Chapter 3

Li Youyi gripped the Huang Long Sword tightly and looked outside through the cracked cabin window.

The boundary between the sky and the ice and snow was already blurred.

Only the occasional flash of lightning could tear through the wind, snow, and clouds, briefly illuminating this chaos.

Thunder roared, wind howled.

Ice-blade-like snowflakes frantically hit the ship's hull, like dense gunfire.

That bear-like creature was nowhere to be found, impossible to track.

"College student, no need to be so nervous! No matter how strong that bear-like creature is, it's as fragile as us in the face of severe weather. Facing such a violent blizzard, it must have hidden back in its lair."

Xie Jin was the cousin of Second Mate Xie Tianshu. Although he was also half a connection hire, he was selected through regular channels after all, so he naturally believed it was due to his own strength. Therefore, he never thought he and Li Youyi were the same kind of person and held himself in very high regard.

Of course, no matter how much he looked down on this green college student, he wouldn't be so targeted everywhere, appearing to have no demeanor. It was mainly because Xie Tianshu had already explained this matter, which involved the infighting between the First Mate and Second Mate.

Li Youyi held the opposite view but didn't want to argue with Xie Jin, responding with silence.

He continued to patrol outside the window vigilantly.

"Tap! Tap! Tap..."

A cold female voice came from the direction of the stairs: "That bear-like creature is no longer a normal Earth life form; bullets can't even penetrate its skeleton, so how could a mere blizzard do anything to it?"

Cai Yutong walked down the stairs and appeared before the security team members.

She was a female PhD student in chemistry at the country's top university, Capital University, who had accidentally become popular online due to her extremely high beauty.

The security team members all knew this great beauty was on the research vessel, but she was too much of a homebody and spent most of her time in the laboratory; many people were seeing her in person for the first time.

She was exactly the same as in the online videos, without excessive beauty filters.

In fact, she had even more temperament in person.

"Dr. Cai, let me help you carry it. What are these?"

Xie Jin walked up quickly, acting very gentlemanly, but the fawning and pleasing expression lowered the impression.

He reached out both hands, wanting to take the box Cai Yutong was holding tightly.

Cai Yutong didn't let him touch it, saying in a tone that kept people at a distance: "Some concentrated acid capable of dissolving corpses and freshly made explosives; you'd better not touch them."

Xie Jin retracted his hand, wary and embarrassed, and smiled with a stiff face: "That's great, as expected of a chemistry PhD, knowledge is power."

Cai Yutong held the box and walked toward the window where Li Youyi was, saying: "I know you, the basketball specialist freshman from Capital University. What should I call you?"

"Li Youyi."

Li Youyi didn't expect the other party to actually know him.

"I'm asking, what should you call me?" Cai Yutong's attitude and tone were very cold and aloof; she was also very tall, over 1.7 meters, with exquisite features that were beautiful no matter how you looked at them.

Li Youyi laughed sheepishly: "Senior sister."

"Give me a hand, be gentle, be steady," Cai Yutong said.

Li Youyi hurriedly leaned the Huang Long Sword against the wall, used both hands carefully, and together with Cai Yutong, supported the box and placed it steadily on the ground.

Among alumni, even if they had never known each other before, there was always a special feeling and trust when meeting abroad.

Li Youyi had practiced martial arts since childhood, and his physical fitness and reaction speed far exceeded ordinary people; the basketball special recruitment was just a way to add points. As long as he was willing, he could develop another specialty within a few months.

Xie Jin returned to the group of security team members, maintaining a smile on his face.

Seeing the group of security team members who used to fawn over him all winking and having strange expressions, Xie Jin felt a sense of shame and anger in his heart, and the smile he had faked could no longer be maintained. Looking at the familiar and close appearance of Li Youyi and Cai Yutong, he felt another kind of taste in his heart.

If targeting Li Youyi before was Xie Tianshu's intention.

Then at this moment, he was truly a bit jealous!

Over there.

Cai Yutong opened the box and explained the usage methods and precautions for the items in the box, her eyes colliding with Li Youyi's at close range from time to time, her hair brushing against Li Youyi's face in the cold wind, accompanied by wisps of fragrance.

"Senior sister, are you handing this whole box of things to me?" Li Youyi asked.

Cai Yutong was not good at social interactions, and asked back: "I am a researcher; do you want me to go and fight that bear-like creature?"

"I didn't mean that... I, I think the security team members could all learn how to use them," Li Youyi said.

Cai Yutong looked at Xie Jin and the others.

Xie Jin smiled: "Dr. Cai, this junior brother of yours is a master of martial arts. See that sword? In his heart, that sword is probably more useful than these things of yours; he looks down on others."

A security team member who was close to Xie Jin echoed: "I heard that practicing traditional martial arts can cultivate internal strength and true Qi. Little Li is the First Mate's junior brother; being able to be specially recruited into the security team, he must be such a person."

Anyone could hear the provocation in their words.

Specifically pointing out that Li Youyi was Zhao Meng's junior brother was telling Cai Yutong that the college student in front of her couldn't be relied upon and was just a connection hire.

