Jiang Xiu followed the lantern. When it stopped moving rigid in its place, neither moving forward or back, he immediately understood that there was a strange power underneath.
"Below here!"
His body submerged at a rapid pace comparable to diving down from the sky.
Qian River's depth had exceeded his expectations, it was a full 50-60 meters deep. He sank at a decent speed then reached the underwater surface which was actually mud.
His pupils expanded, making his eyes turn entirely black as his gaze ran over everything.
A human wouldn't change after living underwater for a year, and perhaps even after 10 years, but the same couldn't be said for 50-100 years.
Special evolution. This was a reasonable explanation as to why the Wang family's Ancestor wanted to cultivate underwater.
Changing the habitat would inevitably give rise to variation.
Although it wasn't a smart move to cultivate underwater, Jiang Xiu couldn't deny that the best way to cultivate divinity on Earth where there was a lack of spiritual energy was to exploit the various environments.
He wondered how the Wang family's ancestor had fared.
The bottom of the river was quite serene. A man's silhouette was visible leaning on a faraway rock, covered under weeds, releasing an awful and mysterious breath.
After Jiang Xiu had neared it, he saw big chains tying the man down to a half-metre wide, 1.8 m tall Giant Sword that is thorned inside the muddy earth.
"Friend, you have come from far away!"
He had wholly wasted away, wore worn-out clothes which exposed his ribs outside, even the cage was visible yet this body possessed a colossal power.
The man opened his eyes while speaking, resulting in an intense radiance emitting from his eyes. It waned after a pulse. He was asleep before or to say he was practising fetal breathing.
"Your majesty has come to find me, right?"
He spoke in a calm tone.
"To duel with me?"
Although he was at the bottom of the river, he could clearly see everything that had happened ashore. The incident had occurred at the Bayview Pavillion, so it wasn't difficult for him to know about this.
Jiang Xiu shook his head, "Not a regular duel but rather a life or death duel."
His eyes opened suddenly then sized up Jiang Xiu who appeared quite arrogant and confident. The man smiled faintly, "Okay, I've stayed at the bottom of the river for 60 years already and was getting tired of it."
Saying so, he stood up.
The chains on his body issued a tinkling sound. He was worried that he couldn't keep himself underwater, so he trapped himself here forcefully for 60 years.
Today is the day for him to break the seal.
His body began to float. The sword's handle was too high, so he could only hold it after floating. He pulled the sword out of the quagmire.
Just this single action revealed that his insights into the Dao of Water were notable. He moved even nimbler than a fish and pulled out a Giant Sword weighing several kilos effortlessly.
"Ding!"
He waved the sword and chopped at the thick chains, breaking free from its binds.
"I won't take advantage so let's fight ashore!"
He rushed towards the surface of the river while saying this and flew out with astonishing speed in a split second.
"Humph!"
Jiang Xiu followed behind him tightly, his body's movements as fast as a storm's. He didn't fall back at all; this was no matter to joke about. The Heaven Treading Sect's Sect Master had 3 millenniums of cultivation experience. There was no way an average person could compare to him.
The Wang family's ancestor had hardly rushed out of the surface when Jiang Xiu followed after him.
"Look there!"
"They came out!"
The people on the Bayview Pavilion cried out in alarm after seeing two silhouettes rush up from underwater. Their hearts almost skipped a beat. The Wang family's Demigod was about to appear.
"Hahaha…"
The Wang family's ancestor laughed after seeing the light again, soaring to the skies like a bird, holding a sword twice his size and gliding across the river's surface.
A whole 60 years. Even Old Madame Wang who had seen him before couldn't recognize him now, but they were all sure that this old man was the Wang family's ancestor. The children of the Wang family kowtowed one after other.
"We are incompetent. Ancestor, please bestow us your protection."
"Please bestow us your protection!"
The Wang family had suffered extraordinary shame and humiliation today. Their rage wouldn't quell unless Jiang Luoxia died. Only then would their Wang family regain their prestige in Jiangnan.
"Brat, since you've dared to offend my Wang family then only one path awaits you, death."
It seemed as if he possessed wings as his feet lightly touched the water's surface. The surrounding water rose together with him, making it appear as if his power was above nature.
"Meet my sword!"
He drew out his Giant Sword, resulting in a vast power being drawn in, forming up a giant wave. He had accomplished this by relying on his cultivation to condense them together, making the soft river water as hard as steel and shoot towards Jiang Xiu.
One single drop was enough to pierce a person!
"Rumble!"
Jiang Xiu rushed out of the water and landed on the surface. The waves surged forth once his feet touched the surface, causing the entire Qian River's water surface to tremble.
The energy pulse spread out and knocked against the giant wave.
"Bang!"
The two powers clashed, giving rise to a 30-40 m water wall, wreaking havoc like a tsunami.
"Hahaha…"
The Wang family's ancestor laughed again.
"Not bad, you haven't disappointed me."
He took another step and slashed towards the water wall, the sword energy rushed out from the sword and passed through it.
The 2nd Slash!
This sword energy was incorporeal and colorless, but its sword-like shape was visible due to the water falling down from the sky as it bounced off it.
Inner Strength was extraordinarily crude, and it didn't change much even after reaching the Supreme Stage. However, the Wang Ancestor's sword energy had condensed to the brink and was just a step away from materializing.
This didn't differ much from the divine force. It could be said that the inner strength had already transformed completely. However, even if it was divine, there was a significant difference in the power. This power alone still hadn't reached the level of true divine force, that's why this realm was called Demigod Realm.
As for Jiang Xiu, before he formed a complete divinity totem, he was still a newborn god that was also a Demigod.
There wasn't much difference in their powers.
The only difference was that Jiang Xiu possessed knowledge of many divine skills, spells as well as the experience of battles he had gone through in his 3 millenniums at the Immortal Martial Continent.
This vast disparity wasn't something that could be described in words.
"Your cultivation is pretty good!"
Jiang praised him. It could be considered pretty good to be able to cultivate to such a stage on Earth where the spiritual energy had depleted.
"Only…"
Jiang Xiu took a step forward as he slashed out, releasing a 10 m wide sword light that was emitting a bright radiance in his hand.
It disintegrated the incorporeal sword energy.
The Wang Ancestor's face morphed. His sword light was impure with multiple colors while the counterpart's sword light was bright. The difference between the quality of the divine force was similar to the light of a Firefly and the Sun.
"What kind of ancient sword art are you using?"
The sword light passed through the water wall and dashed towards him, causing him to retreat. He waved his sword multiple times, leaving behind several afterimages as the many droplets knocked against each other.
The sword light struck the pitch-black Giant Sword and sent him flying backward.
"It's a pity…"
Jiang Xiu sighed. His divine force was too weak since had used the rudimentary sword art of the Heaven Treading Sect called the 'Thirteen Heaven Treading Sword Arts.' It was a foundational sword art which Jiang Xiu had put in the most time and energy to learn in those days.