Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  The rumbling sound, echoing through the heavens and earth, the ruthless and endless power of the heavens and earth, seemed to have only revealed a glimpse of its true nature at this moment. In the face of such terrifying might, ordinary people were like ants, pitiful and helpless in the rolling waves.

  Large trees and boulders tumble and roll, struggling to turn over in the surging flood of seawater, giant waves crashing against the sky in a small bay, like a huge monster descending upon this place, about to tear everything apart.

  Shen Shi desperately ran towards the cave, the loud and terrifying sound of water was already behind him, even under his feet, at this time, there were puddles everywhere.

  In the wind and rain, even breathing sounds seem to be drowned out. At this critical moment of life and death, who would still have the mind to think about past events? The huge waves roar, and if you slow down for a second, you might die here.

  Closer, closer, even closer...

  Whether it's the cave in front of you or the terrifying giant wave behind you.

  The waves were surging, and the water vapor seemed to be swirling around their ears. Their clothes were soaked through, and it seemed as if they would be swept away by the huge waves at any moment. The black cave appeared to be just a few feet away. Shen Shi let out a loud shout, using all his strength, and plunged forward, dragging Zhong Qing with him. They both tumbled into the cave, barely escaping the danger that had been lurking beneath the surface.

  The stone wall was hard and dark, and when it fell on the hard rock inside the cave, they heard a huge impact behind them. It was the mighty waves crashing against the mountain wall, and at that moment, the entire cliff seemed to be trembling and shaking.

  All living things may be reduced to powder under this terrible force.

  But before they could come back to their senses, Shen Shi heard a shrill cry from beside him:

  "Water! Water, water is rushing in..."

  Shen Shi suddenly turned his head, but in front of him was a sudden darkness, and then in the flash of lightning, he only felt a huge wave rushing towards him, his body instantly lightened, and then completely lost control, being swept away by the powerful current into the depths of the mountain cave.

  In the chaos, it was as if heaven and earth were spinning around, his body rolling non-stop. In the darkness, he still clutched that soft palm, and at some point, the girl also turned her hand over, grasping him tightly like a lifeline, refusing to let go.

  The water flow was so rapid that it rushed into the mountain cave and was compressed by the narrow stone wall, with a force that was amazingly great. The two people were completely unable to control their bodies and were swept away by this violent water flow in an instant, to an unknown distance. It turned out that this unassuming small mountain cave was actually very deep, and the water flowed straight into it, yet after a long time, there was still no sign of the bottom. The two people were carried by the water flow in the darkness, colliding with the hard stone wall countless times, their bodies covered in wounds, and they didn't know if any bones had been broken.

  Only two palms, grasping tightly, at the moment of life and death, in the icy cold water, it seemed that only each other was the only warm and pitiful dependence. However, under this terrifying power like the collapse of heaven and earth, people were like ants, bodies like floating duckweed, finally still separated their palms before their consciousness gradually became blurred, losing sight of each other.

  With a loud thud, Shen Shi was smashed against the hard stone wall once again. Already in despair and struggling to breathe in the water, he finally fainted and lost consciousness.

  The green fish gather at Xuanri Hall.

  The entire Qingyu Island was submerged in the storm at this time, with dark clouds hanging low, thunder rumbling, and the calm sea seemingly venting its accumulated anger. The strong winds came one after another, and the heavy rain poured down, dyeing the sky and earth a dull gray color.

  Tall and majestic, Wang Heng stood in the study, gazing out at the window where the stormy rain blurred the sky and earth. He hadn't moved for a long time, his eyes fixed on some unknown place in the distance, as if they too were gradually becoming blurry.

  A strong wind howled in, bringing with it a torrent of rain that lingered outside the window, but every time it seemed about to burst in and soak him to the bone, an invisible force would form a barrier, gently blocking its path just inches from the window, preventing it from advancing any further.

  "Knock, knock...". Someone was lightly knocking on the door outside. Wang Heng withdrew his gaze from afar and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Come in."

  The door to the study was pushed open with a creak, and in walked a tall man wearing the uniform of a Ling Xiao Sect disciple. He was the same person who had gone up with another shorter fellow disciple to post the notices earlier. Wang Heng turned around and looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and saying, "Zheng has arrived, please take a seat."

  This disciple of Ling Xiao Sect, whom he called Zheng Shidi, was named Zheng Zhe. He had always been on good terms with Wang Yun and was his trusted assistant in handling major and minor matters on Qingyu Island, along with Kang Chen, they were known as Wang Yun's right-hand men.

  The two of them got along pretty well, and when Zheng Zhe and Wang Hou were alone together, they were relatively casual. He nodded slightly in response and walked over to sit down.

  Wang Heng closed the window and shut out the wind and rain outside, then turned around and sat down in front of Zheng Zhe, saying: "How's it going?"

  Zhen Zhe Dao said, "The storm warning has been posted on the notice board. Then I ran to several important places, such as the Array Hall, Dan Hall, Mine Field, and the Beast Arena of the Spiritual Beast Temple, and personally checked them out. I also reminded the few junior brothers who were on duty there not to relax their vigilance. After all, this year's new disciples had only been on the island for over a dozen days, and they might not have experienced the stormy weather of the Cang Hai Sea before. If they weren't careful, something bad might happen."

