Master Zhao sent Yun Yi to find Gao Ming, naturally because Gao Ming could take him to the Extreme Night Sea to feast.
It would be a hassle to get Yun Yi a Senior Exploration Officer title just for this trip, and giving him an Advanced Exploration Officer title wouldn't be an investment, but rather a harm to him.
However, finding Gao Ming was no issue. Gao Ming was essentially a courier, not exploring for treasures but merely transporting items for the various groups.
In other words, although he wasn't qualified to search for treasures, he could run errands all over the Ten Sun Cave-Heaven, making him akin to a transporter within it.
Turning Yun Yi into a temporary transporter and taking him for a run to the edge of the Extreme Night Sea was no difficult task.
Zhao Xing sent one of his Straw Puppet clones to deliver a batch of spiritual fish to Yun Yi.
Not a word was said beyond that.
Yun Yi initially thought that Marquis Yuanrang might talk to him, but to his surprise, he didn't say anything at all.
This left him eating the fish on the ship, utterly confused.
However, Yun Yi wasn't the only one confused—there were seven or eight other people on the ship.
Yun Yi observed his surroundings within the hall.
The only person apart from himself with a separate table to eat at was a strange man named Li Fuhan.
Why was he strange? It was because Li Fuhan's way of eating fish was bizarre.
Li Fuhan didn't use chopsticks but instead used a knife, fork, and silver needles. He also didn't use the bowls prepared by Gao Ming; instead, he brought his own vessel resembling a tub or a pestle and mortar, in which he fussed about.
Li Fuhan even carried a box with him, seemingly adding ingredients as he ate.
He ate the fish with such meticulousness that he crushed the fish bones and sucked out the marrow, not wasting even the bone residue, which he carefully wrapped in paper and packed into his box.
All this piqued Yun Yi's curiosity.
Clearly, this was a physician, but even for a physician, his behavior was extremely peculiar, Yun Yi thought.
Zhao Xing, too, was observing Li Fuhan.
"As expected, even after living for so long, these little habits remain unchanged."
"Li Fuhan, the wandering physician. I figured you'd show up at the Southern Barbarian battlefield, but I didn't expect you to arrive so late."
"Fortunately, I didn't miss you, or perhaps it's my luck acting up again?" Zhao Xing mused.
Li Fuhan was the future Grand Physician of the Great Zhou, a title representing the highest medical authority in the empire's medical department!
However, the rank of Grand Physician was only Second Rank.
But while his rank was Second Rank, he held sway over the empire's rarest medical resources, and was capable of treating even First Rank experts.
Li Fuhan hailed from the capital and was currently only an Eighth-Rank wandering physician.
Due to the Southern Barbarian battlefield being plagued by strange Worm Shamans and Blood Shamans, many physicians had flocked from all over the empire.
But when Li Fuhan and his Grand Physician teacher arrived, they encountered a ceasefire in March.
Originally, Li Fuhan intended to return, but his teacher stayed behind in the Ten Sun Cave-Heaven to visit old friends, so Li Fuhan settled in Yang City.
He was reclusive by nature and had no affiliation with the military, which is why Zhao Xing hadn't managed to find him earlier.
If it weren't for the eruption of the cave-heaven's spiritual essence, Zhao Xing might have completely missed this encounter.
"Emperor Wu once ordered Li Fuhan to treat Liu Tianning's madness. Under his care, Liu Tianning actually experienced a period of clarity."
"This man's expertise in the Revival Hand Technique and the Ghost Gate Needles reached mastery, and he went on to recompile the Medical Canon, creating numerous top-tier medical techniques. His Blood Epidemic Canon, specifically targeting the Worm Shamans and Blood Shamans, was invaluable in the Southern Barbarian campaigns during Emperor Wu's reign."
"And there's the Medical Canon: Soul Chapter he created based on Liu Tianning's condition…"
Just because someone has high cultivation doesn't mean they won't fall ill. There are still parasites like the 'Sleep Bug' that can infest one's Life Soul, let alone the physical body.
High cultivation generally prevents illness, but when a cultivator does fall ill, it tends to be a grave condition!
"However, Li Fuhan has some quirks. He tends to ignore the patient's discomfort and favors aggressive treatments for the sake of efficiency."
"His motto is 'A painful life is better than a peaceful death.'"
