Water Control

Yu Xian saw right through Chen Lan's thoughts. He smiled faintly. "Don't worry. I'm only going to try one move. If it doesn't work, I'll give up." At a moment like this, most people would probably think of electrolyzing the water. The problem was that Chen Lan's water was no ordinary water—it was a form of "primeval water." Not only was this water impervious to high temperatures, but it was also exceptionally difficult to electrolyze. On top of that, it was completely resistant to impurities. Chen Lan had been flowing across the floor for a good while just now, yet he remained spotless, without a single speck of dust mixed into his liquid form. Such purity in itself meant that other external forces could hardly affect it. If one wanted to deal with Chen Lan through electrolysis, unless they possessed a staggering amount of electrical energy, influencing him was utterly impossible. Yu Xian, however, had his own methods. He pulled a bundle of dynamite from his backpack and placed it beside Chen Lan. Then he pulled out another bundle and placed it on Chen Lan's other side. After that, he continued pulling out bundle after bundle, stacking them high around Chen Lan like building blocks. "I already told you, fire doesn't do a thing to me! You're just wasting resources!" Chen Lan shouted, barking fiercely to mask his inner panic as he watched this unfold. Even as he said it, he knew full well that Yu Xian was no idiot and would never do something pointless. "Wasting so much time on me, aren't you worried you'll never catch up to Shenshang Chai?" "This mundane dynamite doesn't carry a single attribute—it can't even kill a Level 5 monster! If you think you can blow me up with this, you're daydreaming!" "Give it up! Let's call it a draw! Wouldn't it be better to just end this and move on to the next match?" Chen Lan began to worry that Yu Xian had some hidden skill, and that this was merely the prerequisite setup to activate it. Thus, he kept talking to distract Yu Xian, but realizing that speaking so rapidly only exposed his guilty conscience, he abruptly clamped his mouth shut. Yu Xian paid no heed to anything Chen Lan said, continuing to stack his dynamite higher and higher. Fortunately, by the system's judgment, dynamite was classified as a weapon rather than a consumable item. Furthermore, the dynamite Yu Xian was using wasn't some item produced by the Zhen Realm, but rather a homemade product crafted by certain chemistry masters among the players. Because the dynamite lacked any supernatural attributes, it was generally only useful for ambushes or altering terrain. Against players and monsters, the damage dealt by such explosives was exceedingly low; anyone who commanded supernatural power could reduce ninety percent of the damage simply by coating their body in a layer of energy. After taking out all the dynamite he had purchased and stacking it up in one go, Yu Xian turned around and walked away from Chen Lan, completely indifferent to whatever the man said. Once he was far enough, he looked back at the small mountain of explosives and activated his abilities. The power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena, along with With and Against the Flow, gradually began to influence the dynamite. While the explosives looked no different on the outside, their explosive potential was steadily climbing. It was a hassle. It consumed a great deal of time. If Yu Xian could still use the chaotic rules from before, resolving Chen Lan wouldn't require nearly this much effort—it would truly have been a matter of a single thought. The rules of chaos inherently possessed the power to subvert existing order; he could easily have transformed Chen Lan's primeval water into another substance entirely, achieving an instant kill. Order, however, could not do that. Order had to abide by the most fundamental rules. "Chaos can give rise to order," "and order can create chaos," Yu Xian muttered to himself as he pulled out a lighter. The next instant, he flicked the lighter toward Chen Lan's position. The moment it landed on the mound of dynamite, a thunderous roar erupted, and a terrifying shockwave swept outward in all directions. At the microscopic level, countless particles began to accelerate. Whenever the particles collided, under the effect of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena, the velocity of both particles increased rather than diminished. From the perspective of the spectator stands, the explosion produced no smoke and no soaring flames. Instead, at the moment of detonation, a spherical orb of white light expanded in the center of the ring. Even a fool could see that this white orb harbored terrifyingly scorching heat. The surrounding air instantly warped into waves of thermal energy, rolling outward one after another until they formed a ring-shaped hurricane across the stage. Standing in the gale, Yu Xian continued to pour in the power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena, relentlessly escalating the degree of chaos. At first, Chen Lan suffered no damage within the white radiance; his vision was merely an endless expanse of white, unable to see anything. But as time dragged on, he discovered to his horror that his body was beginning to disappear. No! It wasn't that his body was disappearing. Rather, the primeval water composing him was being bombarded by countless microscopic particles. In truth, primeval water was still water at its core, composed of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The only difference was that a binding force of rules was woven into each water molecule—a rule resembling a blue ribbon, tightly tethering the hydrogen and oxygen atoms together so that they would not easily break apart. Right now, however, far too many particles were slamming into those molecules. It was like a hundred stout soldiers locking shields to withstand a rushing crowd. When only a few dozen rushed at them initially, it was naturally useless. Now, Yu Xian had rallied an endless multitude to crash against that defensive wall simultaneously. No matter how formidable the soldiers were, they could not withstand the crushing deluge of an ocean of people. "Yu Xian—!" Realizing he had lost, Chen Lan let out an unwilling roar before dissolving completely within the white light. The moment he fell, the wager between him and Yu Xian was fulfilled: the victor would randomly obtain one of the loser's skills. Currently, Chen Lan possessed a total of four skills: Primeval Water Sacred Physique, Origin-Returning Water Replenishment, Water Control, and Water Clone. Among them, Primeval Water Sacred Physique was his core ability. It allowed his body to transform into a primeval water form, granting immunity to the vast majority of physical and elemental damage. Moreover, in that state, he could effortlessly pull off maneuvers impossible for a normal human being, making both his offense and defense terrifyingly potent. Origin-Returning Water Replenishment was his unique healing skill. Simply put, it allowed him to convert ordinary water into primeval water and absorb it into his body, thereby rapidly healing his injuries. Broken limbs, severed legs—anything could be restored through this skill. As for Water Control and Water Clone, the former was used to manipulate ordinary water, while the latter was meant to synergize with Primeval Water Sacred Physique. Creating a water clone using the water from the Primeval Water Sacred Physique resulted in a copy virtually identical to his true body and exceedingly difficult to discern. Chen Lan frequently used his clone to bait out an opponent's skills. The ability Yu Xian hoped to get most was naturally Primeval Water Sacred Physique. Unfortunately, the wager awarded a skill at random. A moment later, he learned what he had received. [Water Control: Consumes mental energy to manipulate natural water molecules for one's own use. The greater the mental energy consumed, the more water molecules influenced. The stronger the user's mental resilience, the greater the power exerted by the water molecules.] Looking at the skill he had obtained from Chen Lan, Yu Xian felt a touch of disappointment, though it was passable enough. At least the skill was usable. What he had feared most was drawing something overly specific. For instance, his own With and Against the Flow required the power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena to activate; even if Chen Lan were given that skill, he wouldn't have been able to use it, because Chen Lan lacked that power entirely. *Since wagers can work like this...* After understanding his newly acquired skill, Yu Xian suddenly felt that his own wager had lacked appeal. Perhaps he ought to change it.