The mountain rose from the water like a sword. Behind, many more silhouettes stood tall, covered in a fog so faint the outlines could barely be seen. There was no landmass below, no island or shore. It was as if the mountains were half submerged in the sea.

As the Drizzle made its way towards the faraway scene, the other six boats gradually came into view. The nearest was a Drizzle with a red roof on the cottage. Someone waved from there, but it was too far to see who.

"W-Wait, is that…?" a boy shouted out.

There was a whirlpool in the Drizzle’s path. The water spun in spirals and sank in the centre to unknown depths. But it was silent.

As the Drizzle approached, the giant whirl shifted. It moved out of the way, like a creature gatekeeper.

Everyone was speechless.

More whirlpools appeared. Tornadoes rose from the ocean surface to the clouds, and thunder hit the waters from above. All silent. As if just a mirage. And all moved out of the Drizzle’s way.

"Hey, we should go inside," Yu Han said. "It’s not going to be nice if someone falls in."

No one moved from their spot, eyes glued to the disasters and the mountains as if hypnotised. Yu Han stayed, but positioned himself closer to the door so he could run in the moment anything happened.

An hour passed. The distant land seemed to get no closer.

Then the water colour changed, from the deep blue of the high seas to a fainter mossy green.

Sounds returned. The whirling water, the raging storm, the crashing thunder. This time, the Drizzle navigated around the natural catastrophes.

The sound was overpowering, and when the Drizzle floated past whirlpools, the moisture in the air would send a tingling feeling down Yu Han’s back, as if he was constantly being stung by static.

"What do you think the previous whirlpools were?" Yu Han shouted over the sound.

"Whirlpools?" Li Yao tilted his head.

"These spiralling water things," Yu Han said. He blocked a splash of water with a sleeve. The Drizzle was still stable as ever, but the waves crashing against the boat's edge would spill inside from time to time.

"No idea, tubs," Li Yao said. "Why you asking?"

"I think they might’ve been mirages. And if the whirlpools and thunder can be mirages, then maybe the mountains are too," Yu Han shouted.

"…What’s a mirage?"

"Gah!"

Li Yao was a smart kid, but Yu Han sometimes forgot he was from the slums, hence not really educated. The fact that he could read and write had given him the wrong impression.

"When you take too much Goblin Mushroom, you see stuff that isn’t there."

"Ah! I could use some Goblins." Li Yao grinned.

The Drizzle left the disasters behind, and now it was just the mossy waters.

"The mountains are getting closer," a boy said. He was the one who had almost drowned. Should he really be outside with possibly broken ribs?

He was right, though. The first mountain was no longer just a silhouette. There was no shore gradually leading up to the mountain. The mountain simply rose from the water, like a wall. It was shrouded in a green canopy. Birds flew up, and through the gaps in the trees, some moving forms could be seen.

The waters here were calmer, tranquil even, with smaller waves. The mossy green colouration transitioned to more teal and lime, as if painted by someone. But as they neared the mountain more, the waves became more rapid.

The mountain was huge, at least a few kilometres tall, and multiple times that wide. As the Drizzle neared it, it almost blocked out the silhouette of the mountain range behind it.

Yu Han counted the number of peaks he could see. Even at a casual glance, there were far more than a hundred.

It was a mountain range. A partially sunken one.

"Mangrove mountains," Yu Han muttered.

"There’s people," Li Yao said.

A lonely dock. Nine people stood there in similar uniforms. Each had unique points, but the colouration was similar to Duan Xiaolong’s robes. As the Drizzle neared the dock, they could see the people more clearly.

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The main colour of the robes was indigo, with white patterns of storms, coral, fish, and other designs on one side. There were two old men and seven youths—two female and five male. They ranged from teenage to middle-aged; but with cultivators, could Yu Han really be sure that they were as old as they looked?

They carried varied weapons: swords, spears, and one lady had a giant fan.

There were also three animals: a panther with navy blue fur, a giant pelican sitting on one old man’s head, and—was that—

"That lady’s wearing a snake," Li Yao said.

She wore the green-and-white striped creature like a necklace.

Duan Xiaolong had Little Pillar, and the Shark Lady had the shark thing. The sect must have had a focus on animals. Like those beast-taming sects in Xianxia novels?

The name didn’t match, though. Stormy Reef. But on the other hand, Duan Xiaolong had powers utilising mist, and the Shark Lady could shoot out jets of water. So they must have specialised in water too.

Suddenly, two of the figures dashed forward, the lady with the snake and another guy.

"Oi, what’s that?" someone said with a trembling voice, pointing at the water’s surface.

Further from their Drizzle, a shadow appeared underwater. A scream rose from another nearby Drizzle, one of the boats with the girls.

"Snake! A giant snake!" a girl said. The voice was faint because of the distance and the wind, but the panic in it could clearly be heard.

"H-Hel—"

"There’s one there too!" Cracked Ribs pointed at the water nearby. A long, slithering form was silhouetted under the water.

