Da Xing the Mad Monk had just brought Water Moon Bodhisattva back inside the Spatial Tunnel. Before he could check her injuries and prepare to go out to rescue Gu Qingfeng and Mo Wentian, he was stunned to discover that Mo Wentian's figure within the currents was shifting positions at an extremely rapid pace, as if flickering.
To be precise, Mo Wentian's figure wasn't flickering but teleporting. Each teleportation left behind multiple afterimages. Just as layers of Chaotic Currents were about to engulf Mo Wentian, his figure, borrowing the force of the spatial currents, suddenly leaped up like a dragonfly skimming the water, then miraculously reappeared at another location as if the stars themselves had shifted.
Da Xing recognized this as an exceptionally profound movement technique, though its intricacies eluded him for the moment. He only knew that for Mo Wentian to have comprehended such a miraculous technique, his understanding of the concept of 'space' must be beyond imagination.
Then he looked at Gu Qingfeng, and his eyes widened even further in disbelief.
Here,
layers upon layers of Chaotic Currents surged like rolling tidal waves, one after another. Yet Gu Qingfeng was like a lone leaf boat, rising and falling with the ebb and flow of the currents.
Gu Qingfeng swayed unsteadily, staggering like a man walking a tightrope. What secretly amazed Da Xing was that no matter how terrifying or frenzied the currents became, they were never able to swallow Gu Qingfeng whole.
If Mo Wentian was borrowing the force of the spatial currents, akin to a dragonfly skimming water and shifting the stars,
then Gu Qingfeng also seemed to be leveraging the currents' force. The difference was, he was neither skimming like a dragonfly nor shifting like the stars. He seemed more like someone going with the flow, riding the wind and cleaving the waves.
Da Xing couldn't fathom the mysteries of Mo Wentian's movement technique, nor could he grasp the secrets behind Gu Qingfeng's.
He only felt they were profoundly mysterious, wondrously subtle, even heaven-defying.
Mo Wentian leaped up, continuously performing Celestial Pivot and Star Shift amidst the currents, and finally returned to the Spatial Tunnel. As for Gu Qingfeng, he simply drifted back to the Spatial Tunnel like a small boat riding the currents.
"Damn it!
That really scared me just now. I almost got wrecked out there."
After returning to the Spatial Tunnel, Gu Qingfeng's face alternated between pale and green, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Although his courage had always been considerable, his previous experiences of falling into spatial Chaotic Currents had left him with a significant shadow regarding the Endless Sea Beyond the Outer Heaven. Acting on a momentary impulse and a surge of heat to his head, he had charged out. The moment he did, he regretted it. But by then, regret was too late. Fortunately, during a previous teleportation, Gu Qingfeng had chanced upon a mysterious master drifting within the currents of the Endless Sea. He had managed to glean some of its mysteries and had practiced a few deductions. Unexpectedly, they came in handy this time.
"Da Xing, you damn old bald donkey!"
Steadying his mind, Gu Qingfeng stared at Da Xing the Mad Monk and started cursing. "You damn well knew you could move freely within those currents, yet you kept it hidden, letting Sister Shuiyue take the risk instead. Can you be any more shameless, you old bald donkey?
Don't even mention Sister Shuiyue suspecting you're the Zen Sect's traitor; even I'm starting to doubt it now."
"Kid Gu, you can't just say things like that!
When has This Old Monk ever been able to move freely within the currents?"
"Do you think I'm blind?"
"That was This Old Monk using every ounce of strength, fully operating the Immovable Golden Body, just to manage a few moves within the currents! It only lasts for a few breaths' time; it can't hold out for long at all."
"Being able to last a few breaths is enough. What more do you want?"
"This Old Monk, I..." Da Xing the Mad Monk then pointed his finger at Mo Wentian and Gu Qingfeng, demanding, "This Old Monk hasn't even questioned you two yet, and you're already turning the tables? Kid Mo, This Old Monk considers you a friend, called you here to help, and you kept a trick up your sleeve, didn't you?
If you have the skill for Celestial Pivot and Star Shift, why didn't you say so earlier?"
