Restless waves crashed against the shore where a young man had fallen asleep. His head was slightly raised, resting on a dead log that was almost entirely engulfed by deep emerald moss, giving off a rich earthy smell.
The young man slept deeply, utterly unaware of his surroundings. Every dozen minutes or so he would shift to his other side, if not for that, you couldn't tell he was actually alive.
As the waves grew fiercer, so did a distant, muffled scream. The scream, though it came from a man, was high-pitched and extremely rushed.
"Jin Feng!!!"
"You damned brat! Animal!"
As the screams grew closer, a silhouette appeared over the hillside—an old man with ash-colored hair tied in a ponytail. His face, though full of wrinkles, perfectly expressed his current emotions: anxiety and agitation.
Before long, a strange grin settled over his face as his right eyebrow twitched uncontrollably.
"Sleeping again?!"
His breathing became rougher as he picked up pace. "Either you wake up now, or I'll strangle you in your sleep!" the old man said, more to himself than to Jin Feng.
When the old man was just two zhang away, Jin Feng suddenly turned toward him. He had long brown hair, deep green eyes, and a tall nose bridge. Coupled with his lean frame, he was well above average in terms of looks.
Jin Feng smiled slightly at the old man, his expression warm and calm, a stark contrast to the waves aggressively battering the shore beside them.
"Old man Yan Hui, what happened? Sit down!" said Jin Feng, pointing to where he had been sleeping. "Believe me, it's incredible! The warm, golden sand combined with this soft, comfortable log is to die for, no, it's heavenly!"
Hearing this, Yan Hui frowned so hard his eyebrows nearly entered his eyes. He stood there in shock for a moment, then began breathing deeply until his chest doubled in size.
"Tell me, do I look like a fool? Look to your left, look at those waves! Do they seem normal to you? Is sleeping what I'm paying you for? What's your job here?"
Jin Feng stared into Yan Hui's eyes with an innocent look before turning left to watch the waves pounding against the shore, then looked back. Jin Feng blinked twice rapidly.
"Maybe it's because of the wind." Jin Feng said plainly.
Yan Hui's fingers twitched. "Fool! What wind? It's clearly because Shen Tao's inheritance is finally revealing itself."
"You already know I can't search for the inheritance when the sea is this turbulent, so why aren't you doing your job?"
Jin Feng's expression fell. "I'm sorry, old man Yan Hui, but the sea gets more turbulent every day. I would like to help you, I really do. But I must also devote myself to cultivation because I'm already lagging behind other cultivators my age. My energy consumption is very high right now."
Yan Hui's expression grew colder. 'Shameless! You were just slacking off, not even cultivating, and you dare take advantage of me...'
"Fine, two extra grade one regeneration stones should be enough, right?" Yan Hui said, more as a statement than a question.
"It is, old man. Don't worry, with these extra stones, you can search for the inheritance as much as you want!" Jin Feng said, his eyes sparkling.
"Good, then get to work. If I catch you sleeping one more time, I really will strangle you in your sleep."
"Oh, but old man Yan Hui, I wasn't sleeping... I was deep in thought." Jin Feng said with a smile.
Yan Hui gritted his teeth upon hearing Jin Feng's words but ultimately chose not to retort. Jin Feng placed one of the grade-one regeneration stones he'd received from Yan Hui in his right palm.
The stone was small, covering only about a third of Jin Feng's palm. It had a bright yellow color with random patterns and designs on both sides.
He crushed the stone, turning it to powder as it released a foul odor.
Jin Feng sat on the warm sand, his expression calm, almost absent.
After about ten minutes, Jin Feng finally moved, his gaze turning toward the sea. The waves were raging and splashing endlessly against the shore.
He walked into the sea, and before long it began to calm, the waves growing gentler by the minute.
Yan Hui mumbled a few words before giving an approving nod.
After Yan Hui left, Jin Feng snorted softly. 'Foolish old man, what Shen Tao inheritance? Shen Tao was the king of the sea, do you really think a mere tier-one cultivator like me could meddle in his affairs?'
'If it really was Shen Tao's inheritance, do you think you could keep this secret? Your greed has finally consumed you...'
'But as for why I seem to calm the waves whenever I enter the sea, even I don't know...' Jin Feng glanced at the sea once more before taking the same position as before, sitting cross legged on the ground.
'With these two extra grade-one regeneration stones, I have ten per day. Each grade-one regeneration stone lasts about three hours and gives me a twenty percent qi recovery boost at my current cultivation level.'
'I sleep about seven hours each day, cultivate for nine hours, deal with the raging sea for around six hours, and have two hours left for recreation and general tasks. However, whenever I need to deal with the waves, my qi depletes rapidly, forcing me to use four extra regeneration stones, totaling six.'
