Chapter 222 - 220: Sailing Warship and Harmony Island

The voyage over the next few days revealed the full reality of life at sea.

It was mind-numbingly boring...

The endless sea gradually lost its novelty, just like a bowl of New Year’s Eve dinner that was still being served after being reheated every day for two weeks.

The expressions on the faces of those looking out at the sea slowly shifted from fascination to weariness.

Especially the ceaseless, daily sounds of the wind, the sea, and the ship’s horn. At first, it all felt like the breath of freedom; now, it was all just goddamn noise.

Yang Shen finally understood what a hard life his Uncle had led all those years ago.

He could only pour all his energy into his Cultivation. Every day, he would absorb his fill of Spiritual Qi, solidify his Body Forging under the Rising Sun, and spend the rest of his time researching the fusion of the Initial Realm Body Refining Fist, Vomiting Valley Qi, and Zongjiao Stake. Finally, he would study a little of the Pre-Qin Texts.

Only by keeping himself completely occupied could he forget the boredom.

Fortunately, his progress on fusing the cultivation techniques was gratifying. He had brought a whole bottle of Heart-Inquiry Water, and by taking a sip every now and then, he kept his Comprehension at a fever pitch.

Chen Beiwang was back on his feet by the second day, though his face was still pale. Yang Shen hadn’t seen him in months; after all, their old "tutoring agreement" had ended after the college entrance exams.

Only then did Yang Shen learn why Chen Beiwang had been stuck in that villa in Jinshui District.

"To put it simply, a big project went sideways. It wasn’t really my fault, but after all the finger-pointing, someone tried to pin the blame on me. So, for my own protection, they had me stay away from Jianghuai for a while."

In the cafeteria, Chen Beiwang was wolfing down the simple fare. He must have vomited everything up earlier and was now so hungry he felt like he was Burning his Essence Blood.

He didn’t look like a billionaire at all, but that was also what made Chen Beiwang interesting.

Yang Shen asked, "Couldn’t the big tree at your back protect you?"

Chen Beiwang took a bite of a pickle. "When you’re doing pretty well for yourself, you realize it’s not just one big tree, but a whole forest... The one trying to screw me over is another big tree."

"So what was the project?"

"I can’t talk about that... Anyway, Xu Mo found an opportunity to get me out this time. With the Yanhua Official endorsement, that old business is considered settled. I should be in East Japan around September."

"And you’ve been goofing off for a whole month? How much is your Qi and Blood Value now?"

Chen Beiwang gave an embarrassed laugh. "Well, I’m still at the Innate realm, hahaha. After all, I haven’t seen Deng Ming in over a decade. He’s been on the Dongying Remnant Island for ages. I had no idea he was doing so well for himself now. He’s practically a local emperor over on the Dongying Remnant Island. The Deng Family has expanded a lot of their business over there too."

Don’t let its chaotic and rundown appearance fool you; this place has a lot of hidden value.

Afterwards, Yang Shen showed the scrap metal he had found to Chen Beiwang for identification.

However, to Yang Shen’s disappointment, Chen Beiwang could only guess at their general purpose but couldn’t name them.

But on second thought, it made sense. The system had said they were "Curiosities not found on this continent," so it was normal that they weren’t part of Chen Beiwang’s knowledge base.

After that, it was back to endless Cultivation and killing time.

The Sea Cape continued onward, disappearing completely into the depths of the Vast Sea.

On the ninth day after their departure, when they were more than 7,000 kilometers away from Yanhua, Yang Shen’s Qi and Blood Value had also accumulated by 180 points.

The total was approaching the 2,000 mark.

Counting from before the start of the school year, Yang Shen had spent 50 days accumulating an amount equivalent to his entire total before reaching the Innate realm. This was thanks to the boost from his Cultivation Side realm advancement.

When he had just started Cultivation, he struggled to absorb even 5 points of Spiritual Qi a day. Now, his starting point was 20.

He was currently in a "comfort zone" of the Qi Refining Stage.

Levels one to three were the beginning, where skills and proficiency were lacking, and progress was made bit by bit each day. Xu Bamboo, Long Jiu, and the four little ones were at this stage.

Levels three to seven were the smoothest. By then, one was skilled and had built a foundation. Plus, Immortal Martial Dual Cultivation made one’s physical body more open, making bottlenecks almost imperceptible.

As for levels seven to nine, especially breaking through from level nine to Foundation Establishment, one might get stuck for a bit. After all, every major realm in Cultivation is a hurdle.

While deep in his Cultivation, Yang Shen suddenly heard shouts of alarm from the deck. A flicker of interest passed through him, and he opened his eyes.

’Considering how boring the days at sea have been, so many people making a fuss must mean something interesting is happening. There’s no reason not to go check it out!’

Many people were gathered on deck, pointing at the sea’s surface: "Look! It’s Sea Beasts! So many!"

With a few leaps, Yang Shen also arrived at the edge of the railing. Even though he had been prepared for something, the sight still shook him.

Beneath the water’s surface, very close to the Sea Cape, several enormous figures were moving rapidly.

They were seven or eight terrifying behemoths, each nearly a hundred meters long. They had snake-like bodies, but they were far thicker in proportion than any snake, and they moved in an arrowhead formation.

Their ferocious heads breached the surface slightly, becoming sharp blades that cut through the azure sea. The heads alone were several meters in size.

Their roar drowned out the ocean; their passage split the wind!

More and more people gathered there, including Chen Beiwang and Deng Ming. The latter had lived on the Dongying Remnant Island for a long time and was clearly very familiar with various types of Sea Beasts.

"Those are Fear Eels! In East Japan, they’re also known as Black Flood Dragons. They aren’t very aggressive and usually aren’t interested in ships."

