Infinite Fighting

After lying on the shore for a while, Zhang Ji recovered a bit before standing up to look around.

The murmuring brook from before had become a raging river under the moonlight.

This treasure cache was actually connected to Gesite Lake. Once the Moonlight Cup was taken, it would trigger a mechanism, causing the lake water to gush out through the cavern.

He had no idea who designed all of this, or for what purpose.

If this were a game, he could just blame it all on some idiot game designer.

But in the real world, there had to be a logical explanation.

Zhang Ji had a feeling it was some kind of test.

The master who left the cup probably felt a little cheated just giving it away for free, so they added a bit of a challenge.

Only those who weren’t killed by the surging flood were qualified to become the owner of the Moonlight Cup.

In the ancient history of this world, such things were not at all uncommon.

And it wasn’t just in the Eastern Extreme Country; other countries had many similar cases.

After resting up, Zhang Ji opened his backpack to check its contents.

He had prepared a full set of wilderness tools in advance, but most of them were now unusable.

It wasn’t that they were ruined by the water, but that they were smashed by the impact.

They were waterproof, but not shockproof!

The Moonlight Cup, however, was completely intact. The thing looked like it was made of gold, but its hardness far exceeded gold. Zhang Ji had accidentally banged it a few times earlier, and the impacts had hurt him, but the cup itself remained completely unchanged.

Zhang Ji was also completely soaked, but he wasn’t the least bit flustered.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and his senses perceived the air and the moisture all around him.

With a single thought, the large amount of water saturating his clothes began to gather rapidly, finally coalescing into a ball that landed in his palm.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Ji tossed the ball of water away.

The ball of water flew more than three meters before automatically dispersing.

This was the maximum distance he could currently control.

The strength of his Spirit was limited. Techniques of the Flowing Water Sect often required immense spiritual strength, as only powerful Spiritual Power allowed one to sense, borrow, and command the forces of nature.

"I guess I’m getting the hang of it. I can crudely sense and manipulate water currents now. With a little more time, I should be able to master the basics!" Zhang Ji muttered.

He had stared at the "Waterfall" Visualization Image for so long, but he had never been able to get a feel for it.

Only now could he be considered to have truly stepped through the gateway of the Flowing Water Sect.

He felt this was somewhat related to his mastery of the basics of the "True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill."

His Spiritual Power attribute had reached the standard threshold for practicing this skill.

For now, however, he could only crudely command small amounts of water. He wasn’t yet capable of weaponizing large volumes of it, such as forming high-speed, piercing blades like some kind of water monster.

But in terms of daily life, it was already a huge help.

Zhang Ji didn’t have a single working terminal device on him, so he was temporarily cut off from the outside world.

He planned to rest here for a day and then look for a way out tomorrow.

After finding a flat spot, Zhang Ji gathered some firewood from the surrounding area.

The firewood was a bit damp, but Zhang Ji easily drove the moisture out of it.

Then, using a bow drill with clumsy skill, he managed to light a campfire.

’Too bad I couldn’t bring the centipede meat with me, or I could have roasted a couple of ounces to eat right now.’

’Then again, maybe not. Reality is so different from the game. What if it’s poisonous?’

Zhang Ji took out the Moonlight Cup and examined it closely. The craftsmanship was indeed exquisite, especially the two blue gems embedded in it. Zhang Ji felt these must be the key to its ability to absorb moonlight and turn it into Essence of Moonlight.

Just then, Zhang Ji suddenly felt the light dim. The bright moonlight shining down on him was being drawn in by the Moonlight Cup, converging into a beam that flowed into the vessel.

Zhang Ji stood up and held the Moonlight Cup high above his head.

The gems on the Moonlight Cup glittered under the moonlight.

Zhang Ji discovered that the moonlight in a radius of about five meters around him was affected by the cup, a large portion of it being drawn over.

After holding the cup for several minutes, a dark cloud passed overhead, and the Moonlight Cup immediately dimmed.

