As the fireball approached, the snake’s eyes suddenly closed.
Then there was a “crack” sound, and a sharp fang fell from the snake’s mouth.
Leo instinctively took two steps back as the snake’s fangs broke and fell one after another.
In no time, all the fangs in the snake’s mouth had fallen out.
A strong sense of danger surged, and Leo no longer hesitated. He leaped into the cave entrance.
At the same time, the previously closed snake eyes opened again, like two red light bulbs suddenly lit up.
Two red beams, as thick as a pinky finger, shot out from the snake’s eyes, creating two small black holes on the ground instantly.
It was clear that if Leo had still been standing there, those black holes might have appeared on his body.
Rushing into the cave, Leo immediately understood what it meant by “curiosity killed the cat.”
If he hadn’t been curious, he wouldn’t have triggered the snake’s change and could have entered the cave without any danger.
Christine Dan must not have been curious about observing the snake head and passed through safely.
As Leo descended the stairs, the snake’s teeth automatically regrew, and the red light in its eyes disappeared, returning to its original state.
The stone steps were long and sloped downward. Although the fireball was bright, it only illuminated about three or four meters around Leo.
Of course, Leo also released his spiritual sense to detect any traps.
At the end of the stairs, the sound of rushing water greeted Leo. In front of him was an underground river.
A quick scan with his spiritual sense revealed that the river was not wide and not deep, reaching waist level.
The dark river flowed from left to right, with no banks. The opposite side was an uneven stone wall.
Leo now faced a choice: go upstream or downstream.
After a moment’s thought, Leo decided to go downstream.
Entering the river, the water was icy cold, and a thick aura of death lingered around.
With his spiritual power protecting him, the death aura couldn’t touch Leo’s skin.
The riverbed was very flat; as he walked, the water level remained at his waist.
This indicated that the river was artificially dug out.
After walking downstream for less than ten minutes, the water became turbulent.
Seeing what lay ahead with the fireball’s light, Leo couldn’t help but curse.
In front of him was a stone wall that connected to the cave ceiling above and the riverbed below. The left and right sides were also connected to stone walls, forming a dead end.
The only possible path was a square opening at the bottom of the stone wall where the water flowed through. It was unclear where it led. Should he enter through this opening at the riverbed? But with such turbulent water, getting in would be easy; getting out would be difficult.
Leo considered using the Earth Concealment Technique but knew it was extremely dangerous and unwise in such a strange place.
During concealment, one is very vulnerable. Some places have restrictions specifically targeting this technique. Entering them carelessly could trap you unless you have extraordinary power.
It’s like a dragonfly accidentally flying into a spider web; there’s almost no chance of escape except to wait to be eaten by the spider.
As Leo hesitated, he suddenly heard a scream from behind the stone wall.
The scream was undoubtedly from Christine Dan. Without further hesitation, Leo took a deep breath and dived into the water, following the current through the square opening.
After a brief period of darkness, buoyancy pushed Leo to the surface.
Taking several deep breaths of air and opening his eyes, he found himself enveloped in endless darkness.
Leo groped forward in the dark.
The water still reached his waist but showed no signs of flowing.
Leo had to extend his spiritual sense as he walked forward.
Soon, he reached dry land again.
Lighting another talisman for illumination, Leo saw a stone wall in front of him.
He touched the stone wall with his fingers and smiled slightly.
It was just a simple illusion.
Retracting his right hand, he quickly formed seals with both hands and struck nine different talismans onto the stone wall.
The talismans disappeared into the wall like mud into water.
After standing quietly in front of the wall for a minute, a dark passageway appeared before Leo.
One passage after another appeared; it was indeed a winding maze.
There was no sign of Christine Dan in the passage. What was that scream about?
No time to think too much; Leo entered the passage and walked quickly forward.
The passage ended not in a stone chamber but in a large cave.
The cave was enormous. Leo called out for Christine Dan several times but received no response.
Having come this far, although unsure of his location, he had no choice but to press on.
Knowing Christine Dan must be ahead, Leo quickened his pace.
It felt like he had walked for a long time but still hadn’t reached the end.
It was like running in space without gravity; no matter how far you ran, you remained in place.
“Something’s wrong!” Leo stopped and extended his spiritual sense outward.
His spiritual sense couldn’t detect any boundaries, making Leo uneasy.
This situation was highly unusual. Even if it were naturally formed underground space, it couldn’t be boundless like this.
It seemed that spiritual sense was ineffective here; he had to rely on his eyes.
Leo activated his spiritual power to control the illuminating fireball to rise and expand.
The cave wasn’t actually that large-about one hundred square meters. Leo stood in its center.
Around him, at roughly nine-meter intervals in eight directions (north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest), stood bronze pillars about sixty centimeters high.
Approaching one of these pillars, Leo saw that it was covered in mysterious runes that looked ancient and profound.
After examining all eight pillars, Leo returned to the center with a look of surprise on his face. He murmured, “Eight Trigrams Six Extremes Dragon Subduing Array? Could there really be a dragon locked inside this Dragon Well?”
But where was the dragon if there was an array? And where were the chains?
Leo had never seen a real dragon. Even in the Forbidden City underground, those so-called Flood Dragons and Five-Clawed Golden Dragons were just statues and illusions.
This place was too strange; could it all be an elaborate hoax?
The Eight Trigrams Six Extremes Dragon Subduing Array is specifically used to suppress dragons. This array must be part of a trio-three such arrays are needed to exert their true power.
Now there was just one Dragon Subduing Array here inexplicably; it seemed useless alone.
“Could this be… a gate? The real Life Gate!?” Leo suddenly realized something.
The “Life Gate” is one of the eight gates in Qimen Dunjia’s Heaven, Earth, and Human configurations representing human affairs.