The next day, before the sky had fully brightened, Xiao Mu went to Wu Zhangkong's office and handed him a leave slip. Wu Zhangkong stared at the words "Martial Soul Second Awakening" on it, fell silent for two seconds, then approved it.
He didn't ask how long Xiao Mu would be gone. He knew there was no point. Forty-nine days, or perhaps longer.
Knowing how Xiao Mu operated, that probably wasn't the standard answer.
By the time the sun rose, the Red-Grade Mecha was already parked at the academy entrance.
Its engine rumbled softly, and its red armor gleamed dully in the morning light. Its wings were folded behind it like those of a raptor with its talons drawn in.
The hatch stood open. Mu Ye sat in the pilot's seat, a smile on his face.
Xiao Mu and Na'er walked up to him. Na'er's Soul Tool was already stuffed full of delicious food, and she had no idea that Mu Ye was the best chef in Legend of the Dragon King.
The two climbed into the mecha. The hatch closed, and the engine's roar suddenly rose in pitch. A ring of dust billowed up from the ground beneath its feet, sending pine needles and gravel flying in every direction.
The next moment, the red machine rose into the air, trailing two pale blue flames as it pierced the clouds.
"Let's go. We'll find a trench a thousand meters deep and give you your Martial Soul Second Awakening," Mu Ye said without hesitation.
The mecha began to descend. Outside the windows, the clouds changed from white to gray, then suddenly parted, revealing a deep blue sea.
Mu Ye's gaze swept across several sets of fluctuating data on the main control screen—water depth, currents, and the ocean floor's terrain.
He tapped a set of coordinates on the screen with his index finger.
"Little Red, lock onto the target sea area."
"Understood, boss."
The mecha's intelligent system chimed in confirmation. Its body tilted slightly and skimmed off in one direction.
The sea rushed by beneath them. The boundary between deep blue and light blue grew increasingly indistinct, and the water gradually darkened, changing from blue to ink blue, then finally to a deep indigo so dark it was almost black.
"Here," Mu Ye said.
The mecha hovered over a stretch of sea.
The water wasn't exactly calm. Waves rolled toward them in succession, but the sea was so deep that even the crests couldn't break into white foam. They only rose and fell heavily, like a giant beast lying low.
Sunlight couldn't penetrate to this depth. Looking down through the window, all they could see was a bottomless darkness.
Mu Ye had no intention of starting here. He pushed the control stick, and the mecha rose again, flying toward the horizon.
A green speck appeared on the sea a dozen minutes later. As they drew closer, it became an island—not a large one, barely two kilometers across, covered with low shrubs and a few coconut trees bent by the sea wind.
A white beach encircled the island. Apart from shells and seabird tracks, there was nothing on the sand.
The mecha descended slowly onto the beach, its landing gear sinking into the soft sand. The hatch opened, and damp sea air poured in, carrying salt and moisture, along with the fresh, green scent of coconut leaves warmed by the sun.
Mu Ye stood on the beach and looked around.
The sea breeze blew in from the east, rustling the coconut leaves. Apart from a few seabird tracks and broken shells, there was nothing on the beach. He set the mecha to standby mode, then tilted his head toward Na'er.
"Stay here. There's no danger around, and Little Red will protect you if anything happens."
Na'er nodded, puzzled. "Can't I go?"
"No. This training is dangerous. Only your brother's physique can endure it," Mu Ye explained. "I'll catch you a deep-sea fish later and make you some soup."
"Really?" At the mention of food, Na'er's eyes lit up.
"Of course."
After speaking, Mu Ye led Xiao Mu toward the sea. They flew out over the water, which shifted from light blue to a darker shade.
"Your Body Martial Soul is your body, right? The method for the Second Awakening is simple, and difficult, at the same time." He pointed at the sea beneath them. "Go down there and stay. The deeper, the better. The pressure in a thousand-meter trench will push your Martial Soul to its limits."
"I'll test your limits over and over until I find them."
Xiao Mu stared at the black sea. "What if we can't find them?"
He did have some doubts. Wouldn't he instinctively use his first Soul Skill?
As long as he used his first Soul Skill, no matter how great the pressure was, he'd be fine.
"How often does anyone succeed on the first try? You can try for at least forty-nine days. After that, you'll still have to escape from Sea Soul Beasts chasing you underwater," Mu Ye said.
Xiao Mu looked at the sea, which resembled an abyss. It was so deep that he couldn't even see his reflection, only darkness, like an eyeless eye staring back at him.
Before he could catch his breath, Mu Ye's hand pressed down on the back of his neck.
"Quit stalling."
Then he was shoved into the sea.
The instant he entered the water, icy seawater flooded in from every direction. The light vanished abruptly. The sea surface above rapidly shrank from a white ring of light to the size of a coin, then to the size of a pinhead, and then it disappeared altogether.
Mu Ye pressed down on his shoulder with one hand. The two of them sank straight down like a pair of iron ingots fastened together.
At a hundred meters, his eardrums gave a muffled thud.
At two hundred meters, the air in his lungs was compressed into a ball the size of a fist.
At three hundred meters, the sunlight gradually faded. They were surrounded by absolute darkness, with only a faint glimmer filtering down from above.
Xiao Mu could feel his skin screaming. Every inch of it endured the crushing pressure from all directions, as though an invisible hand were slowly tightening around him.
Mu Ye didn't stop. Four hundred meters. Five hundred meters. They kept sinking.
Xiao Mu instinctively activated his first Soul Skill. The Soul Ring's faint glow lit up the darkness, but it flickered only once before a hand snuffed it out.
Mu Ye's palm pressed against his body, and a stronger surge of Soul Power flowed from it, directly suppressing Xiao Mu's Soul Power back into his body.
"You won't be able to use your Soul Skills," Mu Ye's voice came through. It sounded especially clear and ethereal in the silence of the deep sea.
At eight hundred meters, Xiao Mu clenched his teeth.
Every inch of his skin directly bore the pressure of the deep sea. His bones gave off tiny cracking sounds, and his blood vessels throbbed beneath his skin.
He could feel his blood being compressed until it almost stopped flowing. Every beat of his heart fought against a force weighing down on him like a thousand jun.
At one thousand meters,
the water pressure squeezed in from every direction, everywhere, leaving no opening untouched.
Xiao Mu understood water pressure, but his skin was undergoing minute changes. It seemed he could control the vectors that came into contact with his skin.
Mu Ye released him.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Mu bent his knees and kicked off. He shot straight upward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
The seawater parted around him, and the resistance was reduced to a minimum. One hundred meters, two hundred meters, three hundred meters—he rose at an abnormal speed, as if the entire sea were carrying him along.
His eardrums began to adjust. His lungs expanded again. The darkness above started to fade, and light leaked down from the surface like shattered glass.
Suspended in the deep sea, Mu Ye looked up at the figure rapidly disappearing into the distance and narrowed his eyes.
"That kid's body can actually endure this for so long on his first try!"