You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

Chapter 111 - 45, Thirteen Flames 2

"Let’s stop here."

The scar-faced man suddenly spoke, standing up at the same time.

The woman with the bamboo hat spoke softly, "Young Master, wouldn’t it be better if I go down into the water to help you look for it?"

These two were naturally Lin Yue in disguise and Baili Fengzhi with her face covered.

"No need."

Lin Yue looked at the lake surface and said casually, "I possess the Water Element; my underwater senses are clearer, and I don’t fear holding my breath. If you go down, you’ll get wet. Do you really want this palace... son to help you dry off manually?"

Baili Fengzhi fell silent.

She dared not imagine how ambiguously romantic the scene of drying off by hand would be.

Seeing that she dared not speak anymore, Lin Yue explained further, "Moreover, to find those items, one needs a treasure that can sense the Essence of Wind and Fire, which we don’t have now. Fortunately, I possess both Wind and Fire Elements, so sensing them isn’t difficult."

"Yes, then I will guard this place for you," said Baili Fengzhi.

"Good."

Lin Yue nodded slightly. He then activated his Water Element and stepped off the boat, submerging into the water.

At the same time, he manipulated the surrounding water to avoid him, forming a protective barrier.

Water Breaking was merely a very common spell, and naturally, Lin Yue’s Water Element could easily achieve this.

"Where could it be?"

Lin Yue descended into the dark depths of the lake, immediately took out a Long Bright Pearl to dispel the gloom with its bright light, and began searching carefully.

He was looking for the treasure mentioned in the secret of the Third Ring Level he received this month.

"Do you know? The incomplete stele in the Forbidden Land of Red Maple Lake comes from a genius martial cultivator from two hundred years ago who pursued the ultimate Martial Arts Killing Skill; this pursuit weakened his vitality and left him hopeless to break through the Three Talents Heaven Barrier. Before he died, he left his most proud Killing Skill on the stele, but with the passage of time, the stele shattered, with most pieces sinking into Fengbie Lake. Only by sensing the Essence of Wind and Fire and getting within ten feet can one discover the fragments of the stele."

—This was the secret of the incomplete stele in the Red Maple Lake Forbidden Land.

Therefore, Lin Yue had come to Fengbie Lake.

Who wouldn’t be happy to get a set of Killing Skills that sounded pretty good for free?

"Where could it be..."

Lin Yue, holding the Long Bright Pearl, activated his Water Element to break through the water and walked briskly across the lakebed, while also carefully sensing with his Wind and Fire Elements.

Based on the size of Fengbie Lake, as long as the stele wasn’t sunk ten feet below the ground, he could cover the entire area in at most three or four hours at his pace.

Time ticked away.

Luckily, with the Water Element breaking the water, his need for oxygen wasn’t as great. He just needed to surface every so often to refresh the air within the barrier.

Half an hour later.

"There it is!"

Lin Yue abruptly stopped at the bottom of the lake, following the direction of the sensation, and looked at an unremarkable spot on the lakebed.

He then waved his sleeve, and a surge of Water Element turned into a fierce current that swept away, quickly revealing a seemingly ordinary fragment of the stele.

Using the light of the Long Bright Pearl, he saw that there were deeply carved inscriptions on the fragment of the stele.

Lin Yue did not rush to examine them but directly collected the stele fragments into his storage space.

Then, he continued his search.

Time passed.

Three hours later.

It was dusk, and the waters of Fengbie Lake reflected the setting sun, rippling forth a shimmering gold glow that, paired with the vivid red maples, created an incomparably beautiful scene.

Baili Fengzhi sat quietly in the solitary boat on the lake, waiting.

During these hours, she had already dismissed four waves of scholarly young men who came to chat her up; one particularly brash young master had his leg broken by her and fled away crying.

Only then did these learned young men understand that the beautiful lady, who was alluring in stature alone, was actually skilled in martial arts.

From there on, they all dared not approach.

Baili Fengzhi couldn’t be bothered with them.

If it weren’t for His Highness’s instruction to keep a low profile, she would have gouged out that young master’s eyes and broken his limbs before sinking him in the lake.

But His Highness was searching at the bottom of the lake; best not to let such trash disturb His Highness.

"Splash."

The water stirred, and the lake parted. Lin Yue emerged from the water and alighted on the boat.

His body was clean and dry, not a drop of water on him.

"Young Master, how did it go?" Baili Fengzhi asked.

"I’ve searched the entire lakebed; there’s no way to find any more."

Lin Yue said, "I don’t know what the incomplete stele looks like, but judging from the fragments I’ve collected, I feel like they’re not all there. For now, there’s nothing I can do."

He mentally pieced together the fragments he collected and it felt incomplete.

But for the time being, there was no other way.

He would have to go to the Forbidden Land first to see. If the missing parts were critical, he’d have to come back and slowly search the deeper parts of the lakebed.

"Let’s go, to the Forbidden Land," Lin Yue ordered casually.

"Yes, Your Highness."

...

The Sect’s residence by Red Maple Lake was on a mountain near Fengbie Lake, and the Forbidden Land was near a cliff.

"Young Master, the Forbidden Land is just beyond this cliff."

After climbing along the steep mountainside and entering a concealed cave, they entered the interior of the mountain, a natural cavern transformed. The rocks inside the cavern glowed, so it was not as dark as one might imagine; with the eyesight of a martial cultivator, one could see clearly.

Lin Yue, holding the Long Bright Pearl, quickly spotted the incomplete stele deep within the cavern.

He immediately quickened his pace towards it with Baili Fengzhi.

Upon closer inspection, the incomplete stele was about two feet tall, with an extremely irregular broken section and about a foot thick.

On this two-foot section of the stele, one could see three profound cuts on the face of the stele, with rows of small characters and three holes alongside the cuts.