Chapter 18 The fish and dragon listened to the sound of the water, and leaped into a crimson veil.

The Fish-Dragon hears water, not an illusion; Surging Waves reveal its true form. A myriad of mountains and passes begin here, Soaring straight to the clouds.

Darkness. Endless darkness and cold enveloped you.

You felt as if you had experienced a long hibernation. When you regained your sense of touch, you felt the comfort of being wrapped in warm amniotic fluid.

A light blue, translucent energy substance, like a thick cocoon, tightly encased your body.

That was the last lingering effect of the dimensional secret treasure. It not only saved your life but also, during two full days of slumber, reconstructed you at a cellular level.

May 16th, early morning.

A thunderous waterfall sound erupted in your ears. You abruptly opened your eyes, and the light blue cocoon shattered in response, transforming into countless shimmering light specks that vanished into the air.

You found yourself lying on the side of a Cobble Beach of a wide river, not far from a hundred-meter-high waterfall.

The sunlight pierced through the morning mist in the forest, slanting across your face.

"Cough... cough cough!"

You instinctively tried to get up, but found that some residual water remained in your chest cavity.

You bent over and coughed violently, expelling several clumps of viscous blue gelatinous substance.

As these things were expelled, you felt an unprecedented clarity in your lungs, as if each breath could draw in twice as much oxygen as before.

You subconsciously touched your back, where a Martial Artist from Tannan Heavy Industry had remotely struck you with a heavy punch.

However, at this moment, your back muscles were smooth and tough, without even a trace of bruising.

You clenched your fists, and an unprecedented sense of fullness spread throughout your body.

"Buzz—!"

With a thought, the Qi and blood in your body no longer scattered like smoke as it used to.

The previously violent Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke seemed to be tamed by some mysterious force at this moment.

A thin gauze, like flowing red mercury yet with a faint blue glow, gently and tightly covered the surface of your skin.

Ninth Stage of Qi and Blood — Crimson Gauze Cloaking!

You looked at this Crimson Gauze, which felt substantial, and were overjoyed.

You weren't blinded by joy. As a qualified Martial Artist, you had to understand the changes in your body before leaving this wilderness.

You turned around and leaped.

"Splash!"

You jumped directly into the turbulent deep pool.

First test: underwater survival.

The moment you entered the water, you instinctively held your breath.

But soon, you were surprised to find that the faint blue glow on your skin seemed to resonate with the river water.

A wonderful cool sensation seeped into your blood through your pores. You tried to open your mouth to inhale, and cold river water filled your mouth, yet it caused no sensation of choking.

You felt a tiny filter membrane form in your throat, directly extracting oxygen from the water.

The current was no longer resistance, but assistance. You didn't even need to surface for air; your skin pores automatically absorbed oxygen from the water.

You moved like a nimble fish at the bottom of the water, a third faster than on land!

You stayed underwater for a full hour.

You traversed the dark riverbed, clearly seeing the swaying aquatic plants and disturbing the lurking aquatic beasts, yet you never felt the slightest bit of stuffiness.

This meant that in an aquatic environment, you possessed the ability to move freely in the water.

Second test: water control.

You stood at the bottom of the water, looking at the turbulent waterfall impact zone above. The immense water pressure there was enough to crush ordinary iron boxes.

You swam upstream, slowly moving your palms.

With a casual grab, the scattered water currents actually condensed into a high-speed rotating water ball in your palm.

"Go!"

You flung your hand, and the water ball cut through the heavy resistance, letting out a muffled 'bang' at the bottom of the water, actually striking a huge green rock and creating fine cracks!

"This isn't just water control; this is the Fusion of Qi and blood with water elements..."

You realized that you were now not only a Qi and Blood Martial Artist but also a Water-elemental Ability user.

Although this Ability was still in its initial Acquired Awakening stage, your combat power in water had increased by at least thirty percent!

Third test: underwater recovery.

To test your endurance, you practiced a thousand saber swings under the impact of the waterfall. When your muscles felt sore, you let yourself sink into the sandy bed at the bottom of the pool.

A miracle occurred.

Water elements gathered around your skin, and the previously depleted Qi and blood replenished at a visible rate under the nourishment of the water. In just thirty minutes, your fatigue vanished.

After testing your abilities, you left the primeval forest and traveled downstream along the river.

Two hours later, a dilapidated dirt road appeared beneath your feet. A boundary marker stood by the roadside — "Tiannan Province · Linchun County."

"I actually drifted directly to Tiannan Province."

Sunset Canyon is located at the border of the two provinces; this drift must have carried you dozens of kilometers away.

Your current appearance was exceptionally disheveled.

You walked into Linchun County.

Most of the shops lining the streets sold dried goods and medicinal herbs, and the air carried the scent of herbal medicine.

You found a shop named "Yuanhang Garments" and bought a cheap gray tracksuit with your few remaining anonymous Crystal Cards, also purchasing a black baseball cap to pull down the brim.

In front of the mirror at the garment store, you finally saw your current appearance clearly.

You were about three centimeters taller than half a month ago, and your physique was more well-proportioned.

Especially your eyes, as deep as the ocean, making people afraid to look directly at them.

"Tannan Heavy Industry, and that Martial Artist..."

You looked in the mirror, your fingers gently tracing the spot on your back that had once been injured.

Although it had healed now, the humiliation of being hunted as a "human great medicine" was deeply etched into your bones.

In this world, weakness is the original sin.

"I'll settle this score slowly when I return."

...

You did not immediately return to school.

You inquired around about news regarding Sunset Canyon and the Inverted Mountain.

You received surprising news.

A total of six purple lights appeared from the Inverted Mountain.

Everyone who was fighting for the "great medicine" in the central purple light pillar in Sunset Canyon that day had disappeared.

Including that Origin Opening Martial Artist from Tannan Heavy Industry who had punched you from a distance.

It was May 16th. Although only twenty-something days remained until the College Entrance Examination,

You knew deeply that your current power was too new, too unrefined.

You rented an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Linchun County, near a turbulent artificial canal.

For the next seven days, you underwent an almost insane self-training.

Having gained Water-elemental Ability, you were no longer satisfied with the "fast, accurate, ruthless" aspects of Basic Saber Technique.

You began to attempt "fluidizing" the Major Achievement-level Basic Saber Technique.

On the first day, you attempted to fuse the Qi and blood Crimson Gauze with the saber's edge.

On the third day, you learned how to use the water beneath your feet for short-distance explosive acceleration.

On the surface of that turbulent artificial canal, you could actually walk on waves, your figure like a ghost.

On the fifth day, in the abandoned warehouse, you faced a hundred swinging sandbags, blindfolded.

You no longer relied on sight, but on the sensation of water vapor fluctuations in the air.

Every step, you dodged the swinging sandbags.

Every saber strike precisely severed the sandbag's hanging rope.

At this point, you had completely adapted to the power of the Ninth Stage of Qi and Blood.

Your immense Qi and blood, as deep as an abyss and vast as the sea, was perfectly concealed beneath the water element membrane of your Ability.

This was one of the uses of the Ability you had researched.

May 23rd.

On this day, you walked into Linchun County's high-speed rail station.

You bought a connecting ticket that passed through Suhang City in Jiangnan Province, with your destination being your hometown, Longnan.