The black sword, defying the waterfall, was thrust into the rocks.
Then, a slender yet powerful hand gripped the hilt. Beneath the cascading torrent, a small figure was concealed. His leg muscles tensed, and with a sudden roar, he leaped like a carp jumping over the dragon gate, surging upstream towards the cliff's summit.
Two torrents of water were pushed aside as the youth's feet landed on the rocks.
*Bang!*
Xu Mu stood firm in the river water that reached his chest, unmoving as a bell. His muscles were taut, his eyes closed tight as he controlled the energy within his body. Only when it moved in perfect rhythm with the flow of the river did he truly find his footing.
Then, he opened his eyes, no longer cautiously holding his breath.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!!!"
Xu Mu gasped for air and then began to cough violently, his neck turning purple.
Charles had said he could ascend if he wasn't afraid of death.
So he ascended.
At the cost of holding his breath for half an hour and swallowing a bellyful of water.
...
After an unknown amount of time.
Xu Mu's breathing gradually returned to normal.
Sunlight and his long hair cascaded onto his shoulders. The redness in his eyes was gone, replaced by exhaustion.
"Still as fake as ever."
Xu Mu turned his head to survey his surroundings, then sighed.
This space was an aquatic realm, stretching endlessly to the left and right.
Nothing was there except for the tall, dark stone platform before him.
"Could that Human Emperor not have put in more effort? This vast sea, and only my spot is leaking water to form a waterfall. Such carelessness."
Xu Mu took a deep breath and waded forward through the water with difficulty.
He complained about the falsity of this space.
It didn't even adhere to the law of universal gravitation; it was truly baffling.
"If he had arranged it according to natural laws, you would have drowned long ago."
Charles scoffed. The ferocity of the waterfall was clearly controlled.
Otherwise, with the vastness of this sea and only one outlet, even a half-step Human King would struggle to climb up barehanded, let alone summon their Dharma Forms.
"Alright, you're right."
Xu Mu clicked his tongue, not wanting to dwell on arguing.
The water level at his chest gradually receded as his feet trod on steps, ascending one by one. It was only after more than ten seconds that Xu Mu was fully exposed to the sunlight, having finally escaped the water.
Looking at his now clean, though dripping, pant legs, Xu Mu chuckled.
This was his first bath in months.
"Be careful."
Charles's voice was grave. Xu Mu was only a few more steps away from Fuxi's place of enlightenment.
The Wind and Thunder Platform. He had a feeling something extraordinary would be here.
For instance, an invisible barrier might block intruders from ascending. One more step, and fierce winds and thunder might strike him into dust.
"I only feel that the air here is very sticky; I don't sense anything else."
Xu Mu's steps were steady, two steps per second, neither rushed nor slow. A hint of Dao Origin seeped from his body, emanating golden light and bulging his muscles.
His greatest strength was his physical body, though a body at the third stage was of little use in a trial of this magnitude.
"One more level."
More than half of Xu Mu's body could now see the scene above the Wind and Thunder Platform.
It was about a quarter the size of the Sun Never Sets Plaza. A large drum was set upright in the center of the platform, with eight colored flags planted behind it.
"Seems there's no danger."
Xu Mu's eyes narrowed slightly, and then his boots landed on the Wind and Thunder Platform.
"There's no danger for now."
The youth stood with both feet at the edge of the Wind and Thunder Platform, cautiously surveying left and right. He then breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Before this, Fuxi's trials had been too difficult. He had genuinely considered if he would be struck dead by a bolt of lightning upon stepping onto this platform.
Fortunately, he hadn't.
Xu Mu walked up to the large drum, with a radius of two meters, and looked at the flags behind it and the drumsticks on the ground, frowning.
What did this mean? Was he supposed to beat the drum?
So, he picked up the wolf-tooth club-like drumsticks with both hands, took half a step back, took a deep breath, and slammed his right hand down onto the drumhead.
*Bang!*
The drumhead was firm yet yielding, and a muffled thunderous sound emanated from it. Even the boundless surrounding seawater rippled slightly.
This was all normal. Other than this, nothing else happened on the Wind and Thunder Platform.
"Looks like I still need to hit it."
Xu Mu's expression became serious. He slightly moved his shoulder, preparing to use his full strength.
