The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-321

The waves surged in the Nine Rhythm Treacherous Currents.

Teng Qingshan dragged a thick and sturdy iron rope attached to the tungsten wood vessel and proceeded forward. A series of waves collided against the tungsten wood vessel, dissipating into a snow white blossom. This Nine Rhythm Treacherous Currents circulated around Bright Moon Island depths reaching a hundred Li. Teng Qingshan proceeded southeast diagonally and dragged the tungsten wood vessel a few thousand Li before he finally exited the Nine Rhythm Treacherous Currents.

From afternoon until late at night, he had swum and dragged the tungsten wood vessel until it finally exited the Nine Rhythm Treacherous Currents.

Woosh!

With the large iron rope raised above his shoulders in his two hands, Teng Qingshan leaped back into the tungsten wood vessel.

“Big Brother Teng, I’ll make you something to eat.” Seeing this, Li Jun immediately ran down to the inner cabin.

“This time was quite the work.” Teng Qingshan’s muscles were numb. “Dragging a large boat through a violent sea like the Nine Rhythm Treacherous Currents and swimming against the currents for a few thousand Li took approximately twelve hours, truly tiring! It was even more tiring than battling against a North City army of a hundred thousand soldiers.”

Even though Teng Qingshan was an inner strength expert, he was also really tired at this moment.

Even an innate expert using his bare hands would have a hard time swimming out of the Nine Rhythm Treacherous Currents, let alone dragging a large boat. Plus, it was an entire thousand Li!

“If I calculate according to how fast I could swim in my previous life, I would be swimming against the current in the Treacherous Currents with the speed of one hundred Li per hour.” Teng Qingshan also felt at ease.

At this moment, Li Jun walked out from the cabin door.

“Big Brother Teng, you must be tired. Have some pastries and tea. The pastries are still a little warm.” Li Jun held a plate and a cup of hot water*. Teng Qingshan saw this and cleaned the pastries in just a few mouthfuls. Standing besides Teng Qingshan, Li Jun looked at him and laughed, “Don’t rush, there’s still more inside of the cabin.”

Teng Qingshan was astonished. “How many are there in the cabin?”

“When you were in seclusion, I went to the town several times and found out that there were quite a lot of meat buns, steamed bun, and such. I ended up buying a lot of them, so there’s still a lot inside the cabin!” Li Jun laughed, “They’re all dried, so they can last us for a long time. I also bought a few large water tanks filled with water.”

Drifting through the sea, Teng Qingshan didn’t need to drink water since he could rely on his pores to absorb the moisture of Heaven and Earth.

However, Li Jun was still at the peak of Postliminary Realm, so she still needed to drink water.

“You bought water? Actually, I already had a solution for all our water needs,” Teng Qingshan said.

“What solution?” Li Jun was startled.

“It’s quite simple. We’ll connect two tanks together with an iron tube. One of them will be empty, the other filled with seawater. I’ll use my Innate True Origin to heat the seawater in the water tank, boiling the water into steam; the steam will then flow into the empty water tank and condense into water for you to drink,” Teng Qingshan explained casually.

Teng Qingshan’s Innate True Origin could even cremate a human with just a little bit of its power.

“Huh?” Li Jun slightly doubted, “Isn’t that still seawater? How can I drink it?”

Hearing this, Teng Qingshan froze.

“Alright, don’t ask. It’s getting late, you should rest.” Teng Qingshan didn’t want to say too much. The difference between seawater and distilled water and the process distillation were all simple things, but Teng Qingshan didn’t want to explain how he knew this information.

It was already springtime, so the monsoon had already reversed. Teng Qingshan controlled the two sails and tried to drift along with the wind as much as possible, but it was clear that the speed of the tungsten wood vessel was much slower than it was when it had just started its voyage.

“Walla~”

The seawater rippled, seemingly tranquil. On the far eastern sea horizon, the sun was only half visible, the early sunlight sprinkling across the surface of the sea.

The tungsten wood vessel slowly drifted.

Li Jun walked out of the cabin door. At at this time, Teng Qingshan was on the deck, practicing the 《Water Element Fist》. Each punch attracted the surrounding water vapor, condensing into a blooming flower of water that circulating around Teng Qingshan. A few blue lightning bolts were also on Teng Qingshan’s body, continuously flickering.

