Shackles of Humanity

”My friends, I’ve finally caught up!” Li Gui broke the surface, gasping for air. He had stripped down to his shorts, revealing a withered body and fair skin. Strangely, despite the constant wind and sun at the mine, the old man’s skin was still so pale.

Shisan ignored Li Gui, his face filled with admiration as he looked at Luo Kai. ’I can’t believe it. With just a few words of guidance, Luo Kai has already taken his first step into the Refining Spirit Realm—a level most Body Refiners can’t reach in their entire lifetime. To think such a genius exists in this remote Southern Lordship Kingdom!’

In truth, this was the effect of Luo Kai’s Water-Repelling Totem. Ever since he entered the water, the fish-shaped totem tattoo beneath his arm had been flicking its tail and swimming according to some mysterious pattern. As long as Luo Kai was in the water, not even the slightest change in his surroundings could escape his Perception.

Li Gui forced a smile. ”My friends, do you have any ideas for how to get out of this?”

”We’re not out of danger yet. Keep swimming!” Shisan said in a low voice, glancing up to get his bearings.

They set off again, following the sea breeze. The physical exertion of swimming was far greater than traveling on land, but thankfully, all three of them were exceptionally durable. Li Gui’s swimming style was bizarre; he moved exactly like a frog. A single kick of his legs would send him shooting forward several meters, and he showed no signs of fatigue for a long time. His speed and endurance were no worse than Luo Kai’s or Shisan’s.

Roaming the open sea, something they could have never imagined before, was now their reality. But ”roaming” was a generous term; they were mostly just drifting with the waves, utterly insignificant in the vast, endless ocean.

Luo Kai had been constantly worried about sharks or other man-eating fish, but luckily, they hadn’t encountered any. As the sky began to dim, a stretch of reef appeared ahead. A wave of excitement washed over them, knowing their lives were safe for the time being.

Exhausted and starving, they had no energy to move another inch once they crawled onto the reef. Moments later, they fell into a deep sleep.

They awoke in the dead of night. The temperature difference on the open sea was extreme, and the cold night wind made them shiver violently. With no shirt on, Li Gui’s face was blue from the cold, yet his spirits were high. He smiled and said, ”We must be in coastal waters. There should be merchant ships passing by!”

With their stamina depleted, they could do nothing but wait. They were trapped on the reef for two full days, surrounded by the vast, empty sea. Forget merchant ships; they rarely saw even a bird or a fish. Shisan tried diving to catch fish, but doing so bare-handed in the ocean was exponentially more difficult. His Giant Power was useless here. All he could do was scavenge for crustaceans in the reef’s crevices to stave off their hunger.

Luo Kai was a skilled swimmer, but he was injured. After days of being soaked in seawater, his wound had become inflamed and started to fester. Now, he couldn’t use his arm at all and was too weak to help fish.

That evening, Shisan stared up at the Stars, his expression grave. ”It’s impossible to tell direction out on the ocean. We may have swum the wrong way. We’re most likely in the outer sea!”

Li Gui exclaimed in alarm, ”They say the outer sea is home to man-eating Fierce Beasts! Even the Xingma Kingdom’s Iron Armor Fleet doesn’t dare venture deep into these waters.”

Shisan nodded. ”That’s right. The Fierce Beasts of the sea are all immense. They usually only live in the deep.”

Luo Kai looked up as well. The Stars in the sky were dazzlingly bright. The Starry Sky and its reflection in the water mirrored each other perfectly, until the Stars and the sea seemed to merge into one. It was an intoxicatingly beautiful sight, but they were in no mood to appreciate it.

A sense of desperation began to creep in. For the past two days, they had eaten nothing but a few sea crabs and snails. They could endure the hunger, but they wouldn’t last long without fresh water.

Luo Kai licked his parched lips. He walked to the edge of the reef, splashed seawater on his face, and said in a hoarse voice, ”Waiting here is pointless. We have to get off this reef!”

