Chapter Ninety: Blocking the Door

Where am I?

A persistent ringing filled his ears, gradually fading. Mo Hu slowly came to, opened his eyes in confusion, and looked around. The earthen walls were neat and smooth, as though polished.

“Ah!”

Xue Kai cried out, pounding his own head hard enough to clear the fog from his mind. He opened his eyes, looked around, and when his gaze fell on Mo Hu, he froze.

“Mo Hu?”

“Xue Kai?”

Mo Hu, seeing him, also went still. After a brief blank moment, he turned to look around as well.

“Where is this?”

Huang Yue had awakened too. She stared up at the round patch of sky overhead, dazed. The voices beside her startled her fully awake. She turned to the two of them, blinked, and then looked around again.

“Could this be the legendary underworld?”

“But... it doesn’t seem quite like it.”

“We survived!”

Mo Hu’s low voice reached them, and both of them instinctively turned toward him.

Head lowered, his voice was heavy, and so was his expression. There was not the slightest trace of joy at having escaped death.

“He spared us.”

“Yes.” Huang Yue was no longer in the mood for jokes. Looking around, she could easily see that they were still in the same place as before.

Only now, after Zhou Yi’s blow, the ground had been smashed into a colossal pit, and the three of them had awakened within it.

“We made it out alive.”

“Yes. We survived.”

Even so, none of the three showed the slightest sign of wild relief. Their hearts were heavy. Though they were alive, everything they had witnessed before—Song Hai’s fathomless strength, Zhou Yi’s terrifying rate of growth, and most of all the talent the two of them possessed—had cast a vast shadow over their hearts. Even now, that shadow still pressed on them, making it hard to breathe.

Sigh.

“Forget it. Since we lived, let’s at least live well from here on.”

“Let’s go.”

...

“There’s a pavilion here.”

After walking along the path for a while, Song Hai’s eyes lit up. He saw a hexagonal rest pavilion with layered eaves. Not far beside it was a waterfall, neither too large nor too small—about ten feet wide and fifty feet high—thundering down from above. Its spray scattered in the wind and turned to mist, drifting over to them, instantly making the air feel much damper and fresher.

“Coming.”

Zhou Yi replied and quickened his pace. Turning a corner, he immediately saw Song Hai, as well as the white ribbon of water cascading behind him.

“This really is a fine place.”

The instant Zhou Yi saw the waterfall, his heart loosened without meaning to. His mood brightened at once. Meeting Song Hai’s gaze, he curved his lips and smiled brightly.

“I rather like this place,” Zhou Yi said to Song Hai.

“I do too.” Song Hai smiled, his eyes resting on the waterfall. “Especially this waterfall.”

“Yes. It truly is beautiful. One glance is enough to make a person feel refreshed and at ease.” Zhou Yi smiled, then his gaze suddenly shifted to the mountaintop, and his smile widened even more. “I hope they like it here too.”

“I imagine they may well have liked it before. But from today onward, I doubt they will.” Song Hai also looked toward the summit, his words carrying a clear implication.

“Hah.”

After a while of banter, Zhou Yi restrained his smile. He turned his hand over, spread his fingers, aimed his palm at the waterfall, and shouted.

Boom!

Rumble...

In an instant, a gigantic palm imprint appeared in the middle of the falling water. Droplets splashed in all directions, scattering through the air.

“Come!”

His fingers drew slightly inward, his arm pulled back, and a tremendous suction force appeared out of nowhere, drawing all the scattered droplets back at once. Before him, they gathered together into a massive water sphere, fully ten feet across.

“These should be enough, right?” Zhou Yi said with a smile, looking at the huge sphere before him.

“Enough! More than enough!” Song Hai laughed in agreement.

“Then let’s begin.”

Zhou Yi spread both hands, then brought his fingers together. Within the illusory little world inside his body, the sea, rivers, lakes, ponds, and all other things belonging to water stirred to life in that instant, waves surging wildly, shaking heaven and earth.

With those tremors, streams of water’s rhythm appeared again and again between heaven and earth, only to vanish, then reappear in Zhou Yi’s palm after passing through countless changes.

Hum—

He gathered the water’s rhythm into the state of water intent, then flicked his hand and sent it into the sphere before him. Instantly, a buzzing sound like the hum of bees rang out.

Inside the sphere, the originally transparent and formless water suddenly trembled. Ripples appeared in wave after wave, wrinkling the entire sphere.

The clear, translucent sphere, pure as a maiden’s skin, at once became like an old man with white hair, layers of wrinkles folding over one another.

The change happened in a breath. From the moment Zhou Yi struck out to the moment the water intent entered the sphere and caused the transformation, less than an instant had passed. And just as that instant was about to end, another change came.

The wrinkles within the sphere gradually smoothed away, as though an invisible giant hand had passed over it, revealing what lay behind.

The sea, lakes, ponds, waterfalls, rivers, and all else that belonged to water suddenly came into view inside the sphere. Countless small orbs stood out, and within each one lay a scene—an ocean, a river, a waterfall, or some other thing.

One sphere, one scene.

Each was vivid and lifelike, as though truly existing there, as if they were about to leap out of the water sphere itself.

“Still missing something.” Song Hai looked at the sphere, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Where did you learn that gesture?” Zhou Yi looked at him with a black line across his face.

“From you.”

“…”

“Alright, it really is still missing a little something.”

After a brief silence, Zhou Yi changed the subject. One hand supporting the water sphere, the other drawing back and flattening before his chest, he suddenly flipped it over and pressed down hard.

Boom!

A burst of explosive air rang out. His palm turned to lightning and slapped down fiercely onto the sphere.

Whoosh!

The water sphere was sent flying in an instant, shooting dozens of meters away to strike the waterfall. With a loud bang, it rebounded and flew back at great speed. Zhou Yi caught it one-handed before him, then handed it to Song Hai.

“Now look again. Is it still missing anything?”

Song Hai took the sphere and studied it.

Its appearance had not changed. It was still a large water sphere containing countless smaller water spheres, each of which held a scene. One sphere, one vista. At first glance, there seemed to be no difference at all.

But the moment he took hold of it, Song Hai understood. This sphere had already undergone a qualitative transformation.

If before, it was merely exquisite, he had no objection. But if one were to say it possessed any great power, then Song Hai could only laugh. It had been nothing more than a beautifully crafted landscape.

But now, with the sphere in his hands and feeling the abyssal, ocean-deep aura it emitted, Song Hai knew that it had successfully transformed from a decorative object into a deadly weapon.

“So now?” Holding the sphere, Song Hai looked at Zhou Yi.

“Let’s begin.” Zhou Yi nodded.