"If the end result is a cure, but there's a choice between high-efficiency pain and low-efficiency relief, he will always choose the former."
"If you seek treatment from Li Fuhan, you need to be mentally prepared—bone scraping is the most basic procedure in his toolkit," Zhao Xing muttered internally. "Better take out some insurance and hope I never need to rely on him."
…
Aside from investing in talents, Zhao Xing also focused diligently on his cultivation.
He refined his Straw Puppet technique and focused on another technique: Turtle Coin Divination.
The spiritual turtles in the Extreme Night Sea were of much higher quality than those in the Canglan River.
Once Zhao Xing had some downtime, he began his turtle-slashing routine.
On May 19th, he slaughtered eighty-two turtles.
On May 20th, he killed one hundred fifty-seven.
On May 21st, he butchered two hundred fourteen.
Starting from the fourth day, the number of turtles killed skyrocketed.
By May 23rd, he had slaughtered one thousand seven hundred eighty-two.
By May 24th, the count had risen to two thousand two hundred forty-five.
And on May 25th…
Why was the number of turtles increasing?
It was because when Zhao Xing traded resources with other exploration groups, turtle-type creatures frequently appeared on the lists.
As the saying goes, what the higher-ups desire, the lower ranks will seek to provide.
When Liu Tianning's disciple stopped causing trouble and only requested turtles in exchange for resources, it became a simple task. Everyone went out to catch as many as possible.
In fact, Pei Yuanchang, the legitimate grandson of Prince Lingde, became the main turtle catcher.
He had somehow heard that Zhao Xing had a strange obsession with killing turtles.
So, he specially prepared a sea vessel just to catch spiritual turtles for Zhao Xing.
Thus, Zhao Xing never lacked turtles to use.
It was all quite baffling to others.
For the first two days, no one on the Myriad Tower Ship found it odd that Zhao Xing was slaughtering turtles.
But after several days of continued slaughter, and with his apparent enjoyment increasing, even Princess You Ruo couldn't help but be drawn to the spectacle.
"Do you have some sort of grudge against turtles?" Princess You Ruo asked as she watched Zhao Xing deftly pull out a turtle's head.
"Swish~" With a swift slash, the turtle's head was cleanly severed.
"Were you bitten by a turtle when you were a child?"
"No, my master's wife," Zhao Xing looked up, "I'm training."
"Oh? Divination technique?"
"My master's wife is indeed insightful."
Princess You Ruo was a bit surprised. "Turtle shell divination is an ancient method predating the Shang Dynasty. You know quite a bit."
"However, in our dynasty, unless you are a Fate Officer, it's difficult to reach any significant achievement in this. At most, you'll reach high-level mastery. Isn't this effort a waste?"
"My master's wife, I'm currently just a humble Sixth Rank," Zhao Xing smiled. "If I can master high-level techniques, how could that be a waste?"
"Doesn't your master say anything about this?" Princess You Ruo asked. She knew that Liu Tianning had very high expectations for his disciples.
"My master has mentioned it," Zhao Xing nodded. "But since my Straw Puppet technique has progressed steadily, my master hasn't urged me to stop."
Princess You Ruo watched for a while longer. "If you need turtle shells, once you get to the East Sea, you can come to me at Zixiao Island."
"I do have quite a few in my collection."
"What kind of collection?" Zhao Xing's eyes lit up.
"There's no shortage of ancient creatures like the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Tortoise," Princess You Ruo said lazily. "Every year, the aquatic clans send these useless things as tributes—there's no novelty to it."
Princess You Ruo was a direct descendant of Bi Xia Yuanjun, her mother was the head of the Bishui Sect, and she was Emperor Jing's beloved daughter.
This lineage held great influence over the aquatic clans in the East Sea regions.
So on the Myriad Tower Ship, filled with spiritual treasures, Princess You Ruo didn't spare even a glance. She had seen far better treasures from the sea.
"Thank you, Master's wife," Zhao Xing said, delighted.
"Carry on," Princess You Ruo waved her hand, growing bored with the scene after a while.
"Take care, Master's wife."
After watching Princess You Ruo leave, Zhao Xing resumed his turtle-slaying.
If Princess You Ruo was merely curious, others were becoming increasingly uneasy.
Prince Xin's son, Liu Cheng'an, and another prince's heir, Wu Zhengting, happened to pass by.