The veins on the back of his left hand bulged as he gripped the drumstick and exerted force.
*Bang!*
A single strike shook the drum, its sound buzzing.
*Bang!*
Another strike, and Xu Mu's right hand joined in.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
...
Within the space, the sound of the drum was like thunder. The surrounding seawater churned like a rising tide, and the flags behind the drum fluttered in the wind.
Xu Mu's left and right hands alternated non-stop, one strike after another, with no intervals. The drumhead sometimes hadn't even rebounded before the next strike landed. This repetitive action continued for a full ten minutes.
*"Bang!"*
With a final resounding strike, Xu Mu brought both drumsticks down simultaneously, like a clap of thunder.
*Clang.*
Xu Mu's cheeks were flushed, his breathing heavy, his chest heaving. He threw the drumsticks to the ground.
From the thunderous drumbeats, it was clear he had been hitting them with all his might. Anyone would be tired from such effort.
But what puzzled Xu Mu was, despite his vigorous drumming, why was there still no change?
Xu Mu stood with his hands on his hips, questioning his sanity.
Could it be that he had guessed wrong? Was the trial for this level merely the chess game, with no connection to anything else?
"Host, look at the flags."
Charles spoke. While Xu Mu was beating the drum, even though the space hadn't undergone any special changes, he had noticed the eight flags planted behind the large drum.
They vibrated with the sound waves and fluttered in the wind.
Eight flags, eight colors. This number easily reminded him of something.
"Bagua?"
Xu Mu wasn't foolish; he immediately understood Charles's thought.
"Yes, the Bagua."
"If I'm not mistaken, there must be some mechanism around the Wind and Thunder Platform. Perhaps it requires you to arrange these flags in the correct positions according to the Bagua sequence."
Charles analyzed.
As these words appeared before him, Xu Mu took a deep breath. He went behind the drum, pulled out the eight flags from the ground, embraced them, and immediately began to search along the edge of the Wind and Thunder Platform.
After only a few steps, he saw a familiar pattern on the ground.
"Fire."
Xu Mu squinted, his expression subtle. On the ground, he saw a stone carving of a rising flame, clearly representing 'Li' from the Bagua.
"It's obvious that the red flag should be planted here."
Xu Mu took the only red flag from his embrace, held its bottom, and forcefully shoved it into the stone platform.
*"Chik!"*
To his surprise, it was soft. Xu Mu's expression shifted. He felt no resistance, as if the ground here was made specifically for planting flags.
"Remember this spot. The opposite side should be the Kan position."
Charles dared not reveal himself, as he was terrified of being noticed by the Ghost Immortal, so he could only remind Xu Mu mentally.
"Mm, it's fine. I'll follow the markers on the ground anyway."
Xu Mu looked up at the red flag fluttering in the wind, feeling a sense of reverence. He then quickly embraced the bundle of flags and continued searching along the edge.
"Lightning. This is the Zhen position."
Xu Mu pondered for a moment, then selected a flag that was pale blue and planted it.
"Thunder and wind contend. It corresponds to the Xun position. In the Bagua arrangement, the sequence goes from top to bottom, then from bottom to top, spiraling to Xun five, then from Xun five to Kun eight from top to bottom. The path forms an S-shaped curve. What you'll see next should be wind."
"Mm."
Xu Mu listened and then indeed saw three small broken lines on the ground, clearly representing the Xun wind.
"Wind. Then it's you, the light green one."
Xu Mu planted another flag and then, following the remaining markers, planted the remaining four flags for Dui, Kan, Gen, and Kun. He was left with only one flag in his hand.
Qian position, Heaven.
Xu Mu squinted, gazing at the sun-like icon on the ground, and smiled slightly.
He inserted the dignified, golden-yellow flag, which was greyish-white, into the ground.
*Boom!*
As the last flagstaff was inserted into the ground, a sudden gust of wind erupted on the Wind and Thunder Platform.
Xu Mu was mentally prepared, knowing a change was coming, and quickly retreated.
He stood in the center with a serious expression. Dark clouds gathered overhead, the wind howled, and the eight large flags fluttered in the wind.
"It's not just this. Something is still missing."
