Chapter 553: Chapter 543: Its Guidance, the Stone Sect beneath the Whirlpool

Su Mu first checked the life status of the Transparent Fish and was relieved to find that it was in good condition.

He had thought that the little guy might have been eaten by a big fish, leaving only a single fish bone.

The Transparent Fish surfaced, gently nudged Su Mu’s foot, and then swam off in a certain direction.

Seeing this, Su Mu followed, and after advancing about several thousand meters, a putrid smell hit him from ahead.

The smell of decay was all too familiar, the stench of rotting fish.

A transparent barrier appeared in the waters ahead, blocking Su Mu’s path.

The Transparent Fish also stopped before this transparent barrier, then glanced back at Su Mu before diving to the riverbed, burying itself in the river sand.

This little guy seemed purely to be guiding him, finally having been of help after Su Mu spent so many Favor Points to contract it.

What surprised Su Mu was that the little guy disappeared after burying its body in the river sand; only through careful examination could one detect its extremely concealed presence, proving it still existed.

If it weren’t for the bond formed through their contract, Su Mu wouldn’t have been able to find a trace of this little guy.

Once buried in the river sand, it completely became one with the sand.

When Su Mu sensed again, he found that the little guy was already beneath the waters tens of thousands of meters away.

This showed that the little guy was incredibly fast!

...

After withdrawing his Divine Sense, Su Mu raised his head and focused his gaze on the transparent barrier before him. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

As his Divine Sense touched the transparent barrier, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he was stunned.

Inside this transparent barrier were embedded thousands of arrays.

What shocked Su Mu wasn’t the thousands of arrays, but that among them were dozens of hidden "Powers of Law."

Since Su Mu had encountered many Powers of Law before, he could instantly distinguish these dozens as very advanced and complete!

Dozens of different high-level Powers of Law supported the operation of thousands of arrays, which in turn sustained the operation of the transparent barrier, a perfect chain, leaving Su Mu in awe.

No wonder Su Mu found nothing unusual here despite covering the Long River with his Divine Sense; the opponent had really invested heavily here.

Moreover, this place was very far from his home, so his Divine Sense was somewhat weak when it extended here, and given the remote nature of these waters without any significant activity, Su Mu usually wouldn’t patrol here.

Su Mu easily approached the transparent barrier and extended his right hand.

When he discovered his right hand could pass through the transparent barrier without obstruction, he realized that the barrier’s sole purpose was to evade his Divine Sense detection.

....

Su Mu took a few steps forward, passing through the transparent barrier.

At the sight before his eyes, he froze on the spot.

A massive vortex lay before him, with a radius of a full ten kilometers!

The transparent barrier set the boundary: the river water outside was clean and clear, while inside the barrier, the water was pitch black, turbid, and reeked with stench.

The smell of rotting flesh that Su Mu had sensed earlier emanated from this vortex, so pungent that he wrinkled his nose.

Looking towards the center of the vortex, he saw a grand Stone Sect standing tall in the vortex’s center, unaffected by its forces.

Careful observation revealed countless white fish bones being swept up, swallowed, then swept up again, eventually drawn into the Stone Sect at the vortex’s center.

Seeing this scene, Su Mu gasped.

This vortex was the largest he had encountered while guarding the river, without exception!

Su Mu stood over the vortex, observing intently.....

He expanded his Divine Sense and discovered the vortex linked to thirty-four tributaries, meaning all thirty-four surrounding tributaries inevitably led to this huge vortex.

This reminded Su Mu of an abyss he encountered recently, sharing similarities with this vortex.

The biggest difference was that this vortex did not devour river water like the abyss but only maintained rapid rotation.

So, this vortex wouldn’t cause the main river’s water level to drop!

This vortex’s location was something Su Mu obtained from Jiang Bai’s memory.

Su Mu thought it might be related to the main river’s water level drop, but upon arrival, he found it contrary to his assumption!

Could it be that he guessed wrong?

Was the main river’s water level drop not a man-made issue??

For a moment, Su Mu lost his target, feeling a bit disoriented.

.....

Su Mu centered his Divine Sense on the vortex, extending it to the surrounding thirty-four tributaries.

Soon, he discovered a bizarre phenomenon.

The pulling force from the vortex’s high-speed rotation forced fish from the surrounding thirty-four tributaries into the vortex.

Then through the vortex’s intense pull, their flesh was shredded, reduced to white bones, which were ultimately ground down to "corpse remnants."

These shredded "corpse remnants" all flowed toward the Stone Sect at the vortex’s center.

Seeing this, Su Mu finally understood why the waters he passed through were so clean but devoid of fish.

The fish in the water were all drawn into this vortex and shredded!

It was the same with the thirty-odd tributaries; only five or six contained surviving fish, while the rest, all "life" forms in the water, were wiped out!

The thirty-plus tributaries were major ones, not comparable to smaller ones.

The "life" within them numbered astronomically; now, most were shredded by the vortex,

This situation was the most severe and extensive one Su Mu had encountered while guarding the river, outside of the two floods!

Regardless of whether the vortex impacted the main river’s water level, it was no longer important; he had to address it immediately!

If left unchecked, who knows what severe consequences would follow.....

Su Mu stood over the water, ascended into the air, and surveyed the vortex, his gaze fixed on the Stone Sect at the center.

He could sense the source of the vortex stemmed from this eerie Stone Sect.

To resolve the vortex, he must eradicate this Stone Sect completely.

.....

Su Mu’s eyes were sharp as he slowly raised his right hand, locking onto the Stone Sect.