Chapter 973: Deep Beneath the Sea

"Gurgle, gurgle." Xu Xiaoshou choked on several mouthfuls of water before finally pulling the Saint Emperor Dragon Scale out of his mouth. He then forced himself to calm down.

"I've fallen into water..." He opened his eyes, but his vision was blurry and distorted. The images relayed by his "Perception" ability, however, made him realize he hadn't just fallen into water, but perhaps... the ocean! It was a boundless expanse of water, so deep that the bottom was nowhere in sight.

"There can't be an ocean of this magnitude beneath Solitary Sound Cliff. This has to be the Water Ghost's doing; he might have summoned it."

He determined that he hadn't been injured by the impact of his fall from a great height into the water. Instead, the water's surface had shattered from the heavy impact, then seemed to surge back at him with an angry force, continuously pulling his body downward. Xu Xiaoshou tried to resist, but it was useless. Under the Law-Forbidden Barrier, his spiritual energy was like stagnant, useless water. Apart from emitting powerless ripples, he couldn't manipulate his body to propel himself toward the surface.

"You bastard, didn't you say there was a fortuitous encounter? Why are you sending me plummeting into the deep sea?" Xu Xiaoshou felt a wave of exasperation.

If he hadn't realized that the Water Ghost wasn't trying to harm him, he would have activated his Disappearing Art during the fall. His intention, if his body didn't disappear, was to break a few trees on the way down, then follow large rocks and roll into some dark mountain caves to acquire peerless secret techniques. However, none of these elaborate plans came to fruition. He plunged directly into the deep sea beneath Solitary Sound Cliff!

"If this isn't the fortuitous encounter I envisioned, then the one he spoke of must be here, in the deep sea," Xu Xiaoshou mused.

Initially, falling into water brought a sense of weightlessness. Xu Xiaoshou had never been in water, nor could he swim in his previous life. Naturally, he initially experienced the physiological panic of falling into water. However, his "Breathing Technique" allowed him to maintain normal respiration underwater. Furthermore, his "Conversion" ability could transform excess water absorbed through his pores into energy vital for survival—perhaps oxygen? Xu Xiaoshou wasn't sure about the molecular composition of this world, but upon realizing he could breathe and live normally underwater, he felt a slight sense of relief.

"My movements are very sluggish, and my body continues to fall... This cliff bottom likely has more than just a 'Law-Forbidden Barrier'; there might also be a 'Flight-Forbidden Barrier' and a 'Pulling Barrier' that drags people downward." In a short span of time, Xu Xiaoshou estimated he had fallen several hundred zhang into the deep sea, yet he still hadn't reached the bottom. At this depth, even his Sovereign Body could feel the immense power of the water pressure. As he plummeted, the water pressure caused ripples to "reverberate" outward in enormous circles, creating a powerful spectacle that demonstrated the immense pressure the water was under.

"Hmm, I don't feel any pain, but if an ordinary Spirit Refiner were to plummet without protective measures... Upon hitting the water's surface, they'd likely break limbs. A few hundred zhang might be manageable during the descent, but at thousands or tens of thousands of zhang, the water pressure would probably crush them." He mused, "However, this isn't a scientific world; it's a fantasy realm. Those who fell are powerful individuals, and they should have protective spiritual artifacts. I wonder if those would be restricted by the Law-Forbidden Barrier."

As Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts drifted, an image of Shou Ye flashed in his mind. "He wouldn't be dead, would he..." He mumbled, feeling a strange unease. Shou Ye wasn't inherently evil; he was simply misguided, unable to perceive the world as it truly was. As a senior who had been kind to him, Xu Xiaoshou's kick from Solitary Sound Cliff served two purposes: convenience for his upcoming role-playing, and a unique form of protection. If they had truly fought, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't have killed Shou Ye. But Shou Ye was only a Cutting Dao cultivator, and with the Law-Forbidden Barrier's restrictions after falling, he might very well have been crushed to death in the deep sea. "God bless him!"

Xu Xiaoshou no longer had time to worry about others. He realized his body was still plummeting. From hundreds of zhang, to thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of zhang already...

"Attacked, Passive Points, 1.""Attacked, Passive Points, 1."

The information panel had begun popping up at some point. Xu Xiaoshou felt his body squeezed incredibly tightly, his eyeballs bulging, and his eardrums on the verge of bursting. The water pressure finally posed a threat, simultaneously granting him passive points. This was exactly what Xu Xiaoshou had anticipated; he used it to deduce that an artificial will was definitely interfering in this deep sea, as the system wouldn't generate passive points otherwise. After resisting for a while and accumulating some passive points from the water pressure, just as his body was about to give out and he decided to act...

