"Alright, I am going to enter this pond since I have a good feeling that I will find a key at the end— no, I am certain." Yuan said with a resolute expression on his face.
"Is that so? Have fun." Jin Xi said in a nonchalant manner, almost as if she couldn't care less.
Yuan didn't say anything and started stripping his clothes.
However, just as he took two steps towards the pond and prepared to plunge inside, his movements suddenly halted.
"What are you doing?" Jin Xi asked after seeing his weird movements.
"..."
After a moment of awkward silence, he said in a somewhat embarrassed voice, "I… I don't know how to swim."
"..."
Jin Xi's eyes widened as she stared at him in silence.
A moment later, she bent backwards and started laughing out loud that her voice could be heard miles away.
"Are you serious?! You don't know how to swim?! That's pathetic!" She pointed at him and laughed without restraint.
Yuan frowned and said, "Due to circumstances, my movements were limited until recently, so I did not have the opportunity to learn how to swim. Is it really so bad that one doesn't know how to swim?"
"Yeah, yeah. No need for excuses. That'll just make you look even more pathetic."
Yuan sighed, but he decided to not argue with her.
Jin Xi suddenly snapped her fingers, creating a massive hole right next to the Sword Pond, and with a second snap, she filled the hole with clear water.
"You can practice swimming there. Just don't waste too much time." Jin Xi said to him. Despite making fun of him for not being able to swim, she still wanted to help him.
Feng Yuxiang and the others came out of his body watch.
"Young Master, I would love to teach you how to swim, but honestly, I don't know how to myself, and I do not like water." Feng Yuxiang sighed.
"Well, you are a creature of fire, after all." Yuan smiled at her.
Xiao Hua looked at the water for a second before turning to look at Yuan and shaking her head, "Sorry, Brother Yuan, but Xiao Hua cannot help you today."
"You're still young, so it's okay…"
Yuan subconsciously turned to look at Lan Yingying next, who had a gentle smile on her face.
"I guess you also don't know how to swim," he sighed.
"No, I do. I can teach you, if you'd like."
Yuan was so happy to hear that Lan Yingying knew how to swim, it caused him to shed a tear.
Lan Yingying proceeded to remove her clothes the following second.
"Y-You! How dare you try to seduce the Young Master with your body in this kind of situation!" Feng Yuxiang pointed at her with trembling fingers when Lan Yingying stripped completely naked.
"What are you talking about?" Lan Yingying looked at her with raised eyebrows, oblivious of the situation.
"Why are you completely naked?!" Feng Yuxiang asked again.
Lan Yingying immediately responded in an innocent voice, "Because I am going in the water with him?"
Feng Yuxiang facepalmed. "Is she messing with me, or is she actually that shameless?"
"If you are worried about me being seen naked, you don't have to worry. I don't mind if it's Yuan, and this isn't our first time like this."
"W-What did you say?!" Feng Yuxiang exclaimed, as she wasn't aware of their interaction at the waterfall within the Mystic Realm, where Lan Yingying was impregnated by Yuan.
Lan Yingying stopped entertaining Feng Yuxiang afterward and entered the cool water, which was about 2 meters deep.
After entering the water, Lan Yingying waited for Yuan at the edge of the pond.
Seeing Lan Yingying's beautiful naked body, Yuan couldn't help but swallow nervously.
Unlike previously when they were at the waterfall, he was no longer as ignorant and immune to a woman's charm, and his opponent was a peerless beauty like Lan Yingying, so his body couldn't help but react a little.
However, Yuan quickly managed to keep his emotions under control by reminding himself that underneath her human appearance was a Divine Beast that could swallow even demons, and most importantly, she was his comrade.
After patting himself in the cheeks, Yuan entered the water, grabbing Lan Yingying's hand at the same time so that he wouldn't immediately sink.
Although he could technically cover himself in spiritual energy and fly around in water, he actually wanted to use this opportunity to learn something that he never got the chance to.
Thus, Lan Yingying started giving Yuan swimming lessons.
Their training would go on for a few days until Yuan could swim as naturally as breathing.
"It took you longer than I expected, since you usually learn everything in a heartbeat." Feng Yuxiang said to him afterward.
"I guess there are some things that even I am not talented in." He chuckled.
"Thank you, Yingying. I've troubled you for the last few days." He said to her afterward.
"It was a pleasure to finally be able to help you." She smiled at him before pulling herself out of the water.
Yuan quickly shifted his gaze from her dripping wet body to something else.
'Hm?' Feng Yuxiang raised an eyebrow after seeing his unusual reaction, but she didn't think too much of it at that moment.
Now that he was prepared, Yuan returned to the Sword Pond, but he didn't immediately jump in.
He sat down and cultivated for a bit first.
A few hours later, Yuan opened his eyes and stood up.
After taking a deep breath, he leaped into the air before diving into the Sword Pond.
'Since it's just Sword Aura, it shouldn't affect my Sword Body.' He thought to himself as he plunged into the cold water.
'Fuck! It's freezing!' He cursed inwardly, and he regretted not testing the water's temperature before jumping in.
The water was so cold it felt like every pore in his body was being poked by needles.
Fortunately, he was used to pain from tempering his body, so it was still tolerable for him.
Unfortunately, the cold would only worsen as he swam deeper inside the Sword Pond.