Chapter 9

For the next two days, Li Li Youyi didn't get out of bed, looking sickly.

In reality, he was completely immersed in the exploration of the extraordinary realm, and the silver trace veins in his body increased to thirteen. This meant he had thirteen routes for moving Qi.

After many attempts, he couldn't find a way to increase the silver trace veins again.

Fortunately, the thirteen trace veins had initially covered his whole body, and using them as channels for the hot airflow to nourish his flesh, blood, tendons, bones, and internal organs... and his eyes, his whole body was undergoing transformation.

His body seemed to have endless power, as if he could kill a cow with one punch.

The injury on his left arm was healing at an unbelievable speed, the wound had initially healed and scabbed, and he could simply lift and grasp. As long as he didn't use too much force, there was no pain.

Such a self-healing speed was completely beyond common sense and incomprehensible.

Li Li Youyi estimated that under the nourishment of the hot airflow, it would fully recover in another two or three days.

If it weren't for wanting to hide his strength to avoid being suspected of really swallowing the Buddha relic, Li Li Youyi would have wanted to go outside immediately to test his current physical fitness. He felt that his current speed and strength would probably scare himself.

However, he was getting hungry very quickly these two days, with a strong appetite, and couldn't get full no matter what.

In sharp contrast to Professor Xu, who had no appetite in the hospital bed next to him, most of the meals sent by those students to Professor Xu ended up in his stomach.

"Cannot open any more silver trace veins, so let's stop the extraordinary exploration for now. Go outside to see what the situation on the bronze ship is like... and find something to eat by the way."

For the past two days, he only heard people say "the bronze ship is huge and sometimes gets lost in the fog," "the tomb forest is bizarre, with strange sounds from time to time," "the Jin Wu corpse is as huge as a mountain, its brilliance illuminating the darkness, and its heat resisting the cold"... and so on, but he had no concept in his heart.

With his injuries healing and extraordinary power to rely on, Li Li Youyi's confidence was sufficient, and he was no longer as confused and anxious as he was two days ago.

A person's confidence either comes from sufficient capital, extraordinary strength, or a solid backing, and is definitely not something like "be confident" that encourages him to be confident immediately.

The gun hits the bird that sticks its head out. Li Li Youyi didn't want to be pushed to the forefront because he was too special, so he still acted like a normal wounded patient, pretending to be difficult as he sat up, his feet slowly searching for the ground.

"Little brother Li, why are you getting out of bed? Need help?"

Gao Gao Huan, whose injuries weren't too heavy, had recovered from the neck sprain, but his broken right arm was still tied with wooden boards and wrapped in gauze. He had just gotten up, preparing to urinate.

Li Li Youyi walked out of the medical shed with Gao Gao Huan.

When he saw the scene on the bronze deck outside, even though he had psychological preparation, Li Li Youyi was still greatly shocked, a chill rushing straight to his forehead along his spine.

It was like the underworld, full of tombstones, grave mounds, ghost flags, and prayer flags, with nether mist swirling, and the field of view was severely limited. Above was the dark nether clouds, very close to the deck, pressing down on his head, giving a feeling of extreme oppression and stuffiness.

Before, they said they could only see three or four rows of grave mounds within their field of view, and entering the tomb forest was like being in a maze.

Li Li Youyi's eyes had been nourished by the hot airflow, so he could see further.

Seven or eight rows of grave mounds were all in view, and the fog didn't block his eyes within a hundred meters.

However, the deck was five hundred meters wide, and it still had a mysterious and deep feeling of "being in this mountain, but the clouds are deep and unknown," making people feel awe.

The only light source was the Jin Wu corpse that the research team members kept

But Li Li Youyi, separated by the distant nether mist, could only see a large patch of dark red light.

It looked like a dark red mountain; he could not clearly see the outline or details of the corpse.

"At the very beginning, there was no mist this thick on the bronze ship. It was only after we set sail that the nether mist became increasingly dense."

"I heard that many strange things have happened. Some people in the tomb forest encountered a camel caravan of ghosts; the camel bells rang with a clanging sound, and in the end, the caravan walked into a tombstone marked with a ghost flag and vanished."