Li Youyi was very calm: "Where is there any internal strength or true Qi? Practicing traditional martial arts is just to strengthen the body; it's not that mysterious. Everyone should believe in science."

Having started martial arts at five, practicing in the dead of winter and the heat of summer, Li Youyi's martial arts attainments were naturally extremely high.

But he only had greater strength than ordinary people, faster speed, and more proficient moves and techniques; there was fundamentally no internal strength or true Qi.

When the old sect leader talked about the decline of Martial Dao, Li Youyi had also asked.

The old sect leader sighed directly, saying he was born in the wrong era, his physical body was already approaching the critical threshold, and if he were born in ancient times, he would definitely be able to cultivate some extraordinary fame.

Li Youyi then asked why he could cultivate extraordinary fame in ancient times, but not in this era? How long ago was the so-called ancient times?

The old sect leader was tight-lipped, only saying: "Myths fall, imprisoned endlessly."

Although Li Youyi didn't understand, he firmly planted the Martial Dao ideal of "pursuing the extraordinary" at that time. Deeply cultivate Martial Dao, break through the mortal body, even if he had to go against the era.

Young people, after all, always have a drive that refuses to admit defeat.

The more the elders said it was difficult and bitter, the more they said he couldn't do it, the more he wanted to do it.

Xie Jin said: "Little Li, don't be humble! We are all our own people, no need to hide anything. Show us a few moves; I don't believe a person as upright as the First Mate would specially recruit a bum. We are very curious about internal strength and true Qi; let us see it?"

Xie Tianshu's instruction for Xie Jin to target Li Youyi was essentially to strike at Zhao Meng's prestige.

If Li Youyi was vulnerable and a water-goods, then Zhao Meng, who specially recruited him into the security team, would inevitably see his image in the hearts of the crew plummet.

This wasn't the first time Li Youyi had been troubled, and he wasn't made of mud; he also had a youthful spirit of "if people don't offend me, I don't offend people; if people offend me, don't blame me." He said: "Since Brother Jin insists, we can spar a bit."

A burst of booing and cheering rang out in the boarding hall.

Even Cai Yutong, who was indifferent to everything, showed some interest.

Xie Jin had been waiting for this opportunity for over a month, and it was in front of the great beauty Cai Yutong, so he was in a great mood and smiled with great demeanor: "That's fine, but let's agree beforehand, we'll stop at the point, absolutely cannot hurt the harmony."

He had a different thought in his heart.

Once they started fighting, where would there be any stopping at the point?

In front of a great beauty, no one could admit defeat.

It could only be one side beating the other down, beating them into submission.

The two stood in a brief confrontation.

After Xie Jin closed the distance, he gave a low shout and attacked.

Both hands pinched into claws.

While he stepped to the left, his right leg lifted his knee.

A security team member exclaimed: "Black Dragon Eighteen Styles."

This was a type of boxing forbidden by the military because it was too vicious.

What Xie Jin used at the start was exactly the Green Dragon Probing Claw from the Black Dragon Eighteen Styles, and the heat was sufficient; he was clearly practicing it year-round. This was not about stopping at the point at all; he was clearly prepared to at least dislocate one of Li Youyi's arms.

A muffled *bang* sounded.

Amidst the shifting figures, before the crowd could see what had happened, Xie Jin had already fallen sideways stiffly.

Only Li Youyi's right palm knife was still slanted in mid-air.

Li Youyi didn't know any Black Dragon Eighteen Styles; he only knew that as long as the speed was fast enough and the strength was great enough, any of the opponent's moves were just fancy and useless.

And no one knew when that bear-like creature would attack the research vessel again, so he had to make a quick decision and didn't want to delay the life-and-death matter because of Xie Jin's mischief.

The security team members stood up one after another, looking at each other, their hearts shaken not a little.

Even if Xie Jin was defeated miserably because he underestimated the enemy, his physical fitness was there. Being beaten by Li Youyi's slanted palm strike until he couldn't stand up, the speed and power of this strike truly shocked them.

Cai Yutong was standing a few meters behind Li Youyi by the window; when Xie Jin attacked just now, even she felt a sense of danger and oppression coming toward her.

But, how did he lie down instantly?

"All show and no substance?"

She only had this thought in her heart, but unconsciously, the words slipped from her lips as if talking to herself.

Xie Jin's neck felt like it was cramping, his head dizzy and ears ringing; after finally recovering his hearing, he heard Cai Yutong say this and was so angry he almost died on the spot.

"Thump! Thump! Thump..."

The sound of running came from the stairs.

The short student who liked to recite poetry and tell myths was excited and rushed to the boarding hall, saying: "I know, I know, that bear-like creature is the legendary Ghost Bear Emperor. It is said to be a polar bear king that absorbed aurora and a large amount of carrion, mutated, and gained ghost-god-like spiritual intelligence."

Silence.

A long silence.

The short student smiled awkwardly, looked at Xie Jin who was being helped to the corner, and exclaimed: "What are you doing? Have you already been attacked?"

Another burst of silence.

"I'll leave this to you; I'm going back to the laboratory."

