CHAPTER 304: CHAPTER 24: DEATH LAKE

The Snake Woman Little Gore’s memories of the Dark Hell included a few known perilous terrains: Red Flowing Sand was the first, Poison Algae Hill was the second, and Death Lake was the third.

About the Red Flowing Sand and Poison Swamp Hill, Little Gore had already warned Yue Jinghua early on about the dangers of the two places and had also explained the methods to counter them, allowing Yue Jinghua to cross them safely with more shock than harm.

However, Death Lake, located at the junction of the inner and outer zones of Dark Hell, was a mystery even to Little Gore.

She only knew that it was one of the regions where the water-dwelling Dark Demon Beasts least wanted to settle.

The future was uncertain, and there was not much time left, which precisely concerned Yue Jinghua at the moment.

After walking with Ya for a distance, both Yue Jinghua and Ya noticed that the terrain became rugged. At the entrance of Dark Hell lay a desert, followed by a gentle range of hills, and farther away stood several majestic high mountains.

Black Evil Qi swirled around the high mountains, and sometimes thunderous roars of beasts emanated from within the mountains. According to the Snake Woman Little Gore, the area ahead was a gathering place for powerful Dark Demon Beasts.

Yue Jinghua’s purpose in this trip did not include those extremely dangerous Beast King Mountains.

Dark Hell was like a miniature model of various terrains, featuring all kinds of landforms. Right where the hills met the high mountains, a plunging hill fault formed a plain, and right in the middle of this plain was Death Lake, Yue Jinghua’s destination.

The shape of Death Lake resembled a new moon; the entrance and tail of the lake were narrow, widening in the middle, looking like a bent sickle thrust onto the plain.

Night had fallen, and the lake’s surface was shrouded in mist, with the night’s fog appearing as a sheer veil, obscuring the true color of Death Lake. From afar, it looked like a painting that harmoniously blended mountains, water, and the moon.

The water was red. On a clear day, the lake shimmered under the moonlight, with the bright red surface resembling a fine piece of red agate.

Experience told Yue Jinghua that behind every beautiful thing often lay a deadly danger.

Letting Ya keep watch from a distance, she strolled around the lake and then discovered something unusual about this body of water.

It was very abnormal. After observing for a while, Yue Jinghua found that there was no aquatic life in the water, and no dark creatures had come to drink from the cool night waters.

Unlike the Dark Practitioners, the demons of Dark Hell lived in harsh environments year-round, and Evil Qi and poisonous waters largely had no effect on them.

However, Death Lake was an exception; it seemed that even the Dark Creatures feared the water here.

A thought crossed Yue Jinghua’s mind, and she took out a stalk of Burning Poison Algae from the Sui Xin Lake and tossed it into the water.

The moment the black Poison Algae touched the water, a bizarre scene unfolded: the originally delicate tips grew rapidly, changing from inky black to dark black, bloomed into flowers at the tips of the leaves, and then withered away quickly.

In a matter of moments, the Burning Poison Algae went through the life and death process that should have lasted a year.

Death Lake contained mysterious powers that could accelerate aging. It was rumored that this crescent-shaped lake was formed by the fallen corpse of the one and only Female Demon God among the Ten Great Demon Gods, the Yinyue Demon.

"This is it, this is the ideal place for the Flower Spot Mosquito King to thrive and breed," Yue Jinghua thought to herself.

After being recognized as a Pill Master, Yue Jinghua realized that whether it was Elixir Pills or Poison, the amount used often brought vastly different consequences.

Although Death Lake accelerates death, it correspondingly means a multiple increase in Cultivation. The Flower Spot Mosquito King, which is of the fifth-level, has a much longer lifespan than the herbaceous Burning Poison Algae, living up to fifty years. But if it can successfully advance to a sixth-level Flower Bat Mosquito King, its lifespan can extend to a hundred years.

Even if it meant accelerated aging, even at ten times or even twenty times the speed of aging, if they could quickly reproduce offspring, for Yue Jinghua, it was more than manageable.

The Five-pointed Dark Demon Summoning Array rose gradually on the water surface, and a hideously ugly Flower Spot Mosquito King fanned its wings, laying dozens of mosquito eggs within the water.

The mosquito eggs, which originally required a yearly cycle to hatch, matured quickly under the influence of Death Spring, and soon the eggs cracked open. Several newborn Flower Spot Mosquito Kings, with their damp wings flapping, flew out of the water. They buzzed around Yue Jinghua, and following the same method, she bred another batch of the newborn Flower Spot Mosquito Kings.

To her surprise, in the continuous breeding process, the first Flower Spot Mosquito King actually succeeded in advancing and became a sixth-level Green Bat Mosquito King.

The wings, which were originally the size of a dragonfly, grew a tougher flight skeleton. The wings, like those of a bat, moved with ease, and its proboscis also underwent a change. At the end of the proboscis, a bulging poison sac emerged, carrying a temporary paralyzing toxin.

Just before dawn, Ya, who was on lookout duty in the distance, heard the sound of a girl’s laughter near the lake, and when he turned around, his scalp tingled.

At the edge of the lake, nearly a thousand mosquitoes were flying densely, each looking ferociously abnormal, with proboscises like gun barrels at their mouths.

"What kind of monster is that?" Ya looked towards the lake and happened to see the sight of the mosquito eggs growing rapidly and breaking through the water.

Despite the multitude of mosquitoes, not a single one attacked the young girl. She stood in the center of the swarm, with a dark five-pointed Star Light Array flickering under her feet.

Seeing that Star Light Array, Ya felt a sudden rapid heartbeat and a severe pain in his head, as if he had forgotten something very important.

Adjacent to the hill, a sneaky skeleton peered at Yue Jinghua and Ya’s every move from the shadows.

"Hehe, to think it’s a Dark Demon Summoner, judging by her appearance, she must come from a powerful hidden Demon Summoner family. It’s a pity, I wanted to take that girl’s body for my own, but given my lack of strength, it is not yet time to offend a Demon Summoner," the skeleton turned its stiff head, casting its malevolent gaze onto Ya.

"Hehe, fortunately there’s another one. This man is neither human nor demon, but fortunately, his body is still strong. In a moment, once he separates from that Dark Demon, I’ll take action and devour his flesh. With a body, I can practice the supreme Dark Magic Technique and leave this place," a sinister glimmer flashed in the skeleton’s eyes as it quietly hid behind the hill.

"Ya, thank you for your care along the way," Yue Jinghua put the Flower Spot Mosquito Group into the Moxi Star Sea of Consciousness and walked up the hill, only to see Ya lying on the ground, clutching his head in a look of exceptional pain.

Ya lifted his head, his eyes fierce, staring at Yue Jinghua as if she were an enemy, moving backward continuously. He could feel a mysterious force emanating from Yue Jinghua, which was driving him towards madness. If he didn’t get away from her soon, he might not be able to restrain himself and snap her neck like he would with Demon Beast flesh.

"What’s the matter? Forget it, I wanted to ask if you would like to leave Dark Hell with me, but it seems you won’t appreciate the gesture," Yue Jinghua pursed her lips, feeling in a good mood today and too lazy to bother with this blockhead.

As she turned to leave, she heard Ya let out a painful howl from behind, and her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

"We shall meet again," Yue Jinghua tossed a bottle of Green Liquid in front of Ya, hoping that the next time she came to Dark Hell, she would be able to see Ya again.