Wang Zhan shook his head, sensing that Jiang Yin also seemed to have changed somewhat. Perhaps it was due to their increasing amount of interaction, Jiang Yin’s personality had also become somewhat similar to his own. Not only did he like to resolve issues with brute force, most importantly, his entire demeanor had become significantly more reckless.

On the other side, Luo Xue had been watching Jiang Yin all along, evidently also somewhat puzzled by everything happening before her.

But before they could speak, the stone statues rushed towards them at great speed.

Wang Zhan was the first to stand up. He raised his Deep Fire Blade, directly colliding with one of the stone statues. Just as the large axe in the statue’s hand was about to land on his chest, Wang Zhan used his Deep Fire Blade to block it. He felt a wave of vibration, and the floor beneath his feet shattered into pieces of debris.

"What exactly are these things?"

Luo Xue frowned slightly, staring at Wang Zhan and the stone statue. After observing for a while, she said, "Judging by its power, it seems to be on par with Brother Wang. Furthermore, if we are only talking about brute strength, I’m afraid Brother Wang may not be its match."

Jiang Yin on the side nodded slightly with a smile, but he didn’t hesitate and quickly pulled out his ancient zither, swiftly plucking the strings.

Illusion beasts appeared one after another, quickly rushing towards the surrounding stone statues. However, these illusion beasts couldn’t pose any significant threat to them.

Within a few minutes, the illusion beasts were crushed to dust one by one. Luo Xue had already taken action and was currently in a standoff with a stone statue. Even after hundreds of moves, Wang Zhan was still unable to defeat the stone statue in front of him.

This wasn’t because Wang Zhan’s combat power was lacking, but rather because the stone statue was somewhat strange and possessed an extremely strong defense. Even Wang Zhan couldn’t easily break through it.

Fortunately, Jiang Yin, with his ancient zither, managed to restrain the remaining stone statues. Although he was unable to kill these stone statues, he could buy some time for Wang Zhan and Luo Xue. As long as Wang Zhan eliminated the stone statue before him, they could join forces and deal with the other statues.

In such a fight, everyone had revealed their trump cards, and the entire floor bloomed with dazzling and strange lights.

"Fatal One Slash!"

With a furious shout from Wang Zhan, a huge blade light swiftly fell, smashing directly towards the stone statue in front of him. The statue seemed to have failed to react in time. Before it could raise the axe in its hands to block, the blade light had pierced through its chest. A dazzling light erupted from the statue’s body, and the next second, it fell heavily to the ground.

Wang Zhan walked step by step to the front of the stone statue, squinted at it for a moment, and then said coldly, "I thought it was a formidable opponent. Who would have thought it was just a piece of trash? And there’s no reward for defeating it. That’s really infuriating."

As he spoke, Wang Zhan shrugged helplessly. But upon hearing the noise behind him, he quickly turned his head, remembering that Jiang Yin and Luo Xue were still battling the stone statues.

In a blink of an eye, Wang Zhan was already in front of Luo Xue, then engaged the stone statue.

Although Wang Zhan and Luo Xue would need to expend a lot of energy and reveal their most powerful trump cards to defeat a stone statue individually, it wasn’t a difficult task for them to deal with one when they joined forces.

A loud noise came from the sky, and a stone statue was seen falling before them. Jiang Yin continued to pluck the strings of his zither, awaiting assistance from Wang Zhan and Luo Xue.

But it had to be said, the teamwork among the three was exceptionally flawless in combat.

The stone statues hadn’t even reacted to what was happening before they started falling to the ground one after another.

However, what shocked Wang Zhan was that after the stone statues had turned into piles of rubble, they began to vibrate again.

Wang Zhan and Jiang Yin exchanged a glance, both clearly clueless about what was happening.

"Could there be some kind of follow-up attack?"

