At the deepest point in the Swan Sea, Harry lay unconscious on top of the Swan's Seamount, unmoving and dying. But if one were to take a closer look, they would notice marvelous changes happening in his body.

Metal Qi, and an endless amount of it, was surging into Harry's body. It flowed from the orange structure he lay on top of, into all the pores of his body, and then absorbed into a seed resting in his stomach.

Once the Metal Qi entered the Nameless Seed, it was sent to all the bones in his body. There was so much Metal Qi here that his bones were hardening at a rapid pace – with Qi Crystals, progress on Forging Bone was terribly slow. At best, he could measure his progress in terms of millimeters, and it took hundreds of crystals just to harden an inch of bone.

But this surging flood of incoming Qi was a torrent entering his body. It was like standing under a waterfall of metal energy. Every couple of seconds, another inch of bone was hardened, and it showed no signs of stopping.

It was this rushing feeling that jolted Harry back awake, through the haze of pain and exhaustion.

'Huh? What's this feeling?'

'This… is this Metal Qi? I'm refining Metal Qi? How?'

He was underwater, obviously, so how could he be refining Metal Qi?

Suddenly, he realized what he was laying on top of. Beneath him was the Swan's Seamount, and he could clearly sense all the Metal Qi entering his body was from the Swan's Seamount!

'Then does that mean, the Swan's Seamount isn't made of rock? It's not the seabed? It's actually a huge piece of metal that's stuck in the bottom of the Swan Sea!'

While he realized what was going on, the Nameless Seed was still crazily refining Metal Qi. His shoulders were strengthened, then his spine and rib cage, then up to his neck and skull. At the same time, the bones in his legs and feet also hardened. Metal Qi was racing throughout his whole body.

And as it did, Harry was overcome with an epiphany.

'Wood feeds Fire, Fire produces Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal collects Water!'

Metal collects Water!

He wouldn't forget that cycle of phrases, no matter what. The Nameless Technique may as well have been engraved in his mind, and he had spent countless hours pondering its mysteries. He would remember those words for the rest of his life.

Metal collects Water!

'That's why Natural Essences rich in Water Qi form here! Because the Swan's Seamount contains an enormous amount of Metal Qi! It all makes sense!'

In a flash, it all became clear. Because there was so much Metal Qi here, it gathered the Water Qi of the Swan's Sea, forming countless Natural Essences.

'What a huge piece of metal this is!' he thought with awe and astonishment. The Swan's Seamount was known to stretch for miles and miles along the seabed – and to think that the entire thing was actually a sheet of metal, and not the sea floor, nearly blew his mind.

Further, he'd never felt such a dense of amount of Qi gathered into any one place, though that may have been due to its large size. If he had to compare it to something, it was almost like that mysterious of block of wood that Slughorn owned, which he used to finish Strengthening Flesh.

But back then, his cultivation was much lower, and his refining speed was slower. Now, Metal Qi rushed into his body so quickly that Harry felt Forging Bone would be completed in just a few more seconds. Indeed, he felt the last bit of his skeleton harden, and at the same time, the Nameless Seed hardened too, as if it had gained a layer of metal coating. It stopped absorbing the endless Metal Qi, and just like that, he was done with Forging Bone.

'I completed Forging Bone,' he marveled at his dumb luck. 'But I'm still dying –'

His thoughts were stilled as the Nameless Seed woke up once again.

The next moment, he felt a different kind of Qi traversing through his body and entering the Nameless Seed. It was Water Qi, and seemed to be originating from somewhere in his mouth.

'This… this is Washing Marrow?'

With another jolt, he remembered an important detail.

During the last eruption, he caught a Heaven Grade Natural Essence, and this whole time, he had been holding it in his mouth!

It was a precious treasure, one anyone in the empire would go crazy for. And he actually put it in his mouth and forgot about it!

He spat the Natural Essence out and held it in his hands. The Nameless Seed was now sending Water Qi throughout his body, much like it did with the Metal Qi before. Like Forging Bone, Washing Marrow also changed his bone structure. But unlike Forging Bone, the changes were occurring within his bones, in the soft tissues that formed the marrow of his body.

It was a difficult sensation for him to describe, but if he had to, it truly did feel like he was being washed. Cleansed, as if all the impurities in his body being removed.

'Washing Marrow is supposed to give me the ability to heal any wound. Then, am I saved?' he didn't dare to believe it.

Washing Marrow!

Immediately, a pleasant feeling spread through his body. A relaxing energy made its way out of his bones and into his flesh, and he felt as if he swallowed a whole vial of healing pills. Harry looked at his palms, and to his surprise, he saw the cuts were already beginning to heal. Over the course of a few minutes, the deeps scars on his palms faded to thin lines, and then disappeared as if they were never there. The injury in his stomach was closing too – organs, flesh, and skin all stitching back together – and it'd only be a few more minutes until it too disappeared.

