Chapter 455 - 428: Seabed Cultivation

Chapter 455: Chapter 428: Seabed Cultivation

After returning to the market district from Skeleton Ridge, Li Yuan stayed for only a day.

He left the restocking of Yuanming Studio to Xu Zhang and had Ji Wenchuan collect the data from the Spirit Detective Talisman network. The market district’s daily operations had already stabilized into a system that didn’t require his constant supervision.

Li Yuan organized the supplies in his storage bag, traveled to Mozhou via a Teleportation Array, and then crossed a high mountain range from a secret exit in Mozhou to enter Shuizhou.

The cracked, dry earth of the Spiritless District’s gobi rushed past below him. The purple attribute, Spirit Vein Nourishment, maintained the basic circulation of his Spiritual Power, and the reserves of his Golden Core were more than enough to sustain him for the entire journey.

Crossing the Spiritless District took two and a half days, much faster than last time.

By the evening of the third day, the salty sea breeze once again washed over him.

The outline of Luoxia Port appeared below the mountain ridge. The port’s size hadn’t changed much since his last visit. More than twenty ships were moored at the docks, and dockworkers and fishermen bustled back and forth on the piers.

Li Yuan suppressed his aura and melted into the crowd in the port district.

His gaze first swept toward the southern docks.

The Gray-White Flag Fleet was still moored there. But the fleet had grown from two ships to three. The new vessel sat low in the water, its hull nearly twice the size of the other two, and it was visibly carrying more cargo containers on its deck.

His Dark Evil Insight pierced through the wooden planks of the ship’s hold.

The Demonic Qi signatures in the new ship’s hold were far more concentrated than the ones he’d scanned before, and the concealing Array Patterns on the seals had been replaced with a higher-grade design. The cargo had changed from miscellaneous goods to exclusively ores and Metal Bars, all of them heavy, bulky, and extremely dense.

’Artifact Refining materials.’

It was a perfect match for the procurement list from the Evil Slaying Sect’s contact point. Cold Water Refined Iron, Spirit Silver Ore, and several deep-sea minerals he didn’t recognize.

The Abyss Sect’s outer supply lines had already reached the coast of Shuizhou, and they were continuing to expand.

Li Yuan recorded the new ship’s position, the cargo types, and the frequency characteristics of the Demonic Qi signatures, but took no further action. The network behind the Gray-White Flag Fleet was too big to take on right now. Tipping them off would only cause the entire operation to go underground.

After he finished taking notes, he walked north along the coast for several miles until he reached the secluded bay where he had stayed before.

The small, uninhabited island at the mouth of the bay was still quiet.

Instead of setting foot on the island, Li Yuan leaped straight into the sea.

The permanent attribute, Swift Water Escape, activated the instant he hit the water, giving him an extremely high affinity with the sea. Water Vein Insight mapped the currents in a radius of several hundred yards, clearly projecting them into his sea of consciousness. The direction and strength of every single undercurrent were laid bare before him.

Li Yuan followed the contours of the coastline, diving deeper into the sea until he found a wide, flat expanse of bedrock on the ocean floor.

The bedrock was free of coral and seagrass, making it an ideal place to cultivate.

Sitting cross-legged on the bedrock, Li Yuan began to channel the Ice Seal Skill.

The deep-sea environment had a concentration of Water Spiritual Power that far surpassed the land’s. Energy from the undersea Spirit Vein seeped continuously from the rock beneath him, providing an inexhaustible supply of Water Spiritual Qi for cultivating the Ice Seal Skill. His Water Vein Insight increased his sensitivity to Water Spiritual Power by thirty percent, Water Flow Acceleration boosted his casting speed and power by ten percent each, and Swift Water Escape stacked on another thirty percent of power.

With the buffs from multiple attributes, every cast of the Ice Seal Skill completed a full cycle of Spiritual Power conversion in an incredibly short time.

A chill surged from his Dantian, compressing and condensing in his meridians. He extended his right hand, palm facing down.

It took three days to go from Minor Achievement to Great Success.

After reaching Great Success, the precision of his control over the Ice Seal Skill changed fundamentally. Li Yuan no longer needed to use his full power to form high-density solid ice; with just a thought, his palm could precisely release a field of freezing energy in any form he desired. Ice walls, ice spikes, ice cages, ice armor—he could create them all at will.

He took the final step from Great Success to Perfection on the morning of the fifth day.

In that moment, Li Yuan felt the circulation of Water Spiritual Power within him reach a state of effortless perfection. The Spiritual Power no longer needed to be consciously guided; it flowed on its own along the optimal path, and the process of forming ice became as natural as breathing.

[Ice Seal Skill: Perfection]

The Ice Seal Skill had reached Perfection.

With a Tier Two Low Grade Water Magic cultivated to Perfection, the condition for making the Frost Armor permanent had been met.

Li Yuan rose from the seabed, ascending to a reef about a hundred feet below the surface. He took the Frost Armor from his storage bag.

The armor’s deep blue body gleamed with an eerie, cold light in the seawater, and its Spirit Patterns were as intricately distributed as fissures in a glacier.

After he equipped it, a phantom of the Frost Armor flickered in his equipment slot for a moment before shattering into motes of green light that merged with his body. The slot was now empty.

The change was immediate. Li Yuan felt an extremely thin yet incredibly tough film of cold energy form over his skin. This protective film was passive and required no Spiritual Power to maintain. Any attack that landed on him would trigger an automatic backlash of cold energy, slowing the attacker’s speed. At the same time, the defensive power of his Water Spiritual Power was permanently increased by twenty percent.

Stacked on top of his other defensive attributes—Three Elements Body Protection, Indestructible Golden Body, and Body Protection, among others—his passive defenses gained yet another layer.