The thought of the legends surrounding the Deep Water Barrier made them considerably anxious. After all, the more things changed in such a place, the greater the chance of encountering formidable demonic beasts. This was not good news for them. Clearly, they would have to face another life-and-death battle. However, they were still unsure what these changes implied.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhan frowned slightly. He then slowly began to speak, "We can’t worry about all that now. Have you noticed that there’s no path to the next level here? This indicates that if we can’t deal with this tough big guy in front of us, it won’t be easy for us to exit this deep-sea shortcut. We could be trapped here forever. So, we might as well take a risk. As long as we handle the big guy in front of us, we may still have a glimmer of hope."

"This is likely the only way forward for us."

Jiang Yin and Luo Xue nodded. No worry showed on their faces. After all, considering their individual strengths, the three of them together could indeed make an impact on those stone statues.

Furthermore, their cooperation was excellent. So, even if unexpected situations arose, they were confident they could find a solution. Thus, there was no real need for them to worry further.

Soon, they saw stones gradually gathering together, forming a gigantic Stone Statue towering several meters high in front of them.

Wang Zhan’s expression changed. He instinctively retreated a few steps and then quickly said to Jiang Yin beside him, "Let’s stick to our plan. I will confront it head-on. Luo Xue, provide backup for me. You should hang back and use the sound of your zither to hinder it, buying us more time."

The other two nodded vigorously. Without hesitation, they once more launched fierce attacks on the Stone Statue in front of them.

As expected, their joint efforts caused a certain degree of damage to the Stone Statue.

However, it was undeniable that this Stone Statue was far stronger in combat power than the smaller statues they had previously encountered; they couldn’t even be compared. One misstep and they could be severely injured by this Stone Statue. Therefore, all three of them acted with extreme caution.

Wang Zhan constantly brandished the Deep Fire Blade in his hand. In the sky, several Fire Dragons emerged, encircling the Stone Statue. Meanwhile, Jiang Yin and Luo Xue wasted no time either, having already brought out their trump cards; one provided backup while the other launched long-range attacks.

Their only plan was to quickly eliminate the Stone Statue before them.

For them, this wasn’t just about finding an escape route; more importantly, they needed to defeat the Stone Statue to obtain the treasure within this barrier. It didn’t matter who would ultimately own it; at least their venture wouldn’t be in vain. By now, Jiang Yin already considered himself a part of Wang Zhan’s team and had fully integrated with the others.

Thus, there was no need for any reservations between them, much less any scheming or worry.

As a result, their combined fighting strength had significantly increased.

With a huge explosion, the Stone Statue was suddenly blown away. Seizing the chance, Wang Zhan once again raised his Deep Fire Blade, crying out, "Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire Formation!"

At Wang Zhan’s shout, streaks of Fire Dragons shot skyward, quickly surrounding the Stone Statue. A series of thunderous blasts echoed, and the Fire Dragons turned into flames engulfing the Stone Statue. Large burn marks appeared on its body, its connecting joints shuddering nonstop. Clearly, it was on its last legs.

Jiang Yin and Luo Xue also noticed this. They both launched another round of attacks to assist Wang Zhan during this critical moment.

With another thunderous crash, the Stone Statue disintegrated into a cloud of dust, apparently completely destroyed.

After narrowing his eyes to look at where the Stone Statue had been, Wang Zhan broke into a smile. Then, a golden key gradually appeared in everyone’s line of sight.

The golden key was exquisite, looking like a work of art meticulously crafted by a skilled artisan over several decades.

Moreover, the golden key emitted a dazzling glow, making it look quite unique.

Having taken the golden key, Wang Zhan returned to the others. After glancing at the two of them, he furrowed his brows and asked, "We worked so hard to take down the Stone Statue, only to get this plain key. I have no idea what this key is for. Jiang Yin, you’ve spent a long time in the sea domain. Have you heard of any place that needs a key to open, or can you discern anything about this key?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yin also stepped forward. He shook his head after scanning the key and said with a frown, "I’m in the same boat as you. I haven’t actually been in the sea domain for very long, so I’m not very familiar with everything here. Naturally, I don’t know what this key is for either. However, the Deep Water Barrier is a legend in the sea domain. Everyone knows that it holds great treasures, and even those Priests can’t easily enter. So, from the looks of it now, this key might have its own unique purpose."