Chapter 1412: Endless
“Hm? Isn’t this just like the water we encountered when we first came here?” Yun Jianyue exclaimed in surprise. They had entered from the fiend races’ Imperial Tomb, then appeared in the Feather Abyss. The water there didn’t have any buoyancy, and even feathers sank in it. Even someone as powerful as the Fiend Emperor had suffered bitterly there.
They had actually been quite fortunate to be inside the Fiend Emperor’s sleeves; otherwise, with their cultivation, they might have already died as soon as they entered the secret dungeon.
“Judging from the way the water is flowing, it seems to be headed toward the Feather Abyss,” Zu An remarked after observing the area from an elevated position. He said to Yan Xuehen without thinking, “Lend me a feather.”
Yan Xuehen immediately stared at him with murderous intent. Only then did Zu An realize what he had said. He quickly added, “Ah, my bad, it was just a slip of the tongue. Lend me a strand of hair.”
Yan Xuehen gave him a look, but she still gently removed a strand of her hair and gave it to him.
You have successfully trolled Yan Xuehen for +233 +233 +233…
Yu Yanluo had a strange expression. Why didn’t Ah Zu ask me for a strand of my hair, but asked her instead?
And Yan Xuehen had actually given it to him! It even seemed as if that were a natural thing to do for the two of them. Yu Yanluo thought, Am I just overthinking things?
However, Zu An’s movements drew her attention. She saw him place Yan Xuehen’s hair gently into the river. Shockingly, the hair didn’t stop for even a second, falling directly into the water! Due to water tension, human hair would usually float on the surface of water, so the result was unusual. Besides, Yan Xuehen was a grandmaster cultivator, so her hair was even softer and sleeker than other people’s. It was even finer than silk.
“It really seems to be from the same source as the Feather Abyss’ water earlier,” Zu An said, his expression grave. It was the legendary Weak Water after all. Such water didn’t have the slightest bit of buoyancy. They really didn’t know what to do now that such a ma.s.sive river was blocking their path.
“Can we fly over?” Yun Jianyue suggested. “We don’t have to fly too high. That way, we won’t run into those terrifying birds and astral winds. We should be able to get past if we fly right above the water’s surface, right?”
Zu An nodded. That was indeed a viable option. He said, “We can give it a try.”
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue seemed about to start a huge fuss, but Zu An stopped them, saying, “If you two were at your strongest, I wouldn’t fight over deciding who would give it a try first. But right now, I should be the one to go. I’m pretty thick-skinned and can take it even if there’s some danger.”
The two women hesitated. However, when they recalled his various skills, they didn’t continue arguing and instead said, “Then you have to be careful.”
Zu An nodded, then walked over to the water. He was extremely careful, even using the jade badge to see if there were any nearby creatures. Sure enough, however, there was nothing inside. There wasn’t a single fish or shrimp in the Weak Water.
He also used the Blue Mallard ability, discovering that the skill didn’t grant him any affinity with the water. It was almost as if it weren’t real water. He couldn"t sense the slightest bit of the water element in it.
“This stuff really is freaky,” he said. It made even someone like him, who was usually fairly unshakable, a bit nervous. In response, Yu Yanluo went over to his side and gently took his hand to rea.s.sure him.
Yun Jianyue suddenly felt that she couldn"t take it anymore when she saw that. She turned to Yan Xuehen and cursed, “They should get a freaking room already.”
However, Yan Xuehen merely looked stunned, but said nothing. Yun Jianyue was surprised and said, “What’s with you?”
“Nothing,” Yan Xuehen said, looking away stiffly. She thought, Why is my heart beating so crazily? Is it because I saw another woman acting intimately with Chuyan’s man?
Yu Yanluo’s face turned a bit red when she heard what Yun Jianyue said. She let go of Zu An’s hand awkwardly. She gave him a few warnings, then took out her paintbrush and applied a translucent rune on his back to make his body even more nimble and graceful.
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue both nodded when they saw that. Even though Yu Yanluo’s cultivation was beneath their own, her skills complemented them well, making her an excellent support.
Yu Yanluo felt a bit embarra.s.sed when she heard their praise. She said, “These runes aren’t anything fancy. I just picked up a bit of knowledge, since I study art anyway. The most formidable one in this field is my great senior. He can use runes to produce all sorts of miraculous effects and is much more amazing than me. My master previously even said that in the field of runes, not even he could compare to great senior.”