Li Yuan re-equipped Forged Pattern Refinement, rolled his shoulders, and began swimming toward Luoxia Port.

After going ashore, he went directly to the Su family’s shop.

It was the same private room on the third floor, with the same dark-complexioned steward to receive him. When the steward saw him return, his attitude was even warmer than last time.

"Friend, are you here to make another purchase? We have Jade Tide Sand and Sea Pearl Powder readily available."

"I’m not in a hurry to buy anything this time," Li Yuan said, taking a seat. "I was hoping to ask you about the state of affairs in Shuizhou."

The steward paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"Friend, please ask anything you’d like. The Su family has been rooted in Luoxia Port for three generations. There’s nothing about Shuizhou we don’t know."

"Are there any other factions offshore from Shuizhou?"

The steward’s expression grew serious.

"There are," he said, rising and walking to the window. He pushed open the wooden shutters and pointed to the azure sea beyond the port. "Go out past the islands near the coast, then travel about three thousand li further, and you’ll begin to enter the territory of the outer sea factions."

"Outer sea factions?"

"Cultivator factions based on islands," the steward replied, turning back. "There are far more islands in the sea than mainlanders can imagine. Some are as large as small cities, rich with Spiritual Qi. A few even have branches of undersea Spirit Veins breaking the surface. These factions build their Sects and families on such islands, cultivating for generations."

"And their size?"

"They vary in size. A small one might be just one or two families occupying an island, with a hundred or so members. The large ones..." The steward lowered his voice. "It’s said that deep in the outer seas, there are several massive island alliances, each presided over by a Golden Core cultivator. The strongest of them are even rumored to have Nascent Soul Stage patriarchs."

’Nascent Soul Stage.’

Li Yuan’s brow twitched.

"Do these factions have contact with the mainland?"

"They do, but not often," the steward sighed. "The ocean is vast, and Shuizhou is a Spiritless District. There’s almost no Spiritual Qi between the coast and the mainland’s interior, so the toll it takes for a Cultivator to cross is immense. As a result, the sea factions primarily do business with the Celestial Peak Sect, using the route along the Jingzhou coast. The Celestial Peak Sect has established several trading ports on Jingzhou’s eastern coast, specifically to interface with these outer sea factions."

"What do the sea factions need?"

"Mainland resources. Spirit Grass, ores, Artifact Refining materials, pill recipes." The steward ticked them off on his fingers. "The sea has no shortage of Water Element Spiritual Materials and marine products, but mainland materials of the Fire, Earth, and Metal Elements are extremely rare out there. Conversely, some of the sea’s unique specialties are priceless and have no market on the mainland. The two sides trade to fill their respective needs, and the Celestial Peak Sect takes a cut, raking in a massive profit."

"What about Shuizhou itself? Are there any Golden Core Level factions here?"

The steward shook his head.

"Shuizhou is too poor. The Spiritless District covers ninety percent of its landmass, leaving only a narrow strip along the coast suitable for cultivation. It can’t support large Sects or families. The Su family is the biggest local faction, but we’re only at the Foundation Establishment Level."

He paused for a moment before adding.

"However, there is one Golden Core cultivator on the fringes of Shuizhou."

"Oh?"

"A Loose Cultivator. He doesn’t belong to any faction." The steward’s voice held a note of awe. "They say that when he was young, this senior was just an ordinary cultivator from the Shuizhou coast. After reaching Foundation Establishment, he ventured alone into the deep outer seas for training. He stumbled upon a great fortuitous opportunity somewhere on the seafloor and broke through to the Golden Core Stage in a single leap."

"And after he came back?"

"After returning, he settled in a bay at the southernmost tip of Shuizhou. There’s a branch of an undersea Spirit Vein beneath that bay, so the Spiritual Qi is fairly abundant. The senior built a small market there, specializing in trade between the sea and the land."

"And what does he do?"

"A Pill Refiner," the steward said, unconcealed admiration showing on his face. "He’s Shuizhou’s only Golden Core Pill Refiner. The pills he refines are of the highest quality. Cultivators from the outer sea island factions often travel thousands of li just to buy his pills. Some mainland Loose Cultivators also make the special journey to Shuizhou seeking his pills, but the distance is too great, and few actually manage to arrive."

’A Golden Core Loose Cultivator. A Pill Refiner. And he built a trading market in southern Shuizhou.’

Li Yuan mentally noted each piece of information.

"What’s that market called?"

"It doesn’t have an official name. Everyone just calls it Nanyuan District," the steward said after a moment’s thought. "From Luoxia Port, it’s about a five or six-day walk south along the coast. The path is safe, just long."

"Does the Su family have business dealings with him?"

"A little. The Su family sends regular shipments of mainland Spiritual Materials to Nanyuan District in exchange for his pills. But the volume isn’t large. The senior’s output is limited, and most of it is reserved in advance by his major clients from the outer seas."

Li Yuan nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.

’The situation in Shuizhou is more complex than I’d realized.’

’The Spiritless District isolates Shuizhou from the mainland, but the ocean connects it to a world of cultivation far more expansive than the continent itself. The existence of the outer sea island factions means that even though Shuizhou’s coast is resource-poor, it serves as a natural hub between sea and land.’

’The Celestial Peak Sect monopolizes the majority of this trade route, leaving no room for the three sects of Jingzhou or the Primordial Yang Sect. The Abyss Sect’s Gray-White Flag Fleet chose to stockpile materials in Luoxia Port, most likely because they value the secrecy Shuizhou offers as a transit point. The Spiritless District provides a natural shield from the surveillance of mainland factions, making it a much safer place to smuggle goods than Jingzhou or Liangzhou.’

Li Yuan reined in his thoughts, rose, and walked out.