Subtle Ripple Intent Realm

Outside Ten Thousand Stars Mountain, Above the Muddy Dragon River.

Dusk had gathered, and the blood-red setting sun dyed the broad river surface a sheet of crimson.

The river wind was bitter, whipping up layer upon layer of muddy waves that slammed against the jagged rocks on both banks with booming roars.

A figure in azure was flying low over the surging river on a sword.

The sword-rider's gaze was sharp as lightning, while his divine sense swept across the river again and again like ripples over water, as though searching for something.

Just then, a streak of light suddenly shot across from the opposite bank.

Looking up, he saw an old man riding a copper-headed qilin beast, drawing a cloud carriage that radiated streams of five-colored light as it came through the air.

Light gauze curtains hung around the cloud carriage, fluttering gently in the wind. A woman could vaguely be seen seated within.

As the cloud carriage slowly came to a stop above the river, the woman lifted the curtain with a slender hand, stepped gracefully from the carriage, and landed steadily in midair.

The woman was extraordinarily beautiful. She wore a crimson strapless flowing immortal dress, woven from exceedingly thin gauze that clung tightly to her fiery, delicate figure.

Her shoulders were half-bare, exposing a large expanse of snow-white skin smooth as congealed cream. Her collarbones dipped deeply, her snowy peaks rose high, and with each breath they trembled faintly, tracing an arc enough to set one's blood aflame.

A dark-golden soft gauze sash was cinched tightly around her waist, making her slender waist seem too fine to grasp in one hand and further accentuating the rounded, pert curve of her hips and her long, straight legs.

Seeing the sword-riding figure on the river stop, the woman atop the cloud carriage bent in greeting, her posture brimming with grace, and said softly:

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Ye."

The sword-rider was a valiant youth who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen. His brows carried the keen vigor of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, and the spiritual energy fluctuations around him were exceptionally dense, far surpassing those of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The valiant youth nodded slightly, a trace of pride in his expression, and said blandly:

"The matter Fairy Lin entrusted to me has already been handled.

That so-called greatest cultivator of the Silver Sand River was utterly unable to withstand a single blow. I crushed his heart meridians with a strike from afar, and he fell into this Muddy Dragon River."

Though he said so, Ye Shaochen felt somewhat dissatisfied.

He quietly reflected on what had happened and felt that he still lacked experience traveling the outside world. He should not have attacked from so far away, giving the other party a chance to escape and fall into the water.

He knew that the so-called greatest cultivator of the Silver Sand River was also the patriarch of the region's foremost cultivation clan. His wealth must have been considerable, and there surely had been many good things in his storage pouch.

It would have been one thing if the man had fallen into the Muddy Dragon River, but the problem was that Ye Shaochen had gained nothing from it.

"Once this journey ends and I return to the mountain, it should coincide with Master's six-hundredth birthday.

I had originally planned to find a high-grade precious material as a birthday gift for Master, but I encountered no worthwhile opportunities on this trip down the mountain. I can only gather funds and see whether I can buy a mid-to-high-grade precious material.

In that case, I cannot let the resources this man carried on him slip away."

That thought flashed through the youth's mind. It was precisely because of this that he had remained here, searching so carefully.

Upon hearing this, the beautiful Lin Wanrou immediately bloomed into a smile. Her bewitching phoenix eyes were full of admiration as she lavishly flattered the youth surnamed Ye:

"Fellow Daoist Ye truly possesses vast divine abilities. I admire you so deeply I could prostrate myself in complete admiration.

He Sheng has run rampant along the Silver Sand River for years. For him to fall into your hands today, Fellow Daoist, is simply a calamity he could not escape."

As the two spoke, Ye Shaochen suddenly furrowed his brow, and his formerly calm expression instantly grew grave.

His outspread divine sense had detected a faint fluctuation of magical power from the riverbed of the Muddy Dragon River several dozen zhang away.

Most crucially, that fluctuation had unmistakably reached the Foundation Establishment level!

Ye Shaochen's heart jolted, and he thought:

Could He Sheng still be alive?

No!

Impossible!

His heart meridians were clearly shredded. How could he possibly still have any life left?

Unless...

Ye Shaochen's thoughts raced, but he did his best to conceal the change in his expression, merely flicking his sleeve as if perfectly composed.

Yet the beautiful woman surnamed Lin was exceedingly perceptive. Those phoenix eyes that appeared so affectionate were in truth constantly observing the subtle changes in the youth's expression, and she instantly caught the fleeting flash of alarm and doubt in his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, has something happened?"

Lin Wanrou leaned forward slightly. The snowy whiteness at her neckline swayed with the motion, casting a dazzling curve of light, while her tone carried just the right measure of concern and probing.

Ye Shaochen's gaze fell upon her, and his heart stirred faintly. Yet unwilling to lose face before this woman, he kept his expression unchanged and said:

"Nothing. I merely received a message from a senior brother of my sect just now, telling me to meet him at Shaosi Mountain, eight thousand li to the north, in a few days."

