49: Chapter 46 Pedal 49: Chapter 46 Pedal Lu Luanti didn’t notice the gaze of Chu Yunyun behind her, as she moved swiftly like a fish in the water.
It only took a few moments for her to reach the front of the Heluo Fish.
The Heluo Fish had sensed the danger, and all ten of its tentacles twisted towards Lu Luanti.
With the Magic Refining Light Steel Blade in her hand, Lu Luanti wasn’t supposed to use any magic because of the absence of her gift for metal.
But at that moment, a silver shimmer flashed in her pupils.
“Water Manipulation!”
In an instant, the Heluo Fish, which was adept at controlling water, was unexpectedly dominated by it.
Its ten tentacles were caught by the powerful currents and its movements became incredibly slow.
Lu Luanti pushed off with her feet and accelerated swiftly to the front of the Heluo Fish, stabbing it cleanly in the head with one strike.
The Heluo Fish’s ten tentacles were notoriously difficult, and many of its peers with Eighth Rank Cultivation struggled against it underwater.
However, once close to its main body, the Heluo Fish could only be slaughtered at will.
After severing its head and tentacles with the Magic Refining Light Steel Blade, Lu Luanti quickly surfaced.
She had just utilized her innate talents, employing both magic and True Yuan, which drained ten times her usual Qi Power.
The critical issue was that her lungs were running out of air, and she had to reach the surface quickly to breathe.
At that moment, however, Lu Luanti did not notice that deep in the water below, a huge Water Beast was lunging toward her.
It looked exactly like the Heluo Fish, but was three times larger.
The giant Heluo Fish, with eight compound eyes on its head, coldly watched Lu Luanti’s back, its ten tentacles showing layers of sharp white teeth.
Just then, two pale hands reached out, grabbed two of its tentacles, and forcefully held back the giant demon fish, which was almost ten feet long.
The giant Heluo Fish was momentarily stunned and looked towards the owner of the hands.
It saw another human girl not far away, watching it indifferently.
In the next instant, this Seventh Rank Cultivation giant Heluo Fish lost consciousness.
With a forceful pull from Chu Yunyun, the giant Heluo Fish was literally torn in two.
Then, with a firm pinch from Chu Yunyun, a strange force acted on the remains of the Heluo Fish, causing the giant demon fish’s body to explosively shatter into hundreds of pieces.
The spreading stench of blood attracted numerous fierce big fish nearby, which swam over and tore at the body of the giant Heluo Fish.
Lu Luanti was completely unaware of what was happening underwater as she emerged.
She handed her Magic Refining Light Steel Blade to Chu Xisheng and said aloud with great admiration, “Brother Chu is so impressive, the demonic power of this Heluo Fish was at least Eighth Rank, yet it still died by your hand.”
Chu Xisheng’s face darkened slightly, knowing that Lu Luanti was once again trying to put the blame on him.
However, he had no time to worry about this issue at the moment.
Chu Xisheng was fully engaged in rescuing people, standing on a relatively large piece of floating wood, continuously throwing broken planks into the water ahead of the drowning victims and picking up some ropes to pull those who couldn’t swim out of the water and forcefully ringing them next to the logs.
Chu Xisheng’s efforts alone were extremely limited; after a hectic period, he had only managed to rescue about twenty people.
Fortunately, the Sand Ship’s captain and several boatmen also surfaced, striving to rescue people; there were also some passengers on the ship who were not only strong but also proficient in aquatic skills.
Together, they managed to rescue everyone who had fallen into the water onto the logs and planks.
At that moment, Chu Xisheng’s expression subtly changed.
His Eagle Eye spotted a woman in palace attire under the nearby water surface.
She was flailing her limbs desperately, but her delicate body continued to sink.
—Was it that woman named Xie Zhenqing?
Chu Xisheng’s sword-like eyebrows slightly raised as he quickly tied a knot at one end of a boat rope and attached a heavy block of wood, flinging it under the water towards that direction.
However, due to the buoyancy of the river, the rope fell short of reaching the woman in the palace attire.
Fortunately, the woman in the water lunged forward and grabbed the end of the rope.
Chu Xisheng smiled faintly and began to exert force to pull the woman in the palace attire out of the water.
Underwater, Xie Zhenqing felt an overwhelming weakness and numbness all over, a mix of residual fear and relief spreading throughout her body.
Her right hand was tightly clutching the rope, not daring to loosen her grip in the slightest.
Xie Zhenqing’s cultivation was actually not weak, having reached the Eighth Rank Martial Arts realm.
However, because she practiced a Fire Element Primordial Skill, she struggled with water at this stage of her cultivation.
Not just her, but all Fire Element Martial Practitioners under the Seventh Rank couldn’t enter water, as their True Yuan would become chaotic in water.
For her, Chu Xisheng throwing that rope was like throwing a lifeline.
As Xie Zhenqing surfaced, she heard Lu Luanyi ‘tsk tsking’ as he praised Chu Xisheng, “Brother Chu’s strike under the water, that ’empty wind’, was simply beautiful.
That Heluo Fish didn’t even see it coming before its head was chopped off by Brother Chu—”
She desperately hoped others would know that the Heluo Fish was slain by Chu Xisheng.
For the sake of preventing identity exposure, the responsibility had to be firmly affixed.
After Xie Zhenqing surfaced, she kept coughing up water, with her ears rumbling due to the water, yet she clearly heard Lu Luanyi’s words.
She continued to cough violently until almost all the water was out of her lungs, then she looked along the rope.
Xie Zhenqing was slightly startled, a hint of amazement appearing in her eyes.
There was a young man standing on a floating log.
At fourteen or fifteen years of age, he had a slender figure and sharp, clean features.
His narrow phoenix eyes were scanning beneath the water surface, looking for other people who might be drowning.
In Xie Zhenqing’s eyes, this young man, dressed in rough cloth, seemed to be radiating light.
But why wasn’t he pulling himself onto the log?
There was considerable space left on the log, which seemed to be a Dragon Bone from a Sand Ship; surely it could fit one more person.
Just then, the young man’s expression suddenly shifted, and he swiftly darted towards Xie Zhenqing.
Just as Xie Zhenqing thought he was about to rescue her, she saw his foot increasing in size before her eyes.
Xie Zhenqing had no time to dodge; her expression was stunned, disbelieving.
Was this young man planning to use her face as a stepping stone?
Next moment, Xie Zhenqing’s head was forcefully stomped into the water by Chu Xisheng’s foot.
His figure flashed, and he moved to a piece of broken shipboard, pulling the already surfaced Chu Yunyun onto it.
He swiftly embraced the seemingly frail sorcerer sister in his arms, then leapt up from the shipboard like a flying swallow.
Once again, Xie Zhenqing’s head became a stepping stone as she, holding the heavy wood at the end of the rope, had just surfaced before being stomped into the water by Chu Xisheng again.
And when she surfaced for the third time, she saw Chu Xisheng sitting on a floating log ahead, embracing a pale, frail young girl.
At this moment, Xie Zhenqing’s emotions were incredibly complex, although she was also grateful to the young man for saving her life.
Yet now, she was absolutely furious!
She, Xie Zhenqing, the respected Master of the Xiushui County Debating Martial Arts Tower, was being treated this way!