The morning mist clung to the coastline as in a thin and soft veil when Han Chen finally made the announcement they'd all been waiting for. Three cups of tea sat cooling on the table, steam rising in lazy spirals that matched the anticipation in the air.
In a tea house in Shanghai:
"It's time," he said simply, setting down his cup with deliberate care.
Yue Lan's eyes brightened instantly. "The deep dive?"
"The deep dive."
Hye Won leaned forward, her fingers drumming against the table. "How deep are we talking exactly? The training for the past couple of months better be worth it."
Han Chen's smile was enigmatic. "Deepest as it gets."
The truth was, his recent breakthrough had changed the relative difficulty in bringing them all. The expansion of his inner universe, his ascension to the peak of the Golden Core realm ~ it had amplified his spirit sense to an almost frightening degree. 3,500 units of strength, his awareness spanning nearly nine hundred miles.
That's like seeing the bottom of deepest trench on earth from outer-space that too at resolution well into atomic levels if necessary.
His lifeform had evolved, becoming denser, more refined, with a maximum physical attack power approaching 880 units. But perhaps most remarkable was his newly awakened law sense, stretching beyond the confines of their world, already enveloping the entire outer planetary system and growing stronger by the day.
Each unit represented roughly ten Earth tonnes of force ~ a staggering amount by any measure. Yet underwater, where pressure became a restraint that crushed and suffocated, even his immense power required careful allocation. To maintain three human-sized, flexible shield barriers ~ one like ethereal diving suit, that moved with thought and intention ~ he could only safely descend to around 6,500 meters using pure telekinetic force. Far short of the ocean's deepest secrets.
The shields themselves were marvels of his spirit, requiring instant computational adjustments to maintain their flexibility. Any additional strain from hostile creatures, sudden movements, or the simple act of lifting objects would force him to divide his attention between maintaining the shields and raw physical reinforcement. It was a delicate balance, like juggling knives while walking a tightrope.
But Han Chen had never been one to rely solely on brute force.
The Qi breathing technique, Xuánwǔ Zhēn Xī ~ or the Black Tortoise Profound Breath ~ was specifically designed for underwater mastery. It is not the best, but its the best that he came up with his current cultivation comprehension. This Qi art allows to extract vital energy and breath directly from the water itself, turning the ocean from adversary to ally.
Combined with his mastery over the derivative laws of Primordial Water Elemental, he could theoretically part water like a bubble and reach depths that would make the Mariana Trench seem like a shallow puddle. Buoyancy Flow, Osmotic Diffusion, Pressure Negation ~all will be taken care by the control.
The technique had been impossible to execute properly until recently. Not for him. Not due to insufficient power, but because the delicate balance required. The intimate comprehension of higher elemental laws, the subconscious calibration of force distribution, the ability to adapt body's feedback in alien environments ~ it all required a harmony that had taken time to achieve. Yes, it is for his wives, since they were the ones that requested this in the first place.
Yue Lan and Hye Won had needed to master their own aquatic breathing arts. Their bodies, though strong, would never have endured the crushing depths without proper preparation. But now, after a full year of intensive training, they possessed the balance, the knowledge, and the cultivation required to walk the ocean floor as if it were solid ground.
Their journey began quietly at the coast near Shanghai, a departure hidden among the mundane comings and goings of fishing boats and cargo ships. From there, they soared over the cerulean arcs of Micronesia, following currents toward the crystal clarity of the Coral Triangle near Papua.
The flew in a flying sword, as leaving the job to sword reduced the mental exhaustion considerably. Han Chen had proposed it, knowing full well how lazy his wives could be. Though they had relished the thrill of self-flight after reaching the Golden Core realm months ago, that initial excitement had long since faded.
The Coral Triangle greeted them like an underwater Eden. Shoals of fish painted the water in impossible shades ~ electric blues, sunset oranges, deep purples that seemed to glow with inner light. Manta rays glided past like living dreams, their wingspans casting shadows that danced across the coral gardens below. Jellyfish moved in perfect spirals, their translucent bodies pulsing with bioluminescent rhythms. Even the apex predators ~ reef sharks with their sleek, predatory grace ~ seemed touched by the tranquility of this underwater paradise.
They rented a private island as their base, spending a week exploring every reef, every underwater cave, every hidden grotto.
Han Chen had seen grander sights across the cosmos, but watching the pure joy on the women's faces as they discovered each new wonder made even the familiar feel magical again.
"Look at this!" Yue Lan's voice carried through the water via soul transmission, her excitement infectious as she pointed to a school of angelfish that moved like a living rainbow.
Hye Won was equally entranced, her usual composed demeanor giving way to childlike wonder as she watched a sea turtle glide past her . "I never imagined," she whispered. "All this life, hidden beneath the sea."