'This kind of healing power is amazing!' Harry exclaimed in joy.

With Washing Marrow, recovering from an injury was as easy as breathing. There was no more need for healing pills or medicine – all he had to do was activate the power lying within his bone marrow. It meant he never needed to worry about getting injured again. As long as it wasn't the kind that could instantly kill him, he could recover.

He knew that his own fighting style was one that traded personal injury for an opponent's injury. In short, it was a reckless and stupid way of fighting, one that caused harm to himself, and always required some recovery afterwards. Part of it was due to his personality, but part of it out of necessity. His enemies got stronger and stronger, to the point where this style of fighting was his only choice. Now with Washing Marrow, it was no longer an issue.

It wasn't much longer until the Nameless Seed was finished with refining Water Qi. His body felt purified, but more than that, the Nameless Seed completed its final transformation. The seed no longer felt like an alien object embedded in his body, rather, it was a part of him. It blended into him, and he now had full control over the seed.

The Five Minor Accomplishments were complete, and so was he.

'What a series of fortunate events!' Harry exclaimed. A cold sweat dripped down his back as he realized just what a massive coincidence had conspired to keep him alive.

First, he just happened to have a number of Gilly Weed Essence Pills on his body. If not for coincidentally obtaining these pills many weeks ago, he would have suffocated after the first five minutes in the Swan Sea.

Second, as he sank through the Swan Sea, he managed to avoid most of the Magic Beasts that prowled its depths. Perhaps his over-heightened senses and cautionary actions played a role, or perhaps it was because the powerful Magic Beasts couldn't be bothered to act against a mere Body Tempering Realm cultivator. If was incredibly lucky that he only ran into one – and it was a beast that he managed to kill in a surprise attack.

Third, his trajectory sent him right towards the Swan's Seamount. Though it was large, compared to the entire seabed, it was just a thin line. Yet, he managed to land on top of it.

Fourth, the Swan's Seamount turned out to be a massive piece of metal, and even better, contained a huge amount of Metal Qi.

Fifth, during the treasure eruptions, he just happened to catch a Heaven Grade Natural Essence that was filled with Water Qi. That by itself was already a Heaven-defying encounter – who had ever heard of a Body Tempering Realm cultivator with a Heaven Grade treasure? Even some Core Formation Realm experts didn't have such items! Yet, he got it, and was even able to use it to finish Washing Marrow and heal his wounds, leading to a full recovery.

'This sort of good luck… no, it can't be described as just "good"! It was a tsunami of luck! A massive tidal wave that instantly reversed all of my problems! The amount of luck involved in this… it can't even be measured!' Harry exclaimed.

'I wouldn't even call it luck! This must have been fate!'

How else could he explain this series of events?

It was a type of one-in-a-trillion coincidence, one that absolutely couldn't be explained by luck.

And better yet, not only was he healed, he completed the Five Minor Accomplishments!

It involved collecting and refining massive amounts of five types of Qi, massive to the point where every single step was a headache. Just for Forging Bone, he thought it would take him months of amassing Qi Crystals before he had enough. The worst part was, he wasn't even able to advance to the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm until he completed it, and without that, he couldn't expel the foul poison in his body. The Five Minor Accomplishments caused him months and months of agonizing worry.

But he was done! He finished the last two parts in what felt like a blink of an eye!

'I'm done!' he threw back his head and let out an underwater laugh.

'Haha, haha, when you sent me to the bottom of the sea, I bet you didn't expect this to happen, did you, Theodore?' Harry sent all his joy bubbling out his body, washing away the panic and fear that previously overtook him.

'I almost went to Hell… not just went to Hell… I brushed against its very bottom! But the sands at the depths of Hell are magical sand! Touching it will reverse your fortune!'

To top it all off, the Natural Essence was still in his hands, shining no less brightly than before. Though the Nameless Technique demanded huge amounts of Qi, it was all relative to the Body Tempering Realm and Ordinary Grade items. When compared to the Heaven Grade, it wasn't much. He doubted he had even used up 1% of the Water Qi within it, that was just how precious a Heaven Grade item was.

Now fully healed, Harry did his best to sense the changes in his body. The first thing he noticed was that his frame was incomparably sturdy. Every single one of his bones, from the top of his skull to the tips of his toes, were as strong as the bones in his arms. He remembered back when he was fighting in the Beast Surge, an Earth Grade beast stepped on him and effortlessly cracked his ribs. Now, he felt that he would have the defense to withstand that strength. Furthermore, his entire body felt heavy, weighed down by a hundred or more extra kilograms, and if it weren't for Rebirthing Muscle, he doubted he'd even be able to stand.

Then he tried to sense the changes from Washing Marrow, but didn't notice any. He didn't know if it had a passive effect, but he knew one thing – when activated, it healed even severe wounds at an astonishingly fast speed.

'Now that I'm recovered, I can swim to the shore. I can make it out of here! If I just follow along the Swan's Seamount – wait!'

