The cloaked man was stumped for a moment, but he quickly returned to his senses.

He had to as well, because his opponent was not intending to stop his charge anytime soon.

While everyone was still shocked at how Lu Tianzi managed to cut through the cloaked man's sword light in a seemingly effortless manner, Lu Tianzi had continued charging forward, and was already almost right before the Blue-finned Razor Whale that the cloaked man was riding on.

"Go!" the cloaked man ordered, and the Blue-finned Razor Whale responded immediately.

The beast opened its mouth, firing a powerful jet of water at the approaching Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi had no choice but to temporarily stop his advance.

After all, his comprehensions into the Law of Water did not make him impervious to water element based attacks.

Lu Tianzi drove his true origin core, channelling his Origin Force into the Moon Culler as he braced himself for impact.

The jet of water from the Blue-finned Razor Whale might appear simple and unimpressive, but Lu Tianzi could sense the sheer physical power behind it.

It came at such speed that even with his Flowing River Silent Strides, there was no way for him to dodge this.

Blue-finned Razor Whales relied on pure brute force during combat, and this attack was the perfect show of its physical might.

The jet of water pierced through the waters like a spear, directly smashing against the raised Moon Culler.

Lu Tianzi furrowed his brows as he bore the full impact of the attack.

Even after the dampening effect of the Law of Water, the collision still sent him deep into the depths of the Canal of Misery, far away from the cloaked man.

Fortunately, that was about all that it did.

Apart from that, Lu Tianzi received little to no damage at all.

Now that Lu Tianzi was in the water, he had close to absolute control over his movements, and could easily mitigate a certain amount of incoming damage by moving backwards upon impact.

It was a free and surreal feeling that he had never experienced, yet it all came so naturally to him, as though he had always been used to fighting in the water.

This was the effect of a natural affiliation to an element.

Still, even though it gave Lu Tianzi an edge in underwater combat, it did not make him invincible.

After all, simply defending himself was not enough.

Just like Young Master Xuan Hao, Lu Tianzi had always been more adept at close combat.

As long as he was unable to avoid being pushed back by the water jet attacks from the Blue-finned Razor Whales, there was little he could do to achieve victory.

If he wanted to defeat his opponent along with the twenty or so Blue-finned Razor Whales, he would have to come up with something else.

And Lu Tianzi already had a rough idea of what he had to do, especially when he thought back to some of the opponents that he had faced in the past.

Chiren was a user of the Law of Fire, and used fire as a medium to fight.

Chengban was a user of the Law of Swords, and used swords as a medium to fight.

As for Lu Tianzi, now was the best time for him to try using water as a medium to fight.

The only issue was, how should he do it?

Closing his eyes, Lu Tianzi tried using his body to feel the water around him.

Every drop of water.

Every little current.

While each little aspect was insignificant on its own, it was completely different when they came together to form the complete system known as the Canal of Misery.

Together, they were a massive body of water that was capable of supporting even powerful lifeforms like the Blue-finned Razor Whales.

It was a system of life.

Yet at the same time, this same water body could also exist in a purely destructive form, with the water jet attacks from the Blue-finned Razor Whales being the perfect example.

In fact, this did not only apply to the element of water.

All elements in this world could exist in completely different forms at their extremes.

However, Lu Tianzi was not interested in all the other elements.

His focus remained on the element of water, and only that.

Lu Tianzi relaxed his body, immersing himself in the sensation of the water around him.

In order to maximise his control over water, he wanted to first become one with water.

Just like how established sword masters would feel as though their swords were an extension of their arms, Lu Tianzi wanted to feel something similar before he truly decide on the direction that he should take with this.

A distance away, the cloaked man grinned in satisfaction after seeing that Lu Tianzi was blown away by the Blue-finned Razor Whale's water jet attack.

Just a Second Cycle Origin Core realm after all...

The cloaked man no longer paid any further attention to Lu Tianzi.

He swept his perception over the three martial artists who were fending off the Blue-finned Razor Whales underwater, and the grin on his face only grew wider.

As time went by, the three martial artists only seemed to be struggling more and more.

At this rate, it would not take long before they were forced to give up their meaningless struggle.

With that, the cloaked man finally turned his attention back to Young Master Xuan Hao who was still on the open deck of the ferry.

"We both know that it is just a matter of time now. Give it up, Young Master Xuan Hao," the cloaked man taunted. "If you willingly seal you cultivation right now, I will agree to let your companions go unscathed. Otherwise, all of them will be buried here with you!"

Young Master Xuan Hao harrumphed coldly. "Do you really think I have nothing else up my sleeves?"

"Are you referring to the Timeless Flame Seal?" the cloaked man let out a meaningful smile. "Go ahead and use it then. Let's see how that works out for you."

Seeing the confidence that the other party was exuding, Young Master Xuan Hao could not help but frown.

Could it be that the cloaked man was prepared for the Timeless Flame Seal as well?

Then again, considering how the other party seemed to have planned this out perfectly, it was not completely out of the question.

But if that's really the case, then they were really in dire straits right now!

"Don't worry, Brother Xuan Hao," his female companion said resolutely. "I don't believe we can't beat him with so many of us here!"

"Yeah, you are right, Sister Ruan Ling," Young Master Xuan Hao nodded, albeit with a tinge of uncertainty in his voice. "Let's do this."

Young Master Xuan Hao took out a stone token from his spatial ring and began channelling his Origin Force into it.