That was half truth and half lie.

This was Ye Shaochen's first journey away from his sect. His true destination was Nether Mystery Mountain in the Northern Yuan Cold Domain, a land in the far north blanketed in snow and ice all year round, where he was to attend the Ten Directions Dharma Assembly hosted by the Nether Mystery Sect a year later.

Shaosi Mountain was indeed to the north and was also an unavoidable stop on the way to Nether Mystery Mountain.

He had indeed made an agreement with a senior brother from his sect to meet at Shaosi Mountain before continuing north together, but where could a message have come from at this moment?

Lin Wanrou's smile did not fade at his words, but she vaguely sensed that something was amiss. Just as she was about to probe further, Ye Shaochen beat her to it.

"Alas, my senior brother is impatient—his message urged me most urgently.

I can only seek another chance to travel with Fairy Lin another day. For now, farewell!"

Before his words had even faded, azure light surged around him, transforming into a streak of azure sword light that howled away along the surface of the Muddy Dragon River.

Watching the direction in which he departed, the smile on Lin Wanrou's face instantly froze, and her brows drew tightly together.

"Shaosi Mountain is clearly to the northwest. Why is Ye Shaochen heading southeast?"

Lin Wanrou had always been suspicious by nature. She looked toward the elderly man standing quietly behind her.

"Elder Xu, what do you think?"

The old man bowed with lowered head.

"This old servant dares not rashly speculate about a disciple of a superior sect.

However, this old servant previously used the Water Essence Treasure Mirror to observe Great Cultivator Ye in action. I only felt that this disciple of the superior sect was truly formidable beyond measure. With Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation, he utterly crushed He Sheng, who stood at the peak of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!"

Elder Xu's words were exceedingly cautious. After weighing the matter, Lin Wanrou instructed, "Elder Xu, return secretly to the Silver Sand River and spread rumors in Lower River Market.

Say that He Sheng clashed with the Golden Cloud Sect's Supreme Elder at Wan Chaonian's Foundation Establishment celebration, and was slain outside Ten Thousand Stars Mountain in a single stroke by that false core cultivator.

Stir up these muddy waters first. I refuse to believe the other Foundation Establishment families, long oppressed by the He family, can simply sit still!"

The elder surnamed Xu bowed to accept the order. He then put away the cloud carriage and rode his bronze-headed qilin beast southward.

As for Lin Wanrou, she looked once more in the direction Ye Shaochen had gone, then mounted a brocade handkerchief and flew into Ten Thousand Stars Mountain.

The Muddy Dragon River surged vast and mighty.

An imperceptible undercurrent sped close to the riverbed. Wherever it passed, it did not disturb even a strand of water grass. This was He Sheng traveling by water control.

Using the Subtle Ripple Water Escape he had only just comprehended, he had fled more than twenty li in merely a hundred breaths, escaping the territory of Ten Thousand Stars Mountain in one stroke.

But while this water escape was swift, it consumed an enormous amount of spiritual power and naturally could not be sustained for long.

Therefore, He Sheng halted the escape art and simply hurried onward using the Clear Ripple Water Control Art.

Whoosh!

He Sheng felt as though the water flowing around him had become part of his own body. No longer an obstacle, it instead became a force propelling him forward.

"This speed... seems to be a few notches faster than Brother Piao flying on a magic artifact!"

When Brother Piao had traveled north from Changyang Mountain, flying on a magic artifact the entire way with stops along the journey, it had taken nearly five days to cover ten thousand li.

Calculated carefully, that came to an average of only a little over two hundred li per hour.

Of course, that was the average speed when flying on an artifact. If one spared no spiritual power and drove a flying artifact to its limit, one could reach an extreme speed of three to four hundred li an hour.

But such a state could not be maintained for long at all, since one's spiritual power could not support it.

But now?

He Sheng could clearly feel that, traveling downstream with the Clear Ripple Water Control Art at the consummate realm, his speed seemed capable of matching Brother Piao's speed when he frantically drove his flying artifact at full force!

Moreover, after sensing the rate at which his spiritual power was being consumed, he found that it was actually even lower than the consumption of ordinary artifact flight.

"All of this is because of that 'Realm of Water Transformation'!"

Bolstered by this mysterious state of mind, He Sheng felt as though his entire body had completely transformed into flowing water. He was no longer mortal flesh passing through water—he had become water itself.

Since he was water to begin with, nothing could impede him. The hidden reefs at the riverbed, the tangled water grass, the muddy sand and silt—none of them posed the slightest obstruction. He flowed like water, smooth beyond compare.

Better still, he was traveling downstream. Borrowing the natural momentum of the great river, he did not need to expend spiritual power resisting the current. Instead, he enjoyed the accelerating sensation of pushing a boat along with the current.