  Wang nodded and said: "Indeed, you are meticulous in your work, so I am naturally at ease." He paused for a moment, then asked, "Have all the halls and rooms taken stock of their personnel?"

  Zheng Zhe Dao said: "Most people have already checked their heads and there is no shortage, only the earliest array hall I went to. Because the orthodox people went to 'Cai Bei Tan' to call back new disciples, it was just a continuous return, and I was in a hurry to go to other places to check, so I left first. However, the two Shidi on duty at the Array Hall are both conscientious and careful people, and there should be no mistakes."

  Wang Heng smiled and said, "It should be so, after all, the new disciples who picked up the bet on that side are almost all sons of aristocratic families. If any one of them gets into trouble, it's likely to cause a lot of trouble. Zhong and Xu, two fellow disciples, also come from aristocratic families, and they must be very clear about this point."

  Zheng Zhe coughed and didn't continue the conversation.

  Wang looked at him and didn't say anything else, the study seemed to quiet down all of a sudden, the sound of wind and rain outside grew urgent and sparse, as if it had gradually seeped in.

  After a while, Zheng Zhe spoke up: "Senior brother, Kang Chen has gone to Jin Hong Mountain for several days and hasn't returned yet. Could it be that he was really detained and punished?"

  Wang's eyes flickered slightly, and after a moment, he slowly shook his head, saying: "I also don't know, Kang Shidi is the beloved disciple of Zhuo Teach True Person, and together with that Du Shixiong, they are known as the twin pillars under Hua Yuan Zhenren. I suppose even if there's fault, the punishment won't be too severe."

  Zheng Zhe nodded, seeming to let out a breath of relief, but his eyes darted involuntarily towards Wang Chen. A moment later, Wang Chen seemed to have thought of something and turned to ask Zheng Zhe, "By the way, what did Lin Shidi say about the missing notice?"

  Zheng Zhe shook his head and said, "I've asked him many times, but Lin Shidi insisted that he had indeed posted the notice this morning, and there was no possibility of error."

  Wang Chong snorted coldly and said: "Then why didn't he appear afterwards?"

  Zheng Zhe smiled wryly and said, "I also asked him that. Lin Shidi was tongue-tied and couldn't answer, only insisting that he had indeed posted it, and saying that maybe someone wanted to harm him on purpose."

  King furrowed his brow and said, "Nonsense, who would want to harm him?"

  Zheng Zhe shrugged his shoulders.

  Wang Heng was silent for a moment, then said: "Newcomer to the island, I've just taken over the affairs of Qingyu Island, and there are many things to attend to. I don't have the leisure to bother with him. You go back and tell him a few words, remind him that next time he should be more down-to-earth and serious. If he makes another mistake like this, I won't let him off the hook a second time."

  Zheng Zhe nodded and said, "Yes, I will make it clear to Lin Shidi."

  Wang Teng thought for a moment, then said: "Later, you should go to the Zhen Tang side again and confirm whether they have gathered all the people. Newcomers on the island are not long, in case something happens, it's really not good-looking, even I'm afraid I will also be scolded by several elders of the sect."

  Zheng Zhe nodded in agreement and immediately stood up, saying: "In that case, I'll go to the main hall right now. You just wait for my news, Big Brother."

  Wang Dou also stood up and gently patted Zheng Zhe's shoulder, saying: "It's been hard on you, younger brother."

  Zheng Zhe smiled and turned around, walking out of the study. As the door closed behind him again, Wang Hou walked back to the window and slowly pushed it open.

  Look at this vast wind and rain, like crying and complaining, in the midst of the wind and rain, a vast expanse, actually covering that majestic green mountain.

  Wang Heng gazed silently into the distance, staring at the vague shadow behind the thick rain curtain, lost in thought, as if deep in contemplation.

  In the darkness, Shen Shi let out a painful groan and slowly came to from his daze.

  Alive or already dead, this thought emerged from his mind as soon as he opened his eyes. What entered his sight was a deep and profound darkness, seemingly without any light, making him feel as if he had fallen into the underworld for a moment.

  Just a moment later, suddenly all over his body in more than a dozen places began to ache at the same time, instantly making him shiver with cold sweat in the darkness. This pain was so real and there were so many wounds on his body that he must have been battered against the hard stone wall by the rushing water earlier. As for himself, he didn't know why, but it seemed he had narrowly escaped disaster and miraculously survived.

  All around was dark, and Shen Shi had no idea where he was. He only felt that his body ached all over, and there was a faint chill spreading through him.

  He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and struggled to sit up. He tentatively stretched out his hand in the darkness, and where he touched was icy cold, as if he had reached into a puddle of water. Shen Shi was stunned for a moment, then randomly moved his body, hands and feet to feel around, and soon discovered that all around him was shallow water about a foot deep. It seemed that he had been washed into some small pond or the edge of a lake.

  Shen Shi didn't dare to move randomly in the darkness for a while, after all, it was an unfamiliar environment around him, and he didn't know where he was or if there would be any dangerous things. He sat still on the spot, not even minding that sitting in the water was uncomfortable, and began to try his best to recall the situation before he fainted.

  A moment later, he thought of another important thing. Falling into such a desperate situation and being swallowed by the huge waves rushing into the cave was not just him alone.

  Where did Zhong Qing Zhu go?