"Others say that once, while walking in the tomb forest, they heard the sound of iron chains and the harsh noise of claws scraping against metal deep underground. I fear this ship is sealed with some unknown, great terror, but I don't know how to get in; we can't find an entrance at all."

"We have definitely fallen into the legendary Nether Realm. Remember that giant beast, the Nine Infants, that capsized the research ship? It was snatched away by a golden claw. I tell you, it was definitely the divine claw of the Kunpeng."

"How big is the Kunpeng? No one knows how many thousands of miles long it is; Zhuangzi saw it with his own eyes when he dreamt of traveling through the Nether Realm."

"The Nether Realm is terrifying and vast. It invaded Earth during the Xia and Shang dynasties. At that time, the gods on Earth all thought they were demons that had escaped from the North Sea. No one could have imagined, even after racking their brains, that the Nether Realm was actually hidden within the microscopic."

After coming out from relieving himself, Gao Gao Huan pulled Li Li Youyi aside to talk about some messy myths, legends, and his own conjectures. When asked where he learned them, he would cite some obscure book titles that Li Li Youyi had never heard of.

After going to the kitchen shed to find some food and filling their stomachs.

The two passed by a patch of low, new graves. Gao Gao Huan said with some melancholy, "When we set off, the entire Long Ji had a total of one hundred and seventeen people. Only eighty-two survived, and more than a dozen of them were severely injured from the fall."

On the deck, a total of three medical sheds had been set up.

The medical shed where Li Li Youyi and Gao Gao Huan were located, near the ship's rail, was just one of them.

"Being alive is not necessarily a blessing." Li Li Youyi thought about the near future, where the people on the ship might break out into conflict due to the shortage of food and water, subsequently heading step by step toward destruction, and his mood became very heavy.

The microscopic world must be different from Earth. If there is no land to dock at, they won't be able to hold out for long with the current supplies.

Li Li Youyi heard that the research team members used ropes tied to iron buckets, wanting to draw water from the dim, invisible sea. They had to lower them over a hundred meters before they reached the sea surface.

But they encountered a huge, strange force that nearly dragged the team member drawing the water down. This happened every time they tried.

They could hear the sound of the waves, but they couldn't draw the water up.

There are unknown dangers in the sea.

"You are absolutely right!"

After looking around, Gao Gao Huan whispered, "I heard that in order to solve the food and water problem, the higher-ups decided to conduct tests and experiments on the blood within the corpses of the Jin Wu and the Black Flood Dragon. Dr. Cai is personally performing the operation. She gave the test results yesterday, but I don't know if it can be drunk directly."

"I also heard that Xie Xie Tianshu proposed using the severely injured as test subjects. If successful, the severely injured might be able to recover. If it fails, it could also save a lot of food and water."

"But this proposal was collectively opposed by the higher-ups. In my opinion, it will still be implemented sooner or later. When food and water are scarce and the living environment deteriorates, they will hypocritically ask the severely injured for their own wishes. In reality, the severely injured have no other choice."

"Once the severely injured are used up, it will be the turn of us old, weak, sick, and disabled. It's people eating people everywhere; the hierarchy of the three, six, and nine grades is clearly divided."

Li Li Youyi said, "Perhaps there is another way."

Gao Gao Huan was very curious and asked, "What way?"

Li Li Youyi pointed to the tall grave mound in front.

They saw Cai Cai Yutong leading more than ten research team members, digging up the grayish-white soil on the grave mound and laying it out on the deck near the ship's rail, forming three plots of land, each about half a mu in size.

Next to the land, several bags of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and various vegetable seeds were prepared.

Several buckets of the Black Flood Dragon and Jin Wu's corpse blood had been brought over and were prepared on the side.

Gao Gao Huan laughed heartily, "Dr. Cai really has a way. That's right, we can experiment with plants first. Besides, the water on the research ship is still relatively sufficient; we can completely plant some vegetables and melons to be self-sufficient."

Cai Cai Yutong heard the laughter, looked at the two, and immediately walked over with a cold, stern face: "Who let you leave the medical shed? The wind on the deck is so cold; your body is weak, can you handle it? You've only gotten a little better, and you're already starting to mess around?"

"She's talking about you!" Li Li Youyi whispered.

