IS Chapter 39

Dragon Li Yuan’s swimming skills seemed even better than his flying skills.

The dense, black seawater was like the mouth of a ferocious beast, choosing its prey to devour, with giant waves several meters high crashing head-on from all directions at any moment.

Yet, he was exceptionally composed, exceptionally graceful.

The black dragon carried him, brushing past a row of mountain-like, terrifying waves, and charged straight at an even more treacherous wave head-on, leaping out from the crest.

The wind howled furiously. The monstrous waves couldn’t do anything to them, and could only crash back into the sea with a mountain-collapsing, tsunami-like roar, stirring up snow-like spray on the dense, black surface.

Ye Zhuo realized that his fingers had unknowingly latched onto a small branch of the dragon’s horn at some point.

Well, in such a dangerous situation, it’s only natural to instinctively grab onto something.

Ye Zhuo continued to admire the turbulent waves before him.

He also reached out and touched the dragon’s dark, beautiful scales beneath him.

This dark, stormy sea seemed to be a perfect match for such an unbridled Hidden Abyss Black Dragon.

If it were a dragon of any other color, it would probably lose some of its charm.

The wind and waves were most treacherous when they reached the center of the sea. Lightning suddenly tore through the sky, and amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder, a violent storm arrived simultaneously.

Looking around in this wind and rain, all that could be seen above and below was an endless, undulating ocean.

Ye Zhuo was a little lost in thought.

Li Yuan asked him with his divine sense, “What are you thinking about?”

Ye Zhuo: “I’ve gained some understanding of the true meaning in your sword, and I’m thinking about how to integrate it into my own.”

“You!”

The dragon was exasperated: “You promised you wouldn’t cultivate today.”

“I was lying,” Ye Zhuo said.

“Are there seas like this in the Dragon Realm?” he said. “I was thinking, so you grew up in such an environment, no wonder your state of mind is so open.”

How rare. To actually hear a human word from this person.

Li Yuan: “My state of mind would be even more open without you.”

Ye Zhuo just laughed.

When the storm stopped, the terrifying waves seemed to slow down a little. Ye Zhuo stood up, wanting to look further ahead, but the dragon beneath him suddenly leapt up and flipped over, throwing him into the air.

“…!”

Before he could gather his spiritual power to fly, the awe-inspiring black dragon suddenly magnified before his eyes.

It actually picked him up in its mouth!

And then, it carried him straight down, plunging into the abyss-like sea.

Seawater instantly engulfed Ye Zhuo, and everything he saw and heard turned into a chaotic blur. After a long while, his eyes finally adjusted to the light in the sea.

Above and below was a bottomless chaos that seemed to stretch on forever, and the only thing clear in his vision was the faint outline of the black dragon.

The terrifying waves on the surface of the sea turned into surging undercurrents beneath the surface, and he seemed to be able to feel the pulse of the entire sea.

…That’s interesting.

Just as he was thinking this, the dragon suddenly loosened its grip, leaving him in the water just like that.

With nothing to rely on, Ye Zhuo fell downward, pushed and rolled by the undercurrents into the increasingly deep sea.

He couldn’t hear anything anymore, only the thumping of his heart.

The pair of dark golden dragon eyes could still be vaguely seen at first, but in the blink of an eye, they had completely disappeared. All he could see were the red sleeves of his robe floating in the water.

Ye Zhuo quietly watched the faint light of the sea surface almost disappear, and he fell deeper and deeper into the infinitely deep abyss.

Suddenly, he touched something cold beneath him.

Next, the pressure from all directions suddenly became lighter and lighter, and finally, with a crash, the black dragon butted him out of the sea with its head, and then pushed him onto a reef.

The black dragon’s figure disappeared abruptly, turning into Li Yuan in human form.

“How was it? We’re here,” Li Yuan said, reaching out to pick him up.

Then, looking at the person in his arms, soaking wet and breathing a little rapidly, he asked, “Did you choke on any water?”

Ye Zhuo shook his head.

Then he silently watched the dragon, looking excited.

