Super Zoo

Suming had never felt such a profound kinship with any animal in the world!

Through his spiritual power, he could clearly sense that there were fish in the pond. Though they were neither numerous nor large, they were sufficient. As long as they were fish, he could collect energy spheres. From his numerous experiments at the zoo, he was almost certain that, unless it was a very special species of fish, the abilities provided by most fish could extend one's underwater endurance.

He could already hold his breath for over a minute on his own, and with the added time provided by the fish, ten minutes should be no problem.

If one energy sphere wasn't enough, he could use another. Right now, his spiritual power was nearly at its peak, and he also had an energy sphere that could instantly replenish his spiritual power. In other words, he could survive underwater twice in a row.

"If there are no further instructions, I'm going into the water," Suming said as he was already stripping off his clothes, leaving only a pair of primitive-looking underpants that resembled a loincloth. They were hastily made for him by the most beautiful virgin among the Lure People on the day his pants were burned in the cabin.

"Respected sir, we await your triumph in the trial, to become a true Divine Envoy and lead the Lure People to the light!" The old man Alayi suddenly knelt down shakily and prostrated himself before Suming.

His act of prostration caused the other elder men to exchange glances. This show of reverence was only meant for gods and their emissaries. The young man had not yet fully passed the test; it seemed somewhat inappropriate.
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But since the High Priest had done so, what else could they do... So the seven old men hurriedly circled the pond and lay face down, their butts in the air, chanting the traditional prayers of the Fire Worshiping Sect.

It sounded like monks chanting sutras for the dead. Suming pursed his lips, thinking they were rushing him to his death!

Amir and several soldiers, armed and unable to kneel, nonetheless stepped back unconsciously, their expressions respectful.

"Ludmila, keep an eye on the time!" Suming nodded to the woman. Among the group, she was the only one with a clear head and deemed reliable.

Ludmila nodded, though her expression was far from relaxed.

Enduring under water for ten minutes? Even professionally trained divers couldn't achieve this!

But if Suming didn't go into the water... Ludmila could almost predict what would happen. The desperate Lure People had seen Suming as their last hope and might forcibly toss him into the water to smother for ten minutes. If he didn't die, he would be the Divine Envoy. If he did... then it would be just Suming's bad luck. From the first 'ritual of flames', it was clear they were capable of doing just that!

"Be careful..."

Ludmila hadn't finished speaking when Suming had already plunged into the water with a splash.

Around the pond, Alayi and the other elders lowered themselves even further, their shouts of prayers growing louder and more frantic, almost as if they were expelling their lungs.

After Suming dived in, he immediately felt a refreshing coolness envelop him. The pond was much deeper than it appeared, and he quickly sank into the water, unable to touch the bottom, continually descending. The temperature, which started as 'cool', swiftly shifted to 'chilling cold', with currents of coldness rising from below and rapidly spreading throughout his body.

The water was pitch black; even with open eyes, he couldn't make out his surroundings. However, Suming didn't need to worry about this. He spread his spiritual power, found a silver-white fish, and began to use his Soul Attachment Ability. The fish had no sight underwater, but it could sense its environment through other organs.

Unexpectedly, the space beneath the pool was significantly larger than it appeared on the surface, resembling an upside-down, large-bellied gourd with jagged rocks all around. The deepest part neared ten meters.

At the bottom of the water and on the surrounding rocks, there were many large and small holes, with the largest big enough for two people to crawl through, and the smallest not even wide enough for a fist. They likely connected to underground waterways, or some other places.

Suming was about to use his spiritual power to draw the fish closer for easier absorption of the energy storage sphere when the flat little fish suddenly darted into a rock hole about half a meter in diameter, swimming quickly into the distance.

In an instant, by the time Suming continued to lock onto the fish with his spiritual power, he discovered that it had already shot about ten meters into the tunnel and was still swiftly moving forward.

"Looks like this hole is quite large!"

Suming, driven by curiosity, stretched his head into the water and, using his hands and feet, crawled up to the mouth of the hole, while signaling the little fish to return.

The hole was pitch-black; visibility was nonexistent, and now it seemed even deeper and impenetrable. There was a faint sensation of water slowly flowing out of the hole, and if his guess was correct, it must lead to another place.

Estimating that there was still plenty of time, and with air in his lungs not yet fully depleted, Suming boldly kicked into the water and dived into the darkened hole.

If it were someone else, they might have considered whether there were any ferocious underwater creatures in the hole, but Suming didn't have to worry about that. In fact, he hoped to discover some peculiar stuff. With spiritual power at his command, he would dare to battle even if a ferocious dragon emerged.

The little fish reappeared in front of him, and Suming gently let it come to rest on his wrist while he formed an energy storage sphere with the pearl and then shattered it.

It was as if an invisible shield of air had formed over his body's surface, instantly dispelling the feeling of stuffiness.

With plenty of time at hand, Suming released the little fish, allowing it to swim deeper into the cave on its own, while he followed unhurriedly behind.

A few meters ahead, several bifurcations appeared. The little fish, knowing its way well, dived into one of the tunnels, and Suming followed suit.

Two minutes later, Suming discovered that the underwater cave was crisscrossed, forming a series of subaquatic passageways, like a mini underwater maze. Branches appeared frequently, and to prevent losing his way back, he picked up a piece of broken stone and made a mark at each fork as he arrived.

Strangely enough, the deeper he swam, the temperature of the surrounding water began to rise. After two more minutes, the water felt as hot as the spring behind the zoo's mountain—almost scalding.

The little fish apparently couldn't tolerate the high water temperature any longer, ended its frolic, and with a flip of its tail, turned around and left.

Suming floated in the water, facing a gap on the ocean floor from which piping hot groundwater was incessantly gushing—a small geothermal spring. Even from two to three meters away, he could feel the scalding flow of the water. The water erupting directly from the spring was probably as hot as boiling water.

Iraq was rich in various underground resources, so geothermal springs weren't an unusual phenomenon. Suming was about to turn around and leave when, through his spiritual power, he suddenly detected a large number of animals around the spring.

Strange, what sort of creatures could survive in the scorching water of a hot spring?