Chapter 1412: Boundless and Limitless

"Huh? Isn't that how the water was when we first came in?" Yun Jianyue exclaimed in surprise. She recalled how they had entered through a deep pool in the Demon Clan Imperial Mausoleum and found themselves in Feather Abyss. The water there had no buoyancy whatsoever; even a feather would sink, and even powerful beings like the Demon Emperor had nearly perished.

They were fortunate to have been imprisoned by the Demon Emperor in his Sleeve Dimension at the time; otherwise, with their cultivation levels, they might have perished as soon as they entered the secret realm.

Zu An gazed into the distance. "Looking at the direction of this current," he remarked, "it should be flowing towards Feather Abyss."

He instinctively turned to Yan Xuehen beside him and blurted out, "Lend me a strand of fur."

Yan Xuehen's eyes instantly turned murderous. Only then did Zu An realize his mistake:

"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue! Lend me a strand of your hair."

Yan Xuehen glared at him but still gently pulled off a strand of her hair and handed it to him.

Rage points from Yan Xuehen: 233,233,233...

Yu Yanluo, standing nearby, wore a strange expression. Why didn't Ah Zu ask *her* for a strand of hair, but asked Yan Xuehen instead?

And Yan Xuehen simply gave it to him. Their interaction felt so natural; was she overthinking it?

Her attention was quickly drawn to Zu An's actions, however. He gently placed Yan Xuehen's hair into the river. To their astonishment, the hair didn't pause for even a second but sank straight to the bottom.

It's well-known that human hair usually floats on water due to surface tension. This was especially true for a Grandmaster cultivator like Yan Xuehen, whose hair was soft, smooth, and finer than silk.

"It seems this water indeed originates from the same source as the water in Feather Abyss," Zu An said with a solemn expression. It was indeed the legendary Weak Water, with no buoyancy whatsoever. Such a wide river blocked their path, and he wondered how they would cross it.

"Can we fly across?" Yun Jianyue suggested. "We shouldn't fly too high, so we won't encounter those terrifying monstrous birds and fierce winds. Flying close to the water's surface should work, right?"

Zu An nodded. This was indeed a feasible method. "We can try," he agreed.

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue initially wanted to take the lead, but Zu An stopped them. "If you were at your peak, I wouldn't contend with you," he said, "but for now, let me go. I'm thick-skinned and durable; I can withstand any danger."

The two women, Yan and Yun, hesitated for a moment. Remembering his endless array of skills, they didn't insist. "Then be careful," they said.

Zu An nodded. Upon reaching the water's edge, he was sufficiently cautious. He first used his jade cong to communicate with the nearby creatures.

As expected, there was dead silence. There were no fish, shrimp, or any other creatures in the Weak Water.

Furthermore, when he used his Azure Duckling skill, he found he couldn't connect with the river water before him. It was as if the water wasn't water at all; he couldn't sense any water elements.

"This is insane." Even though he was usually easygoing, he felt a bit nervous now.

At that moment, Yu Yanluo came to his side and gently squeezed his hand in comfort.

Seeing this, Yun Jianyue immediately found it unbearable. She turned to Yan Xuehen beside her and grumbled, "Just got a mouthful of dog food..."

To her surprise, Yan Xuehen looked somewhat bewildered. Yun Jianyue was momentarily stunned. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Nothing," Yan Xuehen replied, unnaturally turning her face away. Why had her heart suddenly felt so flustered? Was it because she saw another woman being intimate with Chu Yan's man?

Hearing Yun Jianyue's remark, Yu Yanluo's face flushed slightly. She shyly released his hand, gave Zu An a few words of caution, then took out her paintbrush. She cast several ethereal, transparent runes onto him to help make his movements more agile and light.

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue secretly nodded in approval. Although her cultivation was not as high as theirs, her skills were highly complementary to the group, making her an excellent support.

Hearing their praise, Yu Yanluo became a bit self-conscious. "These are just basic runes," she explained. "My knowledge only comes from what I've learned through painting. The true master of runes is my Senior Brother. He can achieve all sorts of miraculous effects with runes, far surpassing me. Even Master said back then that in terms of runes alone, he might not be as good as Senior Brother."