“The academy’s great senior has always been mysterious. In the past, out of the libationer’s disciples, Sword Immortal Xiao Yao had the greatest natural talent. But after what happened, it should be this great senior who’s the strongest now,” Yun Jianyue said with a sigh.
Yan Xuehen shook her head, saying, “Xiao Yao has always been inferior to him. This person has just maintained a low profile, so not many people have really gotten close to him.”
“Wow, look at you, Miss White Jade Sect Leader. You must really know the ins and outs since you’re so close to those capital folks,” Yun Jianyue said with a harrumph. She knew that with Yan Xuehen’s status, it was easy for her to a.s.sociate with important individuals. Meanwhile, she was always detested and cast out by the people. She immediately felt terrible when she thought of that difference.
Yan Xuehen raised her beautiful brows. She naturally hadn’t had any intention of showing off. This witch really was irritating, but she didn’t want to disturb Zu An by starting a fight on the spot, so she changed the topic. “I heard that he recently took in a female disciple, and her talent in runes is not bad. She should be able to inherit his true inheritance.”
“Brightmoon City Lord Xie’s daughter. She’s meticulous and sharp, educated and well-balanced,” Yu Yanluo said with a nod. She had been the Yu clan’s leader through thick and thin, so that information had been within her reach.
“Brightmoon City? Isn’t that Little An’s hometown?” Yun Jianyue asked, stunned. Back then, her disciple Qiu Honglei had gone to Brightmoon City to carry out her mission, which was why she had some impression of it.
The three women suddenly looked toward Zu An, their expressions full of suspicion. Zu An felt wronged, thinking, Who are they taking me for? Do all pretty girls have to have something to do with me?
At first, he wanted to fight back, but when he recalled how his relationship with Xie Daoyun really wasn’t bad, he immediately lost confidence. He said right before flying off in alarm, “Haha… I’ll give this a go now. Please help me watch the surroundings.”
Yun Jianyue wondered, “We just wanted to ask if he knew her, so what is he leaving in such a hurry for?”
Yan Xuehen’s expression turned cold, while Yu Yanluo sighed inwardly. This guy is normally pretty smart, so why did he indirectly admit to it like that?
…
Zu An flew carefully. He didn’t summon the Wind Fire Wheels, because he didn’t know what kind of result flying would have. He was worried that they could fall into the water, which would be the worst result.
After reaching the master rank, he had become able to borrow the laws of the world to fly. However, he rocked back and forth as he flew. He felt that there were some flaws with the laws of the world, which made his flight unstable. However, he could still barely control himself if he flew at a low alt.i.tude, just above the water’s surface.
He observed his surroundings vigilantly while flying. Unexpectedly, though, things went rather smoothly. Still, he couldn’t see any end in sight. When he turned to look at the sh.o.r.e, he saw that the three women already looked extremely small. He was left in awe of the scale of the Weak Water, to the extent that he began to wonder if there really was an end to it.
He definitely didn’t want to be like those little birds from his previous world that flew out to sea but ended up too tired to fly back to the continent. When they ran out of strength, they drowned in the ocean.
“Could there be another way to get past this Weak Water?” Zu An wondered. After all, with his current cultivation, his sight was already quite powerful. If he still couldn"t see the other side, didn’t that mean this river was even more vast than the sea? However, he had clearly seen a river on the mountain, so there was no way it was this wide.
He realized that something was wrong, and thus decided to return and discuss things with the other three. They were experienced, and it was possible that they could see through the mysteries at play.
Just then, however, something strange happened. The water below suddenly surged as if it were boiling. A wave rushed at him without any warning, making it incredibly hard to defend against. Furthermore, the laws of the world contained flaws, so Zu An couldn"t even fly that well. If it were anyone else, they would have already been knocked down into the water.
Fortunately, Zu An was quick-witted, using Grandgale to move a couple of dozen meters upward. Only then did he avoid the wave. Still, he didn’t have time to feel relief, because the entire river seemed to have begun tossing and turning. Then, it began to climb higher and higher at a visible rate, reaching toward where he was in the sky!