The words had barely left his mouth when Shisan’s expression changed. ”Look out!” he yelled.

A shadow had appeared on the water’s surface out of nowhere. A white spear shot out from beneath the waves, aiming straight for Luo Kai’s back.

Luo Kai lunged forward, rolling with the momentum. He didn’t dare look back. ’If I turn to look,’ he thought, ’I’ll never dodge it in time.’

The Bone Spear struck empty air and immediately retracted into the sea. With an angry roar, Shisan leaped into the water. Boldened by his immense skill, he charged toward the shadow, his four fists ready.

The shadow was incredibly agile. It jinked left and right before vanishing into the depths in an instant.

”What was that?”

Shisan climbed back onto the reef, his expression grim as he scanned the surrounding water. More and more shadows were appearing, belonging to serpentine creatures that were now encircling the reef completely.

In the moonlight, the three of them finally got a clear look at the monsters. They weren’t fish, but creatures with human torsos and serpentine bodies. They were about the size of an adult human and covered in black scales. Their upper halves were humanoid, but their lower halves were long, snakelike tails. Though they had human-like faces, they lacked nostrils. A massive, fang-filled maw dominated their features, with pairs of sharp tusks protruding past their lips, creating a terrifying sight.

Even more unnerving, the creatures had arms on their upper bodies. In their hands, they clutched weapons that looked like white spears. The spear tips glinted with a metallic sheen in the moonlight, appearing incredibly sharp.

”Snake-men! There are so many of them!” Li Gui cried out, his face pale with terror.

The human-headed, snake-bodied monsters began to gather, slithering up onto the reef. Their vertical, reptilian eyes, the kind only cold-blooded creatures possess, stared at the three men with an icy gaze.

The three men slowly retreated behind a large rock. They hadn’t eaten in days and were terribly weak. Fear began to creep into their hearts.

Shisan tossed the utility knife he was holding to Luo Kai. ”It seems this really is the outer sea,” he said in a low voice. ”The Snake-men are cruel and cunning. We’re in for a bloody battle tonight!”

Luo Kai caught the knife. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid of these terrifying creatures he had never seen before. But sometimes, Fear can be a motivator. His blood began to pump faster, a faint heat spread through his body, and the feeling of weakness slowly receded. It was the body’s natural response to crisis: forcibly drawing upon its latent potential.

The largest of the Snake-men slithered forward, flicking its forked tongue and letting out a series of hisses. This appeared to be their language, as several Snake-men to the left immediately raised their spears and attacked.

Their fighting style was strange. Their spear thrusts weren’t linear; instead, the weapons changed trajectory mid-attack, making it impossible to predict their true path.

Shisan’s muscles bulged as he leaped to the forefront. He didn’t dodge or evade the incoming spears, but instead met them head-on, swinging his fists to clash directly against the cold, gleaming points.

CRACK! A sharp, explosive sound echoed through the air. Several spears snapped in unison. The residual force was so great it sent the attacking Snake-men flying backward. The sharp spears hadn’t even scratched Shisan’s fists!

The Snake-men’s cold eyes betrayed no emotion. They let out a series of grating hisses and began to attack in waves.

This was the first time Luo Kai had seen Shisan truly fight. The Snake-men’s attack style was bizarre—their circuitous, twisting thrusts were incredibly difficult to defend against. ’This must also be a type of Body Technique,’ Luo Kai realized, ’a combat skill based on curved attacks.’ Shisan, however, was the perfect example of using one’s entire body as a weapon. No matter the angle of attack, a hardened part of his body would intercept it. The sharp spears couldn’t penetrate his solid muscles; he was a living, breathing combat machine.

His attack style also embodied the core principle of the Mighty Dragon Fist: overwhelming technique with pure force. Every punch he threw was accompanied by a sharp crack as it tore through the air. With his four fists moving in a blur, the air seemed to fill with afterimages, and for a time, it was the Snake-men who were beaten into a steady retreat.