Chapter 1: The North Pole

August, the warmest month for Arctic temperatures.

The sun crouched at the edge of the horizon in an almost eternal posture.

The Arctic research vessel *Long Ji* moved slowly across the endless glaciers, the harsh sound of its bow breaking the ice ringing out incessantly.

By noon, the temperature rose to minus 7 degrees Celsius. Without the usual raging cold winds, First Mate Zhao Meng notified all research team members to come to the deck for some fresh air and activity.

Zhao Meng was Li Youyi's senior fellow apprentice. He had trained in boxing and palm techniques at their sect for six years in his early years, later joined the navy, and rose step by step to the rank of field officer, possessing rich navigational experience. He set out with the research vessel this time, responsible for personnel management, ship maintenance, and other matters.

Having been cooped up in the ship's cabins for several days, everyone was very excited to reach the deck.

Some spread their arms to breathe freely, some shouted loudly, and some picked up the uncleared ice and snow on the deck to throw into the distance.

The accompanying reporters were recording broadcast material.

Meteorological researchers launched weather balloons.

"Auspicious snow startles a thousand miles, layered clouds darken the nine heavens."

"The earth suspects a bright moonlit night, the mountains resemble white clouds at dawn."

Among the seven or eight students who walked out of the cabin with Professor Xu, one short student was moved by the scene and recited poetry loudly in public, puffing out clusters of white mist from his mouth. No one mocked or felt embarrassed; they all empathized, feeling high-spirited.

Being selected for polar research while still in university was naturally a significant, colorful stroke in their life resumes.

Li Youyi sat alone on the ladder at the stern of the ship, completely out of place with the laughter, play, and high spirits over there.

He had a handsome face, a high-bridged nose, and lips slightly cracked from the cold. He had just finished his freshman year and was much younger than the group of master's students led by Professor Xu.

From the collar of his thick orange cold-weather gear, he took out an ancient ornament hanging around his neck. As he stroked the patterns on it, feelings of longing surged, and bitterness and grief overflowed on his face.

This ancient ornament, named the "Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish," was the sect leader's token of the Chan Sect, said to have been passed down from the time of King Wen of Zhou.

It was formed by two bronze fish joined head-to-tail, creating a Taiji diagram seal.

The fish scale carvings were very clear, but one fish eye was missing.

The eyes of the two fish were the Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang of the Taiji. The only remaining one was slightly cyan, bean-sized, and made of a rather peculiar material—resembling jade, stone, and bone all at once, with a rich ancient charm.

The old sect leader said it was the brow bone of the Dao Ancestor.

Two months ago, when the old sect leader was dying, he passed the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish to Li Youyi, and he thus logically became the new generation sect leader of the Chan Sect.

Having lost his parents since childhood, Li Youyi grew up with the old sect leader, as close as grandfather and grandson.

The old sect leader's death was a huge blow to him.

At that time, he happened to meet Zhao Meng, who had returned to the mountain to visit their master. On his deathbed, the old sect leader entrusted Li Youyi to him. Seeing Li Youyi trapped in grief and unable to walk out of it for several days, Zhao Meng suggested taking him out to clear his mind.

Only after boarding the research vessel did Li Youyi realize that the place his senior brother was taking him to clear his mind was the distant North Pole.

"Youyi, missing the old sect leader again?"

Zhao Meng walked over from the deck.

His 1.86-meter-tall burly frame, square face, large ears, and thick beard, combined with the already bulky cold-weather gear he wore and arms as thick as pillars, gave him a very masculine, mountain-like aura.

Li Youyi quickly composed his emotions and looked up, revealing a pair of clear, bright eyes: "Senior brother, you don't need to worry. I'm fine. It's already been two months; everything can fade and be accepted in time."

He had a strong inner self, capable of facing the wind and snow in life alone, and was not someone who liked to pass negative emotions on to the family and friends around him.

"That's good."

Zhao Meng sat down beside Li Youyi, took out a cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and said: "Communicate more with everyone, don't stay cooped up alone. Want a puff?"

