Sage could release his Human Seal and swim along with the current to slowly work his way back out of the whirlpool. Of course, with the Peak Master right there and him having already agreed to go, it was far too late to fight. Instead, Sage just kept his head above the water and let the spinning carry him towards the center. As he got closer he chose to avoid dizziness and purposely dove into the center of the whirlpool, getting dragged straight down like he just entered a big tube. With his eyes still open he watched as the rock had a tunnel carved into it, plunging straight down for hundreds of yards before Sage saw what looked like a rip in space.
It looked like a swirling vortex of energy with warped colors at the edges. If it was a still image the tear in space would be absolutely unnoticeable. The reason it was noticeable was things seemed to bend and warp as they approached the edges of the tear yet when they were swept further away the small rocks, debris and water seemed completely unaffected. If it wasn’t warped space then those rocks would have been torn in half or completely destroyed when they were partially shrunk and twisted around.
Objects that approached the center of vortex twisted and warped then fell into what seemed to be open air and clouds as they returned to normal. At the edges of the vortex the rock was slashed into bits, anything that touched it was cut perfectly. Sage even saw a fish cleanly sliced in half like a cross-section in an anatomy book. A perfect vertical slice of the fish’s internals that was ruined by the sudden splash of red blood. The fish’s body tried to keep on living, but it only served to pump away the remaining half of its blood.
Sage carefully pushed off the rock walls and aimed himself towards the center of the vortex. He had no other options now, the water flowing into the hole in space was far too powerful to resist now and all he could do was guide himself away from that dangerous space tear.
As he entered the vortex Sage tried not to think of how his insides were being warped and twisted.Thankfully, the strange feeling lasted only a split second before he was falling through the open air. In just an instant he found himself at the top of what was essentially a waterfall originating in a cloud. The flow of water formed by the space tear and emptying out a large portion of the underground lake. Sage felt himself falling through the sky, riding the flow of water towards the ground. Looking downwards he saw an alien landscape. Huge crystals towered into the air like skyscrapers, reigning over a veritable forest of crystal. The huge crystals jutted straight into the sky like mountains, yet beneath and between the mountainous crystals were crystals that seemed to mimic the shape of trees and bushes just like it was a real forest on the ground below.
Sage wanted to get more time to admire the view of this glimmering landscape, but he was rapidly approaching the ground. The water spread outwards as it fell from the sky, the wind resistance from falling turning it into a heavy spray instead of a dense stream. Not wanting to have to fight the force of the falling water as well as the powerful descent, Sage opened his mouth and released a huge gust of wind. The Divine Breath technique let him keep a huge amount of air compressed within his lungs at all times, using Qi to store it like an air tank while still breathing normally. Letting out some of the air, Sage was blasted backwards and he fell out of the falling flow of water. Aiming his head upwards he started breathing air in again. The force of suction was so great that a small vacuum formed above him, helping to slow his fall. When Divine Breath was completely full, he turned downwards and waited patiently.
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A few hundred feet from the ground he released the human seal, slowly transforming back into his true body. The snake like lower half interrupting his falling position. He had been laying in the air with arms and legs spread apart to keep stable. With the sudden change from a pair of legs to a huge serpent tail he was suddenly falling straight down like a vertical rod. Not having any time to compensate, Sage just let loose.
His lungs, throat, and mouth had all been strengthened with the practice of the Divine Breath technique. Even better, Sage’s articulating jaws and stretching skin let him have even more control over the airflow than a normal cultivator could. Sage wasn’t an aeronautical engineer, especially given he didn’t know they called them aerospace engineers, so he had no idea how to build a jet engine or anything of the sort. What he did know was that forcing air through a narrow nozzle would create thrust. Aiming towards the ground he let loose with his full lung power and created a huge vortex of wind. He could only let out a burst for a split second before he was blasted around like a balloon with the end unsealed.
After diffusing his falling momentum with a few gusts of his Divine Breath at maximum power, Sage called out his Chameleon Mantis and immediately jumped inside.
The huge bug used its wings to fly them down safely, landing on the ground as Sage took advantage of this time to put the Human Seal back into place. A few minutes later when another person fell from the sky, Sage was already back to his human appearance and standing next to his Mantis. It took only a few seconds for the Chameleon Mantis to change its body to blend in with the local terrain and after a minute in one spot it was nearly completely invisible if it could press its body up against something. Sage had considered using his newly learned Falling Leaf Steps to deal with the fall, but he chose the more surefire method of a flying insect.
The other person fell downwards like a rock. Sage thought about interjecting to save them, but the Peak Master had said this person knew what they were doing so surely they could handle this fall. As their fall showed no signs of stopping, Sage grew a bit worried that perhaps this method of entry to the Hidden Realm was unusual or random. Without any signs of stopping the person plummeted to the ground and Sage started to move to assist them.
“Stay back.”
A gruff voice stopped him in his tracks before Sage could act and just a few seconds later the person smashed into the ground at full speed. Or at least that’s what Sage thought would happen. Instead the solid ground rippled like it was a pool of water and the person was a mere drop of water. A few seconds later, the hooded person’s hands and head splashed out of the ground. Dirt and rocks scattered like splashing water, the person grabbing some of the ground like it was the edge of a pool and pulling themselves up and out. They seemed to be able to treat any part of the ground as if it was a liquid instead of a very hard solid.
Sage nodded his head, “Well done! The Peak Master’s Agent is definitely as impressive as the title. We’ve never met before, allow me. Lang Sheng, greets Senior Martial Brother. It is a pleasure to be working with you here.”
The hooded figure snorted at him. Silence followed.
“Ahem… you must value your privacy, but can I at least know Senior Martial Brother’s name? I must have something to call you, right?”
The hooded figure merely scoffed this time, but after a moment Sage heard the gruff voice again, “Fine. Just call me, Rocky.”
The person actually said ‘Shi’, but Sage translated it in his mind from ‘Stone’, a boring name, into Rocky. It was much more entertaining that way. Just as Sage started to picture a certain Boxer climbing stairs and punching meat, Shi… Rocky, started walking away.
“Hurry up, let’s get moving.”