But the Coral Triangle was only the beginning. Their next destination lay thousands of miles away, in waters that carried the weight of history. The women initially put on diving suits, but when they learned that the next dive would leave them completely dry ~ thanks to a psychic shield ~ they abandoned the suits and simply wore their normal clothes instead.
The remnants of World War III rested more than two kilometers down, where sunlight had never touched the rusted hulls of enormous warships. The war had ended fifty years ago, but its monuments slumbered eternal beneath layers of sediment and time. Their spirit sense captured details that no human technology could match ~ the twisted remains of steel giants, dismantled missiles, the debris of ambition and folly.
Yet even in this graveyard of human conflict, life persisted.
Bioluminescent fish bloomed in the metallic shadows like living stars. Massive sharks, born in the post-war years, had made homes in the broken hulls. The water here carried traces of old radiation, yet strange creatures thrived ~ some actually feeding off the lingering energy. Mutated forms, essence water beasts, sources of potent martial cultivation essence-meat… yet no one dared to take it. Only the truly desperate or reckless would risk the contamination for such a prize.
"The ocean doesn't judge," Han Chen murmured as they swam through the dark waters. "It simply adapts."
Some of the creatures they encountered defied classification. Moving further down, they saw whales that sang in frequencies that resonated with qi using it to temper their bodies. Colossal squids the size of stadiums, having biological parts like Qi storage glands pulsing with latent energy like beating hearts. Han Chen could sense their life force from miles away ~ burning bright in the cold depths.
And deeper still, they found beings that had transcended simple animal instinct. Gigantic animals who are 'distinctly scarier version' ( as in Yue Lan's words ), than their predecessors. They are gigantic even to the versions humans classified under deep sea gigantism.
Master - level marine entities, some even reached 9th layer Qi level refinement. Creatures that had lived for centuries, learning to absorb nutrients and circulate life force through devouring it from the very water around them.
Nature figured part of some sort of source code of universe for advancement of life, the Dao... leading to certain adaptations that enabled survival further using chi refinement. They had evolved into something approaching true intelligence, their territories not constant it simply spanning vast underwater realms wherever they are.
Most of their species appear to have survived multiple extinction events on prehistoric earth and passed their genetic structure continuously as evident on his analysis using spirit sense.
These depths were feared even by cultivators. Martial artists who ventured too deep became prey, delicacies rather than threats. The creatures here had adapted to centuries of warfare and environmental trauma, developing senses keen enough to detect approaching vessels or even warships and submarines from hundreds of miles away and deflect qi field, electric field and even sonar.
So when three glowing qi signatures appeared in their ancient domain, the reaction was swift and decisive. They sensed the response in live.
From the abyss they came ~ four massive forms moving with intelligence and purpose. No churning of water, no dramatic announcement of their presence. Just ancient looking predators rising to investigate the intruders but they kept their distance unlike the smaller ones who were sent out as scouts. Very intelligent in their own ways.
Han Chen's response was immediate and overwhelming.
His soul pressure erupted outward, unrestrained and absolute. The ocean itself seemed to pause, holding its breath. The approaching predators faltered mid-charge, their momentum disrupted by sudden, inexplicable confusion. Then, like a gentle hand guiding them to sleep, unconsciousness rippled through the water. The sea grew still. The hunters drifted away, their primitive minds recognizing a power beyond their comprehension.
"That seemed ... merciful, I thought you would flex and show whose the boss.." Hye Won observed, watching the retreating forms disappear into the darkness.
"No point in unnecessary violence," Han Chen replied. "They were only doing what their nature demanded."
They documented what they found, taking photographs and video of what happened, but left the ecosystem undisturbed. This was exploration, not conquest nor for science either.
Their final destination is up next ~ the deepest point accessible to human exploration. Yue Lan and Hye Won had requested this specifically: to touch the ocean's floor with their own hands, maybe, plant a marker not of conquest but for memory, perhaps tinged with just a touch of mischief.
After returning to the surface to rest and share a dry meal floating under the endless sky, they flew west across the Pacific. The area they sought was marked on modern maps as "unsailable" ~ a designation that only made their destination more intriguing.
Their descent began at a marine sinkhole east of the Mariana Arc. The locals called it "The Hadal Eye" ~ a name that carried weight and warning in equal measure. It appeared as a dark scar in the turquoise waters during the day, but at night it shimmered with bioluminescence as plankton bloomed in hypnotic vortex patterns.
"You're calling this a leisure dive? why chose from here?" Seeing the seascape, Hye Won asked, adjusting her law energy bands with practiced precision to Yue Lan who chose this on map.