Chapter 190: Seabed

In the center of Maze City, as fireworks bloomed, a tower rose from the underground.

With the birth of the high tower, a beam of intense light shot out from it, sweeping in a circle across the surroundings, scanning in every direction; all who met the light's gaze could not help but squint their eyes.

That intense light seemed to be notifying everyone: "The road to Sword Province has opened!"

At the same time, a sound spread from afar, likewise sweeping across Maze City and pouring into everyone's ears.

Swish, swish, swish—

That is...

"The sound of the sea?"

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment; the sound of the sea tide rippled into his eardrums from afar, as if he were instantly placed by the seaside.

Is the tide rising?

Although he felt it was absurd, Tang Zhao still rushed to the window and looked outside, wanting to see if the water was rising underground.

There was no water underground.

But there were water ripples in the sky!

The dark firmament seemed to be covered with a layer of water light, with faint, shimmering ripples. The moonlight passed through the light screen, the rays becoming distorted; the strange buildings of Maze City and everything else looked slightly crooked, as if the light were obstructed by a water curtain.

At the same time, the Wooden House gave a slight tug and actually rose from the ground, floating up.

It did not float up gracefully like clouds or wind, but as if submerged in water, receiving the buoyancy of water, its weight reduced, and it floated up naturally.

All the houses in Maze City received varying degrees of buoyancy, only their materials and states were different. Tang Zhao's house could be considered wooden, but the wood was dense, so it could not float completely, only floating to mid-air. Meanwhile, the thicker Tie Wu and copper houses remained sunk at the bottom. The leather houses, leaf houses, and Paper House floated up, drifting at the very top.

It was not just the material, but also the shape; some buildings had small openings and large bellies, like small boats, so they drifted up leisurely. Those like weights naturally sank to the ground.

Tang Zhao floated in mid-air and even felt the resistance around him; clearly in mid-air, moving was heavy, as if there were truly water currents blocking him, yet by following the water ripples, he could float and swim forward.

Everything was the same as being in water.

In the night, Maze City had water light like water, water ripples like water, and buoyancy like water; from the outside, it looked like a city soaked in water, yet the people inside knew there was not a single drop of water here.

Tang Zhao felt the strangeness of the state in detail and suddenly thought: Is this the sublimation of materials?

Water-Quality Material has mass but no shape. Fire-Quality Material has energy but no mass. Water is the most typical Water-Quality Material; the current situation is likely that the water has been stripped of its mass while retaining all its energy, properties, and information, sublimating from Water-Quality Material to Fire-Quality Material, which is why there is such a wondrous sight.

A sublimated sea is not necessarily easier to create than releasing a real sea; the foundation of Longyuan is extraordinary.

At this moment, he saw the beam of intense light in the center of the city through the window again.

The arrival of the water ripples made the night a shade darker, yet that light could pierce through all darkness, constantly sweeping the surroundings as if calling everyone to come forward and approach.

This is a Lighthouse, right?

In the vast sea, only the Lighthouse provides guidance. Beneath the Lighthouse is the shore, the pier, calling for all the broken ships of different materials to return home.

Let's go, let's go.

Going to Sword Province.

Tang Zhao's Wooden House floated in mid-air, and he could see the metal houses at the bottom lying prone in rows, like ruins on the seabed. There were also some houses that, under the control of their owners, climbed up one after another and wobbled forward. Although they were also subject to the resistance of the water and moved heavily, at least they had the ground to borrow force from, which was easier than Tang Zhao's progress, stuck in between.

At this time, one could not walk; other power was needed.

Tang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Gui Ye, you know how to swim, right? Can you drag us forward from the front?"

Gui Ye was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage and shouted, "What kind of shitty, rotten idea is this? I can drag a house as big as yours? Can you show a Spirit Envoy some basic respect?"

Tang Zhao sighed, knowing he couldn't be lazy; the same method wouldn't work for something with wings... dragging from the front. Riding a Water-Travel Vehicle would be fine, but the Water-Travel Vehicle could only dive in real water; whether it could move in this kind of "water" was unknown, so the only option was to use reverse thrust to move forward.

How did the submarines from Chen Zong's hometown move again?

Propellers? It seemed very complicated; he was proficient in Rune Formula, but it didn't say he was proficient in mechanics.

Never mind.

There is a saying: if the force is great enough, a brick can fly.

Tang Zhao erased a Rune Formula behind him and placed a water-spraying Rune Formula. This Rune Formula was very basic, among the Primary Rune Formula. Fearing it wouldn't be powerful enough, Tang Zhao used the Chain Hook Method to increase the multiplier and then added a tenfold boost from the test paper. In the end, the water-spraying force surged by more than dozens of times.

Done, full power.

"Six Dragons No. 2, depart!"

Pfft—

A white wave launched from behind the Wooden House, shooting this building—which had nothing to do with being streamlined—out at the speed of a torpedo, drawing an air trajectory across the water-ripple firmament as it shot toward the Lighthouse.

And at this moment, his roof still carried that seven-colored dazzling light, which was very eye-catching even at this time. The groups of houses struggling to trek could not help but stop, pay their respects, and then follow suit one after another.

For a time, white waves ran rampant in Maze City, and the wave trails looked like colorful clouds in the sky.

However, Tang Zhao was still the fastest; not only did he set off first, but the power was also sufficiently boosted, and the Wooden House was of appropriate weight, making it as fast as a swordfish, charging straight toward the Lighthouse. Although arriving early or late had nothing to do with the ranking, being able to snatch first place was always pleasing.