Chen Beiwang stared blankly for a moment. "Such powerful Sea Beasts, and they live in groups? Doesn’t that make them invincible?"

Deng Ming shook his head. "Fear Eels look long, but their weight isn’t as exaggerated as it seems visually. They’re similar to snakes. In the deep sea, they aren’t considered particularly powerful."

Yang Shen asked, "How do they compare to human Martial Artists in terms of strength?"

His Uncle and the others used to hunt Sea Beasts near the coast. The highest realm among their entire crew was only Marrow Refining, and the average was probably just Bone Training. They couldn’t have handled such behemoths.

This was also why they met their end a few months ago during the "Sea Beast disturbance" when they ran into a Deep Sea Sea Beast.

Deng Ming smiled. "That depends on the situation. On land, even an Innate Martial Artist could toy with them using their speed advantage. They’d just be hard to kill."

"But in the sea... an Innate Martial Artist is just a little snack to them, haha!"

The Sea Cape has equipment to repel Sea Beasts, which mainly works using infrasound. That’s why they hadn’t encountered any for so many days. But since Sea Beasts come in all shapes and sizes, this group of Fear Eels seemed to have mistaken the ship for one of their own and were circling it.

One had to admit, the scene was quite spectacular. Seven or eight hundred-meter-long beasts, arranged in an arrowhead formation in front of the Sea Cape, looked as if they were leading the ship to ride the wind and break the waves!

Many people on the ship felt their hearts pound with excitement as they watched.

After a discussion, the crew of the Sea Cape decided to change the frequency of the repulsion device. Sea Beasts are brainless creatures; it was an unnecessary risk if one of them got a stupid idea and rammed the hull.

After the frequency was changed, humans couldn’t feel it, but the Fear Eels seemed to become agitated and gradually distanced themselves.

Watching these behemoths depart, Yang Shen couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of the sea.

With the concentration of Spiritual Qi on Cyan Blue, who knew how many more secrets this boundless ocean held... Humanity had only explored less than 5% of it to this day.

It was said that in the depths of ten thousand meters, countless unknown Xuanqi and terrors lay hidden.

This small interlude added some life to the boring journey.

In the following days, there were occasional Sea Beast sightings, but none were as powerful or as stunning as the Fear Eels.

Yang Shen continued to immerse himself in his Cultivation and studies.

「Until the 14th day...」

They were finally about to arrive at Harmony Island...

To be precise, they had arrived in the waters near Harmony Island.

However, before they even saw the island, they first saw a ship from Europe.

A... very strange ship.

It had a pure wooden style, as if from the Middle Ages, with occasional giant rivets wrapped in cast iron, and five tall masts hoisting sails.

A five-masted Sailing Warship?!!

This historic warship was only slightly smaller than the Sea Cape, but when the two passed each other, it created a sense of temporal dislocation.

On the deck, Deng Ming explained to the stunned crowd:

"Europe’s sailing warships have many drawbacks in the modern era, but many old noble families in Europe like them. They’re considered to have a retro style. In reality, they have relatively modern power systems and rune enhancements inside, otherwise they couldn’t sail into the depths of the Vast Sea. It’s just the exterior that looks strange."

"Europe also has modern warships, but they’re all old things from decades ago. Technologically, they’ve been left far behind by Yanhua, not even as good as Magna. If Magna hadn’t been looking for help this time, they wouldn’t even have been qualified to get a piece of the pie."

Yang Shen clicked his tongue in wonder. "This kind of warship... does it still have any practical use? In a fight, wouldn’t it be turned to splinters in minutes?"

Whether in a firefight with modern weapons or a Martial Arts boarding battle, it looked very fragile.

’Even with runes, couldn’t they use steel? Wouldn’t that be better?’

Deng Ming spread his hands. "That’s why I said they’re just putting on a brave front. Europe’s most advanced Exotic Realm is the Fortress Realm, and that was ages ago... They were ahead for a while, but after the steam age, they’ve been pretty weak."

Chen Beiwang chimed in at the right moment: "You’d know if you went to Europe. Many of the towns there haven’t changed much in the last one or two hundred years."

"Since the modern era began, technological development has basically only come from two Exotic Realms: Yanhua’s ’Xu Realm’ and Magna’s ’Cyber Realm’. The entire modernization process of Cyan Blue has mostly been copying Yanhua’s and Magna’s homework. And Yanhua is the strongest, whether in national power, military strength, or technological prowess."

Yang Shen watched the five-masted Sailing Warship recede into the distance, his heart surging with a sense of wonder at the strange ecosystem of Cyan Blue.

’Someday, I’ll go to more places and see more sights.’

About an hour after passing the Sailing Warship, the silhouette of an island finally appeared in the distance...

Yang Shen stood at the top of the ship, gazing into the distance.

He saw more than a dozen ships of various shapes and sizes, stopped in the coastal waters of the island as if in formation.

There were wooden pirate warships, steel warships from Yanhua and Magna, small and medium-sized supply ships, research vessels, and massive cargo freighters.

All sorts of ships were anchored on the sea, spaced far apart, and the Sea Cape just sailed right through them.

From time to time, Martial Artists from unknown countries could be seen running across the surface of the sea, carrying large crates of supplies.

Under the sea, several figures were chasing after approaching Sea Beasts at incredible speeds.

On the decks of the various ships, one could occasionally see floating or standing Martial Artists in meditation.

On the shore, a port under construction was beginning to take shape, and there was even a temporary airport being built.

This island, which had likely been uninhabited since time immemorial, was now a hive of bustling activity, having gathered countless human, material, and financial resources from all over Cyan Blue...

Because at its center, there was a...

Gate of the Exotic Realm!