Supreme Martial Arts: The Path of the Prodigy

Chapter 2

That was a peculiar hue, and Zhou Yi couldn’t quite name the exact color. He slightly opened his mouth, attempting to shout, but no sound came out. He extended his arm, trying to reach the radiance in the lake, only to realize it was too far away.

Somehow, a thought emerged in his mind-a desire to touch that light, an urge to make contact no matter what. It was a primal cry, unvoiced from his mouth but repeated again and again in his heart.

Taking a step forward, one of Zhou Yi’s feet immersed in the lake water. The chilly water of the night soaked his trousers, wetting his lower legs. The subtle coldness swiftly took away the warmth from his legs. Normally, Zhou Yi would have exclaimed and jumped away, but at this moment, he seemed to be devoid of any sensation. His other foot followed suit and stepped into the water.

Amidst this bewildered confusion, Zhou Yi failed to notice that both his feet had entered the lake, and his entire body gradually followed suit.

The peculiar hues above the lake’s surface gradually sank and reached the water in the heart of the lake.

This was merely a small lake, where fish and shrimp scattered and fled upon encountering this peculiar radiance. Only Zhou Yi, seemingly lost and soulless, swam slowly toward this strange spectrum of colors.

Zhou Yi had honed his swimming skills in this lake. Every summer since he was young, he would play and swim here, becoming adept at navigating the water. Though he wasn’t a top-tier swimmer, he had no problem swimming a distance.

Gradually, Zhou Yi approached the peculiar radiance.

The closer he got, the stronger he felt its intense allure. It was like a child seeing candy or a playboy encountering a naked beauty-Zhou Yi couldn’t muster any resistance at all.

He reached out his hand and gently touched the peculiar radiance.

With a gentle touch, as if holding an invaluable treasure or preserving his own life, he grasped it.

It was a ball of light, an ethereal glow seemingly weightless. However, as Zhou Yi’s hands made contact with this radiance, countless inexplicable images and sounds immediately flooded his mind.

The first thing that appeared was an empty and desolate scene. Everything was empty, devoid of anything except vast emptiness. Zhou Yi himself began to feel a sense of emptiness, where everything seemed void of worry, sadness, joy, or laughter. It was as if he was experiencing the true essence of the word “emptiness.”

It wasn’t a spiritual emptiness, but rather a genuine… emptiness.

Time seemed indefinite, and then a ray of light emerged in the emptiness, like the first beam of sunlight rising, born from this boundless emptiness. However, this ray of light didn’t smoothly transition from non-existence to existence. After it suddenly illuminated, it quickly dimmed, and the entire world once again plunged into infinite darkness.

However, the light reappeared swiftly, expelling the darkness and revealing everything once more. Then, the light vanished, reappeared, vanished again, and reappeared once more. It continued in an endless cycle, as if each disappearance and reappearance were a reincarnation. With each cycle, the power of the light grew stronger, eventually triumphing over the night and suddenly bursting forth, enveloping everything in its radiance.

In that moment, Zhou Yi’s spirit seemed to awaken. He watched in a daze as this strange transformation unfolded, like a bystander. Being still young, he couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind these changes. The only thing he could ascertain was that he seemed to have encountered something extraordinary.

When the light seemed to perpetually shine, the darkness seemed to realize it could no longer extinguish the light. Instead of leaving, it entwined tightly with the light, eventually forming a peculiar object of two opposing forces.

In Zhou Yi’s mind, it seemed as if a yin-yang symbol with two polarities had emerged, continually rotating at its center as if it wanted to absorb everything. In his mind, there was a resounding boom, and his spirit was instantly absorbed without any resistance.

The rotating center of the dual polarities faintly emitted numerous unimaginable images, constantly flickering in Zhou Yi’s mind.

In that moment, he seemed to be soaring high in the sky, standing thousands of meters above the ground, feeling the scorching heat of the sun’s fury and experiencing the fiercely powerful gusts of wind. It was as if he had descended to the depths of the sea, witnessing the unimaginable beauty of the underwater world and feeling the terrifying force of towering waves, reaching heights of hundreds of meters.

