Liu Xing's family got along well. As a genius, his father and clan put all their resources into him. William, on the other hand, didn’t have a good relationship with his parents. They were mostly absent from his life. By giving Xia Hongyi some advice, he was projecting a bit of himself onto Xia Hongyi.
"Shut up!" Xia Hongyi shouted. He leaped forward, his fist aimed at Liu Xing's face. "You don't know me!"
Liu Xing sidestepped gracefully, his movements fluid like water. He struck Xia Hongyi's chin from below with his palm. The impact wasn't too strong, but it was enough to rattle Xia Hongyi's brain. The young boy's eyes rolled upward, and he fainted. Liu Xing caught him with both hands.
He held Xia Hongyi for a moment, observing the youth's face, then he carefully lowered him to the ground. Understanding that his lecture probably wouldn't change Xia Hongyi, Liu Xing decided it was enough. He had said what he wanted to say.
Liu Xing walked over to the river, where the sunlight made the water shimmer. He jumped in and let the cool water surround him. He pushed thoughts of Xia Hongyi aside and concentrated on finding the Ethereal Pearl as quickly as possible.
For about another hour, Liu Xing searched, his eyes scanning the murky depths for any sign of the elusive Ethereal Pearl. The search was taking too long, and Liu Xing began to doubt whether the pearl was still there. While he trusted the information from the interface, he knew it could be wrong, but before moving on, there were three spots he needed to check.
The first spot was between two large boulders at the base of the river. These were the only boulders near Fat Lin's rock, which made Liu Xing wonder why.
Floating in front of the two boulders, their surfaces slick with algae, Liu Xing considered his options. Since he had spent so much time checking the river, he decided to destroy the boulders instead of digging around them.
Liu Xing summoned his gun in his left hand. He poured qi into it, creating six bullets. He then infused the first bullet with the Exploding Fist technique and pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew through the water like an underwater missile, leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake. When it touched the boulder, it exploded brilliantly, sending shards of rock flying everywhere and clouding the water with mud.
Liu Xing waited for several moments before swimming toward the destroyed boulder. Though visibility was poor, he could still feel the qi spot emitting energy. Following that sensation, he found himself in a hole where the boulder had been destroyed.
When he saw the source of the qi spot, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"Another wood stump," he muttered underwater, bubbles escaping from his mouth.
It was the sixth stump he had found under the river. While not every spot contained a tree stump, Liu Xing wondered why these stumps emitted qi. After pondering for only a few seconds, he moved to the next spot.
On the side of the river, there was a small gap emitting qi. The feeling was the same as the tree stump, but to be sure, he dug around it with his lightning blade for a moment.
After creating a hole in the riverbank, he found another tree stump. He sighed, bubbles rising from his mouth.
"To the last spot," he muttered.
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Liu Xing swam toward the base of Fat Lin's rock. In hindsight, he realized he should have searched here first. But he remembered the logic behind his decision: there were many qi spots in this river, and the one at the bottom of the inverted pyramid was weaker.
Swimming downward, Liu Xing followed the pyramid to its tip. As he descended, the water grew colder and darker. He could see that only a small section of the tip touched the ground. The tip of the pyramid had sunk perhaps only half a meter, making him wonder why it hadn't toppled to the side.
Arriving at the bottom of the river where the pyramid touched the riverbed, Liu Xing started to dig around it. He realized his actions could make the pyramid finally topple. If it fell, it would block the river, so Liu Xing decided he would destroy the pyramid later to prevent flooding.
He dug for several minutes, circling the tip of the pyramid. Amazingly, the structure didn't budge even a bit. Even when Liu Xing removed all the dirt around the tip, it didn't flip to the side. Finally, he successfully dug a hole around the pyramid's tip and found that it wasn't touching the ground at all. Instead, it rested on a black pearl the size of a marble, which touched the base of the river.
When Liu Xing saw the black pearl, he couldn't hold back his smile. "Finally! The Ethereal Pearl!"
This pearl was one of the treasures he needed to find in the city. The interface's description of the pearl was simple:
Description: A pearl that can hold a large amount of qi.
While at first glance it seemed like just a qi battery, the key was in the words "large amount." He didn't know how much it could hold, but surely, his entire qi as a sixth-stage Lock Opening cultivator could be easily stored inside. The reason he chose to retrieve this pearl was its high potential to boost his fighting power. He imagined storing not just normal qi, but qi that he had reabsorbed from the bullets. Liu Xing suspected the result would be glorious.
Calming his mind, Liu Xing swam around the black pearl, trying to assess how to take it, as it was connected to the tip of the inverted pyramid.
Soon, Liu Xing decided not to overcomplicate the matter. He summoned his gun and activated his trusty lightning blade. In the water, arcs of electricity swam around him. A small school of fish nearby suddenly went limp and floated to the top of the river, shocked to death. Liu Xing didn't mind the collateral damage and slashed at the tip of the pyramid connected to the black pearl. When his blade touched the pyramid, he felt resistance, as if he were cutting through solid stone. Even though he didn't cut through the tip of the pyramid completely, it was enough to separate the small bit connected to the Ethereal Pearl.
Liu Xing's hand snatched the Ethereal Pearl like a cobra striking its prey. Soon, he had his fingers wrapped around the pearl. The black orb felt cold in his hand, as if it were made of ice. Though black, it was shiny and perfectly round. The little bit of light that penetrated the water reflected off the pearl, making it look like a solar eclipse.
With the Ethereal Pearl secured, Liu Xing swam upward, aiming for the surface. As he ascended, he thought about finding the next treasure. The first one he needed to get was called the Red Wings of Stability. When activated, it would give them a pair of red wings that, while unable to make the user fly, could make the user and everything they touched become more durable. It was a handy treasure he needed to defeat a cultivator in the Core Splitting realm.
As he broke the surface, Liu Xing looked around to assess his surroundings. When he rotated his body, he saw two people on the riverbank where he had left Xia Hongyi. The first was Xia Hongyi himself, sporting a black eye as if someone had punched him. When he saw Liu Xing, he smiled cruelly. Beside him stood a man who looked older than Liu Xing. The newcomer wore a black sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscular arms. His tan skin and tough face were framed by long red hair that swayed in the breeze like a lion's mane. On his right arm, he wore a shiny golden gauntlet that gleamed in the sunlight. He looked at Liu Xing like a lion eyeing its prey.
"My name is Xia Shizi," the red-haired man said, his voice deep and commanding. "I've heard you bullied my nephew."
Liu Xing swam to the shore and pulled himself from the river. He opened his mouth to respond. "I didn't bully him. I gave him some wisdom."
"Bullshit!" Xia Shizi shouted.
As he shouted, Liu Xing felt the earth beneath his feet tremble. At first, he thought it was the effect of Xia Shizi's shout. But he soon realized it wasn't. Xia Shizi was on the cusp of breaking through to the Core Splitting realm, but he wasn't powerful enough to make the world tremble with just his anger.
As the trembling grew stronger, Liu Xing's heart raced. What was happening?