Chapter 40: Run As Far As You Can

The communication jade in the cabin began to emit a rhythmic glow, signaling the arrival of a message.

This was the exclusive method of contact for the Daisy Squad of the Servant Hall. However, the cabin’s temporary occupant, Lin Zhan, was still soaking in the hot spring within the secret cave, luxuriating in a steaming bath. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, alternating between exhausting himself with cultivation, recovering, and then training to the point of exhaustion again—so much so that he had almost forgotten about the outside world.

In the Hero Pool, clad only in a pair of homemade shorts, Lin Zhan floated with his limbs relaxed and muscles stretched, utterly at ease. Every pore of his body opened beneath the water, allowing spiritual energy to surge eagerly inside him, coursing through his meridians, again and again, finally converging without hesitation upon the nine-star pattern. The reserve of spiritual power in the second star had risen to a new height.

The harsh training in the Northern Forest and his insights into the Fiery Fist Technique had elevated Lin Zhan’s cultivation from barely the middle stage of the Yellow Rank foundation to the later stage, and he even faintly sensed the barrier to a breakthrough within reach.

The three forms of the Fiery Fist Technique had especially boosted his combat power. Facing seasoned veterans like Wei Qinglong from the Plum Blossom Hall, even if their Human Rank cultivation wasn’t sealed, he could now crush them as effortlessly as squashing an ant.

For now, Lin Zhan found the sensation of advancing his cultivation somewhat mysterious—he didn’t clearly understand the various ranks and stages. He simply felt his body, strength, and spirit grow inexplicably stronger, and the thought alone filled him with excitement.

“I’m growing stronger every day. Today, I’m stronger than I was yesterday; tomorrow, I’ll surely be even stronger than today. That means my chances of surviving and thriving in this unfamiliar world keep getting better!”

“And with so many senior brothers who treat me well, I must survive and live on for their sakes!”

This simple pursuit had become Lin Zhan’s most basic driving force during this period of self-tempering.

Indulging in his daydreams, Lin Zhan imagined that if the Daisy Squad ever encountered trouble again and he suddenly revealed his extraordinary strength, he’d surely startle his senior brothers out of their wits.

“Heh, heh, heh!” He splashed joyfully in the water, slapping the surface with his palms.

But suddenly, something felt wrong, and he froze mid-action.

Wait, what’s happening? He had been floating leisurely on the surface, but now the buoyancy was gone—he was weightless!

The water around him was dropping rapidly, as if some force were draining it all at once. In the blink of an eye, the water level fell a fathom, then two—the level of the Hero Pool plummeted several fathoms in an instant.

The shock was so abrupt that Lin Zhan felt as if he’d been cast from a mountaintop into an abyss. The water level fell so quickly, his body lagged behind, and he seemed to be dropping from a great height.

His mind raced: by previous estimation, the Hero Pool was twenty or thirty fathoms deep. If all the water vanished, he’d be plunging from that height—certainly enough to land him flat on his back, legs splayed, dead in an instant!

A chill ran through him. He activated the Stormcloud Steps at once. As long as there was a little water left where he landed, he could avoid a disastrous fall.

With the Rainfall Step, Lin Zhan did his best to control his body, plunging straight down like a plumb bob—a sensation he’d grown familiar with since beginning his training in the Stormcloud Steps.

Events unfolded so swiftly that by the time the water had dropped halfway, a thunderous boom echoed from afar, as if a colossal building were collapsing—its very foundations shaken.

Lin Zhan had no time to cover his ears. A new sense of danger arose. Deep down, he knew this wasn’t over.

“Getting out of the Hero Pool is the top priority!”

The air around him seemed heavier, the sudden loss of water creating a strange pressure. Lin Zhan’s descent now outpaced the falling water level. He’d already shifted his direction, tapping the surface with his toes and sprinting madly toward the shore.

But the sudden drop had exposed a nearly twenty-fathom-high embankment, as sheer as a wall, blocking his way.

Fortunately, the wall remained slick and dripping, with many protruding blue stones. Using these as footholds, Lin Zhan scrambled upward, leaping from one to the next.

The thrill of escaping death was indescribable; his bare back still tingled with cold.

Just one more leap and he’d reach the shore—safety at last!

“I wonder how much the water has dropped by now?”

The situation was so bizarre. Victory within reach, Lin Zhan glanced back midair.

The sight nearly made his soul leave his body.

The Hero Pool?

It was no longer a pool. Near the shore, the water was nearly gone, leaving a cliffside drop of twenty or thirty fathoms. Not far away, a furious wall of water was surging toward him with overwhelming force!

A wall of water—a cliff at the shore.

The area near the shore had become a deep trench.

The oncoming wall towered over the embankment by ten fathoms or more.

A wall of water—no, a monstrous water dragon! Small rocks and islets that had once dotted the pool vanished in an instant under its rampage. Nothing could withstand its onslaught; everything in its path was simply devoured.

Good heavens, this was a tsunami!

At that speed, it would slam into the embankment in a single breath—how could anyone survive such an impact?

In midair, Lin Zhan nearly stumbled. Every hair on his body stood on end. The nine-star pattern in his body erupted at a speed never before achieved; his meridians, blood, spiritual power, and breath moved in perfect harmony. The energy stored in the second star surged forth all at once, transforming into a boundless force that pushed his Stormcloud Steps to unprecedented smoothness.

Whoosh!

With a perfect arc, he shot toward the cave like an arrow piercing the clouds. The rush of air stung his face; Lin Zhan bared his teeth, forcing his eyes half open. There was no time to think—just one instinct: Run! Run as far as possible!

Even so, this inexplicable “tsunami” could not be evaded at his current stage. Its overwhelming power swept after him like an inescapable curse, and before he could fully enter the cave, it crashed squarely against his back.

Lin Zhan felt his organs rupture, his meridians shatter, blood gushing from his mouth. His vision went black; his consciousness scattered, no longer his own.

The torrent burst through the embankment, sweeping away every obstacle in its path. Only after a long, surging journey did it finally begin to slow, the mighty flood roaring into every cave and tunnel like divine armies storming a fortress.

Lin Zhan, already unconscious, was swept along by the current, drifting wherever the flood would take him...