RUMBLEEEE—!!

  The roaring tsunami surged over like an unrolling carpet, smming into Bubai before he got any chance to find himself something to defend himself!

  “OOOF—!”

  One second, he stood—the next, he got bsted off his feet by water as heavy as a mountain and smashed into the arena wall behind—BAM!

  Cough—! Bubai choked from the sheer impact—hard enough to beat all the air out from his lungs.

  Any ordinary mortal would've died from that impact alone, or at least get knocked out cold!

  But he only felt breathless… no pun intended.

  Still, to think that’s all...

  Seriously, dear Merlin, oh how far he has come. Was he still human? Who knows...

  Once the crushing pressure from the floodwaters settled, Bubai peeled off from the wall and finally got a chance to look around.

  At a gnce, he noticed nada water flowing out through the gaps of the coliseum’s metal-barred gates.

  Unsurprisingly, there’s a barrier in pce to keep everything in.

  That meant there’s no hope of the water draining on its own.

  Bubai then looked up. The bright water surface was far above. A rough estimate: at least three meters deep.

  By Merlin’s beard! Did he just unlock the underwater combat DLC? Because a small ke just got dumped into this arena!

  This wasn’t as outrageous as some of those jutsus from a ninja universe next door, but man oh man, this really refreshed his view on the battle rating of these foundation builders.

  Well, regardless, guess there’s only one path for him: up.

  Bubai bent his knees and kicked off the floor, giving himself a boost and quickly shot to the surface like an arrow—

  Puaaah!!

  His head broke through the surface with water streaming down his face and fresh air gushing into his lungs.

  A breath was all it took to recover, and by that time, the searching eyes already locked onto his target.

  There he was: the gourd’s owner—now standing on the uneven surface of the water like it was ft ground with an arm behind his back.

  There’s nary an injury on the guy. Not even the scratch on his neck stayed, let alone the damage caused by the poison.

  Seriously, he looked good as new. Heck, that guy wasn’t even wet!

  And that pretentious stance was as rexed as a man who’d just finished spa treatment.

  This Water Boy 2.0 definitely got them style points down!

  Wu Dawei stared down at the bobbing head that popped out from the water and frowned.

  “Huh. Your body can really bear the wind and waves. But… no matter. Now that you can’t even get a solid footing, there’s no hope for you. It’s time I send you on the road!”

  A sweep and flick of his sleeves sent a swarm of silver needles streaking over!

  Shua! The water-treading Bubai immediately kicked hard and unched himself to the side, just in time to let the needles zip past by a hair’s breath.

  After throwing a provocative, almost cocky gnce back at the stationary man, Bubai followed the momentum and simply dove underwater.

  Seeing this, Wu Dawei kept the needles he was about to throw and sneered.

  “Hiding? Pathetic. If you think hiding underwater will save you, you are sorely mistaken!”

  His fingers then came together to form a lotus seal.

  “Come face your death! Water Style: Sea King’s Vortex!”

  A pulse of energy erupted from the sole of his feet, sending a ring of waves rippling outward across the entire body of water.

  Once the ripples touched the edge, the calm water began churning and spinning clockwise, slowly getting faster and faster.

  Within a breath, the entire ke transformed into a massive whirlpool, spiraling toward the spellcaster!

  Below, Bubai immediately felt the currents dragging him along and trying to deliver him towards the center of it all!

  Oh com’on! Give him a break!

  Isn’t it normal to wait for a Qi Refiner to drown himself or attack when he gets forced up for a breathe?

  Why so impatient and waste Qi on another big move?

  Ugh. No time to waste. Gotta get out of the water! Otherwise, he’ll just be a fish on a chopping board!

  With a kick, Bubai turned tail and swam hard against the water like a torpedo towards the wall nearby.

  Swimming against the current might’ve sounded simple…

  But the power required was actually many folds above running uphill against the wind, especially when the opposing force was supernaturally strong!

  Perhaps even the average foundation builders will have no choice but to ride the current, but...

  A strong body coupled with streamlined modern swimming skills managed to get Bubai where he wanted.

  As soon as one of his foot touched the wall, Bubai tried to grip on to it, but he almost slipped along due to the strong current!

