One man and one shark charged across the ocean, with merchant ships becoming increasingly scarce along the way. The Violent Bite Shark was difficult to control, frequently veering off course or even retreating.
"Ugh! You thousand-year spirit beasts are just too cowardly. I'm not asking you to charge straight through ten-thousand-year spirit beast territory—just follow the shipping lanes and you won't be in any danger."
Ignaz was extremely frustrated. He really wanted to kill the thousand-year Violent Bite Shark beneath him and tame a ten-thousand-year spirit beast with intelligence—at least ten-thousand-year spirit beasts could understand what he was saying.
But taming a ten-thousand-year spirit beast would take too much time, and even riding one would present the same difficulties on the journey to the Northern Sea.
Ignaz sighed, then pulled out a piece of Land Dragon Golden Melon rind he'd deliberately collected earlier and patted the right side of the Violent Bite Shark's head below him.
"Here, this is your reward. Eat this first to fill your stomach."
When the Land Dragon Golden Melon rind was thrown into the seawater ahead of the Violent Bite Shark, several streams of precious energy spread through the flowing water. The shark's eyes turned, staring intently at the floating rind.
Its tail swam rapidly as it opened its massive jaws and swallowed it whole. A gentle yet powerful energy quickly spread throughout its body. Its tail thrashed wildly, and its entire body even leaped out of the water—the Violent Bite Shark was incredibly excited.
Even its original momentum surged several notches, and its courage grew. It no longer feared ten-thousand-year sea spirit beasts that might suddenly appear. Wherever Ignaz pointed, it would boldly charge forward.
Man and beast traveled northward, passing through dozens of sea regions over three months. Ignaz finally reached the waters at the Northern Sea's periphery.
Snow-white flakes were falling over the Northern Sea, and the underwater temperature had dropped to five degrees Celsius. Though bitterly cold, it was much warmer underwater than on the surface, where bone-chilling winds and sub-zero temperatures caused ice to float.
Sitting on the Violent Bite Shark's back, Ignaz was now wrapped in a thick bearskin coat, his hands turned bright red from the cold, holding the map.
"If it's this cold just at the Northern Sea's periphery, going deeper inside would be dangerous even for Titled Douluo if they're not careful."
"Thank goodness we're not far from Chaotic Star Sea!"
After glancing at the markings on his map, Ignaz immediately stored it back in his spirit tool. He crossed his arms into his sleeves against his chest and hunched his body like an old northeastern grandpa, trying to preserve body heat and reduce spirit power consumption.
The Violent Bite Shark, beneath his feet, after traveling some distance, began circling no matter how Ignaz directed it. Its entire body shook even more violently—it didn't dare go any further.
"Fine then, you can go!"
Ignaz jumped onto a piece of floating ice, threw three pieces of Land Dragon Golden Melon rind into the water below, and waved for it to leave.
Seeing the precious treasures appear again, the Violent Bite Shark swallowed all three rinds in one gulp, then turned and sped off at unprecedented speed.
After putting on non-slip shoes, Ignaz channeled his spirit power to quickly leap between ice floes. Soon after, he stopped.
Looking into the distance, 600 meters away, he saw a vast sea area with no floating ice around the edges, but a snow-white island at its center.
"This must be Chaotic Star Sea!"
Chaotic Star Sea was now in winter, located at the Northern Sea's periphery. Most fish had hidden in the deep sea, rarely moving. The top predators of Chaotic Star Sea—the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede colony—were hibernating in caves within that central island.
And Ignaz's fifth spirit ring would come from a Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede.
Ignaz first swallowed the advanced antidote pill that Dugu Bo had developed, then took out hundreds and thousands of porcelain bottles from his storage spirit tool, opening them one by one. Black poisonous fog drifted out, corroding even the falling snow and ice.
In an instant, with Ignaz at the center, a deadly poison barrier formed within a 500-meter radius.
He quickly took out the Aromatic Silk Beauty immortal herb and hastily swallowed another of Dugu Bo's antidote pills, quietly waiting for prey to arrive.
Sure enough, shortly after the Aromatic Silk Beauty was brought out, the precious energy it emanated attracted a group of spirit beasts—most of them ten-thousand-year spirit beasts, especially some aerial ones that grew restless.
Suddenly, a Snow Plain Giant Eagle with flapping wings, carrying a thousand-year fish spirit beast in its beak, shook its head and dropped the fish into the poison barrier. The fish was instantly corroded, leaving only a faint purple spirit ring.
Seeing this, the beasts immediately retreated several steps, though the greed in their eyes remained. Just as the ten-thousand-year Snow Plain Giant Eagle rose up, preparing to use hurricane winds to blow away the poisonous fog—
In the next moment, countless ten-thousand-year spirit beasts pounced and killed it.
The eagle's action would have spread the toxin throughout their habitat, making survival impossible. Worse, it could have alerted the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede colony on the island—poison was an excellent supplement for the dominant clan of Chaotic Star Sea.
At that moment, four wide red eyes suddenly opened from a long slumber, and a deep male voice came from within the island, exuding immense authority:
"Human, your current cultivation wasn't easy to achieve. Leave that medicinal herb, and I might spare your life."
Ignaz felt a pressure comparable to a Titled Douluo's—clearly, the true overlord of the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede colony, the hundred-thousand-year Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede, had awakened.
"I came here precisely to offer this painstakingly collected immortal herb to the overlord of this place—the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede. However, I have one request. I'm a poison master, and I hope the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede clan can help me test the effectiveness of this poison."
Ignaz behaved with great respect and spoke devoutly, though he wasn't entirely sure if the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede King could hear him.
"Human, this old one grants your request. Don't worry—this old one will have clan members give you thorough guidance."
Ignaz was overjoyed upon hearing this. Spirit beasts really were easy to deceive—hundred-thousand-year ones even more so, especially those who hadn't experienced the treachery of human society. His spirit ring was now secured.
Deep underground, the Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede King turned to a just-awakened centipede beside it:
"Sixth Brother, take several clan members to retrieve that immortal herb. Once you have it, immediately kill that human. That poisonous fog is an excellent supplement for our clan members."
The newly awakened Nine-Heavens Dragon Centipede responded and emerged with the ten clan members under its command—eleven nine-segmented dragon centipedes crawled out from the cave.
The leading beast, Sixth Brother, was light red all over, ten meters long, with nearly fifty sharp red legs. On the ventral side of its head were a pair of sixty to seventy-centimeter-long black mouthparts, appearing extremely ferocious.