Mo Wentian shook his head helplessly. "This Celestial Pivot and Star Shift movement technique, Mo is not yet very familiar with it. Moreover, within the currents, performing Celestial Pivot and Star Shift consumes a great deal of one's own energy. Like you, Mo can at most sustain it for only a few breaths."
He paused, then added, "Mo originally intended to go out and lure the Void Beast earlier, but Water Moon Bodhisattva wouldn't allow it."
"Fine!
Consider your excuse valid!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk then looked at Gu Qingfeng and scolded, "Kid Gu, at least Kid Mo mentioned it earlier, even if he didn't go out. But you, kid, hid it deep enough! Not only did you not offer, you didn't even mention it! If not for this opportunity, This Old Monk wouldn't have known your skills were this formidable. You damn well can even stir up trouble within the currents of the Endless Sea Beyond the Outer Heaven!"
"Stir up what trouble!"
Gu Qingfeng retorted irritably. "You can only last a few moves in the currents; do you think I can last much longer?
You know perfectly well how terrifying the currents are. One slight misstep and you're finished. Luckily, my life is tough this time after charging out. Otherwise, I might have been swept into some forgotten fold of space by now."
"Cut the crap, both of you!
Do you really take This Old Monk for a three-year-old child?
This Old Monk had to use every ounce of strength to manifest the Immovable Golden Body just to endure and struggle within the currents. You two weren't enduring at all! If Kid Mo's Celestial Pivot and Star Shift could be used freely, with your level of cultivation, you could probably last ten days to half a month in those currents!"
"And you, Kid Gu! What Kid Mo said about enduring, that's somewhat barely passable. But can what you did be called 'enduring'?
This Old Monk saw it clearly just now; you didn't use a bit of force! Besides, you damn well don't have any cultivation to use on your entire body! You were completely relying on the force of the currents to go with the flow!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk pointed at Gu Qingfeng, his face flushed red. Though his words scolded Gu Qingfeng, there was more envy and jealousy in his tone. He shouted, "With a skill like that, you kid could probably drift for ten thousand years in the damn currents of the Endless Sea Beyond the Outer Heaven without even panting!"
"Go to hell!"
Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to deal with Da Xing the Mad Monk. With a wave of his hand, he retorted, "Why don't you go drift for ten thousand years and show me?"
"No problem! As long as you, kid, are willing to teach This Old Monk this skill, This Old Monk will absolutely drift for ten thousand years and show you! Dare you teach me?"
"So this is where you were waiting for me."
Gu Qingfeng sneered mockingly. "Fine, no problem. When I have time, I'll definitely teach you."
Water Moon Bodhisattva wasn't seriously injured. She was just somewhat exhausted from struggling within the currents for so long. Watching the three—Da Xing the Mad Monk, Mo Wentian, and Gu Qingfeng—arguing face-to-face, her heart felt quite complex.
On one hand, she was shocked by Gu Qingfeng and Mo Wentian's immense supernatural abilities. Although Da Xing the Mad Monk's words were somewhat exaggerated, Water Moon Bodhisattva knew that Mo Wentian, possessing the skill of Celestial Pivot and Star Shift, would in the future, even if not able to move freely within the currents, at least not be easily swept into spatial Chaotic Currents.
As for Gu Qingfeng, he was even more remarkable. That ability to go with the flow, accompanying the currents, was truly profoundly mysterious and wondrously subtle. What puzzled Water Moon Bodhisattva the most was that Da Xing the Mad Monk had to exert his full strength to manifest the Immovable Golden Body just to rush swiftly within the currents, and Mo Wentian also needed his full strength to perform Celestial Pivot and Star Shift. Only Gu Qingfeng, who didn't have a shred of cultivation on his entire body, could miraculously drift within the currents. This truly left Water Moon Bodhisattva both bewildered and unable to comprehend.
However,
right at that moment, a loud *crack* echoed. Everyone looked over and were shocked to discover that the structure of the Spatial Tunnel was disintegrating.
Immediately after, Old Man Earth's frantic shout came through: "Not good!
The Spatial Tunnel's structure is about to collapse..."