As he stood there, dumbfounded, it seemed as if he had entered the depths of the earth and encountered numerous strange and peculiar minerals. He had an intimate knowledge of each type of ore. In the next moment, he found himself directly immersed in the magma beneath the earth. The splashing red waves were capable of melting everything, almost terrifying him to the core.

In the blink of an eye, he left behind the unforgettable beauty and terror of the underground world. He arrived in a gorge, looked up, and saw towering peaks that stretched endlessly into the distance. Standing beneath the peaks, he felt as tiny as a speck of dust.

In an instant, his figure continued to rise, and the entire world seemed to be beneath his feet.

It was a beautiful world, filled with countless exotic flowers and plants. The primeval forest teemed with vibrant life force, continuously releasing its tremendous vitality.

Suddenly, white mist surged out from every corner of this world, freezing everything in an instant. The entire world became a completely frozen realm. He even saw beautiful flowers frozen in ice, as if sculpted by the finest craftsmen.

Zhou Yi’s heart was filled with immense shock. If there was any possibility, he would have wanted to leave this environment long ago. But at this moment, it seemed as though he was no longer in control of his own body and couldn’t leave no matter what.

Now, in this frozen world, even his spirit and consciousness seemed to be frozen and unable to move.

Suddenly, a mighty thunderous sound resonated from the sky.

The entire white world immediately dimmed, and every corner of the sky flickered with unimaginably massive lightning bolts, as if they were endless and inexhaustible.

Thick electric lights streaked across the sky, reaching the frozen land stretching for thousands of miles, obliterating everything into debris.

Gigantic thunderbolts danced in the sky, and Zhou Yi’s soul and spirit were swayed along with them.

Finally, as a lightning bolt struck right in front of him, Zhou Yi saw a sudden burst of light.

It was the most primordial light, containing the original essence of power.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yi reached out his hand and tightly grasped the light. His body and mind seemed to merge completely with this beam of light.

Everything before his eyes began to sway, and the whole world slowly shattered before him.

Zhou Yi suddenly shivered, regaining control over his body. The cold seeped in from every corner, reminding him that the current situation was far from wonderful. When he turned his head, he saw water all around. Unbeknownst to him, he had unknowingly entered the chilly lake.

Panic immediately surged within Zhou Yi’s heart. Despite having a much stronger physique than his peers, he was still just a thirteen-year-old child. Suddenly finding himself inexplicably in the middle of a lake, it was impossible for him not to panic.

Not only that, Zhou Yi also felt a stifling sensation, as if there was a bomb lodged in his chest ready to explode at any moment.

Perhaps driven by his instinct for survival, Zhou Yi’s arms naturally began to paddle, and his body swiftly shot up towards the surface of the lake like a nimble fish. He didn’t realize that his aquatic abilities seemed to have undergone a transformative change, as if he had shed his old self. With a few light strokes, he astonishingly shot up from a position nearly at the bottom of the lake to breach the surface.

“Phew…”

Zhou Yi’s head emerged from the water, greedily breathing in the fresh air. A feeling that only someone on the brink of drowning could experience surged through him. He cherished the air at this moment, as if he wanted to complete a lifetime’s worth of breaths today.

After a long while, Zhou Yi finally relaxed. He let out a loud sneeze, his body shivered, and then he swiftly swam towards the lake shore as if he were flying.

Moments later, he reached the lakeshore, placing both hands on the edge. With a swift turn, he effortlessly leaped onto the bank.

Looking back at the dark lake, fear filled his heart. In his memory, he only remembered washing clothes by the lake and seeing a mysterious and strange light. After that, everything became unclear to him. He only glimpsed many strange and incredible scenes in a trance.

These scenes were so real, but he knew they were nothing but illusions. Because if these scenes were real, he wouldn’t be standing here alive right now.

Glancing at his dripping wet clothes, Zhou Yi knew they wouldn’t dry quickly. Moreover, this place was filled with strangeness, and he didn’t dare to stay any longer.

With a quick turn, Zhou Yi sprinted toward Zhou Family Village in the opposite direction, fleeing as if his life depended on it. As for the lake, it had already left a huge shadow in his heart.