Dragon Li Yuan’s next sentence was indeed: “…Was it fun?”

“…”

Ye Zhuo slowly nodded.

Li Yuan suddenly wanted to kiss the corner of his eye.

Ye Zhuo’s Way of Emotionlessness was very well cultivated, but there were occasionally different moments, like now.

So Li Yuan leaned down and pecked him, then looked at the person’s appearance.

The wet skin was like jade, and it was too cold underwater, so the person’s complexion was inevitably a little pale, but it made his eyebrows and eyes even more distinct.

Unfortunately, although it was very beautiful, the edge of the North Sea was still too cold.

Li Yuan used spiritual power to dry the person’s body, and then pulled him up.

This was an island formed of black reefs. The wind and waves around the sea were still very large, but they were much calmer than at the beginning.

Ye Zhuo looked north, and the end of his vision was still the sea, but it was separated from him by a layer of misty sea fog. He couldn’t see the boundary between the sky and the sea, and he couldn’t see how far away it was.

Looking at that place, there seemed to be a slight daze in Ye Zhuo’s eyes.

“Is this the end?” he asked.

“That’s right, the end of your human realm is here,” Li Yuan said. “I tried to go into that fog, but no matter which direction I went, I was always going back, I couldn’t go forward.”

As he spoke, Ye Zhuo was pulled by Li Yuan and sat down together on the highest point of the reef. The stone surface was fairly flat.

Looking back in the direction they had come from, the sea was vast and blue, impossible to cross.

This was a place that people could never reach in their lives, but today they could travel to the North Sea in the morning and Cangwu in the evening.

“How did you find this place?” Ye Zhuo asked.

He thought that although Dragon Li Yuan was erratic, he could barely be considered a purposeful person.

“I wanted to know where the sun sets and where the moon rises in your human realm, so I found this place.”

“Then this place?”

“This is where the moon rises,” Li Yuan said. “We arrived at just the right time, and we’ll be able to see a very big moon in a while.”

Ye Zhuo remembered those vague secrets of the Sumeru Buddha Realm.

It said that all the heavens and worlds have sunrises and sunsets, but the creatures in the realms can only see them and cannot truly touch their entities.

Perhaps the sun and moon in all realms are shadows of the same sun and the same moon. And the real sun, moon, and stars exist in the void between realms, and no one can see their true faces.

Ye Zhuo’s understanding of these things was limited to this.

The movement and evolution of realms is the most profound and rarest lineage of the Great Dao, and those who cultivate this path must study the scriptures until they are old and gray, and they will never be able to ascend.

“Are there dragons in the Dragon Realm who cultivate the Dao of Realms?”

“Yes, the Realm Dragon Clan specializes in the Dao of Realms, and they won’t be born for thousands of years. They only speak out to inform the various clans when there are fluctuations in the realms.”

Ye Zhuo: “The Upper Purity Main Sect is also like this.”

Li Yuan: “I see.”

Ye Zhuo looked at the misty sea in the void.

“The grievances and struggles of the world will eventually turn into dust, and even the vast ocean has an end. Only the Heavenly Dao is vast and time is eternal,” he said. “You think my Dao is not good, so you brought me to see your Dao, right?”

Li Yuan was flattered that he thought of him so kindly.

“Your Dao is not bad, it’s just that there are some places I can’t agree with,” Li Yuan said frankly. “I’m not trying to get you to agree with my Dao, I just think you’re cultivating too much. If the string is tightened to the limit, it will break, so I wanted to take you out to play for a day.”

His words actually sounded reasonable.

Ye Zhuo: “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Li Yuan said. “Speaking of which, you should have some idea of how to overcome the tribulation yourself, right?”

“The reason I can’t overcome the tribulation is because I haven’t yet become one with my sword.”

Li Yuan: “?”

Li Yuan: “I’m also a sword cultivator. If you still don’t count as being one with your sword, I think it’s absurd.”

“I also cultivated Buddhism,” Ye Zhuo said.

