In a vacated cabin of the Dafu, Zhao Sheng stood in front of a wooden table, his eyes closed in deep thought.
Sudden
He suddenly opened his eyes, which gleamed with confidence.
Picking up the azure talisman brush from the table, Zhao Sheng channeled his spiritual power into the tip of the brush and swiftly wrote on the talisman paper. Wherever the brush touched, spiritual light burst forth, and a complex and meticulous talisman quickly appeared on the paper, radiating spiritual light.
As an invisible bolt of lightning suddenly exploded in his soul sea, Zhao Sheng instantly stopped writing, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
"Second-tier Water Mine Talisman, complete!"
With his rich experience and talent, Zhao Sheng, at the mere seventh level of Qi Refining, successfully drew a second-order true talisman.
After resting for a moment, Zhao Sheng picked up the talisman brush again and continued to draw second-order true talismans.
Before embarking on his underwater adventure, he needs to accumulate as many trump cards as possible.
...
Seven days later, as the sun rose and the fog dissipated, the two ships returned to this eerie sea once again.
After seven days of failure, the cultivators on the Zhijin were forced to face reality and admit that they were trapped in the Misty Sea.
The Zhijin was two sizes smaller than the Dafu, but it was not a whaling ship. Instead, it was a transport ship that traveled between the outer seas and the open ocean, buying low and selling high to earn various price differences.
On the deck of the Zhijin, Li Mu said to a short, stout old man in a golden robe, "Master Chen, I wasn't lying to you before! Without a nautical chart, you can't get out of this misty sea."
The short, stout old man's face was full of worry.
He sighed, then his expression turned serious, and he resolutely said, "Alright, we'll do as Fellow Daoist Li says. We'll go with you to the bottom of the sea to retrieve the ship owner's body. But are you sure the nautical chart is on him?"
Li Mu solemnly replied, "I'm certain!"
Beside the Zhijin, Zhao Sheng leaned against the side of the Dafu ship, silently watching Li Mu deceive people.
Zhao Sheng knew perfectly well what Li Mu was up to in secret.
However, since they were on the same side, they naturally wouldn't expose his trick.
Furthermore, the Zhijin Company was no pushover either. When the two sides first made contact, they relied on the fact that they had fifteen cultivators and wanted to seize the Dafu Company.
It's fortunate that Li Mu is a sword cultivator at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, whose killing power is the best in the world.
The Zhijin Ship had no Foundation Establishment cultivators in charge, and the highest cultivation level was only comparable to Li Mu.
That day, Li Mu unleashed his full power, fighting three opponents single-handedly with just a flying sword. Even the three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators working together couldn't defeat him.
That's why we have the "peaceful" situation we have today.
After the discussion was settled, Li Mu immediately instructed Zhao Sheng and Gui Xinshu and the others to make preparations.
A day later, guided by Zhao Sheng, the two ships, Dafu and Zhijin, anchored on a stretch of sea. Beneath the surface lay the Shanling Reef.
On the day of departure, Zhao Sheng and the other six got into an argument; to be precise, Hailan insisted on going along.
Originally, the adventure was entirely voluntary, except for Hailan'er, because Li Mu wouldn't allow it.
But Hailan'er's desire to go was exceptionally strong. No matter how Li Mu tried to persuade her, she was determined to go no matter what.
Li Mu had no choice but to give in to Hailan'er's wishes.
Yan Kai and Zou Li, unwilling to take the risk, volunteered to stay behind.
Thus, the Dafu Company had four members: Li Mu, Zhao Sheng, Gui Xinshu, and Hailan'er.
Perhaps because Li Mu was promoting the existence of spiritual veins and treasures in the seabed, the cultivators on the Zhijin Ship eagerly signed up.
After eliminating three early-stage Qi Refining cultivators and the short, stout old man who stayed behind, the remaining eleven simply went.
...
Thump, thump!
When Li Mu took the lead and jumped into the sea, the other cultivators also jumped off the ship.
With a splash, sprays of water rose from the sea.
As soon as they entered the water, a light blue circular light shield appeared above the heads of each cultivator.
This light barrier has a name called the Aquatic Technology, which is specifically used to filter oxygen from seawater for human respiration.
In the Shattered Star Sea, the Water Lung Technique is a first-tier spell that cultivators must master.
At this moment, apart from Li Mu and Hai Lan'er, the other cultivators all looked at Zhao Sheng with sidelong glances, because he was an "outlier".
Zhao Sheng could clearly sense the hostility and wariness in everyone's eyes, but he remained calm.
Having lived several lifetimes and encountered countless dangers, this is nothing compared to what's to come!
He wouldn't even take that bit of malice to heart.
The group descended quickly, reaching a depth of 100 feet in the blink of an eye, and arriving at the top of the coral reef.
