The sunset glow spanned thousands of miles.
At Huai’an Wharf, the fleet of the Upper Right Thousand Household Office was docking for supplies.
Yang Ge lay on his back on the deck of the ship, resting his arm under his head. Laughter from Fang Ke dealing with the officials of Huai’an echoed in his ears, while the splendid sunset that dyed half the sky red unfolded before his eyes. Below him, the large ship gently rose and fell with the waves...
In a state between sleep and wakefulness, it was as if all troubles and regrets had vanished in an instant.
Only a single pure thought danced freely along the thread of memory.
In his daze, it seemed as if he saw once more Ma Liu’s final strike.
That powerful cut that summoned a water dragon several zhang high!
In his mind, that strike was frozen in time.
The colors and scenery around it were stripped away one by one.
Only that streak of saber Qi remained, like a beam of light stretching across a dark space.
He stared blankly at that saber Qi, his scattered thoughts taking a long time to realize what he was doing...
Until suddenly it hit him, and he bolted upright, exclaiming, "The flood, that strike was like a flood!"
As if he had grasped something, he leapt down from the roof of the ship, lightly touching the deck with his toes. His figure swept past the guard with agility.
"Clang."
The clear sound of a long saber being unsheathed rang out. The guard instinctively slapped his waist only to find an empty scabbard. When he looked up, he saw a familiar figure holding a shiny iron-handled ox-tail saber, leaping into the air.
"Break!"
Seizing the inspiration from just a moment ago, he invigorated his Inner Qi and slashed downward.
The yard-long bright gleam of the saber, reflecting the sunset glow, struck the calm surface of the river heavily.
"Boom."
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Waves splashed over two zhang high, and a fat-headed fish, caught up in the spray, landed on the deck, desperately flapping its tail.
Yang Ge watched the ripples on the river surface, sharply tapped the water with his foot, and leveraged himself back onto the vessel.
Seeing this, the guards on duty rushed forward with their hands on their sabers, "My lord..."
Yang Ge didn’t turn his head as he raised a hand, "Don’t let anyone disturb me!"
The guards bowed and stepped back, dispersing and standing around the vessel, gesturing to brothers in robes who came running to the noise, signaling them not to come closer.
"Where did I go wrong?!"
Yang Ge caressed the ox-tail saber in his hand, carefully recalling Ma Liu’s breathtaking strike that summoned a water dragon several zhang high.
Ma Liu’s cut was actually very powerful.
If it hadn’t been slightly lacking in momentum, he would have been the one defeated by that strike.
Compared to the stunning elegance of Ma Liu’s cut.
The one he had clumsily imitated just now was like comparing big oranges to golden Jinhua pears.
The spirit was not the same.
The form was also not the same.
After pondering briefly with knitted brows, he suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.
Ma Liu had grasped a saber technique after watching the Flood Peak pass by.
He didn’t contemplate the passing of the Flood Peak but the memory of Ma Liu’s strike instead.
Wasn’t this like the game of "Telephone," where "Shen likes to play with a stick" turns into "Shen likes to play with a bachelor," and then into "Shen fancies a small flying stick"?
Could the essence be the same?
He chuckled, "Hehe," closed his eyes, slowly lifted the ox-tail saber in his hands, and began to imagine the scene of the Flood Peak passing by.
It was true that he had never faced a flood directly.
But he had seen floods and the Great Tide of the Qiantang River.
He had also seen videos and images of the Flood Peak passing by, turning the plains into a vast ocean.
Now, he shrank his "self," magnified the sense of insignificance and trembling when facing the roaring flood, and immersed himself in comprehending the Flood Peak passing by, the resolute and surging momentum that could destroy anything in its path and turn fertile fields into a sea.
His heart gradually became calm. He imagined himself alone, with a backpack, holding a trekking pole, standing in the middle of a dried-up mountain valley riverbed, facing a flood several stories high bearing down on him.
The mountains and rivers trembled!
The very heavens and earth lost their color!
Gradually...
He seemed to hear the deafening roar of the water.
He felt the cold torrents of rain slapping his face wildly.
Even the ground beneath his feet seemed to tremble genuinely...
Yang Ge suddenly shivered, goosebumps evident on his skin, and all his hairs stood on end.
Even the palms of his hands and soles of his feet began to sweat profusely...
His body swayed, and he almost lost his connection to that terrifying sense of power.
In his mind, "he" bit down on his teeth, forcefully steadying his shaking legs. He watched as the flood surged over him. The unstoppable force flung him into the churning, muddy waters, where he quickly lost all human shape...
When his thoughts lost the constraints of the physical body, they turned into formless matter, freely moving through the torrential flood.
Roaring with the flood.
Rushing with the flood.
Uprooting towering trees with the flood.
Smoothing over the rugged rocks with the flood.
Irresistible!
Unbeatable!
If it meant never returning!
Then never return at all!
The goosebumps that had just receded from Yang Ge’s face surged over his head once again.
This time, it wasn’t just a single wave.
Wave after wave kept surging toward the top of his head.
His breathing became heavy and rapid.
The ox-tail saber raised high started to tremble with the rhythm of his hurried breath, and the sharp saber light on its blade was subdued, flickering and uncertain.
Until...
When his clenched teeth were shaken loose by the tremor of his body, and the flowing images in his mind along with the fiercely resolute intention in his heart started to waver, Yang Ge abruptly opened his eyes. With a fierce leap, he roared, "Break!"