More and more giant lingzhi began to appear in everyone's vision, many lingzhi as big as millstones made their eyes widen with astonishment.

Mei Qingta seemed uninterested, his gaze didn't linger long on those lingzhi, instead, he kept urging the team to proceed according to the plan.

No one dared to pick up those lingzhi without his command; they could only continue forward.

When the first team, the two soldiers from the Ink Qilin camp scouting ahead, were blocked by a river, they had to return and report.

A not-so-deep brook stopped their path; this wasn't the reason they returned to report—the true reason was a short, small horse on the riverbank.

"It's just a Secret Spirit, just kill it." Though Mei Qingta knew there must be a reason, he still said this.

The soldier who reported replied, "We tried using pets to kill the horse, but it jumped over the creek and ran to the other side. When our pet chased it across the river, it died in the creek, and its body was washed away."

"Are there other Secret Spirits in the creek?" Mei Qingta asked.

"No." The soldier shook his head.

"What Secret Skill did the horse use?" Mei Qingta asked again.

"None." The soldier shook his head again.

"Then how did your pet die?" Mei Qingta asked coldly.

"We don't know how it died, so we came back to report." The soldier answered very sincerely.

Everyone initially thought Mei Qingta would reprimand the soldier for neglecting his reconnaissance duties or curse him severely.

But Mei Qingta didn't do so; after sweeping his gaze over everyone, he named: "Captain Chen, Captain Bai, Captain Zhu, Captain Jiang, come with me to take a look, see what mystery this brook holds, the rest remain on guard here."

The few originally in the third team followed Mei Qingta, surpassing the second team, and arrived near the brook.

Sure enough, they saw from afar a pony less than a meter high by the brook, lowering its head to drink. Though it was short, its body proportions were not awkward; its legs and hooves were sturdy, and its body was round.

Its milky white coat, like satin, reflected brightly under the sunlight.

If this horse were larger, it would undoubtedly be a magnificent steed, but regrettably, it was too small; only a child could ride it with this build.

Upon seeing this pony, Chen Guan immediately thought it was one of the eight ponies that took him to Zixian Castle last night.

"It really wasn't a dream." Chen Guan thought to himself.

The pony sensed their arrival, glanced at them, then lowered its head again, casually continuing to drink.

It seemed more like playing with water than drinking; the water it drank was sprayed out again when it lifted its head.

"Truly doesn't put us in its eyes!" Zhu Hongzhi said with a strange expression, looking at the pony.

After staring at the pony for a moment, Mei Qingta shifted his focus from the pony to the brook.

The brook was neither wide nor deep, only about ten meters across, the water clear enough to see the bottom, estimating around a meter deep.

The water flowed out from a cave in the mountain wall on the left side of the valley, continuing into another cave in the mountain wall on the right side.

Despite careful observation, no one could figure out what was wrong with this clear brook.

"Can any of you see what's wrong with this brook?" Mei Qingta looked around as he asked.

Everyone exchanged looks; none could see any problems.

Chen Guan stared at the brook, lost in thought.

"Captain Chen, did you notice anything?" Mei Qingta named Chen Guan, as if sensing something.

Chen Guan pondered and said, "The water of this brook looks like the Yellow Springs River water."

"The Yellow Springs River is at least dozens of miles away from here, flowing in a different direction; could they be the same river?" Zhu Hongzhi assessed the direction and spoke.

Mei Qingta ignored Zhu Hongzhi and glanced at Chen Guan before continuing, "Correct, this brook's water is indeed the Yellow Springs River water. If I suspect correctly, it's the Yellow Springs River that formed an underground dark river through subterranean caves, emerging here to form this brook."

"Does anyone have flying pets?" Mei Qingta asked the nearby soldier.

"Yes." The soldier, originally from reconnaissance, carried the usual Red-clawed Dove Secret Spirit, though its level was low, and it wasn't strong in combat, its ability to fly high was indispensable for reconnaissance.

Mei Qingta instructed the soldier to let the Red-clawed Dove fly over the brook, but the dove quickly plummeted into the brook upon reaching above, swept into the cave on the right side, and soon vanished.

Everyone was shocked inside, unable to see how exactly the dove died or why it fell from the sky.

"It really is Yellow Springs River water from the dark river." Mei Qingta confidently declared.

"How did you spot it?" Zhu Hongzhi asked, puzzled.

Now Mei Qingta seemed very patient, looking at the brook as he explained, "Yellow Springs River water isn't only in Beimang Mountain Secret Realm; in fact, many secret realms have similar great rivers, their water quality and characteristics quite alike, even bearing the same name of Yellow Springs River."

"Some have tested Yellow Springs River water from different secret realms, finding high similarities in composition and function; some speculate these secret realms are actually connected, existing on the same vast land, only located differently."

"Human-developed secret realm areas are too small, unable to traverse this land to another secret realm location, hence mistakenly believing each secret realm is an isolated space."

"Of course, this is mere speculation and hypothesis, not proven, but this hypothesis gains more believers over the decades; the existence of Yellow Springs River is seen as crucial evidence for it, suggesting Yellow Springs River is a super river traversing this land, its branches through various secret realms."

Chen Guan recalled when he was in Pingdu Mountain Blessed Land, there was indeed a river named Yellow Springs, where he and Xiu Yingmei drifted for a while.

Reflecting now, that Yellow Springs River indeed resembled the Yellow Springs River in Beimang Mountain Blessed Land, though differences remained.

At least in that Yellow Springs River, there were hardly any formidable Secret Spirits, nor beings like the Eight Great Kings.

Mei Qingta continued, "Yellow Springs River water has a characteristic—if a bright river, it's harmless, but if flowing into an underground dark river, it'll acquire extreme yin energy; any creature contaminated by dark river Yellow Springs River water will face invasion by extreme yin energy, spiritual sense damaged, becoming like soulless walking corpses."

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