On the Black Water River, aboard the Jiang Familyâs treasure ship.
SPLASH!
The waterâs surface broke, and Qin Yuâs figure leaped out.
She hadnât gone far. Instead, she had been holding her breath, hiding behind a distant reef.
Although reason told her that a Muscle Forging Realm expert was undefeatable, a sliver of unrealistic hope lingered in her heart.
âA prodigy like Senior Brother Su might actually have a way to defeat the enemy.â
Then the red firework exploded in mid-air.
Her mind buzzed.
âDid Senior Brother Su really win? Where did the Muscle Forging Realm enemy go? What on earth happened?â
Filled with shock and doubt, she cautiously approached the treasure ship.
It wasnât until she saw Su Yu standing calmly on the bow from a distance that she breathed a sigh of relief, a joyful expression immediately gracing her face.
Without bothering to circulate her Qi and Blood to dry her clothes, she tapped her toes on the waterâs surface and soared onto the treasure shipâs deck like a fiery red swallow.
"Senior Brother Su!"
"Itâs over. Get ready to head back to the city," Su Yu said with a smile.
Even though she had been mentally prepared, hearing him confirm it himself still made Qin Yu gasp.
âHe really won?â
âHello? That was a Muscle Forging Realm expert!â
She couldnât wrap her head around it and looked around.
In the center of the deck was a shocking, massive hole, clearly the aftermath of the battle. Off to the side, the shipâs captain was leading his crew in patching the sails, preparing to set off again.
In a distant corner, an enemyâs corpse lay in a pool of blood like a dead dog. It was the elderly man who had attacked earlier.
"What about the muscular man at the Muscle Forging Realm, Senior Brother?" Qin Yu couldnât help but ask.
Su Yu had already figured out what to say. He smiled and replied, "I injured him with a one-time-use trump card, and he already fled."
He had no intention of revealing his true strength. After all, keeping a trump card up his sleeve could be useful at a critical moment.
âBesides, if I actually told my junior sister I killed a Muscle Forging Realm expert, sheâd probably think I was the reincarnation of some monster... â
âIn any case, itâs too much trouble to explain. Better to keep it hidden.â
âAnd Iâll be able to break through to the Muscle Forging Realm soon anyway. Then I can openly display the strength of that realm.â
Hearing this, Qin Yu had a moment of realization.
âNo wonder Senior Brother was confident enough to face a Muscle Forging Realm master. He has an ancient treasure.â
She had heard her father talk about such treasures. Although she had never seen one, she knew that ancient immortal artifacts were astonishing.
âBut even so, Senior Brother Su is still a monster! And his luck is so strong, to be able to obtain a trump card like that!â
Then she thought of the storage ring on his hand and immediately guessed, âSenior Brother must have discovered an Ancient Cave Mansion!â
"Junior Sister, you should dry your clothes first," Su Yu suddenly reminded her.
Qin Yu was currently soaked to the bone. The river water had saturated her fiery red martial attire, causing the fabric to cling tightly to her body, outlining her curvaceous figure in exquisite detail. A water stain spread across her chest, faintly revealing the silhouette of a pink bodice, a tantalizing glimpse of her charms.
Not far away, a few sailors were craning their necks, their gazes darting furtively in her direction.
Su Yu, however, didnât look. Junior Sister Qin Yu wasnât his type. He preferred the suffocating pressure his senior sister exuded.
Qin Yu also noticed her own appearance and the peeping crewmen, and her pretty face flushed with anger.
"What are you looking at?! You dogs, keep looking and Iâll gouge out your eyes!"
Her willow-like eyebrows shot up as the Qi and Blood of her Flesh Refining Realm cultivation erupted with a murderous aura.
The sailorsâ legs went soft with fear, and they quickly averted their eyes.
But she didnât seem to mind Su Yu at all. Instead, she stepped closer and said with a smile, "Senior Brother, do you have any clothes in your storage ring? Lend me a set."
Su Yuâs divine sense stirred, and a set of red, form-fitting womenâs martial arts attire materialized in his hand.
"This is the only one. I picked it up from the treasury on Ghost Mist Island."
Qin Yu took the attire and, while deftly draping it over herself, teased, "Senior Brother, I can understand you looting gold, silver, and precious herbs, but youâre even secretly stuffing womenâs clothing into your ring?"
"The material is top-grade Ice Silk, and itâs brand new. Naturally, I couldnât pass it up," Su Yu said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "See? Didnât it solve your urgent problem?"
Qin Yu gathered her damp hair behind her head and glanced at him. "Senior Brother, I feel like youâre different from everyone else. All those other geniuses are arrogant, with their noses in the air, but you? You donât turn your nose up at any little thing."
Su Yu just smiled noncommittally.
Having lived two lives and clawed his way up from the bottom, his mindset was already uninhibited and natural. He didnât care what others thought.
"My lord, the main sail is patched. Shall we weigh anchor?" the shipâs captain asked, bowing and trembling as he came forward for instructions.
"Set sail."
With the long, drawn-out sound of a horn, the treasure ship began to cut through the waves once more.
The distant mountains on both banks drifted by, and a vast river mist flowed over the waterâs surface.
Su Yu stood facing the wind, his heart feeling much lighter.
On this trip, after two major battles, not only had his strength increased significantly, but his gains were also substantial.
âBut I canât slack off. I have to keep training hard.â
âAfter all, in these chaotic times, a new danger could appear at any moment. If Iâm too weak then, I could be the one who dies.â
At this thought, Su Yu took out the Azure Spirit Yuan-Transformation Gourd and drank a mouthful of Spirit Wine.
[Breakthrough Point Skill Level +2%]
As the wine entered his stomach, a cool, clear, and sweet sensation rushed straight to his Mud Ball Palace.
