BOOM DOOM!!

As the sound of the explosion reverberated across the valley, the cheering cultivators were able to witness a terrifying yet beautiful attack... It was almost as if Zhen Shi's bestial roar was the music and the vertical crimson streak adorned with spatial waves and residual elemental energy was the painting.

The Spatial sword had struck down on the fountain with spatial power actually at the Sovereign level! Under such an attack, the fountain was damaged and cracks began to spread out across its surface. But at the same time, a strange spatial energy began to waft out of the fountain...

As the Spatial tear sword too cracked and shattered apart, Zhen Shi found that he was unable to stop his momentum and was on a path to cannonball into the waters of the fountain of everlasting life.

But Myne who had been watching by the side suddenly acted as if he had been prepared for such a situation. Myne instantly appeared next to Zhen Shi and he quickly grabbed on to his hand.

But just as he did, that strange spatial energy acted and latched on to Zhen Shi. Thus the energy indirectly grabbed onto Myne as well... and disappeared with the both of them!

⛲⛲⛲

The damaged fountain continued to sputter out water for a few more seconds... before it suddenly healed itself and returned to normal.

At this point, the group of cultivators who had cheered so strongly before was speechless and feeling defeated. 'Ehhh? This... Senior is this how you said you'll destroy the piss fountain? Is this how you said you'd escape and show your prowess? But why does it look like you were beaten and then dragged away into the piss fountain?'

Carlos was the first to break the silence, and explain calmly, "The both of them are experts that cannot be understood by the likes of us mortals... Especially the charismatic young senior who was the first to care about the likes of us and say that he'd save us! I'm sure that he will keep his promise and come back for us!"

Dolt laughed excitedly as he shouted out, "Yes! He taught us so much... The shame of having succumbed to drinking from this piss fountain. And even our insatiable hatred against the anti-harem valley, as dubbed so by Senior... Umm... What was that Senior's name again?" but finished with a question.

One person quickly answered, "Oh! Didn't he call himself 'this handsome and scholarly self'? It must be his Taoist name!"

But another proposed, "Isn't that Taoist name a bit obnoxious? I mean... not only is it a mouthful to say, but it also sounds extremely vain..."

But then another person roared in opposition, "Shut up! I don't see YOU lining up to help us escape from a life of valley imprisonment and drinking fountain piss. Don't you dare disrespect the Senior who is fighting for us! Let alone that name, even if our savior is called 'this ugly and stupid self' I'll still kowtow to him in gratitude!" His words instantly gained the support of the entirety of the group.

As such, the former voice could only succumb to the overwhelming majority view...

Dolt nodded happily as he continued, "Yes! Our savior is 'this handsome and scholarly self'! But we are too weak to help him out... Everyone, let's work hard to cheer him on and curse this piss fountain in his place! Let's work hard to spread forth love in the world, and let us master the Dao of harems!"

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly and continued to cheer, dance, and even curse the fountain with colorful obscenities.

None of these cultivators had an actual screw loose to be crazy enough to do this... but they had been stuck with a bunch of other men inside an empty valley for thousands of years. As such, they didn't want to give up on the only hope of escape... even if they had to lose their dignity by being cheerleaders!

But still, the fountain continued to trickle water calmly without a care in the world.

Suddenly, Carlos spoke, "Wait... Just cheering will be boring and monotonous. I'll try to see what the seniors are doing..."

⛲⛲⛲

Ding!
Congratulations to the user for increasing the power of the Spatial Sword from Nascent Soul to Sovereign and slightly damaging a Divine Tier formation center.
The user has gained 70 OP!

But Zhen Shi didn't pay much attention to the notification as he was carefully observing their current location. It appeared that Myne and Zhen Shi were now trapped within some strange underground cavern.

The cavern spread out limitlessly with multiple tunnels twisting and turning in every possible direction. Zhen Shi had already canceled <Vermillion Dragonification> so he was back to his usual self. But his shirt had ripped apart due to the wings, and so he was only wearing a pair of pants with a tail sized hole in the back. Zhen Shi made another mental note to pack extra pairs of clothes in the future...

Suddenly Myne began to cackle wildly as his cultivation rose up from the Nascent Soul exceeding reaching the very pinnacle of the Soul Primary Tier, which is the fourth stage, Soul Destruction!

Zhen Shi looked in amazement and asked, "You weren't hiding your power this entire time right?"

