Chapter 80: A Newcomer Sets Sail

It was noon, and the sunlight was intense.

Xu Qing walked down the street, telling himself that whenever he could help Zhang San in the future, he should do so to repay the favor of refining the boat; and as for the Ghost-Desire Horseshoe Crab from Zhou Qingpeng, he could also help him out in return when the time was right.

Although he had not yet seen the boat after it had been refined, Xu Qing felt that the spirit stones Zhang San must have consumed to refine it certainly far exceeded two hundred.

After keeping this matter in mind, Xu Qing observed the crowds and the surrounding environment; as he walked along, he did not see anything different from any other day.

It seemed... the death of the merman youth had not caused any ripples in the main city, and the same went for the Homicide Department; of course, it was also possible that not many people knew about it yet.

While pondering, Xu Qing walked toward the Sea Records Pavilion in the city.

The Sea Records Pavilion was a place every disciple had to visit before their first time heading out to sea.

This was because the Sea Records Pavilion stored extremely precious data—a comprehensive record compiled from the various strange and bizarre things experienced by countless Seven Blood Eyes disciples over the years, as well as information on countless sea beasts.

Its value was staggering.

Therefore, it could not be copied; if one wanted to view it, one had to pay a fee and go there in person to read it.

Furthermore, if a disciple encountered strange events or new sea beasts while at sea, they could report them to the Sea Records Pavilion; if the information was verified after review, they would be given a handsome reward, and the more precious the information, the richer the reward tended to be.

However, unless there was conclusive evidence, if it were only one-sided information, it would be impossible to judge its truthfulness, so the review time was often extremely long—hundreds of years was not impossible—which prevented people from making things up to try and claim rewards.

And this unverified information was not included in the Sea Records Pavilion.

Everything recorded in the Sea Records Pavilion was real and had been verified multiple times.

Therefore, Xu Qing read very carefully; he knew that any piece of information here could potentially save his life at a critical moment.

Xu Qing had also determined the direction for his voyage.

The sea chart he had found in the merman youth’s storage bag was very comprehensive and detailed; after studying it, Xu Qing decided that the final destination for this voyage would be an island marked on the chart.

This island lay behind an archipelago known as Xishan, where reefs were pervasive and it was very dangerous; because it was a place where nearby sea lizards shed their skin, it was called Sea Lizard Island.

Sea lizards themselves were ferocious and rare, belonging to a group-living species that mostly stayed in the deep sea, only coming out to sea when shedding their skin; furthermore, the shed skin had to be obtained within a very short time to have any value, as the spiritual essence would dissipate after a while, rendering it worthless.

Therefore, it was extremely difficult for outsiders to obtain.

Moreover, because its level of protection far exceeded similar materials, it belonged to a high grade among boat materials, not comparable to middle or low grades; Xu Qing had once seen it in a shop on the Sixth Peak, where a single piece of Qi Condensation level 3 sea lizard skin cost thirty spirit stones.

And as the cultivation base of the sea lizard itself increased, the price would skyrocket; a piece of Qi Condensation level 5 sea lizard skin had already reached one hundred and fifty spirit stones, and Xu Qing had even seen a piece of Qi Condensation level 8 sea lizard skin that cost five or six hundred spirit stones.

Such astonishing value meant that this Sea Lizard Island constantly attracted ferocious cultivators from other races on the Forbidden Sea to come and plunder it, making it extremely dangerous.

Therefore, without a certain level of strength, going to this place was a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.

Xu Qing’s target was this Sea Lizard Island.

At this moment, as he flipped through the sea records, time slowly passed; before he knew it, it was dusk. Xu Qing finally committed the thick sea records to memory, closed his eyes to recall them, and turned to leave.

"Everything is prepared, just waiting for the boat." Walking on the street at dusk, Xu Qing looked toward the sea, the sound of waves reaching his ears, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Finally, as dusk faded and the bright moon rose, Xu Qing arrived at the Transportation Department.

At this moment, the handymen who had been busy all day were leaving in groups; as Xu Qing walked over from the side, he saw Zhang San from afar, squatting on some cargo and smoking a pipe.

In the dim light, Zhang San’s figure was somewhat blurry, but the exhaustion on his face, revealed by the flickering light of the pipe in his hand, was caught by Xu Qing’s eyes.

Xu Qing felt a bit guilty; just as he was about to walk closer, his gaze swept across the handyman disciples who had become restrained due to his appearance, and he spotted a familiar, thin figure.

That figure was a girl, none other than Li Zimei, who had entered the sect in the same batch as him; she also saw Xu Qing, and although she was also restrained, a smile still appeared on her face.

Under the moonlight, this smile was very sincere.

Xu Qing gave an encouraging smile, and after watching her leave, he walked to Zhang San’s side.

"You know her?" Zhang San asked curiously.

"I do, her name is Li Zimei; she entered the sect in the same batch as me, and she has a very strong character." Xu Qing looked at Li Zimei’s retreating back and said softly.

Zhang San nodded upon hearing this.

"A good little girl; since you know her, I’ll look after her a bit more later."

"Thank you." Xu Qing looked at Zhang San and said solemnly.

"Small matter. Let’s go, I’ll take you to see your boat." As Zhang San spoke, a gleam appeared in his eyes; he jumped off the cargo pile and led Xu Qing to the back, to another large warehouse.

As they walked in, a massive boat, carrying an astonishing aura, entered Xu Qing’s sight, causing his footsteps to falter.

Although he had prepared himself mentally, knowing that his boat would look very different this time, Xu Qing was still shocked by the boat before him.