"Pop." A crisp sound echoed. Immediately afterward, a water sphere formed around him, enveloping his body and perfectly shielding him from all the surrounding water pressure.

He gasped, realizing he could breathe again. The water sphere felt like a natural environment, akin to being on land, allowing his body a little room to maneuver, though confined to the small space within the sphere.

"The Water Ghost's doing? Hmm, others probably received this water sphere the moment their bodies began to fail, saving their lives. I only received it now because of my powerful physical body. But why would he use a water sphere to protect me?" Xu Xiaoshou pondered.

Given that the deep sea could only have been created by the Water Ghost, and everyone on Solitary Sound Cliff had been simultaneously blasted into its depths by him, the water spheres couldn't simply serve the meaningless purpose of protecting everyone. As he pondered this, the information panel flickered. Xu Xiaoshou keenly noticed that his spiritual energy, stagnant in his Qi Sea, was slowly draining away. However, thanks to passive abilities like "Endless Life," "Full of Vigor," and "Conversion," this loss was quickly replenished.

"Is the water sphere draining my spiritual energy? No, it must be draining the spiritual energy of everyone who fell into the water... But for what purpose?" Xu Xiaoshou felt he was nearing an answer. With all Spirit Refiners' spiritual senses sealed by the "Law-Forbidden Barrier," his "Perception" ability acted as a cheat, allowing him to clearly see that the spiritual energy drained by the water spheres was flowing downward through the deep sea, continuously converging at a single point.

"Terrifying..." Xu Xiaoshou narrowed his eyes. It was fortunate that he also cultivated other abilities, such as physical combat and sword arts. Otherwise, as a mere Spirit Refiner entering the deep sea, he would likely become nothing more than a spiritual energy conduit.

The water spheres, encircling bodies, continuously drew spiritual energy. This predicament reminded Xu Xiaoshou of a certain Jiang family assassin who was likely still serving as a spiritual energy conduit in the First Floor of Heaven. "I wonder how he's doing..." Being in a similar dire situation, Xu Xiaoshou felt a new sense of empathy. He considered that this method was probably too torturous, especially since the Jiang family assassin presumably lacked passive abilities to replenish himself. "Once I'm out, if Jiang Xian hasn't replaced him, I'll grant him a swift end."

Dismissing extraneous thoughts, Xu Xiaoshou's mind quickly returned to the main issue. "What exactly does the Water Ghost want? Does he want a large amount of spiritual energy, so he used me to attract all the powerful figures from both the black and white factions? Am I that important... no, the real question is, what does he need to drain spiritual energy for?" Xu Xiaoshou pondered these unanswered questions, his brow slightly furrowed.

As the water sphere continued its descent, a sense of apprehension began to settle in. This worry was unlike what others might feel, as his body exhibited no adverse reactions despite the loss of spiritual energy. Xu Xiaoshou's only concern was the unknown.

"Proximity Field!" Fearing danger in the deep sea, Xu Xiaoshou unhesitatingly activated his Proximity Field, confining it within the water sphere to guard against unexpected attacks. The attempt was successful. The Law-Forbidden Barrier couldn't restrict awakened abilities. Xu Xiaoshou felt he now had an additional protective layer, and his spirits lifted slightly.

Down... further down... The descent was ceaseless. Finally, at a certain moment, Xu Xiaoshou noticed a change. Through his "Perception," he spotted another water sphere far below him, though he couldn't discern if it was to his left or right. He kicked forcefully to the side; as expected, his water sphere didn't rupture. Using the recoil, Xu Xiaoshou directed his own water sphere to descend towards the other sphere he had sensed.

"Captain?" As he drew closer, Xu Xiaoshou saw a blurry face inside the water sphere—it was Murong Ying, Captain of Wang Chao's team. "Hey! It's me, Saint Servant Xu Xiaoshou!" Xu Xiaoshou shouted, unsure if his voice would carry. But after his shout, there was no response, and his water sphere quickly drifted past Murong Ying's. His own water sphere continued its descent, but Murong Ying's was strangely stationary! In the instant they passed, Xu Xiaoshou could discern Murong Ying's prone figure within the blurry water sphere, utterly devoid of life. Many pill bottles and numerous shattered spiritual artifacts floated in his sphere, but they had evidently failed to save him. "Dead..." Xu Xiaoshou's heart sank. Gazing at Murong Ying's shriveled corpse, he realized that the water sphere's spiritual energy draining ability could indeed drain a Cutting Dao cultivator to death. "He must have been down here for too long. After exhausting all his pills, he couldn't withstand the draining force and truly perished! And the purpose of these water spheres is evidently this: once a Spirit Refiner can no longer endure, the water sphere stops descending, as there's no longer any purpose in continuing."