Zhang Ji brought the cup before his eyes to inspect it. He found not a single drop of Essence of Moonlight inside; it was only slightly moist.

He could only lick it a little to wet his tongue.

However, it did slightly alleviate his fatigue.

He had been swept out of the valley by the current, and the mental toll was not insignificant. If he hadn’t drunk half a cup of Essence of Moonlight before this, he doubted he would have been able to hold on.

Moving the cup from his lips, still wanting more, Zhang Ji muttered, "Later, I’ll get a drone, stick this thing on top, and send it above the clouds. That should make it less affected by the weather."

The Eastern Extreme Country’s drone technology was quite good; reaching the stratosphere was a piece of cake.

The more Zhang Ji thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

’Then I definitely won’t be affected by dark clouds anymore.’

’Achieving an unlimited supply of Essence of Moonlight might still be a ways off, but at least I won’t have to rely on the whims of the heavens anymore.’

「The next morning.」

The sun was just rising. Zhang Ji, who had been awake for a while, aimed the Moonlight Cup at the sunlight to test it.

According to his knowledge, moonlight was just reflected sunlight, so theoretically, the Moonlight Cup should be able to absorb sunlight as well.

However, the Moonlight Cup remained inert.

"Is the moon in this world different?"

Zhang Ji couldn’t understand it, but he had no choice but to give up.

He carefully tucked the Moonlight Cup close to his body, then shouldered his backpack and set off.

Without navigation, and with the path he came from destroyed by last night’s flood, he could only vaguely remember the general direction.

The only thing Zhang Ji was thankful for now was that Zhou Hao had also packed a few bags of compressed biscuits for him. Otherwise, he’d probably be in a true wilderness survival situation.

’It’s not that I can’t beat the wild animals, but with no salt or seasoning, the meat would probably be hard to swallow.’

Suddenly, Zhang Ji spotted smoke rising in the distance.

He quickly picked up his pace, and before long, he saw the source of the smoke.

It was a couple who had driven nearby to sightsee. They had started a fire in the wild and were cooking.

Seeing Zhang Ji approach, the man and woman exchanged a look, and the man took the initiative to approach him.

"Hello, my name is Zhang Ji. I was traveling here and got caught in a flash flood last night. My things were ruined. Could I please borrow a phone?" Zhang Ji said, clasping his fist.

"No problem. Xiaoxue, bring me the phone," the man said.

"Okay, right away!"

The woman quickly retrieved the phone from the tent and handed it to the man.

The man handed the phone to Zhang Ji, who took it with a word of thanks.

Zhang Ji then made a call to the Five Elements Sect and got ahold of Zhou Hao.

After explaining what had happened, Zhou Hao told Zhang Ji not to wander off and to wait where he was. Someone would come to pick him up in two hours at most.

Ending the call, Zhang Ji handed the phone back to the man. "Thanks for your help!"

"It’s nothing. When you’re away from home, people should help each other out." The man took the phone, then said to Zhang Ji, "My name is Yu Han, and this is my wife, Wang Xue. If you don’t mind, young man, why don’t you have something to eat with us?"

"Then I’ll take you up on that offer."

Zhang Ji had no intention of refusing. Since yesterday, he had only eaten some compressed biscuits and was craving a few bites of hot food.

Yu Han got some utensils for Zhang Ji and served him a bowl of what was cooking in the pot. It was fish soup. Zhang Ji took a small sip and found it incredibly savory.

"How is it?" Yu Han asked.

"It’s very good," Zhang Ji praised.

"It’s mainly because the fish is good. I just caught it from Gesite Lake last night," Yu Han said with a smile.

"Brother Yu, did you come here specifically to fish?" Zhang Ji asked.

"You could say that. I also like to travel around. Staying in one place for too long gets boring," Yu Han explained, then asked Zhang Ji, "What about you, young man? Judging by your age, are you on a school trip?"