When they saw Zhao Xing slaughtering turtles, they couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines.
"Brother Wu, Brother Liu, good morning," Zhao Xing straightened up and flashed them a smile.
"Good morning," Liu Cheng'an and Wu Zhengting replied, their skin crawling.
Zhao Xing, standing there with a bloody knife and grinning like that, was unnerving to say the least.
"Liu Tianning's Myriad Tower Ship and his countless clones are eerie enough," Liu Cheng'an said through a sound transmission after they passed.
"Now even his disciples have such strange habits," Wu Zhengting remarked, recalling Zhao Xing's smile. "Those two really give me the creeps."
But not everyone found Zhao Xing's turtle-killing unsettling.
For example, Ji Zixuan.
Every day, she would take some time to sit with Zhao Xing and watch him slaughter turtles in silence.
"Senior Brother, aren't you tired? Do you need me to take over?" Ji Zixuan rolled up her sleeves, seemingly genuinely interested in the task and not just trying to curry favor.
"Do you think I'm doing this for fun?" Zhao Xing scoffed.
"Senior Brother must have a deeper purpose," Ji Zixuan squatted beside him. "I just want to help."
"You can't help with this, and I can't teach you this technique either."
If things in this life unfolded like in the previous one, Ji Zixuan, this shadowy assassin, would eventually become his enemy.
Teach her this divination technique?
What a joke!
A divination-capable assassin would be the ultimate nuisance, even if they couldn't kill you, they'd drive you mad.
"Oh, well, at least I can watch, right?" Ji Zixuan was nothing if not persistent.
"Do whatever you want," Zhao Xing said, as he pointed his hand, causing the turtle meat to rapidly shrink, with the blood soaking into a blackened turtle shell.
After being soaked with the essence of thousands of its kind, the turtle shell, now darkened to a deep purple, emitted a faint glow from its engraved patterns.
The Turtle Coin Divination technique heavily relied on external items.
Zhao Xing was currently refining the turtle shells just to practice. For long-term use, he would still need the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Tortoise shells that Princess You Ruo had mentioned.
"The Turtle Divination is labor-intensive, requiring the slaughter of turtles, while the Coin Divination is much simpler. However, I lack treasures like the Fortune Coins or Ancient Purple-Gold Coins," Zhao Xing lamented.
Such treasures weren't for sale in the Martial Realm, nor were they available in any official Great Zhou markets.
To acquire them, he would have to rely on ancient family legacies.
Newly established families wouldn't have them.
"The best option would be to raid an ancient tomb. Maybe then I could find a decent haul of old coins and currency."
Fortune Coins and Ancient Purple-Gold Coins were unique—they contained fortune, but it couldn't be absorbed.
However, possessing these coins temporarily boosted one's fortune.
Naturally, no family would willingly sell such treasures.
Who would sell off their own luck?
Zhao Xing glanced at Ji Zixuan and a thought struck him. "Junior Sister, have you ever heard of Fortune Coins or Ancient Purple-Gold Coins?"
Ji Zixuan pondered for a moment. "Yes, I've heard of them. It's said that ancient dynasties forged various currencies from fortune itself. They used this method to replace the imperial fortune rituals, granting officials these coins to carry."
"So in the ancient Fortune Dynasties, dismissing an official often involved confiscating their family property to reclaim the awarded Fortune Coins."
"There are also Magical Coins, a collective term for various types of spell coins. There were even spell notes and magical currencies, like the Thunder Spell Notes issued by the Li Dynasty," she added, showcasing her knowledge.
"Officials carrying those notes could instantly cast thunder magic at the corresponding spell level."
"However, this method was outdated, as it often led to massive corruption. These corrupt officials were often powerful and overflowing with fortune."
"It was much simpler for the later Fortune Dynasties to just issue an edict, granting and retracting fortune with ease," Ji Zixuan explained further.
Zhao Xing smiled and didn't engage further. He wasn't interested in debating governance models.
"Have you ever seen such items?"
Ji Zixuan shook her head. "No, these items have long been lost to history or locked away in royal collections… Does Senior Brother want such things?"
"Just curious," Zhao Xing replied nonchalantly.
…
From June 11th to June 20th, Zhao Xing spent his time on the Myriad Tower Ship, continuing his turtle-slaughtering and refining his Straw Puppet technique.
