Chapter 165: The Lake Of The Magical Fish
The Lake of the Magical Fish was located on a hill in the south of Cloud Sect.
Compared to the mountains in the north, this hill was inconspicuous.
But the scenery here was surprisingly fascinating. In addition, Could Sect had built a neat trail to it with six-foot-wide cyan slabs.
Arriving at the hill, Zen saw a guard in brown standing solemnly.
After saying hello, Zen began to ask him about the Lake of the Magical Fish.
The guard studied Zen, and was confused by the white robe on Zen.
White-robe disciples at Cloud Sect were usually weak with few points. But the Lake of the Magical Fish did set requirements for the refiners who wanted to challenge it.
If they were not strong enough to meet those requirements, they would not get benefits from the lake, and might even be hurt inside.
“I want to refine myself in the Lake of the Magical Fish,” Zen told the guard.
The guard thought for a moment, and then replied, “Was it your master who asked you to come here?”
At Cloud Sect, masters would suggest that their disciples refine themselves at the Lake of the Magical Fish.
Zen nodded at the guard, for he indeed learned about these secret refining places from Aura, his master.
The guard placed his hand in front of Zen, and said, “Then, please show me your disciple card!”
He checked Zen's disciple card. To his surprise, Zen had earned a lot of points. According to his experience, it was impossible for an outer disciple to own so many points unless he bought them with cubic crystals.
'Since he still wears the outer disciple robe, he can't be a member of any noble clan. Perhaps, he comes from a rich family, ' the guard thought.
Then he spoke to Zen, “You can't go in the lake to refine yourself now.”
“Why not?” Zen was puzzled.
“Because another disciple is refining himself in it. He has been inside for an hour, and I allowed him two hours. Look,” the guard pointed to the clock beside him. “He entered the lake at 11 a.m., and will come out at 1 p.m. Since only half of the duration has passed, you need to wait for an hour, please.”
Zen looked at the clock. Both its hour hand and minute hand were at the number, twelve. As the guard had said, Zen had to wait for an hour.
Zen nodded, went to a nearby stone bench, and sat down.
He had thought that the disciple in the lake would come out only when his time finished. However, after less than half an hour, Zen saw a man staggering out from the other end of the trail. His clothes were wet, and the man trembled and gasped. His lips were pale, and his eyes seemed blank.
The guard immediately ran over to support him. “I told you. Refiners at the fifth-grade of the nature level are not supposed to refine themselves in the Lake of the Magical Fish. Refining is a slow process of accumulating, so even if you insist on entering the lake, you can't stay inside for more than an hour. However, you didn't listen to me, but insisted on two hours! Were you looking to torture yourself?”
He helped the disciple to sit on the stone bench. Only after a long period of rest, did the disciple recover. At the same time, he noticed Zen, and greeted, “Hey, Zen, you are here too!”
Zen nodded at him with a smile. Zen had recognized the disciple the moment he saw him. The disciple was Roger Meng with whom Zen had gotten acquainted when they fought against the blade locusts together in the south.
“Hey, long time no see, Roger!” Zen responded with a hold fist salute.
Zen owed Roger a favor. When the Zhuge Clan sent people to the south to kill Zen, Roger was one of the people who had saved him.
Roger studied Zen for a while before questioning, “No outer disciple is allowed to enter the Lake of the Magical Fish! So, you have been promoted to the nature level, haven't you, Zen?”
Zen nodded and grinned, “Yes, I have! I reached the level not long ago!”
“Then, it seems that this lake is not proper for you.” Roger shook his head while taking out a rubber band to tie his unruly wet hair.
The guard nodded in agreement. “Though the rules of the lake indicate that all nature level creatures are allowed to refine themselves in it, I hardly ever advise those below the second grade to enter it. Even if they have broken through to that level, their refining time in the lake is not supposed to be too long.”
“He's right. A brother of mine who ascended to the first-grade of the nature level expressed eagerness to refine himself in the lake. When he entered it, his strength didn't improve at all. Instead, he was injured as his life vitality was in disorder,” echoed Roger.
Zen revealed a smile. “Thanks for the word of caution, Roger. But I've made up my mind that I must go into the Lake of the Magical Fish to refine myself, no matter what happens.”
Since Zen was so determined, the guard and Roger knew that they couldn't convince him. Thus, they no longer tried.
“Well, now that Roger has come out, can I take my turn?” Zen asked the guard.
The guard nodded, and then inquired, “Since it's your first time in the lake, how long do you intend on taking?”
“What is the shortest time a person can spend in the lake?” Zen asked.
“Time is divided into units. Each unit is an hour long. You can choose how many units you want. I suggest you take one unit.” The guard could see that Zen was confident of his strength.
But the guard had seen a lot of people leave the lake earlier than estimated, and some of them were at the seventh or eighth-grade of the nature level.
Taking the level into account, this first-grade guy was indeed weak, according to the guard's experience.
Though the guard understood that levels were not an indication of strength, but it must be accepted that they were related.
“Okay. I'll take two units.” Zen stood from the stone bench.
“Two units? You mean two hours?” The guard was shocked. So was Roger.
Then the guard smirked as he wondered, 'Good! People's ambition only dies when there's no way out. After this guy enters the lake, he will understand how terrible it is.'
He detained Zen's disciple card, and let Zen pass.
Zen moved forward step by step along the trail that was paved with cyan slabs. After nearly thirty steps, he arrived at the end of the path.
Just as he was about to move forward, he heard a gurgling waterfall.
“Oh, this is magical!” Curious, he stepped on the trail once again. When both his feet were on the slabs, the gurgling sound would disappear. However, when Zen set one foot forward, the sound would replay.
“Interesting! This must be a magic array of sound set by a predecessor of the sect. The second time I took a step forward, what I heard was totally different from the first time!” After trying several times to confirm what he had discovered, Zen finally left the trail and kept moving.
Arriving at a flat ground, Zen saw a waterfall.
It was not high, only about thirty or forty feet. It was comparatively smaller than the famous waterfalls in the Eastern Region. But what made it unusual was that a deafening sound was created when the water hit the lake.
The noise was as loud as hordes of troops and horses roaring, even shaking the heaven.
That was why it could serve as a secret refining place for Cloud Sect.
Zen went to the deep pool and reached out to touch the clear water. He suddenly understood why the water made such a loud sound.
The lake looked pretty clear but it felt different.
Zen felt as though his fingers were going to be frozen by the low temperature of the water.
“Hiss...”
Mobilizing his life vitality, Zen dispelled the cold in his hand.
Besides, Zen was startled to discover that the lake water was absurdly heavy when he held some up!
“It is said that in the very depths of the Land of Extreme Chillness exists a kind of water named Heavy Water that was about ten times heavier than ordinary water. Could this be Heavy Water?”
In this case, aside from the unnaturally low temperature of the water, there must be heavy pressure under the water.
Therefore, it could be imagined that the lake would indeed be challenging for refiners that entered it.
Zen, however, didn't hesitate on the bank for a long time.
Two units would cost two hundred points or four hundred cubic crystals. Time was money!
So, Zen prepared himself, took a deep breath, and then jumped into the lake bravely.