The Statues on the Seabed!

After the minor commotion caused by Zhou Hao's cultivation, Crouching Ox Island returned to its usual calm.

Over the following days, Zhou Hao went into the sea from the beach each morning to cultivate, returning to his courtyard residence at night to continue his training.

As the days passed, the divine power and true essence within Zhou Hao grew rapidly.

Over the next three days, the Water Source Sutra broke through to the sixth stage, reaching the late Xiantian stage.

Then the Chiming Nine Heavens Map reached the fifth stage, advancing to the middle Xiantian stage. That was enough to rival the perfected state of other God-Devil Body Refining techniques at the peak Xiantian stage.

As he went into the sea more often, his qi refining and body refining both advanced, and he was able to cultivate in the water for longer and longer.

At his longest, he stayed in the sea for an entire day without coming up once.

The other Xiantian Lifeforms in the Jade Dragon Army went from tense concern to taking it in stride.

In the end, no one paid any attention to how long their commander had spent in the sea that day.

No one, that is, except one person.

"Good morning, Commander." Shangguan Yu stood prettily by the sea, smiling like a flower in bloom.

"Good morning, Xiaoyu." Zhou Hao nodded. "I've seen you here every time these past few days. Why aren't you off cultivating?"

As they spent more time together, Zhou Hao and the soldiers under his command grew more familiar with one another. He called Shangguan Yun "Old Yun" and Shangguan Yu "Xiaoyu."

Although they were all his subordinates, there was still a rank between them.

Zhou Hao made a point of managing his soldiers through Hu Yong.

So, aside from having to reward and discipline Hu Yong in equal measure and keep him from getting carried away, Zhou Hao treated the squad leaders and platoon leaders one rank below him with warmth.

He left the hard-nosed villain act to Hu Yong, while he himself drew the soldiers to his side with kindness and favors.

He hadn't read those novels about officialdom and office politics in his previous life for nothing. He knew a fair bit about managing people.

"The natural energy here is a little denser than at my residence. I can't go into the sea like you, Commander, so I can only cultivate here a little longer." Shangguan Yu gave the excuse she'd prepared long ago, her eyes fixed on Zhou Hao with anticipation.

"Mm. It's good that you can endure the cold and keep cultivating." Zhou Hao nodded approvingly. "Go ahead and cultivate. I'm heading into the sea."

With that, he turned and walked toward the water.

"Ah, he didn't take off his armor today either." Shangguan Yu watched Zhou Hao walk farther and farther away until he disappeared beneath the surface, then muttered in disappointment.

On the rocky seabed,

Zhou Hao waited until his whole body was underwater before removing his Black Jade Dragon Armor and putting it into his storage treasure.

That little girl cultivates on the beach every day, so I have to come into the water to take off my armor.

After all, men and women were different. Last time, Shangguan Yun and Nan Ming had both been there, so taking off his armor and baring his upper body in front of them hadn't mattered.

But with just the two of them, taking it off in front of a young girl would have been downright improper.

He wasn't Cao Rong or Yang Qiong, one of the "Four Beasts of Jade Dragon." And with Xiangcao back home, their relationship still unresolved, Zhou Hao didn't want to get Shangguan Yu involved too.

"This is much more comfortable!" Zhou Hao stretched out, savoring the cool sensation of the seawater pressing against his body as countless traces of natural energy flowed in through his pores. Unable to resist, he began swimming.

Why take off his armor before going into the sea?

Anyone who had gone swimming knew that ordinary clothes clung uncomfortably to the body once soaked, and grew heavy with water, making it hard to move.

The Black Jade Dragon Armor wasn't like ordinary clothing, but the seawater was already bitterly cold. Wearing cold, stiff armor made it even more uncomfortable.

Besides, the armor blocked the seawater, greatly weakening his ability to sense the currents swirling around him.

That was right.

Over the past few days, Zhou Hao's cultivation in the sea had improved not only his qi refining and body refining, but also his understanding of the Dao.

Water flowed through the sea, just as wind flowed through the air. If the sea were taken as the world itself, then its currents were no different from the wind.

In fact, currents left trails to follow, making them easier to comprehend than the formless wind.

In just a few days, Zhou Hao had gained considerable insight into both the Way of Flowing Water and the Way of Flowing Wind while beneath the sea.

He could even feel his Free and Easy Wandering movement technique improving by the moment.

Whoosh~~~

Zhou Hao swam with the underwater current. A layer of water curled around him like a gust of wind, carrying him deeper into the sea.

"So cold." Zhou Hao felt a bone-piercing chill that seemed ready to freeze the marrow in his bones. He knew he was nearing his physical limit.

