131: The Endless Sea! A "Seafood" Market in the Spirit World?

The flying boat cut through the sky. The continuous stretches of emerald green mountains gradually faded at the edge of his vision, replaced by a face-hitting mist that carried a strong fishy saltiness and violent spirituality.

Gu Yang stood at the very front of the deck, the gale making his black martial attire flap loudly. His pectoral muscles, which looked as if they were carved from marble, rose and fell slightly; with every breath, he could feel the pressure in the air gradually increasing.

“So this is the Endless Sea?”

Gu Yang narrowed his eyes, gazing at the boundless, ink-green ocean ahead. The waves there were not ordinary water, but "Heavy Water" compressed by high-dimensional Laws; every drop weighed over a thousand catties. Looking into the distance, black mists that had not dissipated for years rose from the sea surface—a mixture of extremely dense water-attribute Spiritual Qi and deep-sea miasma, sufficient to shield against the Divine Sense probes of most Soul Transformation Cultivators.

At this moment, Gu Yang was in the Peak state of his Divine Demon Golden Body · Initial Stage (Second Revolution Perfection).

Although his Realm corresponded to the Late-stage Spirit Transformation of a Spell Cultivator, after the tempering from the Myriad Beast Blood Pool and Old Ancestor Man Tian's "blacksmith-style" refinement, every inch of his muscle fiber seemed to contain divine runes. He could feel the restless blood and qi within his body becoming increasingly excited after sensing the heavy pressure of the ocean... “Fellow Daoist, the Endless Sea surrounds the Three Thousand Dao Provinces and is one of the most dangerous natural barriers in the Spirit Realm.”

Saintess Feng Ni walked to Gu Yang's side. A faint red Heavenly Phoenix spiritual light lingered around her body to resist the increasingly heavy water pressure in the air.

“This sea area is controlled by the Sea Emperor Palace and countless deep-sea giant monsters. We are currently only in the peripheral zone, where the water is no more than ten thousand meters deep and the gravity is still bearable. If we enter the deep-sea zone, the pressure there is enough to make the physical bodies of Early Spirit Transformation Stage Cultivators collapse. Even a top-tier flying boat like our Heavenly Phoenix Sect's must follow specific 'Sea Monster Lighthouse' routes.”

As Feng Ni spoke, she gestured for a Disciple to throw a large handful of Low-Grade Spirit Crystals into the flying boat's power core.

In the Spirit Realm, the currency system was extremely strict. A regular feast of Soul Transformation Yao Beast meat cost no more than a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Crystals, yet the amount of Spirit Crystals consumed by this flying boat for every inter-provincial crossing was an astronomical figure. Watching those crystal-clear Spirit Stones being pushed into the incinerator like trash, the corner of Gu Yang's eye twitched involuntarily.

“Tsk, how many good meals could I have had for the cost of burning this one furnace?” Gu Yang cursed inwardly; this rate of burning money caused him a primitive sort of heartache... Just about two hours after the flying boat had delved deep into the sea area, the originally calm sea surface suddenly surged violently.

“Thump— Thump—”

Dull impact sounds came from underwater, as if a Giant Spirit God were striking the earth's crust. Immediately after, several massive tentacles over a thousand zhang long and covered in black suckers burst out of the water like black mountain ranges, ruthlessly lashing against the flying boat's defensive barrier.

BOOM!!

The entire flying boat shook violently, and ripples spread across the white barrier.

“Sea Patrol Yakshas! It's the Sea Emperor Palace's patrol team!” a Heavenly Phoenix Sect Disciple cried out in alarm.

Amidst the rolling waves, several massive "Dragon-Whiskered Whales" surfaced. On the back of each whale stood several ugly beings clad in azure coral armor and holding water-splitting tridents. The leader, a Yaksha Commander, had a cultivation level that had shockingly reached Late-stage Spirit Transformation, his eyes glinting with cruelty and greed.

“This path is under the patrol of the Sea Emperor Palace! Those entering the sea must pay a 'Sea Road Tax' of ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Crystals! If you dare to resist the tax, your boat will be sunk and you shall all become fish food!”