"Get away from the edges!" Yu Han shouted out, preparing to bolt inside.

The water bulged, then broke like a geyser, splashing everyone.

"N-No, stay away!" A kid fell down on his butt.

A giant red snake loomed above him. Part of its body was still underwater, the rest slithering out like a vine. It was hard to see how big it truly was. But even just the girth of the thing was as big as a school bus. That large mouth would have no trouble swallowing three kids whole.

It had emerald eyes, murky like clouds. Black spots lined its slippery red hide, with the scales gleaming in the sun.

It pulled its head back, maws wide open.

Everyone was frozen. Yu Han couldn’t move either. A primal part of his being wanted to jump into the sea, because that open maw seemed like it could swallow the Drizzle itself whole.

But would he survive in the water? Could he outswim an ocean predator? The situation was not the same as with Jie Tong.

"Move! Now!" Li Yao shouted, yanking Yu Han towards the safety of the cabin.

The snake hissed and lunged forward with terrifying speed. Wind raced, water burst.

And then the snake was beheaded merely inches from the Drizzle’s roof. The blood flew into the air like rain, but when it was about to fall on the boat, it was repelled by an unseen force.

The snake’s head fell into the water on the other side with a large splash. The headless part of its body whirled like a limp noodle and collapsed backwards into the water too.

A scream rose from the other Drizzle.

By the time Yu Han saw what had happened, the water near the two Drizzles had been dyed red. It bubbled like acid, then the two headless bodies of the snakes floated to the surface.

"Insane. A-Are these demons? The stories weren’t a lie!"

"Fool. These have to be flood dragons. Look at the size, they’re bigger than trees!"

The other recruits spoke, excitement mixed with fear and anxiety. Even Li Yao was gesturing wildly with his hands.

Yu Han touched his forehead. He didn’t know if the salty moisture was sweat or sea.

"What a welcome," Yu Han said.

"It’s not usually like this,” a voice said. “The two Crimson Coiling Sand Snakes might have burrowed underneath the water bed, so we missed them. Monsters don’t usually wander this far."

"Far from what?" Yu Han asked. Then he realised he didn’t know the voice.

"You’ll find out in due time." It was a young man, one of the two who had dashed from the dock. "Welcome to the Stormy Reef Sect, junior brothers," he said with a picturesque smile, sheathing his long, blue-edged sabre. "From now on, your life will be changed forever."

They could only gape. This was the might of a cultivator!

***

"You have had a long journey. Rest for tonight," the old man with the pelican said.

The Drizzles docked, and the recruits climbed out one by one.

"Ask little Duan to heal any injuries," the old man said, and Duan Xiaolong, who stepped off the giga-sized shark, nodded.

The Shark Lady waved her hat. "I’ll check on the other cohorts, lest we face trickery again." And then, she was off with the shark, in the direction they had come from.

Duan Xiaolong healed the kid with the broken ribs, and a few others who were injured. They were led up the mountains to a small village. There were no others present, and each disciple got their own little hut.

"Rest well, for this is the First Village of New Tidings," the senior brother that guided them said, "and tomorrow, we’ll pass out the basic cultivation art."

There was a murmur of excitement.

Li Yao slapped his cheeks. "Damn bugs." There were many mosquitoes.

Yu Han tried to match the trees he saw on the way up with those from Earth. Some looked like banyans, others were like jackfruit. The place was very tropical, and quite humid too. He didn’t see any trees fruiting, but there were some scattered flowers here and there.

The birds perched on the hut roofs and the tree branches looked normal enough. Sparrows, gulls, and a crow here and there.

The beds were straw, and the roofs were thatched. Around midnight, it rained. Yu Han used the outhouse, then collapsed on the bed.

+1 True Qi

Name: Yu Han (Johan)

Level: 0

True Qi: 106 (+1)/110

Pure Qi: 10/110

I don’t get the logic, Yu Han thought as he washed his face with water from a well nearby. In the morning, a middle-aged man with a donkey cart had delivered clay jars full of food.

They sat on straw mattresses on the ground and ate out of giant tree leaves shaped like hearts.

After breakfast, they all gathered in the village yard.

"Many things are a mystery to you," the old man with the pelican said. "All will be explained in time. Today, you’ll learn the Calm Before the Storm Breathing Technique, the basic Cultivation Art of the Stormy Reef Sect. Don’t worry about its efficacy. No matter which sect, all basic Cultivation Arts are similar. Some permutation of the Ancient Qi Breathing Technique of the ancients."

"Close your eyes." The old man sat down cross-legged on a reed zabuton. Yu Han and the other recruits sat on similar zabutons.

"Now imitate my breathing. Listen to my chants."

His voice started off slow, reciting one syllable after another. High tones, low valleys, they dragged on as though he was grasping for breath. Three inhales, two exhales every minute. Then it quickened, like a rising tide. Fifteen breaths a minute. Fifty.

Five hundred.

Pure Qi Assimilated!

+1 True Qi