Two people wearing Daoist robes floated high above the ocean. One of them was surrounded by raging winds, and the other was surrounded by liquid water.
"Alsis, do you really think that you could keep that treasure?" the one surrounded by liquid water asked in a heavy voice.
"Henry, since when did you start following me?" Alsis asked solemnly.
The two of them were Peak Core Formation cultivators. It shouldn't have been possible for Henry to follow behind him without him noticing. After all, Peak Core Formation cultivators can sense 5km around them with their elements.
"Heh. If I hadn't heard the news about you heading north, I wouldn't have known you were after an ancient treasure! Lucky me! This is the ocean!" Henry laughed loudly.
As a water element cultivator, he was more powerful in the ocean. Alsis was doomed.
Since both of them were equal in strength, a slight advantage over the other could easily change the result of the battle.
Henry was Alsis' nemesis. Ever since they started cultivation, the two of them didn't like living under the same sky as the other. They both wanted to one-up each other, but they both ended up cultivating at the same rate.
Alsis found a treasure under the ocean a few minutes ago. It was from an old map he found.
He thought that he would finally be able to win against his nemesis for good, but he was too careless. He didn't expect someone to leak him heading north.
"Even if I die here, I won't let you get the treasure easily!" Alsis shouted.
He knew what the treasure was capable of when he read its description. It could easily allow Henry to advance another realm. At that point, he would become unstoppable.
The power of the wind gathered around Alsis. The whole surrounding kilometer around them became windy as a storm slowly formed with him in the center.
Henry smirked at Alsis' futile attempt to defend himself. Countless tiny whirlpools formed in the water two kilometers below Henry. Then a giant whirlpool appeared under him.
"This is your end! Hahahaha!" Henry laughed joyfully.
Alsis felt the pressure of the water elements pressing against his body and interrupting the storm he made. And because of it, he became grim and serious.
He took the first attack, and countless wind blades rained down from the surroundings. They attacked Henry from all directions.
Henry saw it coming. After countless years of them fighting against each other, the two of them were both familiar with the other's attacks.
A column of water swirled and covered Henry's body. Each time a wind blade hit it, the water would splash and scatter everywhere, but that doesn't matter for Henry.
With the endless ocean under him, Henry easily absorbed Alsis' attack.
When Alsis saw that even his full-on attack did not even manage to graze Henry, he changed his mode of attack.
Countless small tornadoes appeared around them. They sucked in the air before turning into small compressed balls of air.
"Look below you!" Henry suddenly shouted with a smirk on his face.
Alsis was alarmed and dodged to the side.
*BOOM!*
A giant ice spike shot from the ocean below. While Alsis was attacking him, Henry had created an ice spike under him.
If Henry didn't warn him ahead of time, he would be able to dodge, but it would have grazed his shoulder.
"Hahahaha!" Henry laughed loudly.
He warned Alsis ahead of time on purpose. That was so he won't go down that easily.
Alsis grit his teeth and shot the balls of compressed air to Henry.
When Henry saw those compressed balls of air, his laugh disappeared and was replaced by a serious look on his face. He dove down under the water in an instant.
The balls of air exploded and sent shockwaves underwater. Those shockwaves shook Henry's body. If he didn't escape underwater, he would have been more affected.
He swam like a fish with his superiority in using the water elements. He appeared under Alsis and shot another ice spike.
Alsis saw him swim under him, and he immediately dodged. When Alsis dodged, Henry suddenly smiled widely.
"No way–!"
Alsis realized something and dodged once more.
*PHEWW!*
A giant ice spike lightly grazed his skin.
Because those ice spikes were made by Henry, they were all crystal clear. It was impossible for Alsis to find them unless he used his wind elements, but the problem was that he couldn't.
His wind elements can't penetrate through the ocean.
Just as Alsis thought that he escaped, an ice spike even bigger than before shot from under him. Without any time to react, the ice spike tore his body apart into two pieces.
Alsis' eyes stared at Henry in disbelief. It really wasn't a lie that you should never fight a water cultivator above a body of water.
Countless ice spikes rose from the ocean around them before melting. That was when Alsis realized that he should have flown to the clouds, but it was too late to regret it. He was already defeated.
Throughout the countless battles the two of them did, Alsis never fought Henry above any body of water. He didn't even last for more than a few minutes.
"Now give me that!" Henry smiled and took Alsis' Space Ring.
It contained inside it a folded space that kept his valuables and also the treasure he found under the ocean.
Alsis' closed his eyes with boundless hate. If looks could kill, Henry would have turned to dust from all the chopping he would receive.
…
Alsis felt himself grow weightless.
He saw boundless darkness around him. He looked behind him and saw a bright light that was getting farther and farther away.
In front of him was another light, but it felt different and unfamiliar. A few seconds later, Alsis entered that unfamiliar light.
…
When he entered that unfamiliar light, Alsis felt his soul shaking in fear as his memories slowly separated from his soul.
'N-No!' Alsis panicked.
His consciousness slowly faded.
But just as he was about to have his soul wiped clean, space shattered in front of him, and the process was interrupted. Before he knew it, he woke up in the body of a skeleton.