The commander's voice was sharp and piercing, forming a sort of Divine Soul shock with the amplification of the ocean.

Saintess Feng Ni's brow furrowed slightly as she prepared to follow convention and pay the toll to avoid disaster. When traveling the Spirit Realm, one usually had to pay these local bullies their passage money.

However, before she could speak, Gu Yang had already moved... “Ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Crystals?”

Gu Yang took a step forward, and the deck beneath his feet let out a groan of "creak" as it failed to withstand his instantaneous explosive force.

His dark-gold eyes stared fixedly at those Dragon-Whiskered Whales, and his throat involuntarily bobbed. From his Extreme Path perspective, what kind of Yaksha patrol team was this? These were clearly several mobile piles of high-grade protein—and the kind of top-tier seafood with thick meat and abundant spiritual power at that!

“Sister Feng Ni, there's no need to give them money.”

Gu Yang cracked his neck, his bones making popping sounds like frying beans. “I was just worrying that my mouth was getting bland from eating nothing but Spirit Medicine these days, and here comes the delivery service.”

Before his voice had even faded, Gu Yang had already transformed into a streak of dark-gold lightning, leaping straight down from a height of a thousand meters!

“Fellow Daoist Gu, you mustn't! That is Star-Sinking Heavy Water!” Feng Ni cried out in shock.

For an ordinary Cultivator to dive into the Endless Sea was no different from suicide; the impact force of the Heavy Water was no less than crashing into a divine mountain of steel.

But Gu Yang completely ignored these common physical Laws.

“BANG—!!!”

His body was like an intercontinental missile, accurately smashing onto the head of one of the Dragon-Whiskered Whales. In an instant, the giant whale, hundreds of zhang long, let out a shrill wail as its entire head was actually stomped inward by this brute force, its massive eyeballs exploding on the spot...

“Who are you?! How dare you intercept and kill a mount of the Sea Emperor Palace!”

The Yaksha Commander was terrified. He swung his trident violently, sending a torrent of azure ice Laws toward Gu Yang.

Standing on the violently struggling whale corpse, Gu Yang didn't even blink in the face of the Law-based frost that was enough to freeze a Primordial Spirit.

“Divine Demon Second Revolution—Extreme Path Blood and Qi, Shock!”

Gu Yang took a deep breath, his chest bulging high, and then let out a low roar like ancient thunder. A surge of blood-colored yang masculinity, hot to the extreme, erupted from every one of his pores. Before the ice Laws could even get close to his body, they were directly evaporated into white mist by this supreme yang blood and qi.

Now, his Physical Body was not only a weapon for killing but also a forbidden zone where ten thousand Spells could not invade.

“Nice spellwork, but your strength is a bit lacking.”

Gu Yang gave a cruel laugh and kicked off with his feet, causing the already dying Dragon-Whiskered Whale to instantly shatter into pieces. Using the counter-force, he charged at the Yaksha Commander, his five fingers like steel hooks, creating a shrill whistling sound in the air.

The Yaksha Commander discovered to his horror that the surrounding space actually distorted under this claw—this was a physical collapse triggered by pure strength reaching a critical point!

“CRACK!”

The Yaksha Commander's proud Magic Treasure trident was like a dry twig in Gu Yang's hand, crushed into fragments with a casual squeeze. Immediately after, Gu Yang's large hand clamped onto the other's neck and yanked him back.

“I heard that the spinal marrow of you Dragon-Whiskered Whales is a treasure for Alchemy? Perfect, I want to try the taste of bone soup today.”

...A moment later, the Heavenly Phoenix Sect Disciples on the flying boat witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

That muscular man who called himself "Iron Bull" was walking on the turbulent sea surface as if it were flat ground, carrying a massive Dragon-Whiskered Whale by its tail with one hand. His Physical Body, weighing hundreds of thousands of catties, actually did not sink into the Heavy Water; instead, every step he took stomped a massive vacuum crater into the sea surface.

Gu Yang tossed the massive whale corpse onto the deck of the flying boat, the impact causing the entire vessel to sink several meters.

“Come on, Er Gou, it's time to eat!”