“The cultivation of Buddhism and the cultivation of the sword are both part of me, and they should be integrated. However, when I use the sword, I can’t use Buddhist methods, and when I use Buddhist methods, I can’t contain the true meaning of the sword, so neither path can reach the tribulation.”

“That’s why I said that the sword and I are not one. When we become one, I will naturally overcome the tribulation.”

Each of these words seemed absurd when taken apart.

But if it happened to Ye Zhuo, it was very reasonable.

If the Dao of the Sword and Buddhism were combined, not to mention this human realm, even in the Hongmeng Great Realm and the Sumeru Upper Realm, he could establish a sect and spread it to all realms.

Li Yuan didn’t want to pay attention to him at all.

Ye Zhuo: “What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Li Yuan said. “I think I’m doing everything very well, and the Tribulation Realm should come naturally. If it’s like you said, my clan’s understanding of the laws of wind, thunder, water, and electricity would already be contained in my sword. I can’t figure it out after thinking about it, so I let it go.”

Ye Zhuo didn’t really want to pay attention to him anymore.

Ye Zhuo: “Isn’t your moon coming out yet?”

“It’s not time yet, but there’s more than just the moon here.”

The dragon was vague, so Ye Zhuo asked directly: “What else is there?”

Li Yuan looked at the slowly flowing white mist at the end of the sea, as if looking for something.

Then he said, “Close your eyes.”

Ye Zhuo closed his eyes.

After a few breaths, Li Yuan said, “Okay.”

Ye Zhuo opened his eyes, and at that moment, a long, ethereal cry came from the front.

Behind the sea fog at the end of the North Sea, a shadow of a giant beast, like a Cover the sky and the sun, slowly surfaced.

Its shape was similar to that of a whale, but its size was thousands of times larger, and it was even heavier.

Ye Zhuo watched it slowly leap out of the sea, leisurely swimming towards the distant horizon, and disappearing into the fog.

There was actually such a creature in this North Sea.

It was a pity that it was behind the fog, so he couldn’t see its true face.

Li Yuan: “I don’t know which realm this is, but it’s adjacent to your North Sea. Unfortunately, there’s no passage, so you can only see its figure from afar. After it leaves, the moon will come out.”

Sure enough, after the North Sea behemoth swam away, a line of moonlight appeared on the horizon.

Then, a giant moon that almost occupied half of the sea slowly rose before their eyes.

Li Yuan had previously said that this was a “very big moon,” and Ye Zhuo felt that the wording was a bit inaccurate. He had not expected that his entire field of vision would be occupied by this bright, full moon, and even the sky and sea seemed small.

This scene was ethereal and terrifying.

It made one feel that human life was short-lived, like a ephemera.

“How is it?” Li Yuan asked him. “Did I choose a good place?”

Ye Zhuo: “You have good taste.”

After saying that, he felt that the dragon seemed to want to get close to him again.

“Don’t move,” Ye Zhuo said. “I’m looking at the moon.”

“Then look,” Li Yuan said. “Call me when you’re done.”

When the giant moon had completely risen and began to move in the sky, Ye Zhuo felt that he had finished watching.

Ancient battlefields, the North Sea, giant beasts, and a bright moon. He had indeed gained many insights along the way, which should be integrated into his cultivation, but Dragon Li Yuan wouldn’t let him cultivate, which made Ye Zhuo very uncomfortable.

“I’m done watching,” Ye Zhuo said. “Shall we go back?”

Li Yuan said no.

“There’s still something to do,” he said.

They had reached the ends of the earth, and they had seen scenes that even cultivators could not see in their entire lives. Was this dragon’s day not over yet?

Ye Zhuo: “What else is there?”

Li Yuan: “Naturally, it’s going to sleep.”

“…?”

These two words even made Ye Zhuo feel strange.

He heard himself repeat hesitantly, “Go to sleep?”

“That’s right. You said that you would do whatever I do, and now I want to sleep, so you come too.” Li Yuan turned him around and made him lean on his shoulder.

Ye Zhuo couldn’t understand.

“Since there’s nothing to do, I think I can go back to cultivate.”