'Now I can use a regeneration stone to boost my qi recovery rate for the entire time I cultivate. However, it would be noticeably faster to stack two regeneration stones every three hours so I don't need to take breaks. Any more than that and the diminishing returns would exceed my budget.'
Jin Feng let out a deep sigh before crushing three grade-one regeneration stones. He entered the sea, and before long, a formless white qi cloud began seeping from his body, fading into the water.
As the waves carried Jin Feng away, a memory surfaced in his mind.
It was pouring outside. The clouds were a dark shade of gray, and every few seconds lightning would illuminate the sky while thunder struck fear into mortals' hearts.
The waves were dozens of meters high, demolishing and killing everything in sight with no regard for woman or child.
Some mortals were praying, some were running for their lives, and some were trying to protect their valuables.
Jin Feng was among the latter. One of his sacks of valuables had been blown away by the wind. Although he was a cultivator, he was only tier-one, inferior grade—not much more formidable than a human in peak condition.
'Of all the sacks that could be blown away, it was the one hidden behind the cupboard. What is it with my luck today?!' Jin Feng thought as he ran after the sack.
Occasionally, the sack would hit a tree, making Jin Feng clench his fists as sharp pain pierced his heart.
Finally, the sack got tangled in a tree, and like a lion pursuing its prey, he rushed toward it. But when he got within a few zhang away, a massive wave appeared.
Jin Feng turned his head right, looking at wave as tall as a two story building furiously destroying everything in its path toward him. "Damn my life," Jin Feng muttered, biting his lip as he ran for his life.
Jin Feng poured every trace of qi in his body into his legs, speeding forward like a madman.
After twenty seconds, a new wave rapidly approached from his left.
"What the hell...?" He cursed as he changed direction.
Jin Feng then saw a strange old man in the distance, sitting on his knees. "He's a cultivator...tier two at that! I'm saved!"
"But why is he on his knees? Don't tell me..."
Jin Feng ran toward the old man, his only way out of this predicament.
As Jin Feng got closer, he began shouting at the old man, who seemed absent, as if his mind had drifted from his body.
"Old man!"
"Help me!!!"
"Wake up!"
Jin Feng's qi was completely depleted. The waves continued closing the distance with no intention of stopping.
The old man glanced at Jin Feng but still didn't move, standing there like a stone statue.
Seeing this, Jin Feng's heart sank. 'You fool, what are you sitting there for? Aren't you aware of what's happening?' Jin Feng wanted to scream at the old man but restrained himself.
No longer caring about being polite, Jin Feng shook the old man's body.
"Enough! Enough!" The old man's eyes lit up.
A white light seeped from his body, forming a bubble that engulfed them both.
Jin Feng let out a deep sigh and wanted to thank the old man. But as the two massive waves hit the bubble, Jin Feng's body began trembling. A formless white qi cloud began escaping his body, traveling toward the qi bubble.
"Hmm?" Seeing this, the old man was extremely shocked and unconsciously frowned, nearly losing control of the qi bubble.
'The boy's qi is acting on its own? Then what if...?'
The old man created a small crack for Jin Feng's qi to escape.
Seeing Jin Feng's qi being absorbed into the waves without a trace made the old man's interest peak.
"Hey boy, take this," the old man said, tossing Jin Feng a grade two regeneration stone.
Jin Feng admired the regeneration stone for a few moments before looking at the old man and reluctantly crushing it in his hand.
Jin Feng's qi recovery rate increased by forty percent, the maximum an inferior type cultivator could achieve. Any more and the regeneration stone's effects would be negligible.
Over the next three hours, Jin Feng's body continued leaking qi, and thanks to the old man's efforts, the qi was successfully released into the waves, calming them to the level of a normal storm.
However, the damage to the land was irreversible. Most mortals were already dead, injured, or permanently crippled, with most if not all of their possessions lost.
Jin Feng floated on his back in the sea, regulating his breathing. The sea had calmed some time ago, and if not for the occasional breeze, it would have been impossible to tell which direction the gentle waves were heading.
"I guess it's time to go..." Jin Feng sneered, a note of discontent in his voice as he began swimming toward shore.
But suddenly he stopped, took out two grade one regeneration stones and crushed them, increasing his recovery rate to forty percent. Now with the sea fully calm, his qi expenditure was no longer as extreme.
Using qi to enhance his body, he dove deep, reaching the sea bottom in just under a minute.
Over the next two hours, he made multiple dives, covering a large area. But despite his persistent searching and the expenditure of two grade one regeneration stones, he found no evidence of the inheritance Yan Hui was so eager to invest in finding.
"Such a shame. I guess there really is no inheritance, I wasted two grade one regeneration stones for what, reassurance?" Jin Feng snorted.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted right beneath his feet at the bottom of the sea.