During those seven days, Du Xingchuan had no clue what to do next. He settled on doing his best to control his forces along the river.
On the other hand, Lin Xun was still underwater.
He had indeed sustained a severe injury. Fortunately, the bombardment of the five Violet Hero Battleships hadn’t struck the vital parts of his body, but it still had an unbearable impact on him.
Lin Xun was sitting cross-legged in a cave like a statue. Wisps of sky-blue light constantly circled his body, creating an ethereal glow around him.
Ever since he had broken through to the Earth Dipper Stage, the aeth power within his body had undergone a complete transformation. His aeth power was no longer illusionary. Instead, it was pure, exquisite, and seemed palpable.
A school of brightly colored fish patrolled past Lin Xun’s cave. They all looked at him curiously and swam closer to him. They didn’t seem afraid.
They sensed an indescribable aura flowing around Lin Xun’s body. It was the source of all water and contained an extremely mysterious life force.
It wasn’t Lin Xun’s aura; it came from the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead in his mind-sea!
A few days ago, Lin Xun had noticed the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead seemed to be awakening in his mind-sea when he was cultivating. He sensed a mysterious, breathing-like movement from it.
Under that movement, Lin Xun distinctly felt strands of mysterious water essence being drawn up from the rushing water, instilling into his body, and merging with the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead in his mind-sea.The scene not only surprised Lin Xun, but it also made him realize he had thought wrongly all along.
The Heavenly Water Sacred Bead required energy to awaken. And that energy was in the water!
After this discovery, during his cultivation in the next few days, he noticed that the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead was also undergoing cultivation in his mind-sea in a unique way.
It was absorbing the wisps of mysterious water movement power contained in the water!
There was something that surprised Lin Xun even more. Although the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead eventually absorbed the water movement power, it cleansed and nourished every inch of his skin, flesh, bones, organs, meridians, and acupuncture points as it passed through him.
Basically, it was rapidly healing Lin Xun’s injuries.
The wounds that he estimated would heal in around ten to fifteen days had been repaired in only seven days!
His strength had also grown significantly!
It was all due to the mysterious water movement powers.
After his injuries had healed, he didn’t immediately leave because he wanted to see if the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead would awaken.
However, he noticed that the mysterious aura coming from the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead had disappeared and the bead went into a still state once again.
Lin Xun fell into contemplation. The water movement powers of the great river are too ordinary and likely couldn’t meet the needs of the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead.
Never mind. I will find another opportunity to investigate the mystery of the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead.
Lin Xun suddenly snapped open his dark and deep eyes, and a terrifying glint flashed across them.
The school of fish swimming around him fled in terror.
“So many days have passed. I wonder if my enemies have left…”
With a flash, Lin Xun left the cave. He walked along the riverbed for tens of miles before he silently floated up to the river surface.
……
He surfaced to a valley area with dangerous spear-like peaks on both sides. Occasionally, he heard the furious roar and howling of mountain apes, fierce birds, and other strange monsters.
The great river wound through the valleys, rolled up piles of snow, and roared like thunder. The environment seemed incredibly dangerous.
On the banks of the great river stood dozens of cultivators, but they all looked dispirited.
“Damn it. Without any pills to restore our energy, my cultivation will soon deteriorate!”
“We’ve been waiting for seven days, but we haven’t seen even a hint of the shadow of the target. Don’t tell me we have to spend the rest of our lives here till he shows up?”
“Haha, let’s not talk about such an upsetting thing. Let me tell you something. According to the records, this river is called Silver Frost, and around 900 years ago, a vortex appeared on the bed of River Silver Frost. The vortex contained a destructive tearing power and could destroy the sky and the earth. It was said that anyone able to reach the depths of the vortex would receive a rare treasure grown inside!”
“Is this true?”
“If it’s true, it would have already attracted the attention of countless cultivators. Why have I never heard of it?”
“Yes, the legend is too absurd.”
”You don't understand. The power of the vortex is very terrifying. I heard that even Heaven Ascension cultivators were instantly torn apart when they neared the vortex! Who would dare to explore the vortex after hearing about that?”