"Something like that," Zhang Ji said. "After studying for a long time, I got restless and decided to come out for a walk by myself."

"You young people today are really brave. When I was your age, I wouldn’t have dared to travel alone. But then again, society has become much more convenient..." Yu Han said with emotion.

Zhang Ji nodded in agreement.

Although the Eastern Extreme Country had its share of problems in recent years, it had indeed done a good job in terms of people’s livelihoods and was constantly improving.

The two chatted idly, talking about all sorts of things. From time to time, Yu Han’s wife, Wang Xue, would chime in, and time passed quickly.

Suddenly, Zhang Ji heard the sound of propellers.

He stood up and looked into the distance, and sure enough, he saw a helicopter approaching.

Yu Han’s phone rang. After answering, he handed it to Zhang Ji.

"Master Zhang, this is Zhang Xiangyu, a Core Disciple from the Five Elements Sect. Are you alright?" Zhang Xiangyu asked.

"I’m fine. Sorry to trouble you with this trip," Zhang Ji said.

"It’s no trouble at all. It is my duty to serve the Sect," Zhang Xiangyu said politely.

Zhang Ji hung up and handed the phone to Yu Han, saying, "Thank you both. I’ll have a reward sent to you later."

Yu Han was completely stunned, dumbfounded by the helicopter Zhang Ji had apparently summoned.

’This area isn’t easily accessible. A trip this far out must have cost at least a hundred or two hundred thousand.’

The helicopter dropped a rope ladder nearby. Zhang Ji quickly ran over, leaped five or six meters into the air, grabbed the ladder, and climbed into the cabin in just a few movements.

Inside the helicopter, he met Zhang Xiangyu, the Core Disciple who had come to pick him up.

He was a middle-aged man.

Like most of the Inner Sect Disciples of the Five Elements Sect, he was the type who couldn’t advance further in martial arts and could only focus his mind on the administrative affairs of the Sect.

However, becoming a Core Disciple proved that he was at least a professional Sixth Rank or higher and had a local net worth of around ten million.

"Master Zhang," Zhang Xiangyu said, bowing to Zhang Ji.

Zhang Ji nodded, exchanged a polite word, and then said, "That phone number from before—contact them later and send them two hundred thousand. I’ll transfer the money to you afterward."

Two hundred thousand wasn’t much to Zhang Ji. The Five Elements Sect gave him two million in pocket money every month, and he had nowhere to spend it.

Most of the time, his expenses were billed directly to the Sect.

Zhang Xiangyu didn’t ask any questions, nor did he make a polite show of saying Zhang Ji didn’t need to transfer the money. He simply nodded in agreement.

He was efficient when efficiency was needed and socially adept when social graces were required, adapting his attitude to the person he was dealing with.

The moment he saw Zhang Ji, he understood exactly what attitude he should take.

If he didn’t even have that much discernment, he wouldn’t have clawed his way to his current position.

...

Meanwhile, as she watched the helicopter fly away.

Wang Xue, standing next to Yu Han, suddenly exclaimed, "Honey, that’s Zhang Ji!!!"

"I know, what about it?" Yu Han asked, confused.

"The champion of this year’s Eastern Extreme Country Martial Arts Tournament! Didn’t we watch his videos before?!" Wang Xue said.

It finally dawned on Yu Han, and he was immediately struck by a sense of disbelief.

To think they could coincidentally meet someone so completely out of their world in a place like this.

Just as he was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed it was a corporate number. After he answered, the person on the other end identified themselves and asked for his bank account number for a "thank-you fee."

He tentatively gave them an account number, and a moment later, a text message confirming a deposit arrived.

Yu Han opened his phone to look, and the number of zeros made him raise an eyebrow.

Even though he himself was a high-earner, the size of this windfall was enough to startle him.

"I got more than a year’s salary for just giving him a bowl of fish soup. If I’d known, I would’ve offered him a few more bowls," Yu Han remarked with a sigh.