Li Youyi shook his head gently and asked: "Senior brother, what happened on the ship last night?"

Li Youyi had been placed by Zhao Meng in the security team, responsible for the basic safety and order of the fifth deck. Last night, it seemed like something major happened in the lower cabins; there was a long period of running and shouting, and even the ship itself swayed a few times.

At the time, he wanted to go down to check, but was blocked, and he had been curious ever since.

Zhao Meng said: "Nothing major! It's said that Laboratory 705 caught fire, but it was quickly extinguished."

Laboratory 705, located at the bottom of the ship, conducted some secret experiments and had a high security level, not under Zhao Meng's responsibility.

Li Youyi had heard people mention that there were armed guards outside the laboratory.

"That group of people is mysterious, and they won't even let us check if the laboratory has dangerous or explosive items. I just hope they don't cause any trouble." Zhao Meng looked worried and couldn't help but complain.

They said it was a fire, but the ship had clearly vibrated; they were obviously deliberately hiding something.

The *Long Ji* was over a hundred meters long and weighed nearly 15,000 tons.

To shake it, how much force would be required?

Thinking of the real reason he came to find Li Youyi, Zhao Meng's expression became serious: "Are Xie Jin and the others giving you a hard time?"

"No."

Li Youyi shook his head gently.

Zhao Meng's large, thick palm patted his shoulder and said: "With your senior brother, say whatever is on your mind. The kinder and more tolerant you are, the more they will push their luck."

Li Youyi thought for a moment: "Those who can enter the research vessel's security team are elites selected through layers of screening. And I, a connection hire who just started university, became a member of the security team and was arranged in the best cabin level with an independent room. If I were them, I would definitely be dissatisfied too. So, I don't blame them."

Zhao Meng took a deep breath, stopping only when the fire reached the filter, and exhaled thick, choking smoke from his nostrils: "What connection hire? Don't I know your strength? When you were little... I remember you were only this tall, right? When I was practicing martial arts under the old locust tree, you were humming and hawing beside me, swinging your little fists. Master said my talent could at most reach your knees."

Li Youyi laughed: "You know how exaggerated that old man's mouth is, don't you?"

"Don't give me that! Two years ago, when I returned to the mountain to spar with you, I was already no match for you. Seventeen, eighteen—these two years are the stage when physique and blood energy grow rapidly. Do you see me daring to initiate a spar now?" Zhao Meng said.

In terms of martial arts and fisticuffs, Li Youyi certainly had great confidence, but thinking of what his master once said—"Martial Dao, Martial Dao, only martial remains, no Dao. In this era, even the martial is almost gone"—the confidence in his heart inevitably felt somewhat frustrated.

Only the pursuit of Martial Dao and the dream of the extraordinary lingering in his mind not only did not diminish but became increasingly intense.

He was determined to make a name for himself in this era where Martial Dao was abandoned.

After thinking for a long time, Li Youyi said: "My entry into the security team is ultimately against the rules. Senior brother, don't make things difficult for them; I can solve it myself."

"You..."

Zhao Meng knew that his junior brother had grown up on the mountain since childhood and was a good student at school; his heart was too kind, and he didn't understand the malice of human nature, so he patiently explained: "You were specially recruited by me. Even if you weren't my junior brother, your strength is completely compliant. This is the rule!"

"Next time Xie Jin and the others trouble you, don't endure it; just teach them a lesson directly."

Zhao Meng added: "Speaking of which, this matter has something to do with me. When competing for the First Mate position, I had a significant conflict with Xie Tianshu, and this is likely instigated by him behind the scenes."

Xie Tianshu was the Second Mate of this research vessel, responsible for security, medical care, and so on.

A research team member ran over quickly: "Brother Meng, there's an urgent matter from the Captain; he wants you to go over immediately."

"I've mentioned your situation to the Captain. You don't even have to think of yourself as a member of the security team; just treat it as a trip to clear your mind."

Zhao Meng gave Li Youyi a few more instructions before following the team member to the bridge.