“Hu~~ Hu~~”

Teng Qingshan occasionally switched over to the 《Earth Element Fist》 . The blue electricity on the surface of his body once again returned to the inside of his body, replaced by yellow lightning.

Teng Qingshan was like a god switching between the 《Water Element Fist》and the 《Earth Element Fist》. The blue lightning and the yellow lightning continuously flickered on the surface of his body.

“Big Brother Teng’s fist arts have gotten more powerful!” Li Jun’s face revealed a trace of happiness, “Back in the Great Yan Mountain, he escaped a difficult situation. Once Big Brother Teng reaches the Northern Sea Continent and sees Emperor Yu’s 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》, his strength will advance yet again. He might even enter the Emptiness Realm! When Big Brother Teng returns to the land of the Nine Prefectures…. Hmph!”

Li Jun was very clear about why Teng Qingshan was being pursued and hunted by the world.

“I’ll prepare some food for Big Brother Teng.” Li Jun immediately went to prepare breakfast.

……

“Big Brother Teng, why don’t you take a rest.” Li Jun was done preparing, but she discovered that Teng Qingshan, who was on the deck, was moving continuously in a flash. Each move was only a few Chi away, but the lightning-fast movements were….strange, almost as if he were teleporting.

“Hu!”

Teng Qingshan stopped, laughed and walked over. He grabbed the meat bun on the low table and finished it in one bite.

“Screech~~”

The Whole Gale Eagle also ate two steamed buns in succession and seemed to be eating it with relish. Li Jun laughed as she rubbed the Whole Gale Eagle’s feathers.

“Big Brother Teng, what was the Qing Gong you just practised? I’ve never seen you practice that.” Li Jun was surprised.

“Oh.” Teng Qingshan laughed, “When I was swimming a few thousand Li while dragging the tungsten wood vessel, I saw a few fish in the sea, and an idea came to my mind. I want to create a body art that allows me to move nimbly and dodge in a flash! In fact, when I was battling the Divine Bird ‘Blue Luan’, I was already admiring the Blue Luan’s movement speed.”

After creating the 《Water Element Fist》, I discovered that integrating the Dao of the Water Element into movement techniques was actually possible!”

Li Jun heard this and felt delighted. “Big Brother Teng, did you finish creating it?”

“No signs of success yet.” Teng Qingshan shook his head, “I’m currently still in the middle of experimenting, plus the Internal Supreme Force and the True Origin of the Daoist and Buddhist Sects are different. I still need to figure out how the Internal Supreme Force assists the body, stimulates the important meridians, and increases speed, among other things.”

No one could teach Teng Qingshan, so he had to do it all himself.

According to Teng Qingshan’s plans, he should able to create a type of Qing Gong through the Dao of the earth element and a close combat body art through the Dao of the water element. One involved darting horizontally, which was similar to 《Crossing Worlds》while the other involved a close-range fighting and dodging, similar to the body art of the Divine Bird Blue Luan.

“Big Brother Teng, what are you planning on naming this body art?” Li Jun felt slightly excited. “In the future, this body art will definitely become well-known.”

“Name?” Let’s call it the Swimming Pisces Body Art,” Teng Qingshan said without a care.

“Swimming Pisces? This…” Li Jun was startled, “This name is a bit…”

“Whether the name is good or not, it doesn’t matter as long as the body art is still a body art.” Teng Qingshan didn’t mind. “Let’s just call it the Swimming Pisces Body Art.”

The tungsten wood vessel continued to advance northward as Teng Qingshan cultivated with his entire heart, completely integrating the Dao of Water within the 《Water Element Fist》 into the “Toxic Dragon Drill” and creating the “Swimming Pisces Body Art”. Teng Qingshan was also pondering over the Qing Gong he should create using the 《Earth Element Fist》.

Unfortunately, the size of the tungsten wood vessel was too small, so it was more suitable to ponder upon the Dao of the water element on the surface of the sea, where the water element of Heaven and Earth was at its richest.

Fortunately, Teng Qingshan had gained a lot during his stay at Bright Moon Island.