Su Yu felt a sudden jolt in his spiritual altar, as if an invisible barrier in his mind had been instantly pierced. The abstruse and difficult key points of Martial Arts, which were usually incomprehensible, were now as clear and distinct as the lines on his palm.
His thought processes accelerated several times over, and countless inspirations regarding muscle exertion and the circulation of Qi and Blood burst forth like a spring. He entered a profound and mysterious state of clarity.
âThis Spirit Wine can trigger an epiphany?â
Su Yu was instantly overjoyed.
Seizing the opportunity from this epiphany, he immediately stripped off his outer clothes, leaving only his under-shorts, and leaped into the turbulent Black Water River.
âMy Fish Dragon Skill is just shy of Perfection. Thereâs still almost a full day on the journey back, which is the perfect time to train and break through.â
On deck, Qin Yu couldnât help but marvel again when she saw this.
âSenior Brother has such incredible talent, yet he still trains so diligently. No wonder heâs such a monster!â
...
Beneath the surface, the undercurrents were raging, but Su Yu was like a fish in water.
Following the continuous wellspring of Martial Arts inspiration in his mind, he connected each vertebra of his great spinal dragon, brought his legs together, and abruptly twitched his major tendons.
"Swimming Fish Tail."
Using the explosive power from his spine, his legs swung violently like a fishâs tail. His body instantly tore through the water, shooting forward several zhang with complete freedom of movement.
Next, he twisted his waist and hips, executing "Parting the Water Swim." His body was like a sharp shuttle, weaving through dense reefs and aquatic plants with incredible speed and exceptionally nimble movements.
As he swam, a small Ghost-faced Crab suddenly darted out from the mud ahead, brandishing its massive, barbed pincers at his thigh.
Su Yu didnât dodge. His Qi and Blood surged in his right arm as he formed a blade with his fingers, unleashing the killing move "Wave-Piercing Stab." The tip of his finger created a sharp ripple in the water and, with a CRACK, precisely pierced the Ghost-faced Crabâs hard carapace.
Just as he dispatched the crab, he caught sight of a Gold-Thread Treasure Fish hiding behind a reef. Startled, the fish was about to flee with a flick of its tail.
His body boneless and pliable, Su Yu spun with the current and used the underwater grappling move "Black Eel Coil." His legs wrapped around the treasure fishâs slippery body like giant pythons, using the flow of the water to completely lock down its movements.
The treasure fish struggled desperately, its immense strength whipping up a vortex underwater.
Su Yuâs eyes narrowed. The Qi and Blood in his skin membrane erupted as he executed the defensive move "Fish Scale Shock." A high-frequency hydraulic shockwave rippled nimbly across his skin, not only neutralizing the force of the fishâs struggle but also stunning it so badly its eyes rolled back, knocking it unconscious on the spot.
âThis epiphany state is so powerful. My previous execution of the Bibo Fish Dragon Skill was a bit crude.â
Holding the Ghost-faced Crab in one hand and the treasure fish in the other, Su Yu swam toward the surface.
SPLASH!
The water broke, and with a flick of his arms, Su Yu precisely tossed the Ghost-faced Crab and the Gold-Thread Treasure Fish onto the deck of the treasure ship.
At the same time, he leaped onto the deck himself.
"Someone, have the cook stew these!"
The shipâs captain hurried forward. Seeing the treasure fish and crab, his eyes filled with envy. This lord was truly amazing; heâd only been in the water for a moment and had already caught so many fine things.
âTsk tsk, this treasure fish must be worth at least a hundred liang of silver. Iâm so envious.â
After dropping off the treasure fish and the Ghost-faced Crab, Su Yuâs figure once again leaped into the water to continue practicing the Bibo Fish Dragon Skill.
[Bibo Fish Dragon Skill Experience +60]
[Bibo Fish Dragon Skill has broken through to the Perfection Realm]
[Martial Arts]: Bibo Fish Dragon Skill (First Layer) (Perfection)
âAnother Cultivation Technique has reached Perfection!â
Su Yu was thrilled and eagerly began to test the changes in the Cultivation Technique after it reached Perfection.
When he used "Parting the Water Swim" again, the water around him now seemed to have a life of its own, actively parting to either side. His underwater speed had increased by a full thirty percent compared to the Great Accomplishment stage.
Not only that, but his oxygen consumption while holding his breath was also greatly reduced. His pores could even faintly absorb water vapor as they opened and closed. Where he could previously only swim submerged for one hour, he could now stay underwater for three or four hours without any problem.
He tried circulating his Qi and Blood. Instead of a dull roar, his blood now surged through his vessels with a RUSHING sound like the tides, creating a strange resonance with the waters of the Black Water River outside.
BANG!
Su Yu kicked off the riverbed, using only the explosive power of his physical body to charge forward at high speed. A massive boulder ahead, comparable in size to a fast boat, was struck head-on by him and instantly shattered. With such terrifying underwater ramming power, if he were to hit an enemyâs fast boat, he could definitely smash it to pieces in an instant.
âIs this the Perfection Realm of the Bibo Fish Dragon Skill?â
Su Yu hovered at the bottom of the river, looking at the azure water membrane on his skin, which now had a faint, dark-gold ripple flowing across it.
âThis aquatic Cultivation Technique is truly formidable. With my current underwater explosive power and speed, I really have the imposing might of a Fish Dragon, the overlord of the water!â
...
Aboard the treasure ship, Su Yu ate the treasure fish and the Ghost-faced Crab, and his Breakthrough Point rose by another 1%.
In the distance, the docks of Black River Crossing were already visible.
"Weâve finally reached Black Stone City!"
Su Yuâs mood lightened considerably. Although the trip to the Ten Islands Region had only been a few days, he had been through so much that it felt like a long time had passed. He was starting to feel like going home to the Su Mansion.