"Do you know? The Arctic Ocean is the Northern Sea in myths and legends. In ancient times, the earth was wild and desolate, and gods, demons, and monsters fought incessantly. After the Chiyou tribe was defeated, the remnants of the Jiuli fled into the Northern Sea."

"The Northern Sea is also called the Northern Nether; it is said to be the entrance from the human world to the Netherworld. There is also a saying that only from the Northern Sea can one reach the true human world."

The group of master's students led by Professor Xu walked along the passage by the ship's rail toward the stern where Li Youyi was.

The short student who recited poetry earlier was a social butterfly, talking incessantly, telling the two beautiful female students about the myths of the Northern Sea.

From the start until now, they had been sailing on the sea for over a month, and everyone was bored to death. Hearing such bizarre and absurd stories, plus the endless glaciers before their eyes which could make one have infinite reveries, laughter and discussions were incessant.

A female student with very fair skin and round eyes said: "Northern Nether, I know! In the Northern Nether there is a fish, its name is Kun. The Kun is so huge, I don't know how many thousands of miles it is. It's written in Zhuangzi's *Free and Easy Wandering*!"

Another female student teased intentionally: "If there really were a fish thousands of miles long, it wouldn't be able to move around even in the Arctic Ocean, right?"

Professor Xu and this group of students were responsible for the research project of marine biology, as well as extracting Arctic bacterial strains and marine genetic samples; the tasks were miscellaneous and heavy.

"The vastness of a thousand miles of silver, the eternity of the endless polar day. Such magnificent scenery can only be seen in the polar regions. Shall we take a group photo?"

"Sure, what a commemorative significance."

"Young man, can you help us take one?"

Li Youyi looked at the camera handed over by the female student, then looked up to meet her eyes, which were as round as a bright moon. After nodding gently, he put the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish into his cold-weather gear, got up, walked down the ladder, and took a group photo for them.

"Please take a few more."

A group of male and female students crowded Professor Xu in the middle, posing in various ways by the ship's railing.

"Click!"

Constantly pressing the shutter...

Suddenly, Li Youyi sensed something wrong and discovered something.

He brought up the photo just taken, zoomed in, and observed carefully; his pupils contracted sharply.

"What's wrong, young man?" the female student asked curiously.

Li Youyi handed the camera over and let them see for themselves.

As for him, he looked toward the distant snow ridge.

The boundless ice and snow wilderness, the flat earth as if cast in silver, without any vegetation, was shocking and desolate. On the snow ridge several kilometers away, a huge purple-black figure was moving rapidly.

"A bear? What a strange bear-like creature..."

The female student was very surprised, her eyes fixed on the photo on the camera.

"Let me see, why is it a purple-black bear? Aren't polar bears white? Could it be that a new species has appeared in the Arctic?"

"Don't you think this bear is a bit strange? It clearly looks skinny, but its body size is abnormally huge."

While they were gathered together studying the photo, the strange bear-like creature in the distance was rushing down the snow ridge at an extraordinary speed, coming toward the research vessel.

Too fast!

It ran on the ice field like a car, every landing of its paws kicking up a lot of broken ice, and even from a great distance, one could faintly hear the thunder-like sound of its running.

"Something's not right, how can it be so fast?" Li Youyi narrowed his eyes, realizing the danger.

This strange purple-black bear-like creature was shockingly large, four or five times the size of an adult polar bear.

It was definitely a new species that did not exist on Earth.

In just one minute, it had run nearly two kilometers.

The target was very clear: it was the research vessel.

"It's coming for us."

Li Youyi whispered, then looked toward the deck and shouted: "Everyone, go back to the cabin quickly, there's danger!"

"What a terrifying speed! Even a cheetah at full sprint might not be this fast, right?"

Professor Xu and the seven or eight young students were right there; some were worried, some were panicked.

The Captain's voice sounded over the research vessel's broadcast equipment: "All research team members, please pay attention, return to the cabin immediately. Security team members, please lock the cabin doors."

"All research team members, please pay attention, return to the cabin immediately..."

The harsh whistle echoed throughout the research vessel.

(End of chapter)