  One foot wasn’t enough, then two! Still not enough? Add his hands!

  It only took a heartbeat to steady himself and stick there like a gecko.

  A smile took over his face and he scaled up the wall step by step...

  Spsh! Seeing the carp break out from the water and walking straight up the wall like it was solid ground, Wu Dawei’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

  “Is that…”

  “The Cloud Sword Sect’s Cloud Ascending Steps?!”

  The scarecrow Tai Yinjun jolted upright as if he discovered big news and spped the tea table in excitement.

  “Old Fart! You still dare say this dollie has no problem?! Look! He’s already using the signature skill that those hypocrites like to use to ride swords and sneak over walls at night!”

  The younger elder Tai Yinsu that was quietly polishing his gemstone also spoke up in support.

  “Yoh? That technique is an inner disciple heritage not spread to outsiders. I am very curious—what is this boy’s retionship with that sect?”

  All eyes turned to Ma Pei, who sat there combing his beard like nothing was wrong.

  But inwardly, Ma Pei almost rolled his eyes to the skies, asking the heavens why he had to deal with this mess!

  Sigh. That obnoxious curse! Whatever. He’ll see it through to the end...

  “Hohoh… don’t look at me like that. Don’t worry. He’s clean.”

  “When I picked that cheap brat up from the wilds, he was already way past the age to be inducted as a formal disciple, but was still stuck in the mid-stage of Qi-refinement.”

  “Such talent? Those hypocrites won’t even take a second gnce.”

  But the old crow just won’t give up. “Gah! Then, Old Fart, how do you expin that?!”

  Ma Pei paused for a sec then smiled like a teahouse storyteller.

  “Hohoh, I do have some insights on that... You all remember that fiasco of that good-for-nothing disciple of mine?”

  “Geh?” Tai Yinjun’s mouth stitched up a grin. “The one who got himself spped to death by that evil dollie over a nameless flower? What’s he got to do with this?”

  Ma Pei nodded like a sage.

  “Hoho... that ss they were fighting over was an inner disciple of that sect. I passed that ss over to this cheap brat as a meeting gift. It isn’t surprising he picked up a skill or two from her.”

  “Oh?” Here, Mo Badao, who was quietly sipping tea, showed some interest. “Sounds like their retionship must’ve developed quite well.”

  “Hohoho, the cheap brat’s got charm, just like me in my old days.”

  “Charm? Pei! Old Fart, has your eyes gotten blurry from old age?! Just look at that ugly face of his!”

  “Gah! Even scarecrows would be ashamed to call him kin! I wonder what drugs he fed that nameless flower to get her to willingly go against her oath and cut off her future road like that!”

  “Hoho, it’s not always about the looks…” Ma Pei paused then shook his head. “...And it’s not like she had a future in the first pce since she ended up here.”

  This, none of the elders could disagree on. Even the two matriarchs did not refute.

  The scarecrow could only ment to himself.

  “Gah! What a waste! A flower stuck to cow dung. If she got sent to our cn, we can bless her with a chance to live longer than even you old fossils!”

  “Bah! Bless my foot! Those broken dolls of yours are no better than those stitched-up living dead!”

  “Hey now, hey now, Old Fart, how can these be compared? Unlike them, our doll arts preserves the essence of life. It’s eternal beauty!”

  “You don’t know how many of those wilting flowers pine for this chance at immortality! I say it’s a fair trade!”

  “Pei! Fair my foot! Isn’t it just torturing them until they obediently accept? Who can’t!”

  “Gah! Nonsense! You—!”

  “Alright, alright, enough you two.” Grand Elder Jia gave them a faint smile and warned, “Even if it’s not for yourselves or us, shouldn’t you two at least give some face to His Majesty?”

  The two squabbling old geezers discreetly shot a gnce back at the faceless king silently seated like a statue on the bck throne above them all and tacitly agreed with a snort.

  Jia Wunan chuckled. “Yes, yes. It’s not good to harm our harmony over little things. Let’s just enjoy the show in peace, shall we?”

  His gaze fell back to the arena.

  “And by the looks of it... that Wu pup is a wolf, but the prey this time might be a real crouching tiger. Things might just get... very interesting.”