"Yes, yes, yes, let’s save him first, see if there’s any hope."

Li Xiaoli nodded repeatedly, and then let go of Mu Zixin.

The two women ran back to Tang Ming’s side, looking at him helplessly.

"What should we do now?"

Mu Zixin asked Li Xiaoli nervously.

"Oh, you give Brother Tang Ming CPR, and I’ll help get the water out of his lungs."

Li Xiaoli pressed down on Tang Ming’s chest: "I’ve seen her save you before, it should be fine."

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Mu Zixin didn’t hesitate, pried open Tang Ming’s mouth, and started CPR.

Li Xiaoli was pounding on Tang Ming’s chest with force.

"Damn it, if I wake up now and they find out I’ve been faking, I’ll die a horrible death."

Pretending to be dead, Tang Ming was conflicted, mostly because he didn’t expect the two girls to be so frantic, leaving him a bit stuck.

"No response."

Mu Zixin looked at Li Xiaoli in dismay.

"Come on, let’s punch together. Maybe my strength is too weak, not getting any water out."

Li Xiaoli quickly beckoned.

"Got it!"

Mu Zixin hurried to squat opposite Li Xiaoli and started frantically pounding Tang Ming’s chest.

At this point, pretending to be dead, Tang Ming regretted it. What these two girls were doing was less about rescue, more about murder!

Worse, he forgot to swallow some seawater earlier; now he couldn’t spit anything out.

After a round of punches, an exhausted Li Xiaoli said, "No way, our strength is too weak."

"Then what should we do?"

Mu Zixin became anxious.

"You wait here, I’ll go find some tools."

Li Xiaoli thought for a moment, then stood up and ran off.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Mu Zixin looked blankly at Li Xiaoli.

Soon, Li Xiaoli returned, carrying a stone.

"What are you going to do...?"

Mu Zixin was dumbfounded, looking at Li Xiaoli.

"Use the rock to smash it, it should work."

Li Xiaoli lifted the stone with effort.

"Wait a minute, if you smash it down, you’d kill a living person!"

Mu Zixin hurriedly stopped her.

"Come on, he’s already dead, are you afraid he’ll die again? Where’s the lung area? Point it out for me."

Li Xiaoli gritted her teeth and shouted.

"Alright, this spot."

Mu Zixin thought about it and agreed. After all, he’s already dead; who knows, maybe the smash will bring him back to life, and she pointed to Tang Ming’s lung area.

"Damn it!"

Seeing Li Xiaoli holding a stone as big as a human head, Tang Ming couldn’t keep up the act anymore. He yelled and jumped up: "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Huh, he’s really awake?"

Mu Zixin looked at Tang Ming, surprised.

"I haven’t even smashed him yet, how’d he wake up?"

Li Xiaoli stood there, stone in hand, bewildered.

"If you had smashed me, I wouldn’t be waking up, I don’t have any cultivation now."

Tang Ming complained while brushing the sand off himself.

"Bastard, you were pretending to be dead!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Zixin realized and instantly became furious.

"This is..."

"Damn it, that’s why you didn’t spit out any water, you were faking it. I’m gonna smash you!"

Li Xiaoli caught on quickly and immediately threw the stone at Tang Ming.

Tang Ming yelped and quickly ran off to the side, dodging the stone.

Not long after, Li Xiaoli and Mu Zixin had their legs crossed, lounging in the shade drinking coconut juice, while Tang Ming squatted beside them with a bitter look on his face, peeling bananas and serving the two ladies as penance.

Tang Ming’s abilities were now gone, Mu Zixin and Li Xiaoli’s rivalry had ended, plus Tang Ming’s previous act of playing dead had pitted them against each other, resulting in the two girls forming a united front against Tang Ming.

"Brother Tang Ming, we’re eating seafood every day without any saltwater, my mouth is starting to ulcerate."

Li Xiaoli looked at Tang Ming, frustrated.

"Yeah! We’ve solved the freshwater and food problems, but what about salt? If we go without salt for too long, we’ll die."

Mu Zixin began to worry too.

"That is indeed a problem, but don’t worry, I’ll figure out a way to make sea salt today. Being by the sea, salt won’t be an issue."

Tang Ming smiled nonchalantly.

"Saltwater is poisonous, can you manage?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Mu Zixin was doubtful.

"Don’t worry! After a few rounds of sun exposure and treatment, you can extract edible salt from it. Though it won’t be pure, it will definitely be edible."

Tang Ming smiled confidently: "I plan to study it right away."

"Hmph, make our breakfast first, then you can get busy."

Li Xiaoli snorted unhappily.

"I..."

"What ’I’? Your only role now is to serve us, you’re like a eunuch beside the princess, you know?"

Mu Zixin interrupted Tang Ming’s words, displeased.

"Yes, ma’am."

Tang Ming sighed helplessly, having lost his powers, he had no status in front of these women.

Then Tang Ming dug two large pits on the beach, using parachute fabric to make two salt pans, into which he poured seawater. In a few days, they’d have usable salt.

Day by day, life for the three on the deserted island... was incredibly dull.

Li Xiaoli and Mu Zixin spent their days eating and sleeping, then sleeping and eating, with sunbathing being their only activity.

If Tang Ming’s abilities were still intact, Mu Zixin could pass the time by getting intimate with him, and Li Xiaoli would flirt and banter with him. But now, with Tang Ming not reacting at all, both girls felt a lack of interest.

Rather than provoke Tang Ming, they’d rather figure things out themselves. Plus, with Tang Ming now focused entirely, the two girls developed methods to replace him entirely, isolating him further as they spent their time together, leaving Tang Ming to sigh in emptiness.

Knowing he had physical issues, Tang Ming didn’t want to provoke the two girls, but he wasn’t bored either. After handling his tasks each day, he sat by the sea to cultivate.

Specifically, Tang Ming sat by the sea feeling the laws of nature: the ebb and flow, the crashing waves, giving him unprecedented insights.

Luckily his powers were gone, otherwise, he might not have calmed down enough to study these abstract concepts.

As time passed, Tang Ming did indeed gain many insights, summarized in one phrase: "Nature as Teacher, Innate Power."

One person, no matter how powerful, is ultimately just one person; he’s insignificant in the face of the vast sea.

And this boundless ocean is a masterpiece of nature, breeding many mystical truths within.

Throughout history, countless scholars and poets have had epiphanies and been inspired by the sea; the timeless "Viewing the Sea" is a classic example.

As for cultivators who can face nature and comprehend its mysteries, Tang Ming had only heard of one: the legendary ultimate expert from the Early Ming period, known as Sword of Overturned Rain, Wave-Cloud. It’s said that he eventually shattered the void and left.