“Hey, stop talking nonsense. It’s just a legend. There are many similarly absurd legends circulating the empire. No one has ever obtained such lucky opportunities.”
While the cultivators were discussing amongst themselves, they failed to notice a crossbow emerging from the river surface in the distance.”
Bang!
The crossbow fired, and the sound of the rushing river drowned out the blast.
“I’m talking nonsense? I can guarantee with my life that the legend is true!” A cultivator slammed his chest and spoke confidently when a stream of blood spurted from his throat and he collapsed to the ground.
Instantly, chaos broke out.
Shua!
Almost at the same time, Lin Xun sped out of the water like a black lightning bolt. With the Flowing Light Blade in his hand, he launched a killing spree.
Within seconds, dozens of corpses were strewn across the ground and blood flowed everywhere.
Lin Xun didn’t stop after that. In a flash, he rushed up a steep mountain.
Da!
His foot lightly tapped a boulder on the mountain and he soared tens of feet into the air. At the same time, the Flowing Light Blade vanished from his hand and was replaced by a huge bow made from bones.
No-Nonsense Bow!
He hooked his finger around the slender, blood-red bowstrings, and his eyes were locked on a certain location on the mountain.
Gu!
Just as Lin Xun completed the series of movements, a loud cry rang out from the dangerous mountain peak. A black shadow transformed from a fierce bird charged out from the mountain, soaring thousands of feet into the sky like a rainbow.
However, a silent arrow pierced its neck and made it plunge to the ground.
Lin Xun’s figure flashed across the air. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the corpse of the bird before he floated down to the ground like a nimble flying monkey.
He looked at his hand and saw that he had caught a wind shadow hawk!
That was Lin Xun’s goal all along. The other dozen cultivators were just additions.
With a click, Lin Xun twisted the wind shadow hawk’s neck without any hesitation. He sliced open its chest with the tip of his blade and retrieved a blood-stained bead from its inside.
As he wiped the bloodstains on the surface of the bead, it suddenly cast a light screen.
The scene on the light screen was extremely spectacular. It was a bird-eye’s view of the area and clearly showed the mountains and rivers.
Soon, Lin Xun saw that groups of cultivators had taken control of many sections along the river. He had no chance of escaping.
At the same time, the five Violet Hero Battleships were patrolling in the distance. The entire area was being closely monitored.
What troubled Lin Xun the most was that there were not only Violet Hero Battleships but many wind shadow hawks also patrolling the different areas. He would be caught right away if he showed up.
Huh?
Just as the light screen was about to fade, Lin Xun noticed a wind shadow hawk fleeing at an incredible speed.
The light screen vanished.
“It seems that when I killed this wind shadow hawk, another one was watching everything…”
Lin Xun immediately took action. First, he searched the cultivator’s corpses one by one. Then, he leapt into the river once again.
Rumble—
Within seconds, a Violet Hero Battleship was gliding across the sky, patrolling the area. The dense runes were flickering frantically on the cannons. It was ready to attack at any moment.
Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, groups of cultivators were rushing over one after another. But they saw no traces of their target no matter how they searched.
In the end, they all looked at the river and made a unanimous observation. The target dove into the water again!
“Damn it!”
“That guy is so damn annoying!”
“But...if he’s hiding in the water, what can we do?”
Curses rang out one after another. The cultivators were all at a loss on what to do. Their faces turned livid, and they were about to go crazy.
After a while, Du Xingchuan also heard the news. When he learned about it, he was so angry that his face darkened and he almost vomited blood.
“Boss, here is a dead wind shadow hawk. Its wind shadow bean has been taken from its body. The target must have already realized our plan.”
Xiaomu came over with a wind shadow hawk corpse in his arms, his expression equally as troubled.
Du Xingchuan felt his head buzz, his mind was in chaos, and his entire body felt unwell.
This is too troublesome!
Their target was already invincible in the river, but now that he had learned about their arrangements, he could easily take advantage of it to launch surprise attacks!
If they didn’t form a new plan, their target would no doubt smash the forces they controlled along the river!