Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing was also seeing such a river surface for the first time. To be honest, watching the surging water, he was indeed somewhat shocked. The speed of the water flow far exceeded his expectations, causing Ye Qing to frown involuntarily.

”Young Ye, you just said you could cross the river?” Old Wang Ba looked at the surging river water, full of disbelief as he looked at Ye Qing, ”How are you going to cross this river, tell me?”

Ye Qing looked at the river water, remained silent for a moment, and said, ”In a moment, I’ll go first, then use this Ice Silkworm Thread to tie your bodies and pull you across one by one.”

”Mr. Ye, how... how will you get across by yourself?” Wu Changming was taken aback and looked at the river surface, ”The speed of the water here makes it impossible to swim across. Once you enter the water, you’ll be swept away by the current. It’s simply impossible to get across!”

Yelu Ying walked over and said softly, ”Ye, how about we choose another route? We don’t necessarily have to take this path.”

”No worries, I can get across.” Ye Qing took out the Ice Silkworm Thread, folded it in half, and then securely tied his waist with it at the midpoint.

The Ice Silkworm Thread was very long, and although the river surface was over twenty meters wide, the length of the Ice Silkworm Thread was more than three times that of the river surface. By folding the Ice Silkworm Thread in this manner, after Ye Qing crossed the Beimeng River, both ends of the Ice Silkworm Thread would still be on this side. This way, they could continuously use the Ice Silkworm Thread to pull people across without encountering a situation where once a person crossed, all the Ice Silkworm Thread would end up on the opposite shore.

Ye Qing tied himself securely with the Ice Silkworm Thread and then handed it to Yelu Ying and the two elders, saying solemnly, ”When I go into the water in a while, you must hold the Ice Silkworm Thread tightly. Do not let go, as it would be dangerous if you do!”

The two Tomb Guarding Elders just nodded, while Yelu Ying looked anxious and said, ”Ye, are you really going into the water? The water flow is so fast that you won’t be able to float once you go down. How can you cross the Beimeng River like this? Ye, perhaps we could take another route. I can’t let you take such a risk!”

”Don’t worry, I have a way!” Ye Qing nodded at Yelu Ying and said, ”You just need to hold the Ice Silkworm Thread tightly.”

”What way do you have? No matter how good you are at swimming, you’ll be swept away by the current once you go down. How could you possibly get across the Beimeng River?” Wu Changming said, ”Mr. Ye, let’s choose another method. This route simply won’t work!”

Ye Qing smiled and said, ”Indeed, it’s impossible to get across the surface of the river, but the speed of the water flow beneath the river isn’t as fast.”

”What do you mean?” Everyone was stunned, not understanding what Ye Qing intended to express.

”Are you planning to dive across?” Wu Changming pondered for a moment and said, ”That’s impossible. Although the current beneath the river isn’t as fast, you would have to dive down first. With this water speed, you’d be swept away once you entered the water, and you wouldn’t be able to dive to the bottom, let alone cross the river!”

”The river water can sweep people away, but it might not be able to sweep away rocks, right?” Ye Qing walked to a large rock by the riverbank and patted it with his hand, ”If I hold onto this thing and go down, the current can’t possibly sweep me away!”

”You... you intend to use this rock to help you dive to the bottom of the river?” Wu Changming’s eyes lit up, but he immediately shook his head repeatedly, ”No, no, if you hold onto this rock, you can dive to the bottom, but you won’t be able to float back up! This more than twenty-meter wide water surface, surely you don’t intend to remain underwater all the way, do you?”

”I’ve learned Breath Holding Skill, and this distance shouldn’t be an issue!” Ye Qing replied.

”But, this... this is still very dangerous...” Wu Changming was full of concern. He now fully regarded Ye Qing as one of their own, and so he genuinely didn’t want Ye Qing to take risks.

”Ye, how about we take another route?” Yelu Ying advised softly at the side.

”No worries, just here!” Ye Qing lifted the large rock and looked at the people behind him, ”I’ll go first. When you cross later, you won’t need to go underwater. But it’s best to learn some breath-holding skills, or you’ll be choked by the water when you enter.”

”Ye...” Yelu Ying wanted to say something, but Ye Qing directly jumped into the water with the stone in his arms, leaving her no time to stop him.

As soon as Ye Qing jumped into the water, he clearly felt how terrifying the current of this river was. The stone in his arms definitely weighed over one hundred jin, and Ye Qing was struggling to hold it. However, as soon as he jumped into the water, Ye Qing’s body was directly swept downstream by the river, giving him no time to react.

