A large, white, glistening piece of roasted pork lay trembling on the table, emitting a rich aroma of meat.
Zhao Sheng frowned, stared at it for a while, then picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. He took a big bite of the fatty meat, chewed it a few times, and then swallowed it.
Before long, a piece of spirit whale meat weighing a full five pounds was in Zhao Sheng's stomach.
Wiping the grease from the corners of his mouth, Zhao Sheng suppressed his nausea, closed his eyes, and circulated his cultivation technique, digesting the spirit whale meat while absorbing the spiritual energy emanating from it.
As streams of spiritual energy were drawn from the stomach into the dantian, they were quickly refined by the spiritual energy vortex and became part of the spiritual energy.
During the repeated absorption and refinement process, Zhao Sheng's cultivation level gradually improved.
A year has passed since Hai Dafu and his companions disappeared without a trace.
In just one year, Zhao Sheng miraculously broke through from the fourth level of Qi Refining to the fifth level.
Yes, in the eyes of Hailan'er, Li Mu, and the others, this was simply a miracle.
But Zhao Sheng knew it was no big deal. After all, he had already gone through it once in his previous life. As long as he had enough cultivation resources in this life, he was confident that he could advance to the Foundation Establishment stage before the age of thirty.
Bang bang bang!
After an unknown amount of time, the spirit whale meat was completely digested and the spiritual energy was fully refined, and Zhao Sheng awoke from his cultivation state.
He finished his practice, stood up, pushed open the door, and walked out.
As soon as he stepped onto the deck, Zhao Sheng suddenly raised an eyebrow, then his expression returned to normal, and he even showed a faint smile.
On the deck, Hailan leaned against the ship's side, mumbling to the incessant chatter of Guixin Tree beside her, though she was thoroughly annoyed.
She looked up and saw Zhao Sheng appear, and her face immediately lit up with an extremely bright smile.
This left Gui Xinshu, who was desperately trying to please the beauty, dumbfounded.
Hailan'er cheered and ran excitedly to Zhao Sheng, her eyes narrowing as she smiled expectantly, "Xiao Tian, you're out of seclusion! How's your cultivation going? You can ask me if there's anything you don't understand. Um, ask Uncle Mu!"
A year has passed, and Hailan'er has finally emerged from the shadow of losing her father, but this has also brought a side effect.
From then on, she became obsessed with Zhao Sheng.
It was all because Zhao Sheng had always acted like a caring older brother, comforting and taking care of her.
Zhao Sheng was originally entrusted by Li Mu, and at the same time, he also regarded Hailan'er as a little girl who had lost her father.
Out of compassion and pity, he took the opportunity to look after her for a while, helping her to emerge from her gloom and regain hope for life.
If he had known the price would be this beforehand, Zhao Sheng certainly wouldn't have put in so much effort.
After all, women would only slow down his cultivation!
Faced with Hailan'er's overly enthusiastic attitude, Zhao Sheng walked forward calmly, casually asking, "Uncle Mu, are you back?"
Hailan looked up at the sky and quickly followed, saying, "Uncle Mu has been gone for almost three hours. He should be back soon."
Before long, Guixinshu had already come over.
At this moment, he felt a surge of jealousy, and a flash of yellow light appeared on his hand as he suddenly patted Zhao Sheng's shoulder.
At the same time, he said to Zhao Sheng with a big smile, "Xiao Tian, it's been a long time!"
A cold glint flashed in Zhao Sheng's eyes, and his shoulders suddenly slumped as he dodged the attack.
"Brother Gui, didn't we just meet yesterday?" Zhao Sheng stopped and looked at the other man calmly.
Um?
Gui Xinshu frowned. He had intended to teach the pretty boy a lesson, but his plan had failed.
"Impressive skills! Let me test if you've improved lately."
As it spoke, Guixin Tree, disregarding its superior strength, emitted a yellow glow and pounced forward.
Gui Xinshu is a Qi Refining Stage 7 cultivator, whose cultivation level is second only to Li Mu, who is at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, among the six survivors.