Gao Gao Huan was stunned. Meeting Cai Cai Yutong's gaze, he explained with a stutter, "I... I'm not that weak, I'm not messing around, I just came out to take a..."

"It's none of your business."

Walking to within a step or two, Cai Cai Yutong gave another lecture and warning, wishing she could use her eyes to send Li Li Youyi back to the medical shed.

This senior sister's personality was a bit strong.

But she had been the one giving blood and taking care of him; in front of her, Li Li Youyi really didn't have much of a temper.

After letting her finish scolding him, Li Li Youyi said in as gentle a tone as possible, "Senior sister, your emotions have been a bit unstable lately. If you have any pressure or need help, you must tell me in time. Perhaps I can help."

Li Li Youyi felt that the reason Cai Cai Yutong's "hostility" was so intense was likely because the pressure from those leaders was too great. It's possible that someone had already forced her to use living people for experiments.

Gao Gao Huan clearly misunderstood the meaning and followed up by saying, "Drink more hot water, pay attention to keeping warm."

By the time Cai Cai Yutong realized what was happening, the two had already slipped away quickly.

"That was too scary! Little Brother Li, take my advice: no matter how beautiful or how good her figure is, you can't have a female doctor." Gao Gao Huan said, still feeling a lingering fear.

Li Li Youyi laughed, "You've misunderstood completely. We are just alumni; we've only known each other for a few days."

"Alumni? Can a simple alumnus care about you this much? She has said more to you than to everyone else combined, and she even fed you fish soup. I have a whole group of classmates on the ship; look at who has sent me fish soup? Let alone feeding it to me!" Gao Gao Huan said.

"Senior sister is cold on the outside but warm on the inside; that's just her personality."

Li Li Youyi looked at the dark red light spot in the mist in the distance, which looked like a mountain or a peak, and could not suppress the curiosity in his heart: "I want to go see the Black Flood Dragon corpse and the Jin Wu corpse."

In his mind, he recalled the strange scenes on the bronze ship he saw when his body was constantly shrinking after falling into the Arctic Ocean.

At its clearest, the bronze ship was the size of a fishing boat, appearing right before his eyes.

He clearly saw two types of power, immortal radiance and nether mist, shrouding the ship. The immortal radiance was located toward the stern, where there was a unique and magnificent ancient-style building, like a palace where gods lived.

What exactly was there?

"Let's go together. I haven't seen them with my own eyes either. Those are the two legendary divine beasts. How do you think they died? Why are they still emitting light and heat after death?"

"It's too inconceivable. This ship must come from some brilliant and magnificent wild world, and it might be taking us there right now."

Gao Gao Huan was quite excited, walking with Li Li Youyi toward the dark red light spot at the stern, and added, "Actually, given your special relationship with Dr. Cai, you should quietly go and inquire about the real news. If the blood of the Jin Wu and the Black Flood Dragon can really be drunk, let's drink a few cups first. This is no different from eating immortal pills or divine medicine, right? Who knows, maybe your arm will recover as good as new the next day."

Li Li Youyi said, "I really don't have any special relationship with senior sister! Besides, if the blood of the Jin Wu and the Black Flood Dragon could be drunk directly, why would senior sister bother taking people to reclaim land for planting?"

Gao Gao Huan had another insight: "Women, don't listen to what she says, and don't look at what she does. You have to make her fall head over heels in love with you before she will lose her mind and tell you the truth. Who can prove that Dr. Cai hasn't been drinking it secretly herself, then telling everyone that the Jin Wu blood can't be drunk and the Black Flood Dragon blood can't be drunk?"

"Li Youyi, brother is a few years older than you; I know the true colors of these women too well. In normal times, they are all smiles and deep friendship with you, but when you are injured and lying in bed, there's no fish soup for you."

Li Li Youyi felt that Gao Gao Huan was too hung up on the fish soup and said, "Actually... regarding the fish soup, you weren't that severely injured; you could have gone to the kitchen shed yourself. The classmates were all very busy, so it was inevitable that they didn't look after you."

Gao "Fish Soup" thought about it carefully and reluctantly accepted Li Li Youyi's speculation.

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(End of chapter)