"Boom!"

Just as Cai Yutong walked to the stairs, a familiar heavy landing sound rang out on the deck outside the cabin door, and the floor of the boarding hall shook violently.

Everyone's faces changed in shock, and they all grabbed their weapons.

It's here!

The leadership of the research vessel took the elevator to the bottom cabin.

Director Yang said while walking: "The underground palace of the Ganlu Temple Sarira Pagoda was closed since the Song Dynasty and was only opened a thousand years later in 1960. The archaeological team packed the rectangular stone casket dug out as a whole and transported it back to the laboratory."

"Inside the stone casket, there was a small silver coffin. After the silver coffin was opened, it was a smaller gold coffin."

"Until the gold coffin was opened, the Buddha's Sarira preserved in a crystal container appeared. Everyone, please come in!"

Why was the Buddha's Sarira mentioned suddenly?

The door of Laboratory 705 opened, and everyone entered one after another with deeper doubts.

In the laboratory, there were various precision instruments. On the table in the center was the crystal container holding the Buddha's Sarira.

Inside the container, the Buddha's Sarira was about the size of a soybean and light red.

Director Yang stood beside the Sarira and asked with a smile: "Everyone is knowledgeable, what do you think of the microscopic world?"

Seeing the confused looks of the crowd, Director Yang threw out a brick to attract jade, saying: "On a microscopic scale, many classical physical laws no longer apply, replaced by quantum mechanical laws, such as quantum entanglement, quantum superposition, tunneling effect, etc."

"There is a saying that if humans want to walk out of Earth and out of the solar system, it is definitely not by walking out of traditional interstellar space, but by exploring the microscopic world. Just like we can use mobile phones to transmit sound thousands of miles away, not by shouting with a louder voice, but by information transmission at the microscopic level."

"The space wormholes that have always been unfindable may not be rare in the microscopic world."

"In short, the peculiarity and mystery of the microscopic world will definitely challenge our traditional cognition."

"Some say that human cognition of the ocean is only five percent, so how much is human cognition of the microscopic world? One in a billion? I don't think even one in a trillion."

Everyone present stared at him coldly with the eyes of looking at an academic heretic.

Director Yang understood that talking more was useless, so he pointed to the high-magnification scanning tunneling microscope aimed at the Buddha's Sarira and said: "Seeing is believing!"

"I want to see what you are talking about."

Professor Xu had endured him for a long time and was the first to walk up, staring at the Buddha's Sarira under the microscope.

A moment later.

This old professor, who was nearly sixty but still had a strong body, had his legs trembling, his body sliding down, and he sat paralyzed on the ground, his eyes full of shock and confusion, then muttered some words that no one could understand.

Zhao Meng was extremely curious in his heart; how could Professor Xu, who could calmly view monsters like the bear-like creature and Nine Infants, be scared like this?

It's just a Sarira!

What did he see?

After helping Professor Xu up, Zhao Meng was the second to walk to the microscope.

Inside the crystal container, the Buddha's Sarira was only the size of a bean, but under the microscope.

It was like a huge light-red planet, with towering and steep mountains, dried-up ancient riverbeds, desolate and vast, spectacular, shocking the human heart.

It was like standing in space, looking down at the endless vastness of Mars.

A tiny Sarira actually hid another world.

This was too incredible!

No...

So tiny, what should be seen under the microscope should be the crystal structure of the Sarira.

Why would it be like this?

Suddenly.

Zhao Meng felt suffocated, seeing an even more unbelievable scene on the Buddha's Sarira.

At the end of each ancient riverbed was a vast and deep-red withered sea, the bright sea floor looking like it was soaked in fresh blood.

An ancient and strangely shaped bronze ship was quietly parked on the shore of the withered sea, not knowing where it came from or where it was going.

It had been silent for too long, and even the ship's hull had become rusty, with only the mast and canvas still clearly distinguishable.

Director Yang, standing to the side, increased the magnification of the microscope.

Zhao Meng immediately saw more clearly, his scalp numb involuntarily.

In the field of vision, the bronze ship became incomparably huge, with piles of bones on the deck, including white-boned humans wearing armor, phoenix corpses and python skeletons, and an endless sea of tombstone forests.

The phoenix corpses and python skeletons were particularly huge.

A single feather of a phoenix corpse was dozens of times larger than those white-boned humans wearing armor; it fell on the deck near the ship's building, one wing covering the tombstone forest, and one wing resting on the nine-story-high ship building.

He didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but Zhao Meng clearly saw that the phoenix corpse's feathers were emitting a faint light.

The microscope magnification was limited, and too many things could not be seen clearly.

But one could imagine that if there were an opportunity to board this magnificent and mysterious giant ship, the scene seen would only be more shocking, perhaps opening the door to a fantasy and strange world.

Giant ship...

No.

It was clearly only four hundred and sixty nanometers long, like a speck of dust falling on the Buddha's Sarira.

If a microscope were not used, it would be like the billions of specks of dust on Earth, unnoticed.

New book seedlings, help Old Fish add to the collection, ask for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)