Occasionally, when certain familiar names crossed his mind, he would use the Earth Mirror to look them up and find a way to pull them into the Extreme Night Sea, all in the name of future investments.
As for whether this interfered with their fate?
Zhao Xing wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't forcefully push anyone into greatness.
With his mastery of the Five-Finger Fate Technique, Zhao Xing carefully selected individuals who showed potential.
In his view, these people were no longer in their youth and had already embarked on the path of cultivation.
Their will and determination were mostly set, and those destined for greatness would eventually rise.
It didn't make sense that a little push from him would suddenly derail them.
Even if their fate was altered, it didn't matter—these were merely casual investments.
During this time, Long Xiao, Chen Shijie, Xia Jing, and Ji Ziyun remained on the ship as well. Since they were part of Liu Tianning's group, they soon rejoined him on the ship, filling themselves with as much food as they could.
However, when it came to Yin-Yang Fish and Fortune Essence, the four of them couldn't match Zhao Xing.
Without the Five Element Qi Training Technique, they couldn't fully absorb the Fortune Essence, making it impossible for them to break through their fortune levels.
As for the Yin-Yang Fish, it had become rare. After it was first discovered, a large number of forces had swarmed the Dark Stone Coral Reef, fishing the area clean.
Having missed that window, finding more became extremely difficult.
…
On June 25th, during the hour of Mao (5:00–7:00 a.m.), Zhao Xing calculated with his fingers. "Today is auspicious for travel and wealth, with blessings in the east."
He opened the door, stepping onto the tower ship's corridor and looking out over the sea.
At the fourth quarter of Chen hour (8:45 a.m.), fortune smiled upon him.
The Myriad Tower Ship suddenly started moving, heading east.
"Zhao Xing, come to the Myriad Hall."
Liu Tianning's voice echoed.
Zhao Xing immediately disappeared from the corridor.
"Master, has there been news of the Dragon Whale?"
He had already handed over the Seven Star Hook's locator to Liu Tianning. When the time came to hunt the whale, it would be up to Liu Tianning to decide, as Zhao Xing wouldn't be able to handle it alone.
If the Dragon Whale stayed in the deep sea, even Fourth Rank cultivators would be helpless.
If it surfaced, they would need the proper tools.
The Myriad Tower Ship had the equipment necessary for hunting a Dragon Whale.
"With the Extreme Night Sea thawing, most of the giant fish from the depths have surfaced," Liu Tianning explained. "The Dragon Whale can't find enough to eat, so it's slowly moving from the deep sea to shallower waters in search of food."
"It's been lingering in the shallow sea for three days now. It's time to act."
"Master, what kind of effects do you estimate the whale will have?" Zhao Xing asked.
"The Dragon Whale is a treasure in itself, but the Extreme Night Sea is unpredictable compared to the outside world," Liu Tianning gazed at the sea chart. "We won't know until we consume it."
"Master, are you confident?"
Liu Tianning pondered for a moment. "Based on your description, the whale's size has grown to more than a hundred times that of an ordinary Dragon Whale, giving it the power of at least a Fourth Rank beast."
"If it hasn't evolved further, I'm confident I can kill it once it surfaces."
Zhao Xing fell into thought as well. In his past life, there had been no mention of a giant Dragon Whale.
Was it because no one had been able to kill it?
Over a month ago, the Dragon Whale had been at the Fourth Rank, but if even Zhao Xing had been continuously evolving, wouldn't the Dragon Whale, after devouring countless spiritual fish, have possibly reached a higher level?
…
Regardless, the whale hunt began.
Liu Tianning's Myriad Tower Ship, accompanied by Pei Yuanchang's four sea vessels, headed to the designated area.
These five massive ships flew eight hundred nautical miles eastward, finally arriving at the location.
However, before they could spot the Dragon Whale, they encountered three Black Dragon Warships.
Sure enough, it was the thirteenth prince, Ji Chen, and his brother Ji Ye.
"They've been active in this area for a while," Pei Yuanchang noted. "I wonder if they've also discovered the Dragon Whale's presence."
"No matter. Ignore them," Liu Tianning said indifferently. "Pei Yuanchang, prepare yourself."
"Yes, Master Liu," Pei Yuanchang promptly returned to his ship to command the preparations.
