Chapter 1413: Water Surface’s Dangers
Zu An jumped in fright. What the hell is up with this water? Why is it suddenly coming at me?
He had no choice but to continue flying up. Suddenly, however, the weird black birds that even that giant octopus monster avoided appeared above him. He knew continuing in that direction wasn’t a solution. The water was drawing closer and closer, but the skies above were no less dangerous.
At that point, he didn’t have any room to hesitate. He immediately took out the Wind Fire Wheels and began to accelerate toward the shore at full speed. The Wind Fire Wheels were much faster than flying under his own power.
Suddenly, however, a massive wave rose up, blocking Zu An’s path! If it were a normal river, Zu An could just rush through no matter how great the wave was. However, the Weak Water was just too strange! He didn’t know what would happen if he got hit by it. He could just drop out of the sky and sink into the water like a rock. He didn’t dare to take that gamble.
Thus, he quickly used Grandgale to move to one side. However, the Weak Water seemed to have a mind of its own. He avoided the waves several times, but suddenly, a wave appeared that was so massive, he couldn’t see the end no matter how he tried to avoid it.
At that instant, Zu An suddenly felt a similar sense of suffocation as when he had seen the giant wave from the movie Interstellar. Still, he wasn’t an ordinary person anymore. He didn’t hesitate and rushed straight into the sky, intending to use the advantage of speed to avoid the wave. Then, he planned to pass over the wave from above.
For some reason, however, the wave rose just as quickly as he flew. It was almost as if the higher he flew, the higher it reached. Soon, the huge wave was only a few feet from where he was. He could already smell the water and sense its devastating power.
He clenched his teeth, then immediately used the Star Shattering Imprint, increasing his strength tenfold. Then, he took out the Yin Yang Swords he had gotten from Chi Wen to summon the Snow Phoenix. He unleashed the Snowflake Sword, and his entire body rotated as he rushed toward the giant wave in front of him. The Star Shattering Imprint and the Snow Phoenix working together made the Snowflake Sword incredibly powerful, and the surrounding Weak Water immediately froze.
However, he still felt as if he had been struck by lightning. The impact force made all of his veins bulge, fine droplets of blood appearing on his skin. How powerful was the terrifying wave? It had almost instantly left him seriously injured. Furthermore, the Yin Yang Swords, which were heaven-grade weapons, also cried out; they vibrated intensely, as if they could shatter at any moment.
Zu An quickly used the Primordial Origin Sutra to heal his body’s injuries. At the same time, he used ki to protect the swords. They would be done for if they broke here.
Surprisingly, the Yin Yang Swords suddenly seemed to have sensed the Fire Phoenix and Blue Mallard’s power within him. The Fire Phoenix’s power entered the yang sword in his left hand, while the Blue Mallard’s power entered the yin sword in his right. The yang sword released blinding, fiery red light, while the yin sword emitted a gentle, light blue glow. The two radiances seemed to harmonize with each other, forming a taiji diagram. Just like that, their power greatly increased.
Zu An felt the pressure suddenly lessen, and afterward, he spun rapidly through the ice sheet like a screw. Not long after he passed through the giant wave, however, he turned around and saw that the chunk of ice had already disappeared. When the water came crashing down on the river’s surface again, mist flew everywhere.
Worried that another giant wave would appear, Zu An didn’t dare to stop for even a moment. He frantically flew back onto the shore. Fortunately, after his previous flight, he had already gotten close to shore. He had already clearly seen the three women’s worried expressions.
Zu An waved at the three women, and was about to greet them when he saw their expressions suddenly change. He became alert, and quickly used Grandgale to move a dozen or so meters to one side.
Just then, a bloody mouth chomped down on the air where Zu An had been. He looked and finally saw what was attacking him, as a strange monster with a dragon head and a cat body suddenly rushed out of the Weak Water. When he saw its teeth flashing with a cold glint, Zu An thought to himself that even though his body had already been tempered by the Primordial Origin Sutra several times, even if he didn’t die on the spot, he would still be nearly dead if they had bitten down on him.
However, he didn’t have time to sigh in amazement, because when the monster realized it had missed, it instantly swiped its massive claws at him. It was so fast that he didn’t have a chance to catch his breath at all.