He was suddenly struck by a better idea.

'Since I first fell into the sea until now, not much time has passed. At most, it's been around an hour, but for the sake of caution, let's say it's been two. And these pills should last me roughly eight hours, but again for the sake of caution, let's say they only last six hours. Even if it takes me two hours to get back to shore, I'll have these gills for a lot longer.'

'And since I'm already down here…' his gaze turned to the huge garden of Magic Plants nearby, just waiting for someone to pick them.

'Haha, I've struck it rich!' he thought happily. All these plants just laying around right here… they were all his! He could pick whichever ones he liked.

Better yet, for these plants to survive down here, they must be Earth Grade plants. Anything at the Ordinary Grade would have been crushed under the immense pressure. He floated over to a section of the garden, and perused the offering of free goods.

'Emerald Bowl Lotus – that one sounds valuable! And judging by how big that flower is, it must be high-quality Earth Grade!'

'Oh, that's a Tangle Bitter Seaweed! It's huge! Each of those strands is larger than me!'

'Ocean Pepper – I recall Slughorn showed these to me, and said they were rare plants. But these are fresh, and even bigger than the ones he had!'

If a Herbologist could see what he was doing, they would probably spit out blood due to rage. There was a proper way to harvest plants, to ensure they weren't damaged and their future growth wasn't affected. But Harry neither knew nor cared about these things at all. Harry operated under a simple principle – see treasure, take treasure. He picked whatever plants he liked, until he couldn't hold anymore in his hands.

He turned his head to look around the rest of his garden – he had already begun thinking of this entire seabed as his – and he abruptly froze in surprise.

Not far from him, a dark grey plant was sticking straight out of the seabed. It was like a small tree, at least a meter high and easily a meter in circumference. The trunk was smooth and dark, with a glossy surface, and long ribbons of seaweed hung from the top.

But what shocked Harry was, when he looked at the plant, the name of it didn't appear in his mind.

For other plants, no matter the rarity or grade, he could distinguish it with a single glance. Even when the Exalted Cat pulled out its Spirit Grade plant, he recognized it immediately. He thought his brain contained a catalogue of every plant under the Sun, but apparently, there was one he couldn't identify.

'It's like a tree of seaweed,' Harry mused. 'How come it doesn't work for this?'

'Maybe it's a special tree? I didn't even know trees could grow underwater… though I suppose in the cultivation world, anything is possible. But who cares? If I can't even recognize this, then this must be a super valuable plant! I have to get it!'

It wasn't just one tree either, but rather a whole row of them that grew in a straight line. Without thinking more, he quickly waded over and grabbed onto the trunk of the first one. Strangely, it didn't feel like wood – it was too hard, and too smooth –

That was when he knew something was wrong.

Without warning, the ground below him exploded. Pieces of rock and sand were shot in all directions, and he was battered by hundreds of tiny pebbles. An enormous cloud of dust rose, obscuring a massive figure that could be seen rising through the debris.

Then the dust settled, and Harry felt the blood drain out of his body.

'Holy shit! This – this - Iron Grip Spiny Crab! It's huge!'

Harry had seen these beasts before, back when he was the beach, fighting in the Beast Surge. But the difference was, those beasts didn't even reach the height of his waist, while this one was as large as he was. If beasts like this had appeared on the shores during the Beast Surge, then it would have been over for the Swan Sea Sect.

The "tree" he thought he saw was actually the largest of the crab's many spines. When it was buried under the seabed, it didn't bury itself deep enough to cover the spines. And with all the "seaweed leaves" that had stuck to the tip of spike, Harry mistook it for a tree.

The crab turned to look at Harry. Two giant eyes, on the ends of two giant stalks, turned to stare at him. It's two massive claws unhinged widely enough to comfortably fit him in between, and the two shutters that covered its mouth opened to reveal a dozen moving mouthpieces.

'Oh oh oh fuck me,' Harry felt like his soul left his body. He dropped all the plants he was holding and did the only thing he could – turn around and make a mad dash for the seamount. There was only one place he could go.

It wasn't a moment too soon. The crab's claw missed him by mere inches. Luckily, he wasn't too far away from the Swan's Seamount. Harry used his flippers to propel himself towards the structure, and once he was there, he dove inside the crack.

A second later, the crab's other claw smashed into the top of the Swan's Seamount. It slid right off, like it had hit an unbreakable wall.

'Good thing the gap is too narrow for that crab,' Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He thanked his quick thinking, and looked upwards, where the enormous crab could be seen trying to squeeze its way through. But the crab was just far too large, and the gap too small. He was safe, at least, for now.

'Though, I guess I'm stuck in here until that thing leaves – damn it, I even lost my Magic Plants. Well, I'm sure it'll lose interest soon enough, and then I can get out –'

Then with a muffled SNAP, the two halves of the Swan's Seamount closed above him.