Hunting a Dragon Whale was no easy task without the proper tools.
Even if Liu Tianning could kill the whale, he would still need the ships to prevent it from sinking.
"Master, the Myriad Tower Ship is approaching," one of the crew reported aboard the Black Dragon Warship to Ji Ye.
"That scoundrel! What's he up to now?" Ji Ye's face twisted in anger.
Ever since Liu Tianning had killed his subordinates, his morale had plummeted, and many groups had severed ties with him.
His authority had taken a severe hit.
"Master, it's best to endure for now," one of his subordinates advised. "Liu Tianning isn't someone we can handle."
Ji Ye's expression darkened, fluctuating between anger and restraint.
After the deaths of Qin Chongwu and Huangfu Song, he had already cowered once, and retreating a second time was becoming easier.
It didn't take him long to grit his teeth and order, "Withdraw!"
"Yes, Master."
While Ji Ye chose to retreat, his brother Ji Chen didn't follow suit.
Not only did he stay, but he also sent someone to inquire if Liu Tianning needed assistance.
After receiving a refusal, Ji Chen's warship remained in the vicinity, continuing to observe.
He was patient, offering assistance again and again.
Ji Chen firmly believed that he would eventually wear down Liu Tianning's resistance.
"The thirteenth prince sure is persistent. He's been rebuffed multiple times but remains undeterred."
Zhao Xing watched as a small boat sailed away. It was the latest envoy sent to curry favor.
However, nothing had changed this time either. Liu Tianning still refused to meet with him.
…
Half an hour later.
Within the Myriad Hall, Liu Tianning suddenly opened his eyes.
"It's surfacing."
"Pei Yuanchang, be ready."
Pei Yuanchang's projection, present within the hall, responded immediately, "Master Liu, everything is set."
Liu Tianning's figure flickered, and he flew out of the Myriad Tower Ship to the sea surface.
Zhao Xing rushed to the deck to observe Liu Tianning's actions.
Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, Liu Cheng'an, Ji Zixuan, Murong Xue—everyone on the ship hurried outside.
After all, hunting a Dragon Whale was a rare sight.
More importantly, Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao were eager to witness Liu Tianning's true strength.
"Splash~"
The waves on the sea surface began to swell.
At the same time, Liu Tianning's figure split into two, then three, as more and more clones emerged from his original body.
"This sight…" Chen Shijie was visibly shaken. "I've seen it in the Mirage Pearl, but seeing it in person feels completely different."
"Master Liu is storing his clones within his inner world. His Yin-Yang Self Technique and Hou Earth Return Secret Manual must have reached profound levels."
"The Pure Essence Space is so vast…" Zhao Xing marveled.
The Inner Five Element World gave birth to Pure Essence Soil, and the size of the space varied from person to person.
Some Shennong, if they weren't from the Self School, couldn't even cultivate Pure Essence Soil by the Fourth Rank.
Even within the Self School, some Fifth Rank Shennong could only cultivate a space big enough for one tree, and they were still picky about the quality.
But for someone like Liu Tianning, who could house thousands of Straw Puppet clones and plant soldiers, the scope of his Pure Essence Space was beyond imagination.
"Even as an outsider, seeing this is awe-inspiring," Long Xiao muttered. "Even if I could control three thousand swords, I doubt I could defeat Liu Tianning."
"Brother, you're setting the wrong goal," Xia Jing remarked. "Since the time of the Great Ancestor, there's only been one person to reach this level of the Straw Puppet technique. Don't drive yourself crazy—he's not a martial artist like us."
"Splash~ Splash~"
Liu Tianning released three thousand Myriad Straw Puppets, filling the sky over the sea.
At that moment, a massive shadow began to emerge from the ocean, darkening the waters for ten miles around.
Zhao Xing activated his Heavenly Eye technique, and when he looked at the surface, he couldn't help but gasp in shock. "It's grown even bigger than it was two months ago."
The Dragon Whale now felt like an entire mountain rising from the sea.
And in truth, its size was indeed comparable to a mountain.
Even using his Heavenly Eye, Zhao Xing felt a suffocating sense of dread as he watched the whale rise.
"Splash~"
The once-calm sea surface suddenly began to bulge, with the swelling becoming more pronounced.
A quarter of an hour later…
The water below revealed a small island.