Myne shook his head saying, "Of course not. My real body is sealed in this wretched place and only my soul was up in the valley. That's why none of my powers were of a physical nature and you had to step in. But now that my spiritual body is closer, my powers have naturally increased. I really have to thank you! If it weren't for you, I might've been forever stuck as a spirit!"

Zhen Shi smiled, "No worries. You saved me first. Wait... you're the one being sealed under the fountain of everlasting piss? FUCK! I was just joking before... The water from the fountain isn't being excreted by you right?" and asked mischievously.

Myne grimaced, "Boy! What nonsense are you talking about?"

Zhen Shi continued excitedly, "Fine. Forget it. By the way, since you're the one who is actually sealed, could your real name be... Merlin?"

Myne's grimace worsened as he shook his head, "Merlin? Who is that? And what part of my name don't you get? It's MYNE!"

'This guy is definitely Merlin! I'll make him accept that name yet!'

Zhen Shi shrugged and spoke, "Fine. Then, MYNE, do you know where we have to go since you are familiar with this place?"

Myne nodded and spoke with a pined face, "Yes, follow me. I can sense the location of my body and I believe the instigator of this entire event is trapped there as well. But she seems to be unaware of our arrival for now..."

Zhen Shi fell into thought for a moment, but still asked, "This instigator... was she the one who trapped you in this place?" He had a vague idea about who she might be...

Myne murmured, "Just a stupid misunderstanding..." Then he continued walking forward and shouted back, "Kid, let's go!"

Zhen Shi followed him, "What? Is that a yes? C'mon Merlin-- I mean Myne, tell me!"

And as such, they continued moving through the tunnels for several hours, with Zhen Shi continuously asking Myne questions... which went ignored for the most part.

Nearly four days later, Zhen Shi who had gotten bored to death was cursing this needlessly long cavern mentally and sometimes even aloud.

But suddenly, ROOAARR!

A terrifying roar rang out as a Nascent Soul Stage Earthworm dug out of the cavern walls and launched forward in attack.

Myne calmly flicked a finger at the poor earthworm causing it to drop dead instantly. Zhen Shi looked at this event with dead eyes...

"Myne! NOO! What are you doing? Such a waste..." Zhen Shi shouted in disappointment.

Myne looked at him in confusion and asked, "Wait... Are you one of those crazy people who constantly shout out for demon beast rights?" Zhen Shi was speechless, "Demon Beast rights? There really is such a thing? Ahh, No-- I mean you just wasted a lot of valuable EXP points.

Myne was even more confused, "EXP points? What's that? Can you eat it?"

Zhen Shi shook his head and sorrowfully explained, "No. They are much more valuable than food. Nevermind... My earthworm friend, I can only hope that you can become a butterfly in the next life!"

Myne frowned and asked in surprise, "What? In the last hundred millennia has the world undergone such diverse evolutionary changes? Even earthworms can become butterflies now?"

"AH! Yes, yes, The world truly changes with time. Myne we've wasted enough time, shouldn't we be on our way?" replied Zhen Shi quickly as he led the way forwards. But he did stop to shamelessly pocket the beast core of the earthworm.

'System, what the hell is wrong with you? Messing up such elementary biology? I expected better from you, especially when you have a Scholarly Library... Tsk-tsk.

System: ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

Myne nodded oblivious to the situation and spoke, "We're pretty close now. Should reach the location in a few minutes."

They walked forwards a bit further and finally reached a wide and open cave. It was completely silent besides the slight sound of trickling water which granted the place a peaceful atmosphere. A strange white light emanating from nowhere lit up the cavern in a strange magical manner.

At the very center of the cave, lay the body of a shriveled old man with an extremely long beard. A fountain rather similar to that on the surface floated above his body and released energy that perpetually sealed him. The occasional drop of water would leak out of the fountain and drop onto the old man's face.

Myne stared at this scene with sorrow and despair...

Zhen Shi noticed his strange behavior. Nevertheless, he shouted out amidst bouts of laughter, "FUCK! Myne don't tell me that this is your physical body? I was just joking before. But now... Your piss is really the source of this fountain! And it's even falling back on to you? I don't know if I should feel more sorry for those piss drinking perverts outside or.. YOU!!"

Myne completely forgot about his earlier feelings and was about to retort back in anger. But... he suddenly thought, 'I was in sorrow and despair just a moment ago, but this boy's insults made me forget about it. He MUST'VE done so just to make me feel better! *Sigh* What a kind and good-hearted fellow...!'

