Cultivating Through The Game-Chapter 455 - 276: Report
The sky was dark, and the desolate Kugu Ridge welcomed several uninvited guests.
Seven unusually burly men surrounded an old man and a young man, while a vicious-looking man stood on the outer perimeter, as if the two were being surrounded by bandits of Kugu Ridge.
Yang Jueshang looked at Lu Yu, his elongated and hardened nails retracting to their original state. With a blank expression, he asked, "Is there any problem?"
Lu Yu's face seemed somewhat conflicted and hesitant. Yang Jueshang furrowed his brow slightly and said coldly, "Speak, what's the matter?"
"I seem to be unable to sense my puppet," Lu Yu said.
"What!" Yang Jueshang's expression instantly worsened, transforming into an evil ghost-like appearance, saying coldly, "Are you playing games with me?"
Yang Jueshang raised his hand, his palm rapidly enlarging, turning into a sharp black ghost claw reaching for Lu Yu's neck.
Quickly Lu Yu said, "At the bottom of the Yinming Cold Pool, there's a rift leading to the netherworld. The puppet might be at the edge of the rift, absorbing the aura of the netherworld, evolving into an undead creature from the netherworld, breaking free from my control. As long as I can touch it again, I can regain control."
He was just talking nonsense, as earlier he had heard from Fei Feng about a rift at the bottom of Yinming Cold Pool leading to another realm.
As for whether this realm is the netherworld, even Lu Yu doesn't know. Mentioning the netherworld sounds more impressive and intimidating than just saying "another realm."
Yang Jueshang's fingers stopped one centimeter from Lu Yu's neck. Hearing the words "netherworld," his expression changed slightly, though the change was so subtle that Lu Yu still noticed it.
Lu Yu was secretly alarmed, wondering if the netherworld truly exists.
The reason Yang Jueshang halted was that if Lu Yu's puppet had indeed become an undead from the netherworld, killing Lu Yu now would actually release the puppet's final restriction or shackle.
He had no means to deal with a potential undead creature transformed from a god-level corpse, let alone obtaining an intact puppet for research into soul power.
Compared to a puppet with divine transformation ability, Lu Yu appeared far easier to handle in Yang Jueshang's eyes, as easy as snapping fingers.
If Lu Yu betrayed him, he would crush him directly when the time comes.
Even if Lu Yu tried to control and direct the undead puppet to attack him, Yang Jueshang could kill him first.
When the master dies, the puppet loses control, or when it breaks free from its constraints and shackles, there is a brief moment of bewilderment and pause, which is the perfect opportunity to counter the puppet.
Regardless of which scenario unfolds, not killing Lu Yu now outweighs the disadvantages.
They reached the edge of Yinming Cold Pool; everyone was incredibly powerful, unconcerned by the sparse cold aura in the valley.
"It's just below," Lu Yu said, standing by the pool.
Yang Jueshang focused mentally, and a puppet emerged from the crowd, stepping into the Yinming Cold Pool, slowly submerging until the water covered its head, then swimming toward the pool's bottom.
Lu Yu glanced around, estimating his success rate if he used earth tunneling to escape now.
After a rough calculation, Lu Yu gave up on fleeing directly.
His plan was to enter the Yinming Cold Pool and use its unique terrain to create an opportunity for earth tunneling and escape.
Thinking about this, Lu Yu silently added experience points to his earth tunneling skill to level it up, increasing his escape probability.
By spending nearly 300,000 experience points, Lu Yu elevated earth tunneling to a pinnacle realm.
[Through diligent practice, earth tunneling (masterful) → earth tunneling (pinnacle)]
Cast time further shortened, requiring only a fraction of a second to form a Dharma Seal.
Next, he spent 600,000 experience points to advance to a realm akin to divine technique.
[Through diligent practice, earth tunneling (pinnacle) → earth tunneling (divine technique)]
Casting time had reached its limit, needing only 0.02 seconds to form a Dharma Seal, and earth tunneling, at the divine technique realm, could pass through zones of special spirit minerals, expanding its applicable range.
Gazing at the experience points needed to upgrade earth tunneling to a peerless state, Lu Yu spent 1,500,000 experience points for the upgrade.
[Through diligent practice, earth tunneling (divine technique) → earth tunneling (peerless)]
Upon elevating earth tunneling to peerless at once, Lu Yu sensed the rhythm of the earth, even feeling the activities of subterranean creatures and the flow of underground energy.
Without needing to release any detection, Lu Yu could feel through the earth's vibrations the puppet traversing the bottom of Yinming Cold Pool.
He sensed the terrain of Yinming Cold Pool, which shaped like a massive funnel. The upper layer was an expansive pool, with the bottom piling up with dead creature corpses.
In the center of the cold pool, the depth increased dramatically like a straw, resembling the funnel's long mouth, extending nearly a hundred meters deep down into the ground.
Lu Yu could even sense a missing piece of land, over a hundred meters deep in the cold pool's bottom, creating a blank area where he couldn't sense through the earth what was occurring there.
With slight thought, Lu Yu realized that the area likely contained the rift to another realm.
The puppet was already very close to the pool's center and was about to reach the thin hole at its base.
Yang Jueshang stood on the shore, his eyes reflecting the scene observed by the puppet at the pool's bottom, breaking through layers of corpse piles, heading towards the center of Yinming Cold Pool.
Through the connection with the puppet, Yang Jueshang sensed an unusually chilly power at the pool's center, even his own perception felt cold upon contact, inducing shivers down his back.