On that island was a volcano—but instead of spewing fire, it emitted steam.
"Swish~" Massive amounts of vapor shot skyward.
"Moooooo~ Oooooo~"
A deep, mournful sound echoed from the depths of the sea, striking directly at the soul.
Zhao Xing and the others felt their emotions being subtly influenced, sinking into an inexplicable melancholy.
But they quickly recovered and cast spells to shield themselves from the effects.
"Even an unintentional sound can affect our minds. This beast is truly terrifying," Ji Zixuan said, her face slightly pale.
"I feel its pain. Is that just an illusion?" Long Xiao asked curiously.
"It's no illusion," Zhao Xing chuckled. "It's in real pain. You've forgotten about the Seven Star Hook embedded inside it?"
"Ah, the hook grows stronger when it encounters resistance?" Long Xiao suddenly understood.
"Yes, a Sixth Rank Seven Star Hook. It can't digest it, nor can it expel it. The hook is lodged into its flesh," Zhao Xing explained.
"Can your master handle it?" Xia Jing asked, though he didn't doubt Liu Tianning's strength. It was just that this Dragon Whale was too massive.
Especially in Xia Jing's eyes, the whale had become even more fearsome.
"If my master can't handle it, then only someone at the level of Lord Luohou or Lord Tianyan can," Zhao Xing replied.
Perhaps in his past life, it had indeed been a king-ranked expert who dealt with it… Zhao Xing pondered.
Because in this situation, a Fifth Rank couldn't handle it. Even a Fourth Rank would struggle.
Since he hadn't heard of it in his previous life, it was likely that a king-ranked expert had intervened, removing the beast to prevent it from wreaking havoc on the Extreme Night Sea.
But now, with someone like Liu Tianning—an anomaly of the Fifth Rank—could he actually deal with the Dragon Whale?
In the skies above the sea, Liu Tianning remained still, seemingly contemplating his approach.
Half an hour later, after much deliberation, Liu Tianning finally began the whale hunt.
A blood-red cloud appeared in the sky above.
It wasn't too large or too small, just enough to cover the Dragon Whale.
"The Blood Cloud Domain," Zhao Xing observed, "a perfect-level cloud technique domain."
At the same time, dots of light began to rise from the surface of the water, merging into the blood cloud.
Then, twenty-four command tokens flew out from within Liu Tianning's body.
The tokens shimmered with various lights, floating low in the sky.
"The Twenty-Four Seasonal Qi Commands."
"They've all at least reached the Stabilized Realm!"
Chen Shijie couldn't help but exclaim.
The Twenty-Four Seasonal Qi Commands had three stages: Knowledge, Stabilization, and Modification. Liu Tianning had evidently reached the Stabilized Qi stage for all of them.
"Buzz~"
The Twenty-Four Seasonal Qi Commands rotated in cycles, circling above the Dragon Whale.
The surrounding natural forces shifted rapidly.
"How many did you recognize?" Chen Shijie asked. "I recognized fifteen."
"I saw twenty-six," Zhao Xing replied, intently watching.
As the Twenty-Four Seasonal Qi Commands cycled, the seventy-two minor climatic changes unfolded, but both Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing could only discern a portion of them.
"It's strange, why isn't the Dragon Whale moving?" Ji Zixuan asked, puzzled. "Master Liu has already deployed his spells, yet the whale seems unaware."
"It's been deceived," Zhao Xing answered, wiping his brow and activating his Heavenly Eye again. Within the whale, he could see a shadowy, dark energy.
That was the whale's soul, but it was wrapped in a faint golden barrier.
Upon closer inspection, the barrier bore numerous reflections of Liu Tianning.
"Master Liu really does possess soul manipulation techniques!" Zhao Xing's eyes widened. "It's this technique that has placed the Dragon Whale in a deceived state, severing the connection between its soul and body."
"That's why, despite the imminent danger, it's not reacting."
Zhao Xing wasn't surprised that Liu Tianning had soul manipulation techniques.
After all, with so many Myriad Straw Puppets, without soul manipulation, his own soul would have been exhausted long ago.
The Life Soul governed the body, and when the Life Soul was blocked, a person—or in this case, a whale—could be stabbed dozens of times without reacting.
At this moment, the Dragon Whale's body began to show numerous cuts.