In one breath, Teng Qingshan created five moves of the《Water Element Fist》. Now, his 《Water Element Fist》 was only slightly more inferior than the two stages and six moves of the 《Earth Element Fist》. Teng Qingshan had also realized that… the way he performed the ‘Toxic Dragon Drill’ in the past was completely inaccurate.

As the saying goes, excessive strength breaks things easily!

In the past, he had been too focused on the powerful rotational force whenever he performed his best technique, the Toxic Dragon Drill. However, the Toxic Dragon Drill that he performed now seemed to show ordinary moves but could strike with a terrifyingly powerful burst of force, allowing him to unleash the moves perfectly and swiftly. One could say that the Toxic Dragon Drill was now a combination of strength and gentleness.

The force of the technique became a lot stronger!

The speed became faster!

Also, the control Teng Qingshan demonstrated over moves was perfect.

……

On a deserted island.

“Walla~~” An iron anchor was thrown down the tungsten wood vessel, causing the vessel to come to a halt.

“Little Jun, we haven’t been on land for a long time. Let’s go and rest on this deserted island for some time.” One after the other, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun jumped down the tungsten wood vessel and walked to the deserted island. “Screech~~” The Whole Gale Eagle flew down from the boat.

Teng Qingshan had been sailing on the sea and often came across small islands. When this happened, they would normally stop and rest for half a day. Being on land and sailing on boat were different experiences after all.

Standing by the beach, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun were in a good mood.

“Big Brother Teng, how much longer will it take for us to get to the Northern Sea Continent?” Li Jun inquired .

“Only a month has passed since we left the Bright Moon Island. According to my calculation, it will still take us two to three months.” said Teng Qingshan. “Yes, Little Jun, have a stroll around this area with Little Grey. When I was on the boat, all I did was eat and chat with you, so I didn’t get to practice my fist art.”

With this said, Teng Qingshan stabbed the Reincarnation Spear on the ground and began practicing the 《Water Element Fist》.

If Teng Qingshan practiced his fist art on a deserted island amidst this vast sea, it would be easier for his mind to be in agreement with this endless seas. Teng Qingshan felt that…even though he had only left the Bright Moon for one month, his 《Water Element Fist》had improved. It was likely that he wasn’t far from creating the sixth move.

Whew~~whew~~

Teng Qingshan’s fist art appeared very misty. Simultaneously, he began seamlessly performing the Swimming Pisces Body Art with his feet, nimble as a fish. He moved one Zhang in a flash in a fashion that absolutely defied the principles of this world.

“He’s really diligent.” Li Jun winked. Suddenly, she froze.

In the sky far away, fiery red figures slashed through the air and flew past. At least a dozen figures flew in succession into the deeper areas of the deserted island.

“Eh?” This is...?” Li Jun froze.

“That should be an Ardent Flamebird.” Teng Qingshan stopped and looked at the fiery red figures in the distance with a shocking expression. “Eighteen Ardent Flamebirds! In the land of the Nine Prefectures, one can only find the Ardent Flamebirds in the Western Regions. I didn’t expect this deserted island to have so many Ardent Flamebirds.”

Ardent Flamebirds: their entire bodies are red, and their feather were as hard as Darksteel. They were impervious to swords and spears and could even spout flames. They could be compared to Hollow Dan innate experts.

“Big Brother Teng, I just saw those Ardent Flamebirds dash into the deeper areas of the deserted island. Do you think their nest is located on this deserted island?” Li Jun asked in surprise.

“Perhaps.”

Teng Qingshan smiled and added, “However, we don’t need to care about these bird. Get some rest. We’ll soon board the vessel and continue our voyage.” The current Teng Qingshan wouldn’t even care about Golden Dan innate demonic beasts. His 《Earth Element Fist》 and 《Water Element Fist》 had long since reached such a terrifying level. One could say that Teng Qingshan was one foot in the Emptiness Realm.

Suddenly—

“Screech~~~” A bright screech sounded, and a fiery red figure flew towards Teng Qingshan and Li Jun from far away. It then stopped in the sky above them.

A dream-like and beautiful existence shocked Teng Qingshan and Li Jun.

“Blue Luan?”