"That should do it. I can't go any deeper."

By his estimate, he was nearly fifty miles from Crouching Ox Island, and the sea was almost two or three miles deep. The pressure and chill were both far greater than at the gently sloping seabed near the island.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Holding the Red Gold Copper Rods in his hands, Zhou Hao let himself sink toward the seabed with the current.

These two copper rods make excellent diving tools.

After descending more than a mile, Zhou Hao surveyed the seabed, searching for a relatively flat spot where he could begin cultivating.

Just like on land, the seabed had towering underwater mountains and rolling hills, as well as broad, level plains.

"Hm? What's that?"

Several hundred yards away, something about an underwater mountain caught his attention.

It wasn't the mountain's unusual shape. Rather, far off on the other side of its peak, he seemed to see a patch of red.

In the depths of the sea, the mountains were all covered in ice. Even where the rock showed through, it was black.

"What could be red down here?"

With a thought, Zhou Hao sent the surrounding currents carrying him toward the mountain as he continued to sink.

Thud!

He set foot on the peak of the underwater mountain and stared at the scene before him, dumbstruck.

Starting at one side of the mountain beneath his feet, countless red copper statues covered the entire seabed, stretching all the way to the distant edge of his vision.

The strangest—and most shocking—thing was that although the red copper statues on the seabed varied in size and shape, every one of them depicted the same animal.

"A cat? Or a Feifei?" Zhou Hao was stunned.

How much did someone have to love Feifei to make so many statues?

Just in the area he could sense, there had to be well over a hundred thousand!

Wait!

Red copper statues?

I have one too!

Zhou Hao snapped out of his shock.

He'd bought it back when he'd first arrived in Jade Dragon City and joined the Green Flood Dragon Army. After listening to Master Jingzhi's lecture, he'd left the city and gone to West Gate Market.

At the time, his spiritual sense had detected an extremely faint energy fluctuation in the metal statue, so he'd bought it, intending to examine it later.

But then he'd started cultivating a qi-refining technique and reached the Xiantian stage, experimented with the Blue Flower Space to produce Blue Flower Water Vapor, and immediately afterward taken part in the martial arts tournament.

With one thing piled on another, if he hadn't seen all these red copper statues today, Zhou Hao might have completely forgotten that another Feifei statue was still in his Mustard Stone Space.

Good thing I didn't toss my Mustard Stone to Zhao Hu when I asked him to sell my things last time. Otherwise, it probably would've been gathered up with the junk and sold off.

Zhou Hao put away the Red Gold Copper Rod in his right hand, then took the Feifei statue from his Mustard Stone Space and compared it to the statues on the seabed.

The comparison made things even clearer.

Not only were the statues made of the same red copper, but the Feifei figures had exactly the same eyes, brows, and tails. It looked as though every statue had been made by the same person.

Were these meant to record a cat's daily life?

How much free time did someone have to do all this? Zhou Hao wondered.

Could it have been the Loose Immortal Hu Yong said once occupied Crouching Ox Island?

Would a Loose Immortal really have this much spare time?

Did he not have to worry about the three disasters and nine tribulations? Could he get through the tribulations just by making statues?

Zhou Hao wasn't convinced.

Let's see if these statues have any energy fluctuations.

Zhou Hao picked up one of the statues and carefully examined it with his spiritual sense.

Nothing.

It didn't react at all, even when he shook it around like he had with that old drunkard before.

Let's try again. Maybe not every statue has an energy fluctuation.

Zhou Hao continued testing them. Even after switching to several others, he still couldn't find a Feifei statue with any energy fluctuations.

There really are immortals with this much free time? Zhou Hao was speechless.

Even if someone made one statue a day, it would take at least a thousand years, if not tens of thousands, to cover this whole stretch of seabed.

But what was the point of covering the seabed?

For the view?

To make it magnificent?

Well, he had to admit, it was quite beautiful and quite magnificent.

Lost in thought, Zhou Hao held his own Feifei statue and casually shook it a few times, hoping to make sure he hadn't imagined that faint energy fluctuation before.

Just as he shook the statue in his hand, that faint fluctuation appeared again.

Whoosh~~~

A sudden red glow burst into existence, enveloping Zhou Hao before he could react.

Zhou Hao's expression changed drastically.

At the same time, he realized he couldn't move at all, as if the red light had cast a binding spell on him.

Flash!

The red glow vanished.

Zhou Hao disappeared into thin air.

Only the countless red copper Feifei statues remained scattered across the seabed, as if nothing had ever happened.