Liu Tianning appeared to have some compulsive tendencies, as he made sure that the wounds on the whale's back were all perfectly square.
Each scale was lifted, revealing the flesh beneath.
"Buzz~"
A light shone from Liu Tianning's Dantian, projecting onto the eighteen square wounds on the whale's back.
Eighteen strands of green appeared on the red flesh.
"Huh? What's this…" Chen Shijie squinted to identify it, his face filled with shock. "The Self School's methods are truly miraculous…"
As a practitioner of the Earth School, Chen Shijie was deeply shaken by witnessing Liu Tianning's technique in action.
It wasn't because Liu Tianning had grown something amazing on the Dragon Whale.
In fact, it was the most common Tough Vines.
These were merely First or Second Rank plants.
Yet, at this moment, the Tough Vines' life force had reached Sixth Rank standards!
"Tough Vines, which max out at the First or Second Rank, have grown to the Sixth Rank…"
Chen Shijie's entire worldview was shaken.
In the Earth School, all living things had growth limits.
Yet now, these eighteen Tough Vines were shattering Chen Shijie's understanding.
Again and again, breaking through the growth limits of plants, the Tough Vines had reached the Sixth Rank—it was mind-boggling!
"They're not entirely Tough Vines," Zhao Xing remarked. "These are hybrid species, incorporating the traits of floating parasites."
"They root in flesh to absorb nutrients, possibly even combining the characteristics of two other plants."
Chen Shijie muttered, "I can't keep watching this. If I do, my conviction in the Earth School will break…"
Zhao Xing smiled. "If worse comes to worst, you can switch to another path. It's not like you have an unshakable Earth School heart."
As they watched from the tower ship, the Tough Vines continued to grow, crazily rooting themselves into the flesh and wrapping around the whale's spine.
"Shhhhh~"
The vines wriggled like living creatures, their roots burrowing into the flesh while the tendrils crawled over the skin.
Soon, the whale's exposed areas were completely covered in greenery.
Liu Tianning's three thousand clones reached out in unison.
Each grasped a vine.
"Up!"
With a powerful shout, Liu Tianning pulled upward.
The Tough Vines straightened instantly.
"Moooo~ Oooooo~"
Sensing the imminent danger, the whale's Life Soul finally snapped out of its stupor.
It violently resisted Liu Tianning's soul manipulation attack.
At the same time, its massive body began to thrash wildly.
The sea surface churned into a gigantic whirlpool.
Even the clouds in the sky collapsed by several dozen meters.
The Heaven-Devouring Whirlpool activated!
"Fire!"
Seeing this, Pei Yuanchang gave the order, and four sea vessels launched thick harpoons.
Each harpoon was fifty meters long and eight meters in diameter.
Propelled by immense force, these harpoons shot like blazing meteors, piercing into the whale's body.
In total, Pei Yuanchang's four ships fired eighty-one harpoons connected by chains.
"Locking Chains?" Xia Jing was startled. "I had no idea the Lingde family had such large-scale Locking Chains."
"Pull!" Pei Yuanchang commanded, and the four ships revved to full power, pulling the chains taut.
As the chains tightened, golden runes lit up along their length.
Inside the whale, the harpoons expanded like giant screwdrivers, their tips spiraling outward.
The screws continued to grow larger.
"These chains and hooks are made from the same material as the Seven Star Hook. No wonder Pei Yuanchang asked if I had bought any. His subordinates must have spotted them," Zhao Xing suddenly realized.
"Buzz~" The spiral drills whirred madly, reducing the whale's innards to a bloody mess.
"Moooo~ Moooo~" The Dragon Whale thrashed violently.
Zhao Xing stared intently, his heartbeat quickening.
He felt an overwhelming desire welling up inside him as his Inner Five Element World activated the Five-Finger Fate Technique, syncing with his burning need.
In that moment, Zhao Xing understood what kind of fortune the whale's essence contained.
"Longevity fortune! Tremendous longevity fortune!" Zhao Xing's throat went dry, his eyes turning bloodshot. "This whale contains astonishing amounts of longevity fortune. Master Liu, you have to kill it!"
"The Dragon Whale has defied the natural order. If we can kill it, we can borrow two hundred more years of life from it!" Zhao Xing inwardly roared.
And thus, the hunt for the whale continued…