As he did, thin lines of bright yellow flames started to spread across, slowly outlining the intricate carvings on the surface of the stone token until it finally formed the words 'Timeless Flame'.

The cloaked man's expression immediately turned solemn, but he did not panic.

Instead, he retrieved an item from his spatial ring as well – a small jade cube that was emanating an aura of frost.

"That's an Earth Frost Cube!" Young Master Xuan Hao exclaimed in shock upon seeing the jade cube.

"Looks like you recognise my little treasure here," the cloaked man sneered. "Do you finally get it now? There's nothing you can do that will be able to save you today!"

"Tch!" Young Master Xuan Hao clicked his tongue in irritation.

"What's the Earth Frost Cube?" his female companion asked curiously.

"It's a treasure that can seal off any one instance of flame attack. It can be considered the perfect counter against my Timeless Flame Seal..." Young Master Xuan Hao sighed.

"This..." his female companion was taken aback by what she heard. "Don't worry, even without the Timeless Flame Seal, we can still win!"

Young Master Xuan Hao looked up at the beautiful moon in the sky before taking a deep breath, his eyes filled with resignation.

It seemed that he was truly out of options this time.

But his companion was right.

Even if he was at an absolute disadvantage, and even if his trump card was countered, he would not simply stay put and die.

So what if it would put him at a handicap?

If he were to give it his all and fight, who knew what would happen in the end?

Wuu-!

Right as Young Master Xuan Hao steeled his resolve to fight to the death, a loud cry filled the air as a Blue-finned Razor Whale leapt out of the water, creating a huge splash of water with its massive body before falling back in.

Hmm?

Young Master Xuan Hao, his female companion, the cloaked man, and even Nanlan Qianxue watched on with strange expressions.

What was it doing all of a sudden?

Only the three martial artists underwater saw exactly what had happened.

While they were still trying their best to fend against the attacks of the Blue-finned Razor Whales, a sudden jet of water had shot up from below and struck one of the Blue-finned Razor Whales.

This impact had sent the beast all the way up to the water surface and straight out of the water.

And in the direction where this jet of water came from, a young Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist stayed floating calmly in the water.

He was naturally none other than Lu Tianzi.

However, what these three martial artists could not understand was how a mere Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist was able to produce such a powerful jet of water.

They were able to sense the strength of the water jet as it passed them by to strike the Blue-finned Razor Whale, and it felt even stronger than the water jet attack of the Blue-finned Razor Whales!

Wuu-!

The Blue-finned Razor Whale that was struck earlier cried in pain after falling back into the water. Its movements had slowed down considerably, but its tough body made sure that it was not incapacitated from just that one attack.

On the contrary, its eyes were now filled with rage.

At the same time, Lu Tianzi's actions also drew the attention of the other Blue-finned Razor Whales, all of them turning away from the three martial artists to face him.

It was clear that they now recognised him as a greater threat.

Without further warning, all of them sucked in a large amount of water before firing out simultaneously, sending out multiple jets of water at Lu Tianzi.

The three martial artists watched on nervously.

All of them knew for a fact that there was no way any of them would be able to handle the simultaneous attack of all these Blue-finned Razor Whales, and they were all of a higher cultivation level than Lu Tianzi.

Yet at the same time, they could not help but feel an inexplicable sense of expectation, as though it was not impossible for this young man to achieve what they could not.

Oblivious to their thoughts, Lu Tianzi only focused on the Blue-finned Razor Whales' joint attack that was heading his way.

He drove his true origin core while raising his left hand in front of him. Behind him, an illusory green vortex shimmered into existence.

Origin Force gathered around his hand, infusing the water around it with energy.

The energised water then started spinning around at great speed, forming some sort of water barrier in front of Lu Tianzi that bore similarities to the illusory green vortex behind him.

This spinning water barrier was not a firm defensive shield that could block out all incoming attacks.

Conversely, the multiple jets of water did not even slow down one bit as they passed straight through the water barrier.

However, while the sheer force and momentum behind the jets of water did not reduce, one other aspect did – the direction they were heading in.

It was as though the multiple jets of water lost their bearing the moment they struck Lu Tianzi's spinning water barrier, all of them spiralling out of control and harmlessly passing him by.

But Lu Tianzi was not satisfied with simply remaining on the defensive.

Once the last of the water jet attacks from the Blue-finned Razor Whales missed, the spinning water barrier immediately compressed into a small sphere of water.

The next moment, this small sphere exploded into a dozen jets of water, each aimed at a different Blue-finned Razor Whale.

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!

Unlike Lu Tianzi, the Blue-finned Razor Whales' only defensive mechanism was their tough bodies, and they had no choice but to take the jets of water head on.

Above the water surface, Young Master Xuan Hao, his female companion, and the cloaked man were just about to investigate the underwater situation with their perceptions when a fascinating sight suddenly appeared before them.

The surface of the Canal of Misery exploded into huge splashes as a dozen Blue-finned Razor Whales seemed to jump out of the water all at once.

Wuu-! Wuu-!

Whale cries broke the silence of the night.

The cloaked man gaped at this scene, unable to believe what he was seeing.

He had ordered the Blue-finned Razor Whales to sink the ferry, and they should be taking care of the three martial artists underwater right now.

The last time he checked, the Blue-finned Razor Whales were having no problem whatsoever suppressing the three martial artists.

So what the hell was happening to them right now?!