Tang San found the shortest route beneath the seabed, but he was the first to turn back.
For weeks, the six of them practiced changing positions, catching their breath, and bracing against the water's force at the edge of the Ring Sea every day. Ma Hongjun could now keep his flames small. Ning Rongrong maintained six streams of support despite her seventh ring being sealed. Oscar made two supply bags so that losing one foothold would not throw everything into chaos. The Second Trial still gave them most of a year, but the currents would not wait for them to memorize every reef.
During that time, they stopped entering the water as a group of six on every attempt. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing found footholds on either side. Oscar practiced until he could find the sausages he had made underwater even after a wave swept him away. Ma Hongjun suppressed his fire until it produced only enough heat for a single bubble of air. Once, Tang San took only Ning Rongrong to test where her support could land. Her colored light veered off course three times in the same crosscurrent. On the fourth, she finally curved it around the reflection on the water ahead of time and landed it squarely on a ledge along the seabed.
"I thought you'd make me stay on shore," Ning Rongrong said then.
"You're the only one on the team who can watch all six of our positions at once," Tang San replied. "If you stay on shore, the water will still bend your light once we swim far enough out."
Ning Rongrong memorized the ledge and had Oscar tie his second supply bag on the other side. Both markers could move with them, and two people would each carry one into the sea.