Zu An was already suffering from internal injuries from breaking through the huge wave, and he had been forced to dodge the mouth hurriedly too. He was in an awkward situation, as he had just spent his energy and needed a moment to muster more.
His only option was to use Grandgale again. Unfortunately, the cooldown refresh of Mo Xi’s Celestial Jade Palace hadn’t activated, so Grandgale couldn't be used immediately. The cooldown before it could be used again was extremely short, but at that moment, it was an incredibly critical difference.
He clenched his teeth and raised the white and black swords, deciding to take the monster head-on. Suddenly, however, a white band wrapped around his waist. Then, a gentle force pulled him back, causing the claw that had been about to strike him directly to miss.
When Zu An snapped out of his daze, he found that he was already ashore. It turned out that Yan Xuehen had been the one who pulled him back.
The monster roared a few times, then reluctantly returned to the water.
The others sighed, then approached to check Zu An’s condition, asking, “You weren’t injured by that monster, were you?”
“I wasn’t,” Zu An said. He patted his chest to indicate that he was still alive and healthy before continuing, “Thank you for your help, big sis Yan. Right, where did you get such a long rope from?”
Yan Xuehen’s face reddened and she looked away, not answering his question.
“To actually make that stone cold woman undo her waistband… You’re probably the only man in this world who can do that,” Yun Jianyue remarked, amused.
“Witch, do you always have to be like this?!” Yan Xuehen exclaimed in embarrassment. This was actually not the first time she had undone her waist band in front of Zu An, so she felt even more guilt and shame for having been exposed by Yun Jianyue’s joke.
Zu An was stunned. His gaze shifted to Yan Xuehen’s dress, which had suddenly become looser, and he quickly made the connection. He hadn’t expected her waistband to be able to extend so far.
As if sensing their confusion, Yan Xuehen added, “For the sake of convenience, this band had the ability to change its length added through runes. Apart from that, it is no different from an ordinary band. It is not a precious artifact.”
When the others thought about it, they realized that made sense. Who would be so senseless as to remove their own waistband to fight?
“Big sis Yan, in order to express my gratitude, please let me put it on for you again,” Zu An said, moving closer with a smile.
“Get lost!” Yan Xuehen snapped, her expression completely cold. This guy really is daring, actually teasing me in front of everyone! Is he not scared of exposing our relationship?
“I think it’s best if I do it,” Yu Yanluo said, rolling her eyes at Zu An. She moved closer and helped Yan Xuehen fix her waistband, saying, “Big sister, your waist is so fair.”
Yan Xuehen’s face turned red. She said, “If we are talking about thin waists, who can compare to you?”
Yu Yanluo was the Medusa Queen. That had something to do with the innate traits of the Snake Race.
The group’s attention quickly returned to the monster from earlier. One remarked, “That monster seems to resemble the legendary Qilin a bit, but it has a dragon head and a cat body. Its face is also a bit frightening.”
“That should be the Yayu we need to kill. It resembles what Shun described,” Zu An said seriously. “Still, I didn’t expect it to not be hiding on Shaoxian Mountain, but rather in the Weak Water at the foot of the mountain.”
“Not even feathers can float in the Weak Water. Just how is it able to move freely in the water?” Yu Yanluo wondered.
Zu An shared her puzzlement. He had even used the jade badge to check the water, and yet he hadn’t sensed even a single fish. That was why he had assumed that there was nothing there, and hadn’t expected he would almost lose his life there.
“Judging from our earlier encounter, it does not actually seem to be stronger than the Taowu or that giant octopus. Still, it really will be quite tricky to deal with if it hides in the Weak Water,” Yan Xuehen said with a frown.
Of course, saying that it wasn’t strong was relative. The aura it had released was also at the grandmaster level, making it a dangerous opponent regardless of which one of them faced it. Still, if they worked together, it wasn’t so powerful it would make them feel despair.
“Right, Little An, how did your investigation go earlier? Can this Weak Water be crossed?” Yun Jianyue asked.
Zu An was stunned. He replied, “Huh? Did you not see what happened earlier?”
“What happened?” the women asked, looking at him blankly.