward and pushed together the thick, long-sealed bronze door. With a rumbling sound, the door slowly opened, revealing a vast space, like a high-ceilinged great hall...
Yuan Gaowu personally held a flashlight and began to shine it around the vast hall. The ceiling was twenty meters high, with clearly visible murals depicting snakes evolving into Flood Dragons and then into true dragons...
The great hall had bronze pillars, also carved with snakes, lifelike as if they were living creatures, astonishing Zhou Ruoxi, Lu Shuang, He Shanyue, and Chong Ling'er.
"What a grand undertaking..."
Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, Tan Song, Li Feiyu, and others were also awestruck by the decorations in the grand hall.
"Light all those kerosene lamps..."
As Geng Hong and his group lit the bronze kerosene lamps in the hall, the entire hall instantly became bright. The black flags had patterns of soaring snakes, which were the flag totems of the Divine Serpent Clan. They were covered in cobwebs, and the floor and the stone chairs and tables in the hall were covered in thick dust...
At the front of the hall was a snake-shaped throne, the throne of the Divine Serpent Clan leader. Looking at the layout of the hall, it seemed to be the place where the Divine Serpent Clan held their grand assemblies.
"Indeed, nothing was left behind..."
Everyone looked around the hall. Apart from the immovable stone chairs and tables, and the bronze lamps, censers, and bronze tripods, there was nothing of value left. This left Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun and the others deeply disappointed.
"Let's search the residential rooms again. Perhaps something was missed." Elder Liao did not give up and led his disciples to search everywhere...
Even Zhou Ruoxi and her group, following Zuo Qi Elder and his group, began searching the residential rooms within the Divine Serpent Clan's lair. After more than half an hour, everyone returned to the great hall with disappointment, shaking their heads, "Not even a single hair was left..."
"Alas, let's focus on finding the snake demon's whereabouts," Lu Chenzi sighed and said.
Zhang Boyun looked at Yuan Gaowu, who was walking towards the throne on the hall's steps, and called out, "Sect Leader Yuan, do you have any information on the snake demon's location yet?"
Yuan Gaowu, holding the Qimen Bagua disk, frowned slightly, looked up, and said gravely to everyone gathered in the hall, "Someone got here before us!"