The giant crocodile head at the bow had been altered; it was no longer slender but much flatter, yet it had a black horn hidden within the beast’s forehead, which seemed capable of piercing through everything once it popped out.

This change made the original ostentatious intent restrained, adding a sense of weightiness and hiding a ferocity.

The changes to the hull were even greater; it was no longer a twenty-plus-zhang-long willow-leaf shape, but had been reduced in length and increased in width, looking like a rhombus overall, much like a giant turtle shell.

Every plank on it was covered in scales and engraved with dense, intricate array patterns.

Four giant wheel-legs had been added to the sides, which seemed retractable and could move on land, and they also hid sharp spikes.

At the same time, the cabin had changed significantly, becoming a two-story structure; this layering saved space, allowing the extra room to be used for engraving layers of arrays that emitted spiritual energy fluctuations.

Besides this, what attracted the most attention was the giant blade-like sails on the boat, shaped like heavenly sabers.

There were eight in total, four in the front row, symmetrical on the left and right, tilted upright, and four in the back row at the same tilted angle; from afar, they looked like wings, or sharp blades.

As for the bottom of the boat, there was a huge groove that seemed capable of housing a sea beast.

The entire boat looked like a giant beast in this warehouse, its aura heavy and full of intimidation.

"This..." Xu Qing was somewhat dazed; the sheer scale of the boat’s transformation made his mind buzz.

Seeing Xu Qing’s expression, Zhang San’s tired face revealed pride and arrogance as he spoke calmly.

"Your previous boat was refined too poorly, so this time I gave it a major overhaul; the main modifications were to the hull structure, side structure, deck structure, cabin wall structure, bow and stern structure, and the superstructure."

"I replaced the keel for you, so the stability will be better; the structural adjustments can maximize strength and rigidity. Additionally, I’ve reserved space for you to upgrade it."

Zhang San leaped and jumped directly onto the boat.

"Inside the black horn at the bow, I added the bone marrow of a Devouring Beast; if it pierces into a sea beast’s body, it can devour the opponent’s spiritual energy and store it in the boat’s deck arrays."

"And these four legs; each one contains three thousand six hundred sharp fragments. If you encounter danger, you can detach them as needed and have them shoot out and explode."

"I didn’t touch the Spirit Gathering Array, but I enlarged the groove for you so you can add fifty spirit stones at once. If you encounter extreme circumstances, this boat can be dismantled, and the excess parts can be discarded, turning it into a fish-boat, which will increase its speed by at least double."

"And these sails." Zhang San raised a hand to point at the sails, his expression arrogant.

"This is my original creation; watch closely." As Zhang San spoke, he took out a spirit stone, placed it into the array at his feet, and stomped. Immediately, the array activated, and the eight blade-like sails retracted together, forming a protective shell.

Looking at it, the boat now resembled a giant alligator turtle, capable of both offense and defense.

"Combined with the boat’s own defenses, this dual protection makes it even sturdier, and when opened, it can still act as sharp blades, forming considerable lethality."

"The groove at the bottom can better secure it onto a Forbidden Sea Dragon Whale, allowing you to control the Dragon Whale to fly and lift the boat in special circumstances, enabling it to take to the air for a short time."

"Xu Qing, this is a true level-seven boat. How is it? Are you satisfied?" Zhang San jumped off the boat, stood with his hands behind his back in front of Xu Qing, lifted his chin, and spoke calmly.

Xu Qing’s heart was in turmoil; after a long while, he took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces, cupped his fists toward Zhang San, and bowed deeply.

"Many thanks, Senior Brother Zhang. This boat... I am very satisfied!"

"Later, when this boat of yours advances to a magic ship, I’ll design it further based on your power source. A magic ship—that is a true sharp weapon!"

Zhang San spoke calmly with the air of an expert; Xu Qing’s attitude made him feel very comfortable, but the exhaustion washing over him still made him unable to help but yawn.

Seeing this, Xu Qing respectfully took his leave, took out the spirit stones and placed them aside, then put away the boat and left the Transportation Department.

Not until he had left did Zhang San sigh with a listless expression.

"I lost money. I couldn't help myself for a moment, and I actually refined it so well... I lost big this time."

"I hope this kid will have a bright future..." Zhang San endured the heartache, picked up the spirit stones, and shook his head as he left the warehouse. Before leaving, he remembered that disciple from the same batch as Xu Qing, so he took out a sound-transmission jade slip and made arrangements.

"Since I’ve already invested, I might as well invest a bit more. No choice, I’m locked in."

Amidst Zhang San’s lamentations, Xu Qing returned to Port 79 and released his boat at the berth. With the roar of the water, he looked at the heavy giant before him, his heart surging. He leaped onto it and began to study it carefully.

The night slowly passed.

Throughout the night, Xu Qing studied his boat thoroughly, inside and out, and felt immense admiration for Zhang San’s craftsmanship. Until the first rays of the sun rose and the sunlight spilled down, Xu Qing took a deep breath, stood at the bow, looked at the distant sun, and slowly narrowed his eyes.

After a while, he raised his right hand and formed a seal.

"Set sail!"

Immediately, the boat roared, and as the surrounding seawater churned, his level-seven boat slowly moved from the berth, turned its bow, and under the watchful eyes of other disciples with boats nearby, sailed toward the harbor gate.

Like a giant beast leaving its cage, the momentum was magnificent.

And the handsome youth standing on the deck had his long hair dancing in the sea breeze, his figure as straight as a pine, his gray Daoist robes fluttering, reflecting the morning glow in the sky, causing the sunlight to pass through his hair and refract into dazzling colors.