Stepping stone

Lu Luanli did not notice Chu Yunyun's gaze behind her. Beneath the water, she moved as swiftly and nimbly as a fish. In just a few breaths, she reached the front of the Heluo Fish.

The Heluo Fish had already sensed the danger, and all ten of its tentacles coiled toward Lu Luanli.

Spell Arts abhorred metal. With the Demon-Forged Lightsteel Blade in her hand, Lu Luanli should ordinarily have been unable to cast spells.

Yet at that moment, a silvery gleam appeared in her pupils.

"Water control!"

In that instant, the Heluo Fish, adept at controlling water, found itself controlled by the water instead.

Powerful currents seized all ten of its tentacles, making their movements exceedingly sluggish.

Lu Luanli kicked both feet backward and surged forward, reaching the Heluo Fish and driving her blade cleanly into its head.

The Heluo Fish's ten tentacles were extremely troublesome. Many eighth-rank Martial Cultivators of the same level were no match for it underwater.

But as long as someone could get close to its main body, the Heluo Fish could only submit to slaughter.

After severing its head from its limbs with the Demon-Forged Lightsteel Blade, Lu Luanli swiftly swam upward.

She had just drawn on her innate talent to use Spell Arts and true essence simultaneously, but it had also consumed ten times her usual strength.

More importantly, she had little air left in her lungs and had to reach the surface for another breath as quickly as possible.

Yet Lu Luanli did not notice a huge aquatic beast lunging toward her from the depths.

It looked exactly like the Heluo Fish, but was three times as large.

The eight compound eyes on the large Heluo Fish's head stared coldly and mercilessly at Lu Luanli's retreating figure, while rows upon rows of stark white, sharp teeth extended from all ten of its tentacles.

Just then, however, two small, fair hands reached out and seized two of its tentacles, forcibly holding back the enormous demonic fish, whose head alone was nearly ten feet across.

The giant Heluo Fish froze for a moment, then looked toward the owner of those small hands.

Not far away, it saw another human girl looking at it indifferently.

The next instant, the large, seventh-rank Heluo Fish lost consciousness.

With a forceful pull from Chu Yunyun, the large Heluo Fish was torn bodily in half.

Next, Chu Yunyun clenched her hand hard. A strange force acted upon the Heluo Fish's remains, blasting its demonic body apart piece by piece into several hundred chunks. The spreading scent of blood drew countless fierce, large fish from the surrounding waters. They swam over, tearing into the large Heluo Fish's flesh.

Lu Luanli remained completely unaware of what had happened underwater. After surfacing, she tossed the Demon-Forged Lightsteel Blade in her hand to Chu Xisheng and called out with admiration, "Senior Brother Chu, you're incredible! That Heluo Fish's Demonic Power was at least eighth-rank, yet it still died at your hands."

Chu Xisheng's expression darkened slightly. He knew Lu Luanli was shifting the blame onto him again.

But he had no time to concern himself with that now.

Chu Xisheng was doing everything he could to save people. Standing on a large piece of driftwood, he kept tossing broken planks toward those who had fallen into the water. He also retrieved some ship's ropes from the water and used them to haul out those who could not swim and were struggling desperately, forcibly tying them beside the driftwood.

What Chu Xisheng could accomplish alone was extremely limited. After all that effort, he had saved only twenty-odd people.

Fortunately, the Sand Ship's owner and several boatmen had all surfaced and were doing their utmost to rescue people. Some passengers were also capable fighters and skilled swimmers. Working together, they brought everyone who had fallen into the water onto driftwood and planks.

Just then, Chu Xisheng's expression shifted slightly. With Eagle Eye, he spotted a woman in palace attire beneath the water not far away.

Although she flailed her arms and legs and struggled with all her might, her delicate body was still gradually sinking.

-Was that the woman named Xie Zhenqing?

Chu Xisheng's swordlike brows rose slightly. He immediately tied a knot in a ship's rope he held, fastened a heavy piece of wood to its end, and flung it into the water in her direction.

But because of the river's buoyancy, the rope fell a little short of the woman in palace attire.

Fortunately, she thrust herself upward underwater and caught the end of the rope.

Chu Xisheng smiled faintly and began pulling the woman in palace attire to the surface.

Underwater, Xie Zhenqing felt weak and tingling all over. Lingering fear and relief at her narrow escape mingled and spread through her entire body.

Her right hand, however, gripped the rope tightly, not daring to loosen in the slightest.

Xie Zhenqing's cultivation was actually far from weak; she had reached the upper eighth-rank in martial cultivation. But because she practiced a Fire Element Origin Power art, at her current stage, she would drown upon entering water.

Nor was she alone. No Martial Cultivator who cultivated fire essence could enter water before reaching the seventh-rank; their true essence would fall into chaos as soon as they entered it.

The rope Chu Xisheng had thrown was a lifesaving straw to her.

When Xie Zhenqing surfaced, she happened to hear Lu Luanli clicking her tongue in admiration as she sang Chu Xisheng's praises. "Senior Brother Chu's Empty Cave Brings Wind underwater was absolutely beautiful. Before that Heluo Fish could even react, Senior Brother Chu sliced its head off with one stroke-"

She seemed afraid others would not know that the Heluo Fish had died at Chu Xisheng's hands.

To keep her identity from being exposed, she had to pin this blame on him firmly.

After surfacing, Xie Zhenqing kept choking and coughing. Water in her ears made her eardrums rumble, but she still heard Lu Luanli's words clearly.

She coughed and choked until she had expelled most of the water from her lungs, then looked along the rope.

Xie Zhenqing froze slightly, a trace of amazement appearing in her eyes.

A boy stood on the driftwood. He was fourteen or fifteen, with a tall, slender figure and finely handsome features. His narrow phoenix eyes swept beneath the water, seemingly searching for others who were drowning.

In Xie Zhenqing's eyes, this boy in coarse cloth seemed to glow all over.

But why wasn't he pulling her onto the driftwood?

There was still plenty of room on that large, round timber, which appeared to be the Sand Ship's keel. It should have been able to seat one more person.

Just then, the boy's expression suddenly changed. His figure flashed, and he lunged toward Xie Zhenqing.

Just as Xie Zhenqing thought he meant to rescue her from the water, she saw one of his feet growing larger and larger before her eyes.

Xie Zhenqing had no time at all to dodge. Her eyes filled with bewilderment and disbelief.

Was this boy actually planning to use her face as a stepping stone?

The next instant, Chu Xisheng's foot stamped Xie Zhenqing's head hard beneath the water. His figure flashed onto a broken plank, and he pulled up Chu Yunyun, who had already surfaced.

He deftly gathered his seemingly sickly Spellcaster younger sister into his arms, then leaped off the plank as lightly as a flying swallow.

Xie Zhenqing's head once again became a stepping stone. Holding the heavy piece of wood attached to the end of the rope, she had only just resurfaced when Chu Xisheng stepped her back underwater.

When she surfaced for the third time, she saw Chu Xisheng sitting on the driftwood ahead, holding a pale, sickly girl.

At that moment, Xie Zhenqing's feelings were exceedingly complicated. She was indeed grateful to the boy for saving her life.

But right now, she was about to explode with anger!

Outrageous! She, Xie Zhenqing, the dignified Martial Discourse Tower Master of Xiushui Commandery, had actually been treated like this!