Everyone crawled through the large hole and walked in along the light, entering an extremely narrow room. The room was empty, with only a round water tank as tall as a person placed in the center of the floor.
The water tank was made of dark - brown ceramic, and its outer wall was engraved with dense spells, looking extremely strange.
Xue Yier said curiously, "What's in this?"
She casually picked up a brick to stand on tiptoe. Inside the tank, the dark - green stagnant water was constantly emitting a foul stench. It seemed that something was constantly wriggling and coiling at the bottom of the water, spitting out bubbles.
Xue Yier took a closer look at the thing, and her face suddenly turned a bit pale.
It was an eel as thick as a bowl. It was so thick and long that at first glance, it looked like a big python. Strangely red light was constantly emitting from its body.
Ming Mingzhong was a bit confused. "I've seen people raise carp, but I've never seen anyone raise eels."
Yu Nian noticed that this eel was constantly absorbing all the gloomy and sinister aura in the secret room.
It was like a balloon. Every time it absorbed a bit, its body would grow a bit larger.
Yu Nian understood immediately and explained, "Eels are very magical animals. They can be either good or evil. Eels and carp have the same life - destiny but different roots. A carp can develop spiritual roots after a hundred years of cultivation and leap over the dragon gate to transform into a dragon. However, an eel needs a thousand years of cultivation, and the chance of it transforming into a dragon is very slim. They have the bones of a dragon but not the appearance, and they have the fortune of a dragon but not the enlightenment. Their nature and morality completely depend on how their master raises them."
If the master raises them with kindness, the eels will become spiritual pets and protect the master.
If the master has evil intentions and feeds them with evil magic, they will be cultivated into evil creatures that absorb sinister aura.
This secret room itself had a chaotic magnetic field. It had no sunlight all year round, so it was easy for filth to accumulate.
Raising an eel in such an air - tight place greatly enhanced the effect of the evil magic.
Looking at the eel's slimy body, Xue Yier frowned tightly. "Is this the thing causing all the trouble?"
Yu Nian nodded.
Ming Mingzhong was a bit curious. "Will this eel spirit attack people on its own?"
"Both spiritual pets and evil pets recognize their masters. Without the master's order, evil pets generally won't attack others on their own."
As they were talking, the spells on the side of the tank suddenly flashed. The eel in the tank suddenly became restless, and its small bean - sized eyes flashed with a strange green light.
The eel spirit leaped up, and its huge body lunged at them ferociously.
Xue Yier was startled and quickly took a step back. She shouted at Yu Nian, "Quickly dodge! Don't fight it head - on! This eel spirit is too evil. It's not something we young - age celestial masters can deal with!"
But Yu Nian just gave her a reassuring look and then quickly rushed forward. She moved her fingers slightly and summoned Liu Mo.
The scales of the giant snake sparkled under the light of the spells. Liu Mo growled at the eel spirit, emitting a powerful aura.
Under the suppression of the bloodline, the eel's movement slowed down for a moment.
Yu Nian seized the opportunity and threw two spell papers at the eel spirit.
The eel immediately fell from the air and wriggled crazily on the ground. Its fat tail whipped up a stinky wind when it swung, sweeping the already - unstable bricks around to the ground.
Yu Nian looked at it indifferently, took out cinnabar and a writing brush from her bag, and quickly drew spells on the eel spirit.
No matter how the eel struggled, Yu Nian's hand was extremely steady. The moment she finished drawing the spells, the eel immediately stopped moving.
Xue Yier looked at the motionless eel spirit and was briefly silent.
"You're really amazing. You didn't kill this eel spirit, did you?"
Yu Nian shook her head and silently sorted out her thoughts.
From the paper dolls to the eel spirit, the person behind all this seemed to be targeting her, trying to use evil forces to stop her from participating in the competition smoothly.
But what on earth did that person want?
Yu Nian lightly kicked the eel spirit. "Stop pretending to be dead. Who's your master?"
The eel spirit shrank back. It was really afraid of Yu Nian from the bottom of its heart and replied, "It wasn't my master who sent me to kill you. It was my employer. His name is Zhou Zhen."
"Zhou Zhen? Isn't he a judge of the Xuanmen competition?"
Yu Nian thought for a while and asked, "Which sect does Zhou Zhen belong to?"
Xue Yier explained, "He's an elder of Fengming Mountain. He has quite deep qualifications. You're just a contestant. What threat can you pose to Zhou Zhen? Why does he want to harm you?"
Yu Nian looked at the gradually dissipating black mist around and said calmly, "There should be someone else behind Zhou Zhen. This secret room was deliberately set up to lead us here. That person's mind is really meticulous."
Xue Yier asked, "Should we take this eel spirit back and expose Zhou Zhen?"
Yu Nian thought for a while and slowly shook her head. "It's not urgent to deal with Zhou Zhen now. What we should do is continue to participate in the semifinals and lure the snake out of its hole."
Considering that the eel hadn't really killed anyone, Yu Nian didn't take it in. Instead, she removed all the evil aura from its body and let it return to nature to cultivate again.
The moment they left the house, Yu Nian casually threw a spell paper behind her and blew up the gloomy secret room to the ground.
A week later, the semifinals officially began. This time, the competition venue wasn't in the city but in the suburbs.
The bus drove for two hours before reaching the destination.
Yu Nian got off the bus with the other nineteen contestants. The sky, which had been bright in the morning, suddenly turned gloomy, as if it was going to rain at any moment. It was extremely depressing.
The staff said to everyone, "This is the venue for this competition - Fushou Village. There are many formations set up in the village, and everything is unknown. What the contestants need to do is break the formations, solve the mysteries, and successfully walk out of Fushou Village. The duration of this competition is set at 24 hours. Contestants who can walk out of the village within the specified time are the winners. If they fail to walk out of Fushou Village within the specified time, they will be eliminated. All contestants need to hand in their phones before entering the competition venue. It's 4 p.m. now. The competition officially begins. I wish all contestants good luck."
After saying that, the staff distributed a compass to each contestant.
Xue Yier walked up to Yu Nian and said casually, "Hey, have you heard? The semifinals are live - broadcast. Each contestant will have a camera following them."
"Live - broadcast?" Yu Nian nodded. "I'm familiar with this."
Xue Yier twitched the corner of her mouth. "You're involved in everything?"
When Fu Sui passed by Yu Nian, his steps paused slightly. "You're being irresponsible."
All the contestants got ready and rushed into the village in a swarm.
I don't know if it was everyone's illusion, but the moment they entered the village, the air around them suddenly turned cold. The inside and outside of the village seemed to be two different worlds.
Maybe it had just rained, so the ground without bricks became extremely muddy. Every step would sink into the mud.
Yu Nian looked around, but her walking speed was still very fast. She walked as if she was walking on flat ground. She walked several hundred meters without changing her expression.