When he had charged halfway, a figure flashed past the window, looking like someone traveling by sword.

Looking closely, wasn't it traveling by sword? The one traveling by sword while braving the "water" was none other than Yun Xiyan.

Yun Xiyan still hadn't built a house and was just flying by sword alone; her speed was not slow, keeping pace with Tang Zhao for a moment, but looking at her expression, she seemed to be holding her breath and felt very stifled.

Tang Zhao knocked on the window, and Yun Xiyan turned her head, seeing Tang Zhao.

Tang Zhao made a gesture, and Yun Xiyan understood; she then approached the windowsill, and as Tang Zhao opened the door, this female Sword Student tumbled in.

At this instant, Tang Zhao seemed to choke on a mouthful of water. Even though there was not a trace of water at his mouth or nose, he felt a sense of stifling, so he hurriedly closed the window and breathed deeply.

This water is too realistic. Except for mass, nothing was lost.

Yun Xiyan sat on the ground; even though there was not a drop of water on her clothes, she had the feeling of a drowned rat. She rubbed her face fiercely and said, "Oh my god, I was suffocated to death. What kind of crappy thing is this? There's clearly no water, yet it's so stifling, and it's damn heavy, as if there are hundreds of pounds of things hanging on me, pressing down so I can't breathe."

Even water pressure exists?

Tang Zhao admired this; it seemed there was no way out for the homeless. If one wanted to head to the Lighthouse, one had to get on a "boat" one way or another and find a way to steer the boat to shore.

He asked, "Sister Yun, you haven't finished collecting your answers? Why not find a house to control and move?"

Yun Xiyan said, "The answer collection is almost done, roughly nine hundred or so questions; I don't want any more. If I add the hundred bonus points for the correct ones, why wouldn't I get into the Heaven District? Those people are all too stupid; they aren't as smart as you, Brother Tang. Expecting to get a full score by relying on them is like trying to squeeze snow toad oil out of a toad. Actually, I did get a house, and it could hit people, but it wouldn't move; it was too clumsy, not as flexible as I am, so I just threw the house there. I didn't expect that when the water came, I'd be blind; staying in the water is uncomfortable. It's a good thing you helped me out, brother."

As she spoke, she saw fruit and snacks on the table, signaled to Tang Zhao, and grabbed an oil-fried dough twist to eat.

Crunch, crunch, she ate two bites and added, "Big brother, I saw you take on six people by yourself just now! You're really something! You're even more awesome than your big sister. If I hadn't known it was you, I would have wanted to come over and have a match with you, to fight to my heart's content."

Tang Zhao laughed and said, "Seriously, big sister, how about you and I have a match, using your sword and my Wooden House?"

Yun Xiyan pondered and said, "If it's just about breaking through, then I have no problem. My sword fears nothing more than a tough defense. But the methods you have are quite formidable; without Sword Art assistance, it's hard for me to deal with them. Especially that method of yours for drawing aggro—it's too unsolvable. Even knowing it beforehand, I still can't think of a solution; I can only resort to a sneak attack. Are you afraid of sneak attacks?"

The two chatted for a few moments, and Tang Zhao asked her about her patrol situation again. Yun Xiyan said dejectedly, "Ju Tianxuan was just spouting nonsense. What she said made me think Maze City was full of perverts, but it turns out everyone is law-abiding; I didn't catch a single one. There's only that initial hundred points from catching Yi Zhixin. There haven't been any other extra earnings."

Tang Zhao remembered something and said, "You said you had over nine hundred questions, plus that initial hundred questions—wouldn't that exceed a perfect score? Then you would be first place?"

Yun Xiyan said, "That would require getting them all right, and I certainly can't guarantee that. I couldn't even tell right from wrong on those later questions; some I just copied down. Even if my luck were heaven-defying, regarding that one thousand points, you're still there. If you get a perfect score, you'd have one thousand one hundred points—you'd be the undisputed first place."

Tang Zhao said modestly, "I might not get a perfect score either. Who can guarantee they'll get them all right?"

Yun Xiyan said, "Don't be modest about this. If it's not you, then who? I don't admire anyone else, only you, little brother. If we're talking about you, you're definitely first in Rune Formula knowledge; as for me, I'm just barely first in combat power and second in points. So, in this Wooden House of ours, we have one first place and one second place—both are genuine. This boat is also the most dazzling boat. If this were to be wiped out in one go, it would definitely overturn the structure of Maze City—"

Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "Sister Yun, we haven't reached the destination yet; you shouldn't say things like that—"

Before the words had even faded, the surrounding water suddenly surged violently!

The invisible water waves turned into a whirlpool, pulling the Wooden House into it; it instantly lost its direction, and the back-spraying air waves spun outward in all directions like a spinning top.

At the same time, the street beneath the water surface split open, and several ropes suddenly shot out!

Those ropes were like living creatures, or perhaps like tentacles, flexible and bending, instantly weaving into a giant net that scooped up the accelerating Wooden House head-on.

Immediately after, the net tightened, wrapping the Wooden House into a ball and finally binding it like a rice dumpling; at the opening, a giant arm pulled with great force, as if a cable were dragging the net downward.

At this moment, the light from the Lighthouse was already extremely blinding, and the end of the Sword Province Road was only a stone's throw away.