Perhaps it was because he had been adrift at sea for too long and had no chance to be with a woman, or perhaps it was because Hailan was too beautiful, that he even began to plot to gain both wealth and beauty.
In short, Gui Xinshu's desire for love has been greatly aroused, and he has been trying every means to please Hailan'er in an attempt to win her heart.
Zhao Sheng scoffed at this, thinking to himself that the man should take a look at himself, with his pointed ears and monkey-like face, and his advanced age.
How could Hailan'er possibly be interested in him!
People must have self-awareness!
Gui Xinshu felt good about herself, even full of confidence.
A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could easily teach a few low-level Qi Refining brats a lesson.
However, in reality, he was being too optimistic!
One pounce,
Second tear,
Three swings
On the deck, the two chased and dodged each other, their figures shifting rapidly, dazzling the onlookers.
Gui Xinshu scratched and kicked for a while, panting heavily, but couldn't even touch the hem of Zhao Sheng's clothes.
He didn't think a fifteen or sixteen-year-old was stronger than him; he just felt the other party was too cunning.
If Li Mu hadn't forbidden moving anything on the ship, Gui Xinshu would have already taken out his magic weapon, the Golden Biting Sword, and chopped the wretched little devil into seven or eight pieces.
At this moment, Zhao Sheng suddenly looked up at the sky, then stopped and waved to Gui Xinshu, saying, "Brother Gui, please stop for now, Uncle Mu and the others are back!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a miniature cloud boat, three zhang long, suddenly descended from the sky and landed lightly on the deck.
With a stern face, Li Mu leaped down from the cloud boat, followed by two burly men, one tall and one short.
The taller one is called Yan Kai, and the shorter one is called Zou Li; both are mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
Upon seeing Li Mu return, Hailan was overjoyed and hurriedly went to greet him.
"Uncle Mu, have you found anything?"
Li Mu habitually shook his head and replied, "No!"
Hailan pouted in disappointment after hearing this, but after being disappointed so many times, she stopped being so disappointed.
She quickly cheered herself up and chattered around Li Mu, telling him about some trivial and boring things.
Li Mu was saved by Hai Dafu when he was young, and has been on the Dafu ship for the past twenty years. He can be said to be Hai Dafu's right-hand man.
He had watched Hailan'er grow up, so after Hai Dafu disappeared, he had come to regard Hailan'er as his daughter.
This is also a major reason why Guixinshu dared not use force against Hailan'er.
...
Night fell, the wind was calm, and a thick fog blanketed the sky!
Bang!
A dull thud suddenly broke the silence, and the hull of the Dafu ship shuddered slightly, emitting a creaking sound.
Zhao Sheng, who was meditating in the helm, suddenly opened his eyes, slapped the floor with his right hand, and flew up, quickly darting out of the room.
He walked through the mist-shrouded deck to the side of the ship. Looking at the massive, dark shadow vaguely swaying and moving behind the mist, Zhao Sheng was startled and exclaimed in surprise, "What is this...?"
A moment later, the six people gathered on the deck.
Zhao Sheng gazed at the "ship" opposite him, lost in thought and remained silent.
This ship was very strange; it was almost a third smaller than the Dafu, and it was a two-story, single-deck ship.
Looking around, a thick layer of grayish-green seaweed could be seen everywhere on the dark, cracked deck. The deck, masts, and hull were covered with black, monstrous barnacles and various other sea creatures.
Slippery, dark green sunflower tentacles haphazardly "grew" out from the cracks in the deck and the cabins.
Looking at the ship opposite, Gui Xinshu exclaimed in surprise, "This...this is a 'ghost ship'?!"
In the Shattered Star Sea, unmanned ships that sink to the surface and then resurface, drifting on the sea, are all called ghost ships.
There are many strange and unknown things in the Shattered Star Sea, and the ghost ship is one of them.
Ghost ships sometimes conceal unknown dangers; there is a record of a Golden Core cultivator dying after boarding a ghost ship in the Shattered Star Sea.
In reality, most ghost ships are not dangerous; they are simply unmanned, abandoned vessels.
However, many lucky individuals have also found treasures left behind by their predecessors on the ghost ship, thus changing their own destinies.