After adjusting their formation slightly, with Li Mu leading the way, the group continued to descend along the coral reef.
Two hundred zhang
five hundred feet
...
A thousand feet!
Once you reach a depth of thousands of feet, the surrounding environment becomes pitch black and deathly silent, and the water pressure is astonishing.
At this moment, everyone displayed their abilities, some using magic, others relying on the power of magical artifacts, to resist the immense pressure coming from all directions.
Then everyone took out fluorite, which emitted a dazzling white light, illuminating the surrounding dark waters.
The group continued their descent.
1,500 zhang
Two thousand three hundred feet.
...
An hour later, the group dived to a depth of several thousand feet.
At that moment, the eerie blue sea of deathly light reappeared before everyone.
The endless white bones beneath the sea of light gave the crew of the Zhijin Ship a huge fright.
Some people are starting to back down, but most are even more excited, their greed burning even brighter.
Zhao Sheng had no interest in paying attention to the performance of others.
At this moment, all he could see was the black mist that surged constantly in the sea of light below.
The black fog was even denser at the edges of the coral reefs.
However, this was not the case everywhere. Zhao Sheng discovered a winding, two-zhang-wide "path to survival" within the black mist.
At the end of the path to survival lies an underwater cave radiating white light, located at the base of a cliff on a coral reef.
The black fog was clearly terrified of the "path to survival," and dared not invade the road surface even a fraction of the way.
Two years ago, Zhao Sheng had already discovered this path to survival, but at that time his cultivation was still shallow and he did not intend to take the risk alone.
Now that we have a bunch of cannon fodder scouting ahead, we might as well use them.
The others didn't have Zhao Sheng's talent and couldn't detect the presence of the black mist, but something as obvious as the cave couldn't escape their eyes.
It was obvious that the treasure was in the cave.
Seeing this, some impatient people immediately swam over there, hoping to seize the opportunity.
Seeing that someone else had made a move, others rushed to set off as well, fearing that if they were a step too late, the treasure would be taken away.
At that moment, they seemed to have forgotten that the cave held unknown dangers and that people had already died inside.
Hailan'er was about to move when someone suddenly grabbed her arm from behind.
Looking back, she saw that it was Zhao Sheng who had pulled her back. Hai Lan'er felt a sudden sweetness in her heart and her body immediately relaxed.
Zhao Sheng waved for her to follow him, then pulled Hailan'er along and swam towards the path of survival.
Gui Xinshu, who was nearby, watched this unfold. His eyes darted around, and he quietly looked up.
Fifteen minutes later, when everyone else had already entered the cave, Zhao Sheng and Hai Lan'er finally swam to the cave entrance.
Zhao Sheng peered inside and was surprised to find that the cave passage was straight and spacious, and the walls were spotless from top to bottom, without a speck of dust, let alone any seaweed, coral, or other unwanted creatures.
The passageway was inlaid with fist-sized pearls that emitted a white light.
The cave was clearly carved out by human hands.
Zhao Sheng sensed for a while and found that there was no danger inside.
So he pulled Hailan'er and swam inside.
...
After entering the cave, the two swam for two or three miles, but still couldn't see the end of the passage. They only sensed that the spiritual energy around them was becoming increasingly dense.
Half an hour later, the two finally reached the end of the passage, where there was a wall of light that emitted a dazzling white light, making it impossible to see what was behind it.
Zhao Sheng nodded to Hai Lan'er, and the two of them joined hands and rushed into the wall of light.
Snap!
Zhao Sheng felt as if he had broken through a membrane.
As his vision brightened, his body suddenly felt lighter, and the heavy water pressure instantly dissipated.
Zhao Sheng looked up and found himself in an underground cave.
The cave was very dry, with no seawater at all, and the spiritual energy here was exceptionally rich, at least twice as strong as that in the passage.
The cave is about five or six acres in size, and scattered on the surrounding stone walls are pieces of spirit stones of different sizes, which shimmer with a faint gray light.
"A spirit stone mine!" Hailan'er couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Zhao Sheng was also very surprised. He did not expect that there was a spirit stone mine hidden here, and it was an extremely rare pure yin spirit stone mine.
Just then, someone behind the two of them shouted excitedly, "Damn, I'm rich!"
Overjoyed, Gui Xinshu forgot everything, strode past the two, and ran towards the deepest part of the cave.
At the deepest part of the cave stood a jade wall made of spiritual stone, three zhang long and more than two zhang high. Li Mu and the others stood in front of the jade wall, pointing at it and talking about something.
Zhao Sheng found it strange that there was no danger in the cave.
He hadn't forgotten that Hai Dafu and the others had gone and never returned.
Zhao Sheng surveyed the area, then suddenly frowned, wondering to himself, "Where are the bodies of Hai Dafu and the others?"
