Chapter 43: Drifting

The rogue cultivator in the lead was very displeased by Jiang Li's escape. He grabbed a rock the size of a basketball and smashed it into the river.

However, the water ripple was completely erased in the turbulent Mother River, not a trace could be seen.

"Big brother, I don't know either. We've all tried. Among those eight guys, two are at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm. The rest are all at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm."

"They have no experience at all. We were standing in the crowd today and they didn't even notice us."

"Big brother, why don't we rush into the palace tonight? As usual, we'll keep the women and kill the men."

The shifty-eyed cultivator made a suggestion.

Bang!

However, before he could smile, his big brother kicked him to the ground.

"Are you a fool? They're all disciples of a sect. If we can kill them cleanly and eliminate all evidence, fine. Now, one of them has escaped and you're still suggesting we make a move? Do you want to die?!"

The leader of the rogue cultivators had a hideous expression. He felt helpless towards his younger brother's stupidity, but at the same time, he was angry at the sect for oppressing rogue cultivators.

"Then… what should we do?" The younger brother asked weakly.

"What do we do? Find him, of course! Let's go find him along the river bank! I don't believe he won't come out and catch his breath!"

While these rogue cultivators were chasing along the river bank, Jiang Li and the black zombie were already brought down by the rapid flow of water.

Jiang Li chose to set off alone naturally not because of his sense of responsibility, nor did he have any intention to be a hero. His relationship with Yu Banxia and the rest had not reached that stage yet.

He chose to do this partly because of his mindset as a transmigrator, feeling that he was destined to have this fortuitous encounter. With such a precious treasure appearing, it was hard for him to not interfere.

On the other hand, it was due to his self-confidence. Although he was only at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm, he had tested his strength against the two unlucky fools, the Twin Devils of the Thorn River.

With the enhancement of the buffs, he could beat almost all Qi Refinement cultivators.

As for the stronger Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they were still busy searching for the zombie demon, so it was impossible for them to appear on the outskirts of the river. In addition, Jiang Li planned to follow the river trail and avoid most of the cultivators. His safety was actually very guaranteed. It might even be safer than staying in the city.

Thus, Jiang Li volunteered to accept this mission.

However… plans could not keep up with changes.

Bang!

A muffled sound of collision rang out from under the water. Jiang Li's skin was completely dyed black as he fiercely collided with a rock under the water.

A faint fishy smell surged in his throat. Jiang Li, who cultivated the Mountain Crushing Scripture every day, had suffered some injuries from that collision just now.

After colliding, Jiang Li's head faced downwards as he was wrapped by the water current and spun like a top while descending rapidly.

This feeling was really unbearable!

[High-speed spinning. Added Status: Dizziness.]

[Dizziness: Disorientated by 60 degrees, thinking speed decreased by 40%, Mind temporarily decreased by 0.3. Duration: 20 minutes] (− +)

Although Jiang Li could swim, it was only at the level where he would not drown. It was completely incomparable to swimming like a fish.

The undercurrent was so strong that he could not maintain his balance.

Not to mention swimming, his entire body was being carried by the river water. He was going left three times, right three times, up three times, and down three times. He could not stop rolling at all.

In just a few minutes, Jiang Li was stunned because he spun too quickly. If not for his quick reflexes, he would not have been able to eliminate the [Dizziness] status in time. If the dizziness continued to stack, he might completely lose consciousness.

It was no wonder that the three rogue cultivators did not dare to chase after them. Qi Refinement realm cultivators would also drown here.

The power of nature in this world was much greater than in his previous life. The power of the rivers and waves was enough to tear apart a person's body. If one did not possess superhuman swimming abilities, it was not impossible to be submerged by the river and drown.

Fortunately, Jiang Li had the fish gill grass, and the effect was indeed good.

Although his breathing was not as smooth as when he was on the ground, after the water flowed into his nose, it would produce a large amount of bubbles.

The oxygen that had fused into the water was extracted, so that he did not have to worry about drowning.

But that was all.

Bang!

Another rock collided with Jiang Li. A ball of blood appeared in the river and was quickly scattered by the current.

The status of [Underwater Breathing] could not help his swimming skills.

Jiang Li had also tried to resist the power of the water or go along with it in order to regain control of his body and reduce the collision with the hidden rocks.

However, how could such profound techniques be grasped in a short time?

He still continued to roll around and collide into various reefs.

However, during this ruthless collision, Jiang Li sensed that his Mountain Crushing Scripture was currently advancing by leaps and bounds. The effect of Body Tempering was far greater than the effect of him crashing into the mountain wall.

It seemed that this Mountain Crushing Scripture was really a self-torture cultivation method. The more ruthless the impact, the better the effects of his cultivation would be.

"No, if this goes on, I'm going to die!"

After being underwater for more than an hour, Jiang Li saw that his health bar had already fallen by a quarter.

Of course, the numerical value of his health and stamina could not completely display Jiang Li's physical condition, but it had a considerable reference value.

"No, I need to go up and catch my breath."

Wood Armor Technique!

He channeled his Wood-attribute spiritual qi and successfully cast the spell technique.

In the light filled with vitality, a layer of wooden armor quickly grew out and completely covered Jiang Li's entire body.

The wooden armor that covered his entire body moved upwards with sufficient buoyancy.

Jiang Li's nearly sinking body was constantly lifted up by the wooden armor to the surface of the water.

From time to time, a few undercurrents would form a whirlpool and pull him back into the water. However, this whirlpool could not last long and would dissipate soon.

The buoyancy of the wooden armor would never disappear. After going up and down, Jiang Li finally surfaced.

Jiang Li was a little speechless. He did not expect that his first attempt at using this Wood Armor Technique would actually be to use it as a life vest.

Being under the water was too dangerous. Cultivators with Water-attribute spiritual roots might fare better. But people like him were no different from ducks.

Jiang Li lay on the water surface, floating and sinking along with the waves. He was thinking about what to do next.

Floating on the surface of the water made him too obvious of a target. Furthermore, the movement speed was several times slower than underwater. It was obvious that he could not do that. In a while, the black zombie would probably be washed away.

However, if he entered the water again, his small body would not be able to withstand the impact.

Wait… the black zombie?

Jiang Li hurriedly used the 'Zombie Seed' to communicate with the black zombie. Although the zombie was sturdy, it did not know defense, so it was probably inferior to him. Could it be that it had already been shattered by the collision?

When he sensed the black zombie's condition, Jiang Li's expression became strange.

It was not that the black zombie was not injured, but its injuries were much lighter than Jiang Li's.

It did not move at all, flowing along like a motionless corpse. However, every time it was about to hit the rock, it would move away along with the flow of the water, so it did not suffer much damage…

Could it be that… all that he had done earlier was not only useless, but had an opposite effect?