The fear of the unknown and the imminent threat of death finally made Xu Xiaoshou, who had previously been unfazed by the water sphere's draining power, genuinely feel dread toward the deep sea. The Water Ghost was clearly not benevolent. He required vast amounts of spiritual energy to achieve his unknown objective. Thus, after blasting everyone from the cliff into the sea, the Water Ghost employed this unique method to slowly and systematically eliminate them—a truly "Water Ghost" move! Xu Xiaoshou's scalp tingled. He felt like a test subject, suspended in a deep-sea container. The water sphere was a confinement, restricting movement and preventing escape. The invisible line of spiritual energy, drawn out and converging downward, seemed to connect directly to the gates of hell! When the time came, perhaps even he wouldn't be able to endure.

The information panel continued to pop up. At this moment, Xu Xiaoshou also noticed that as he descended, the water sphere's draining power grew progressively stronger. Currently, his various passive abilities could just barely maintain equilibrium with the conversion force. But once this balance was disrupted, he too would be unable to endure, and would perish in agony, just like Murong Ying. "No! I still have the Disappearing Art; I can hold out a bit longer..." Xu Xiaoshou's heart pounded, but then he relaxed slightly, remembering his abilities. He genuinely wanted to discover what the Water Ghost's promised fortuitous encounter and associated risks truly were; perhaps they lay at the very bottom, within that unknown "gate of hell."

Down... still an endless descent... By now, Xu Xiaoshou had lost track of how far he had fallen. His "Perception" could no longer discern the surface, only the vast, boundless ocean. Time passed. At some unknown moment, his "Perception" finally detected another spiritual energy line. Clearly, this time it belonged to someone still alive, experiencing the same helpless struggle as himself, quietly awaiting death.

"Move!" Xu Xiaoshou kicked again, using the recoil force to propel himself closer. Soon, he descended right next to another water sphere. This sphere wasn't stationary; it too was falling, but its speed appeared to have slowed, likely indicating that the person within was nearing the end of their life.

"Senior Shou Ye?" As he drew near, Xu Xiaoshou finally discerned the identity of the person within the blurry water sphere: it was Shou Ye in red robes, the very man he had kicked off the cliff. "Xu Xiaoshou?" A voice finally echoed from the deep sea. In the other water sphere, a gaunt, withered Shou Ye stared back with bulging eyes, his face etched with surprise. They could communicate... Xu Xiaoshou felt the vibrations of the water sphere's wall and realized it also facilitated conversation. As he continued kicking downward, using the recoil to control his sphere's descent speed and maintain parallel with Shou Ye, he joyfully asked, "Senior Shou Ye, you're not dead yet?" Shou Ye paused, speechless. "Cursed, Passive Points, 1."

His water sphere finally drew level with Shou Ye's. Xu Xiaoshou saw that the opposite sphere also contained numerous floating pill bottles and spiritual artifacts. However, Shou Ye himself was in terrible condition, his aura incredibly weak, like a wilting flower. "This old man isn't far from death..." As they continued their parallel descent, Shou Ye sighed heavily, no longer confrontational but speaking with a sense of resignation. Beneath this deep sea, their opposing stances seemed to have become insignificant. They had reverted to the state they were in during their initial encounter in the White Cave, where they could converse normally, share thoughts, and discuss ideals and the future. Xu Xiaoshou observed Shou Ye's spiritual state and suddenly fell silent. A wave of sorrow washed over him, for reasons he couldn't pinpoint.

"Xu Xiaoshou..." From within his water sphere, Shou Ye, observing Xu Xiaoshou's still robust and radiant appearance, spoke with a wry smile: "This old man knew that in the same environment, you would undoubtedly fare better than most. You are constantly undergoing such trials. Perhaps, unbeknownst to the world, you have grown from a small sapling in a greenhouse to someone capable of enduring the outside world's storms." Perhaps from speaking too much, Shou Ye coughed heavily twice after finishing. "Praised, Passive Points, 1."

Seeing this, Xu Xiaoshou's mood darkened further, and he whispered, "I'm sorry, I kicked you up there, but it was unavoidable..." Shou Ye's expression stiffened. "Cursed, Passive Points, 1." After a long silence, he shook his head and sighed again, gazing into the endless deep sea below. "It no longer matters. This might be where this old man will be buried... Our stances are different; I don't blame you."