Chapter 744: Lotus Platform

After entering the ancient cave dwelling, a wide open space lay before them, but soon someone noticed something amiss.

"Hmm? This cave seems to be a world of its own—I can't fly!"

The crowd was startled. They channeled their primal energy and found that they indeed could not fly.

"This cave is truly eerie. No wonder even Junior Brother, with his strength, got trapped here!" Ying Tianya frowned.

"Hmm? Junior Brother? You mean... Xu Yan?" Pei Wenqiang said with slight surprise.

Ying Tianya nodded. "Junior Brother stumbled upon this cave by chance but ended up trapped. I only learned of this place after receiving his message."

Pei Wenqiang exclaimed in astonishment, "Xu Yan's skills surpass both you and me. If even he is trapped here..."

Hearing their exchange, the others also felt a tightening in their hearts. It seemed this cave was no easy place.

No one knew exactly how strong Xu Yan was, but it was certain that he was stronger than both city lords.

If even Xu Yan was trapped here, the outcome of this journey was uncertain.

He Shuming's face changed. "City Lord Ying, you never mentioned that your junior brother is stronger than you!"

This was a matter of preconception. While it was common for a junior brother to be stronger than his senior, in most cases, the senior was stronger.

When He Shuming heard that Ying Tianya's junior brother was trapped in the ancient cave but still alive, he instinctively assumed the danger was not great.

Otherwise, he would never have agreed to come.

Ying Tianya said calmly, "I didn't say, and you didn't ask, did you?"

"You!" He Shuming was left speechless.

Pei Wenqiang's eyes darted, and he laughed. "Ying Tianya, that's your fault! When venturing into such a dangerous place, you should clearly explain the risks. Now, aren't you blatantly setting us up?"

"Pei Wenqiang, can you be any more shameless?" Ying Tianya snorted coldly.

This tactic of sowing discord was too obvious. He Shuming was no fool; how could he not see through it?

But it had to be said that Pei Wenqiang's words struck a chord with him.

Moreover, now that things had come to this, He Shuming could see that Ying Tianya had deliberately concealed the danger level of this journey, fearing that he and Ye Yuan would refuse to come, so he hadn't been upfront.

The method was crude, but effective.

In truth, Pei Wenqiang didn't care about He Shuming's feelings. He secretly glanced at Ye Yuan's expression, but the result disappointed him.

Ye Yuan's expression remained calm, as if he hadn't heard a thing, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Alright, alright, let's all say less. Now that our retreat is cut off, it's too late for anything. Let's explore ahead together. We can settle matters after leaving this cave," Luo Fang said, stepping in to mediate as he saw the situation turning sour.

With no other choice, the group continued forward.

Before long, a great river blocked their path.

"This... Since we can't fly and there's no bridge, how do we cross?"

The river was bare, without even a bridge, and the crowd was dumbfounded.

Now that none of them could fly, would they have to wade across?

Ye Yuan's eyes flickered. He casually tore off a piece of his robe and tossed it into the water.

His clothes were made of a very soft, light silk, but as soon as they fell into the water, they vanished without a trace and sank to the bottom!

He Shuming couldn't help but cry out, "Weak water! This must be weak water! Eight hundred miles of Flowing Sands River, three thousand fathoms of weak water deep. Goose feathers cannot float, reed catkins are sure to sink!"

At He Shuming's cry, everyone's expression changed drastically.

"It is said that weak water originates in the far west. How could it appear here?"

"Legend has it that weak water cannot be crossed. What should we do now?"

Everyone looked at each other, momentarily at a loss.

Pei Wenqiang pondered for a moment, then his gaze fell on Ye Yuan. He asked, "Boy, since you can spot the oddity, you must have a way to cross, right?"

Ye Yuan shrugged. "If you Heavenly Awakening Realm martial artists have no way, how could I, a mere Spirit Wandering Realm rookie, have one?"

Pei Wenqiang stared intently at Ye Yuan and sneered, "If you have no way, then you're useless. Should I just throw you into the river?"

He turned to look at Jun Tianyu and said, "Don't glare at me like that. No matter how strong you are alone, you can't be our match! Besides, even if we did fight, you'd most likely not be my equal."

Pei Wenqiang had long noticed that Ying Tianya's group was split into three factions: Ying Tianya's own faction, He Shuming's faction, and Ye Yuan's faction.

Ying Tianya's side had the overall strongest strength, while Ye Yuan's side, with only Jun Tianyu, was easier to handle.

"Hmph! Do you take me for a useless fool?" said Ying Tianya.

Pei Wenqiang laughed. "That Pill Saint clearly no longer trusts you. If you make a move now, you'll have even less chance of winning, won't you? So you'd better keep your mouth shut!"

"You!" Ying Tianya was thoroughly choked by this.

But when he glanced at He Shuming's side, he found that He Shuming seemed to have no intention of intervening.

Clearly, that side had completely split off from his.

If it came to a fight, they might even side with Pei Wenqiang!

Pei Wenqiang turned back to Ye Yuan and smiled. "So, have you thought it over? Ying Tianya tricked you into coming here with ill intent. Are you still going to fight for him?"

Ye Yuan glanced at Pei Wenqiang and said, "The road is right under your feet; you just can't see it."

"Huh? What do you mean?" As he spoke, Pei Wenqiang couldn't help but look down, only to see a lotus platform pattern right under his foot.

"Try stepping on it hard," said Ye Yuan.

Pei Wenqiang was about to step down, but changed his mind and said to Ye Yuan, "You step on it!"

Jun Tianyu's expression changed upon hearing this. "Let me do it!"

Ye Yuan stopped him with a gesture and stepped down himself.

"Creak..."

The next moment, a scene that left everyone dumbfounded occurred.

On the weak water river, lotus platforms appeared one after another! Their positions were quite random, but each was about a step apart.

These lotus platforms floated above the weak water, leading all the way to the opposite shore.

"This... who owns this cave dwelling, to have such miraculous means! With these lotus platforms, we can reach the other side!"

A Boundless Realm martial artist, excited, lifted his foot to test whether the lotus platform was sturdy.

"Don't step!" Ye Yuan shouted, but it was already too late.

That Boundless Realm martial artist stepped straight into empty air and with a "plop" fell into the river!