Chapter 25

"Gurgle... gurgle..." Bubbles came in strings, one after another, rising from the clear water bottom to the calm lake surface.

"I lost, I lost! Huff huff huff..." Long Wang finally couldn't hold it, he was the first to poke his head out of the water, choking on a mouthful of water, gasping heavily, greedily breathing fresh air.

Long Wang began to doubt himself; from childhood, he had never lost in diving, in water he was an invincible overlord, but... but today he actually lost to Chen Yi He.

After a while, Chen Yi He still hadn't surfaced; the recovered Long Wang shouted, "Come out, I lost!"

No response from the bottom.

"Hey, Yi He, come out, I admit I lost." Long Wang shouted again.

But the bottom still had no response.

Long Wang thought of his diving ability, already the best in Tiger Mountain, nearing the limit of the human body, while Chen Yi He far surpassed him, how could he hold on so long!? "This kid, why no reaction at all?"

Just as Long Wang was about to dive down to look again, he saw a floating corpse slowly surfacing... it was Chen Yi He!

"Yi He!" Long Wang cried out heart-wrenchingly, shaking the waterfowl on the surface into a flurry of flight.

Long Wang dragged the naked Chen Yi He to the shore, his belly swollen like a ball, round and big... Chen Yi He had drowned...

"Yi He, wake up, wake up!" Long Wang pressed hard on Chen Yi He's chest.

Chen Yi He showed no response... water kept leaking from his nose, mouth, and ears...

Long Wang was about to cry; he could only offer his purest thing, gritting his teeth, he lowered his head. He pinched Chen Yi He's nose, opened his mouth, "Ah..." and performed artificial respiration on Chen Yi He...

"Cough, cough cough, cough cough cough!" Chen Yi He's mouth was like an opened acupoint, spitting water, like a fish blowing bubbles, one mouthful after another.

Within a day, he vomited twice.

Chen Yi He really is miserable enough.

"You finally woke up!" The Dragon King saw Chen Yi He wake up, and the heart he had been clutching finally relaxed.

Chen Yi He touched his mouth and asked the Dragon King, "Did you give me artificial respiration?"

"Otherwise? That was my first kiss……" The Dragon King replied irritably.

Chen Yi He felt relieved, relieved that his first kiss had already been given to the little troublemaker Xiao Xiao Yu earlier, otherwise he would have suffered a loss! How wise he was……

"I regret it, ah! Really angry! If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have saved you!" The Dragon King regretted.

"Dragon King, thank you oh, if you hadn't saved me, I would have ended up with you……" Chen Yi He sincerely thanked. He had wanted to learn Dragon King's diving, but he didn't realize diving wasn't a posture, just holding breath. As soon as he entered the water, he dazed, holding his breath until he lost consciousness…… Could the problem be with the golden finger?

His mighty, heroic life had just begun, and then he just died like that—how boring.

"Never mind all that, I'm going to change my underwear, get some dry rations, and spend the night here tonight." The Dragon King stood up and said, still bothered about his first kiss.

Chen Yi He lay naked on the shore, gazing up at the sky full of stars, thinking about how he hadn't died under the blades of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but had nearly suffocated underwater—how funny…… Unconsciously, he began to feel a bit drowsy.

"Where is our carriage!?" The Dragon King's rare panic pierced the silent wilderness…… and also shattered Chen Yi He's drowsiness……

"Where are my clothes!?" Seeing the empty spot where the carriage had been parked, Chen Yi He also panicked—he was naked!!

What kind of person could, beside the two people at the peak of the Second Heaven and the Third Heaven, silently steal a huge and heavy carriage without any omen?

Chen Yi He and the Dragon King stared at each other, two fools looking at each other, for a moment they had no idea……

"Could it have been when we were diving? Or when I gave you artificial respiration?" The Dragon King asked Chen Yi He.

Inside that carriage were their tuition fees…… Without it, even with the strongest martial arts, the Thousand Heavy Gate would not open its doors to them……

Lighting two torches, the crimson flames paired with the pure moonlight illuminated the darkness.