"The academy's Senior Brother has always been mysterious," Yun Jianyue mused. "Rumor had it that among the Academy Head's disciples, Sword Immortal Xiao Yao was the most talented. But after his unexpected demise, Senior Brother should indeed be the strongest."

Yan Xuehen shook her head. "Xiao Yao was never his equal," she corrected. "He's just too low-key and mysterious; not many people have truly interacted with him."

"Oh, how impressive for the White Jade Capital Temple Master, always surrounded by scholars and no commoners in the capital," Yun Jianyue scoffed. But she also knew Yan Xuehen's status, which allowed her easier access to the core echelons of society. Unlike herself, she was like a rat on the street every time she entered the capital, with everyone trying to catch her.

Thinking of this disparity, her irritation grew.

Yan Xuehen raised a graceful eyebrow. She hadn't meant to boast, and this demoness was truly annoying. Not wanting to argue and distract Zu An at this moment, she changed the subject. "I heard he recently took in a female disciple, who is said to have good aptitude in runes and will likely inherit his true teachings."

"The daughter of City Lord Xie of Brightmoon City, she is said to be as virtuous as an orchid and as intelligent as a fragrant orchid, well-read and sensible," Yu Yanluo added with a nod. As the head of the Yu clan, she naturally knew such information.

"Brightmoon City, isn't that little An's hometown?" Yun Jianyue paused. Her disciple Qiu Honglei had gone to Brightmoon City for a mission back then, which was why she remembered it. As the three women spoke, they suddenly looked at Zu An, their eyes filled with suspicion.

Zu An felt a bit depressed. What did they take him for? Did they think every beautiful woman was connected to him?

He initially wanted to retort defiantly, but then he remembered that his relationship with Xie Daoyun was indeed quite good, and he immediately deflated. "Haha, I'll go first," he stammered. "You all keep an eye on our surroundings."

With that, he hurriedly flew off.

"We just wanted to ask if he knew her," Yun Jianyue asked suspiciously. "Why is he so flustered?"

Yan Xuehen's face was frosty. Yu Yanluo, meanwhile, secretly sighed. *This guy was usually quite smart,* she thought. *Why did he give himself away so easily at a time like this?*

Zu An carefully took flight. He did not summon his Wind-Fire Wheels, mainly because he wasn't sure what the consequences of flying here might be. He was worried about the consequences if he accidentally fell into the Weak Water.

After reaching the Grandmaster stage, one could fly by borrowing the power of heaven and earth. Zu An took off, somewhat unsteadily. He sensed that the rules of this world were incomplete, making his flight unstable. However, since he was flying low and close to the water's surface, he could still manage to control it.

He flew cautiously, observing his surroundings. Surprisingly, the journey had been quite smooth so far.

He couldn't see the end of the river ahead. Looking back at the shore, the three women had become tiny figures. He couldn't help but marvel at the immense width of the Weak Water, and even began to wonder if it had an end at all.

He didn't want to be like the little birds in his previous life who accidentally boarded a sea vessel, only to find they couldn't fly back to land and drowned in the sea after becoming exhausted.

"Could there be another way to cross this Weak Water?" Zu An pondered inwardly. With his current cultivation, his eyesight was extraordinary. If even he couldn't see the end, wasn't this river wider than an ocean?

But what he had seen from the mountain earlier was clearly a river. It couldn't possibly be this wide.

He sensed something was wrong. He decided to return to the shore and discuss it with the three women. They were all knowledgeable and experienced; perhaps they could discern the mystery.

Just then, an abrupt change occurred. The river water below suddenly surged, as if boiling, and a wave directly crashed towards him.

The wave arose without any warning, catching him completely off guard. Moreover, with the incomplete rules of this world, his flight was very inflexible. Anyone else would probably have been knocked into the water by that wave instantly.

Fortunately, Zu An reacted quickly, immediately using his Great Wind skill to move dozens of feet to the side. Only then did he manage to dodge the wave.

However, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, the entire river seemed to boil, and then the water level rose at a visible speed, pressing directly towards him in the air.