It was like a mortal sailing with the wind: with only a light touch on the rudder, he could travel a thousand li in a day.

"Not only that..."

A thought suddenly struck He Sheng. He closed his eyes, yet seemed to "see" even more.

His divine sense, it seemed, had also merged with the vast river waters.

There was no need to deliberately release his divine sense to investigate. The fluctuations of the surrounding currents, schools of fish swimming by, even the swaying of water grass a hundred zhang away—all of it was clearly reflected in his mind.

It was an extraordinarily wondrous state.

In the past, extending his divine sense had been like lighting a lamp in darkness. One could see wherever its light reached, but beyond that light lay darkness still, and it was exceedingly easy for high-level cultivators to detect.

But now, he seemed to have become the river itself. Wherever the water reached was within the reach of his senses.

"According to the cultivation knowledge in Brother Piao's memories, ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, even those at the great completion of Foundation Establishment Late Stage, can only extend their divine sense over a range of a hundred zhang.

Yet with the 'Realm of Water Transformation,' I can effortlessly sense every condition within a radius of roughly one li. My divine sense is far superior to that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

And... this perception seems able to go even further."

This was no illusion on He Sheng's part. When he had previously traveled using the Subtle Ripple Water Escape, he had discovered that his divine sense could even extend beyond the river water, using the moisture between heaven and earth to sense conditions farther away.

However, this perception was extremely vague, impossible to manifest within his sea of consciousness.

"That vague perception was rather similar to the so-called sixth sense, that instinctive spiritual awareness from before I transmigrated."

Though this perception was vague, it was by no means useless.

For one, it could extend his range of perception far beyond the area ordinarily covered by divine sense;

For another, it could provide a certain degree of feedback.

For instance, earlier, He Sheng had remotely sensed an extremely powerful warning sign through the moisture in heaven and earth, thus learning that the suspected Core Formation expert truly was guarding the corpse on the river!

"It seems Subtle Ripple Water Escape isn't merely an escape technique. 'Subtle Ripple' should be an Intent Realm far more profound than 'Water Transformation.'

"I must have relied on the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm earlier to extend my divine sense far outward, which was why I sensed something.

"Then... can I separate the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm from Subtle Ripple Water Escape and use it on its own, extending my divine sense once more to see whether I've escaped danger?"

As the thought arose, He Sheng raced through the water while carefully recalling that mysterious sensation from when he had used Subtle Ripple Water Escape.

It had not merely been the surging of spiritual power, but a resonance of the mind—as though ripples had spread across the lake of his heart, flowing from within to without and diffusing into heaven and earth.

"Subtle ripples... the wind rises from the tip of duckweed, while waves form amid subtle ripples."

He Sheng felt a faint realization stirring within him and carefully experienced the fluctuations of his spiritual intent.

At first, his sea of consciousness was a chaotic haze. That Intent Realm was as elusive as a wisp of silk, impossible to grasp and gone in an instant.

But now, his mind was joined with the river water. Using the vast, surging waters of the Muddy Dragon River as a medium, that sensation gradually became clearer.

Gradually, he seemed to see a speck of spiritual light fall upon the still lake of his heart, sending out rings of invisible ripples.

"I've done it!"

He Sheng was overjoyed. He imbued his divine sense with the separated "Subtle Ripple Intent Realm."

Bzzzt!

In an instant, his divine sense, which had already fused with the river water, seemed to receive an invisible shove, once again spreading beyond the Muddy Dragon River.

Following the moisture between heaven and earth, it frantically stretched in every direction.

Three hundred zhang!

Five hundred zhang!

One thousand zhang!

His divine sense rapidly expanded outward.

The withered grass along the banks, birds flying through the forest, and distant rocks and hills all became increasingly blurred fragments of information. In the end, he could no longer "see" them at all.

But that did not matter. What He Sheng needed had always been only the feedback of instinctive spiritual awareness.

Otherwise, if he took in too much information at once, his sea of consciousness would not be able to bear it.

As his divine sense expanded to nearly its limit, He Sheng truly sensed something!

A faint yet heart-palpitating sense of danger abruptly pierced into his sea of consciousness.

The feeling was incredibly slight, yet undeniably real—like the subtle shiver brought by a breeze brushing against one's skin.

"Could it be... that suspected Core Formation expert is still trailing far behind me?"

Were Core Formation cultivators really this troublesome?!

He Sheng's scalp went numb.

He had been certain he had already escaped danger. Who would have thought that bastard was still chasing after him like a dog!

Still, He Sheng did not panic too much. Through his expanded divine sense, he could at least confirm that the other party was still more than ten li away. This showed that his earlier escape had been effective.

"If that's the case, the key is whether I have enough spiritual power to keep fleeing!"

With that thought, following the memories of Brother Piao, He Sheng took several pills that replenished spiritual power from his storage pouch and swallowed them. Then he continued racing through the water downriver, quietly waiting for his spiritual power to recover.