"You've made a big discovery? Well, I've got one too." Kael tossed a skewer of roasted meat to Arjun, whose eyes lit up as he immediately began wolfing it down.
"This tastes amazing! Did you cook this yourself, Idris?" Arjun mumbled through a mouthful of meat, chewing voraciously. His curiosity quickly resurfaced. "Wait—you said you also discovered something big? What is it?"
Kael smiled faintly and explained his findings. Arjun's eyes widened in shock.
"You're saying this is the real location of the Water Dragon's treasure? That everything we looted before is just a drop in the ocean compared to what's here?"Arjun exclaimed.
"Exactly," Kael confirmed with a nod.
Arjun's eyes immediately gleamed with greed. "I already hauled away at least several million gold's worth of loot outside… and now you're telling me that was just scraps? This is incredible—we're going to be filthy rich!" Strangely, his first reaction wasn't disbelief but sheer excitement at the prospect of wealth.
Kael could only sigh inwardly at Arjun's priorities.
What Kael didn't realize was that mages like Arjun were perpetually strapped for gold. A mage's path to advancement was essentially paved with money—unlike Kael, who had the vast resources of an ancient legacy to fall back on. Arjun's enthusiasm was perfectly understandable.
"You mentioned you had a big discovery too? What is it?" Kael asked.
Arjun grinned slyly. "I found a campsite up ahead with a bunch of weird stuff. I figured I might be outmatched alone, so… heh."
A campsite?
"If this is indeed the true Water Dragon's Secret Realm, then everything here must be closely tied to the Water Dragon." Kael's interest was piqued.
"Finished eating? Let's go check it out." Kael was already eager to move. Unlike the outside world, this place—inside the Xuan Turtle's belly—held the Water Dragon's true legacy. Every clue mattered.
Arjun licked his lips regretfully. "Idris, your roasted meat is seriously delicious…" Seeing Kael stride ahead, he hastily took another huge bite before scrambling after him, shouting, "Hey, wait for me!"
Arjun led the way while Kael followed behind. Along the path, they encountered several other cultivators. Each bore subtle traces of wariness and unease in their gaze—clearly, none had fully adapted to this utterly foreign environment.
When these cultivators noticed Kael and Arjun, they instinctively grew guarded. Everyone understood that within the Xuan Turtle's belly, the only person one could truly trust was oneself.
Here, the rules were far more merciless.
"It's just ahead..." Arjun came to a stop.
Kael looked forward and saw a massive encampment—structured like a heavily fortified military stronghold, meticulously arranged in multiple layers. What lay inside, however, were coffins.
Yes, coffins!
Though other objects were scattered throughout the camp, the most prominent feature was the sheer number of coffins. They were everywhere, densely packed together. At a glance, Kael estimated there were at least several thousand.
"What in the world...?" Arjun stared at the countless coffins in astonishment. He reached out, tempted to touch one, but Kael swiftly stopped him.
"Don't. These are likely the Water Dragon's followers—all buried here after death."Kael was far more cautious than Arjun.
In its time, the Water Dragon was not only a peerless powerhouse but also the ruler of a kingdom, commanding immense influence across the three continents with countless devoted followers. Three thousand years ago, strength alone dictated supremacy, and the Water Dragon had gathered innumerable mighty warriors under its banner. These coffins undoubtedly belonged to those very followers.
"Idris, look!" Arjun pointed in a certain direction. The arrangement of the coffins was peculiar—from a distance, they seemed to encircle something like stars surrounding the moon...
Kael's gaze sharpened. At the very center stood a stone stele, the focal point around which all the coffins silently gathered. Carved into the stele was a single, stark character: "Command" (令).
The character was crimson as blood, strikingly vivid. It had been written in a single, unbroken stroke, exuding an overwhelming, majestic aura. Just looking at it made Kael's spirit tense involuntarily.
Even with Kael's formidable mental strength, he felt as though shackles had clamped down on his mind, his psyche straining under immense pressure.
How terrifying!
A mere character, yet its oppressive force rivaled the might of a tenth-level expert. The sheer weight of its presence was suffocating.
If Kael was affected this severely, Arjun fared far worse. The mage stood frozen, staring blankly at the stele as if entranced. His eyes glazed over, and sweat poured down his forehead in rivulets.
"Arjun!" Kael called out.
Instead of responding, Arjun suddenly collapsed to his knees, clutching his head in agony. A sharp, involuntary cry escaped his lips as pain wracked his mind.
Kael's eyes flashed. He understood now—the "Command" stele radiated a terrifying power, one capable of imposing immense mental strain. Whoever had inscribed that character was monstrously powerful. A single word had subdued an eighth-level expert like Arjun.
It might even be the Water Dragon's own handiwork.
Acting swiftly, Kael channeled a thread of magic into Arjun while fortifying his own mental defenses. Fortunately, Kael's vast and resilient psyche allowed him to resist the worst of the stele's influence, though a lingering discomfort remained.
"Hah... This place is cursed. Even a damn stele is this horrifying..." Arjun gasped for breath, still recovering as Kael's magic stabilized him.
Kael nodded grimly. This place is indeed unnatural.
Just then, rustling sounds came from all around. Kael frowned.
They weren't alone.
Other cultivators had begun noticing the encampment, drawn toward it like moths to a flame. Figures emerged from the surroundings, cautiously approaching to investigate.
Fortunately, the encampment was vast—almost labyrinthine in its layout—making it difficult for the newcomers to reach Kael and the others anytime soon.
More and more figures arrived, prompting Kael to frown. "We should leave." He had no desire to draw attention, especially when the situation remained unclear.
Arjun, now mostly recovered, nodded vigorously and prepared to follow.
But just then, the camp itself stirred to life.
"Damn it!" Kael whirled around at the disturbance, his eyes flashing with alarm.
The coffins—rows upon rows of them—began to tremble. Their lids creaked open slowly, and from within emerged shadowy figures.
One after another, these figures climbed out of the thousands of coffins.
They were unmistakably long-dead, their bodies pitch-black and movements stiff, yet they rose as if roused from ancient slumber.
A single feature united them all: a faint, earthen-yellow glow pulsed at the center of their foreheads. This light radiated an extraordinarily pure and dense essence of the earth, seeping steadily from their forms.
"This is bad—these were the Water Dragon's followers in life. After death, they were refined into puppets to guard this realm. They're extremely dangerous!" Kael's voice was tense, his gaze sharp.
The camp housed thousands of such puppets.
More critically, these individuals had once been the Water Dragon's loyalists—their strength in life had undoubtedly been formidable. Even after millennia, their remnants remained a lethal force.
As one, the puppet soldiers stirred to action. This was no mere spectacle like Seraphina's Knight Puppets; the scene was terrifying on an entirely different scale. Every cultivator who had entered the camp felt their hair stand on end.
These puppets were long devoid of consciousness, yet their devotion to the Water Dragon had been forged into instinct. They existed solely to protect the secret realm.
In other words—every intruder here was their enemy.