Xu Mu surveyed his surroundings. A change had finally occurred, but he felt that something was still missing. Had he overlooked a step?
"The drum! Beat the drum quickly!"
Charles remembered. He quickly reminded Xu Mu.
Since there was a drum here, it was definitely meant to be beaten.
And the reason it hadn't responded before was surely because the flags hadn't been planted. So now, he was only missing this one step!
"Here we go!"
Heavy rain began to fall, and faint lightning flashed between the dark clouds. A wild, uninhibited feeling surged within Xu Mu.
With fierce eyes, he picked up the drumsticks from the ground, bared his teeth, and channeled his inner energy through his meridians to his hands. Then, he fiercely struck the large drum before him.
*Dong!*
*Boom, crack!*
As Xu Mu's strike landed, the drum emitted a deafening sound, and a bolt of wild lightning descended from the sky, striking the Wind and Thunder Platform just a few meters from him!
Xu Mu's head buzzed, but he knew he was approaching the end of this trial. He angrily swung his left arm.
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
With several more strikes, the dark clouds in the sky grew denser, churning like a city under siege. The sky itself seemed to lower, and the water below the Wind and Thunder Platform surged due to the rain, covering all the steps in mere seconds and continuing to rise!
"Ah!"
Xu Mu's face contorted as he began to beat the drum before him desperately. The drumbeats mingled with the heavy rain and wild thunder, making his head ring so much that he couldn't even hear Charles's shouts!
Amidst wind and rain, lightning and thunder, a madman beat the drum!
"That idiot! If he keeps beating it, he'll drown himself!"
Charles stared in horror at the rising water level around them, which had already covered the Wind and Thunder Platform and was still climbing.
"It's not leaking in!"
Xu Mu continued to beat the drum, and the water level around them kept rising, but the situation Charles feared didn't materialize. Aside from the rainwater, there was nothing else on the Wind and Thunder Platform.
The rainwater flowed into that aquatic realm, and the water within that realm slowly rose into the air, like a neat wall, gradually encircling the Wind and Thunder Platform, rising higher and higher!
Xu Mu, in his frenzied drumming, had naturally noticed the changes around him. But he knew that as long as his life wasn't threatened, he couldn't stop.
So he kept beating.
He beat until the dark clouds of the sky hung low, until the seawater on the ground stood upright.
After an unknown amount of time, the heavy rain stopped.
In the dim space, Xu Mu, utterly exhausted, put down the drumsticks and brushed the wet hair from his eyes.
He looked around at the seawater that surrounded him, reaching all the way to the sky, and was deeply awestruck.
It felt as if he were standing at the bottom of the sea, not on a high platform, but this water was merciful and did not surge in to swallow him.
"It's coming!"
The thunder between the dark clouds gradually receded until even the lightning disappeared. Charles's heart suddenly sank.
He had been waiting for a change, though he didn't know what it would be, good or bad.
Xu Mu also narrowed his eyes. He sensed a suffocating pressure emanating from the boundless ocean, far surpassing the heavenly lightning from before.
Soon, the first figure appeared.
Xu Mu didn't recognize this entity, but that didn't stop him from feeling fear, almost losing his footing and falling. Fortunately, the drum caught him.
"What is this thing!"
He was shocked. The enormous monster before him had golden, dense scales, resembling a water snake, but with a body ten thousand times thicker than a water snake!
Its two magnificent, massive horns, its pair of fiery eyes, its thousand-meter-long whiskers, its immense pressure... every detail of its being exuded nobility and power!
"This is... a Dragon!"
Charles gazed at the golden giant dragon, also trembling.
Even on Blue Star, this creature was merely a legend.
Legend had it that Fuxi created the world's first true dragon by combining the body of a python, the head of a crocodile, the horns of a stag, the eyes of a fierce tiger, the scales of a red carp, the legs of a giant lizard, the talons of a hawk, the tail of a white shark, and the whiskers of a rorqual.
From then on, the true dragon became the totem of the East!
And Fuxi's mount!
"The true dragon has appeared, so..."
Suddenly, Charles nervously rotated his electronic eyeballs.
He suddenly had a bold guess.
The true dragon was created by Fuxi and designated as his mount.
Now that the dragon had revealed its true form,
Then, is there a possibility... that Fuxi will also appear?