After pondering for a moment without finding a clue, Zhao Sheng simply led Hailan'er toward the spirit stone jade wall.
Halfway there, Zhao Sheng saw Li Mu, Gui Xinshu and the others sit cross-legged, their eyes shining, staring at the jade disc with infatuation, as if it had an infinite attraction.
Seeing this, Zhao Sheng calmed down and tried to sense the danger again, but still couldn't detect any.
He looked up at the jade disc, examined it carefully, and saw countless flashes of light and shadow. After staring at it for a moment, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Zhao Sheng was slightly startled and quickly closed his eyes to block his vision. He only opened his eyes again after his vision returned to normal.
At this moment, he stopped looking directly at the jade disc and strode forward to examine Li Mu and the others.
At this moment, Li Mu's face was rosy, his eyes were glazed over, and his expression was one of immense joy. Golden light emanated from his body, and an incomparably sharp aura was gradually increasing in intensity.
It seems he's attaining enlightenment!
Although the others behaved slightly differently, they all seemed to have gained a great deal of understanding.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Sheng had a sudden thought: "This jade disc seems to be a great treasure!"
Just then, Hailan suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! I feel so dizzy!"
Zhao Sheng turned around abruptly and saw Hai Lan'er swaying uncontrollably, almost falling over.
He quickly stepped forward to support the other person and asked with concern, "What did you just see?"
Hailan'er nestled in Zhao Sheng's arms, her face flushed, looking somewhat shy, and whispered, "No, nothing!"
Seeing this, Zhao Sheng's eyes flashed with a strange light. He did not ask any further questions, but simply told her not to look at the jade disc too much. Then he gave her a task.
Keep a close eye on Li Mu and the others, and inform him immediately if anything seems amiss.
Hailan gently hummed in agreement.
After calming Hailan'er down, Zhao Sheng's gaze sharpened.
Only then did he notice that there were many strange scratches on the ground near the jade wall, varying in depth, as if drawn with a finger. Some were straight, some were crooked, and there were also some strange lines, densely covering the area.
He raised his eyebrows, stepped forward and stroked the engravings and lines with his fingers, feeling countless inspirations suddenly arise in his heart, and countless blurry phantoms reflected in his soul.
In an instant, Zhao Sheng suddenly had a sudden realization.
These engravings and lines were likely left by cultivators who studied the jade disc in the past. Most of them were marks left on the nearby ground by people who suddenly gained some insights from the jade disc and were afraid of forgetting them.
Of course, most of the engravings may be useless, but a few have provided considerable inspiration to those who later tried to comprehend the Immortal Jade Disc.
Zhao Sheng was wary of the strange jade disc, but he paid no attention to the carvings.
Immediately, he spent half an hour exploring all the engravings, memorizing all the inspirations and insights, regardless of whether they were useful or understood.
After doing all this, Zhao Sheng's eyes gleamed, and he tried to look at the jade disc.
The moment his gaze met the jade disc, Zhao Sheng's mind was filled with a flood of inspiration, and countless inexplicable insights welled up in his heart.
Unbeknownst to him, his exposed skin turned crimson, the vortex of spiritual energy within his body suddenly accelerated its rotation, and a surge of blue spiritual light emerged from his back.
A moment later, Zhao Sheng let out a low shout, his eyes narrowed, his eyelids closed quickly, and his expression relaxed. He let out a long breath and murmured, "What a powerful jade disc, how strange!"
Just now, countless fantastical ideas arose in his mind, and one unfamiliar scene after another unconsciously appeared: there were celestial palaces and spiritual mountains rising majestically from the clouds, there were free-spirited sword immortals slaying demons and monsters, and there were endless seas of blood with mountains of corpses...
These seemingly real yet illusory scenes all suddenly appeared after seeing the jade disc.
He wasn't sure if these images were hallucinations or real historical scenes, just as he didn't know who made this jade disc.
However, one thing is certain: this jade disc is either an ancient treasure or a rare and malevolent object.
Sudden,
Zhao Sheng's heart skipped a beat again.
This feeling came suddenly and inexplicably.
Zhao Sheng couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Then, with a thought, he probed his mind into his dantian.
"What...what is this?"
Zhao Sheng was shocked to see a black figure appear on the sea of souls. The lower part of the figure was connected to the sea of souls, and strands of soul water were being absorbed into the figure's body.
In the blink of an eye, the black figure became much clearer, and one could barely make out the facial features; it looked like an old man.
Just as Zhao Sheng had the idea of getting rid of the figure, a large amount of black light suddenly shot out from the figure's entire body.
The next instant, Zhao Sheng's head suddenly felt heavy, his vision went black, and in a flash, he found himself in a vast and boundless starry sky.
The stars shimmered in the void, and beneath his feet lay countless meteorites of varying sizes and shapes.
This place was actually an endless sea of meteorites.