So with grateful feelings in his heart, Myne smiled brightly at Zhen Shi.

But Zhen Shi felt none of these profound feelings. Instead, he felt a chill run up his spine, as all he saw was the legendary Merlin beam gratefully, like a cute girl being gifted flowers by her crush, after being insulted!

'FUCK! What is happening? Is Merlin, the greatest mage, a closet masochist or something? I better not insult him again as it might cause his perverted tendencies to develop then. Aiya... I really must help this poor Merlin to cure his problem in the future...' Thinking so, Zhen Shi slightly nodded at Myne with pity in his eyes.

But Myne was even happier and satisfied now. Seeing the pity in Zhen Shi's eyes, he took it as further evidence for his former conclusion and thought, 'So I was right! This kind-hearted fellow is truly empathetic to my feelings. We must be brothers from different mothers!"

But this confusion of feelings had to be left aside for a moment as the peaceful trickle of water in the fountain began to overflow. The calm water began to rage like a stormy sea and soon congealed to form the vague figure of a beautiful woman. But her appearance wasn't particularly clear, after all, her body was formed out of actual water!

However, she radiated an aura much stronger than Myne, and her eyes contained murderous rage... almost sadistic. And just like Myne, her cultivation was hidden even to Zhen Shi's <Aether Vision>.

'FUCK! Who the hell is this powerful dominatrix?'

Myne shouted out at her with a face full of mixed feelings, "Vivienne... So you're still trapped in the fountain... Do you still hate me that much?"

Zhen Shi looked on in surprise and fell into thought, "The legend of Merlin and Vivienne... Merlin was betrayed by her and sealed under the earth... To think that the legendary relationship is like this... A masochist and a sadist. A truly interesting duo!"

Vivienne spoke out in an angry voice that sounded like a raging ocean, "Che. How'd the old man end up here? I was only trying to bring in the one who damaged the fountain! Do you have to annoy me all the time? I threw out your soul outside, but you still came back? Are you that desperate to get laid?"

Her sadistic eyes landed on Zhen Shi causing a genuine chill to run up his spine, "And this is the one who attacked my fountain?"

Zhen Shi couldn't help but distract himself with an irrelevant thought, 'Ah! So it's a lady's 'fountain'. I guess Myne and the perverts outside can die with some semblance of pride now.'

Fortunately, the ex-couple were ignorant of his thoughts and continued their argument.

Myne spoke through grit teeth, "Vivienne leave my brother out of this! But tell me... All the time we spent together, all the hardships and troubles we fought through, did that mean nothing to you? Even when the words of fate read out your coming betrayal, I ignored that and decided to believe in you... hoping that they were wrong... and that I could change how you felt... And yet on that night, when I taught you this formation magic out of pity, you used it on me without a single regret. I was forced to watch on as our comrades died and him as well... And since then, so many innocent people have been trapped in here as well."

Vivienne shouted out in anger, "So what if I did Old man? You broke my heart with that other affair! I used your spell and modified it to only affect unfilial men. It was hitting two birds in one stone! I could get my hands on both revenge and your most powerful formation! But instead of allowing yourself to be sealed... you actually retaliated leaving me stuck in this miserable state," gesturing at her body of water.

Gathering a terrifying law of water around herself, she continued with rage, "And knowing that my power could return at some point due to the nourishment from the fountain, you proceeded to kill all the powerful cultivators who decided to drink from the fountain... and the rest were put into artificial meditative states..."

Myne sighed, "Vivienne, she is like a sister to me... How could I have an affair with her? It's not what you think. As for killing those stubborn fools, did you truly think that I'd lay down and die without any struggle after being betrayed by you? But we've lived for so long... if this is meant to be a tragedy let it be so... I'll leave my life in your hands," and lowered his head in despair.

Zhen Shi who had been listening in to this couple's fight rather awkwardly was flabbergasted, 'No! This isn't what we discussed! Even if you lived for a long time, I'm still young!'

As such, he shouted out himself, "Water lady what the hell is wrong with you? You have destroyed the hope of harems in so many innocent men! And now you're also furious at the final self-defense of a man who trusted you? If he is an old man to you, then aren't you an old hag to me? And most importantly, this handsome and scholarly self has never been unfaithful but was still trapped in your piss valley!"

