Chapter 375 375. SHADOWS
The dimly lit underground system featured many tunnels each featuring a river of blood flowing into the as they spread in different directions.
What resembled hundreds of roots rose from the hard surface of that underground system to who knew where in the forest.
The blood rushing down the different paths glowed a bit creating a scene that would be forever etched into Noah's mind.
Of course, the most striking detail in that place was the tier 4 aura, even if he couldn't see anything that radiated the aura.
Something big was going on in that forest and he wasn't even sure what, but he wanted to leave anyway. Or he thought so.
He would return when he could handle the power of the beings in that place.
Hearing the sound of a roar, Noah glanced up and found that the beast gazed at him with its red eyes. The hole he had dug had been too small for it, so it could only fit its head inside it.
Noah gazed at the monstrosity for a while, before raising his hand and causing a blast of cold mist to shoot upwards and seal the hole. It was now a no-go area.
Focusing his gaze on the underground system again, he took a deep breath or at least tried to. The scent of blood permeated that place deeply and he could literally taste blood in the air.
Deciding to explore that place for an exit, Noah began his slow and nervous walk down the solid ground before him.
The environment had a strange light that even his sense couldn't figure out its source, but it was blue in radiance.
Walking down the path forced Noah into a tunnel featuring even more of the blue light, and he continued to walk on that path for what felt like hours.
He couldn't exactly tell how much time had passed since nothing changed even after hundreds of meters.
Noah continued down the relatively dark tunnel but always considered going back. The only reason he hadn't was because of the nagging feeling his instincts gave him.
Truth be told he could directly exit that environment, but his curiosity had made him endure the darkness and danger of that place to continue down the path filled with a relatively wide river of blood, flowing in a direction that felt interesting.
The sight of blood had long since caused him to recall the story of the tier 4 experts that had died there many years ago.
He however still didn't know the cause of the rivers, since he doubted that only a few experts could have produced that amount of blood.
'Maybe there were armies of weaker experts with them,' Noah considered at some point, seeing that idea fitting for the sight before him.
But the entire thing even felt more confusing considering the fact that no one had mentioned sighting rivers of blood.
Surely there would have been expeditions to uncover the reason for the sudden peace of the forest. Surely they had found the underground system, even if it was a bit distant from the surface. More than 15m. Or maybe not.
That realization made Noah begin to doubt that anyone had dug that deep.
After all, the description of that place did mention that there were tier 4 beasts within the forest, which meant cultivators had reached the center of the forest.
Noah fell into deeper thought at that point and soon different considerations began to appear in his mind.
He began to think that maybe the strange gatherings of the beasts were seasonal since beasts worked that way. Maybe the plants also had a certain time that they sprouted, and no one had ever been there to witness it.
'What are the odds,' Noah shook his head watching the river of blood beside him continue to flow.
It sounded absurd that only he had witnessed that scene, but that conclusion felt the best since it was the only one that could properly explain why that phenomenon had been left untouched.
He also considered the weird things that some of the past adventurers had seen in the forest. Although what they saw had not been specifically mentioned, it definitely wasn't the rivers of blood branching into many tunnels.
That conclusion made him believe that there were other things than the rivers of blood and the red plants. Maybe they were generated by the rivers of blood or not, he had no way of knowing.
Something eventually changed in the tunnel, however. Noah watched the tunnel begin to expand and expand until he found himself in a wide area illuminated by a strong blue light. The place stretched for nothing less than a kilometer in radius.
The river of blood at this point had started to merge with other rivers of blood and to Noah's shock, he found that he had arrived at the source of the rivers of blood and there did the tier 4 aura peak.
He had long since noticed that detail but now he understood why the river flowed in an opposite direction to his motion. That would be none other than because of the floating sphere of what looked like a shifting mass of red liquid from which a smooth waterfall of blood emerged; flowing into the different pools after creating a large pond.
The large mass of blood emitted a crimson light that tried to battle the blue light of the area, and it also floated by itself, as raw energy flowed out of it. Noah knew that whatever had created that thing wasn't just at the beginning of tier 4.
But that wasn't even all the surprises that the environment had for him.
Upon arrival, he had been focused on the large sphere of blood, but when he glanced up and saw that shining blue water stood above him. His astonishment reached a whole new level.
"How are these even possible?" Noah muttered gazing at the sparkling water above him that made the ceiling of that place. His wonder had peaked as a result of the two magical spectacles.
There was no sign of water for a bit more than 20 meters above him, but after that point, the pool of water stood. He figured that was where the rivers in the forest met and flowed out from.
And to add to the moment, Noah felt his heart sink when four massive crocodile-like beasts radiating tier 4 auras, circled the pool; casting their huge shadows on him. Noah confirmed that they had noticed him since they dived towards his figure a few seconds later.