CH 360

360: Crossing the Sea

The clouds above suddenly moved to form words in the sky.

"Use whatever methods to get to the other island. Succeed and survive, fail and die."

The words only flashed for a few seconds, but it was long enough for everyone to read.

“Cross to the other island? But the winds are so strong! How are we supposed to get there?!” Someone cried out in a high-pitched voice.

“If you don’t want to go, you can just die here.” Someone with a gloomy expression spat out.

“Well fortunately for me, I brought an air resistance scroll. I’ll pass this for sure.” He took out the scroll from his space ring, opened it, then activated the formation. The scroll immediately surrounded him and flew him to the sky.

He walked against the wind easily and made half the distance in no time at all. However, as he got closer to the other island, a small black funnel cloud rushed at him.

“Ah!”

His body was crushed and smooshed into a pile of blood and bones protruding from mangled flesh. He splashed into the sea, his body disappearing forever.

“Ha!” the crowd took a deep breath. The tiny whirlwind was only the size of a person’s head. Who would have thought a tiny thing like that could kill so efficiently?

“It doesn’t look like we can pass by flying.”

“It’s not safe to take the water either.”

“I’ll try it!” a man with martial qi supporting his feet spoke out. He stepped off the island and onto the water. Looked like he intended to use this method to walk over.

Unfortunately, he sank into the water the moment the stepped over.

He had an ugly expression on his face as he pulled himself up. A few people snorted, thinking he didn’t even know how to do something as simple as using qi to walk on water.

There were plenty in the group who had good sight. They could tell from a glance the man was strong, so doing something like falling into the water wasn’t a mistake he’d make.

There was only one explanation for what happened. The water must have somehow leeched the qi from his body as he touched it.

Another water-based magician tried water magic with the same result. Those who had mocked the first man couldn’t do so anymore after that demonstration. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that there was something wrong.

There were so many tiny whirlwinds in the sky now. Hitting any would result in death. Travel through water seemed impossible, well that was unless they physically swam across. But who knew if there were water equivalents to the sky whirlwinds if they tried?

The situation made everyone frown.

But it wasn’t like there weren’t smart people in the crowd. After a while someone went into the woods and began chopping down the trees to make a raft. It was a great idea and many people joined in.

Even if they couldn’t use magic or martial qi, they could still build boats and sail or row across the water!

Things were looking up. They had a plan!

Feng Wu and Zo[notes] decided to build a canoe. Since it was just the two of them, they didn’t need much space, just something to support their combined weight.

Feng Wu had no experience building a boat, but luckily there was Zo, who had been a homebody for over a hundred years. He had learned many things from all the books he read in that time. When conditions were appropriate, he would find even experts for private lessons.

He had invited a professional ship builder to teach him the craft back when he was interested in shipbuilding.

Zo found a blueprint of a ship from his ring. He scribbled on the paper a bit and came up with a doable redesign that would suit their needs, but he was just an ordinary person, so asking him to do such heavy manual labor was impossible. Feng Wu would have to do all the labor herself.

She walked into the silent woods. Perhaps it was the environment of this specific tomb, but the trees here did not develop a consciousness. Feng Wu couldn’t feel anything from them.

With Zo’s oversight, she cut down a big tree then proceeded to shape it with her short sword.

The people around them were also building their own boats and rafts. They noticed the tiny girl moving and hauling wood around busily while the guy with her just sat and waved his arms around every now and then. They shot him looks full of disdain.

In their eyes, Zo as a pretty boy with no abilities who was leeching off a poor and kind-hearted girl in order to survive. The girl was a bit stupid though, to work so hard for a man she didn’t know. It would be better to kick him out instead of letting him fart around doing nothing.

They saw Feng Wu and Zo as two ordinary people. One was hardworking, while the other was a lazy-good-for-nothing.

How strong could a girl her age be? Surely not even at the intermediate level.

Odds were low they’d make it out of the tomb alive.

Zo noticed their looks, but he was worthless and used to being despised, so their reactions weren’t anything new to him. He’d gotten used to it, so he didn’t feel sad. He’d been laughed at for a hundred years already, so his heart wasn’t fragile and delicate anymore.

Feng Wu’s view was different though. In her eyes, Zo was amazing. He was like a master shipbuilder who could draw and design in outstanding detail as he explained how everything worked. He answered all her questions and kept explaining things until she got it. He talked in a way she could understand.

The adoration in her eyes embarrassed Zo. It was the first time anyone looked at him that way, and it was over such a small thing. Everyone else would have just said it didn’t matter what he knew, a waste was a waste. It didn’t change the fact that he could never be a sword master or magician. Even if he entered university, he would still be destined to a life or ordinary citizenship with a short life span. But here was Feng Wu admiring him for knowing something ordinary. She really was unusual.

Time passed by and the sounds of construction sounded all around. Eventually people began moving their completed vessels into the water. Some were hollowed out of big trees while others were logs tied and wrapped in vines.