A hint of sorrow and confusion rose into her watery eyes but it was instantly replaced with anger. And she continued in a maddened sadistic voice, "You have only listened in for one minute, what the hell do you know? But it is true that you have not been unfaithful. Wait... it seems that you haven't even had the chance to even be faithful yet? Still... it appears that there is something within you that caused the formation spell to be confused. You can only blame your bad luck for ending here before you even got the chance to be faithful."

Zhen Shi was speechless and embarrassed, 'Shit! I forgot that this Zhen Shi was kidnapped at a young age... He is still a virgin... System, this is all your fault!'

System: "..."

Zhen Shi was mad but was more than aware that he won't be able to even scratch Vivienne's back. As such, he spoke to Myne, "Hey Merlin, are you truly going to lower your head like a coward? C'mon get your revenge and beat her up!" But Myne sorrowfully shook his head, seemingly at the depths of despair.

Seeing his weakened mental state, Zhen Shi was disappointed... But suddenly his eyes flashed brightly as he came up with an idea!

Moving closer, he hurriedly whispered into Myne's ear, "Wait... Merlin, do you actually think that Vivienne who has been through so much with you, would try to kill you for a single mistake? Even if you do have some sort of fate magic did it mention the reason for her betrayal? Also, you must've seen the shift of emotions in her eyes right? I'm confident that some sort of spell has been cast on her!"

And with every single word, Myne's despair slowly disappeared.

"But since this magic is so strong that even you couldn't sense it, perhaps it'll be undone once we defeat her?" finished Zhen Shi.

Myne who was completely out of the depths of his sorrow as he grinned with rising hope. In addition, he was even more confident of the empathetic and kind nature of his 'junior brother'.

"Kid I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If not for you, I might not have noticed this and my story would've ended in tragedy. From now on, you are my brother! Till death do us part!" shouted out Myne while grinning, "And who the hell is this Merlin? I'm Myne!"

Zhen Shi shook his head but grinned as well.

Ding!
Congratulations to the user for gaining 50 OP!

Zhen Shi's smile stiffened at the gaining of a reward. He felt guilty... because he had been bull shitting the entire time!

He had SOME misgivings and suspicions about this event, especially after cross-referencing Myne and Vivienne's conversation with his knowledge about the original legend, but none of them were proven concrete facts. Nevertheless, he had decided to go out on a whim and bet on this, rather than wait for Vivienne to kill the two of them... And as a bonus, Merlin was now his sworn brother!

Returning him back to reality, Myne frowned and said, "Brother Zhen Shi, my cultivation is too weak right now. But Vivienne is actually at the Law holding stage and holding water law! If I wish to put up a fight, I need you to distract her until I can get to my body."

Vivienne who was listening in smirked confidently, "Old man are you underestimating me? Do you really think that this kid will stand a chance when you have failed many times? Your body has always been an eyesore and I would've destroyed it was it not for the fact that it is almost indestructible! But now that my cultivation surpasses your's I'd love to see your pathetic attempt!" and shouted out while crossing her hands across her chest.

Ignoring her words, Zhen Shi grimaced at what he'd have to do. As such, he turned to Myne and asked, "Alright. But I hope that you won't be too mad, Brother Myne.'

"Why would I be mad? Just do it!" said Myne calmly and watched on without a single doubt about Zhen Shi's capability.

Zhen Shi nodded and heaved a heavy breath.

Deciding to be more safe than sorry, Zhen Shi activated <Vermillion Dragonification>. Scales covered his body, a tail grew out, sharp claws manifested on his hands and feet, and a pair of feather wings appeared on his back, as he transformed into the familiar bestial draconic form.

Myne continued to watch confidently as Zhen Shi flapped his wings and rose to Vivienne's level.

But all of Myne's confidence was thrown into the lake and his eye began to twitch ಠ_ಥ as if he was suffering from a seizure... as Zhen Shi lowered his pants by his own two hands, and revealed himself to Vivienne, "Shaming the Heavens!"

Vivienne stared in surprise, frozen in place under the powerful effect of System Level 3 <Shaming the Heavens>!

But Myne could only see Zhen Shi's azure scaled back as he cursed, 'FUCK THIS SHIT! Brother, what the hell are you showing to my innocent lover? And why is she so entranced?

What? Is he a 'DRAGON' amongst men now that 'it' is covered in DRAGON SCALES? Motherfucker! We're not friends any longer!'