~CREAK~
The ship created loudly while the water part of it deformed around it. Elder Niji exerted more of his power and got it back into control though. If he had lost focus even for a second, a part of the Haima tribe might have just fallen out into the void.
Lin Mu's forceful action had managed to save them from falling into the void for now.
"Haa... HAA... ha..." Lin Mu panted from the exertion.
Both his body cultivation as well as Qi cultivation had been utilized to bring forth such an action. He had truly used all of his might in doing this.
~WHOOSH~
Unfortunately for them, the trouble had not stopped yet. They were still in the spatial tunnel and the water was flowing forward. The ship started to move again while Immortal Taegu continued to steer it.
For a minute, they managed to travel with no issues and avoided the cracks and holes. But then they came across a wide crack that covered half of the tunnel's base.
"Ugh, not again!" Lin Mu stood up and used meld once more.
This time though, he had to pull the ship for quite some distance before they managed to avoid the crack.
Even with Lin Mu's quick recovery and high stamina, such a massive action was tiring. And this was despite the fact that Immortal Taegu was actively steering the ship and Elder Niji controlling the water.
They were now feeling like a bug that was being swept away by water in a pipe.
Lin Mu diverted the direction of the ship, three times and every time, they were barely brushing past the crack or hole. But the next one they came across was too hard to overcome.
"HAAA!" Lin Mu clasped onto the space using Meld again, but the ship was already teetering on the edge of the hole.
The Haima tribe members and humans were all watching him anxiously. Elder Niji and Head warrior Kulo were feeling useless not being able to help him as well.
'I can't let go... If I do we'll fall through!' Lin Mu gave 101% of his effort, but there was still a limit to it.
"No!" Lin Mu felt his clasp weakening at that moment.
~SHUA~
Suddenly, the ring on this right hand let off a yellow light. The yellow light flew out from it directly entering the tunnel.
~HUALA~
Then much to their shock, the crack that was threatening to swallow them closed up!
"What in the..." Lin Mu didn't know what was happening at first, but then he saw the yellow light moving again.
~SHUA~
The light turned into a long streak, zigzagging across the tunnel. It illuminated the path as well revealing the dangers on the tunnels path.
"Follow my lead!" Lin Mu then heard a voice he had been yearning for a long time.
"SENIOR XUKONG!" he exclaimed.
"Focus on the task at hand!" Xukong urged.
"Y-yes!" Lin Mu let go of the space and let the ship continue onwards.
"I've highlighted the stable path on the spatial tunnel. You need to follow that." Xukong said before another streak of yellow light shot out from the ring.
~SHA~SHA~SHA~
This time the light didn't take a zigzag trail on the path. Instead, it stuck to the walls of the tunnel and marked several spots on it. It left behind yellow glowing markers that were fully visible to everyone.
"Use that as an anchoring point. They are stable parts of the tunnel, and as long as you divert the ship beforehand, it won't fall into the cracks." Xukong instructed.
"I'll do my best." Lin Mu quickly raised his hands grasping at the space.
~HONG~
"Take hard right!" Lin Mu grasped onto the first spot using Meld and pushed to the right.
Immortal Taegu and Elder Niji followed his orders and controlled the ship to go right. It followed the illuminated path exactly and successfully avoided the crack in the tunnel.
"We did it!" Immortal Taegu exclaimed.
"Not so fast. We have several more to overcome." Elder Niji didn't dare to lose focus even for a moment.
Lin Mu let go of the anchoring point and waited for the right distance to be covered. Only when that was reached did he grasp out again.
"Push!" Lin Mu didn't need to exert as much strength as before.
After all, what he was doing before was the same as pulling the ship out of a hole through sheer force. But here he was simply deflecting the ship using its own momentum. The two actions had a vast difference in energy expense.
One by one, they dodged the holes and cracks in the spatial tunnel. After the tenth hole, Lin Mu had gotten used to the control method. Immortal Taegu and Elder Niji were also getting in sync and it became easier to steer the ship.
The illuminated path helped them the most, though, as they now knew what to follow.
Over all, it took Lin Mu and the rest ten minutes to cross the entire tunnel.
"Look! There's light there!" They all spotted a slit of light in the distance.
"That must be the exit." Immortal Taegu stated.
"Elder Niji," Lin Mu turned and spoke to the old man.
~SHUA~
In response, the old man waved his hand, spurring the ship towards the exit.
~WHOOSH~
They sped up, and the slit of light expanded for them. By the time they were right at its cusp, the slit was no longer a slit and had turned into a five hundred meter wide rift opening!
~SPLASH~
The ship fell out of the rift and landed straight onto more water.
~TREMBLE~
The people in the ship managed to hold on firmly and didn't sustain any injuries this time.
"We... We're out..." Lin Mu said, his tense nerves easing up.
The light around them was kinda bright, so it took a few seconds to adjust to it. But when they finally did, they found themselves in a rather strange place.
~Gulp~
"What in the name of heavens is that!"