“I can’t reason with you,” Li Yuan said. “Anyway, you promised me, so now you go to sleep.”

Ye Zhuo struggled to get up, but Li Yuan held him down firmly.

Li Yuan: “If you don’t sleep, I won’t take you back.”

Ye Zhuo: “.”

Those were truly tough words of threat.

If Li Yuan didn’t take him, it might be three years before he returned to Cangshan.

But he still couldn’t understand, and frowned, “Since there’s nothing to do, why do you want to sleep?”

“If there’s nothing to do, shouldn’t you sleep?” Li Yuan had never heard such strange words.

Then, a bad feeling suddenly arose: “You wouldn’t have not slept since you started cultivating, would you?”

“Of course. Do you sleep?”

Li Yuan was speechless for a moment.

Admittedly, he didn’t sleep much either.

But even he had only started to really cultivate non-stop after Ye Zhuo pulled out his scales ten years ago.

Cultivators can not sleep. But he felt that when he was alive, he could still rest occasionally.

“That’s not right.” Li Yuan suddenly remembered something. “You’ve slept before. Don’t you sleep after every dual cultivation?”

Ye Zhuo finally broke free from his shoulder, and looked at him expressionlessly when he heard this.

“Have you ever thought about one thing,” he said, “I passed out.”

Li Yuan: “…Is that so.”

Ye Zhuo’s fingers seemed to be going to press on his sword.

This was not good, so Li Yuan directly hugged the person around the waist, ignoring his resistance: “I won’t say anymore, it was my fault.”

Then he pressed Ye Zhuo into his arms, wanting him to lie down with his arm as a pillow.

Leaning on his shoulder and not wanting to sleep, this should be okay, right?

“I’ll apologize to you when we get back,” Li Yuan said. “But you promised tonight that you would listen to me, so get some sleep first.”

Ye Zhuo just looked at him quietly.

“People are born knowing how to sleep, it’s very simple,” Li Yuan stroked his long hair and said, “You don’t have to think about anything, and you’ll naturally fall asleep.”

Ye Zhuo: “Why are you laughing?”

“Everyone sleeps, but you don’t. It’s normal for me to laugh at you,” Li Yuan said. “If you fall asleep, I won’t laugh.”

Ye Zhuo didn’t want to pay attention to him, and said coldly, “Then you sleep too.”

Li Yuan gently tightened his arms to make the person lie more comfortably: “If you fall asleep, I’ll fall asleep.”

Finally, the person in his arms was quiet and didn’t move, as if he had resigned himself to sleeping.

Li Yuan looked at the moon with peace of mind for a while, and then lowered his head, wanting to see Ye Zhuo’s condition.

Then he met the pair of beautiful eyes that were quietly open.

Li Yuan: “…”

He was now feeling a headache.

“Close your eyes first,” Li Yuan said.

Ye Zhuo closed his eyes.

Unable to see anything, his hearing became unusually sharp.

In this position, he could hear Li Yuan’s heartbeat. It was very slow, like the sea.

Holding him, Li Yuan thought for a while.

“You don’t have to defend against anything either, there are only two of us alive here, nothing will happen,” he said. “Or, you sleep and I don’t, okay? If there’s really something wrong, I’ll wake you up.”

The person in his arms seemed to finally cooperate, and gave a weak “hmm.”

Li Yuan smiled softly.

Then he said, “Sleep.”

After saying that, he looked at the moon for a long time, and the North Sea under the moon. When the moon was in the middle of the sky, the breathing of the person in his arms finally became gentle and even.

He had fallen asleep, truly rare.

Li Yuan summoned one of his cloaks, used spiritual power, and slowly and gently draped it over the person.

He lowered his head to look at the person’s sleeping face, his quiet face half-hidden under the silver-embroidered collar of the cloak, gently leaning against his chest.

Sure enough, he wasn’t annoying like this.

Li Yuan moved gently, and hugged Ye Zhuo and the cloak together in his arms.

Then he quietly held him like this, watching the stars move and listening to the ebb and flow of the tide.

Until the east turned white.