With the stone still in his arms, the river felt like a powerful force, pushing him uncontrollably in the direction of the current. He struggled to stabilize his body, which resulted in an awkward situation where his body was inclined forward by the current, almost lying in the water.

This situation was quite dangerous. With the stone in his arms, Ye Qing couldn’t stabilize himself in the water. The best way for him to stabilize was to throw away the stone. However, once he threw it away, he’d be in even more trouble. Without the stone anchoring him, he wouldn’t be able to dive underwater, let alone cross the river.

At this critical moment, Ye Qing suddenly felt a tightness around his waist. A strong force forcibly held him back as a few people on the shore joined forces to pull on the Ice Silkworm Thread, controlling his body.

Feeling reassured, Ye Qing was glad he had discussed it with the people on the shore beforehand, instructing them to grab the Ice Silkworm Thread at crucial moments. Otherwise, he would have been in trouble. Without hesitation, before sinking into the water, he took a deep breath and, holding the stone, executed a Thousand Jin Drop to forcibly dive to the riverbed.

Just as Ye Qing had anticipated, the flow speed at the riverbed was significantly lower than the surface. He stabilized himself using the weight of the stone at the bottom. After distinguishing the direction, Ye Qing wasted no time as he clutched the stone and headed straight toward the opposite bank.

Walking underwater was far more difficult than on land. Let’s not mention that Ye Qing was holding a stone weighing over one hundred jin; just the flow speed at the riverbed posed a great resistance. Moreover, with soft mud at the bottom, Ye Qing’s legs sank into it due to the stone’s weight, adding more trouble for him. To move forward, he had to pull his legs out of the mud, which was not easy.

Additionally, the most unexpected challenge was the presence of aquatic plants growing at the bottom. After walking for a while, Ye Qing was entangled by a bunch of water plants, complicating the situation further. The plants were incredibly tough, and underwater, he couldn’t exert much power to break free. Of course, he could easily cut them with the Wu Hong Dagger, but with both hands holding the stone, he couldn’t reach for the dagger, putting him in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, on the shore, Yelu Ying and others were anxiously watching the water’s surface. Ye Qing had been underwater for nearly two minutes. This time, though not long, felt like an eternity to them. After all, Ye Qing was submerged and couldn’t breathe; two minutes was really hard to endure. Even though Ye Qing knew Breath Holding Skill, how long could he hold on? Furthermore, since he remained underwater, no one knew his current situation, inevitably causing concern.

”Will Big Brother Ye encounter any trouble?” After waiting for a while, Yelu Ying couldn’t help but anxiously ask.

”Should we pull him back?” a girl beside her asked.

”Let’s wait a little longer,” Wu Changming waved his hand and said solemnly, ”Mr. Ye knows Breath Holding Skill, so he should be fine for now. He might be close to the other side already. If we pull him up now, we would waste all his efforts.”

Everyone wore worried expressions, not knowing Ye Qing’s current situation underwater, leaving them with no choice but to wait.

At the same time, Ye Qing was still entangled with the aquatic plants underwater. His Breath Holding Skill was actually a method recorded in Acupoint Seeking Technique, and truthfully, he wasn’t very proficient with it. The breath he had been holding was almost depleted. He still couldn’t get free from the plants, feeling like his lungs were about to explode, desperately wanting to drop the stone and surface for air.

However, Ye Qing didn’t dare act rashly. Based on the distance he’d covered, he was close to the opposite bank. At this point, if he surfaced, his efforts would have been in vain; he had to persevere.

After struggling for a while, Ye Qing gradually figured out the position of the plant’s roots. He paused slightly, striving to regain some composure. Then, following the inner strength method he learned at Beimang Mountain, he circulated his True Qi throughout his body, concentrating all his strength in both arms. Pulling fiercely in the direction of the roots, he managed to uproot the water plants.

Exerting that effort took a lot out of Ye Qing, but he dared not delay. Free from the predicament, he quickly grabbed the stone and headed for the opposite bank. He was almost suffocated, his ears ringing, and his mind blank; his only thought was to get a breath of air, much like a drowning person. Nonetheless, his perseverance was strong, and despite his discomfort, he pushed himself to keep going.

After running for almost a minute, Ye Qing’s head suddenly bumped into something. Exhausted, the collision caused him to lose hold of the stone, which fell away. The river’s buoyancy lifted him up, and he could even feel the rapid current on the surface.