The Dragon King bent down, using the torch to see on the ground covered with thick fallen leaves two tracks of varying depth, as well as hoof prints sunk into the soil. The soil was damp; the Dragon King said, "They probably haven't gone far—let's chase after them quickly!"

"Then let's hurry!" Chen Yi He said anxiously. Originally he was all fired up, but after washing with cold water and now it's night, he has not a single piece of clothing. The autumn wind blows slowly, making him freeze……

The Dragon King was no better off than Chen Yi He—after all, he only had an extra pair of underwear.

Chen Yi He and the Dragon King proceeded cautiously along the carriage tracks heading north; the Dragon King guessed that Li Lan might have sent people to steal their carriage, since they couldn't kill them, they stole their tuition fees and took them back to Shanggu City or the Imperial Capital—either way it would achieve the goal.

"The carriage tracks have disappeared?" Chen Yi He suddenly said. After walking about a li, the ground's traces vanished completely, the leaves intact where they lay. "Could the carriage have been carried away?"

"Wait." The Dragon King suddenly sat down on the spot, closed his eyes, held his breath, focused his mind, legs crossed, hands resting on his knees, a faint cyan true qi faintly appearing around his body.

Chen Yi He watched the Dragon King; this was the first time he saw the Dragon King using his own true qi, obviously stronger than his own. Chen Yi He's white true qi came from the "Withering and Flourishing Heart Sutra", specks of white light still in illusionary form, while the Dragon King's pale green true qi actually showed signs of substantiation! Chen Yi He reached out to touch it, as if he could really hold it in his hand!

"Is this the Transmutation Dao? A mutation of the same essence—looks like the gap between Second Heaven and Third Heaven is not just a little bit!" Chen Yi He sighed. He was at the Great Completion stage of Second Heaven, originally thinking the distance to Third Heaven was just a stone's throw away, but now it seems still far off!

The difference between Second Heaven and Third Heaven is already this great; up to the Ninth Heaven, exhausting a lifetime, who could reach it? Unless one possesses endless lifespan, or extraordinary talent?

"The Azure Dragon Blade is an heirloom of my Dragon family, passed down generation to generation, bearing the blood of my Dragon clan, already merged with my Dragon family members. After my father passed it to me, it became part of my life; I use true qi to search for it, and as long as it hasn't gone far, I can track it!" The Dragon King said. When he opened his eyes, the pale green true qi dispersed completely, he leapt to his feet, pointed south, and said to Chen Yi He, "Come with me!"

"Why are we running south again? That's the opposite direction!" Chen Yi He asked.

"We've been tricked!"

One person wore only underwear, the other wore nothing, two roguish big men sprinted back, leaves flung up by them, then floated in the wind and fell again, enjoying the sensation of a second landing……

Sure enough, there was a person holding the carriage aloft, walking lightly. That person was dressed all in black; it's hard to imagine such a small body could lift such a heavy carriage.

The person held the carriage board, the horse sat on the board—a very bizarre scene.

"Hiss..." From the horse's neighing one could hear its delight—finally it didn't have to pull others along the road, it got to sit as a passenger for once, no wonder when it was stolen it didn't even whinny.

"You brat, dare to steal our carriage, you're asking for death!" Chen Yi He's fury blazed! He somersaulted to the person's face, pointed at his face, and shouted angrily, "You thief, you stole our carriage! Are you tired of living?!"

"Ahhh!" Only a scream sharper than a sword rang out! Tree branches unknown how many were broken!

Chen Yi He was frightened and stepped back three steps, thinking the opponent was about to unleash a big move…… the scream was the prelude to the big move……

The Dragon King was also frightened, but he had already blocked the person's retreat……

Facing the naked Chen Yi He, the black-clad person hastily turned his head away—it was the Dragon King wearing only underwear!

"Ahhh!" Another scream.

The black-clad person was about to break down. How did he just happen to encounter two ruffians? Little did he know, if he hadn't stolen the carriage, none of this would have happened……

Now he had someone blocking him in front and no retreat behind.