Gu Yang casually swung the myriad poison star shattering hammer, skillfully peeling back the whale skin. The flesh and blood of such a Soul Transformation rank giant beast was a supplement that one could only dream of in the Savage Domain, yet here it was just a "small monster blocking the road."

Er Gou, who had been playing dead on the deck, now had eyes as green as glowing emeralds. He leaped up and dove headfirst into the pile of whale meat, beginning to tear and bite frantically.

Gu Yang didn't mind either. He directly set up that large bronze cauldron he had snatched from the Green Wood Sect on the deck, casually drew a clump of Earth Core Lotus Fire, and performed "Extreme Path Cooking" in front of everyone.

“Fellow Daoist... Fellow Daoist Gu, that was a patrol envoy of the Sea Emperor Palace. By killing him, you have essentially declared war on this sea area,” Feng Ni walked over, her tone complex. Looking at the boiling essence of flesh and blood in the cauldron, the words of blame she had intended to say were replaced by an involuntary gulp as she smelled the extremely enticing aroma of the meat.

“Declare war? If they dare to come, I'll turn this sea area into my private fishing ground.”

Gu Yang took out a Grade Four Spirit Medicine worth a thousand gold and casually crushed it, sprinkling it into the cauldron like black pepper.

“Sister Feng Ni, seafood is all about 'freshness.' I held back my strength with that palm just now so I wouldn't shatter its vitality. Come, try it while it's hot; the spiritual power in this spinal marrow is worth ten of your Qi-Supplementing Pills.”

...Half an hour later.

Amidst the terrified and envious gazes of the Holy Land Disciples, the flying boat continued its voyage in a swaggering manner. On the deck, Gu Yang was holding a whale bone thicker than his waist, crunching on it loudly.

【Devoured Soul Transformation Peak "Dragon-Whiskered Whale" flesh and blood, Energy +3000... +5000!】 【Detected faint water-attribute Law residue, strengthening Divine Demon Golden Body skin membrane...】

Gu Yang could feel that because these sea beasts of the Endless Sea lived year-round under high-pressure Heavy Water, the toughness of their muscle fibers was more than a grade stronger than that of land-based Yao Beasts. Every bite of meat was like performing a microscopic reinforcement on his already perfected Second Revolution Golden Body.

Although the "Five Elements Origin" required to break through to the Third Revolution (Void Refinement Stage) was still a long way off, this continuous accumulation made his aura increasingly heavy, like a ten-thousand-fathom isolated Peak submerged in the deep sea.

“This Endless Sea is indeed a good place; it's just that these Yakshas are too poor.”

Gu Yang rummaged through that commander's Storage Pouch, finding only a few hundred Medium Grade Spirit Crystals and a pile of ragged coral armor plates.

“According to these prices, if I want to have a decent meal in the Three Thousand Dao Provinces, I'll have to go rob a few Holy Lands.”

He looked into the distance. As the flying boat delved deeper, the color of the seawater below had changed to a deep purple. That was the sign of entering the mid-deep sea zone.

According to Feng Ni, not far ahead was a station jointly established by the top merchant associations of the Three Thousand Dao Provinces—"Sea Dragon City."

That was the only trade transit point on the Endless Sea, where various rare undersea minerals gathered.

“There should be plenty of Source Stones in the city, right?” Gu Yang wiped the grease from his mouth, his eyes becoming greedy once more... The flying boat passed through a thick layer of mist, and a translucent giant city made entirely of white Sea Soul Stones, floating on the sea surface, came into view.

At the city gate, several Disciples wearing the attire of the Grand Void Holy Land and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were checking passersby with cold, arrogant expressions.

This was no longer the desolate Savage Domain, but a place where true elites gathered.

Gu Yang stood up from the deck of the flying boat and tightened the myriad poison star shattering hammer behind his back. Er Gou squatted by his feet and let out a burp, a puff of golden smoke coming from his nose.

“The road to the Central Province is long; I'll have a full meal here first.”

Gu Yang's footsteps landed on the white Sea Soul Stone ground, every echo as heavy as a drumbeat.

He, a literal "barbarian" in the eyes of Spell Cultivators, had officially broken into this brilliant great world belonging to prodigies and Laws.