Crystal Water Lily

"Miss Shui Mei is undoubtedly the most beautiful woman in the entire world of Tian! Did you see her in that dress?" A man wearing a white hat and blue commoner-class clothing leaned against the wall. His sword, neatly sheathed into the scabbard, rested on the wall while the man, who was a Shui manor gatekeeper, spoke to his fellow gatekeepers.

"She looks like a fairy! We're fortunate to have both a heavenly son and a celestial fairy! When I meet Kong, the Cheng family gatekeeper, I won't be courteous anymore." Another gatekeeper bellowed. He held tight to a wine jar.

"Of course! We, the Shui family, are the island's rulers!" The initial man exclaimed, "I will be able to boast and secure a suitable wife." He then burst into a fit of cockiness.

A silhouette watched them in the darkness, unknown to them. The gatekeepers were under a lantern, so Xu Kai could see them despite their obliviousness to his presence.

'Are they genuinely incompetent or simply intoxicated? They're so naive to think any of the lineage families actually care about the people. Those scheming people just want to leave this forsaken island yet these two dreams of better days. Such ignorance is painful,' Xu Kai sneered.

He crept to the wall and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, a cerulean light flickered through both eyes, and his muscles bulged a bit.

His strength had increased by twofold!

Fwoosh—! He leaped to the roof of the three-meter-tall wall. Instant chatter and a variety of sounds flooded his ears. Most of them were boisterous men's laughter and women's giggles.

But these were just the menservants and maidservants who weren't on duty.

Tiptoeing to the end of the wall, he turned to his right and continued moving until he entered the inner courtyard. No guard noticed him, and no one expected anyone to have the courage to infiltrate a lineage family.

Unfortunately…

Looking left and right, Xu Kai pressed his ear against the roof. He listened for a short while and resumed his movement.

'I did not hear any signs of breathing, but I do smell grains. It's probably a storage room. Then why are the windows open?'

He shrugged that thought off his head and leaped from the wall, which was actually the back of the servants quarters, flying over two oblivious guards and landing on a pavilion.

Clack—!

The root tiles made a sound, causing Xu Kai to grimace.

"Wait!" A guard's voice rang.

"What is it?" Answered in a different voice, most probably the second guard.

"I heard something from the pavilion."

"Who cares? Our shift is over."

Xu Kai's beating heart calmed when the sound of their footsteps disappeared into the distance.

Some time later, a small figure slipped into an octagonal azure hall, which had a pool in the middle and pillars.

Hu~

He exhaled heavily.

With a couple of steps, he jumped into the water and found himself in a vast, endless ocean. It was even more beautiful than the one he grew up seeing every day.

A cerulean glow flashed from his head to his feet, transforming him into an intimidating, mysterious 10-foot-long Skylark Shark.

He swam towards a pagoda-built building, using his powerful tail.

A ferocious beast, adorned with enchanting patterns, emerged from the water, its size intimidating and its head and teeth intimidating. In mid-air, water poured from its body, and the moment it landed at the gate, the ferocious beast was now a small, skinny boy garbed in a tattered brown tunic and blue skirt.

His wet hair stuck to his forehead. On the entire island, he was the only one known to cut his hair so that it barely covered his eyes.

'Wow! This building is huge. There's no way the Shuis could build this, and how did they get enough water in Tian to create this sea or ocean? Whatever it is.'

His wet sandals left footprints on the ground. It left trails that ran straight from the gate to the highest floor, where Xu Kai stood before a small pond.

Gazing at the shimmering blue water, Xu Kai doubted it was the same water he saw and drank every day.

Crystal water lilies floated on the surface, and right in the center, the biggest one flaunted its fleshy crystal petals.

"The crystal water lily has indeed recently reached the intermediate mortal grade! Why does the Shui family have so many beautiful things? They live in a beautiful manor, enjoy delicious meals, have a beautiful daughter, and cultivate beautiful herbs. Come on!'

Though he grumbled, Xu Kai wrapped his fingers around it and brought it out of the water. Immediately, it disappeared from his grasp and lingered at the location where the cerulean column consistently reappeared upon its dismissal from the platform.

Bam—! Bam—!

The building swayed from side to side, as if something had shaken it. Right at that moment, a massive eye blocked a window!

Seeing this, Xu Kai fled. As he ran out of the ground floor, his eyes met a turbulent ocean. The waves were so high that it seemed like the building would capsize.

"Intruder!"

A fierce roar caused his clothes to flutter, whipping against his skin. Turning his head, blood drained from his face as a colossus coiled around the building.

It resembled a flood dragon, sculpted from water. The dragon's long tendrils resembled snakes, and its massive eyes focused on a single figure.

Him!